Details of Planting an Orchard 87 



The advice commonly Is to do the blasting some months in 

 advance of the planting so as to allow time for the soil to 

 settle. This may correct some of the troubles otherwise en- 

 countered, but the question that inevitably presents itself is 

 whether it is worth while in the long run to invite trouble in 

 this way. Whether the use of dynamite is advantageous or 

 otherwise is fundamentally a question of soil conditions, and 

 where used it must be done with keen discrimination if dis- 

 appointing results are to be avoided. 



In the practical application of this method of preparing the 

 holes, results vary greatly. There are those who are con- 

 vinced by their experience in using it on a large scale that 

 it is a highly desirable practice. Others have gained nothing 

 from it. One extensive grower says, "We have used dyna- 

 mite but do not as yet see sufficient difference in the trees 

 to warrant the additional cost." Another grower, six years 

 after using dynamite in part of a planting of 20,000 peach 

 trees, affirms that : "The cost of dynamiting was three times 

 that of digging, and no difference in growth of trees planted 

 by the two methods developed. This experience coupled 

 with observation elsewhere leads me to believe that on good 

 peach soil no advantage will result from dynamiting the 

 holes." 



The results, in general, obtained by the New Jersey Ex- 

 periment Station in a series of experiments under different 

 soil conditions in several places in the state have been con- 

 flicting. In one case the blasting has been without ap- 

 preciable effect ; in another, the results have been profitable 

 without question ; while with many trees differences in growth 

 in favor of dynamiting during the first two years after plant- 

 ing are equalized by the time the trees are five or six years 

 old. In some cases the trees planted in dynamited holes 



