I had a friend who used to work on the Rock Island Railroad years ago. He said many years ago he took several of those railroad torpedoes and taped them around a real M-80 firecracker with electrical tape. He lit it and threw it into a cornfield behind his house one night. He said when it went off the bright blast shut off all the streetlights for blocks around and lights started coming on in houses. He said the next day he went out in the cornfield to look at the damage. He said there was about a 3 foot circle where there was no corn plants and it looked like the soil had been tilled.

He said the corn started with stubs barely sticking-up and got progressively taller full corn stalks. Today one would probably go to federal prison for something like that. He passed away a few years ago so I think it's safe to repeat his story.