146 FARM APPLIANCES. 



which any blacksmith can make. The point of the hook 

 must be formed so that it will strike in toward the heart 

 of the stump and not tear loose on partially decayed wood. 

 The lever may be twelve to twenty feet long, its size de- 

 pending on the quality of the wood and the force to han- 



Fig. 176. A SIMPLE STUMP-PULLER. 



die it. A lever twenty feet long on a stump two feet in 

 diameter, would exert a force of ten tons for each one 

 thousand pounds of direct pull by the team. Though 

 many durable, long-rooted stumps would not yield to 

 this, the large majority of ordinary stumps, after decay- 

 ing a year or two, can thus be cleared out, with most of 

 the roots. 



Figure 177 shows a stump-puller used in New Zealand. 

 The thread of the screw works both ways and gradually 

 draws each chain nearer the center, where the screw is 



Fig. 177. NEW ZEALAIO) STUMP-PULLER. 



turned by a movable bar. One end of the chain is fast- 

 ened around one stump, and the other around a second ; 

 then when the ^prew is turned, whichever stump is the 

 less firm in the ground is bound to be pulled out. The 

 screw is readily worked by a man, though it will, as a 

 rule, require two persons to work it on heavy land. 



