22 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Lee : My experience is that the dirt doesn't come down 

 in chunks; it rains down in very small particles. 



Mr. Sauter : How do you put in your charge, do you cover 

 it up? 



Mr. Lee: Oh, yes. I pack the hole, that is, the hole made 

 with the crowbar; otherwise it would shoot like out of a gun. 



Mr. Sauter : I have a tree in my orchard, and I dynamited, 

 and the big chunks of dirt came down and fell on some of the 

 trees and ruined them. 



Mr. Lee: How much dynamite did you use for a charge? 



Mr. Sauter: Half a stick. 



Mr. Lee : Half a stick of forty per cent. ? 



Mr. Sauter: Yes. 



Mr. Lee : How deep did you put it ? 



Mr. Sauter: About a foot and a half. 



Mr. Lee: Have you got clay top soil? 



Mr. Sauter: Black loam soil. 



Mr. Lee : Of course, when I dynamited in my orchard there 

 were no trees in it. I didn't have any trouble with big chunks 

 coming down, it was pretty well powdered up. 



The Future op Cold Storage. — In the June issue of Cold, under the 

 above title, some of the present possibilities and improvements which have 

 not yet been generally adopted, were discussed. To give some further idea 

 of the scope of cold storage and some of its recent operations, let us con- 

 sider a few of the things to which it has recently been applied; among 

 them may be mentioned the following: 



Curing tobacco, tempering watch springs, in the manufacture of rub- 

 ber, drugs, syrup, soap, ink, paint, vinegar, isinglass, etc., in oil refineries, 

 sugar refineries, chemical works, mercerizing works, photo material fac- 

 tories, in the manufacture of explosives, plows and other agricultural 

 implements, optical instruments, electrical machinery, etc., in welding 

 processes, for retarding growth of plants and vegetables, in laboratory 

 work, hospital practice, shaft sinking and tunneling, for testing automo- 

 bile parts, batteries, insulating material, paving material, etc. 



The United States Department of Agriculture has done some very 

 important work in the educating of the general public to the advantages of 

 cold storage and also in making practical tests in the storage of various 

 products. One of their most recent efforts along this line has been to 

 show that eggs should be kept under refrigeration from the time they are 

 gathered until disposed of. This would mean that every farm producing 

 eggs for market, should have a satisfactory refrigerator, and at present 

 not one farm in ten has such. The Department of Agriculture points out 

 that the loss of eggs from heat damage during the summer amounts to at 

 least 25 per cent of the total. It does not require but little imagination to 

 see that this 25 per cent in value of the egg crop would in a short time 

 pay for suitable refrigerating facilities for protecting the eggs on their 

 journey from the producer to the consumer. 



One of the most recent developments is the storage of apple cider 

 under refrigeration. It has been demonstrated that fresh cider well clari- 

 fied may be cold stored for several months without chemical treatment and 

 without important change. This means that it may be kept "sweet" for this 

 length of time so as to be palatable and useful as a beverage. This in 

 itself opens up vast possibilities as an outlet for surplus and low grade 

 apples. 



