Cultivating or Rejuvenating Old Fruit Trees, 

 Grape Vines, Etc. 



The principal objects to be attained by using dynamite in cultivating 

 or rejuvenating old fruit and other trees, grapevines, etc., is to open up 

 the subsoil so that the roots may spread farther and go deeper and also 

 so as to increase the waterholding capacity of the soil, to prevent the 

 surplus moisture from lying on or near to the surface. This work is, 

 therefore, very much like subsoil or hardpan blasting, especially in such 

 places where resistant soil conditions are encountered. 



In California and other States, where many orchards grow over 

 hardpan, holes are often drilled from 3 to 5 feet deep and sometimes 

 placed only 6 feet away from the trees. When holes are within 6 feet of 

 the trees, the charge is reduced. 



It is not often advisable to blast with large charges or so close to the 

 tree that many of the roots will be broken. When this occurs it is neces- 

 sary to prune the top of the tree so that the transpiration will properly 

 correspond with the feeding. Do not fail to carry out the priming, 

 charging and tamping instructions as contained on pages 119 to 126. 



-z/o'-o" 



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FIG. 133 



This diagram represents a square acre, approximately, with trees growing ai 

 20 feet distances " on the square." The black dots represent the trees, the crosses 

 the blasts, and the circles the areas broken by the blasts. This system, with holes 

 punched in the centers of the squares is the best when trees are spaced up to twenty 

 feet apart. As 20- feet spacing does not exactly cover a square acre half the effect 

 of the blasts on two sides of the acre will, be in the two adjacent acres. 



155 



