Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-07-19

ing have been those noted for their
leadership in their respective fields of
work
The time has now come when we can
deal not with theories but with facts
with results which prove conclusively
that dynamite has advantages in fruit
culture, but just how great these adj
vantages are cannot be stated until
further experiments have demonstrated
the most economical methods of using
dynamite in the orchard.
1t is obvious that several years are
required after the planting of fruit
tree in a dynamited hole, to ascertain
just how its life or growth differs from
one planted in spaded hole, and further
experimentation will be necessary to
show whether it is necessary or ad-
visable to use more or less dynamite
per hole to get maximum results, cost
considered.
Another point of great Importance to
orchardists is that trees planted with
dynamite come into bearing much
sooner than when planted by the old
way. w. w. Stevens, Orchardist of
Mayfield, Ca, reports that he has been
using dynamite for tree planting for
eighteen or twenty years and that
in the planting of peach trees by this
method he gained two years in six as
compared with the old method In
other words he got as much fruit from
tree planted with dynamite at four
years of age as he got at six years by
the old method.
Mrs. John Rawley of Grants Pass,
Oregon, reports that she plants all her
trees with dynamite as a result of
careful tests to show the benefits of
this method. She advised that all
trees be set in wet weather as this in
sures a storage of moisture under the
tree. This is the chief reason why
planting trees with dynamite is bene-
fetal.
A little thought will show the reason
why dynamiting is so beneficial in tree
planting. The principal plant food is
water and the fertile elements of the
) soil must be absorbed in water before
they can be absorbed by the termina
, roots. Hence the larger the area
throughout which these terminal root:
are spread, the greater the amount Of
, moisture the tree can draw on and the
greater the amount of water and plant
/ food it can obtain.
: This also explains the reason why
dynamiting the soil between rows Of
old or failing fruit trees renews theil
vigor, because most of the water i:
taken up by the terminal roots which
run out many feet from the trunk ant
the blasting creates water reservoirs ir
, the soil between the rows.
q Orchardists who have never useC
. dynamite should be sure to get all pos
. sible information from the manufac
turers of the explosive before attempt
ing to use it. While it is no NOR
, dangerous to use than gun powder o
gasoline, it is poor thing for people t.
, fool with ignorantly because it is Yer.
h powerful.
q Contrary to quite general belief
dynamite does not explode from drop
4 ping or ordinary shocks and will not e
v off spontaneously. 1t has to b
r "denotated" or exploded by the shocl
of printing cap which is set off by
t fuse.
e The fact that the most progressiv
!. orchardist in the country, including tn
I celebrated Hale orchards of Georgi
f and Connecticut, are using it RICH
q along indicates that it is safe for an
e reasonably careful and intelligent pei
son to use.