8o THE APPLE 



frozen and thus be made insensitive. When viewing a blast it is 

 always advisable to look out carefully for falling material which 

 may be thrown farther than anticipated, and a position should 

 always be taken that will bring the sun and wind at your back. 

 In any case the sun should not be faced, as in doing so it is natu- 

 rally difficult to discern material flying through the air. Look up 

 in the air, rather than at the stump or bowlder being blasted. 



Never investigate a misfire immediately. It sometimes happens 

 that the charge does not explode exactly when it should, but does 

 so a little later. This rarely if ever occurs when firing electrically, 

 but is not so infrequent when fuse is used, because careless tamp- 

 ing sometimes tears or abrades the fuse so that it will burn very 

 slowly. A misfire with fuse should not be investigated for at least 

 half an hour, and it is much better to wait a full hour. When 

 firing electrically, be sure that all your connections are perfect, and 

 do not connect the leading wire to the blasting machine until 

 everything else is ready for the blast. This will prevent some 

 inexperienced person from accidentally operating the blasting 

 machine and exploding the charge before the blaster has had 

 time to reach the safety line. 



Digging holes with dynamite. In a large orchard or field a 

 blasting machine may be used to detonate the charges. If only a 

 few trees are to be set, the blasting should be done with fuse and 

 blasting caps. Let the depth of the holes for setting your car- 

 tridges be governed by the state of the soil. Make a hole with 

 auger, sharpened wood dibber, or crowbar, well down into the 

 subsoil. 



In very tight soils, as in California hard pan, a whole cartridge 

 of 20 per cent or even 40 per cent may be necessary. These heavy 

 charges should be tamped. 



The usual charge is half a cartridge of 20-per-cent dynamite 

 per hole, primed with cap and fuse. If the soil in which the tree 

 is to be planted is of a hardpan, shale, or very compact clay, holes 

 should be tamped ; otherwise no tamping is necessary. 



The common practice is to plant the trees shortly after the 

 holes are blasted. Some orchardists, however, believe best results 

 will be obtained when holes for spring planting are blasted in 

 the fall. 



