IRISH GARDENING 



185 



The Removal of Large Tree 

 Roots. 



On most large private estates, and in many public 

 parks and gardens, the necessity of getting rid of 

 the roots of large trees very often arises. The 

 trees may be blown down during storms, or for 

 various reasons they may have to be felled. As 

 a rule, the trunk and branches are easily got rid 

 of. If the timber be sound it will probably be 

 disposed of in the usual way, but if in any way 

 faulty or decayed it is only fit for firewood, and 

 can be sawn up for that purpose. The stump or 

 root, however, has generally to be removed, and 

 as it may probably, in the case of large trees, 

 weigh several tons, it is no easy matter to 

 accomplish this. In the neighbourhood of build- 

 in g s, where 

 blasting is out 

 of the ques- 

 tion, m u c h 

 labour is en. 

 tailed in the 

 task. Resort 

 may have to 

 be made to 

 planks and 

 rollers, with 

 probably 

 horse haulage 

 and a large 

 staff of work- 

 men, to effect 

 removal. By 

 means of 

 wedges and 

 much labour, 

 something 

 may be done 

 to reduce the 

 bulk to mov- 

 able size, la- 

 boriously 

 breaking off 

 portions, piece 

 by piece, but 

 with hard 

 wood the pro- 

 cess is a long 

 one. Never- 

 theless, when it can be done, the stump may 

 then be removed to some open space and finally 

 demolished by blasting. 



At Glasnevin. where a good deal of blasting 

 is done most winters, Nobel's dynamite is found 

 very safe and satisfactory. Here it is pre- 

 ferred to gunpowder, being more powerful a?id 

 perfectly safe when reasonable precautions are 

 observed. 



Only a careful man accustomed to the work, 

 and who can be relied on to take no risks, should 

 be put in charge of the operations. If the stump 

 is sound — that is, not split or decayed in the centre, 

 and of moderate size — one borehole will be suffi- 

 cient, but on this point no definite rules can be 

 laid down. The cartridges used here are about 

 % of an inch in diameter and about 3 A- inches long, 

 and for these an inch and a half augur hole will be 

 wide enough. The borehole may be from a foot 

 to 15 inches or more deep, according to the depth 

 of solid wood to be split, and it may be straight 

 down or slanting in the direction of greatest thick- 

 ness, as where a thick side root may have 

 descended. The hole made with the augur should 



Preparing a Beech Stump for Blasting. 



be cleaned of all loose chips to ensure the 

 dynamite resting on the bottom. One, two or 

 more catridges may be put in a charge, but only 

 one at a time, squeezing each home separately 

 with a wooden rammer. It cannot be too 

 strongly emphasised that iron should never be 

 used in squeezing dynamite, and the cartridges 

 must always be soft enough to squeeze easily. 

 If they are used in a hard condition the shock of 

 squeezing may cause an explosion with lament- 

 able results. Having inserted the requisite 

 number of cartridges the next operation is to cut 

 a piece of fuse, the length being regulated by the 

 depth of the hole, but always long enough to give 

 the operator time to get out of danger before the 

 explosion takes place. The open end of the fuse 

 is then pushed into a detonator cap until it reaches 

 the fulminate right at the lower end of the cap, 

 and it is essential that the fuse does reach the 



ful minat e, 

 otherwise it 

 may burn out 

 without e x- 

 ploding the 

 cap, and a 

 missfire o c- 

 curs, always 

 a n unsatis- 

 factory and 

 dangerous 

 state of affairs 

 The open end 

 of the cap 

 must then be 

 squeezed to 

 the fuse with 

 a pair of pin- 

 cers to pre- 

 vent it com- 

 ing off. A 

 ] j rimer cart- 

 ridge, which 

 is about half 

 the length of 

 an ordinary 

 one, and like 

 it wrapped in 

 paper, is now 

 opened at one 

 end and the 

 cap with fuse 

 attached is 

 pressed into it about three-quarters the length of 

 the cap. The open end of the paper is now drawn up 

 round the fuse and tied in position with a piece of 

 twine. The primer with fuse is now gently lowered 

 into the borehole until it rests on the dynamite 

 previously inserted, but it must not be squeezed 

 down. The hole is now filled in round the fuse 

 with tamping consisting of fine soil or sand, and the 

 charge is ready for firing. All workmen, except the 

 man in charge who fires the fuse, must now get out 

 of danger and place themselves round about the 

 scene of operations so as to prevent any straggler 

 from penetrating the danger zone. When all are 

 safe the workman left at the fuse now proceeds 

 to light it with a fusee match, and immediately 

 the powder is properly burning he too must 

 quickly get to safe quarters. The length of time 

 elapsing between the firing of the fuse and the 

 explosion varies, of course, with the length of the 

 fuse, but no one should be near the stump a 

 second after the fuse is lit. 



The accompanying illustration depicts the stum 

 of a very large beech tree, felled here last winter, 

 with a workman preparing the charge. J. W. B. 



