284 THE UTILISATION OF WOODLAND PRODUCE. 



Stump extraction is usual only when converting woodland 

 into agricultural land, as it seldom pays to grub up the stumps 

 for fuel (though it is the best safeguard against the Pine- 

 weevil in Conifer woods). It can best be done by implements 

 or machines which all work upon the principle of gaining great 

 force by leverage. If the side-roots have been cut through all 

 round, the stump can often be raised by the leverage of a 

 long and stout pole passing through an iron ring attached to 

 a strong hook, that can be inserted below one of the main 

 side-roots (Fig. 77). Or a long pole can be fixed with one 



end resting on 



77- the ground and 



the other on the 

 top of a jack, 

 with an iron 

 chain binding 

 this end of the 

 pole to one of 

 the stump-roots ; 

 and as the jack 

 is wound up, the 

 stump is parti- 

 ally tilted over. The Australian monkey-jack is another method 

 of applying strong leverage ; but one of the most powerful is 

 the American Hawkeye, worked by horse-power, the machine 

 itself being firmly moored to one or more stumps, and the 

 extracting force being provided by strong leverage. Large 

 stumps are also often blasted with gunpowder or dynamite, 

 but this is not always cheaper than the use of mechanical 

 appliances. 



The best season for felling timber is during autumn just 

 before the fall of the leaf, or during winter as soon as possible 

 after the fall of the leaf, when the tree contains least sap and 

 when there will be least evaporation and shrinkage. But if 

 Oak or Larch is to be peeled for tanning-bark, or if oak-coppices- 



Stump-extraction by hook-and-pole leverage. 



