«66 THE GARDEr^ AND FIELD. May, 1914 



Destroying Stumps with 

 Acids. 



There seems to have been some 

 diversity of opinion as to whe- 

 ther dry and green stumps could 

 be destroyed with acids, and with 

 a view to determining the efficac}' 

 of this treatment, the Department 

 of Agriculture of N. S. Wales, 

 decided to experiment in tliis di- 

 rection. 



These experiments were carried 

 out according to the following de- 



BROK£}N REST AND NO DESIRE 

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(Adelalda Series, No. 11).' 



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Main Street, 

 Riverton. S.A., 18/10/'12 



" CLEMENTS TONIC, LTD. 



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ALL CHEMISTS AND STORES SELL 

 CLEMENTS TONIC EVERYWHERE. — 

 AdvU 



■Ign, and includtid both dry and 

 green stumps : — 



I. Dry — I pint sulphuric acid. 

 3. Dry — I pint nitric acid. 



3. Green — pint nitric acid, 

 pint sulphuric acid. 



4. Dry — % pint nitric acid, ^ 

 pint sulphuric acid. 



5. Green — pint nitric acid, % 

 pint sulphuric acid. 



6. Dry — % pint sulphuric acid, /J 

 pint nitric acid. 



7. Dry — I pint nitric acid, i 

 pint sulphuric acid. 



The stumps treated were of the 

 spotted gum, box, and ironbark 

 variety, and were from 18 inches 

 to 2 feet 6 inches in diameter. 



Holes were bored with a 2-inch 

 auger in the stumps about 18 

 inches from the earth-line at an 

 angle of 45 degrees to a depth of 

 18 inches. Each stump was then 

 dosed according to the design ; 

 the holes were then immediately 

 plugged with green plugs. 



Periodical notes were taken as 

 to the action of the acids, and as 

 six months have now elapsed, a 

 sufficient time has been given to 

 prove the experiment a success or 

 otherwise. 



It must be understood that the 

 whole of these stump.s were perfect- 

 ly sound and solid, also that two 

 iout of the three varieties, viz., 

 box and ironbark, are extremely 

 hard wood, and if the acid would 

 eat through these stumps then the 

 majority of other timbers would 

 be easy victims. 



The final examination showed 

 that, in the case of the dry stumps 

 in everj'^ instance the action of the 

 acids had no appreciable eflect, and 

 beyond a very slightly crumbling 

 of the wood — in extent aliout i 

 inch — in the immediate vicinity of 

 the hole no other efiect was notice- 

 able. 



As regards the green stumps, in 

 both instances the effect seemed to 

 be slightly better, the wood in the 

 immediate vicinity of the holes 

 had rotted to a depth of about 2% 

 inches, bait beyond that sound 

 wood was found ; in addition both 

 stumps had thrown out vigorous 

 suckers. 



The above result clearly proves 

 that sound stum])s cannot be des- 

 troyed with either sulphuric or 

 nitric acid or both, and the.se two 

 acids are of the strongest known. 



The experiment has an addition- 

 al value, inasmuch as it has pro- 

 \ided the actual cost per stump a« 

 against other methods. 



The average cost per stump 

 worked out at 1/9, which includes 

 cost of acids and labour paid at 

 the rate of 7/ per pa}' ; and it is 

 an open question whether men 

 could be found to work with two 

 such dangerous acids at that 

 figure. 



In the event of the success of the 

 acids, the great drawback to clear, 

 ing land by this method would be 

 the vast amount of valuable time 

 wasted in waiting for the stumps 

 to rot away, irrespective of the 

 danger of handling the acids, and 

 when time is taken into considera- 

 tion — and in every instance time 

 is money — cheaper and quicker 

 methods maV be adopted. 



Mr. C. W. Brown (Jilliby), in 

 the Gosford Times, recounts his 

 experience in connection with the 

 use of sulphuric and nitric acids 

 for destroying stumps :— 



I thought I would have a try 

 myself, as I have some heart- 

 breaking stumps here, and as I 

 take out everything in front of me, 

 regardless of size, I thoqght that 

 the acids would prove a great la- 

 bour saver. Having purchased 4 

 gallons of sulphuric and nitric 

 acids (2 gallons each), I started 

 operations on a green gr(>y-gum 

 .stump 4 feet high, and diameter 4 

 feet 6 inches. In that stump I 

 bored three holes with a 2-inch 

 auger, going the full depth of the 

 auger, and in those holes I poured 

 equal cjuantities of the acids, then 

 plugged up with a green spotted 

 gum plug, having previously put 

 same in paraffin, which I had melt- 

 ed, and then also poured some of 

 the iJaraffin over the plug to make 

 certain that it was air-tight. I 

 next tried a dead blackbutt stump, 

 10 feet hig'h and 4 feet 9 inches 

 across it on the top, the giant at 

 the butt being 24 feet 2 inches. I 

 bored four holes with the 2-inch 

 auger, going its full depth, and 

 repeated the same process as I did 

 with the grey-gum stump. After 



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64 HINDLKY STKET, ADELAIDE. 

 " Where the Oood Harness is made." 



