PLANTING 8 1 



This affords about six months' time for the air, moisture, and 

 sunlight to work on the subsoil and mellow it. 



If trees are planted immediately after the blast, care must be 

 taken to poke down the upheaved soil at the bottom of the hole 

 or settle it well with water. If this is not done, the dirt may 

 shrink away from the roots of the tree, leaving it suspended in 

 air or water, and thus killing it. This is undoubtedly the cause 

 of the death of the few dynamite-set trees reported as failures. 

 A little care in settling the dirt will prevent this trouble. 



For the best results, throw out a bushel or more of the clay that 

 has been broken by the shot, and fill with some organic matter that 

 will slowly decompose as the years go by, mixing and cutting 

 in well with a sharp shovel or spade. Leaf mold, forest topsoil, 

 fence-corner settlings, old bones, scrapings from under an old 

 house or outhouse, or any such matter is good. Now that the 

 roots can go down and out in an area broken and pulverized for 

 many feet on all sides, the tree will make a rapid and healthy 

 growth and come to bearing earlier and live many years longer. 

 It will also be better able to resist drought and insects, for the 

 much-talked-of " insect-resisting tree " is not a tree immune from 

 insects, but one that is healthy and vigorous enough to overcome 

 their baneful attack. 



TABLE OF CHARGES AND AMOUNT OF 20-PER-CENT DYNAMITE 

 REQUIRED PER ACRE FOR PLANTING TREES 



No matter how the holes are dug, in planting the tree the prin- 

 ciple is the same. Good fertile soil should be selected for immediate 

 contact with the roots, and clods or lumps should be avoided. Tamp 

 the soil thoroughly around the plant — perhaps the fingers would 



1 It is necessary to have as many feet of fuse per hole as the hole is deep. 



