55 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



sible is secured; the ground evened up to obviate standing water, 

 and, where needed, arrangements made for irrigation and drainage, 

 as will be considered later. 



Removal of Standing Trees and Stumps. Old methods of hand 

 chopping, digging and burning by which the pioneers cleared their 

 way from the Atlantic to the Pacific have been largely superseded 

 by more efficient and cheaper methods and agencies, explosives, 

 horse and man-power pullers, etc., and descriptions of their use 

 have been published by the government in the interest of develop- 

 ment and settlement of idle lands. Those interested in clearing 

 should apply for such publications before enter-ing upon the work.* 



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

 for tree felling and stump extraction has increased considerably of 

 late. One which has achieved good results is a local invention called 

 a "California Stump Puller." It is simply a specially designed cap- 

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

 in diameter, an improved snatch block, 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 ad- 

 justed, 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 chaparral, the 

 second man can place the other chain around another bush, and the 



*An up-to-date review of the subject which gives due prominence to Pacific Coast 

 methods is "Farmers' Bulletin 974" on "Clearing Land" which can be had free by ap- 

 plication to the Division of Publications, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



