2G The Bulletin. 



good thrifty trees, nurserymen take pains to fertilize and cultivate 

 so as to make good soil. A pecan tree leaving such a soil and sud- 

 denly finding itself thrust into an impoverished one with an impen- 

 etrable wall of clay all about it generally dies from the shock. I 

 believe it pays to make some previous preparation in the orchard prior 

 to setting out pecan trees. After the land is staked off, deep and 

 wide holes should be dug. This gives the roots of the young trees a 

 wider root range in which to become established. For this purpose 

 it is a good practice in planting pecan trees to ''shoot" the holes with 

 dynamite before the trees are planted, so that the roots can get down 

 through the impervious layer. It has recently been found that this is 

 the cheapest and most effective way of preparing holes for pecan trees. 

 I have found from experience that 10 cents worth of dynamito. in 



m dunamited hole hoie\ 



'■■■;■. ■■'.■■ ■J^-^i 



uSubsoil broken UDbij blast % , -M. 

 ^; waking eas0 iSsIMM 



i'- ''^^\'-:'^r''-^^^^kf'^') ^obstructing^ 



spread of0M 



roots W'^^m 



Fig. 10. By courtesy of DuPont Powder Company. 



blasting stumps or digging holes, will do more execution than 50 

 cents worth of labor. By using from one-half to a whole stick 

 of 40 per cent dynamite, placed about 4 feet deep, an impervious 

 subsoil or hard pan can bo cracked up and loosened for several feet 

 around. 'Jlic dirt is not blown out of the hole, as might be expected, 

 but is raised at the surface and a large cavity made in the ground 

 below. It will be found by testing with a crowbar or sharp-pointed 

 stake that it can easily be pushed down into the loosened soil for 

 several feet. When it is desired to plant the tree the topsoil over the 

 opened cavity below can be easily dug away with a spade. Fig. 9 

 shows a tree hole made by dynamite. The best way to make the hole 

 for dynamite is by the use of a shipbuilder's auger to which a long 

 shank has been welded. A shipbuilder's auger is very heavy and does 

 not have a taper point to break off against obstructions. It will bore 

 quickly through .soil, clay, wood, or any ordinary substance. The use 

 of dynamite in pecan planting makes a passage for the tap-root, for it 



