CLEARING LAND IN THE LAKE STATES. 



15 



on this tract were as follows: 16-inch, 7; 18-inch, 12; 20-inch, 18; 

 22-inch, 17; 24-inch, 16; 26-inch, 10; 28-inch, 4; 30-inch, 2; 32-inch, 1. 

 The average diameter was 22 inches and the average height 33 inches. 



On a neighboring tract, similar in all respects, the stumps were 

 pulled and cleaned under contract for 40 cents each. Here three 

 men with a light team, using a capstan machine, pulled an average 

 of 20 stumps a day. The man for whom the stumps were pulled 

 under contract formerly used dynamite of 40 per cent strength and 

 pulled the remaining roots with a team, using a block and line. 

 He also tried heavy blocks and line. All these methods were found 

 less satisfactory than a contract at 40 cents per stump. In piling 

 stumps the device shown in figure 9 was used, and with the same 

 crew an average of 50 stumps a day was piled. 



TRACT NO. 6. 



Tract No. 6 contained 1 acre of level land, having a loose, sandy 

 soil. It was cleared in August, 1913. The outfit used was a capstan 

 stump puller. At the time of tree growth this tract was wet; as a 

 result the stumps were shallow rooted. The tract was logged about 

 35 years ago. Repeated fires since that time had burned off the litter 

 until the roots of the stumps were well exposed, and there was prac- 

 tically no undergrowth or logs on the tract. The sizes of 62 white- 

 pine stumps, selected at random and measured on this tract, were as 

 follows: 12-inch, 4; 14-inch, 8; 16-inch, 9; 18-inch, 12; 20-inch, 11; 

 22-inch, 9; 24-inch, 9. The average diameter was 18.6 inches and 

 the average number per acre was 78. 



The low cost per stump of clearing this tract, as shown in Table 

 VI, was due to the small size of the stumps and to the fact that the 

 rooting system was very shallow. On this farm the actual cost of 

 clearing over a hundreb! acres of land has been $39.30 per acre. About 

 50 per cent of this land is as described above. The remainder is low, 

 wet, sandy land with cedar, tamarack, and occasional white-pine or 

 Norway-pine stumps. The average number of stumps per acre was 

 about 12, and their average diameter was about 10 inches. 



Table VI. — Cost of clearing tract No. 6. 



Item. 



Daysem- 

 ployed. 



Cost. 



Per diem. Total 



Pulling stumps: 



3 men 



1 team 



Use of stump puller 



Piling and burning stumps: 



2 men 



1 team 



Repiling stumps (time estimated): 



2 men 



1 team 



1 

 1 



1 



1.2 



1.2 



.6 

 .6 



$1.75 

 4.50 

 1.50 



1.75 

 4.50 



1.75 

 4.50 



85. 25 

 4.50 

 1.50 



4.20 

 5.40 



2.10 

 2.70 



Total per acre . . . 

 Total per stump . 



25. 65 

 .329 



