The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-06-25
vSJHAT is the poor man 8 way of re-
" moving stumpsf In the Pacific

ing and including the Rocky mountains,
from the Lakes to the Gulf, and from
Maine to Florida, there are people who
want to know.
And yet, since men commenced the
practice of telling whole forests where
ever it was convenient to do so and the
law did not forbid, numerous ways have
been devised for getting rid of stumps.
Horses, oxen and mules have been used
to drag them out ofthe ground. Engines
have been similarly used, either uproot-
ing the stumps by direct pull, or oper-
ating lifting cranes. Blasting powder
has been employed to split and loosen
them in order that they may be lifted
or dragged out.
But none Of these methods do for the
poor man; and generally it is the poor
man who seeks the stump-bound from
tier for the purpose of making home.
Because he is poor, to do his work he
must at first resort to primitive means.
These in the case of logged-off land
to be cleared are his bare hands, fire
and his ak.
An AK of some sort, though but a
club weighted at one end with wedge
shaped stone, has been obtainable by
men in all known ages. Fire is for the
free use of every man who can find
fuel, which is generally plentiful in for
est clearings. Hands are part of man
himself, hence are his nearestby and
most dependable means of doing things.
So these three resources are within
reach of every able-bodied man, rich
or poor; and the question is, "Can any
man in the single lifetime that is his
remove stumps from enough acres of
land to make good sized farma"
Results Of Investigation.
Investigations that have recently
been made in the logged off districts of
Washington and Oregon promise way
of removing stumps which is within
reach Of every man, rich or poor. In
deed, the method is more than a prom
Use, and has passed the ex ,erimentai
stage; for bulletins are now in posses
sion which in the immediate future will
be sent far and wide throughout stump
dom, explaining how, by simple pro
cess of burning, the roots OF a big
stump can be turned into charcoal. That
finishes the stump so far as its obstruc
tion to farming is concerned.
In the idea of charcoal burning there
is nothing new. For many centuries
the production Of charcoal has beer
understood and practiced among botl
civilized and uneivilized people. 1r
Sweden it is made from rectangular
piles of wood, the process being regu
lated by the careful admission Of ali
through holes in the coverings over thu
wood. In China charcoal is prepared il
pits, preferably in clay soils. In mos
countries where wood is abundant
charcoal burning is carried on by fiji
ing conical piles of billets Of wood fron
a central hole or chimney.
Charcoal is used as fuel, and as
reducing agent in metallurgy. 1t
used in the manufacture Of filters, an
may be administered as medicine /
some cases Of dyspepsia. On account o
the resistance Of charcoal 70 the actio
of water, stakes for wet soils and tn
inside of casks are charred previou
to use. Chickens eat charcoal and mos
poultrymen know it's value for mali
tanning the health Of their birds.
So charcoal is well known produc
having value for many different pul
poses and the methods Of it's prodactio
are well known, and have been know
for many centuries. But in all thf
time the fact that charcoal -burnin
could be used to destroy stumps as bi
as they grow, was overlooked
Underground Fires.
Manifold are the illustrations whit
many of us have seen, indicating plai
ly that fire will burn under the grour
If properly controlled. Engineers ha'
often Observed that logs which ha'
been laid down in swampy land for u
first bed of railroad will burn und
the grade when the protruding ends d
out sufficiently to catch lire in dry Sc