The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-10-29
PIONEER RANCHING.
MAKING A HOME I'M THE WOODS
NEAR PUGET SOUND.

Clearing Away the Undergrowth-Felling
a Big Cedar -- Splitting Boards for a.
Cabin-Getting the Land Ready for the
Plow-Burning Trees. NE
Well Young man, we will suppose you
have gone west and have located a quarte1;
section-160 acres-of bottom land in a Puga4
sound valley. The first thing you viii pfob
ably do after locating is to erect your eabhH
There is no road to your ranch; you are foTe
tunate if there is horse trail; and the river
is toosW to navigate with a heavy load, saS
you cannot get sawed lumber TO build 1T
with You gaze in wonder at the mighty
trunks appearing around you, and conclude
that you are not sufficiently skilled in wood
craft to build house out of them. The wisest
course is to engage an old resident to help
you.
You 60 together to the ground and, your
building site being selected, he sets you to
work cutting underwood, while he, shoulder
ing a Ito you) strange looking implement-a
board about six feet in length by about eight
inches in width, slightly narrowed and
rounded at one end, upon which is securely
bolted on the upper side plate of steel with
a fiared edge-and an ak, disappears in the
underground, leaving you to struggle with
vine-maple-a growth peculiar to the Pacific
slope. 1t seldom exceeds six inches in Diane
ter, but grows SO tall that bending with its
own weight, often takes root again, and be-
ing severed, straightens with vicious kick,
sometimes severely injuring the unwary ak
man.
IN THE WOODS / J
After you have been working for two or
three hours, and have perhaps stopped to
look in ainazement at hazel bush with
trunk as thick as your thigh, you hear loud
prolonged "Look out below,n and mighty
cedar cracks sways and falls with a crash,
grinding and splintering the smaller trees bev
meath it, The earth trembles as from AN
earthquake, and for several minutes the
limbs keep dropping from trees that have
been grazed. Making your way to the spot,
you Chamber upon the trunk-no easy thing
to do, for it is six or eight feet in diameter
The first thing that attracts your attention is
the height at which the stump is cut--ten feet
or more from the ground-with that strange
looking board sticking in notch at a con.
venient height for chopping. "What did
you stand on that thing to cut the tres
downs" The old resident smiles: ave call
that chopping board; you see the timber is
all swell butted SO we are obliged to climb
to get above the bulge. When you get used
to it, you will prefer standing on board to
cutting from the ground"
SPLITTING BOARDS.
Your next task is to saw a length from your
tree and split it into pieces of the required
size. Taking a frow somewhat longer and
heavier than is commonly used for splitting
shingles, the old resident proceeds dexterously
to rive these pieces into inch boards; and by
nightfall you have almost enough lumber to
make 12xl4 foot cabin. Owing to the diff
Guilty of transporting lumber, nearly all farm
buildings are built Of split lumber, except in
the immediate vicinity Of a saw mill. Fir and
spruce are also split as well as cedar. With
little care in dressing a tolerably comfortable
and respectable looking house can be made ed
split lumber. Not long ago I assisted lii buiiti-
ing house 24x34 feet We felled a single fir
tree, six feet in diameter; from this we built
the entire house, lining, ceiling, flooring and
all, besides furniture From the waste there
was about four months firewood, while more
than 100 feet of the top remained.
CLEARING THE GROUND.
When you have your cabin completed, with
good clay freplace-no house is comfort
able in such moist climate without one-and
a couple of months supplies brought either
in canoe or packed on a cayuse Qndian
pony you are ready to commence clearing.
The underwood and smaller trees are easily
cut and piled ready for burning; then you
must fell the immense spruces and frs. These
may be either chopped sawn or burned down.
When burned, a horizontal hole is bored
about eighteen inches in depth and two feet
from the ground, with another hole bored
from above to intersect it; live Goals are then
dropped into the upper hole, and famed to
flame through the lower or draught hole,
The interior Of the tree soon becomes like q
furnace; and in few days burns down; Hae
stump often having burned several feet below
the surface. Now you have the enormous
trunk-between 200 and 800 feet in length
to dispose of; this is done by boring and fir
ing-as was done in the standing tree-at in
teryals of u few feet. You find the clearing
very laborious; and are not long in discover
ing that it costs from $50 to $75 an acre to
get the land ready for the plow; but this
acre viii produce on an average, $50 bushels
of potatoes, seyenty-five of OATS or four tons
of hay, and other things in proportion
Snohomish City Cor Detroit Free Press.