CLEARING THE LAND
It is pretty good fun to hack at bushes and to chop trees down and
then to chop them up. If there is only a small part of the land to
be cleared, a man can easily learn skill with the ax and do it at
odd times, but he was a wise old man of whom his little girl said,
"When grandpa wants anything, that moment he wants it." It is now
that we need the land; but even if it is covered with trees, there
is no cause for discouragement. Lumber is so high that the local or
portable sawmill men will buy the timber by the acre. They will cut
the trees and haul the logs.
If you decide to cut a tree yourself, a little inquiry will show for
what purpose it will bring the highest price. Locust sticks, for
example, four to six inches thick, will bring in New York ten or
fifteen cents a running foot for insulator pinions. If a maple
proves to be either "curly" or "bird'seye" (this depending not on
the variety, but on the accidental undulations of the fiber), it
will be in demand for the manufacture of furniture.
Sugar maples ten or fifteen feet high can be transplanted or sold.
Nut and fruit trees will nearly always be worth keeping.
Cedar sticks fourteen feet long will bring twenty cents in most
places for hop and bean poles. See what can be sold instead of
burned, and don't cut down recklessly; an unsalable tree may be
valuable as a windbreak or as shade for your house. The wrong tree
for shade is the dense foliaged, low-branched tree which forms a
solid dome from the ground up. The right tree, in the opinion of
Henry Hicks (in _Country Life in America),_ is the American elm,
which ought to be called the umbrella tree. Pliny speaks of the
plane tree, our sycamore or buttonwood, as excellent, because of the
horizontal branches which, like window blinds, allow free passage of
the breezes while intercepting the heat of the sun.
The ideal shade tree is a canopy like a parasol over the house, with
high, leafy branches that do not shut off light and air from the
windows. This cools a house by keeping the sun off and cools the air
by the rapid evaporation from its leaves, and will make it ten to
fifteen degrees cooler in summer. It will be cheaper and more
effective than a combination of awnings, piazza, and eaves. Woodman,
spare that tree.
Stumps may be burned out To get a good draught, bore a hole in a
slanting direction far down among the roots. The smoke goes through
the hole first and then the flame, boring the body to the roots deep
enough to plow. Land can also be cleared by dynamite. We condense
from Edith Loring Fullerton in _Farming,_ on what has been done.
To go into the desolate, uncultivated, burned over "waste lands"
near a great city and put ten acres under cultivation in the
shortest possible space of time was our problem. We undertook it at
short notice in an uncertain season--the autumn--with the
determination to get at least a portion of the land seeded down to
winter rye before cold weather prohibited further work.
United to this problem was that of working a small farm to its
utmost capacity rather than half cultivation of a large one, which
is difficult to handle from lack of time and labor and an unwise
proposition for the East under the most favorable circumstances.
Ten acres of scraggy-looking woodland was purchased, sixty-eight
miles from New York City on the north shore of Long Island. The plot
had a few second and third growth oak and chestnut trees and
"sprouts" along the borders. All else had been burned, and the
center of the acreage exhibited the mangled and blackened remains of
a once thrifty woodland.
We proceeded to choose as our helpers native Long Islanders whom we
were desirous of allowing to work. We succeeded by strenuous efforts
in getting together a "gang" of both colored and white men to the
stupendous number of eight. They fell to work with a right good
will, at first cutting down here and trimming up there as directed.
However, after giving them a fair trial, we decided that they must
be replaced by Italians. The question of housing the eighteen
Italians soon came up. Tents might be adopted or even the unsanitary
"dugout" be allowed to mar the landscape. A shanty was entirely too
ugly to suit our tastes, and also expensive, and useless when the
men were through with it. Tents were too airy, as we knew the work
would continue until freezing weather, and perhaps well into the
winter. We "passed" on the "dugout." The ideal was something that
would be of use after the work of clearing was completed, and for
that purpose we decided upon "condemned freight cars." They cost but
ten dollars each, the railroad being glad to get rid of them. We
bought two, ultimately using one for a chicken house and the other
as a barn. In the meantime it was decided to remove the stumps by
dynamite, as trying to yank them out by stump pullers or by mattock
and plow was both slow and brutal. The ordinary custom of allowing
nature to work six years at the stumps and gradually eliminate them
by decay was not to be thought of.
Dynamiter Kissam, a Long Island expert, arrived and set to work,
using fuses for small stumps up to two feet in diameter.
With the advent of the Italians work began in earnest; they cleared
out every useless tree, cutting cord wood where any could be
obtained and burning the branches and charred trees as they went.
They also cleared out all underbrush thoroughly.
The dynamiter with his helper followed them up. This is the most
exciting and interesting part of clearing land by modern methods.
The dynamite is put up in half-pound sticks. They are a little
larger than an ordinary candle and are wrapped in heavy yellow
paraffined paper. One folded end of this paper is opened up and a
hole made by a wooden skewer into the dynamite stick, which is
plastic and resembles graham bread in color and consistency.
For magneto-battery work where several charges are required, a
copper cap in which is a minute quantity of fulminate of mercury,
and which is exploded by a spark, is attached to fine electric wires
and sealed by sulphur. This cap is placed in holes in the sticks of
dynamite, and then securely tied by drawing string tightly around
the paper which is raised to admit the cap.
In preparing a charge for fuse ignition, the cap is crimped to the
end of a piece of mining fuse and this is inserted in the dynamite
stick and securely fastened as previously described.
These prepared charges are placed in a basket and carried very
tenderly to the stumps which have been prepared by the dynamiter's
assistant. All the work is handled very carefully, for while there
is not much danger of an accident unless fire is placed near the
explosive, nevertheless extreme caution is used at all times. It
requires a nature serene, calm, and deliberate.
Deep oblique holes were then made with a round crowbar under the
stump singled out for execution. This hole should be as nearly
horizontal as possible and directly under the stump so that all the
explosive force may be expended on the wood and not on the earth
between the dynamite and the stump. The earth acts as a cushion and
the natural tendency of dynamite to exert force downward is
counteracted.
As soon as a small strip was blown, the Italians, gathering up all
the stumps, roots, and fragments, removing any pieces that were
loosened but not completely torn out, and piling them at intervals,
immediately burned them. This cannot be done when stumps are removed
by any other method, for by the digging process the earth must be
picked and scraped from them and ultimately the stump hacked in
pieces before it will burn.
By our method the stump is burned and the finest kind of unleached
wood ashes--containing lime to "sweeten" and potash and phosphoric
acid to furnish plant food--are spread upon the ground a few hours
after the stumps are blown out. These ashes would under other
circumstances have to be purchased at a cost of perhaps two dollars
a barrel, and as five barrels at least to the acre are required for
good fertilization, these ashes gave us the first credit upon the
books.
Following the burners came the manure spreaders; five carloads of
manure had been purchased and was delivered before it was needed.
When the manure was spread upon the land (one half carload to the
acre), the plow started its work smoothly and with none of the
strain and jerk on man and beast usual in new land. The soil was
turned over with the greatest ease, for the explosions had shivered
and torn out even the smallest roots, so the plow ran through the
ground much more easily than in sod land.
Our friable, sandy loam, with a light admixture of clay, pulverized
and aerated by the explosions, was in market garden condition at
once and without the year's loss of crops assured by old methods.
A tooth harrow was next run over the plowed section, and gleaners
followed the harrow, picking up the fine roots as they were brought
to the surface. As piles of these fine roots grew, they were burned
and the ashes immediately spread upon the land. The tooth harrow was
run again across the rows, the disk harrow following chopped and
pulverized the earth into the finest possible condition. Thirty five
and one half working days after Larry and his gang arrived, rye was
drilled into three and one half acres.
The condemned freight cars were placed upon skids and drawn to the
desired position over soaped planks. They were raised from the
ground to give good under ventilation. The north and east sides are
filled or banked up with sand which came out of the well. This keeps
out the cold winds, and, in the case of the chicken-house car,
allows the fowls a shaded shelter on hot summer days.
The chicken-house car was placed facing the southeast. The western
end has a large glazed sash placed on it, and two in the southern
side. One half the car was partitioned off for roosting quarters,
while the other half serves as a laying and scratching house. This
farm keeps only a few chickens for family use.
The artesian well was started in October. The well was, naturally, a
necessity, but there was much to be considered in regard to the
method of pumping. Under ordinary circumstances a windmill would do,
and is generally a good auxiliary; a ten-foot iron tower and a
ten-foot fan wheel cost about fifty dollars, but our farm is not to
be allowed to be a failure for lack of water in a dry season. In
case of drought (and every summer brings one of greater or less
duration) water must be on hand, and as a drought usually is
accompanied by windless weather, the windmill could not be depended
upon. An engine was obviously necessary. Both gasoline and kerosene
engines were closely investigated, with the result that a kerosene
oil engine was decided upon. (The new style of heavy oil engine is
better and cheaper to run. Ed.) An advantage of the engine over a
windmill is that it will furnish power for cutting wood, grinding
grain, or lighting the buildings, a two and one half horsepower
engine running twenty-five 16 c.p. lights easily.
The rye was turned under green in the spring to furnish humus, the
greatest and only vital need of this particular spot of virgin soil.
Since that was written an excellent and cheap stump puller has been
introduced, but the account of work is still typical. Dynamiting is
still the modern way to clear land as well as to break up a stiff
subsoil or hardpan, so as to loosen the earth to let deep roots like
trees or alfalfa go down and to secure drainage.
Primitive American man regarded trees as "lumber" instead of as
timber and still destroys countless millions in valuable wood as he
"clears the ground."
After it is cleared, it is vital to keep it cleared of weeds, which
worse garroters of crops than trees. To do that we don't need to bow
to the Earth, nor to hammer her with a hand hoe.
"The Man with the Hoe" began to be a back number when Arkwright
invented the ark or the mule or whatever he did invent. The man with
the wheel hoe is the man that is "It." A wheel hoe costs from $6 to
$12, and will do the work of several men without breaking the heart
or even the back of one of them. It has as many attachments as a
summer girl and is equally versatile. It must be run between the
rows as soon as the ground is dry after every rain, so as to slay
the weeds before they are born. If you don't they will slay your
profits, if not yourself.
Crops grown on that experimental farm are: Asparagus, berries,
beans, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots, cucumbers,
corn, eggplant, endive, fruit trees, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, limes,
melons, martynias, onions, okra, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes
(sweet and white), pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, salsify, squash,
tomatoes, etc. Marketed strictly choice radishes May 18, peas June
10, lettuce June 21, beans June 29, beets July 8, carrots July 10,
cabbage July 11. Surely a rapid result.
Hemp is hardly worth your growing for itself under ordinary
circumstances; the returns per acre are not sufficient. But Charles
Richard Dodge, in one of the United States Yearbooks of the
Department of Agriculture, says that as a weed killer it has
practically no equal.
In proof of this, a North River farmer stated that thistles
heretofore had mastered him in a certain field, but after sowing it
with hemp not a thistle survived; and while ridding the land of this
pest, the hemp yielded him nearly sixty dollars an acre, where
previously nothing valuable could be produced.
As it grows from Minnesota to the Mississippi Delta, its value for
this purpose is considerable.
But there is a way easier and cheaper of clearing land than by
blasting, if we can afford to wait a little; and Mr. George Fayette
Thompson, in Bulletin No. 27, Bureau of Animal Industry, tells us
how, giving some interesting facts about Angora goats, of which the
following is a condensation:
To people taking up raw land, particularly where there is a heavy
undergrowth to be cleared away, goats of some kind are an invaluable
aid. In its browsing qualities the common goat is as good as any,
but, aside from the clearing of the land, the profit in his keep is
very little, though some demand is growing up for goat's milk for
infants and for some fancy cheeses. A much better animal from the
standpoint of profit, while in use as a scavenger, is the Angora
goat. Their long, silky hair has been used for centuries in making
blankets, lap robes, rugs, carpets, and particularly the "cashmere"
shawls, formerly a great luxury in this country. Much of the camel's
hair dress goods is in reality made from the hair of the Angora
goat, or mohair, as it is called. Angora goats thrive best in high
altitudes with dry climates. They exist in greatest number in the
United States in California, New Mexico, and Texas. They have been
used successfully in the Willamette Valley of Oregon to eat the
underbrush off the land, doing for nothing that for which the
farmers pay Chinese laborers twenty-five to forty dollars per acre.
The cost of Angora goats is about ten to thirty dollars each for
does, with bucks at fifty to two hundred dollars, so that even with
a small area of land to clear it would pay to buy a little flock for
that purpose. Dr. Shandley, of Iowa, says that two to three goats to
the acre is sufficient for cleaning up land, and that in two years
the goats will eat all of the underbrush from woodland, such as
briers, thistles, scrub oak, sumac, and, in fact, any shrub
undergrowth. They need no other food than what they can secure from
the woods themselves. Consequently, the income from the sale of
mohair is nearly net.
The more nearly thoroughbred the goats are, the better the mohair
and the higher the price. The meat of the Angora goat is superior to
mutton, although if sold in the market under the name of goat meat,
it commands only half the price of mutton.
As an example of the Angora's utility in cleaning up land, the
Country Gentleman says: "Mr. Landrum exhibited ten head at the
Oregon State Fair. In order to demonstrate their effectiveness as
substitutes for grubbing, he left them on three acres of brush. At
the end of the second year the land was mellow and ready for the
plow."
It might be possible to build up a business in clearing lands for
others by means of a herd of Angoras.