Farming with Dynamite 5 2 i 



mere scratching" over the surface of the soil 

 causes a hard-pan subsoil to form which is 

 unfavourable, if not actually inimical, to the 

 success of any estate, be it tea, sugar, fibres, 

 or anything else. Owing to these reasons the 

 reports published in the East, both India and 

 Ceylon, speak well of the results of using 

 dynamite and why ? It is because investiga- 

 tions after its use have shown the drainage in 

 the soil to be improved by the breaking up of 

 the hard-pan stratum to such an extent that 

 tea planted on abandoned land after dynamiting 

 is said to do better than on land not so treated. 

 Coming to the matter of cost, a query often 

 raised, and one that cannot be overlooked, the 

 following particulars appeared in the Ceylon 

 press. A case containing 200 cartridges, J- in. 

 in diameter, cost Rs. 24 (325.),- or 12 cents 

 each ; fuse about i cent a foot, there being 



24 ft. to a coil ; of this you use, at the most, 

 2 ft. to a hole = 2 cents plus half a cartridge 

 = 6 cents, one detonator 2 cents, making 

 10 cents (or just under i|d.) in all per hole. 

 Two coolies, as already shown, can put down 



25 holes per hour, or 175 holes in a working 

 day of seven hours. Labour cost for each 

 coolie 35 cents, making 70 cents for the two 

 coolies ; then add two other coolies who are 

 expert in making primers, charging holes and 

 firing same at 50 cents each per day = R.I, 

 bringing the total cost for labour up to 

 R. 1.70 per day, or practically i cent per 



