252 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



keep them together. The harness is easier on them than the yoke and 

 they can, therefore, get through with more work.* I took a photo- 

 graph of the oxen with their harness, and as it may be of service to 

 other pioneer farmers, it is reproduced in PI. X, fig. 1. The arrange- 

 ment is very simple. It consists of a collar over which a pair of names 

 are buckled. A backhand supports the traces and a strap under the 

 chest holds them in place. Chains are used for traces. I bought this 

 harness in Seattle, made to order at a cost of $12 for the double set. 



Jt has been our policy to gradually extend the clearing of land when 

 time could be spared from other work. The timber is small and the 

 task is not a difficult one, but the stumps are numerous, and it became 

 necessary to devise some plan by which they could be pulled rapidly. 

 The roots do not grow deep and it does not take great power to pull the 

 average stump. A machine which was set up over the stump and worked 

 b}^ hand was first tried, but it proved to be too slow work, and it was 

 too cumbersome to move. As a cheap and efficient means to aid in this 

 work, I devised a simple stump-pulling tackle, consisting of two triple 

 blocks and 300 hundred feetpf 1-inch rope. One block is anchored to 

 a solid stump and the other is attached to the stump it is desired to 

 pull. When secured in this way the oxen are hitched to the rope and 

 driven up slowly, and the stump usually comes out without trouble. 

 The method of using this tackle is illustrated in PI. X, fig. 2. Two 

 men and a }^oke of oxen pulled 6 stumps in fifty minutes while I was 

 there. I mention this fact oif ly to show that it is a simple and efficient 

 machine. 



The illustrations show the method of attachment when the stumps 

 are cut high, or when they are very small. When the stumps are 12 

 inches in diameter, or when cut low so as to afford no leverage, we use 

 a device of two timbers about 6 feet high, fastened together in the 

 form of the letter A. To the top of this A is attached a chain or wire 

 rope some 4 or 5 feet long and terminating in a hook. The A leans 

 against one side of the stump and the hook is attached to a large root 

 on the other side. The power is then applied to the top of the A, and 

 as this is raised up the stump is tilted over. The device simply affords 

 greater leverage than when the block is secured directly to the stump, 

 as shown in the illustration. 



The station had about 5i acres in crops, most of which consisted of 

 grain. Winter wheat and winter rye had survived the cold weather 

 and came out in the spring in fair condition, though the stand was in 

 no case the best. A full line of the hardy vegetables had been planted, 

 but the cabbage and cauliflower had been nearly destroyed by insects, 

 and it was then too late in the season to raise new plants. Other vege- 

 tables were fairly promising, and the spring-seeded grains looked well. 



May and June had been unusually dry. During the month of June 

 the rainfall measured only six one-hundredths of an inch. In conse- 



