Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1910 — STUMPS MOVED VERY CHEAP [ARTICLE]

STUMPS MOVED VERY CHEAP

Char pit Method of Taking Out Tree Roots on Cleared Land Proving Successful.

Chehalis, Wash.—Chehalis Is just now the center of an interesting experiment in land clearing. Recently through the offices of Secretary Merrell, of the Chehalis Citizens' club, an arrangement made with Harry Thompson of the United States department of agriculture, with headquarters at Seattle, and Prof. H. W. Sparks, farm demonstrator of the state college, to conduct some experiments with the charpit process of burning out stumps on logged-off lands. The work has just been completed at the farm of Henry Dupertuis, near ’Chehalis.

One hundred fir stumps, from two to four feet in diameter, were kept burning in this test, an accurate account was kept of labor. Stumps were completely destroyed, and roots burned out at an average cost of 50 cents pet stump. This voluntary work of the Citizens’ club of Chehalis will, it is hoped, prove of great value to western Washington and Oregon, as it establishes the value of the charpit burning method of clearing logged-off lands. The process works most effectively on clay soil. The method has two valuable features. First, it can be successfully conducted without the high-priced skilled labor required for the blasting powder and donkey engine process. Soys from fourteen to sixteen years of age can do the work thoroughly. Then, it leaves highly fertilized seedbeds for grasses, grains, berries or other- fruits, whereas blasting tear? holes in the ground and lifts the hardpan to the surface. Photographs taken on the farm of Mr. Dupertuis, where he has heretofore used the charpit process, show that wherever a stump was burned out there was invariably a heavier growth of graTp or grass than on adjoining groui/i. Fruit trees planted over such a spot showed an unusual growth as compared with others. Mr. Thompson's report will be ls-

sued later by the United States department of agriculture.