Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-02-04

/ Op0Q ldNQ DFlIIS ulSu p1ACCo. liz CuI-
over lands of northern Wisconsin,
| therefore, offer a good opportunity for
| the new farmer. The products of the
| farm in every case, whether they are
| the common farm crops such as but
| ter, eggs, and potatoes, or whether
| they are the wood products of the
new farm, will all buy more land
clearing material now than formerly.
| This is because none of the materials
| ard equipment needed for land clear
| ing has risen in prize to correspond
with farm products. 1t is also due to
the better selection and use of these
materials and to the organization OF
communities to purchase without
waste. The man who has to hire his
labor will not be able to do any better
than formerly, but in northern Wis
consin most of the clearing is done
by the man who owns the land. His
own days work will do just as much
now as it did five or more years ago;
and he can buy his dynamite and
other land clearing materials for few
err days of labor and for less farm
products than formerly
Green stumps, or stumps where the
timber has been cut only one or two
or three years, are usually not re-
moved economically because of the
extensive fibrous root systems which
hold the soil and make the stump diff
ficult to handle after it is taken from
the ground. Unless these stumps are
small or few to the acre and very
much in the way, it is better to post
pone the removal until the fine roots
have had a chance to decay Most OF
the area now being cleared in Wis
consin, however, has been cut for sew
eral years and the regular hardwood
stumps left by the lumbermen are
ready to clear as soon as the brush
and down logs can be removed White
pine do not decay much after 10 or
IL years so that delay in stunping
will not be of any particular use.
Burning tops is a bad practice as it
tends to destroy the top Of the stump,
thus leaving so-called blinds The
roots still solid are in the way and
the stump takes up as much room as
ever With green stumps it is best
| to brush and log first, seeding down
| the grass Then cut hay between the
stumps for. a few years, keep down
the sprouts and do the stumping work
when the stump is in the proper con,
dition2 Usually in the case of small
| second growth trees, one to three
years will be time enough for them to
rot so that removal will be fairly easy.
| This is particularly true with poplar
| trees.
A variation in the type of soil has
much to do with the difficulty OF re-
moving stumps. Clay soil sticks firm
| ly to the stump and makes it hard to
| handle and almost impossible to burn
| if the stump is pulled by sloW-mov-
ing pulling outfit. This is particularly
| true Of the Superior red clay and the
| heavy silt loans, with the white pine
| stumps or hardwood stumps which
have not decayed enough The soil
| modifies the nature of root growth.
Fer instance, a white pine on fiat
| heavy soil grows with very shallow
/ lateral root system The same kind of
tree on light sandy soil has a more
| extensive root system and the roots
| grow much deeper in order to get
| moisture which is not SO plentiful IN
the sandy soil This makes the stump
| harder to remove. The type OF soil
| may seriously affect the efficiency OF
| explosives and machinery. For in
stance, the heavier soils prevent the
easy escape of gases from the explo-
sive and therefore permit the explo-
| sive to do good work on the stump.
| A light soil permits easy escape OF the
explosive gases and therefore the
maximum action on the stump is not
obtained. The nature of soil also may
have much to do with the ease with
which charges may be loaded for
| blasting. A man may be able to make
100 holes in a loan soil easier than
he could make one-half the number in
clay.
The number of stumps per acre is
an important factor in that there is
| more work where there are SO stumps
per acre than where there are but 80.
| In addition, the number per acre may
determine the equipment which is
| most disable. If there are onl4a few
stumps per acre it may be best not
to await further decay of the stumps.
1t will probably be cheaper to get
them out at once and have clear
field. 1t is seldom desirable to use
capstan type of stump puller IN clear
ing land where there are only Few
| stumps per acre because it has to be
set IN too often and the cable must
be carried long distances from stump
to stump. There should be 80 to ~
stumps or more per acre if a stump
puller is to show the best results
Where the number is less than this
it usually pays better to use dyna
mite only and save the cost of the