132 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



tremendous amount of cutting, but he will still have left prac- 

 tically as many roots below as you normally have under the cul- 

 tural system. 



Ques. You would not want to return to permanent sod ? 



Prof. Stewart : I would not want to return to a permanent 

 sod unless I knew I could get satisfactory results with fertiliza- 

 tion, because sod alone as a general proposition is the worst. 



Ques. We are just being taught that we should use dynamite 

 for setting trees. What is the advantage if the tree roots run 

 only about 12 inches deep? 



Prof. Stewart : W^e have run three experiments in dynamit- 

 ing for two years and we have had no appreciable gain from the 

 dynamited trees. I don't want to be misunderstood in all this 

 at all. It may be the right thing here, but I will simply say 

 that in our experiments in two different parts of the state, and 

 one of them on a hard pan subsoil, where dynamiting should do 

 good if at all, for two years on two orchards in that kind of 

 soil and the third one in another sort — young orchards — we 

 have had no appreciable gain, and also on some mature orchards 

 we have had no appreciable benefit from it. I realize that over 

 in New Jersey, Mr. Farley has recently reported dynamiting, 

 in which he obtained some benefit, in the case of peaches. But 

 we have had none and I doubt very much whether you will get 

 a great deal of benefit from the use of dynamite in planting trees. 

 Now that is my opinion. Mr. Farley's experience with peaches 

 seems to be different. But the trees that were planted in com- 

 paratively small holes and the trees solidly tramped in are the 

 best trees in our orchard. We don't need especially large holes 

 for them. The roots get around somehow., And furthermore, 

 in Missouri, some 15 years ago, from the experiments in which 

 they tried out subsoiling with special plows and tore up the sub- 

 soil at a great expense and planted blocks of trees on that sub- 

 soiled area they found no benefit whatever. 



Ques. I think a professor here told me of roots that went 17 

 feet into the soil. Where is that? 



Prof. Stewart : We traced apple roots for 46 feet, but they 

 ran out sideways. In certain arid districts, such as New Mex- 

 ico and Arizona, the roots have to go down in search of water 

 and some unusual depths are reported there. 



