The Great Washington Stump-Blowing Contest
State experts launch a high-stakes competition to find the most efficient way to clear the massive fir stumps left behind by the logging industry.
Under the direction of H. W. Sparks, superintendent of farm demonstration for the State College at Pullman, a big competition and demonstration of methods for blowing out stumps in the state of Washington will be held soon. Under a recent arrangement, the Washington Logged-Off Land Association, the State College, the University of Washington, and the bureau of plant industry have agreed upon a test of stump explosives. Each competitor has been requested to furnish an operator competent to handle their explosive to the best advantage. Competitors will be required to blow out five 12-inch stumps, five 18-inch stumps, five 24-inch stumps, five 30-inch stumps, five 48-inch stumps, and one large stump. Representatives will accompany the demonstration to secure photographs and a complete report of labor, time, methods, and explosives used. While explosives are being tested, the 'charpitting' method remains the preference; contractors report they can remove stumps by this method at a cost of 75 cents each.
“Charpitting is still the preference, so far as the investigations have gone. Contractors have reported that they remove stumps by this method at a cost of 75 cents each.”
The 'logged-off' land of 1910 was the defining environmental and economic challenge of the era, as the state sought to turn vast clear-cuts into farmland. Today, the legacy of that era is visible in the second-growth forests that define the Pacific Northwest landscape.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.