March 28, 1858
1 min read
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The Ohio Cultivator relates the experience of W. A. Gill, of Columbus, Ohio, in clearing a field of stumps by gunpowder, which really appears to be a most powerful " stump extractor." He cleared a stumpy field of twenty acres cheaply and expeditiously, the following plan being pursued for each stump :— " Select a solid place in a large root, near the ground, and with an inch and a quarter auger, bore in, slanting downward, to as near the heart of the base of the tup-root as you can judge ; then put in a charge of one or two ounces of powder, with a safety fuse, and tamp in dry clay or ordinary tamping material, to fill the hole, some six inches above the charge ; then touch fire to the fuse, and get out of the way. The blast will usually split the stump into three pieces, and make it hop right out of the ground. If the charge is put in too high up, the blast will only split the top of the stump, without lifting it
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