508 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



explosives on cultivations, I would first state 

 that if I do not include the names of the lead- 

 ing centres which have lately been using or 

 experimenting with them for breaking up soils 

 (some of the farmers in the Western States of 

 America have, I understand, regularly blasted 

 their ground for twenty or thirty years past, 

 and obtained bumper crops thereby), nor men- 

 tion the names of all the leading journals that 

 have been good enough to open their columns 

 to discuss the matter, it is not for want of 

 appreciation on my part of the important share 

 that they have taken in helping us to become 

 " at home " with the use and handling of explo- 

 sives, but for lack of space and time at my dis- 

 posal and yours. I must, on the contrary, be far 

 more brief than pleases me, for this is a subject 

 which, the more it is discussed, the more one 

 can realize what can be done with dynamite, 

 and hence the more one would like to say on 

 its use. 



Dynamite or other explosives and for the 

 sake of brevity let me say " right here," that 

 every time I use the word dynamite, I mean 

 to imply "or other explosive if more suitable "- 

 can be used with advantage in agricultural 

 industries for the following reasons : 



(i) To break up hard or virgin soil to facili- 

 tate ploughing ; and especially to break up the 

 under-crust, when present, which no plough 

 could penetrate, at any rate no plough used by 

 the average farmer or planter. 



