HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Suggestions on Clearing Land
GLEARING land is the biggest
proposition that the farmer or
land holder of the northwest is
tip against. This applies especially
to the region west of the Cascade
mountains. Probably no other one
thing has served more to retard the
flevelopment of this region than the
tremendous cost in labor, time and
money of getting the land cleared
and ready for cultivation. Any sug
gestion or method that will save
oven a small amount per acre should
mean a great deal in the aggregate.
My experience In land clearing in
the northwest is limited but I have
cleared and superintended the clear
ing of hundreds of acres in the
hardwood regions of Missouri, also
the pine land country of Alabama
and, while conditions In those states
are qultr different from those in
this country, still, I think out of
that experience 1 can offer Bonie
suggestions that will be helpful to
the man who Is up against land
clearing in this country.
Of course, no method or sugges
tion can be made to apply indiscrim
inately to all kinds and conditions
of land clearing, but each man may
discern which suggestions. If any,
are applicable to his eHpecial piece
of clearing.
To the man with second-growth
timber, or timber too small to be of
commercial value, my method of
clearing pine lands In the south
may offer some helpful suggestions.
For that country It simply cut the
cost in half. I proceeded as fol
lows: Preliminaries.
In early midsummer the begin
ning of good drying weather 1
went Into the timber with a force
of men, pairing them to right hand
and left hand choppers, -and asslgn
ing to each Dalr a strln of
about 20 foot wide, theBe strips par
alleling each other across the land
to be cleared. The men were In
structed to cut all trees nearly to
the point of falling, until they had
gone some distance, when each pair
of choppers was given the signal
to throw a tree In the direction
from which they had come. I will
add that all trees had been cut in
fall behind them, as grass behind
ino mower. This was enBy while
the timber was straight and the
weather usually calm at that sea
sou of tho year. At the given
signal each nalr of chnnnnr wm.M
fell a tree us nearly slmul(aneounly
as consistent, and as the timber
was thick these trees, utrlkln
others, caused whole areas. Rftmn-
timos amounting to an acre or two,
to fall. This Insured, first, the easy
felling of all trees In the same di
rection, and at the same time with
loss labor than if each tree had
been foiled separately. The treo
trunks all lay parallel and not tan
gled up. Thus was greatly lessened
the subsequent work of piling tho
poles for burning, after slashing
had been fired. In this way the
slashing was quickly done and the
trees loft to dry Just as they fell.
Right here Is a point, If all limbs
are loft on the trees the sap will
be pumped out of the trunks In a
fraction of the time It would take
the sun to dry It out. This Insures
a much bolter burn. Having the
timber distributed uniformly over
the ground Instead of piled Insures
a more uniform destruction of
briars and othor small growth at
firing time. I let this dry as long
and as thoroughly as weathor condi
tions would permit; then, with a
force of men stationed at Intervals
around the slashing, I gavo the
signal ft revolver shotto begin
firing; each man to fire to the right
of him until he reached the point
whore the next one began. This
tave me quickly a circle of fire
around the entire slashing which, In
reasonably calm weather, causes a
current of air from circumference to
center of slashing. This air current
quickly became almost a gale from
ail sides of the slashing towards tho
eenter. The burn was oompleto and
thorough, nothing much being loft
except the trunks of the trees which
were easily ricked Into wtnrows and
burned.
I'lilllng Stumps.
In this country elimination of the
stumps is the biggest item. Here, as
there, I find many decayed stumps,
especially in the logged-off lands,
which, if properly handled, can be
burned out entirely with little addi
tional work by burning trash upon
them. These stumps are usually
coated with a punky substance hav
ing great capacity for holding water.
With the first firing, if done at the
driest time, most of these stumps
will be stripped of this punky coat
ing, leaving the harder interior por
tions now exposed to sun and air. If
this slashing, and firing of some, can
be done a year or two in advance of
the bulk of the grubbing, several
advantages may be gained. On the
second year dry time it will be
found that those stumps so exposed
will fall a much easier prey to fire
than at the first burning, remnants
from the slashing fire being used to
burn about these stumps. Another
practice I have found good here and
elsewhere, is this: Where it is fea
sible sow the land in grasB, clover
preforably, as early after the slash
ing - fire as consistent. This will
serve several good purposes; the
clover, being a legume, will prove
a good soil builder and make good
pasture if desired. If a good Btand .
is secured It will smother briars and I
other small wild growth, subduing
them to a considerable extent. I
have also found that clover will
greatly hasten the decay of stumps,
making tho work of grubbing much
easier when you get around to it.
A. J. Miller.
pounds of grain, the tankage enables
them to pay 22.1 cents more per
hundred or $4.66 per ton. If the
pigs were only paving market prices
for grain when fed grain alone, this
14.66 may justly be counted as a
feeder's profit in addition to which
the tankage has added a very con
siderable item to the fertilizing
value of the manure.
WELL DRILLING
Geo. E. Scott, Contractor
city, sailsoas jtd eabch weuu
t it dCH
AIM Brlof sad Bunding BoonttBf
P. a Box Ul, FwOud, Ore.
P. 0. Box SM P. 0. Box TQ
Sola. Or. HdttmnOlo, Oa
Light Your Home with a Magic light
At Less Cost and Danger Than Oil The Under Ground System,
SUNSHINE AT NIGHT IN EVERY ROOM Gas for Cooking. IM
Us Tell you All About It A Fost Card Brings Full Information.
THKDA. BROS. CO, 618 Dekum Bldg Portland, Oregon.
The Kind that Grow
"You CAN'T Keep
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SEND FOR CATALOGUE
J I RI TT717D 188-190 Front St
J. DU 1 ZuIlttS. Portland, Oregon
Grain Fed Hogs
By O. H. Rtimon, Tnfltrttrtor In Animal
ilitalmmlry, O. A. C.
(fllM-iiul tn tho Farm Mugailne.)
AT THIS present price of grain and
hogs, hog feeding looks a little
discouraging. If a man has
600 bushels of grain and his pigs re
turn only one-hundred woight for
four-hundred sixty pounds of grain
consumed, the pigs are returning
little more than miller's prices for
the grain. To be sure the feeder
has some of tho valuable part of the
grain loft in the form of the fertil
izing constituents In the manure,
but some feeders have not learned
that there Is any value attached to
this product. Mont feeders Inslnt on
a feeder's profit over and above that
Inherent in the manure. How to do
this without securing a higher price
for hogs Is a problem which many
aro asking the Experiment Station
to solve. While there are many
problems connected Willi pig feeding
on which the Exporiment Station Is
still laboring and will yet have to
work out this one at least is largely
solved.
When grain Is fed alone snmo of
It Is not utilized to the best Advant
age by the pigs because the pigs re
quire something to put with the
grain to cnablo them to make tho
most complete use of the grain.
That Is, tho gruln does not contain
all the Ingredients In just the cor
rect proportion to suit the pigs
needs. The Ingredient which Is de
ficient In tho grain Is the nlbumen
ous or nitrogenous one commonly
culled protein. A pound and a half
of Hltlm-mllk or buttormllk with
each pound of grain fed niakos It
possible for the pigs to make much
more comploto uso of the grain.
In the ab.sonce of milk or In case
an Insufficient quantity of it la
available, tankage In the cheapest
thing on tho market to make the
grain more efficient. At 150 per
ton, 10-pounds of tankage to 90
pounds of grain will Increase the
cost of a hundred pounds of feed
by ten cents but it will make that
hundred pounds of feed produce
2.GG pounds more pork, which at 7c
per pound amounts to I18.G5 per
hundred, In othor words the feeder
nearly doubles on every cent which
ho puts Into tnnknge and feeds lu
tho proportion suggested. In terms
of returns per hundred pounds of
gain on the hogs, the feeder se
cures 87 cent more when he
feeds tanknge than when be feeds
straight grain, In terras of the
price which lb pigs return for 100-
sill
IT S jnr
7 i'
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MANUFAOTUREHS
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This is No Time to Take Chances
If you have surplus- funds,
Buy Conservative Bonds
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County Commercial Waterway District 7 per cent Bonds
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Ilogo BUg. Seattle.