38 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



powder. It is better to use a little too much than a little too little in the case of 

 these old-growth stumps, because partly blasted they are often worse to handle than 

 if they had never been blasted at all, whereas a smaller stump partly blasted can be 

 pulled out w r ith a team and a little chopping. 



After the timber has been cut four years most of the stumps of from 12 to 18 

 inches in diameter will be sufficiently rotted to be taken out with grab-hooks and 

 chain and a team, without the use of powder at all and without much chopping or 

 digging. The stumps of deciduous trees, such as alder, maple, etc., should in four 

 years' time be so rotted that stumping operations of any kind will hardly be needed, 

 except for the larger ones. Many of them will plough out, and the biggest should 

 easily be pulled out with a team. 



STUM PING-MACHINES. 



The taking-out of stumps with machinery is a very popular thing in the public 

 mind, and hand and horse-power machines have improved very much in recent 

 years. The writer's experience, however, is that many of the machines which have 

 been so much advertised in the past are more suited for conditions in districts 

 where the timber is not anywhere nearly so heavy as it is in most parts of this 

 Province, particularly in the Lower Fraser Valley. 



The horse-power machines may roughly be divided into two classes those with 

 the vertical drum and those, with the horizontal drum. The writer much prefers 

 those with the horizontal drum. The vertical drum does good work, but it has one 

 serious defect, in that the cable, which is a sort of spring-steel, is apt to unreel on 

 the drum arid fall off. There are devices for preventing this, but it is always more 

 or less a source of annoyance and delay. The horizontal-drum stumping-machines 

 are built more or less on the lines of a small donkey-engine. If the settler is going 

 in for this kind of stumping-machinery he had better get the best, and it is a good, 

 idea for two or three people to join in the procuring of one machine, as the machines 

 are rather expensive, gnd in any case require several men to handle them to 

 advantage. They are generally used where the timber has not been cut any great 

 length of time and the stumps are still green. It should always be remembered in 

 this connection that there are two operations in connection with the getting rid 

 of a stump one to get it out of the ground and the other to get rid of it once it is 

 out, and the latter is often the bigger job. Some of the horizontal-drum machines 

 are fitted with two speeds one a slow speed for pulling out the stump and the 

 other a higher speed for dragging the stump or a log over the ground to the place 

 where it is going to be burned. The cable and tackle generally connected with a 

 stumping-machine of this size are naturally all heavier and bigger than similar 

 cables, blocks, etc., would be if used with horses without the stumping-machine. 

 Moving these blocks and the cable about is a very heavy business, and the use of the 

 blocks should be avoided as much as possible, as they take so long to fix and get 

 ready, to say nothing of the constant moving. It is far better to use a pound or 

 two more powder than to economize on the powder and spend the time in moving 

 blocks and fixing tackle. It is not, however, advisable for any one to go in for these 

 large two-speed stumping-machines unless he has some previous knowledge of their 

 handling; otherwise there is liable to be a great deal of lost time and ineffective 

 work ; but a small, well-drilled crew, " thoroughly on to their job," can do very 

 effective work, particularly if the stumping-machine is geared or belted to a 

 gasolene-engine. 



ONE-MAN STUMPING-MACHINE. 



Within recent years there have been developed two or three makes of what 

 are known as one-man stumping-machines, and the^e are a very effective instrument 

 in the hands of a man who is willing to spend a little time in thoroughly mastering 

 them. They will save a great deal of hard work and also a considerable amount of 



