Records kept by Prof. A. J. McGuire, Superintendent Experimental Farm of the University of Minnesota, show even lower costs.
Breaking Up Hard-Pan, Shale or Clay Soils.
This is probably the most important use of "Red Cross" Dynamite.
It is possible, although difficult and expensive, to clear land of stumps and boulders in other ways, but it is not possible to break up hard-pan, or clay subsoils, without the use of "Red Cross" Dynamite.
Land that has a waterproof subsoil is practically worthless, as it holds the surface water in such quantities on level ground, that the roots of trees and plants are rotted away; on hilly ground, it allows the surface water to run off, thus preventing the storage of moisture, with the result that vegetation dies quickly in hot weather. Such land can be rendered fertile at once by blasting with "Red Cross" Dynamite. The subsoil is completely broken up and the dry, dead top soil converted into a rich loam for less than the amount of the taxes for a year or two.
The following extract from the Topeka, Kansas, "Mail and Breeze" proves the wonderful results of this use of dynamite:—
"A few years ago M. T. Williams bought a quarter section of land near Medicine Lodge in Barber County, and, conceiving the same idea that Ex-Governor Crawford and others have, used dynamite in dealing with a hard subsoil. The land was overgrown with sunflowers and cockleburs and would have been considered dear at $10 per acre. It was underlaid with a hard subsoil that was almost impervious to water. Mr. Williams' idea was to loosen this subsoil with dynamite. He bored holes in the earth some 3 feet deep and about 40 feet apart, and in each hole placed a part of a stick of dynamite. The explosion of the dynamite loosened the hard subsoil, and made a reservoir for the rains, which had formerly run off the land nearly as fast as they fell. On this quarter there is now 100 acres of, perhaps, as fine alfalfa as can be found in the state. Mr. Williams has refused $15,000 for the quarter and gathers a net income from his alfalfa of from $30 to $35 per acre every year.