; [Advantages of Red Cross Dynamite for Ditching 



Farmers have been using Red Cross Dynamite for draining swamps 

 and wet fields for many years, and much valuable farm land has been 

 reclaimed and made available for cropping by so doing. The cost 

 of the work and of the explosives is very small compared with the 

 value of the land reclaimed. 



The draining is accomplished in one of two ways, depending upon 

 conditions. Sometimes it is better to drain wet land by ditching, while 

 at other times it is more practicable to permit the water to escape by 

 a process of seepage through the soil. 



It is not always possible to drain by ditching. Whether it can 

 be done in that way depends upon whether the slope of the land per- 

 mits. If the swampy or wet spot is low, surrounded on all sides by 

 hills, ditching would not work. The drainage can then best be done 

 by subsoil blasting. This is done by exploding charges of dynamite 

 sunk deep in the ground, which breaks up the hard soil and allows the 

 water to find an outlet through the sand and gravel beneath. Whether 

 this is practicable, of course, depends upon the thickness of the stratum 

 of impervious subsoil and also upon its depth beneath the surface soil. 



For ditching, blasting is superior to old time pick and shovel 

 methods in every way. One of the most difficult problems the modern 

 farmer has to face is the securing of farm labor. Therefore, any 

 method of doing farm work which makes possible the employment of 

 fewer men is recognized as a good thing. To dig a big ditch quickly by 

 manual labor requires the employment of a number of men for a con- 

 siderable period of time. Where are the men to be had? Using 

 dynamite for ditching solves the farmer's problem. One man equipped 

 with a pointed steel bar, a sledge hammer and a supply of dynamite 

 cartridges, fuse and blasting caps, or electric blasting machine, can 

 excavate as much ditch in one day as many men could dig out with 

 picks and shovels. 



Blasting a ditch is a very simple matter. After making the holes 

 the proper depth with the pointed bar or punch, the blaster places 

 the dynamite cartridges at the bottom of the holes, and then explodes the 

 charges. The dynamite does all the work. If soil conditions are favor- 

 able, the result is a nice, clean ditch of the required depth and width, the 

 earth being spread evenly over the ground along the banks, and turning 

 in the water clears away what little of the dirt may have fallen back into 

 the trench after the blast. The cost of ditching with dynamite runs 

 from 8c. to 12c. per cubic yard, compared with an average cost of 25c. 

 per cubic yard when the work is done with pick and shovel. 



Dynamite is not recommended for excavating large ditches having 

 a depth greater than 6 feet, or width greater than 16 feet, but within 

 these limits it is the quickest and usually the cheapest means for ditching. 



In large reclamation projects the main canals can usually be ex- 

 cavated cheaper by dredging machines, but for laterals and sub-laterals 

 Red Cross Extra Dynamite is better. 



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