1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
727 
THE LEBANON OAK. 
One of the old landmarks in the beautiful Lebanon 
Valley, about two miles from the Mt. Lebanon colony 
of Shakers, is an immense White oak tree standing on 
the roadside. Its age has been the subject of much 
discussion, but 150 years is thought to be a very con¬ 
servative estimate. The branches have a spread of 87 
feet, those on the south side being nearly twice the 
length of the others, and the trunk, which is hollow, 
measures 18 feet in circumference at two feet from the 
ground. On the north side, near the ground, is a 
small opening into which, one Fourth of July several, 
years ago, a small boy threw a lighted fire-cracker. 
The rotten wood of the interior caught fire from the 
explosion, and although the opening was kept plugged 
with a wet blanket the fire smoldered for 12 days 
before it could be extinguished. As the trunk became 
quite warm it was feared the old oak would be seri¬ 
ously injured, but to the surprise of all, the foliage 
the following season was unusually luxuriant. To-day 
the tree appears as if it had taken a new lease of life 
on account of the cleaning out of the decayed matter 
within. The old Indian trail beneath its branches 
became a well-traveled carriage road many years ago. 
The tread of the. red man's moccasin has given place 
to the puffing of the automobile, and the aged relic of 
the primeval forest now supports on one of its branches 
the wires of a telephone company. c. B. c. 
RAISING PIGS BY HAND. 
Some time ago there was an item in the New York 
Sun telling of the death of an imported sow in quar¬ 
antine, and of a motherless litter of little pigs left 
behind, which were successfully raised by hand. Fig. 
209 shows another batch of orphans which were raised 
on the bottle from two days of age. They are pure¬ 
bred Berkshires, sire a Biltmore bred boar, dam a very 
fine registered sow. She had a litter of 11, but only 
five were alive and six stillborn. She seemed to get 
over farrowing all right but the second day acted a 
little dumpish and by evening acute penitonitis set in 
and soon finished her. The man in the picture, Peter 
Balls, was with the sow all night while she was far¬ 
rowing. and as soon as she died set about doing his 
best for the little pigs. He got a nursing bottle, and I 
told the dairyman to give him what milk he required, 
and he started in as nurse with the result shown in the 
picture. As the above is something which may come 
to anyone who breeds bogs. I would say, don’t give 
up the little pigs, but start right in and raise them on 
a bottle. I wish those who treat hogs as though they 
were only made to be knocked about and abused could 
see Peter and his little pigs climbing all over him. and 
with the older hogs, brood sows, etc., all around him in a 
large yard. I think they would come to the conclu¬ 
sion that kindness even with hogs was the best policy. 
The little pigs were just four weeks old when their 
picture was taken- I am sure you will agree with me 
that they show they have had good care and nursing, 
and are quite at home with their nurse. A. M. 
.Long Island. _ 
FRUITS FOR WET GROUND. 
I have a piece of land, about an acre, just back of my 
hogpen. It is naturally wet, getting the drainage of the 
barnyard and also of a ditch coining through the barnyard. 
In the Spring it is usually soaked with water, though not 
overflowed. It used to grow Timothy but now it is overrun 
with tall white Asters about four feet high and it is a reg¬ 
ular eyesore. The soil is heavy alluvial loam, mostly barn¬ 
yard wash, with clay subsoil. There would be more en¬ 
couragement to cut the weeds if something profitable, also 
grew there. Would any kind of fruit do well? I have 
a few pears and plums growing along the fence, same kind 
of soil, and they seem to do well except that the plums rot 
badly. The pears are Bartletts. The apples on a tree or two 
that I have nearby seem to mildew in wet seasons. This 
year it has been very dry. Do you think pears would do 
at all well there, and if so, what varieties are best for 
such a soil? I have a few Kieffers doing well on heavy 
clay, but would prefer some other variety. I do not want 
to put in cultivated crops, as the chickens would scratch 
them all out. I do not wish to cultivate anyway ; I have 
too much else to do. If you recommend fruit trees, when 
would I better set them, this Fall or next Spring? b. c. 
Red Hook, N. Y. 
It is evident from the statements of the writer that the 
piece of land mentioned is quite wet, especially in the 
early part of the growing season. What it needs at 
once is thorough underdraining. It is not fit for grow¬ 
ing any kind of fruit now, and the pear is especially 
unsuited to wet land. When well drained this land 
will probably grow orchard fruits or berries to good ad¬ 
vantage. As it is desired to grow something that will 
not be troubled by chickens it would seem, to me that 
apple trees would be the best thing to plant; and as it 
is not desirable to cultivate the ground the “grass cul¬ 
ture” method might be used. While T do not approve 
of this method for general use there are no doubt places 
where it does suit, and this may be one of them. The 
grass should be cut and piled about the trees in suffi¬ 
cient quantity thoroughly to mulch them. While the 
trees are small they may not need all the grass to pe. 
left on the ground, but after about the first five years 
it should be cut and left to rot where cut. Mowing- 
several times every Summer will keep down all weeds 
as well as the grass. If it is desired to let poultry run 
in the orchard it will in no wise injure the trees, but 
be an advantage to them, and to the fowls as well. It 
does not matter whether the trees are planted in Fall or 
Spring, but in no case until the land is well drained. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
DAIRY BARN FOR THE SOUTH. 
Will you give a plan of barn for 20 cows and four horses, 
with loft for hay? F. G. 
New Bern, N. C. 
1 should say the diagram. Fig. 310, would meet 
the requirements of the case The barn will be 40 feel 
wide, cows standing heads together, with the space 
between stanchions nine feet. This will be wide enough 
k 
to drive through with team if desired when feeding 
green feed. The cow platform will need to be four 
feet 10 inches or five feet wide, depending upon size of 
cows. The space back of cows, after making a gutter 
l(i inches wide, should be not less than five feet nor 
more than eight. The latter width will be wide enough 
to drive in with team and haul manure direct from 
stable to field, the only cheap and proper way. It will 
be observed that a passage has been left at one end 
of stable either three or four feet wide, as the builder 
may desire, for carrying grain, which is directly oppo¬ 
site the granary door, and for general purpose of 
reaching the opposite row of cows. If the builder 
prefer, he could change this passage to a point more 
nearly central. It would be more convenient for gen¬ 
eral use, and by changing the granary door not in¬ 
convenient for that purpose. We have provided four 
box stalls, a part of barn construction usually lacking. 
They can be used for horses, cows, calves or for 
storage, and these are in a very convenient place. 
The carriage drive is in rectangular form, and can 
be built or not at the will of the builder. If not it 
will not interfere with the general plan of the stable. 
A door can be cut into granary from carriage barn, or 
if not biiilt, unloading could take place from out of 
doors directly into granary. The carriage barn of 28 
feet is long enough for team and heavy wagon, and 
would certainly be a handy room for many purposes, if 
not for carriages. I have provided a set-off for har¬ 
ness (a) just back of horse stalls. I would not care 
for any doors to it if used for double Work harness- 
Harness are taken off and hung up quickly and one 
soon tires of opening and shutting doors. A small 
harness space for light harness could be made in same 
compartment inclosed with doors. We have also 
planned for horses and cows in the same room. It will 
be noticed that a door and a continuation of box 
TOMATO LIVINGSTON’S GLOBE. REDUCED IN SIZE. 
Fig. 311. See Ruralisms, Page 730. 
stall partition up to ceiling will separate them. I would 
not build box stall partitions more than breast high. 
Put in windows enough to give four square feet to each 
animal. Please observe the points of compass, and so 
provide plenty of sunlight. 1 would use swing stanch¬ 
ions, hung with chains; there are several good ones on 
the market. The strength of the cross-beams and 
joists will depend upon the height and weight of hay 
above. The opportunity for support below through 
partitions and cow mangers is good. No truss above 
will be necessary. The hay can be easily put into 
tbe loft above with a track and car projecting out of 
the gable at either end- Make the track of two by 
four scantling, twtj of them side by side, find cover 
with quite heavy band iron one inch wide. This makes 
a better combination than all iron or all wood. By all 
means use nothing but cement for floors throughout. 
h. E. COOK. 
UPS AND DOWNS OF INSECTS. 
What has become of the Hessian fly this year? We hear 
little about damage from it. 
Most insect pests have their periods of increase and 
decrease, and the Hessian fly is a notable instance 
where parasites and other natural enemies play a very 
important role in causing these “ups and downs” of 
insect life. Whde the insect does more or less damage 
in wheat fields every year, there are certain notable 
"Hessian-fly years,” or years of excessive damage, like 
those of 1779, 1817, 1844-46, 1877 and 1889-1901 in New 
York State. The insect has not been notably injurious 
in New York this year, and I am not familiar with 
conditions in other parts of the country. It has several 
very active parasites, or natural enemies, whose im¬ 
portance can scarcely be overestimated, for often nine- 
tenths of the insects are destroyed by these parasites. 
Thus the Hessian fly rarely does serious damage in the 
same locality for more than two years in succession, 
and then usually disappears as a pest for from 10 to 20 
years in that locality. One prominent writer states 
that he is fully satisfied that but for its natural enemies 
the Hessian fly would render it impossible to grow 
wheat successfully in many sections of the United 
States. I think in the case of this insect that its ene¬ 
mies have more to do with its periods of increase and 
decrease than the weather conditions, which often great¬ 
ly influence ether pests- 
The army-worm is another striking example of the 
“ups and downs” of insect life. Its insect enemies 
are so active that rarely does the army-worm occur 
in destructive numbers in the same locality more than 
one season, and then there is usually a “down” period 
of several years when the insect is scarcely noticed. 
Other similar instances might be cited, but unfortunate¬ 
ly one cannot predict with as much certainty regarding 
most of the other kinds of insect pests. This year, for 
instance, the plum curculio is not a very serious pest in 
many parts of New York, but we do not know enough 
about tbe causes which govern these “ups and downs” 
to enable us to predict with any certainty regarding it. 
In the case of this insect its numbers are much influ¬ 
enced by the size of the crop of plums, cherries and 
peaches, which may set and develop during certain 
seasons. A small crop of these fruits one year usually 
means less curculios the next year. 
M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
CONCRETE IN A DAM. 
I am intending to flood a part of my pasture for an ice 
pond. At times there is quite a large amount of flood water, 
and all the time a fair stream of spring water flowing 
through the pasture. The dam will need to be about eight 
rods long, and I wish it to be about six feet high in the 
center. Muskrats burrow in the banks of the stream, and 
t want, to guard against them. Is it practical to use con¬ 
crete in this work? if so. should there be banks of earth 
on both sides of this, or a larger amount on the back? How 
should I build my outlet so as readily to allow a large 
amount of water to flow, and yet be able to draw the pond 
off if desired? w, 
Burnside, Conn. 
Concrete can be used in constructing this dam, in the 
following manner: Build a wall of concrete with the 
side up stream perpendicular and the down stream face 
with a slope of one horizontal to four perpendicular. 
The top of the wall should be one foot in thickness, and 
the width at bottom will depend upon the height of the 
wall. A trench should be dug to solid earth or rock, 
and the wall set in that. Below the wall stone should be 
thrown to prevent the overflow at times of flood from 
undermining the wall. The up-stream side of the wall 
should be faced with earth sloping at an angle of 45 
degrees or a little more. This earth can be obtained 
from the bottom of the proposed reservoir, and will 
have the effect of making the water deeper with a given 
height of dam. 
To make concrete, for every barrel of Portland cement 
(such as Alpha, Vulcanite, etc.) use six barrels of 
crushed rock not over two inches, and no earth. In 
place of crushed stone you may use the same amount of 
gravel and two barrels of clean sand. Mix thoroughly 
the sand and cement. Now take your broken stone or 
gravel, wet first, then place on top of the mixed pile, 
add water and turn the entire pile at the same time. Add 
sufficient water to make a workable mortar and apply 
quickly. For tbe purpose of drawing off the water of 
the pond when desired, lay a large sewer pipe at the 
lowest point and bed the concrete wall around it. Some 
kind of a gate may be fitted to the up-stream end, so 
that it may be shut to retain the water or opened to 
draw off the pond. A dam made in this way will be 
a desirable and permanent structure, and not affected 
by washouts or overflows. Some precautions will need 
to be taken to prevent tbe pond from filling up with sedi¬ 
ment, The adjoining land should not be cultivated near 
to it, and it might be well to open the sluice and let the 
water run at the season of heavy showers. There will 
he no trouble from muskrats \vith a dam of this kind. 
G. DAVIS. 
