Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1912-05-02
Improvement of Orchards
by use of Dynamite.
paid Advertisement

|
ing plants in dry weather. As Mr..
Spillman says, this water in ascending
to the plant roots, carries with it the
many necessary soluble fertilizing ele-
ments
Few persons realize the depth of tree
root expansion. In one of the Farm
ers Bulletins" issued by the U. s. De-
partment of Agriculture, is shown a
view of cross section of orchard land
which indicates penetration of the
roots to depth of q feet This is a
natural growth. Under normal condi-
tons a healthy tree will seek it's food
in this way; but suppose layer of
hardpan is encountered at depth OF
five or six feet? The roots must then
spread out laterally for twenty feet or
more. The result of this unnatural
sidewise growth is that each tree in
the orchard is compelled to go over into
the feeding supply of its neighbor and
consequently does not receive the ne
cessary anom' of plant fod TO proper
~ nurture I and allow of its rapid
growth. Its yield of fruit is also less
ened by this forced sneroaeling of one
tree on the feeding ground of its neigh
bor Then, too, brief dry spell ex-
hausts all the moisture from the thin
feeding ground of such tree, stopping
| its growth or killing IT,
Dynamite blasting proves simple
and effective remedy for this condition
The blast breaks up the hardpan and
permits the roots to take their natural
downward course into the lower strata
of soil in which plenty of plant food
elements are available. Under these
conditions, one tree is not interfered
with by another; each one receives the
benefit of all of the soil allotted to it
at the time the surface was measured
and laid out at planting time.
1t must not be assumed from the
above that dynamite blasting is bene-
fetal only when the top soil is under
laid with hardpan. 1t is of the utmost
Importance to assist a tree, especially a
young one, to send it's roots out into its
feeding bed. as easily and rapidly as
possible The more porous and loose
the soil, the more rapid will be the
growth, even in the loamy soils.
The main object to be sought in tree
planting is to so prepare the ground
that the growing tree can absorb as
large percentage of moisture as pos
sible from the soil which it occupies.
Loosening and aerating the soil accom-
plishes this purpose. A Cornell Uni
versity authority advises that tree
planted in soil properly prepared can
absorb go per cent of the moisture con
tanned in it.
over large portion of our country
a hardpan, shale or tight clay lays near
the surface. 1t is menace to the pro
duetiveness of trees and all vegetables
which root deeply. The scientific prin-
eiple involved is the inability of such
sub-soil to absorb, retain and give
back to growing essential moisture On
such land, the water soaking through a
thin top soil fails to penetrate and finds
a second drainage on this sub surface.
draining off in '.wet weather springs
or standing in surface suspense as
"bogs." Land in this physical eondi-
ton fails of an agricultural dividend.
Put in propeS physical condition this
same land becomes highly profitable. /
The way to proceed is by using dyna-
mite. Probably no process of blowing
known to agriculture can produce the I
good results in breaking up tight sub
soil as does this blasting with dyIa-
mite.
Planters of clover and alfalfa know
this by experiment. Orchardists have
come to accept it as final The writer
has observed those codnitions as he has
travelled over these three counties,
namely: Clearwater, Lewis and Idaho
counties. This new-found process is the
ioundatlon OF new era in agriculture
and horticulture. 1t is the horticultur-
al application that this article aims to
emphasize. At the present time many
thousands of trees are being set il.
young orchards all over the above
named counties. Such boom in apple
planting was never before known. It
is logical answer to an unsupplied 8
demand. The question is, will these
orchards endure-will they pay' The
answer rests largely with the mode of
setting.
In orchard setting, the use of dyna-
mite is advised in practically all soils.
1t is Imperative that we dynamite as
an artificial means of conserving the
Unlike all other fruit, the
apple grows ON the end of a t,,;o 30