78o 
October 29, 
BRIEF NOTES ON PIPES AND 
CISTERNS. 
A Leaking Cistern. 
I have had some trouble with cisterns leak¬ 
ing where built with brick and cement. I am 
now thinking of building one of cement alone, 
making the wall about four inches. What 
do you think of it ? 1 can get Portland at 
$2.50 per barrel. Would you build the wall 
circular or square? Could I make the arch 
of cement alone, or would I have to use 
brick for that? How much sand should be 
added to cement? w. s. E. 
Casey, Ill. 
If, after building a cistern the usual way 
with brick and cement, a wash is made of 
clear cement and water, and brushed upon 
the walls like whitewash, the walls will be 
found to be impervious to water. A cistern 
can l>e made of cement alone, and if the 
earth in which it is made is of a solid clayey 
nature the wall of cement need not be over 
two inches in thickness. Bricks would have 
to be used for the arch, but it is better not 
to make an arch. Cisterns are usually under 
lloors, and if not they can l>c lloored over 
and the under side lathed and plastered with 
adamant. It becomes hard as stone, is rot- 
proof, dirt-proof and moisture-proof. Built 
In this way a cistern can be made more 
cheaply, as it does not have to be so deep, 
and can be larger in the diameter. A cis¬ 
tern should always be circular, as it makes 
the walls stronger and takes less material 
for a given amount of water stored. Two 
parts of sand to one of cement are about 
right. 
Protecting a Water Pipe. 
Can I protect water pipe, leading from 
tank 65 feet high, from freezing by wrap¬ 
ping with asbestos, and then wrapping with 
tarred paper? Ilow much of a stream run¬ 
ning waste will prevent freezing? Will a 
steady drop do it ? s. d. e. 
Umpqua Ferry, Ore. 
The plan suggested is as good as anything 
can be so far as it goes, but if the temper¬ 
ature falls very low it may be necessary, in 
addition, to surround the wrapped pipe with 
a tight box packed with dry sawdust. Pre¬ 
caution must be taken to keep the sawdust 
dry. A stream of water running as thick as 
a rye straw will not freeze if there is a free 
movement of the flow. 
Preserving Shingles 
I wish to lay 40,000 sawed White hemlock 
shingles. How can I make them more dura¬ 
ble, so as to pay to dip them in petroleum or 
paint them with it; or is some other prep¬ 
aration better? How is it best to put il on? 
Fair lee, Vt. M. w. s. 
The most practicable plan under the cir¬ 
cumstances would lie to dip in petroleum and 
set up on a trough until the surplus oil drips 
o(T. Hemlock shingles are not worth putting 
<m a roof unless they are treated in some 
way to make them more lasting. Shingles 
treated in this way are not desirable for 
houses, as it makes them more liable to take 
fire. 
Keeping Pipe from Rusting. 
I would like information as to the best 
application to keep iron pipe from rusting? 
The pipe is buried in the ground, used for 
water system, and not galvanized, f. w. v. 
Milton, N. Y. 
l’aint the pipes with red oxide of iron and 
boiled linseed oil. Finish with a second coat 
of raw oil. G. d. 
A SOUTHERN WOMAN'S GARDEN. 
Near the heart of the city of Atlanta, Ga., 
my husband and 1 have a little home 50 by 
10514 feet. My husband works every day in 
a shop across town, leaving home at 6.30 A. 
M.. returning at 0 P. M. We have three 
children, seven years, four years and one year 
of age. On this lot we have our residence; 
in the front yard we have a grass plot, a 
few roses, one Niagara grape, one Virginia 
creeper, a small flowering crah tree, violets 
and two cedars and one maple for shade. In 
the back yard we have quite a number of 
Brown Leghorn chickens, which supply 11 s 
with eggs the year around, and in the Spring 
I sell eggs for setting at 75 cents per 13, be¬ 
side having them to sell at market price 
most of the time. We have some baby chick¬ 
ens on hand and more coming on in a few 
days. We have planted in this yard three 
apple trees and one fig tree and one 
grapevine. On a stump my husband has a 
tub in which grows a beautiful Caladium. 
Under the largest apple tree we have a lawn 
swing for the children. The fowl, coal and 
nest house, all of which are under one roof, 
is in one corner. Then comes the garden, our 
special pride. Before you come to it proper 
we have two plum trees, two peach trees, one 
apple, one fig, one pecan, a bed of rape for the 
chickens, and last but by no means least, is 
an orange tree of which we are justly proud; 
it is quite a rarity, as it grows in the open 
ground, and if we are successful with it this 
Winter will bear next Summer. Then the 
garden, in which we have four fine peach 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
trees, three pear trees, two plum trees, seven 
grapevines, one pecan tree, one Scuppernong 
vine. We have quite a nice strawberry bed, 
with raspberries along the fence. In vege¬ 
tables we have pole, snap and Lima beans; of 
the two first in almost every stage of bear¬ 
ing: tomatoes, peppers, yellow, red. hot and 
sweet; cabbage and beets. Coming on we 
have young cabbage and beets, col lards, greens 
of all kinds, lettuce, radishes, mustard, pars¬ 
ley, turnips, ground peas, parsnips and two 
more liens of different growths of rape. Off 
this same garden we have already raised 
enough Irish potatoes to last six months and 
onions enough for a year. Scattered about 
we have several nice roses, which lend beauty 
ana fragrance where so much usefulness is 
found. We have raised all the vegetables we 
have used since May, and have had greens 
and onions since the last of March. I have 
sold vegetables to my neighbors all the time. 
All the work about the place is done by my 
husband and myself (except breaking the 
ground in the Spring). He tends the garden 
and fruit and I take care of the children, 
house, vegetables and chickens, he doing his 
part between work hours and on holidays. Yet 
we both find time to talk some, visit some, 
read some and enjoy life generally. Some 
people think because they live in town they 
must buy everything, but with a little ground, 
a little labor, patience and care, you will find 
a great change in the most hideous piece of 
ground, and then the exquisite pleasure and 
taste of having raised your own vegetables 
and getting them fresh and crisp every day. 
and most of all. you will find quite a nice 
little bit of change coming in all the time. 
MBS. OTT. 
Sugar Beets for Hogs. 
,J. J. /’., Tilton, X. It. —Are sugar beets 
good food for hogs? If so. what would you 
feed to make a balanced ration? 
Ans. —We have found sugar beets ex¬ 
cellent for hogs. They may be run 
through a root cutter or sliced with a 
spade and fed on a clean floor. They rank 
with corn as a fat producer and need some 
food strong in muscle makers to balance 
them. Wheat bran is good, though we 
would not feed it alone. One part mid¬ 
dlings to three parts bran make a good 
mixture to feed with the beets. Clover 
or Alfalfa hay will help balance the beets. 
If this hay can be cut a good way to feed 
it is to put it in a barrel and pour on 
boiling water. Cover with a blanket or 
sack and let it steam over night. The 
warm soft mess makes a fine feed for hogs. 
Apples for Michigan. 
G. R. O., Vicksburg, Mich. —I shall plant 
10 acres of apple orchard this Fall, and would 
like your advice as to varieties of Winter 
fruit best suited to the wholesale trade. I 
shall plant but four varieties: am advised 
by a nursery in this State to plant Wealthy, 
Wolf River, I.ongfield. Baldwin and Northern 
Spy. The soil is hilly and quite sandy. 
Ans. —All the varieties mentioned will 
do well in Michigan, but I would not ad¬ 
vise the planting of Wolf River and Long- 
field as I do not think them suitable for 
commercial orchard purposes there. Wolf 
River is rather too large for remaining 
on the tree, but it is very showy, and 
Longfield is small and of poor quality. 
Northern Spy is excellent and Baldwin is 
good, but Sutton is a more regular bear¬ 
er and better in quality of fruit, and 
is well adapted to the region where 
Baldwin succeeds. Wealthy is a wonder¬ 
ful bearer and the fruit looks well and sells 
well. It will pay to use it as a filler be¬ 
tween the standard varieties. Grimes will 
do well there, and will sell early in Win¬ 
ter at good prices in the fancy markets. 
White Grubs in Strawberries. 
J. N. R., Grugers, X. Y. —This Spring I set 
out a new strawberry bod. The ground 
seemed to be very rich, as the plants have 
grown very large, making three or four fruit¬ 
ing crowns. We had a good deal of trouble 
with grubs eating off the roots. The grubs 
looked like the white grubs you find in ma¬ 
nure heaps. No one here seems to know any¬ 
thing about grubs eating off the roots. What 
was the cause, and what do you do for them? 
Would you put manure or fertilizer on this 
Fall or wait until Spring? 
Ans. —The grubs were doubtless genuine 
white grubs, or the young of May beetles 
or “June bugs.” They are not like the 
grubs found in manure, and the latter do 
not attack living roots when the manure 
is used on crops. The white grubs which 
attack the strawberries were doubtless in 
the sod or soil before the berries were 
set. Where strawberries are set on sod 
land, they are quite liable to attack from 
white grubs. No satisfactory remedy has 
yet been found for these pests. No ap¬ 
plication can be made on the soil that will 
kill the grubs and not the plants. Frequent 
cultivation is the greatest discourager of 
white grubs. Often one can “hand-dig” 
the grubs from under infested plants. 
But better not set strawberry beds on 
sod land until it has been used for other 
cultivated crops for a season or two. 
Prof. Craig says he would apply the fer¬ 
tilizer this Fall. m. v. slingerland. 
WE WANT TO KNOW. 
Iron Pipe For Posts. —Posts being rather 
scarce here, I am thinking of using second¬ 
hand iron pipe for posts for vineyard trellis. 
How long will such material last? I do not 
know just what thickness I can get. I figure 
a saving in planting them, as a crowbar hole 
will do instead of a large hole as for a 
wooden post. I have about 2,500 to set. I 
think I- can get them for one cent per foot 
and locust would cost 1 *4 to 2 cents. 
Kentucy. F. B. T. 
R. N.-Y.—If any reader has had experience 
with pipe for posts we would like to hear 
from him. 
Picking Kieffer Pears. —Inquiry among 
Kentucky growers reveals the fact that the 
main effort often is to get these pears into 
the market as soon as the money can be got 
for them, regardless of the ideal methods of 
handling them. As one grower says: “A 
Kieffer ought to get mature on the tree, rip¬ 
ening to a lemon yellow shade, but we gather 
earlier simply to get on the market before 
the avalanche comes. But the way for one 
to manage who expects to use these pears in 
his own family is to let them ripen to this 
lemon yellow shade, then gather. If he 
wants pears soft and juicy quickly, let them 
be heaped in a warm room and covered with 
blankets. If he is in no hurry, let them be 
stored in a cool room, and let them swelter 
afterwards. In other words, a Kieffer will 
not mellow in a cool room, and if so ripened 
is like a turnip. Let them be finished in a 
warm place, and whether to be stored for a 
considerable time or to be used in a hurry, 
do not ventilate, as the circulation of air— 
always warm at this time—shrivels this 
pear. C. W. MATHEWS. 
Ivy. State College. 
Stay man’s Winesap. —I have now fruited 
Sta.vinan for five consecutive seasons, and am 
much pleased with it. In comparison with 
Baldwin and York Imperial I find it even a 
more productive variety than either of these, 
for the reason that it yields a fair crop of 
apples off seasons, and a remarkably heavy 
crop the other seasons. The fruit attains 
good size and good color, and it is a good 
keeper. In quality I regard it as much bet¬ 
ter than York Imperial and Ben Davis. Were 
1 planting an apple orchard next Spring at 
least 50 per cent of the Winter varieties 
would be Stayman. and I am not sure but 
what 99 per cent would be Stayman. It is 
an apple that evidently is going to succeed 
over a large extent of country, including the 
Baldwin belt of the North and the Winesap 
belt, of the South. h. a. c. 
Mt. Pocono, Pa. 
APPLE BARRELS 
—Buy now and save money 
1 Robt. Gillies, Medina, N. Y. 
WE BEG TO ANNOUNCE 
that we have ready for Fall delivery a large variety 
of .Shade and Ornamental Trees, Flower¬ 
ing Shrubs. Japan Maples, Rhododendrons. 
Azaleas, Evergreens and Hedge Plants, all 
being In excellent condition. Catalogue Bent free. 
KISSENA NURSERIES. 
PARSONS & SONS CO., Ltd., - - FLUSHING, N. Y. 
inni r Tnrrc— 100,000 cheap, catalog free. 
MllLL I IlLl u Peach. Pear. Plum and Cherry.' 
W. T. MITCHELL & SON, BEVERLY, OHIO. 
npi fill anil other fruit trees ut wholesale prices. Pricelist 
rCAun free. K. S. JOHNSTON, Box I, Stockley, Del. 
PECAN TREES AND, NUTS seed lingtrees,(1,2 
years old.) The G. M. Bacon Pecan Co. tine.) Dewitt,Ga 
KEVITT’S PLANTS 
GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. Athenia, N. „. 
LARGEST PEACH TREE 
GROWERS IN THE SOUTH. 
Write for our new Illustrated and 
descriptive catalogue of general 
Nursery Stock. 
CHATTANOOGA NURSERIES 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 
GRAPE VINES 
Cnrranti, Gooseberries, Black¬ 
berries, Raspberries, Straw¬ 
berries. Price List FREE. 
Send So itunp for illustrated descriptive catalog. 
T. S. HUBBARD CO. Frsdonia, N. V. 
FR U/T~ TREES. 
A Large Assortment of the Finest Quality 
of Fruit, Shade and Ornamental Trees, 
at very Low Prices. We make a Specialty 
of dealing Direct with the Farmers. 
Write for Price List. 
CALL’S NURSERIES, Perry* O. 
shows in NATURAL COLORS and 
accurately describes 216 varieties of 
" fruit. Send for our liberal terms of distn- 
’ bution to planters.—Stark Bro’s, Louisiana, Mo. 
TREES TREES TREES 
400,000 Apple, 300,000 Peach, 
50,000 Pear, 40,000 Sour Cherry, 
40,000 Japan Plums. 
Best packing, best grading, best prices, best trees; 
best place to buy orchards. Jobbers supplied. Ourfree 
! catalogue is meaty. No agents. Firm not impersonal. 
Woodview Nurseries, B.3, Mt. Holly Springs, Pa 
uBERCKMANSa 
AUGUSTA GA 
DO YOU SHIP APPLES? 
If so, allow us to call your attention to the 
SOUTH SIDE CALIFORNIA APPLE BOX. 
SOUTH SIDE MFG. CO., PETERSBURG, VA. 
EST. 1884. DWYER’S NURSERIES. mt.mw.. 
Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Vines, Shrubs and Plants, in all the standard 
and new varieties. Write to us for our free, descriptive, and illustrated catalogue. 
T. J. DWYER & CO., Orange County Nurseries, Cornwall, N. Y. 
HOYT’S NURSERIES NEW ENGLAND 
nd no more complete line of “ A 1 ” stock grown in the United States. Fruit Trees, Shade Trees and 
irnamentals. Write ns about your Fall planting—advice based on experience of three generations, free. 
Catalogue for the asking. _ 
ITEPHEN HOYT’S SONS CO., NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT. 
Apples. Pear, Plum, Cherry, Peach and 
1 iibiwiii ■ ...... Carolina Poplars. Healthy, true to 
name’ and Fumigated. All kinds of trees and plants at low wholesale prices. 
Catalogue free. RELIANCE NURSERY, Box 10, Geneva, New York. 
fREES 
$7 PER 100, FREIGHT PAID, 
TREES AND PLANTS 
Our FREE CATALOGUE will save yot 
Free from Scale. New and Choice Varieties. 
Blackberries, Strawberries, Raspberries. 
yonoinoney. MYER & SON, BridgeviUe, Del. 
JOIISTG! GOING! 
etz Spy, Bothwell Grimes, Powell Spitz, Sutton, Baldwin, 
1 other leading sorts bred from selected bearing parents are now sold close, and we will have 
y few. If any, of many leading sorts for Spring unless reserved now. Why wait until Spring. pa> 
re, and take what you can get elsewhere? Why not give us your orders now, with deposit, and nave 
at you want reserved for Spring shipment? We can ship nowif you prefer. Write us what you want. 
Fall is the BUSINESS time to BUY your trees. . ,, ,, v 
ic Tree Breeder. ROGERS ON THE HILL, OANSVILLE, N. Y. 
