Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1912-08-01
Farmer S Corner.
Dynamite for Orchards.

was fairly good, and there was d
ragged remnant of an old orchard
over about twelve acres of the
farm. Most of the trees were
dead, and the rest were in such
ragged condition that thought
it best to cut them down, grub
them out, and replant most Of the
space, says a writer in the Farm
Progress.
did not know whether to set
the young trees by the side of the
old stumps, or grub the old trees
and put the young ones in the ex-
act spot where they had stood.
finally decided to use dyna-
mite in Citing rid of the old
snags. There were several fea-
sons for this, among them being
the fact that dynamite would
loosen up the soil around these
old trees. This were something
they were in need of, as the earth
around them had not been stirred
for many years. | was getting
rid of the stumps and at the same
time killing all grubs, worms and
woodeating bugs that might be
lurking in the soil. -
There is said to be a great'deal
of insect life around the roots of
old orchard trees, and the dyna-
mite effectually puts a stop to
their activities.
1t seems to be a bad plan to
put the young trees in the very
spot occupied by dying or dead
ones, unless something radical is
done to the ground where they
are placed. Dynamite seems to
be the very thing to get rid of
these lurkers.
! put over a hundrednew trees
along in the spring, using the
dynamite in practically all the set
Ltipgs AlLof the 4reeesss did tli q 4AiiHaee AHee
until the long dry and heated spell
late last summer. A few of them
died then. but | am sure that
more of them would have wither-
ed if they had been planted in
the ordinary manner.
The explosive ripped down
through the hardpan, and reach
ed the soil underneath In some
of the very driest weather last
summer | noticed that there was
a moist space around the young
trees. The cost of the stump
blowing and tree planting
amounted to very little, not more
than II cents a tree on the aver
age.
This was an old orchard, some
of the trees having been planted
all of forty years ago. | founC
traces of the presence of 6
good many tree. Eand orchard
pests in the ground around
them, but dynamite served t
remove the danger.
Another thing | noticed about
the trees was that they grew
much faster than those that
merely stuck into the grounC
J with the help of a spade The!
) grew all of a third faster thai
) those that were planted in tn
old fashioned way. Some O
} them increased their groth by a
! bout q inches, this, too, in spit
Of the long continued hot spel
2 and the lack of rain. Most o
} the trees that | lost last summe
: were those that had been set wit
: the spade.
$ Ihave heard of an old orchar
+ in one of the eastern states tha
: had been planten for sixty years
e and had just about stopped beai
j ing. For the last four years
e had been a failure. The tree
: had been planted about thirt
feet a part, and, in order to loose
up the soil, an experimenter Sc
S off halfstick of 4Oper-cent dyn;
n mite between every tree. Th
S fall crop of 1911 was CRATER tho
: the orchard had ornesin year.
v Tee old trees had literally bee
$ shocked into bearing when ever!
Il one thought their usefulness ha
+ ended. Elk.
e -------s---
y Mark Davis of Forest, called