30 CANADIAN FARM YEAR BOOK. 



DYNAMITE AND WASTE LAND 



Dynamite is a solution, in part, of the problem of getting our unworkable lands 

 into crop-producing condition. Dynamite is a dangerous thing, but handled with 

 care, it is no worse than a cross bull or a kicking horse. All things, whether gentle or 

 •otherwise, are apt to become dangerous if abused, but intelligently handled are a 

 power for good. 



Science is solving problems for the farmer every day. Twenty years ago, theories 

 that are now in practical use upon the majority of the farms, would have been con- 

 sidered the wildest fancy of the impractical dreamer. Men are constantly learning 

 facts of which they little dreamed in earlier days. They are constantly finding the neces- 

 sity of modifying their systems of farming and reaching out for those things that will 

 make the soil more prolific and make their efforts yield a larger profit. Dynamite, as a 

 factor in farming, is one of these things that were undreamed of years ago. Those 

 who were considered the more fool-hardy at that time, used gun powder for blasting 

 rock or for blowing stumps, but in the latter case they were decidedly the exception. 

 To-day dynamite has proven its wonderful influence in putting before the farmer land 

 that was then considered hopelessly unsuitable for any kind of farm work. Brush land, 

 land covered with stumps and undergrowth that seemed almost impassable, is now 

 made to blossom like the rose and to yield its quota of food for man and beast. And it 

 does all this in an increditably short time. At least, it seems that way when one com- 

 pares the figld before and after the application of the explosive. Dynamite has also 

 proved a blessing to the farmer who finds his field littered with stones, especially in the 

 hard head and boulder that is so common in many sections of the country. With its 

 use these are thrown from the earth and broken so that they can easily be handled, 

 either for building purposes or simply to remove them from the land. Both of these 

 services, which are rendered by the explosive, are more or less apparent and easily 

 understood. But there remains another way in which dynamite is of great service to 

 the farmer. It is a way that is not so perfectly apparent nor yet so easily understood. 

 In certain sections of the country, where fruit is grown extensively, it has been found 

 that the tree planted in soil that has been broken by a blast of dynamite will be much 

 more hearty and much more sure to make a profitable growth and a much safer invest- 

 ment. The tree whose roots spread out more extensively because the sub-soil has been 

 broken by the explosive, is able to reach out for a greater supply of plant food, its little 

 rootlets are able to permeate the soil at a greater distance in every direction so that 

 the tree gets a stronger foothold and is less liable to be blown over and is more substan- 

 tially nourished. The other tree whose roots are limited to the hole that is dug with 

 the spade, is naturally more circumscribed in its growth, and while the rootlets will 

 ultimately spread out and pierce the hard soil that encases them, this will be done only 

 at a greater sacrifice to plant life and after much time has been wasted that might 

 have been used for growth. The same thing is true of smaller crops. Repeated plowing 

 at approximately the same depth, forms a sort of crust at the bottom of a furrow through 

 which it is difficult for the plant root to get down to the lower surface. This crust 

 leaves practically the same amount of soil to feed succeeding crops. The vast store house 

 that is down two or three feet lower is not drawn upon. In practical terms this crust 

 is a sort of hard pan. It forms a sort of division between the sub-soil and the upper 

 surface. It makes the upper surface more susceptible to the influences of_ nature; 

 that is blowing of the soil and evaporation. The plant life is left to be nourished on 

 that proportion of the soil that is most invaded by succeeding cropping. Now the 

 dynamite comes in as the solution. In some sections farmers have gone through their 

 fields and broken up this hard pan by blasting the soil. In Kansas the holes are made 

 about 15 feet apart each way, and from 50 to 60 pounds of dynamite are used to the 

 acre. Charges are fired simultaneously by means of electricity. In some places the 

 charges are put into the ground about four feet apart each way. The details are not of 

 so much importance, the th^ry is what actually counts. Dynamite as a means of 

 breaking up the hard pan is going to help develop a soil that is more thoroughly drought 

 resistant, it is going to make it possible to feed the crops on plant life that has long 

 been buried and inaccessible. Finally, it must be borne in mind that dynamite is not 

 necessarily so awe inspiring as many people think. It is a dangerous instrument, but 

 so are many of the tilings that are in every day use. If abused it is sure to produce 

 wreckage; but why abuse it? The explosive that is made for uses of this kind can be 

 easily and safely handled. 



