Farming with Dynamite 513 



and thus secure their fill of food. Again, the 

 roots are allowed to grow downwards and not 

 laterally ; thus they do not encroach on the 

 feeding areas of the adjacent trees, which is 

 the case when there is only a top shallow layer 

 of porous soil. 



"The planter in question, we understand, 

 has applied the method to five acres of land 

 and planted rubber trees therein. It is, of 

 course, too early yet to judge the results in the 

 growth of the plants. If the results are as 

 good as anticipated it is very likely that the 

 method will be widely adopted in Ceylon. 

 Ordinary dynamite cartridges were used in 

 this case. 



"Now that a local planter has startecl the 

 method here," continued the paper, in its 

 comments on the experiment, " it will not be 

 out of place to quote one section of a recent 

 article on the subject which is of especial 

 interest to planters : * Possibly what at first 

 sight appears to be the strangest application 

 of dynamite is for the purpose of planting trees, 

 yet its success in this connection is peculiarly 

 remarkable. When a hole is made with a 

 spade the surrounding soil is left in its hard 

 condition. The result is that the roots find it 

 difficult to start. They are cramped in the 

 tight quarters of the hole and cannot pierce 

 the surrounding hard wall of earth. Under 

 these circumstances growth is appreciably 

 retarded for a considerable time. With 



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