The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1912-04-25

hay on an acre of land, it is nee
essary that the growing grass
pump up from that ground ap-
proximately 500 tons of water.
In order to supply this enormous
quantity of water, the soil must
not only be in a condition to alb
sorb and hold water well, but
must be porous enough to per-
init water to flow freely throue h
| it.
In addition to acting as a wa
ter carrier for plant life, soil must
permit a proper circulation of
air through it. Nearly half of
the volume of ordinary soils is
occupied by air spaces. Soil which
becomes so compact as to stop
the air passages, is too wet for
most crops and needs drainage,
for plant roots must be supplied
with air and the soil must be por-
GUS enough to permit Of it's free
circulation. One of the most i'm
portant objects of blowing is to
loosen up the soil and mix fresh
air with it.
Orchardists and nurserymen
who have had long experience in
planting trees in holes prepared
by dynamite blasts, have learned
that compact subsOil is broken up
by the blasts, which enable the
land, thus made porous, to alb
sorb plenty Of water in rainy
weather and store it up for the
use of growing plants in dry
weather. AS Mr.. Spillman says,
this water in ascending to the
plant roots, carries with it the
many necessary soluble fertilizing
elements.
Few persons realize the depth
OF tree root expansion. In one
of the Farmers Bulletins is
sued by the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, is shown a view of
cross section of orchard land
which indicates a penetration of
the roots to a depth Of 81 feet.
This lis a natural growth. Under
normal conditions healthy tree
will seek its food in this way +;
but suppose a layer of hardpan
is encountered at depth of five
Or six feetY The roots must then
spread out literally for twenty
feet or more. The result of this
unnatural sidewise growth is that
each tree in the orchard is COM
oelled to go over into the feed +!
ng supply Of its neighbor and
consequently does not receive the
necessary amount of plant food to
nurture it and allow of |
It's rapid growth. Its yield of |
fruit is also lessened by this fore
I'd encroaching of one tree on the !
feeding ground of it's neighbor. |
Then too, brief dry spell ex-
1austs all the moisture from the
hin feeding ground of such
Tree stopping its growth or kill
ing it.
Dynamite blasting proves sim
pie and effective remedy for this !
The blast breaks up
The hardpan and permits the roots
% take their natural downward |
course into the lower strata of !
'oil in which plenty of plant food
slements are available. Under
,hese conditions, one tree is not
nterfered with by another; each
me receives the benefit of all of
he soil allotted to it at the time
he surface was measured and
aid out at planting time.
1t must not be assumed from
he above that dynamite blasting
S beneficial only when the top
ioil is underlaid with hardpan. 1t
s of the utmost Importance to
lssist a tree, especially young
me, to send its roots out into it's
eeding bed as easily and rapidly
s possible. The more porous and
ooSe une SOIL, the more rapid Will
re the growth, even in the loamy
oils.
The main object to be sought
a tree planting, is to SO prepare
he ground that the growing tree
an absorb as large a percentage
t moisture as possible from the
oil it occupies. Loosening and
Grating the soil accomplishes this
urpose. A Cornell University
uthority advises that tree
lanted in soil properly prepared
an absorb 60 per cent of the
lolsture contained in it.
Over a large portion of our
Ountry is a hardDan Shale ar