Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-10-01
MAKING STUMP FENCES.
A Creation That is pleasing 10 s"i"e
Artistic Taste and Useful to the
Farmer

Farmer.
NY. sun.
One OF the most noticeable features,
NJ the farm lands IN this vicinity,
Tybere low hills end valleys make the
scenery beautiful, writes wink
correspondent, IS the stump renee
There is an Indebtedness Of outline
and wayy irregularity Of construct
ION about a stump fence that entran
ces AN artist of the Dsisariian school,
bnt the stump fence here Is the out
Growth of necessity, and not Of arts.
fic taste When the land was cleared
Il was fenced with rails and the ground
between the stamps was planted with
corn and wheat and potatoes. Alter
a time the soft wood Stumps, sucn as
Eastwood, rotted away, but, nifty sea
sons of rain and snow mad no more
effect on the pine stumps that oot'ed
these fields than a spring shower mas
on a ducks back. At first the far
ynerg tried to burn out the slumps,
hut Inc wood charred over and the 1re
went out. and then the stump got
water.logged m the next rain, and ali
tbe ingenuity Of a Vermont Yankee
coul5n't set them on frs after that.
The farmers tried blasting, but a keg
of powder put under the heart OF a
six foot stump only served 10 split IL
omen and leave the two or three parts
apparently as firmly lm bedded as they
were before. Finally a machine was
devised for pulling out bodily the
stHmps that had resisted the elements
for half a century. II was simple
affair. Three beams, seven by eleven
inches large and nineteen teet long,
were placed in the form of a pyramid
with their tops united in heavy cast
ing that had big cast-lfon nut IN us
ceRter These beams were suitably
braced about 0ne-thrd Of the way
from the Top. A cast>iron screw
twelve feet long and FIVE inches IN dl- /
ameter ran down through the big nut
in the casting aud was prolonged by |
means of q heavy wroughtiTon rod to I
within two feet Of the ground, where
the rod terminated in two hooks !
When a stump was to be pulled this
big frame was placed over II, Inen /
hole was dug under the largest visible
root and a big chain was pat unuRr
the root and secured to the hooks on .
the screw rod. An able-bodled horse
was then hitched 20 a long ever con>
nGcted with the nut at the top OF the
timber frame. When the horse began
to travel around the frame, the screw
began TO rise and something had to /
give way. That something was usu' I
ally the stump, but occasionally the
chain broke or the screw stripped It's /.
threads. AS the stump raised, the
dentist, as the man who managed the
machine was called, walked around it +
and jabbed a big iron crowbar down /.
through the sod
That's to LET the air into the nol- /
low said Farmer Kelly, one of the
best known stump dentists OF the
country, as he repeated the operation
around the roots Of big stump that
slowly rose out Of the ground "We'd
be lifting against fifteen pounds to
the inch, besides the weight OF the
stump, if we were TO make a vacuum
down there, you know
As the stump came out of the ground .
chain called wrapper was put
around il and the screw rod TO keep it /.
from canting over, and then all hands
vigorously cleaned the dirt from the
roots with picks and crowbars that
were spoon shaped at one end.
Owe get 81 Is for each stump pull
eel and put in the fence. The best days
work on record is S2L25; the worst,
one stump. That was six feet in
diameter and weighed about two tons.
It lifted more dirt than can estimate
with it. When the stump is out and
cleaned it is trimmed a bit, aud then
rolled on 70 q sort of a mud boat and
dragged to the fence line. The broad,
Eat tangle Of roots faces out from the
field to be fenced and forms barrier
that no preaching celt or critter ever
tries to pass. The manufacturer
charges $3.50 for the iron parts of the
machine, and if the purchaser has not
the skill TO make the wooden parts he
can buy them all ready for business
for $40 more. Within the last few
years dynamite has been used with
considerable success to shatter the
old stumps, but 1t is dangerous to
handle and makes a good many fails
ures. leaving the stump partly split
and more difficult 10 pull than before.
Besides that, a shattered stump rs no
good for fencing. stump machines
came m when rail fences roUed out,
and they FIJI the vacancy cheapiy and
ejfectuauy.'