THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
97 
THE STUMP BURNER AS AN AID TO CLEANING 
LOGGED OFF LAND 
Not the least of the problems of the Northwest Pacific 
Coast fruit grower is the clearing of his land, if he is a begin¬ 
ner, of the native tree crop and its remains. The mere cut¬ 
ting of the timber and its removal is but an incident in the 
work of fitting the land for orchard trees. The removal of 
the stumps represents the really expensive part of the 
preparatory operation. This may cost 1 150 an acre, or it 
may amount to $300 or $400 per acre, which is a serious 
item to be added to the initial cost of the land. 
In a recent issue of Better Fruit, W. H. Lawrence of the 
Puyallop, Washington, State Experiment Station, discusses 
different methods of ridding the land of these stumps. It 
appears that most of the older methods are objectionable on 
account of expense. The hand method is the pioneer, but 
is being gradually superseded by other schemes. Capstans 
and stump pullers are used advantageously where the 
growth is not large, but the cost is high. Dynamite and 
stumping powder are also used widely, but they have the 
disadvantage of excavating large holes in the ground which 
have to be filled before plowing, and the further disadvan¬ 
tage of scattering the subsoil over the surface. The cost of 
the explosive and the work of hole-filling make this method 
expensive. Pitch pine stumps are also eradicated by 
boring intersecting holes which form flues, and by this 
means they are burned; but the method is also open to 
many objections, and requires very close attention. The 
use of stumping powder is very general, and perhaps this 
method is the most usual one employed; but it is open to 
the objection that many small blasts are required to eradi¬ 
cate the basal roots. 
Finally, the stump-burning machine has been intro¬ 
duced. It “consists of a one-half horse power gasoline 
engine with a thirteen-inch fly wheel, adjusted to run 650 
revolutions per minute, a circular fan. No. 4 American 
blower, with eight and one-half inch fan and two and one- 
half inch pulley provided with a patent wind distributor, 
tapped to attach five lines of one and one-half inch hose, 
hose couplings of pieces of one and one-half inch rubber hose 
of different lengths, a number of pieces of galvanized iron 
tubing, a few small iron plates and several lengths of boiler 
tubing slightly curved at one end, which are used as blow 
pipes. The hose couplings are used to make connections.’’ 
The tubing is connected with short pieces of rubber hose 
eighteen to twenty inches in length. This forms a machine 
comparatively small, of light weight, and cheap construc¬ 
tion. 
The writer describes how this machine was used to burn 
up stumps of different types of trees and varying sizes. 
The average cost of burning stumps large and small was 
$2.30. The average size of these stumps was forty-seven 
inches in diameter. The cost of removing stumps of this 
kind by using stump-blasting powder would amount to 
$3.25, besides the cost of filling the hole created by the 
explosion, and the subsequent work required to destroy the 
stump after it had been blown out. The writer draws the 
following conclusions from his experiments with the stump 
burner: 
1. The machine used is easy to handle and serviceable. 
2. Much time is gained by boring the holes by power 
and makes it possible to bore large numbers of holes in a 
very short period of time. 
3. Directing the flame by making vents insures burning 
in the desired direction. By the use of these vents, fire may 
not only be driven in the desired direction, but the rate of 
burning may be regulated. The rate of burning may be 
easily regulated by placing pieces of bark or sod over the 
vents or by inserting the section of the limb of a tree. 
4. Wood burns more rapidly when given a draft than 
where the fire is confined. The rate of burning may be 
regulated by the amount of air forced through the vents 
by the use of a blower. 
5. Considerable effective burning may be accomplished 
by boring a series of holes for vents, after which the fires 
may be started and allowed to burn by the natural drafts— 
burning trees into sections and the tops of large stumps, etc. 
6. Combining the methods of burning stumps and logs 
by the use of a stump-burner and boring intersecting holes 
and burning, so that the fire is guided to the best advantage 
and caused to burn briskly by a continual forced draft is 
both practicable and advisable.” 
NURSERY INSPECTION IN NEW YORK 
Five hundred and seventy-two nurseries have been 
inspected and all stock examined, including 116,640,977 
trees and plants of different kinds. Seventeen thousand 
and eighty-one trees have' been destroyed on account of 
being infested with San Jose scale which, if distributed to 
parts of the State now free from this pest, would have 
caused untold damage. More than twelve million seedlings 
recently imported have been examined and 3,726 nests of 
Brown-tail moths as well as some nests of Gipsy moths have 
been found. These dangerous pests are destroyed with the 
utmost care. Thus far, although they have appeared at 
more than a score of different places in our State, agents of 
the Department have in every instance completely eradi¬ 
cated these insects. The importance of this work may be 
estimated when it is stated that in Massachusetts last year 
more than $1,000,000 was spent by Federal, State and 
municipal governments for the purpose of keeping under 
control these pests which unfortunately have gained a foot¬ 
hold there.—From Eighteenth Annual Report of the N .Y, 
State Dept, of Agriculture. 
