The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-05-08
THE USE OF DYNAMITE ON THE
FARM

Why plow around that old stump
another season? Get a little dyna
mite, bore a few holes in its old
roots and blow it to smitherines.
Mr.. Farmer, do you know that an
old stump occupies as much ground
as six hills of corn? The corn from
six hills would in few years pay
for enough dynamite to blow out
many stumps and bOulders.
When cut-over land, which is
covered with stumps and boulders,
can be cleared, and turned into
farms at a profit, it is hard to un-
derstand why anyone should let
stumps and boulders take up valu-
able land, plowing around them year
after year. A lot of time is wasted
swinging around even a few stumps
and boulders when plowing a field,
to say nothing of the damage to
plow, harness and team if a root is
struck. Besides this, each medium
sized stump, with its spreading roots,
or even comparatively small
boulder, will take up the space of
many stalks Of corn or of other
crops.
One suggestion which should be
made to those who have land to clear
is: Always do your stump blasting,
if possible, when the ground is wet.
Almost every kind of ground when
it is wet, offers stronger resistance
to the action of dynamite than it
does when it is dry. Therefore,
when the ground is wet a stump or
boulder can be blasted out with less
dynamite than when the same
ground is dry.
One of the most Objectionable
methods of trying to get rid of
stumps is burning them out. When
stumps have been blasted out and
split up with dynamite, it is an easy
matter to heap up the pieces and
burn them, but to burn a standing
stump is a difficult proposition
Those who have tried it can testify
to the time spent in keeping the fire
going, and that it is practically i'm
possible in this way to get rid of
much Of the stump below the sur
face of the ground. Probably the
worst feature of burning out stumps
is the damage done to the ground
by the fire, which burns out the
humus to such an extent that it re-
quires much cultivation to bring the
ground where the stump was burn
ed into good condition. The follow
ing from the Tacoma, Washington,
Ledger, explains very clearly the
hOilc " new idlll ~ Jul Mn
out stumps:
Last summer Professor w. J..
McGee, of the Department of Agri-
culture, in cooperation with Pro-
fessOr Henry Landes, DR.. Benson
and DR.. Fry, of the State Univer-
sity, studied the best methods of
utilizing cUt-oyer or logged-off
lands Professor McGee gives some
of the findings, and they argue
strongly against burning cut-over
lands. Fire destroys the humus in
the soil, and when the humus is gone,
the fertility is greatly lessened. The
danger of burning logged-off lands
is that the fire will burn the humus
some distance below the surface.
When the humus is burned out it
takes time to build up a fertile soil
again. The fire destroys the work it
TOOK Nature many years TO do"
The implements needed in stump
and boulder blasting are few and
inexpensive, and most of them are
always to be found on the farm.
For medium-sized and smaller
stumps, a two-inch wood augur to
drill under the stump, and into the
tap root If there is one, is necessary,
and a crowbar with one pointed end
and one chisel end is very useful.
One of the most important imple-
ments used in stump blasting, is the
tamping stick. This must have no
metal about it, For tamping the
holes under the stumps a stick five
or six feet long and one and a half
inches in diameter is large enough.
Precautions must be taken in
using dynamite otherwise accidents
may happen. When tamping be sure
1t is done with a wooden stick
Never use a metal bar or anything
having metal parts.
Precautions TO be Observed in Gener.
al With Regard TO Explosives.
DON'T forget the nature of explo.
sives. but remember that with
proper care they can be handled