304 
PA R K A N D C E M ETERY. 
formation on the principles of details con- 
nected with landscape gardening and as to 
the embellishment of the home grounds. 
It was written for the man and woman of 
average means : ambitious and expensive 
plans, which can be carried out by the 
wealthy only, are limited in number. It is 
astonishing at what a slight expense one’s 
home grounds can be beautified. Plan care- 
BLASTING 
.\Ir. Irish, of the Missouri Horticultural 
Society, has requested me to write a short 
paper on dynamite for tree planting and 
preparing the ground, which I will en- 
tlea\or to give you. 
In 1910 the DuPont Powder Co, began to 
promote the use of exi)losives in planting 
new orchards and rejuvenating old ones. 
The idea was not originated by them. 
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, near 
Lamesa, Cal., ground was blasted for tree 
planting. Because the orchardist found 
the work of planting with a spade in his 
resistant soil too difficult, his experience 
was a success. The trees lived, thrived 
and bore exceptional apple yields for many 
years. Other orchardists and farmers in 
that section and other sections of the coun- 
try also thought of the same scheme for 
preparing a home for the tree roots. We 
have records of such plantings twenty years 
ago, before the idea really began to spread. 
After we began to advertise it extensive- 
ly and send our demonstrators throughout 
the country, many farmers and orchardists 
tried the new' plan on a small scale. Xowq 
because of the universal success of correct 
blasting for orchard planting, the majority 
of fruit trees are being planted in blasted 
ground. 
There remains but three classes of fruit 
growers w'ho still stick to the old methods. 
First, those whom w'e have not yet reached 
through our promotion efforts. Second, 
those who have tried planting trees in 
blasted soil without knowing how to do it 
and hence failed to get satisfactory results. 
Third, the class of farmers, orchardists’ 
and horticulturalists who decry anything 
that is new, but w'e expect to see these par- 
ties and have no doul)t whatever but that 
they will see the benefits derived and take 
up the use of dynamite. 
iMillions of fruit, nut and shade trees 
hare been planted in blasted ground long 
enough to prove the advantages of the 
method. America’s leading orchardists and 
nurserymen now plant exclusive!}’ in blast- 
ed ground. 
WHAT BLASTING IN ORCHARDS 
ACCOMPLISHES. 
First : It mellows the ground to a depth 
of five or six feet, and throughout a circu- 
lar area ten to twenty feet in diameter, 
making it easy to dig the hole and plant 
the tree correctly. 
fully : buy young trees and shrubs and 
‘‘watch them grow"; this is the real joy of 
suburban life. The wealth of illustration is 
remarkable ; it is the numerous sketches, 
planting plans and reproduced photographs 
which make the book so valuable ; every 
lesson is simplified through pictorial repre- 
sentation. The type is large and clear ; the 
illustrations are admirable in their detail 
Address by R. A. Sinclare before 
the Missouri Ilorticultiiral Society. 
Second : It creates a porous, water- 
absorbing condition in the subsoil that 
makes the tree drought-proof, stopping the 
big first-year loss. 
Third : It makes growth easy and makes 
tons per acre of new’ plant food available, 
hence speeds up the growth of the tree and 
makes it fruit one to two years earlier. 
It creates drainage and prevents stagna- 
tion of water on the surface. In old orch- 
ards that w'cre planted by the old methods 
and have ceased to bear w'ell, it is of great 
value in rejuvenating the old trees, causing 
them to yield heavily. 
It destroys fungus and other orchard soil 
diseases, hence it is possible to plant in an 
orchard where old ones have been removed, 
without waiting several years to rest the 
land and get rid of the diseases. 
At a cost little or no more than of old- 
style planting, it causes at least a year s 
earlier return on the investment in new 
orchards and creating increased returns 
thereafter as compared with spade-set 
orchards. 
RLACING THE CHARGE. 
Since I have shown in the first part of 
m\ paper the two necessary things to have 
in getting best results when planting and 
growing trees is moisture and drainage, I 
am now going to explain how to use dyna- 
mite for the above results. 
By placing from half a stick to two sticks 
of Red Cross farm powder in a bored or 
punched hole from thirty inches to four 
feet deep, depending on the nature of the 
subsoil, and the kind of tree we wish to 
plant, being sure to tamp dirt in on dy- 
namite after we have loaded dynamite 
in hole, and by exploding the same we get 
the quickest, most economical and best hole 
for tree planting that can be had. The ex- 
plosion of dynamite loosens up the soil for 
many yards around and destroys all insects 
and grubs in the soil. It also kills all 
fungus disease that might be in the soil 
where an old tree died from that disease. 
As a rule, we only place from half a 
stick to a stick of farm powder in a hole 
for all ordinary tree planting, but should a 
planter have real wet or hard places in his 
land, where water stands on the soil, it 
should be broken deeper to allow perfect 
drainage. We always recommend dyna- 
miting when the ground is perfectly dry. 
reproduction. The paper is enamel ; the 
binding durable. The color plate on front 
cover portrays a beautiful landscape scene. 
Simply considered as a piece of book- 
making, this work will grace any library. 
The book is published by the A. T. De La 
Mare Printing & Publishing Co., Ltd., 438 
West Thirty-seventh street. New York. 
Price, $1.50; by mail, $1.65. 
After the blast, always dig out the hole, to 
be sure when you plant that there is no 
hole left under your tree. 
Every two or three years after the trees 
are planted it is well to explode small 
charges of dynamite four or five feet below 
the surface of the ground, midway between 
them, to keep the trees in good growing 
condition. 
REVIVING OLD TREES. 
When old trees begin to fail, it is some- 
times of much lienefit to explode dynamite 
under them. To do this, a hole should be 
started six or eigl’it feet away from the 
tree and driven downward and toward the 
tree on a dip of about 45 degrees. When 
the hole is twelve feet deep, it will be about 
eight or nine feet directly under the tree ; 
then explode rather small charges of dyna- 
mite in the hole. 
EFFECTS OP TREES PLANTED WITH 
DYNAMITE. 
Trees planted in dynamited holes come 
into bearing at least two years sooner and 
also grow much faster, and are more thrifty 
than trees planted in spaded holes. The 
fruit grown and matured on thrifty, hearty 
trees is much better than on slow-growing, 
sickly trees. 
During the past years I have been dem- 
onstrating the use of dynamite for agricul- 
tural purposes in Illinois and Missouri, and 
have had a splendid opportunity to investi- 
gate the soil of this section of the state. I 
find in almost every instance the soil is un- 
derlaid with a very tough clay or hardpan, 
which is almost impervious to water and a 
very poor soil for tree- planting, unless 
broken up in some way, and I know of no 
better way than by using dynamite. 
Dynamite, as known to the public, is a 
very dangerous explosive, but the man who 
has had a little experience in using it has 
no more fear from dynamite than black 
powder, gasoline or any other common ex- 
plosive. The great fear of dynamite is 
from the fact that w'e have never been ac- 
customed to using it and think of it as 
something very dangerous wdien it is only 
the acquaintance w'e lack. We should, of 
course, use care in handling dynamite, but 
need not have any great fear from it, as it 
is only one among many of our common 
explosives. 
Some advice on tree planting from the 
booklet of a prominent nurseryman ; 
FOR PLANTING TREES 
