250 STATE BOARD OF AGRrCULiTURE. 



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

 definite aid, if this territory is to become a prosperous farming section. 



To aceomplisih this it was necessary to intere^-it all ^vhom have nratiial 

 enterprises in the Upper Peninsula to the importance of more cleared 

 aicres, and to secure their continued "co-ioperation. 



The work was carried on through : l. demonsti*ations in uses of dyna- 

 mite and picric acid, 2. land clearing exhibits at county fairs, 3. meet- 

 ings with county boards of supervisors, 4. winter fanners meetings, 5. 

 business organiz/ation meetings, 6. nev^^spaper publicity, 7. land clearing 

 schools, 8. land clearing story contests and 9. picric -^cid distribution. 



Thirteen demonstrations in the use of dynamite and picric acid were 

 held in the Upper Peninsula with an attendance of 2170 farmers. This 

 clearly indicated the need of education on the use of explosives as well 

 as need of education in the use of stump pulling equipment. From our 

 survey, it is estimated that one-third of all the dynamite used for agri- 

 cultui-al purposes is wasted because of improper methods or the wrong 

 materials being used. Further, it was found that one-half of all stump 

 pullers purchased should never have been bought. Either the type of 

 clearing was not adapted to stump pullers or the machine was not 

 equipped with the right attachments. The carload system of bujdng 

 explosives was introduced and saved the farmers thousands of dollars. 

 By correcting these faults, the cost of clearing has been and can be re- 

 duced to a much lower figure. 



It was necessary to get the land clearing movement before the eyes 

 of everyone in the Upper Peninsula and to spread broadcast information 

 that the Michigan Agricultural College was in a position to help fanners 

 in their land clearing work. To do this, we chose to visit all county fairs 

 with a land clearing demonstration by means of models, showing the best 

 approved methods and tools as well as featuring models of home made 

 devices. During the fall, twelve counties were visited aud" a total of 

 19,575 people viewed the land clearing exhibit. In personal talks with 

 various fanners, the need of education was again evident. 



To further the educational end of land clearing and to secure the neces- 

 sary funds to cany on our plans, we appeared before nine county boards 

 of supervisors asking them to appropriate sufficient funds to carry on a 

 series of land clearing schools in their counties. We received an aggre- 

 gate appropriation of about |S,000 to carry on thirty-eight land clearing 

 schools in ten counties of the Upper Peninsula. In the majority of cases, 

 the board of supervisors were far sighted enough to see the necessity of 

 land clearing and in several cases they attended the schools in a body. 



During the winter a total of 105 land clearing meetings were held in 

 the farming regions with an attendance of 10,045 people. A conservative 

 estimate shO'Ws G5% were farmers. Twelve counties were covered dur- 

 ing the winter. Moving pictures portrayed the best approved methods of 

 clearing land and arrangements were made for the land clearing schools 

 to be held in the spring. These meetings demonstrated a good healthy 

 interest in land clearing, and our ofiice has been called on continually to 

 aid farmers in their problems. These meetings also revealed that it was 

 necessary to show better uses of material on hand and to bring about a 

 cheaper rate of clearing, as well as to get cheaper materials in the hands 

 of the farmer. In many cases, it was found the cash outlay played an 

 important part in the manner in which the farm was cleared. In other 



