24 BULLETIN 91, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



a piler with a swinging boom, as shown in figure 9. The mast of this 

 piler is 30 feet high and the swinging boom 25 feet long. In using 

 this boom piler the mast is set so that it leans slightly toward the 

 pile. This causes the boom to swing to the center each tune. This 

 piler was used in clearing tract No. 5. Dropping stumps into a fire 

 by means of piling devices is impracticable, because the heat soon 

 becomes so intense that the piling operations must be abandoned. 



The work of piling stumps could be hastened materially if some 

 satisfactory tripping device could be used. The usual self-tripping 

 tongs and rope trips frequently catch on projecting roots and drop 

 the load before it is at the desired position. 



OTHER WAYS OF DISPOSING OF STUMPS. 



In the past a considerable number of Norway-pine stumps have 

 been used by turpentine manufacturers for distillation. The present 

 low price of turpentine and naval stores has made the distillation of 

 Norway-pine stumps unprofitable, and none of the turpentine plants 

 are now in operation. The white-pine stump contains too small a 

 quantity of the properties of the Norway-pine stump to make it of 

 any value. 



SUMMARY AND SUGGESTIONS. 



There are approximately 11,954,628 acres of logged-off land in 

 Michigan, 10,792,100 acres in Wisconsin, and 11,768,000 acres in 

 Minnesota. A large part of this area will make good agricultural land 

 if cleared and properly managed. In many localities poor methods 

 make the clearing of this land unprofitable. Cutting and burning 

 the second growth pasturing for several years, and keeping down 

 all sprout growth is the most economical method of handling all 

 logged-off lands before stumping them. Explosives play an impor- 

 tant part in clearing land. On the heavier soils dynamite, with 20 to 

 30 per cent of nitroglycerin or its equivalent, is to be preferred. 

 Cooperative buying in large quantities is recommended. Stump 

 pullers reduce the cost of stumping on lighter soils. On the heavier 

 soils the difference between the cost of clearing by explosives and 

 by the use of stump pullers is very slight. 



The cost of clearing the better grade of white-pine logged-off land 

 will average $10 per acre for disposing of the brush and $25 to $30 

 per acre for disposing of the stumps, making the cost of clearing $35 

 to $40 per acre. Some green hardwood lands and unburned swamp 

 lands will cost as much as $100 per acre. Some of the poorer jack- 

 pine lands can be cleared for $5 per acre or less. 1 The cost of dispos- 

 ing of the stumps after pulling practically equals the cost of pulling. 



1 Those contemplating farming the jack-pine lands are urged to study Smith, C. Heaman, Clover farming 

 on the sandy jack-pine lands of the North, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 323, 24 p., 

 1 fig., 190s. 



