PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

John Ames blasted a half mile long drainage ditch on his farm north of Traer in 1927. Pyrotol was used to blast the ditch with little digging. The United States Government sold surplus Pyrotol at a discount to farmers after WWI to blast tree stumps and ditches. The use of Pyrotol was halted in 1928 after the surplus supply was exhausted.