The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1317 
A Dynamite Ditch In Ma r y land 
M R. FLANSBURG’S article, page 1237, on “Dig¬ 
ging a Ditch with Dynamite,” calls for my 
experience. Since the latter part of August, last 
year, I have dug more than three and one-half miles 
of ditch on my own land in Somerset County, Mary¬ 
land. All of this has been with 50 per cent straight 
dynamite, and by the “propagated method” exclu¬ 
sively. These ditches vary in size from those aver¬ 
aging 3x3 ft. to those averaging 5 ft. deep by 14 ft. 
wide. The soil is similar to that described in the 
above article. 
The nieest-looking piece of ditch here was made 
by punching holes 4 ft. deep 1G in. apart, loaded one 
stick in the first hole, two in the next, then one, then 
two, etc. In 10 working hours two men at a labor 
cost of $7.50 punched the holes, loaded and fired 500 
ft. of this ditch. The section of this ditch, and of 
all the ditches dynamited, is about half way between 
a “V” and a “U.” The cost was 15 cents per lineal 
foot. The work was done one Friday afternoon and 
the following Saturday morning. Two 
No. G caps were used and 3 ft. of fuse. 
We use for making the holes old 
shafting, 1*4x4 in.; these are churn- 
drilled down until hard punching is 
reached, then the hole is finished with 
the same size coal mine augers. These 
are 5 ft. long, with the coal mining 
brace removed, an eyebolt put in, and 
a wooden handle put through the eye- 
bolt. 
1 would suggest to Mr. Flansburg 
that he try the following; Put his 
holes in the center of the old ditch, 20 
in. center to center, 4 to 4*4 ft. deep, 
one line of holes load with two sticks, 
three in the next. This makes the 
equivalent of one stick every S in. If 
he finds his bottom is sandy he will 
have to put his holes closer together. I 
would try 1G in., two sticks to the hole. 
1 dug in early May 4 200 ft. of ditch, 
punched and loaded as above. This 
made a ditch from 4 to G ft. deep, 
averaging over 5 ft. deep and averaging 
14 ft. wide. This ditch cost 23 cents 
per lineal foot, against his estimated 
cost of around 37 cents. The dynamite 
cost me at the time I bought around 
$22.75 per 100 lbs. in ton lots. My 
labor cost on this ditch was practically 
six cents per foot. 
To my mind the electrical method of 
ditching is out of the question on ac¬ 
count of the cost. The last quotation 
I had on electrical exploders was nine 
cents. On Mr. Flansburg’s ditch he 
would have three exploders every 2 ft. 
Then an exploder has to be put into 
one stick of dynamite for each hole, 
then they all have to be wired up to¬ 
gether, then the battery wires straight¬ 
ened out, and after the first shot unearthed, or more 
new ones used. Then everybody gets back, and they 
nnry get 50 ft. of dp -h fired; then load again. I do 
not believe that he can shoot it electrically without 
spending 20 cents per lineal foot for exploders, bat¬ 
tery wire and time wasted ; and none of this 20 cents 
moves a bit of dirt. An electrical exploder won’t 
get much, while 23 cents made my complete ditch 
by the propagated method. And 20 cents a foot gets 
to be some dollars when the foot becomes a mile. 
This electrical method of ditching is a sore spot 
with me. Some years ago, when when I began to 
consider methods of ditching, all of the literature I 
could get on the subject, and all of the people (very 
few) who could tell me anything about it, spoke of 
tin* electrical and the propagated methods as optional. 
I had had 15 years’ experience on heavy construction 
work. I felt that I knew as much about the elec¬ 
trical method as the man that developed it. I passed 
the ditching up for five years, trying to learn how 
to do it. I did not have enough work to buy a 
machine. I talked to some contractors, but I could 
not do it. all in a day, meaning I did not have the 
money to pay for all; and unless it all went there 
was not enough work for them. Meantime, I had 
12o acres of corn drowned, got enough corn for 18 
mules and 20 hogs for two months; put the mules 
in the ditches whenever I could, and made a good 
ditch at 25 cents a lineal foot; but they had other 
work to do, and I never got more than 800 ft. done 
that way, 
Then last year a dynamite demonstrator came 
down. The ditch he made still fell down on cost, 
and I did not see it. Then some months after he 
was here, in August, it began to rain, and rained 
some more. Something had to be done quick, and I 
ordered a ton and a half of dynamite. 50 per cent 
straight. We tried it, tried to get a large ditch, and 
went down not 2 ft. and 2*4 ft., but around 4 ft. and 
deeper. The stuff worked, and our costs came down. 
The man who made the demonstration was looking 
at some of these ditches, and I asked him why he 
told me the 2 ft. and the 2*4 ft. He said. “No, we 
tell you to try it, put it down, but when we give a 
demonstration we have to play on the safe side, and 
we talk about one stick to the hole. We have to get 
a ditch made and let the people see it. We could 
only tell how deep to put it by trying out a number 
of methods of loading. When a man gets to working 
with it he will probably be able to move a lot more 
material per pound of explosive.” I beat him by 100%. 
Dynamiting the Ditch. Fig. J/05 
Water In Ditch Just After Dynamiting. Fig. 1/06 
On my land here, for a ditch up to 5x14 ft., I would 
take dynamite in preference to any machine I have 
seen. If I had a great many miles the machine might 
he the most economical, but my idea is that the dyna¬ 
mite will have done it before the machine and crew 
are all broken in. You can use the propagated 
method, too, on almost any land that has to have a 
ditch. It will get wet enough to propagate some 
time, and if it does not get that wet it will get along 
without ditching. The picture, Fig. 406, shows the 
water starting down the 5x14 ft. ditch just after it 
was shot. The camera was about 4 ft. above the 
bottom. The clods have all flattened out. 
Maryland. e. mcd. moore. 
Florida Strawberry Crop 
Part II. 
A WORLD RECORD.—I myself like to think that 
1 have set a world record in the financial re¬ 
turns from a given area of strawberries, and yet how 
much higher the figures had been, but for the chance 
of planting a large proportion of a less well adapted 
variety! 
POSSIBILITIES OF YIELD.—Then, too, doubt¬ 
less there are those who find the stated yield so far 
beyond their experience that they find it difficult to 
believe. Yet here I am not so sure that I have set a 
world record. In fact, I am quite sure the record, 
even of the Rrandywines, has been rather frequently 
exceeded. Recently 1 read a report of a half-acre 
patch in Iowa that produced at the rate of over 
16,000 quarts per acre. A few days ago I was talk¬ 
ing with a reliable man, who said he knew of a 
strawberry field, matted-row culture, in his home 
locality in the North, credited with a yield of 18,000 
quarts per acre. I distinctly recollect the details of 
an article I read when a boy, written by a New York 
State man, dealing with a method of strawberry cul¬ 
ture, by which he claimed to have produced on a 
small, area at the rate of 800 bushels of berries per 
acre. That would be at the rate of over 25.000 
quarts per acre. That article, whatever its basis in 
fact, has always been an inspiration to me toward 
maximum production. 
METHODS OF PRODUCTION.—The method was 
practical and logical; simply good soil, stock plants 
set 40 in. apart in 30-in. rows, four runner plants 
placed S in. apart between stock plants; then all 
subsequent runners removed. My experience indi¬ 
cates there was too much path space wasted to secure 
maximum yield. A greater number of authentic re¬ 
ports of crop records of any crop with 
such latent possibilities as the straw¬ 
berry would be both interesting and in¬ 
structive. 
STOCK PLANTS.—I have stated my 
method of culture before, but for those 
who may not remember, and for new 
readers, I will briefly state it again. 
Stock plants are set early in April, just 
as they are set in the North for matted- 
row culture, except that I usually set 
farther apart: rows 6 ft. apart, plants 
30 in. apart in the row. An acre, under 
favorable conditions, will produce from 
200,000 to 250,000 plants by October 20, 
planting time. 
SETTING.—For the fruiting planta¬ 
tion the land is thoroughly prepared, 
then smoothed down with a plank drag. 
The area is then marked with a hand 
marker; marks 12 in. apart one way 
and 9 in. the other. The marker is con¬ 
structed like a large rake, with the 12- 
in. marking “te*eth" on one side of the 
head and the 9-in. “teeth” on the other. 
In planting every fifth mark the 12-in. 
way is left for a path. That leaves the 
plantation in four-row beds, rows 12 in. 
apart, and plants 9 in. apart in the 
row, requiring 4G.492 plants per acre. 
SOIL TREATMENT.—The plants are 
set by hand with a garden trowel, a 
handful of composted dairy manure ap¬ 
plied to each plant; also a half pint of 
water, and the. surface stirred to check 
evaporation. Later two tons per acre 
of a good grade of home-mixed com¬ 
mercial fertilizer is applied broadcast. 
Half of this is applied directly after 
planting, and the rest a month or more 
later. At each application the foliage 
is well brushed to prevent burning. 
The crop is cultivated with wheel hoes. 
VARIETY TESTS.—The most striking phase of 
strawberry culture here is the strong relief into 
which climatic conditions throw the adaptability of 
varieties. I have tested about 40 different sorts, 
and their response has ranged from total failure of 
the great majority to the phenomenal performance 
of the Brandywine. Of those tested there are only 
about four that could be at all considered commer¬ 
cially if there were nothing better, and at that the 
Brandywine is not a general favorite in Florida, nor 
even in this locality. There are probably many more 
Missionary planted in Florida at present than all 
other varieties combined. Unless the Brandywine 
is at its best it is very disappointing indeed; coarse, 
knotty, and, under certain conditions, exceedingly 
acid. As I have finally succeeded in growing it. it 
is large, luscious, of exquisite flavor and of im¬ 
mense productiveness, as already stated. It has 
long been my favorite, and the Missionary I planted 
this season I first grew as plants intended for sale, 
but later decided to plant them, too, for fruit, little 
thipking the difference in production would be so 
extremely wide. 
ACCLIMATED PLANTS.—Another interesting 
feature developed in this crop. About one-third of 
the Brandywine plants were produced from home¬ 
grown stock, the parentage of which were secured 
in the Spring of 4917 from a North Central State. 
The rest were grown from stock plants secured direct 
from an Eastern firm. There could be no doubt as 
