_s._ _d._ Expert’s fee 2 0 Cost of boring 0 2½ Cost of explosive 2 6 Detonators and fuse 0 9½ ——————— 5 6 Misfires and partial removal of stump may require fresh borings and further charges of explosive, thus increasing the cost. By employing a skilled estate hand capable of using explosives instead of an expert, the expense, however, is greatly diminished. By the old method of grubbing and jacking, stumps were removed at Studley some time ago at the high cost of about £2 5_s._ each butt, and even then success was only partial. In another case, on an estate in Norfolk, where an old pasture was converted into a plantation of mixed trees, trenching at the cost of £18 per acre had to be resorted to on account of the presence of roots and stumps of old trees. In this case it would have been much cheaper to have removed the stumps by blasting. The demonstrations at Studley showed that both sound and unsound stumps could be successfully blasted, and whole trees—an Apple and an Oak—were also uprooted by the same method with equal success, using only one bore-hole and about the same charge of explosive. The timber of the trees so treated, however, is very much split, so that blasting is only advisable when the timber is considered of little value. The particular explosives used are unaffected by damp, and, in consequence, the method is applicable in both wet and dry situations. Firing the charges was done at the demonstrations mostly by ladies, and a photographer was able to get sufficiently near to obtain photographs of the effect of the explosion without danger. The principal recommendations of this method, therefore, are cheapness, effectiveness and safety. CHAPTER XXXII PRICES OF CONTRACT OR PIECEWORK The following prices may be taken as approximating to those paid generally throughout the country previous to the war. It may be well to remember, however, that in districts where unusually high or low wages are paid, so in proportion will be the contract prices for the various classes of work. BARKING OAK: _s._ _d._ _s. d._ Barking oak per ton 21 0 Loading bark on wagons ” 3 0 Barking oak per ton of bark 30 0 Chopping bark ” 8 0 to 10 0