The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-08-28
MAKING STUMP FENCES.
A Creation That Is Pleasing to Some Ar
tistic Taste and Useful to the
Farmer

tlStlc taste and Useful to the
Farmer.
One of the most noticeable features
of the farm lands in this vicinity, where
low hills and valleys make the seen
cry beautiful, writes Willink CORE
spondent to The NeU York San, is the
stump fence. There is an indefinite
ness of outline and wavy irregular
ltv of construction about the stump
fence that entrances an artist of the
Delsartian school. but the stump fence
here is the outgrowth of necessity, and
not of artistic taste. When the land
was cleared it was fenced with rails
and the ground between the stumps
was planted with corn and wheat and
potatoes. After a time the soft wood
Stumps, such as Eastwood, rotted
away, but fifty seasons of rain and
snow had no more effect on the pine
stumps that dotted these fields than
spring shower has on a ducks back.
At first the farmers tried to burn out
the stumps, but the wood charred over
and the fire went out; and then the
stump got water-logged in the next
rain, and all the ingenuity of a Yer
mont Yankee couldn't set them on fire
after that. The farmers tried blasting,
but keg of powder put under the
heart of a siX-foot stump only served
to split it open and leave the two or
three parts apparently rs firmly en-
bedded as they were before. Finally
a machine was devised for pulling out
bodily the stumps that had resisted
the elements for half century. 1t
was a simple affair. Three beams,
seven by eleven inches large and nine
teen feet long, were placed in the form
of a pyramid, with their tops united
in heavy casting that had big cast
iron nut in its centre. These beams
were suitably braced about one third
of the way from the top A cast-iron
screw twelve feet long and five inches
in diameter ran down through the big
nut in the casting and was prolonged
by means of Il heavy wrought-irOn rod
to within two feet of the ground, where
the rod terminated in two hooks.
When stump was to be pulled this
big frame was placed over it. Then
hole was dug under the largest visible
root and big chain was put under
the root and secured to the hooks on
the screw rod. An able-bodied horse
was then hitched to lever connected
with the nut at the top of the timber
frame. When the horse began to
travel around the frame, the screw be-
gan to rise and something had to give
way. That something was usually
the stump, but occasionally the chain
broke or the screw stripped its threads.
AS the stump raised, the dentist, as
the man who managed the machine
was called, walked around it and jab-
bed big iron crowbar down through
the sod
That's to let the air into the hol-
low," said Farmer Kelly, one of the
best-known stump dentists of the
county yesterday, as he repeated the
operation around the roots of a big
stump that slowly rose out of the
ground ''We'd be lifting against fif-
teen pounds to the inch, besides the
weight of the stump, if we were to
make vacuum down there, you
know"
AS the stump came out of the
ground a cham called a wrapper was
put around it and the screw rod to
keep 1t from cutting over and then all
hands vigorously cleaned the dirt from
the roots with picks and crowbars that
were spoon shaped at one end.
1--WE get S1.25 for each stump pull
ed and put in the fence. The best
days work on record is $21. .25; the
worst, one stump. That was six feet
in diameter and weighed about two
tons. 1t lifted more dirt than can
estimate with il. When the stump is
out and cleaned it is trimmed a bit,
and then rolled on to sort of mud
boat and dragged to the fence line.
The broad, flat tangle of roots faces
out from the field to be fenced, and
forms barrier that nc preaching colt
or crItter ever tries to pass. The man
ufacturer charges S160 for the iron
parts of the machine, and if the pur-
chaser has not the skill to make the
wooden parts he can buy them all
roady for business for $40 more.
Within the last few years dynamite
has been used with considerable sue
cess to shatter the old stumps, but it
is dangerous to handle and makes a
good many failures, leaving the stump
partly split and more difficult to pull
than before. Besides that, shattered
stump is no good for fencing. Stump
machines came in when rail fences
rotted out, and they fill the vacancy
cheaply and effectually."