34 Fruit-growing in Arid Regions 



but subsoiling a few furrows near where the tree row is 

 to stand could hardly be a mistake. It would aid the 

 water in reaching the dry subsoil and encourage deeper 

 rooting of the young trees. 



In extreme cases giant powder has been used to break 

 up hard subsoils, and has apparently given good results. 

 There are only a few instances in which such a course 

 can be recommended, but it is possible that with some of 

 our mesa soils, which are underlaid with marl, it will prove 

 to be worthy of trial. While one could hardly advise 

 the planting of an orchard on a large body of land requir- 

 ing such preparation, it is true that small spots that 

 might be benefited or overcome by such treatment are 

 often found in large bodies of good orchard land, and rather 

 than have a break in the orchard plot it may be well to 

 attempt to correct the fault by breaking up the subsoil. 

 To apply this treatment, a bar is driven down where 

 the tree is to stand, and a charge of dynamite, heavy 

 enough to lift all the soil above it, is placed three feet 

 below the surface. 



