one of these machines, aided by five men and two yoke of oxen, was in
the habit of clearing fifty acres annually.

I have cleaned hedge-rows and stony spots on my place in the following
thorough manner: A man commences with pick and shovel on one side of
the land and turns it steadily and completely over by hand to the
depth of fourteen to eighteen inches, throwing on the surface behind
him all the roots, stumps and stones, and stopping occasionally to
blast when the rocks are too large to be pried out. This, of course,
is expensive, and cannot be largely indulged in; but, when
accomplished, the work is done for all time, and I have obtained at
once by this method some splendid soil, in which the plow sinks to the
beam. A drought must be severe, indeed, that can injure such land.

There is a great difference in men in the performance of this work. I
have one who, within a reasonable time, would trench a farm. Indeed,
in his power to obey the primal command to "subdue the earth," my man,
Abraham, is a hero--although, I imagine, he scarcely knows what the
word means and would as soon think of himself as a hippopotamus. His
fortunes would often seem as dark as himself to those who "take
thought for the morrow;" and that is saying much, for Abraham is
"colored" as far as man can be.

I doubt whether his foresight often reaches further than bedtime, and
to that hour he comes with an honest right to rest. He is a family
man, and has six or seven children, under eight years of age, whom he
shelters in a wretched little house that appears tired of standing up.
But to and from this abode Abraham passes daily, with a face as serene
as a May morning. In that weary old hovel I am satisfied that he and
his swarming little brood have found what no architect can build--a