Clearing Ohio's trees a tough job by Bill Schreiner

We are celebrating the 175th anniversary of Oberlin this year. In order for this celebration to take place there were hardy pioneers in this area during the late 1700s and early 1800s who made it possible through their hard work for others to come to the area.

When I drive through the lands of the Western Reserve, it stretches my imagination to think of this land being entirely covered with virgin forest containing trees more than 200 feet tall and up to five feet in diameter. What an enormous job it must have been to clear this land for the plow.

The following is a description of how this was accomplished taken from a book, "The History of Ohio, County by County," first published in 1842.

When the hardy sons of New England reached the Western Reserve they were confronted by dense forests of gigantic timber, of which the land had to be cleared before it could be cultivated. The first work after locating the farm was to clear away a few trees and build a cabin. Once established therein, the Herculean task of clearing the forest was commenced.

Although inured to hard work, few of these settlers had had much experience in clearing off virgin forests. Trees were cut one at a time, the brush and limbs piled in huge heaps, trunks cut into logging lengths, and the land thus cleared was sown to grain. It took a single man a month to chop down a single acre of hard-wooded forest.

Soon after the grain had been harvested and during a dry spell the brush and log heaps were fired. The brush heaps were soon consumed, but the log heaps required weeks of laborious attendance unless the weather remained dry. The logs required constant rolling together and re-piling, which was heavy dirty work.

The second year some attempt was made to plow between the stumps and break off roots as were sufficiently rotted. They were piled, and when dry were burned. The second crops were generally corn, with sufficient potatoes for family use.

After 15 or 20 acres had been cleared as described, a different plan was generally adopted, namely, that of "slashing." This was a more rapid and cheaper plan, but required an expert to manage it successfully.

Slashing described: The slasher carefully studied his field of operations to ascertain which side the prevailing winds would strike with the greatest force. He then examined the trees, especially their tops, to learn whether they were bushy or not. Depending now on his judgment as to the width of the strip which he could embrace in his "windrow," he commenced on the leeward side of the tract, chopping the trees perhaps half, one-third or one-fourth off at the stump, the amount of chip or "kerf" taken out depending on the inclination of the tree.

Continuing backward toward the windward side of the tract, he thus cut notches of greater or less depth in all the trees of the tract of about 30 feet in width, deepening the notches as he approached the windward side of the tract. These notches were cut so that in falling the trees would incline toward the middle of the strip.

If, upon finishing the notching of the entire strip, the wind was favorable, the last large tree selected for a "starter" was felled against its next neighbor in line, which in turn falls against its neighbor in line and so on until a terrific crashing is inaugurated which commands the instant attention of every living thing in sight or hearing. The crashing may continue for several minutes if the tract is a long one. The noise is appalling, and only equaled by that of a tornado sweeping through an immense forest.

When all is still, a marvelous change has come over the scene. Where a few minutes before stood a wide expanse of virgin forest, a mighty swath had been cut as though some giant reaper had been mowing the forest as a farmer does his grain. Rising several feet above the earth, there appeared a prodigious mess of tree trunks and limbs, which would arrest the onset of the mightiest army. In this manner the slashing progresses, strip by strip, until the entire tract lays in windrows.

The brief time required to slash a given tract seems incredible to those who are not familiar with this branch of forest pioneer work. Two slashers, accustomed to working together, could fell more than double the area of the forest that either could do alone. Good slashers could average about an acre a day, if the timber was heavy -- and the heavier the better. Two workmen in company could slash 20 acres in nine days. Slashings were usually allowed to lay for two or three years, when, during a dry spell of weather or with a favorable wind, they were fired.

If the tract was a large one, several men and boys would commence firing simultaneously. After the fire had done its work the remaining trunks of the trees were cut into logging lengths. This was usually done with an ax, but sometimes they were burned off. Burning off consisted of laying large or small logs crosswise on top of large logs and kindling fire at the junction. Although the fire burns off the upper log, it also eats rapidly into the under log. When the upper log is nearly burned off it is slipped along a foot or more and the process repeated.

By "sawing" the upper piece in the burned kerf of the lower one, the charred portions are rubbed off, and the fire takes hold with renewed activity rapidly cutting off the lower log. One experienced man could attend a large area and burn off faster than the best chopper could do the same work with an ax.

Potash establishments were generally located in most of the settlements. As soon as the log-heaps were burned, the ashes were gathered and leached with water to form lye which was boiled down to form crude potash. This was used in making soap and was a staple article of commerce.

Clearing off the stumps: After all the fatiguing work described above, the ground was still not in proper condition for the plough. Stumps had to be cleared out and this took years. The smaller ones were pulled out from time to time and burned. The larger ones were allowed to decay and burned during a dry spell. Several years elapsed before a crop of good grass could be grown. Eventually "dairying" became an important industry in the Western Reserve. By the year 1900 there were very few people who could describe the years of toil required to clear the forests from this vast fertile area.