60 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



draws it from amid the debris of fallen foliage to the next victim. 

 The extraction of roots by this method of pulling is said to be very 

 complete, and the earth is loosened to a considerable depth. 



Powerful traction engines, manufactured for hauling combined 

 harvesters and steam plows, have also been very successfully used for 

 the removal of large trees in land clearing. 



Horse-Power Stump Pullers. The use of horse-power devices 

 for tree felling and stump extraction has increased considerably of late. 

 The one which has achieved good results is a local invention called a 

 "California Stump Puller." It is simply a specially designed capstan 

 worked by one horse, with a wire cable five-eighths of an inch in diame- 

 ter, an improved snatch lock, chains, and a drafthook to unite the 

 cable with the chains. Power is applied to the capstan with a sweep. 

 It is calculated that with this device, properly adjusted, one horse is 

 enabled to produce an effect equal to the capacity of 60 horses without 

 it, and that a 1,200-pound horse which can move a dead weight of one 

 and a half tons for a short distance can move a dead weight of 90 tons 

 with the devices employed in the machine: It is so rapidly adjustable 

 that on one trial in Napa county eighteen stumps were pulled in 

 eighteen minutes, long roots coming clear out of the ground with 

 each stump. 



The Use of Powder. Another means for the removal both of 

 stumps and of growing trees which has come into quite wide use during 

 the last few years, is high explosives, which have vastly cheapened the 

 clearing of lands, where either large trees or stumps have to be 

 removed. Full instructions for the use of powder are furnished by 

 the agents in San Francisco, and they often send an expert to start the 

 work and give instruction if there is much to be done. It has been 

 estimated that the cost of handling trees and stumps with explosives 

 is less than one-fifth that by hand grubbing, and the ratio of saving 

 increases as the trees are larger, as powder is cheaper than muscle. 



Removing Shrubs and Brush. In the case of removing shrubs 

 of a somewhat tall growth, the top is made to help out the roots. This 

 is done either with a good strong rope or a chain. To do this requires 

 two men and a pair of horses, and two chains, each ten or twelve feet 

 long. A chain should be placed around the bush some distance above 

 the ground, to give leverage. If the bush is not removed at the first 

 pull, start the horses in the opposite direction. While the driver is 

 unfastening the chain from the chapparral, the second man can place 

 the other chain around another bush, and the one who gets through 

 his work first should at once assist the other. In this way the horses 

 are kept in constant employment, and neither of the men need lose a 

 moment's time. This work should be done when the ground is thor- 

 oughly wet. 



Another rig to snake brush and small trees is contrived in this way : 

 Use single and double block or shives with 1-in. diameter rope. On 

 the block you pull from (the double block) use two 10- ft. chains with 

 ring in one end and hook on other. Secure this to a good anchor 

 bush or to three or five of them, enough to hold. Fasten them right 



