110 
from 18 to 60 inches in diameter at the 
ground, for an average of $1.40 each, in- 
cluding labor. From three to forty sticks 
of 20 per cent nitro-glycerine powder were 
used and the holes dug varied from. 24 
to 50 inches in depth. The cost ranged 
from 35 cents to $2.88 per stump. 
Old fir stumps are not quite so costly 
_to remove as green ones. Stumps five 
years old were removed at an average 
cost of $1.18 each. Some of these stumps 
were as large as 76 inches in diameter 
at the ground. 
Five-year-old cedar stumps in gravelly 
Soil come out for an average of $1.12. 
Some of these stumps were 120 inches 
across at the ground. Twenty-four sticks 
of 20 per cent powder was the highest 
charge used. 
Cottonwood stumps cost $1.90 on the av- 
erage, some stumps costing as much as 
$3.36 to remove. 
Old spruce stumps were removed for 
$3.39 each and alder stumps for 40 cents. 
The spruce and alder stumps were in 
silt soils. 
Charges may be fired either by safety 
fuse or electric battery, the latter method 
being surer and safer as well as slightly 
more economical. The charge is placed, 
fired and tamped the same as when safety 
fuse is used, a six-foot electric fuse being 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
the best for general use. The connections 
are made in such a way as to make a 
continuous circuit of all fuses with the 
battery, which should be placed at least 
300 feet distant behind a tree or tall 
stump, for safety. Insulated copper wires 
are used for making connections and all 
ends should be scraped bright before con- 
nections are made. Tape should be used 
for wrapping in damp weather or on wet 
ground. The blasting machine may be 
had of any supply house or is supplied 
by the powder company. 
Stump Pullers 
Stump pullers in Western Washington 
are unsatisfactory as compared with dy- 
namite. Two types have been in use— 
that which is hitched to the top of the 
stump, pulling it over laterally; the other 
hitching under the roots and lifting it out 
vertically. The failure of the latter is 
largely due to the great amount of work 
necessary in getting hitched up to the 
stump and the frequent moves that have 
to be made; a new “set up” being required 
for each stump. 
For either of these machines large 
stumps have to be cracked with a light 
charge of dynamite. 
With stump pullers it costs on an aver- 
age about $3 per stump to remove them. ° 
Fig. 7. 
Hercules Puller. 
