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Page 133 text:
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Facts About the Agricultural Use of Explosives ILL blasting subsoils increase crop yields? Will trees grow better if the holes are blasted? Can a farmer do his own blasting for these purposes? These are the questions most often asked concerning the newest development in general agri- cultural work and compare favorably with the following: Should a hog have a full ration of corn? Will hens lay in winter? Should a baby have a teething ring? r If a 'soil has good drainage, we do not bother about digging ditches. If there is an abundant supply of lime in the soil, we do not go about tryting to sweeten it further. The object of subsoil blasting for growing either field crops, trees, or bush fruits is to open up the subsoil and increase the areation of the soil, improve the drainage.and thereby increase the absorption of soil moisture and to open new crevices for deeper root penetration. All of these improvements tend to the production of better and more profitable crops. It appears that the soils already well drained, naturally deep tilled and having well granulated subsoils are not those that would be selected for such treatment, so attention is at once directed to those having subsoils more or less troubled with hardpan or im- pacted clay subsoils. The noticeable characteristics of these soils are: The rainfall is held on the surface in puddles or is lost by surface run-off, root penetration is retarded, crops suffer greatly in seasons of drought, and yields are unsatisfactory. The plan to be followed in the correction of such soils so that they may become profit- able, is, first, to get the moisture into the subsoil. This is accomplished by opening cracks into and possibly through the restraining hardpan. If this can be done by ordinary tillage machinery, all well and good, but most of this class of material is found below the reach of even the heaviest plow. Here we have a case where the use of explosives is at once indicated, as no other known method is in reach of the farmer. Well placed blasts will shatter to any desired depth very deep clays and through thinner layers of hardpan, producing drainage courses through definite cracks. This can be determined by a physical examination of the soils, or by the absence of surface water following good blasting. It is well known that the moisture for supporting growing crops during the summer must largely be supplied by the absorbed water of the subsoil on account of the variability of rainfall andthat granulated soils have a greater power of absorption than those not so favored. ' , The most incomplete examination shows conclusively that roots penetrate deeper and grow more luxuriantly in loose than in tight subsoils. The vigor of the top is absolutely governed by the vigor of the root system. A number of agricultural investigators, practical farmers and fruit growers at first accepted the use of explosives for subsoil breaking in an experimental way, but after a few years of practical experience, adopted blasting for all their tree planting. The same was true of blasting for field crops and for the diminution of erosion troubles. Hens will lay in winter if properly cared for, hogs need a good ration of corn when being fattened, and soils are benefited by rational blasting. While explosives must be handled according to certain fixed rules, the work is quite simple and the art of blasting easily mastered. The average farmer can, by a little study and experience, get all the knowledge necessary to undertake these simple kinds of blasting. DuPoN'r Pownma Co. 132
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Page 132 text:
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THE ELECTRIC Cm ENGRAVING Co B U F FALO. N.Y .. rg .. Wt' MADE THE ENGRAVINGS FOR 7777.5 BOOK LJ J
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