The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-08-13
KANSAS WAS FIRST TO TRY
"PLoWlNG" WITH EXPLOSIVES.
BENEFICIAL RESULTS.
ST|RS SUBSO|l BELOW PLOW
Now This Method Of Breaking Up
Hardpan and Loosening the Sub
soil Has Become Popular in the
South and West.

proved failure in warfare. is seeking
its fortune on the farm The sword
that was beaten into a ploughshare
finds a powerful assistant in the high
explosive.
Deeper ploughing is a need of the
soil which the agricultural depart
ment experts have been urging for
years. Unfortunately. the power OF
horse and steam, mule and man, be-
fore and behind the plough, must be
increased so enormously in subsol
breaking that the scientists have
agreed it doesn't pay to plough more
than ten inches deep.
Here enters the "dynamiter" with
augers, tamping bars, fuses, wires,
caps. blasting machines and cartridges.
He underbids man. beast and engine
for given quantity of soil pulveriz-
ing and he is getting the job
Kansas which has been first in
many ventures, lays claim to prestige
as the first to plough by dynamite.
Most prominent among the Kansas
"dynamiters" is Sampel j. Crawford,
one time governor of the state, who,
with several of his neighbors. intro
duced the novel cultivation there in
the native hardpan. The results have
been so successful that hardpan and
other heavy underlying soils in all
parts of the country are being blasted
on the farms. Many acres practical
~ worthless before this treatment are
now said to be bearing phenomenal
crops.
One of the chief advantages of the
new ploughing is to provide storage
reservoirs for the rainfall, which pre-
viously has failed to penetrate the
hard earth. The moisture stored up
in the loosened subsoil is drawn up
by the roots of plants in dry weather.
Varying methods OF blasting the
subsoil are practised in different To-
Calties. The size of the charges. the
spacing of the holes in which they
are inserted and their depth depend
on the nature and depth of subsol
to be broken.
In the south the holes are usually
bored four to eight feet apart with
charge of about one-quarter of a one
and a quarter by eight inch cartridge
of 80 or 40 per cent dynamite IN each
hole. In Kansas and other western
states the charges are placed fifteen
to thirty feet apart, but are much
larger, each hole containing from one
to one and a half of the one and 4
quarter by eight inch cartridge. The
dynamite used. however. is of only
II to % per cent strength.
Experts say the place to place the
charge so that it will shatter a maxi
mum volume of subsoil is two 70
three feet below the surface. if the
hardpan is thin. with holes four to-
eight feet apart. In thick hardpan the
charge should be about foot above
the bottom of the layer. with holes
fifteen to thirty feet apart.
One reason urged for deeper
ploughing is the need of deepening
the cultivated surface soil, which has
a tendency to become exhausted BY
continuous production. New elements
are added by mingling with the TN
dersoil In addition, even in the
richest ground there forms a hard
crust known as the plough sole.
just below the portion reached IN or
dnary ploughing. This sour lard
crust in time proves a damaging il
fluence. and it is necessary to break
il up by some means other than ordi-
nary ploughing, the experts say. Dynl-
mite is recommended for this purpose.
New York Herald.