10
Removing Stumps at Moderate Cost
J. L. Ashlock, of the Washington State College, Gives Much
Valuable Information,
(Concluded.)
fifHILE the process as described bus
If eeeded very well in Woodland
clearings and elsewhere where
similar conditions prevailed, Sparks
very soon round that in other localities
it would fail. For instance, the Wood
. land method would not do the business
in sandy soil.
It took many months to surmount this
difficulty. Finally, laying aside for the
moment the studv of different mechani
cal steps to produee burning. Sparks
ueivea into the science of heat, radia
tion, combusion, and kindred subjects,
seeking in the foundation sciences of it
all the solution for his problem. He
eventually succeeded, working out his
conclusion in this wise:
The covering is put on the wood to
keep the air from reaching the fire iu a
volume which would produce complete
combustion. But that is not all. The
covering is put on to conserve the heat.
Therefore, a good covering must be a
non-conductor of heat. Such a covering
should bo loose and fluffy, one whieh
does not run together and solidify'under
the influence of heat. Clay is sueh a
covering, and sand is not.
Now, why is this truet Well, in the
f.rst place, "dead air" is the most ef
fective barrier to the radiation of heat
that is known. Anyone who has built
a house or even lived in one, knows that
a house with double walls is warmer in
the winter than a house with single
walls. Hut what has this to do with the
covering over the kindling wood which
is to fire a stumpt
Simply this: Each n.inute pore space
in the soil composing the cover contains
a small bit of air. The sum total of air
thus retained is considerable, and is a
dead air space. Heat f scaping through
the covering must warm the imprisoned
air before getting out, and that is not
quickly thine.' So the heat of the fire
is held under the cover.
Sight Kind of Soil.
Clny is the right kind of soil, but
why? There are two principal reasons.
The first :'s that clay soils are usually
enric lied by a considerable amount of de
cayed organic material, leaves, particles
of roots, ami other combustible sub
stance. When the clay becomes intense
ly heated, the organic material is con
sumed, leaving small cavities which im
nudin'olr fill up with air. Thus a clay
so'l becomes light and fluffy when sub
jected to heat.
The second reason Why clay is good
for a covering is that it does not run
into the fire and smother it In this
particular, sand fails. The particles are
so loosely "bound" together that they
sift down into the fire, and also", when
tho organic material contained in the
sand is burned out, the mass settles to
gether in a solid mass. Sand used for
a covering not only smothers the fire by
pouring into it, but packs together and
excludes the air, making combustion
quite impossible.
To overcome the difficulties encoun
tered where sandy covering is alone
availahle, Sparks tried artificial cov
erings such as sheet iron, tin and the
like, all of which failed. He also tried
lime, tar, and many different Bubstances
as a "binder" to hold the sandy soil
together, and again failed. Finally he
tried cinders and ashes for the covering
where clay soil was not available. He
succeeded. Ashes, while unlike clay,
remain light and fluffy during the fir
ing, which is the desirable thing.
Recent Demonstration.
In a reeent demonstration showing
bow to char-pit stumps in sandy soil,
the bark was removed from the stump
and roots where the fire was to be ap
plied. A shallow trench was made
around the stump, and into this was
placed the fuel covered over with a
mixture of ashes and cinders. Two
operators fired 18 stumps in six hours,
and 13 were burning the following morn
ing. Three had been put out by a heavy
rain. The other stumps were char
pitted. In the way described the problem of
sandy soils was settled. Then another
difficulty arose. When the soil was
right, and all other conditions for fir
ing apparently ideal, failures would, nev
ertheless occur. Men would fire their
stumps, some of which would burn out,
nd others would fail, though it seemed
that all the stumps bad been treated in
the same way.
HOME ANT) FARM
Upon investigating such cases, Sparks
uiscovcrea that whero failures occured,
it seemed to be because the toD of the
j stump had been bnrned instead of the
nase ana roots. Another class of fail
ures wero apparently due to neither the
top nor the roots having taken the fire.
This desultory kind of suecess did not
add to the popularity of char-nittin-
stumps, and for months the outcome of
tne investigations was dubious.
Sparks again took ud the scientific
side of the question. Badiated heat, he
reasoned, travels in straight lines, aud
when it strikes an opposing surface, the
angle at which it is deflected is equal
to the angle at which it strikes. That
is, if the bulk of the imprisoned heat
comes against the inner part of the cov
ering along perpendicular lines, it will
be thrown back perpendicularly, or into
tne tire. Hut if tho lines along which
the heat approached the cover formed
an angle the bulk of the heat would
eitner De thrown into the stump higher
up, or away from the stump into the
ground, this depending of course upon
the angle of contact. In other words, if
the cover were piled too high up the
side of the stump, and if it were flat
tened too much, most of the heat would
bo driven into the ground. In either
case, firing would not occur. Tho heat
from tho fire should bo driven back
along perpendicular lines into tho fire
from which it came. The intense heat
generated by this manner of radiation
and reflection is shown by the occa
sional forming of a clinker under the
crown or the stump.
To overcome the difficulty which is
experienced in regulating the height of
the cover, beginners are simply advised
to experiment till they find how high
tne pile should be for their particular
conditions. No definite rule can be
given.
Suitable Fuels.
Another line of experimentation has
been to find different fuels which are
cheap and suitable for use where wood
cannot readily be obtained for kindling,
which is often the case in seasons of
prolonged rain. Fuel oil has been found
to be very good for this purpose. This
is the same material which is used by
oil burning locomotives. In using this
fuel oil for stump burning, the stumps
are prepared by taking off the bark and
digging away the surface soil to a depth
of six or seven inches, making a trench
about a foot wide and the side sloping
toward the stump. Some sawdust is put
in tho trench, or in the absence of saw
dust, a few chips. The kindling is nec
essary to ignite the oil, which, like coal,
will not burn well until heated.- Then
the oil is ponred over the kindling.
Next, some bark and pieces of wood are
thrown over the fuel oil to hold the cov
ering up. Next, clay or cinders are put
on, or soil, if it is the right kind. From
this point on the usual care is given.
It is not necessary to use fuel oil in
dry seasons where combustible material
can be secured.
Recent experiments have been made
with the view of reducing tho anonnt of
fuel necessary to start the fire. Stumps
were selected where two roots were lo
cated about the right distance apart
for a small fire between them. Then
the bark was removed, after which a
small hole about a foot deep was dug
between the roots. Then an auger hole
was bored from the side of each root
opposite the hole, piercing down and
across the roots, and coming out about
half way between the ground line and
the bottom of the hole.
Then the fire was started in the hole,
using not more kindling than could
easily be carried at one armful. When
the fuel had burned down to a bed of
coals, one pint of fuel oil was poured
down each of the augor holes, tho holos
then being covered over lightly to pre
vent too strong a draft. The following
day it was found that the stumps had
been successfully fired. The advantage
of using auger holes is that there is af
forded the opportunity of supplying the
fire with concentrated fuel without dis
turbing the covor, and the auger holes
furnish a vent through and under the
wet sapwood, thus evaporating moisture
in the wood and making it more sus
ceptible to the fire.
How Fires Are Built.
Hardwood trees are not common in
Washington and Oregon, so experiments
MAOAZTNTI SECTION
up to this time are limited in that di
rection. Hemlock stumps have been
burned, however, an odd but effective
device being used. A number of 30
penny nails were driven into spots of
the wood which would be exposed to the
fire, five or six nails being driven into
each spot. The heads of the spikes
we- left sticking out abont an inch.
The fire was then built in the usual way.
Iron is a good conductor of hent, so
when the fire was burning, the heat fol
lowed the nails into the wood, drying
out and making it more combustible.
The stumps were destroyed in this way.
Green stumps will burn very well
when started, though they are a little
more difficult to fire. The bark, which
is nature's protection to the growing
tree against the extremes of tempera
ture, should be removed. Chop through
tne sapwood m a few places. Then
with good kindling and ordinary eare,
green stumps may be fired. In experi
ments which nave been made in clear
ings of Oregon and Washington, stumps
of all kinds, from 50 years old to a few
weeks, have been burned out.
More difficult to landle tlian green
stumps of otherwise fairly combustible
wood, are the stumps of white fir and
eeaar. . I lie former trees are also known
as balsam. Balsam stumps frequently
Become so wet that they wdl not float.
Cedar stumps likewise will absorb much
moisture. Furthermore, their roots are
often small and numerous, and it is the
big roots which yield most readily to
char pitting. Men of Western Washing
ton and Oregon who have succeeded in
char-pitting other tree stumps, report
many absolute failures with cedar and
white fir. Among them it is quite gen
erally agreed that in bottoms where
white fir and cedar predominates, the
char-pit method is more difficult of
operation than on benches whero red
fir and equally combustible stumps are
found in soil which is of a clayey con
sistency.
Sparks, however, has succeeded in fir
ing white fir and cedar, and, while ac
knowledging it to be a, difficult thine
to do, believes that it can be done where
the necessary preliminary steps are
taken. His method begins with the
chopping away of the bark and sapwood
and the exposing of as much of the roots
as possible so that in tho dry season
the stumps can dry out. He docs the
firing in the very dryest season of the
year. Auger holes are bored into the
stumps, nails are driven in, pitch and
other concentrated fuel is used in the
kindling, and every precaution is taken
to dry the stump and make the fire as
hot as fire can be made. The cover
should' be put on with every possible
care.
Pitch For Kindling.
While pitch is useful in tho kindling,
pitch in the stump retards the process.
This is because charcoal-burning is
largely a matter of distillation, and an
excess of resinous substance . in the
stump naturally makes the process of
distillation slower; that is, the pitchy
constituent of wood is distilled off in
stead of burning as it does in an open
flame. Rather curiously, water nn en
tirely non-combustible substance, and
pitch which is highly inflammable, alike
retard the process of cliar-pitting.
Of the economic importance of a
method of removing stumps which is
within reach of the man who by neces
sity is compelled to rely upon his bare
hands, his ax, and fire, and which can
be operated successfully upon all stumps
of ordinarily combustible wood as big as
they grow and down to eight or twelve
inches in diameter, little need be said.
In Washington nlone there is a strip of
land paralleling Ptiget Sound, which is
from 15 to 30 miles in width and 150
miles long, much of which has not been
reclaimed from the forest clearings. Es
timates which are accepted as approxi
mately correct by the agricultural ex
perts of tbe state, indicate thnt this
undeveloped empire should yield $50,
000,000 annually in agricultural produce;
that it is capable of supporting ton times
the population it now supports; that
five acres of the land is quite suffi
cient for an average-sized family. Quito
recently the Stato College has been in
formed that preparations are under way
to rid several thousand acres of this
land of stumps by the char-pitting meth
od during tho coming summer. A few
months ago tho commissioners of one
of the Sound counties let a contract for
the removal of stumps from a county
road by the charring process, and a 15-year-old
boy whose home was in the
neighborhood where the work was dono,
caught tho idea of it, and within a few
weeks had burnt out 165 giant stumps
from his home clearing, doing tho work
unassisted by older persons.
But even this leaves a wide margin
of value for the char-pitting process. II
is the stump of diameter ranging front
24 to 60 inches that puts dismay into
the heart of the farmer. He knows
that by hard work he can get out tho
scrubby growth. Perhaps he can even
afford to use nn inexpensive chargo of
powder now and then to split and loosen
the smaller stumps. Show him how to
get the big ones out, and before many
months have passed, he will have a till
able clearing.
Natural gas has been found on a farm a
few miles west of the town of Dauphin,
Manitoba, which is about 178 miles north
west of Winnipeg. It is reported that the
gas baa been burning with the flam six
feet above the ground for several days.
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