Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-08-05

~. university of Maine:
t,irhmoor Farm came under
,,,ol of the Maine Agricultural En-
s.1ment Station it. had what were
-,,s,,v set for two Baldwin or
e,.rds Partly through neglect and
..,v as the result of the severe WIN
=, 1867 these were in an exceed
,-u,r had condition. The situation re-
..-dine one of these was so hopeless
a., !, vas deemed best to remove
q entirely. The other. though very
'rrromising, was retained, largely for
w. nurpose Of determining what might
- expected from reclamation work in
.,a case of other orchards similarly
injured and neglected.
On the whole the results secured
from proper pruning, spraying, Guilt
y,,ion and fertilization in the orchard
en- retained were exceedingly crafty
ing However, many Of the trees were
GO far gone that they failed to recover.
same of these died while others were
removed when it was seen that farther
attempts to renovate them would SIM
nlv result in a useless expenditure of
time and labor. The places formerly
occupied by 17S Of these were filed in
with young Baldwin trees in the early
spripg of 1913
The soil on Highmoor Farm is a
rather moderately heavy. reddish loam
underlain with very difficulty pene
trablc sub-soil. In the orchard in
question the surface soil contains rath-
er more sand, and is consequently
somewhat lighter than on most of the
remainder OF the farm devoted to this
purpose. The farm superintendent
Gays that here: The sub-soil runs
from to Is inches under the top soil.
Il is sandy but is greasy and will hold
water. as the puddles will show" Re-
gardless Of the presence Of sand the
sub-soil is very compact and impene-
trable
The topography is such in this or
chard, for the most part a gentle slope
10 the west, that good. natural surface
drainage is secured. The only pockets
where water was likely to stand or
where the surface drainage was poor
have been underlaid with tile.
In the fall of 1912 some experiments
were begun on the farm in preparing
land with dynamite for cultivation. in
the use Of the same material draining
wet places in ore of the Ben Davis
orchards. and in making holes for set
ting young trees in the Baldwin or
chard. All of this work with dynamite
was done by an expert sent out by one
Of the powder companies
In blowing holes for setting apple
trees the charge of dynamite was in
serted at the depth of from 80 to &c
inches The material encountered to-
ward the bottom of the holes consisted
Of very resistant hardpan which was
very hard to break, therefore one stick
Of extra 20 per cent dynamite was used
in each hole instead of one-half stick
as was originally planned. The expert
reported as follows regarding a test
hole Put down to a depth of Sc inches
and loaded with one cartridge: This
blew but small amount Of dirt out of
the hole. A man was put to work dig
sEing out loose material. and we found
that there was very satisfactory lOos-
ening to q depth of Sc inches with
lines Of breakage extending in all di-
fections from the point OF the shot
This was considered very satisfactory
n wes proceeded to blast the other
sApleSs3n like manner In writing of
gging into another hole on similar
III on another part OF the farm he
I'D: csThis SCATTERING seemed to dip
Entity upward in all directions
{nstbe spring of 1918 126 young Bald
n 1Ee<1 were set where the holes
~ blasted with dynamite the fall
De9bre. NAt the same time 50 other
kdees from the same lot and similar in
|eeefEsrespect were set in the same or
1yd Ia the usual manner by digging
hcaes with a shovel. In both coses,
efhef dynamited or without, large
was dug and then filled with top
(s N - where the tree was to be set.
ints S.Ae necessary in both instances
k{or the object of dynamiting was to
Chatter the sub soil rather than to SIM
ply make a hole. Therefore, little or
no hand labor was saved by the use
OF dynamite. So far AS the location Of
the trees IN the orchard was concerned
the conditions We're ideal from al, ex-
perimental standpoint. Since they
we're 10 replace trees which had been
removed In different parts of the or
euaIu 1efzone cause or another, chance
! man design determined where
uey should be placed. Consequently
t1ey were scattered indiscriminateiy
EtRvugh the orchard. and those which
were dynamited or simply shovel dug
were mixed in with each other without
any particular order
The pramary object of the experiment
was to sec whether or not the trees
would make a better or more vigorous
gefowth where the subsoil had been
shatered with dynamite So far as
you'd be judged no difference in this
1.spect occurred as the result of
growth in 1913 and 1914. In the spring
', isio some rather unexpected, COM
paIauVe results were obtained.
LOU growth was made during both !
sasons and In the fall of 1914 all of !,
.h.. "ees appeared vigorous and heal |
e,sdo Larry IN the spring of 1915 1t was |
=, mat a considerable amount |
m.n, .ei INJURY had occurred, and that |
- - ices We're killed back to within
-, ~. 10 inches of the ground. Some
OF these, however were ki,,ed nearly
qui.e 10 The soil line.
. an tne latter part Of June. when it
,, u.s. 1et That the full extent of in