120 



FARM DEVELOPMENT 



For arable fields all trees and stones should be re- 

 moved. In some cases the difficulty of removing stones 

 and stumps will not permit the immediate completion of 

 the work. Time allows the stumps to decay and our 

 fungous bacterial friends may be allowed to gradually 

 decompose the roots until the stumps may more readily 

 be removed. Time also gives opportunity for accumulat- 

 ing the means and forces necessary to remove obstacles 



Figure 46. Showing use of windlass and "stump hook" or "root plow." 



which could not be removed with the limited resources 

 at first available. Where the stones or stumps are not 

 too thick the cultivation may, in some cases, at least 

 temporarily, be carried on among them. The stump 

 may be removed easier by attacking the roots while the 

 tree is standing, rather than after it has been cut down. 

 Any mechanical device for pulling the stump affords 

 greater advantage if attached some distance up the body 

 of the tree. Usually, however, the lumbermen precede 

 the settler and only stumps remain to be removed. 



Grubbing is the heavy and expensive part of the work 

 of clearing, Heavy machinerv is being developed for 

 removing stumps, and explosives are useful, yet hand 



