FARMERS' REGISTER— STUMP EXTRACTORS— REMARKABLE PLANTS. 638 



STUMP EXTRACTORS. 



From the Northampton Cobrier. 

 The Genesee Farmer, a few weeks since, made 

 inquiries about tlie operation of Stump Extrac- 

 tors, and wished for information respecting- them. 

 A correspondent who has seen them in operation, 

 furnishes us with the followino; particulars : 



"The common method and that with which I 

 have been lonfrest acquainted, consists in a perpen- 

 dicular lever from ei<i;hteen to twenty four leet 

 long, (accordino; to the size of the stump to be re- 

 moved.) One end of the lever is made fest to a 

 larjre root of the stump as near as possilile to the 

 trunk ; tlie highest part of the stump is next fast- 

 ened to the lever at a point wliich becomes the ful- 

 crum. The power is then applied by a long and 

 heavj' chain to the end which is in the air, and thus 

 the stump is easily torn from tlie earth. Two yoke 

 of oxen will remove a stump of the common or 

 middling size without difficulty : but the earth 

 must be previously removed from around the 

 stump, and some or all of the roots must be cut 

 aw^iy with the axe. 



Another and better method is the horizoriial le- 

 ver, one end of which is fastened to a root of the 

 stump and to its trunk, (others say to a neighbor- 

 ing stump where there are many in a field,) the 

 power is then applied to the remote end of the le- 

 ver, and the stump at \hd opposite end, or the 

 stump which is used as a fulcrum, must give way, 

 more commonly the Ibrmer. A small wheel is 

 advantageously placed under the end where the 

 power is applied ; causing it to run over the ground 

 more easily than otherwise. By this metliod two 

 yoke of oxen and three men may easily remove 

 about forty stumps in a day, if they are of hard 

 wood, and somewhat old, (in which case little or no 

 digging will be necessary,) or perhaps twenty 

 green slumps of hemlock, pines, &c. 



The last and best stump machine I have seen or 

 heard of consists in a wheel and axle. A large but 

 simple frame is supported by (wo upright posts 

 within the frame, and uj)on the uprights an axle is 

 made to revolve by a wooden wheel of some ten 

 or twelve feet circumference, with a strong chain 

 passing around its periphery. Two yoke of oxen 

 will turn the wheel, and thus another chain fast- 

 ened to the axle and to the stump under the ma- 

 chine is wound around the axle until the stump is 

 torn from the earth. The machine though light is 

 somewhat unwieldy ; but the difficulty of trans- 

 porting it from one stump to another might be re- 

 moved by affixing wheels to it, and this would in 

 no wise interfere witii tlie operation of the ma- 

 chine. It is difficult to say how many stumps 

 might be pulled in a day in this manner, for such 

 computation would be influenced by a variety of 

 circumstances, such as the character and size of the 

 stumps, the nature of the soil, &c.; but many hun- 

 dred acres of the New England territoiy have 

 been cleared by this machine at the rate of ten dol- 

 lars the acre; and in some instances large tracts 

 of land which were once thickly wooded, have 

 been rendered stumpless for the small sum of eight 

 dollars the acre, every stump exceeding six inches 

 in diameter, being removed." 



GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. 



Watering with lime water, always when the 

 sun shone strongly, effectually destroys them, 

 witliout injuring the leaves. 



REMARKABLE PLANTS. 



From the last Westminster Review— Murray's Physiology of 

 Plants. 



Large Leaves. 



In the foliage of plants, there is a vast diversity 

 in superficial extent, as well as thickness. There 

 are leaves of microsco])ic minuteness; and others 

 of immense size. Some species of coltsfoot are of 

 considerable magnitude ; and leaves of the rheum 

 palmatum, have l)een ibimd to measure five feet in 

 their longest extent, by three feet in their greatest 

 breadth. These, though remarkable for this cli- 

 mate, sink into insigniificance in comparison with 

 tropical foliage; the leaves of the dancea elliptica 

 measure, in many instances, not less than six feet 

 in length, and nearly eighteen inches in diameter 

 in their widest part. The leaves of the strelitza re- 

 gina grow to the height of three or four feet by 

 eighteen inches, and sometimes leaves of this plant 

 will be found still larger. The leaf of the niusa 

 paradisiaca, or plantain, has been found to measure 

 more than fen feet in length, by two feet at the 

 base. Some leaves of palms far exceed even these 

 dimensions. A leaf of the corypha umbraculifera, 

 or great fan palm, or talipot tree, sometimes mea- 

 sures five and thirty feet in circumference, a suffi- 

 cient covert for thirty or forty men. The rafia 

 palm of Madagascar is said to measure sixty feet. 

 A frond of the ciboa palm serves the natives of 

 Africa as an umbrella, and thus protected Mungo 

 Park from the tropical rains. In the South Sea 

 Islands, the leaf of the talipot palm serves as a pa- 

 rasol, as it does the pur])ose of an umbrella in the 

 East Indies. At Manilla, one of the Philippine 

 Islands, a Jesuit missionary had a dwelling con- 

 structed for him under two palm leaves, where ho 

 said mass, and slept secure; it was a complete co^ 

 vert from the storm, and no rain could penetrate. 

 In consistency also, tiie fronds or leaves are very 

 various : airy like gossamer, or the texture of the 

 most delicate film, up to the coriaceous mass of the 

 Nopal, or the tliick succulent leaves of some me- 

 senibryanfhcmums, and the rigid ones of the 

 agave. The leaves of the paliscourea rigida, large, 

 tough, and unyielding, rustle like parchment in 

 the wind ; and the cactus spinosissimus, and soma 

 yuccas and agaves, might form a stockade or cir- 

 cumvallation, which would defy an enemy with all 

 the armory of war. Indeed, we once remember 

 to have seen, near to Orbitello, in Italy, a field, 

 of whicli the agave americana was the entire fence, 

 and a most impenetrable barrier it seemed to be. 



Leaves are sometimes beautifully polished, and 

 shine like ivory. The begonia nitida has leaves 

 which possess a beautiful lustre: the magnolia, 

 the holly, and the laurel have leaves that seem to 

 be varnished. Each leaf of the double cocoa nut 

 is twenty feet long and ten feet wide. Sometimes 

 the leaf is silky, or satiny, resembling the pericarp 

 of honesty. The silver tree, protea argentea, pre- 

 sents a beautiful example of a shining satiny leaf; 

 some leaves are so clothed with down as to resem- 

 ble white velvet : the verbascum tkapsus, or great 

 mullein, is a familiar instance of a thick woolly 

 covering for the surface of the leaf Sometimes 

 this satiny or woolly integument may be stripped 

 off entire, a process which is managed with consi- 

 derable dexterity by the natives of the south of 

 Africa ; the stalks and leaves tlius treated, supply 

 stockings, gloves and caps. According to Hum- 



