April 1, 1913] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



353 



the plant's food in soluble form up to the crown. The quantity 

 of such food assimilated or digested by the plant is roughly pnj- 

 portional to the amount of water which it absorbs — provided, of 

 course, that the food is there to be absorbed ; but the food alone 

 is no use; without the water it cannot pass up the trees or 

 plants and nourish them. 



"Farming by dynamite," wrote the (London) "World's Work" 

 last April, has gripped the United States and is spreading through 

 Canada and Mexico like a prairie lire. '"The farmers who have 

 tried it, swear by it, and are upheld by the leading authorities 

 in agricultural science." I can confirm this from the tropics. 

 Since I lirst drew attention to the use of high explosives in 

 tropical and sub-tropical agriculture, by reviewing a book (The 

 Book of High Explosives, published by the Xobel Explosives 

 Co., Ltd., of Glasgow), I have received innumerable applications 

 for copies of the book and further information on the subject, 

 right up to the time of writing these notes, which I stopped 

 doing to order a copy to be sent to a cacao planter in L'na, 

 State of Bahia, Brazil. Tlie "Queensland Agricultural Journal," 

 already (iiioted, evidently found the same thing, for tlu- editor 

 writes. "Silice the publication of our articles on the value of 

 dynamite as an aid in clearing land, and to subsequent agricultural 

 operations, judging by the numerous letters we have received 

 from farmers and fruit growers seeking further information on 

 the subject, much interest — we mi,ght almost say enthusiasm — 

 has been aroused in many parts of the state in connection with 

 the use of dynamite on the land ;". w'hile the "Times of Ceylon" 

 quotes the following instance of its use for rubber planting by a 

 Kelani Valley (Ceylon) rubber planter, using only ordinary dyna- 

 mite cartridges: "First of all he used a quarter of a cartridge, 

 then a half, and then a full one, and kept data of the area of 

 ground disturbed when the quantities of dynamite had been fired. 

 The plough only breaks up the top surface, so that the water 

 mingles and dissolves the plant nutriment to a depth only of a 

 few inches. The sub-soil, however, remains intact, and the roots 

 of the crops have to feed upon what they can obtain from the 

 land broken up by the plough. But breaking the land up by 

 dynamite disturbs it to a depth of several feet, letting in the 

 water which dissolves the essential nutriment, while the roots 

 are able to descend to a greater depth and thus secure their 

 fill of food. A.gain, the roots are allowed to .grow downwards 

 and not laterally ; thus they do not encroach on the feeding 

 areas of the a-ljacent trees, which is the case when tlicre is 

 only a top shallow layer of porous soil. 



"The planter in question, we understand, has applied the new 

 method to five acres of land and planted rubber trees therein. 

 It is. of course, too early yet to judge the results in the growth 

 of the plants. If the results are as good as anticipated it is verv 

 likely tliat the method will be widely adopted in Ceylon, The 

 Red Cross dynamite was mentioned in the article which we 

 quoted, but these not being procurable, ordinary dynamite cart- 

 rid.ges were used in this case. 



'"Xow that a local planter has started the method here." con- 

 tinued the paper, in its comments on the experiment, "it will not 

 be out of place to quote one section of a recent article on the 

 subject, which is of especial interest to planters: 'Possibly what 

 at first sight appears to be the strange-st application of dynamite 

 is for the purpose of planting trees, yet its success in this connec- 

 tion is peculiarly remarkable. When a hole is made with a spade 

 the surrounding soil is left in its hard condition. The result 

 is that the roots find it difficult to start. They are cramped in 

 the ti.ght quarters of the hole and cannot pierce the surroundin.g 

 hard wall of earth. Under these circumstances growth is ap- 

 preciably retarded for a considerable time. With dynamite a 

 large clean hole is blasted out and. in addition, the soil on all 

 sides is loosened for five or six feet. When the tree is planted 

 the young and tender roots force their way without effort through 

 the crevices, sucking up nourishment, and commence to grow from 

 the moment thev are set. without anv retardation whatever.' 



Those qualified to speak upon the subject are of opinion that this 

 will bring trees forward at least a year sooner than those planted 

 under the old conditions.'' 



"A new profession has arisen of expert dynamite farmers," says 

 "The Wealth of India," when commenting on the article in 

 "The World's Work"; "dynamite is used for planting trees. 

 The spade-made hole leaves the surrounding soil in a hard 

 condition, and the roots find it hard to start. With dynamite 

 a large, clean hole is blasted out, and the soil on all sides is 

 loosened for five or six feet, thus enabling the trees so planted 

 to grow twice as quickly as those set in the usual spade holes." 

 "We heartily commend the subject of 'F'arming by Dynamite' 

 to our readers" — writes the editor of "Grenier's Rubber News," 

 at Kuala Lumpur, right at the heart of the plantation rubber 

 industry in the Far East. "The consensus of opinion, at least 

 among planters of the Federated Malay States, is that clean- 

 clearing, which means the removal of all stumps and timber, 

 is of paramount importance, and we feel sure that a perusal 

 of the methods discussed" (in an article they published) "will 

 convince planters that at last there is material available to ac- 

 complish the work expeditiously and economically." 



"In South Africa," reports the "Home and Colonial Mail"— 

 well known throughout India and the East — "experiments in 

 ploughing by dynamite are becoming quite popular. It is claimed 

 that operations can be carried out without injuring crops, and 

 demonstrations are now taking place all over the Union with the 

 object of fostering agriculture. The cost per acre is said to work 

 out at between £2 10s. and £5 according to the nature of the soil 

 and trees. Dynamite can be used for ditching, for constructing 

 irrigation furrows, and other farming purposes." 



.Ml the leading papers in the rubber producing world, as well 

 as those devoted to planting interests elsewhere, recommend 

 attention to the use of dynamite for estate work. Its use 

 especially appeals to me for out-of-the-way sections, and especially 

 in Latin .America, where the transport, even of the lightest make 

 of ploughs, is difficult and costly, often impossible. In centers 

 where the Isctse or other pest discourages the use of draught 

 aniirals, the use of explosives should rapidly increase. Possibly 

 the shocks, if not the actual explosions, might diminish the pests, 

 especially if steps were taken to attract them to the spot by bait, 

 in the shape of food to which they are partial. In locust in- 

 fested soils, the numbers of these pests, at all stages, even when 

 in flight, could be greatly reduced by organized explosions to 

 greet them with a feu dc joic whether in the soil as grubs or 

 flying over it. But there is no need to extend the list. Vou whom 

 I am addressing are far more able than myself to think them 

 out. I would, however, say in conclusion, that planters of cocoa- 

 nuts, fibres. Ceara rubber, and other crops which can be grown 

 tn advantage, when scientifically cultivated, in almost semi-arid 

 districts, will find the use of explosives a great aid as the follow- 

 ing letter, written from Kalkudah, in the Eastern Province of 

 Ceylon, to the editor of the "Times of Ceylon" (see their issue 

 of June 20. 1912) tends to prove: 



"I read with great interest the articles re 'Farming with 

 Dynamite' in the 'Times of Ceylon.' I believe this method will 

 gain popularity in the Eastern Province, as there is a slab of coral 

 from the coast here to one-and-a-half miles inland, or further, 

 and this runs from 2 to 9 ft. below the surface, in some places 

 measuring 18 to 24 in. in thickness. It is not porous, but in 

 some parts is soft and limy. There is water immediately below 

 this slab, but the coco-nut roots cannot get to the water, and 

 the trees are therefore greatly affected by the drought, and 

 large sums of money have to be expended in watering plants. 

 One notices patches of coco-nuts, old enough to give large 

 crops, looking sickly, with not even a blossom on them. This 

 is mainly due to the existence of this slab, which had not been 

 broken throu.gh before planting out. Dynamite blasting will do 

 more for these than tons of manure. A hole drilled in between 

 every four plants through this slab and blasted with dynamite 



