FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



Uynaiiiite Oitfhing 



'"■ontinued from pagr- 1. column 2 

 a large part of the dirt and made it easier 

 to remove the remainder. No one was 

 injured yet at Mr. Clark's a group of 

 interested spectators found that an apple 

 tree affords but slight protection from 

 flying mud. One man got an earful 

 while othei's got white shirts dyed a 

 chocolate color. 



The method used in blowing these 

 ditches was to line out the proposed ditch 

 with stakes and then to run string be- 

 tween stakes. Holes were punched with 

 crowbars every eighteen inches. These 

 were made three feet deep. One stick of 

 sixty per cent N. G. dynamite was shoved 

 to the bottom of each hole with a wood 

 stick and tamped in. Each hole was 

 marked with a twig so that if any sticks 

 failed to explode the holes could be easily 

 located. After one or two hundred holes 

 were loaded, an electric blasting cap was 

 placed in a stick of dynamite. This 

 capped stick was put in the middle hole. 

 Two pounds of bell wire were used from 

 the cap to the battery. In these demon- 

 strations the battery consisted of four 

 dry cells hitched in series. One of the 

 wires from the cap was hitched to the 

 positive pole of the series. The charge 

 was set off by touching the other wire 

 from the cap to the negative wire. Both 

 wires should be disconnected from the 

 battery until the very moment that the 

 ditch is to be blown. If the soil is thorouhly 

 wet one blasting cap will set off at least 

 two hundred sticks of dynamite. The 

 shock of the first explosion carries from 

 one stick to another. It looks as though 

 all of the dynamite went off at once. In 

 dry ground it is necessary to cap every 

 stick of dynamite. 



One stick (one-half pound) of sixty 

 per cent N. G. dynamite was used every 

 eighteen inches in these demonstrations. 

 The holes were made three feet deep. 



•:.M 



New 1926 5-Tube 



Freshman 



Radio Set 



^39.50 



G. P. TROWBRIDGE CO. 



129 King St., Northampton 



Phone 480 



This blew a ditch about six feet wide at 

 the top and about four feet deep. The 

 materials cost $3.10; four batteries at 

 forty-five cents, $1.80; two pounds of bell 

 wire at sixty-five cents, $1.30. The 

 dynamite cost thirty-two cents a pound 

 or $1.76 per rod of ditch. Shallower 

 ditches cost less. Electric blasting caps 

 cost six cents each. E. T. Clark tells me 

 that he cleaned out his ditch after it had 

 been blown at a labor cost of about 

 twenty dollars. 



The demonstrations showed that ditch- 

 ing with dynamite is economical when 

 the soil is wet. The wetter the soil the 

 better the job. In dry land there is 

 trouble with the charge propagating. 

 The dirt being dry often blows up but 

 falls back into the ditch. If desired 

 more demonstrations can be staged an- 

 other year. The county agent would be 

 glad to go over ditching work with any 

 who are interested. 



Mature Apples Ilest KeeperK in Storage 



Continued from page 3. column 3 

 age, therefore, the picking of most varie- 

 ties should be delayed as long as the 

 fruit is holding on the tree fairly well 

 or until there is danger of freezing. 

 Late picking of good common storage 

 varieties results in a firmer and higher 

 quality of fruit in storage. 



Apples for cold storage also should be 

 fairly well matured when they are picked, 



both to obtain highest quality and ap- 

 pearance and to reduce the occurrence of 

 storage scald. The development of scald 

 can be greatly reduced by the use of oiled 

 paper, but the control will be more effec- 

 tive, particularly in barreled apples, if 

 the fruit is well matured when picked. 

 Data gathered in the tests show that 

 fairly late picking does not result in more 

 rapid softening in fruit held at 32° F. 



Merritt Clark 8C Co. 



Clothiers, Furnishers 



and 



Hatters 



HART SCHAFFNER AND 

 MARX CLOTHES 



144 Main Street 

 NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



LINCOLN ^ 





FORDSON 



JUNE 21, 1926 

 NEW IMPROVED FORD PRICES 



All cars, Balloon Tires and Starters 



CHASE MOTOR COMPANY 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



24 Center Street Telephone 470 



