Farming with Dynamite: A Few Hints to FarmersE.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
Science
Farming with Dynamite: A Few Hints to Farmers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
Explosives in agriculture
It is possible, although difficult and expensive, to clear land of
stumps and boulders in other ways, but it is not possible to break up
hard-pan, or clay subsoils, without the use of "Red Cross" Dynamite.
Land that has a waterproof subsoil is practically worthless, as it holds
the surface water in such quantities on level ground, that the roots of
trees and plants are rotted away; on hilly ground, it allows the surface
water to run off, thus preventing the storage of moisture, with the
result that vegetation dies quickly in hot weather. Such land can be
rendered fertile at once by blasting with "Red Cross" Dynamite. The
subsoil is completely broken up and the dry, dead top soil converted
into a rich loam for less than the amount of the taxes for a year or
two.
The following extract from the Topeka, Kansas, "Mail and Breeze" proves
the wonderful results of this use of dynamite:--
"A few years ago M. T. Williams bought a quarter section of land near
Medicine Lodge in Barber County, and, conceiving the same idea that
Ex-Governor Crawford and others have, used dynamite in dealing with a
hard subsoil. The land was overgrown with sunflowers and cockleburs and
would have been considered dear at $10 per acre. It was underlaid with a
hard subsoil that was almost impervious to water. Mr. Williams' idea was
to loosen this subsoil with dynamite. He bored holes in the earth some 3
feet deep and about 40 feet apart, and in each hole placed a part of a
stick of dynamite. The explosion of the dynamite loosened the hard
subsoil, and made a reservoir for the rains, which had formerly run off
the land nearly as fast as they fell. On this quarter there is now 100
acres of, perhaps, as fine alfalfa as can be found in the state. Mr.
Williams has refused $15,000 for the quarter and gathers a net income
from his alfalfa of from $30 to $35 per acre every year.
"Last season Mr. Williams proposed to the ladies of the Baptist church
that he would give them a load of hay, provided they would come out to
the place, shock the hay, load it on wagons and haul it to town. They
took him at his word and shocked and hauled to town two tons which sold
for $16. When the second crop was ready the ladies came again, and
'touched' Mr. Williams for a little more than two tons which sold as
well as the first load."
Plowing With Dynamite.
Ordinarily plowing merely turns over the same old soil year after year,
and constant decrease in crops is only prevented by rotation or
expensive fertilizing.
With "Red Cross" Dynamite you can break up the ground all over the field
to a depth of two or three feet, for less than the cost of adequate
fertilizing, and with better results. Fertilizing only improves the top
soil. Dynamiting renders available all the moisture and elements of
growth throughout the entire depth of the blast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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