Identifier: improvingcropyie00newy (find matches)
Title: Improving crop yields by the use of dynamite
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: New York central and Hudson River railroad company. (from old catalog)
Subjects: Explosives
Publisher: (Baltimore, The Lord Baltimore press
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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these swampshave been drained, leaving land of wonderful fertility. The cypressstumps have no tap root, but have large **spreaders reaching out inall directions to such an extent that they are interwoven with thoseof neighboring stumps, forming a tangle of roots that never rot.The strongest and quickest dynamite in the hands of careful blastersgives the best results in this work. The common practice is to place1 !/4 X 8-inch cartridges under each of the principal spreaders, andfire all simultaneously by means of a blasting machine. The cypresswood, being extremely soft, splits easily, and the quick explosiveshatters the stump and releases it from the entangling roots. In order to obtain the best results in blasting cypress stumps theelectric system of blasting should be employed. Sixty per cent,dynamite detonated with a No. 6 electric fuze is recommended forthis work. When cypress stumps are not blasted until after the swampshave been drained, 40 per cent, dynamite should be used. 33
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CLEARING THE LAND FELLING TREES Occasionally when clearing land of growing timber, it is ofadvantage to blast out the entire tree and saw off the root after-ward. The process here is exactly the same as in stump blasting,but little, if any, more dynamite being required to bring out thetree, roots and all, than to blast the stump after the tree has beencut. The blast lifts the tree straight up a foot or two; then it falls,generally with the wind. SPLITTING STUMPS AND LOGS When stumps, particularly large ones, are blasted out wholeor nearly so, it is usually necessary to split them up so that they canbe conveniently handled or burned. This can be readily accom^plished with dynamite; only a small quantity being required, if thecharge is properly tamped in auger holes bored part way throughthe stump. In the South the pine stumps are very large producers of tur-pentine and by-products. Before the wood in the stump can bedistilled, it must be broken into pieces small enough to suit theretor

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