3:i iSTATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Upper Peninsula. 1— Land clearing anrl its problems is the most im- 

 portant qnestion facing the farmers in the cnt ovei' sections. 2 — The 

 average of cleared acres per farm is too small to make economical and 

 sncces-ofnl farming. 3 — ^The rate of clearing, based on a ten year average 

 was one acre per farm per year, mnch too low for the development of 

 resonrces at hand. 4 — The reasons for this slow rate of clearing hy 

 the settlers already on the cnt over regions, were fonnd to lie several — 

 lack of knowledge of the economical methods of clearing, wasting ex- 

 plosives throngh improper handling and bnying, too many accidents 

 dne to improper nse of explosives, and a lack of interest and nnder- 

 standing of the problems of land clearing on the part of the bankers and 

 bnsiness men. 



The problem in the lower peninsnla is one of getting rid of the stnmps 

 that are interfering with the cnltivation and economical farming of 

 the fields that are cleared and have been farmed for a number of years.. 

 We do not consider a piece of land cleared until all of the stnmps have 

 been removed. 



Land clearing in the cut over regions of Michigan, wliile ordinarily 

 classed as reclamation work, differs from most reclamation projects. 

 Here the soil, rainfall and climate are naturally ])rovided and adapted 

 to agriculture. The sole obstacle is the brush and stumps which must 

 be removed before the land can be tilled. Every farmer in this territory- 

 is confronted with the same ])roblem and every farmer without excep- 

 tion, can be benefited, financially and socially by an intensive campaign 

 in better, quicker and safer methods of clearing. 



In this respect, land clearing dilfers from other reclamation work in 

 the state. It is a problem which must be worked out by every settler 

 and some program is absolutely essential to take care of the farmers 

 now developing new homes, and new men Avill eventually develop the 

 rest of this territory, to give them the benefit of all past experience 

 and some definite aid, if this territory is to become a prosperous fanning 

 section. 



To accomplish this it Avas necessary to interest all who have mutual 

 enterprises in the cut over sections of Michigan to the importance of 

 more cleared acres and to .secure their continued co-operation. 



The work was cari'ied on through the county agents and the extension 

 s^'stem, by (1) demonstrations in uses of dynamite and picric acid, 

 (2) laud clearing exhibits at county fairs, (3) meetings with county 

 boards of supervisors, (4) winter farmers meetings, (5) business organiza- 

 tion meetings, (6) newspaper ])ublicity, (7) land clearing schools, (8) 

 landclearing story contests, and (9) picric acid distribution. 



Thirteen demonstrations in the uses of dynamite and picric acid were 

 held in the fall of li)21 in the Upper Peninsula with an attendance of 

 2170 farmers. This clearly indicated the need of education in the use 

 of explosives as well as need of education in the use of stump pulling 

 equipment. From our suiwey it is estimated that one-third of all the 

 dynamite used for agricultural purposes is wasted because of improper 

 methods or the Avrong material being used. Further, it was found that 

 one-half of all stum]) pullers purchased should never have been bought. 

 Either the type of clearing was not adajited to stump pullers or tlie 

 machine was not ecjuipiJed with the right attachments. The carload 



