1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i87 
MOVING A LARGE TREE. 
The R. N.-Y. has several times described the mov¬ 
ing of large trees, but I think the tree illustrated, Fig. 
81 is larger than any you have described. Th s tree 
with the soil moved with it, was estimated to weigh 
from 50 to 60 tons, and it was moved on rollers much 
as a large building would be moved. During the Win¬ 
ter of 1899-1900 the tree was dug around, and the 
roots were cut which extended laterally. The tree 
was then permitted to remain in position during the 
following Summer, and the cut roots healed over. 
During the past two weeks the tree has been moved 
about 40 rods, and put in position, w'here it now 
stands as the finest tree on the grounds of a citizen 
of Ithaca, N. Y. It will be seen by the picture that 
the tree is a noble oak, and if it can be persuaded to 
take kindly to its new home it will certainly be an 
ornament. It is not probable that many farmers will 
attempt to move trees of such proportions as this one, 
because of the expense involved, $500 being a low 
estimate of the cost of moving this tree. 
L. A. CEI.NTOX. 
MAKING A CEMENT WALL 
On page 103 S. K. Barney, of Indiana, wrote an interest¬ 
ing article on mixing cement. More than a dozen readers 
have sent questions to Mr. Barney, asking how he would 
build a cement wall. The following excellent article is 
written in response to these questions: 
As to the kind of cement to use, I have no faith in 
natural cements, though they can be used safely un¬ 
der many circumstances. They take a great deal 
longer to “cure,” i. e., to harden thoroughly, and they 
will not stand freezing and thawing. To build a ce¬ 
ment wall I set posts opposite each other at such dis¬ 
tance apart as may be required for the thickness of 
the wall. This thickness depends entirely on the 
weight it is expected to carry. If I wished to make 
a wall four feet high to carry a frame house of eight 
or 10 rooms, I would set my posts 20 inches apart, 
which, with an inch board on inner side of each post 
to hold the grout, would make an 18-inch wall at bot¬ 
tom. I would draw the posts together at top to 10 
inches, and nail a piece of board at top to hold them 
there. These posts can be set in ground like fence 
posts 10 or 12 inches, or driven like stakes 18 or 20 
inches. I only screen enough gravel to make the fin¬ 
ishing course, using a mason’s common sand screen 
of 14-inch mesh. Any man can make one. Bear in 
mind that when grout is tamped thoroughly it causes 
a very heavy pressure outward. Six-inch posts are 
none too heavy, and they should be three feet apart 
lengthwise of wall. This wall, 18 inches at bottom 
and eight inches at top, gives an average thickness 
of 13 inches, and witn gravel and sand within one-half 
mile, using Portland cement, should not cost over 
eight cents per lineal foot. An eight-inch brick wall 
(hardly safe four feet high), with orick at $6 per 1,000, 
would cost about 18 cents per lineal foot here. A ce¬ 
ment wall should not cost over one-half as much as 
brick or stone, and it will last to the end of time. Re¬ 
member these points: Fresh Portland cement, gravel 
and sand free from dirt or soil, thorounhlij mixed, 
thovouuhJy tamped and the finish coat applied as soon 
as possible, and protected in very hot weather from 
the direct rays of the sun. A grout wall must be 
plastered on both sides, but needs only enough to 
make a smooth surface—excluding all water. 
The above prices are based on hiring all work done, 
as I am unable to do bodily labor. Twenty years ago, 
when I was able to work with my men, I put in a grout 
foundation for a large brick house, using Louisville 
(a natural cement), and screened gravel nine to one, 
and it was as hard as stone in six months after, when 
plumbers were compelled to cut through it. In 1892 
I let a contract to a mason, permitting him to use 
Louisville cement and screened gravel seven to one, 
and much of his work was useless. It all depends on 
the mixing and tamping. I would advise beginners 
to use only Portland cement at the proportion I first 
named, 50 heaping shovelfuls of unscreened gravel to 
100 pounds of cement. To economize on cement, one 
can begin a wall or fioor by putting in a layer of 
stones, and then use just enough grout to cover; then 
another layer of stones and cover with grout, thor¬ 
oughly tamping every other course. If you take this 
course, rake out of your gravel all stones from size of 
a hen’s egg upward. You can form a water table on 
top of your wall by giving the outer top corner a slope 
downward. You can further distinguish this water 
table after putting on finishing coat by taking a 
straight edge and mason’s trowel, and making a cut 
with it the length of wall six inches from top, hold¬ 
ing the end of trowel up, then slightly lower the 
straight edge and make another cut with handle of 
trowel downward. You can do this with one cut by 
using a three-cornered file broken in the middle. Ce¬ 
ment work above the ground can be marked also to 
imitate stonework in same manner. To make plain or 
ornamental window caps and sills you must first have 
the mold and then cement and sand in proportions 
of three of sand to two of Portland. This should be 
thoroughly mixed, and use /H.s't enouyh water to 
iiioixfen it. Then tamp it thoroughly into the mold, 
and remove the mold, leaving the mixture on a plank 
by which you can remove it to a place guarded from 
sun and rain for 10 days to cure. 
A chimney smokes because the wind sucks down the 
flue, as most people say. There is no suck about it 
though. Air in motion is denser than air at rest, and 
a gust of wind passing over the top of a chimney, as 
ordinarily built, finds there a thin, lazy volume of 
smoke, and down goes the air, forcing the smoke into 
the room below. By reducing the fine at top to half 
its size you double the density of the smoke there and 
enable it to overcome the force of the wind. Never 
top a chimney any other way. s. e. nAimEY. 
Indiana. 
THINGS / HAVE TRIED. 
More than half the pleasure of farm life lies in a 
disposition to experiment with the view of obtaining 
better results. I have found, however, that it is not 
always as profitable as the experimenter could desire. 
In 1854 I grew several thousand low-headed apple 
trees. Several of my agents made good sales to sen¬ 
sible farmers, but more of them did not, leaving alto¬ 
gether too many on hand to be dug up and thrown 
away. Nurserymen and dealers objected to these low, 
well-branched trees, preferring the tall, high-limbed 
MOVING A BIG OAK TREE. Fia. 81. 
ones, as so many more could be packed in boxes of 
equal size. Orchards of the low-topped trees, how¬ 
ever, proved to be the longest-lived, best, and in dry 
seasons, the most productive ones. My experience 
with them ceased as ground could be cleared. 
Another experiment, in southern Ohio, was the 
planting of a thrifty two-year-old Concord grapevine 
close to each peach tree that had been set out in or¬ 
chard form about two years previous to planting the 
gi'apevines. The vines soon took the tree tops as a 
trellis, and with scarcely any subsequent care bore 
good crops each year, although the peach-tree blos¬ 
soms were destroyed by frost, three years out of every 
five. The grapes proved to be a profitable crop at 
three cents a pound in the home market. The peach 
trees died out gradually, but did good service as a 
trellis for 10 or 12 years. My next experiment was 
made with a row of Hartford grapevines in the gar¬ 
den. They rotted badly every year. High staking 
and trellising did not prevent it, as I had hoped it 
would. Heroic measures were in order, and late in the 
Fall the vines were all cut off about four inches above 
the ground. The young canes made a marvelous 
growth the next season, and were laid down fiat on 
the ground during the next Winter. In the following 
Spring three to four canes on each main root were 
shortened back to seven to eight feet in length, and 
tied up to 10-foot stakes, on which were three hori¬ 
zontal wires. A good crop of sound grapes was thus 
secured for several seasons. I am now located in a 
much more favorable region for fruit growing (near 
Washington, D. C.), but find the Grape rot quite pre¬ 
valent here also. I have 30 or 40 grapevines of the 
newer varieties in full bearing, but I still make a 
practice of cutting back to the ground at least two or 
three vines each November or February. As a result, 
I thus secure an abundant growth of clean, vigorous 
canes, on which the fruit is much less liable to rot. 
even when unsprayed, than would otherwise be the 
case if the ordinary method of pruning is practiced. 
Glencarlyn, Va. j. w., ju. 
TREATMENT FOR BORERS. 
AN ARSENIC INJECTION.—Two years ago we 
rented our tarm for four years. When we left our 
apple and peach orchards were free from the borer, 
and strong, thrifty trees. On our return, alas, some 
were dead, some dying, and all sick from the borer. A 
friend told us we would lose most of the trees, so we 
went to work with a will, and dug and delved and 
scraped, but we probably did not understand how to 
do it, as not a beggar could we get out, so we thought 
of another scheme. We made a strong solution of 
Paris-green, and with a fine syringe injected the solu¬ 
tion in every hole, and also sprayed all around the 
trunk with it. I have not lost a single apple tree, and 
only two peach trees, nor have I any borers in a new 
peach orchard put out a year ago. Now, while I am 
constantly spraying our fruit trees, this may keep the 
borers away. I am fully satisfied I killed all those 
that had taken hold by injecting the Paris-green. 
Long Island. f. r. t. 
A CALIFORNIAN WASH.—We are now so well 
satisfied with the results of our experiments with the 
lime, salt and coal-tar wash that we shall continue its 
use on all trees affected by the borers. Here are the 
directions: Make a brine with any cheap salt (we pay 
$4 per ton). Use good quality of lime and slake with 
this brine. While the lime is slaking and hottest, put 
in at least three quarts of coal tar to every five gal¬ 
lons of the slaked lime. When thinned sufficiently to 
put on the trees, the proportion will be reduced to 
about two quarts to five gallons. Uncover the tree 
to the roots, or as far down as borers usually go, and 
scrape clean. Put on the wash with a “slapper,” 
which forces it into every opening in the bark. Let 
the wash extend up the trunk about a foot. We make 
“slappers” by tying 10-inch lengths of baling rope to 
a handle about two feet long. An old broom handle 
is just right by cutting off two feet of the lower end. 
We shall wash all peach, apricot and almond trees as 
soon as the rains are about over, and also part of the 
prune orchards, where the borers have appeared. No 
bad effects have yet appeared from the use of coal 
tar. We paint all wounds, sunburns or other bare 
places on all varieties of trees with tar right from 
the barrel. In cool weather it must be warmed, so 
that it will fiow from the brush readily. 
California. ii. g. keesling. 
Philadelphia Milk Shippers’ Union. 
It was reported recently that a new milk producers’ 
union had been formed by a large number of farmers 
who were shipping to Philadelphia. The cause was dis¬ 
satisfaction with the treatment received from the city 
dealers, who had cut down the price paid the producer, 
while the rate to consumers remained the same. The 
following from a Delaware Co. (Pa.) farmer tells what 
has been done: 
“Feed and cows have got so high in price that milk 
cannot be produced as cheaply as it could a few years 
ago. Four years ago I bought bran for $12 a ton; now 
the price is $19.5(1 per ton. Ten years ago 1 could buy a 
better cow for $60 than I can buy now for $70; In* fact, 
it is a difficult job to find a good cow now for sale. 
Breeders keep the best in the West for their own dairies, 
and ship the old and inferior ones here. It has always 
been the custom between the producer and the dealer 
that the producer get one-half the general retail price. 
All last Summer the general retail price was eight cents 
per quart, and the dealer paid the producer but 3(4 cents 
per quart, and some dealers paid but three cents part 
of the Summer. The producer had to pay all freight and 
furnish all his own cans to ship in. On October 1 the 
dealers started to pay four cents per quart. But in Jan¬ 
uary they wanted to make the producer believe that the 
production exceeded the consumption, so they put the 
price to 3(4 cents, but still keep the retail price at eight 
cents per quart, it was then that the Jersey and Benn- 
sylvania farmers decided to form an organization, which 
they have succeeded in doing, and have given it the 
name of the Philadelphia Milk Shippers’ Union. It will 
not be necessary for the dealer to raise the price on the 
consumer, as we do not intend to ask for anything but 
our just rights, which are one-half the retail price. The 
main body is to meet in Philadelphia, and we are form¬ 
ing local unions all along the railroads and trolley lines 
hauling milk into the city, which are to be governed by 
the constitution and by-laws of the main union. We 
intend to go up into New York State and try to get those 
farmers from that State who are shipping milk to the 
Philadelphia market to form local unions and act with 
us. I hope that The R. N.-Y. will give us all the aid in 
its power to get those farmers from that State shipping 
milk to this city to join us. Our aim is to grow so strong 
that when we ask for our just rights we shall be backed 
by such a large number of milk shippers that if our de¬ 
mands are not granted we can control the market by 
shutting the supply off from the dealers for a few days. 
We are growing faster than we expected, and we intend 
to win. We do not intend to let the dealer come be 
tween us and the consumer, and take away from us all 
our profits to put it in their own pockets without giving 
the consumer any benefit of the cut price, which they 
did all last Summer in the city of Philadelphia.” 
DELAWARE CO. FARMER. 
