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two or more ounces of saltpetre are put, or it is filled up with 

 kerosene and plugged up. In line weather, in the spring, the plug 

 is removed and about a quarter of a pint of kerosene is put in if 

 the saltpetre has been used, or the hole is again filled up with the 

 oil if oil has been previously applied. This being set on fire, it is 

 said the stump will continue to burn away quietly until both stump 

 and roots are consumed. Personally, I am of opinion that a little 

 dynamite properly applied, or one of the other methods of clearing 

 mentioned in this chapter, are cheaper and more satisfactory in the 

 end. 



There is a fourth method, which is certainly the most expe- 

 ditious, but it requires a large amount of capital and would only pay 

 where a large area of country had to be cleared. I refer to the use 

 of traction engines fitted with long wire ropes by means of which 

 the trees can be pulled down as they stand, without any preliminary 

 preparation, and then " snigged " up into rows eight or ten chains 

 apart, and there left for all time or to be burnt off at leisure. If 

 this process is followed there is nothing to do but to fill up the 

 holes and set the stump-jump plough to work. 



Mr. James Biram, a Victorian farmer recently arrived in this 

 colony, writes as follows to the Secretary of the Bureau of Agricul- 

 ture : " I send you herewith particulars of a plan that has been 

 adopted in South Gippsland, Victoria, for the last seven or eight 

 years, of burning out or stoving trees or stumps, instead of grubbing. 

 The Gippsland timber required to be killed by ring-barking for two 

 or three years first, but I believe that in the north-eastern and 

 Goulburn Valley districts of Victoria, among the box timber, they 

 will burn out at any time, and this method has been in use for many 

 years there. Some of the timber in this colony might be like the 

 box and burn out at any time, while others might want to be killed ; 

 but I am sure it is worth trying. The method is as follows : 



" Clear away all the earth from the stump and the surface roots 

 to a depth of about six inches. Pack small billets of wood alongside 

 and over the surface roots, and also pack billets all round the stump 

 for a height of about one foot or eighteen inches. Cover all the 

 billets with earth exactly in the same manner as for burning char- 

 coal, leaving a small vent-hole for the purpose of lighting a fire. 

 When the fire is fairly alight close the vent-hole. Go round the 

 fires once or twice a day with a light wooden rammer, and where- 

 ever the ground is loose or has burned hollow, press the earth close 

 again and keep it covered up. The success of the operation lies in 

 not allowing the fire to burn hollow, but in keeping the earth close to 

 the burning roots and stumps. In this manner the largest sized timber 

 may be burned out in from one to three weeks, and the roots will 

 be burned down quite clear of any plough or other farm implement. 

 After the burning, spread the ashes and earth again. The top part 

 of the stump that is above the banked up earth will burn through 

 before the stump is burned. It must be rolled aside and the earth 



