The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-01-24
Experimental.
The use Of Dynamite for Clearing
Land.
From Elmira Husbandman.

lFrOm Elmlra ~HuSDandman.
John O'Donnell.-My visit to the
Club has not been made for the pur-
pose of imparting knowledge. | have
heard much of this institution in which
farmers everywhere may nave just
pride, and / confess that curiosity has
been the ruling motive of the visit.
l may count myself fortunate, how
ever, if l can impart instruction to
any farmer present.
Not long ago we had a practical test
of dynamite, or giant power, as it is
called, in extracting Stumps and break
ing rocks. My attention was called
to the use of this substance by a news
paper article, in which a writer claim
ed that it could be made a useful agent
in clearing land of distractions so
/ brought the matter to the notice of
a few farmers who were likely to have
interest in it, and we resolved to learn
more. They deputed me to arrange
with parties in New York interested
in extending the sale of dynamite, to
make a trial of it in our locality. Adj
cordingly / visited the establishment
in New York where it is sold, and had
the time and place appointed for the
trial of which | am to speak. There
are different qualities of dynamite,
which are sold at thirty, forty and
fifty cents a pound, the price gradual
ed accordingly to purity and strength
of the article. All these were furnish
ed for the test. There are higher
grades, but our interest was in those
which may be sold cheaply, so as to
bring them within reach of farmers
who cannot afford to clear lands by
processes that involve e~Xtravagant
expenditures of money and it APP
peared too that the lower grades were
Just as efficient for such cases as those
which cost much more.
The men assigned to the duty
brought the cartridges. caps and fuse
and we gave them a stump on which
to make the first experiment. 1t was
not entirely sound, but it afforded "a
fair test. The proces comprises the
fixing of the cartridges under the OBJ
ject to be raised, the attachment of
the fuse, the tamping about the cart
ridges, and the explosion by means of
the cap specially prepared. The men
were not experts in the use of a crow
bar. SO they did not make the hole I'M
der the middle of the stump, and as a
consequence n explosion resulted in
but partial success. The portion of
the stump under which the fuse was
lifted out while the remainder was
still imbedded in the earth.
Another trial was with a sound
stump, about twenty inches in dia-
meter. Better care in placing the car
fridge was rewarded by a clean lifting
of the stump from its bed.
We succeeded better in breaking
rocks. A cartridge placed under a
rock weighing perhaps two tons, shat
tered 1T SO that the pieces could be
moved easily. Another lying nearer
the surface was lifted out of it's bed.
but not fractured. Still another, of
about three tons weight, was drilled to
a depth of about nine inches and the
charge inserted in the usual way. This
rock was nearly imbedded. The ex-
plOslOn educe 1T to fragments that
could be pried out by the bar. What
I saw of the work convinced me that
it would be better in breaking rocks to
drill them a few inches and use less
dynamite. The peculiar property of
the substance Is III its bursting charac-
ter. The force is expended instantan-
eously. 1t is not governed, nor i'm
peded by resistance to such a degree as
g~unpOwder is. The force is expended
above and below as well as lateralIy.
SO when a charge is exploded within a
rock, 1T Is sure to be reduced to frag-
ments. whereas, if placed below. it
may only lift the rock. After these
tests, made by the men sent as experts.
l tried the dynamite by putting it we'll
under stumps, and | was vary uccess-
full.
An important consideration is the
cheapness of the material. A CARTRIDGE
sufficient for breaking a large rock or
hitting out a stump costs not more than
eleven or twelve cents. l put such a
cartridge under an oak stump. from
which the tree was cut about a wear
before, and it blew the stump a hun
dred and twenty-five feet from its bed.
/ have no doubt it could have been
lifted u with a cartridge much
smaller.
There does not appear to be so much
danger generally attending the use Of
dynamite as people generally suppose.
IL Is said that boxes of cartridges NAV
be broken open by a sledge without
FISK. The cartridges used in these ex-
perlments We're broken to suit the
operations. The danger is i'm the caps.
II one be exploded two feet from a
cartridge, without connection. it ex-
piOdes that too. A story is told of a
man who was carrying caps in his vest
rocket with matches, and the friction
caused an explosion which was com
munlcated to dynamite held i'm his
hand, and that also exploded. killino
the man. When the dynamite is w