Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1911 — CLEARING LOGGED OFF LANDS [ARTICLE]

CLEARING LOGGED OFF LANDS

Char Pit Method Recommended Highly by Washington Professor. That logged off lands can be cleared of stumps, removing roots to a depth below the reach of a plow, and at a cost of less than 50 cents a stump has been demonstrated by the experiments of Professor H. W. Sparks of the state college at Pullman, Wash. Professor Sparks’ successful experiments have been with the char pit method. Once understood this method is the most simple and inexpensive that can be imagined. A little fire, a little clayey earth and a little watchfulness are the essentials in the process by the combination of which the most hopeless looking stumpy acreage can be prepared for the plow in the course of two weeks. The char pit tnethod is simply an adaptation of the old and well known method of making charcoal by burning in closed pits. It depends for its efficiency on concentration of heat. A ring of loose wood, bark, etc., is first laid all the way round the stump and as close to it as possible, and this is then covered to a depth of about six inches with earth, leaving a small opening 'in the direction from which the wind is blowing. The wood is then lighted at this point and left for about half hour, until the fire is well started, when this hole is then covered up like the rest As the fire burns back into the stump the blanket of earth must be kept right up to the stump so that the fire never has an opportunity to break out. The top of the stump doesn’t burn, but is simply cut off cleanly at a point about level with the top of the earthen blanket When the top has been cut off by the fire and rolls off the whole crown of the stump should be covered with earth and can then be left without much further attention until the roots have been burned out. This is sometimes done to a depth of fifteen feet or more.

The length of time required to destroy the stump depends on what kind of wood it is and whether green, dry or rotten. The most stubborn stumps will disappear in two weeks at the most, while many are done away with in three or four days. The record of Professor Sparks’ experiment shows an average cost of between 40 and 50 cents a stump. In some of these he has used fuel oil and coal tar.

The experiments which have so far been successful have been with clay soil. This, baked and hardened by the fire, conserves the highest degree of heat Sandy or stony soil sifts in and puts out the fire or permits it to spread. Professor Sparks is now working out certain theories by which he expects to perfect a similar method adapted to other soils than clay.

A Good Word For Buckwheat.

No crop will bring in better returns in the northern states for the time it occupies the ground than buckwheat. It is put in after all other crops have been planted and are growing. It is the best grain to raise to subdue a patch of troublesome weeds and to starve out worms in the soil. It also comes handy to sow on vacant pieces of ground which have been left because too late to be sown to some other crop. It is also a valuable crop to plow under to enrich the soil and give humus. ' Where Apples Bhould Be Grown. An orchard site should be on the best land on the farm, land that may be cultivated, as only under the most thorough tillage of the soil may the best apples be grown, such apples as the best trade in our cities demands. The higher elevations are better than the valleys.

Hum of the Hive. Be sure that your bees have a good prolific Italian queen, and the ants will not bother them. If any of the section boxes are travel stained a little polishing with fine sand or emery paper will remove it. Tljiere are many who advocate the non-use of the queen excluding honey board, but some authorities strongly advise its use in connection with the production of extracted honey. A large number of farmers scattered over the southern states are engaged extensively in honey production along with farming. Some of them ship over a car of honey each season. Heartsease was formerly not worth considering as a hoi\ey plant, because of its scarcity, but of late years it has become plentier, and now it is worth many dollars. Same with dandelion. The present improved system of management requires that hives should not stand: too near each other. should be at least six feet” between them, and ten iwould be a preferable distance. A bee expert gives away this little secret: If bees are kept in a shed the crossest of them can be handled without fear of being stung. A bee she 4 ought to be long enough to give at least two feet to each hive and suf- > flciently wide and high so that one ran work comfortably back of the row of hives. It should open preferably t» the east, so as to get the morning air.

The farmer gets value received from seed sown. He who drops good seed into the ground will have an excellent crop of painted buildings, clean ditches, good fences, good live stock, profits and good humor. He who feeds the soil with poor seed will get and regret a splendid crop of weeds, broken gates, leaky roofs, poor machinery, scrub animals and back taxes. —Ohio Department of Agriculture Bulletin.