The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-08-13
USE Of DYNAMITE
VIRGINIA FARMS
Getting i own to SUI
soil Deeper Than the
Pow Can p ssibly Go.
MODERN METHODS
1,EACH VIRGINIA
Dynamite Claims to Be Guar
antee Against Horrors of a
Drought r-How the
Earth Shakes Up to
Meet the Wants
of Man.
BY FRANK $. woopsoN.

Frederick's Hail. Va. August III
have been reading a good deal within
the past year or two about the use OF
dynamite on the farm. 1 have read
much of how the explosive is useful
In fruit tree planting. in stump exter-
ninat!Lg and all that kind OF thing.
could readily see how dynamite
would go deeper into the subsoil toan
the p!ow; how the explosive could opea
ditchway in fewc. minutes than
spades and hoes would require hours.
how L drain could be blown out 100
per cent cheaper than plowed and dug
out. how hole in which 20 plant
fruit tree or any other kind of tree
could be made with dynamite quicker
than . fruit grower could sharpen his
spade for the work by the old method.
and make the hole deeper and .>erha ps
better, and did not need to draw on
imagination to see stump lying
through the air in the shape of splin-
tiers when dynamite got under It, in
the time IL would take the driver to
hitch his horses TO a stump pulling
machine.
Got In;o "a Controversy.
All OF that was clear a day to me.
but must confess that / was afraid Of
myself In this paper. Thercupon Delos
D. Wakelee, a newcomer to Virginia.
who has invested largely IN Louisa and
Spo,sylvania county lands. and who is
doing lot of farming. or proposes to
do big lot. with the help OF dyna-
mite. invited me 10 come up here to
see some OF the work done. and this
to the end that my fears might be
removed and that might see with my
H. aaHyz. To- 7
Sin!a farming With fear and tremb-
ling / came. and the other day saw
an acre Of Louisa county land made
ready for alfalfa BY the use OF dypa-
Mite
4 Demonstrators Fro.p Way Buck.
This man Wakelee is a Pennsylva-
MAN who had read a good deal IN the
Industrial Section about the advantages
Of Virginia and the fine quality OF
It's farming lands. and last fall he came
down here to Investigate. He bought
farm in Spotsylvania county. more
than dozen miles from here. and an
other smaller one near Cuckoo. in
Louisa county. He then bought three
acres on the outskirts OF this village.
which he calls his demonstration
patch" his idea being to find out By
demonstration on this patch just
what is best to cultivate for profit In
himself with the best things on the
big Spotsylvania and Louisa county
farms. He got busy only last Novem-
Der. and since then he has been doing
some dem on his patch.
Mr.. Wnkelee had seen in the West q
good deal of farming with dynamite,
and a bout the first conclusion he reached
was that OF all the lands he had ever
seen, these Virginia lands needed dy-
r,1ftI a.,
real shaking up. He had had some
experience with the explosive. and he
was quick to arrange with the E. I.
DuPont-DeNemour Powder Company
10 furnish the dynamite and also, with
the aid of an expert, to demonstrate
heard OF this thing going on up here.
had something to say about 1t In the
Industrial Section, and that is how 1
got in touch with Wakeee.
A Day of Work and Fun.
Inasmuch as he proposed to shake
up an acre upon which to demonstrate
with alfalfa. he arranged with Thorn
ton S. Baskerville, of the Dupont Com
pany. 10 be here this week and do the
shaking up in Erst-class style. and he
sent for me to come and see. He also
issued invitations to many farmers to
be on hand and see for themselves.
About 100 OF them, some accompanied
by their wives and daughters, came,
and we had a most interesting day
and jolly good time. and that is
what want to tell about.
The main work was done in subsoil-
ing. A measured acre of ground was
laid off, and all the morning two able
bodied workmen were engaged in maxi
ing the holes in which to insert tina
dynamite. For subsoiling the, dyna-
mite is planted in holes three feet deep,
from ten to fifteen feet apart. accord
ing to the character OF the soil. In
this case the holes were made fifteen
feet apart each way. With a crow
bar and two sledge hammers, two
able bodied men spent about six hours
in making the holes. An hour was
consumed by the two workmen and
Mr.. Baskerville in preparing the dyna-
mite. attaching the fuses and the ca DIS.
and then 1t took less than a half hour
to insert the Red Cross dynamite cart
ridges in these holes. The insertion
was simple enough. The cartridges, or
half-cartridges, were easily put in the
holes and forced to the bottom with
a hoe helve, and then a little tamping
was done.
A Short Lecture.
With the holes fifteen feet apart each
way, 1t took 1914 holes to cover an acre.
and as only half a cartridge was re-
quired 1t took torty-eight pounds of
dynamite to I'LL the bill. The next
thing was to light the fuses in each
of the 1914 holes. This was rapidly
done. but before commencing this
rather interesting work, Mr.. Basker-
will. encouraged by goodly audience
of Louisa and Spotsylvania county
farmers, could not resist the temptation
TO make little lecture on the advan-
tages OF farming with dynamite. He