Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-02-21
EXPLAINS CHAR-PITTING

LM LHllvO UIlAn-TllIlVU
EXPERT DEMONSTRATOR GIVES
METHOD OF CLEARING.
Says System Is Practical and That
| Land Can Be Cheaply Cleared
+. Thereby.
AS an aid to enabling a man of
small means to clear piece of logged
off land at small expense, Professor
! H. W. Sparks, supervisor of the dem
t onstration farm at the Washington
State College at Pullman, says his
method of burning stumps and logs
will work a revolution in this part of
, the country. While he realizes the
Importance of the method which he
|, has perfected, he is withal modest.
4 His method, which he daily is DEM
onstrating in Vancouver in connection
with the convention of the South
4 western Washington Development AS
Il sociation, reports the Telegram, is
attracting a great amount of atten-
ton, and at one of the sessions here
it will form the base for a plan for
the formation of $1O,0O0,000 corpo-.
ration to buy up logged-of land and
convert it to use. Professor Sparks
says:
Method Simple.
1.-TWO years ago | learned of a man
who had burned stumps, using what
was locally called the charcoal
method. I visited him, and sure
enough, he was burning stumps. It'll
seemed to be very simple method
He put a little fuel around the stump,
covered it over with a little sofl gave
it little attention every day, and the
stump was finally burned out, far
down into the ground. Having mas
tered his method, as soon as / could
l went out on farm institute work and
| told others how to do the work byI
that method. Later, in coming back
over the same route, l learned that
method had failed. l was, therefore,
concerned to know the cause of their
failure. Upon investigation, I learn
ed that failure in some instances was
due to differences in the soil, others
to improper understanding of the
method, and so on.
II discovered that the difference in |
soils was not due so much to texture
as to other characteristics, which
were principally, the conductivity, or
conductivity, of the soil. There is
another factor which / believe to be
important. That is radiated heat A
well established rule of radiated heat
is that the heat diminishes in intensity |
as the square of the distance from the
radiating body increases.
Cost Per Stump.
Near Chehalis, Washington, Harry
Thompson and myself fired 100
stumps. We tended to them and
charged 25 cents per hour for the
time we worked. The stumps were
removed in this way for less than 40
cents each. Harry Yount of Wood
land, Washington, removed stumps
for about 35 cents each. Mr.. McCor-
mack, editor of the Woodland Echo,
owns a stumpy field that has been
plowed for years in the same way,
piling up the soil on the upper side
(the field slopes westward and toward
the prevailing wind), and plowing
away from the lower side. He con-
tracted to have the stumps removed
for SO cents each. The man who took
the contract had some skill for the
work. and, perceiving the natural ad-
vantage of conditions, fired the
stumps on the lower side only, result
ing in his taking out the stumps for
about 20 cents EACH l could tell of
dozens of men who have taken out
stumps successfully by these methods.
The principal thing is to adapt the
method to local conditions of soil and
climate. 1 believe l am justified in
saying that it is more difficult to burn
during the season of extreme rain
fall where soil is not we'll drained,
and that the sandy or gravelly soil
burns just as well, if not better then.
perhaps because the sand packs or
bakes better around the roots when
wet, and also because there is better
draft in cooler weather In our re-
cent experiments we found several
roots not burned as deep as they
should have been in clay soil.
Oil For Fuel.
I'VE have been experimenting with
different fuels to find something
cheap and practicable for use in place
of the wood on the ground for unfa-
vorable seasons, and have found fuel
oil very good. 1t costs but SO cents
per barrel IL bought in quantities {
This is the same fuel that is used by
oil-burning locomotives and so on
We paid SO a barrel in small lots
Csingle barrels). and used from one {
TO two gallons to each stump. Having \
previously prepared the stump by !
taking Off the bark and digging away I
the surface soil about the depth one s
would pillow and about one foot out
from the stump at the surface, with I
the side of the trench sloping in to- I
ward the stump at the bottom. We
first put in some sawdust; or in the I
absence OF sawdust used chips. small a
pieces OF wood and bark. making good ]
kindling wood of Il. The kindling is {
necessary for the purpose of furnish
ng the necessary heat to ignite the !
lil, which. like coal. will not burn I
well until heated. We then pour the :
1n over the kindling, and with some J
wood and bark over the top to hold '
he covering up. We cover with clay, !
finders or the soil around the stump. '
Z ~ for the purpose. We soon see the I
fleet in the burning stump. After
ward the care is about the same as
with an methods Keep the FIRE COW
red We do not think it necessary
70 use the fuel oil in dry seasons. :
when We can gather the material that {
viii burn uan nrrira fhn NJ -. I