Page 44 



BETTER FRUIT 



Some Wet Spots Drained by Dynamite 



By A. H. Harris 



A neighbor had an old low pond place 

 of about one-quarter acre in his upland 

 field, which, owing to the nature of the 

 land could not be drained by an open 

 ditch. Therefore the only way of drain- 

 ing it was by an underground outlet. 

 He drilled several holes in this piece of 

 ground about twelve feet deep and ex- 

 ploded from 2 to 3 pounds of 40 per cent 

 dynamite in them. These explosions 

 thoroughly broke up and shattered the 

 hard pan so that the water could escape 

 downward. The next year a much 

 larger yield was harvested from this 

 piece of ground on account of better 

 drainage. 



Another man had a very low piece of 

 land. This was drained by using one- 

 half pound of 20 per cent dynamite ex- 



ploded at a depth of 3 feet. A few of 

 the latter charges in the lower places 

 were planted a little deeper and charges 

 were made a little heavier. The tough, 

 underlying subsoil was thoroughly 

 broken up, allowing the surplus surface 

 water to escape downward. He too, has 

 harvested considerably better yields 

 every year. 



Last spring I subsoiled a piece of 

 ground which was of a very cold, wet 

 nature. The soil was so wet that the 

 ground could not be put in good condi- 

 tion for an early crop. The past year 

 three crops were grown on this piece 

 of ground and all good ones. The soil 

 has worked much better since being 

 drained by the blasting. 



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Never sold in bulk — but in cans only. 

 In V2lb. , 1 lb. and 3 lb. sealed cans — 

 at the store where you do your trading. 



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Ground Qiocolate 



February, ipso 



For this work I used farm powder. 

 These holes I put down about three 

 feet apart and used one-quarter pound 

 of the farm powder per hole. 



A few large, deep basins have been 

 successfully drained by driving a well 

 until a sandy or gravelly stratum or a 

 stratum of rock with cracks in it is 

 reached. Dynamiting to drain wet spots 

 and basins with no outlets can only be 

 successful in a type of soil where a well 

 would also be successful. As it is much 

 cheaper it is preferable where the 

 sandy, gravelly or rock stratum with 

 cracks in it is near enough the surface 

 that the explosion would open up pass- 

 ways to this stratum. Where clay sub- 

 soil extends down as far as the blast 

 would affect the soil no permanent good 

 can be expected from dynamiting and 

 the blast must go below this clay to an 

 easily pervious stratum to get the de- 

 sired drainage. Then such holes should 

 be filled with long poles, stump wood 

 or other rubbish to keep the soil from 

 running back together afterwards, mak- 

 ing absolutely sure of a permanent 

 drainage system. 



New Mexico Fruit Shipments 



The fruit season for the Pecos Valley, 

 Roswell district of New Mexico, was on 

 the whole a very successful one. About 

 150 cars of peaches were shipped out, 

 chiefly to middle west and northern 

 markets. Eight hundred and forty-one 

 cars of apples were shipped and about 

 thirty remain in local cold storage. 



.Jonathans started to move about Aug- 

 ust 20th and the entire crop was har- 

 vested by November 10th. 



As usual the bulk of the crop was 

 marketed in Texas, although some of 

 the early Jonathans went to New York, 

 and the middle west and Great Lakes 

 territory took a larger percentage than 

 in former years. Prices were good and 

 orchardists will use greater care in 

 packing and grading next year. 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



Peach Leaf Curl Tests. 

 The first of a series of leaf curl con- 

 trol tests has been made on the Ore- 

 gon Agricultural college station farm 

 by W. A. Smart, crop pest assistant. The 

 purpose of the tests is to determine the 

 best materials to use, and the best time 

 of year to make the spray applications. 

 November sprays are not recommended 

 by the college at present, but applica- 

 tions in December, January and early 

 February are safe. Former tests have 

 shown that March is too late and that 

 Bordeaux is superior to lime-sulphur 

 for this disease. 



QOD SEEDS 



GOOD AS CAN BE GROWN 

 Prices Below All Others 



I will give a lot of new 

 sorts free with every order 

 I fill. Buy and test. Return 

 If not O. K. — money refunded. 



Big Catalog FREE 



Over 700 illustrations of ve^a- 

 tables and flowers. Send yours 

 and your neighbors* addresses, 

 R. H. SHUMWAY, Rockford. IIL 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



