History
THE PERKINS JOURNAL, Thursday, July 8, 2010 - A5
By LeeAnn Bartoi !
I am an old gardening
ookaphile. That is not to
ay I am old, but that I am
rawn to older gardening
ooks. Garage sales, flea
larkets or used bookstores
II my quest for gardening
ooks long out of print.
elieve me; I purchase my
hare of newly published
ooks as well,/f they meet
y criteria for informa-
on. So many current
leases seem to brush the
arface of where, when or
ow-to without any real
abstance.
That said, I picked up a
970 copy of The Encyclo-
edia of Organic Gardening
a recent sale. I bought it
ith the intention of giving
to a friend for I thought I
ready owned a copy. As I
gan browsing it at home,
realized it was a different
ok. It was in encyclope-
c format, informative, but
)t what I was looking to
tare with Cindy.
As I flipped through the
lges I found an entry for
cnamite. I was instantly
nused, who would use
cnamite to garden organi-
dly? Times and methods
ave certainly changed!
hough penned with all
',riousness, I still find it
ther comical and would
e to share how families
ld farmers used dynamite
the garden.
"Dynamite is dangerous
]t...if simple precautions
e followed becomes a safe
ld reliable tool." Think of
e settling of the old west,
any men did learn to
;e dynamite around the
)mestead. Ranchers went
farther than the general
re to purchase what they
Ieded. The book's
entry
ints out the fact that there
are different types of dyna-
mite, some that explode
with the slightest shock
and others that take an
extended detonation• (This
was news to me; I always
thought the blast depended
on the quantity•)
There is a list of "farm
chores it (dynamite) does
best". Topping the list is the
chore of breaking through
hardpan and "loosening
the soil for tree planting"•
Digging drainage ditches,
splitting stumps, boulders or
logs and making postholes
are included.
I think back to the early
1980's in rocky, rural,
Northern California and
thank God my then hus-
band did not have access
to dynamite! We used
mattocks, picks, post-hole
diggers and chain saws to
clear the land, create drain-
age and put in fence posts.
Admittedly, Larry would
have loved the adventure
of dynamite, but retriev-
ing vehicles that ended up
stuck in the most precarious
positions was about all the
excitement I could take.
Rodale's Encyclopedia
does disclose dynamite
in the garden will kill the
earthworms, but with the
end result of aerating the
soil, will also create prime
worm habitat 10' deep for
them to repopulate. "It is
true that building up the
surface health of the soil by
mulching and using compost
will gradually loosen a hard-
pan below. But waiting for
that to happen will occupy
several years at least." I
guess I (and other organic
gardeners) have reverted to
the slow and steady meth-
ods of compost.
The page and a half entry
cautions not to blast near
buildings and stipulates
not to blast inside the city
or town limits. Specifics are
given that a "test" charge
should be detonated. The
dynamite needs to be placed
in, not above or below, the
hardpan; so a hole must be
created with a digging bar to
begin. After the "test" the
organic gardener is then to
"excavate the blasted earth
to determine just what
effect you are achieving."
Sounds like a lot of dirt
moving to me.
"If unsure of your DIY
abilities, hire someone with
experience.•.", how funny!
Have you ever know a
DIY-er who was not over
confident of their abilities?
The book declares 30-40
charges are necessary for
a "large garden•" Who,
even in 1970 would have
everyday experience
detonating dynamite? One
could place an ad, "Wanted,
experienced person to come
blow up my garden."
In closing the entry,
Rodale affirms, subsoilers
with a chisel blade, pulled
by a tractor have taken the
place of dynamite in correct-
ing hardpan. Though faster
and cheaper, "it is doubtful
whether mechanical sub-
soilers can do as shattering
a job as dynamite. Futher-
more, most gardeners don't
have access to mechanical
subsoilers." (And we do
dynamite?)
Yes times have changed,
for better or for worse.
Farmers and homesteaders
of the 1930's and 1940's
would probably think us
silly for going back to mulch
and compost. But that was
before men, women and
children went postal on
a regular basis• Simpler
times invited occasional
explosions; explosive times
pursue simpler methods.
I love old books; ones
where I can turn the pages
not scroll the screen•
00,io.ments
m tm00e
• On July 15, 1606, the
:eat Dutch master Rem-
• andt van Rijn is born in
ziden. Rembrandt com-
eted more than 600 paint-
gs, many of them portraits
• self-portraits. By the age
22, he was accomplished
ough to take on his own
]dents.
On July 12,1862, Presi-
nt Abraham Lincoln signs
to law a measure calling
ir the awarding of a U.S.
Irmy Medal of Honor. The
[st U.S. Army soldiers to
[ceive the honor were six
embers of a Union raid-
g party who in penetrated
:ep into Tennessee and
eorgia to destroy bridges
d railroad tracks.
On July 14, 1881, Sher-
Pat Garrett kills Henry
cCarty, known as Billy
e Kid. Garrett had been
tcking the Kid for three
onths after the gunslinger
ld escaped from prison
fly days before his sched-
uled execution. At the trial,
the judge had sentenced
Billy the Kid to hang until
"you are dead, dead, dead."
Billy reportedly responded,
"And you can go to hell,
hell, hell."
• On July 17, 1938,
glory-seeking flier Doug-
las Corrigan takes off from
New York headed for Cali-
fornia. Twenty-eight hours
later, Corrigan landed his
plane in Dublin, Ireland and
exclaimed, "Just got in from
New York. Where am I?"
By the time "Wrong Way"
Corrigan and his crated
plane returned to New York
by ship, he was a national
celebrity• •
• On July 18,1940, Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt, who
first took office in 1933
as America's 32nd presi-
dent, is nominated for an
unprecedented third term.
Roosevelt would eventu-
ally be elected to a record
four terms, the only U.S.
president to serve more
than two terms.
• On July 16, 1967, actor
and comedian Will Ferrell is
born in Irvine, Calif. After
rising to fame on TV's
"Saturday Night Live,"
Ferrell starred in a string
of big-screen comedies,
including "Anchorman,"
"Old School" and "Talla-
dega Nights."
• On July 13, 1990, the
romantic-thriller "Ghost,"
starring Demi Moore, Pat-
rick Swayze and Whoopi
Goldberg, opens in theaters
across the United States.
The film, about a woman
who communicates with
her murdered husband
through a psychic, received
multiple Academy Award
nominations•
(c) 2010 King Features Synd.,
Inc.
Don't get
stressed.
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By Charles Wall
Virginia trip
In 1955, I was in the U. S.
Naval Reserve. Those of us
in the Reserve would attend
weekly drill each Monday
night at the training center
in Stillwater. Then we
would also have a two-
week annual training each
year. I was also in college
at Oklahoma A. and M. at
the time.
In August, 1955, my two-
week annual training was
at Norfolk, Virginia Naval
Station. On the weekend,
I had Saturday and Sunday
off so I had the opportunity
to visit some historical sites
and museums.
I visited Williamsburg,
which is a restored colo-
nial city. It was restored
by John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. to show how cities and
life was between 1633 and
1779. The guides and atten-
dants there were dressed in
the clothing of that time
period•
Then I traveled to Rich-
mond by bus. Richmond
is the capital of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia and
served as capital of the
confederacy during the War
Between the States,
Many of the historical sites
were in walking distance of
each other. I obtained a bro-
chure that told the location
of interesting places.
The Old Stone House,
built in 1686, was used as
a museum devoted to the
memory of Edgar Allan
Poe. The homes of Jef-
ferson Davis and Robert
E. Lee were preserved. A
suit of clothes belonging to
Jefferson Davis, president
of the Confederacy, was on
display•
Thomas Jefferson helped
design the state capitol
building.
The Confederate Museum
had many relics of the Civil
War years. It had guns,
swords, cannons, and other
weapons. Both the Union
and Confederacy each had
a submarine, and the Con-
federate submarine was one
display.
The different coins and
currency of the Confed-
eracy were on display•
Another museum had
photographs and paintings
of Confederate leaders and
of famous battles.
On Sunday morning, I
attended services at St.
John's Episcopal Church.
This was the place where
Patrick Henry gave his
famous speech, which
ended with the words,
"give me liberty or give me
death!" This was in 1775.
In earlier years, church
buildings were often used
for community and gov-
ernment meetings because
there were no other build-
ings available•
The place where Patrick
Henry stood was marked.
Each pew of the church
building had a little door
on each end, and a person
would open the door to
get in.
I arrived early before ser-
vices at St. John's Church.
The sexton (who served
as bell-finger and janitor)
welcomed me and showed
me around. He told me not
to go up onto the chancel
or platform at the front of
the sanctuary• Only the
pastor or other authorized
persons were to go there,
even when services were
not in progress•
It was enjoyable and
educational to visit Rich-
mond, Virginia. Not only
did I learn a lot from the
Naval Reserve school, but
I learned a lot about our
country's history when I
visited Richmond•
I AMERICAN
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