9io 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 8, 
few years ago a man was here who had a machine 
which did very nice work, and he charged five cents 
each, which was very cheap. We would advise always 
to pull and never cut off, as it leaves the ground loose 
and in fine shape for any other crop. harry vail. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
We do that work usually in the Spring, as soon as 
the frost is out of the ground. We always chop off 
the limbs close to the body of the tree, cut up the wood 
and draw it out, and burn the brush first, before we 
try to pull the stumps. With peach trees we seldom 
use tackles; a steady team, 20 to 30 feet of chain, and 
two good men doing the work. One man drives the 
team, the other handling the chain, hitching as high as 
possible, and both bearing down near the whiffletrees 
when necessary, to keep the draft down on the horses. 
Sometimes we have to try two or three different ways, 
and occasionally cut a root or two. We took out part 
of a 13-year-old plum orchard last Spring that was 
ruined by the cold Winters of 1903 and 1904, using one 
double and one single block, with plenty of chain and 
rope, so as to pull several trees without changing. Two 
men and a team will rip out a good many in a day. I 
should say that on some soils it might be necessary to 
use tackles. One of my neighbors improved on either 
of these methods last Spring, using a 12 horse-power 
thrashing engine, taking them out as fast as a man could 
hitch on. For a heavy job this beats them all. With a 
little down grade they will take out a good-sized tree. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. t. h. king. 
MAKING OVER AN OLD BARN. 
I read what was said on page 818. If T had two 
barns of the length of 60 feet, I should not join the ends. 
Very likely these two barns are built on the same plan, 
i. e., the bents are of the same width, and I should place 
those barns’ sides together in such a way that the floors 
would join. Then one has a 60-foot barn floor, thereby 
making a fine storage for implements after haying is 
over. Only one driveway would have to be built in 
place of two if the ends are joined. Take off the 
boards on the sides that come together, and if they are 
taken off carefully they will all come in handy about the 
basement. A gain is made, or a saving of 60 feet of 
basement, it being 300 feet around the long barn, and 
only 240 feet around the square barn. If the eaves 
project too much saw them off, so as to get the barns 
as close as possible. A round post one foot through, 
with an eight-inch collar under the two sills at suitable 
distances would keep those sills from sagging. It is a 
hard matter to arrange the basement for stock without 
seeing the surroundings. In this case it might be more 
convenient to have the stanchions go crosswise; in that 
case be careful not to get the posts above mentioned in 
the way; let them come where the stanchion does. The 
owner would probably want a gateway at about the 
center, so a post would not interfere. If he wants the 
heads of the stock toward each other a silo at the end 
of the alley would come all right, but if the stock is face 
out I should change silo to the end of the barn at the 
center, to match the gateway. The hay chutes could 
be made to conform to arrangements below. Nineteen 
head on one side, with 12 in the inside row, would 
leave room for a couple of box stalls for cows coming 
fresh, or a sick one, or for calves. A space 25 x 60 
would be left for horse stalls and storage room. The 
frame of the shed could be used for basement timbers 
if large enough. e. e. stebbins. 
Delaware Co., N. Y. 
A PRACTICAL FARM ICEHOUSE. 
I will give you a description of ours. It is 11 feet 
six inches square and 12 feet high, and it will hold 256 
double cakes the size we use, 16x32. You can pack it 
either way and the cakes will fit and give you plenty 
of room to pack snow in around it. We do not use 
any sawdust on the ice. To build, dig a trench about 
four feet deep and 18 inches wide, and fill it with small 
stone; do not dump them into the trench, but have a 
man take pains and place them. Have a good outlet 
to this trench, and that filled with small stone. Com¬ 
mence wall about six inches below the surface, to pre¬ 
vent mice and rats from working up into the icehouse. 
Make a cement wall; it is as cheap as stone and much 
better, as there are no cracks or seams in it. As soon 
as the wall is hard enough to hold sills, put them on 
and put some cement on each side of them to keep out 
the air. For sills I used 9x9 oak. We used 2x4 and 2x5 
studding, which will leave a nine-inch- air space, which 
can be filled with sawdust. On the outside we boarded 
with matched lumber, then put on paper, a furring of 
j^-inch, then boarded again with matched lumber, 
paper, a ^i-inch furring, then clapboarded. On the 
inside we boarded with matched lumber, then paper, 
furring, then we boarded it up and down with matched 
lumber, and sealed it overhead with matched lumber. 
We filled the overlayers full of sawdust. We have a 
seven-foot beveled door. We used a three-inch oak 
plank for the door sill, use quarter round in the corners. 
Our icehouse is connected to our house. We can go 
from the pantry into the cold storage room, which is 
7^xllj4 feet, which is a part of our icehouse. We 
have a door between this room and the icehouse. There 
are four ventilators in the cold storage room, two on 
each side of the door. The top ones are on hinges and 
those at the bottom slide up and down. If a man 
wants to live, and live happy with his wife, have ice, 
wood and water handy for her. l. e. a. 
Vermont. 
A FARM WATER SYSTEM. 
Having recently installed a water system on the 
farm, I will give a description of same. The engine is 
connected to a line shaft, and belt running to a pump 
jack, directly over pump. The shaft also has pulleys 
for running a grindstone, and bone cutter. The pump 
is what is called a three-way pump, connecting with a 
union direct to the pipe line about four feet below the 
floor of pump house. The tank is circular, six feet by 
seven feet, holding about 45 barrels. The pipe from 
the pump connects at the bottom of the tank, which 
is on the second floor in the barn, the latter being of 
sufficient elevation to force the water to second floor 
of the house. The line of pipe enters the cellar of 
house, one branch connects with a faucet opening into 
the kitchen range and another to sinks, on first and 
second floors. The engine is \ l / 2 horse-power, which 
has ample power for the above work. In the diagram 
A is engine, B pump, C grindstone, D bonecutter, E 
tank, F troughs, G faucets, H union, I shut-off. 
New York. h. e. aiken. 
A ROADSIDE WATER TROUGH. 
Thirty-five years ago we dug out a hole in the hill¬ 
side that was about two feet across and three feet deep. 
GEO. A. COSGROVE AND A WHITE WYANDOTTE. 
Fig. 412. 
This was stoned up where it needed it, and has never 
required attention since. It was located so that the 
water from the rocks entered into it on the upper side 
near the bottom. From it a lead pipe was laid to con¬ 
vey the water to the desired point. As there was con¬ 
siderable fall a half-inch pipe was used, and is large 
enough. A strainer is always kept on the upper end. 
Spring water from the rocks rarely freezes, and there 
has never been a stoppage in all these years. The 
trough should be made of cement, and need not be 
expensive. Dig out and get a solid foundation, fill in 
some gravel and level with an instrument. Side hills 
are deceiving, and a neighbor made one, by his eye, 
that would not fill within a foot at one end. Make a 
frame of plank for the outside and boards for the in¬ 
side, so that the walls will be eight or 10 inches thick. 
Do not nail too securely, and put on the ends last, 
so the frame will not be so hard to get off. I would 
advise leaving the outside frame on until next Spring, 
if it is made now. The inside will have to be plastered, 
using cement and water. Use cement, one part, with 
clean gravel five parts, for the box. If sand is used it 
must be sharp, and made of fine stone, not loam. I 
have just completed a stable floor, and one load of 
exceedingly fine (loamy) sand was used. It is crum¬ 
bling already, and will have to be covered over again, 
even where it was mixed one to three. The cost of 
the box will be very little outside of the cement and 
boards for the frame, and that can be used again. The 
material for the body can be found nearby, and the 
work of building done by the farmer. No mason is 
needed. Be sure the material is thoroughly mixed 
before wetting, and then make the mixture thin enough 
to run into all places and settle solid. Do not depend 
on tamping, but have it wet enough to spread itself. 
I would advise making the tank large enough to hold 
a wagon-tank of water, so that the thrashers can get 
a supply, and not keep you waiting when doing your 
work. Two men could build a large tank in a day if 
everything was ready for them to begin on in the 
morning. The entire cost would vary from $4 to $10. 
One 4x12 feet and 2]/ 2 feet deep took $5 worth of 
cement. An iron box large enough would be heavy, 
expensive and might get broken. A wooden box leaks, 
rots soon and gets out of place. Cement should remain 
for a lifetime. _ c. e. c. 
WHY SHOULD THE CHICKS DIE? 
We have come to a place in poultry keeping where 
we do not know which way to turn. Will O. W. Mapes, 
or some experienced poultryman, give us some advice 
what to do next? We have kept S. C. W. Leghorns ex¬ 
clusively for 25 years; the last 10 years have kept 250 
to 300. My sister has raised the chicks, usually raising 
90 per cent. In 1903 we raised 350 handsome, vigorous 
chicks. That year we bought new stock from a well- 
known New York breeder. In 1904 my father’s health 
failed, so the care of the hens fell on us, and we did not 
attempt to raise many. In 1905 we hatched out over 
300; when a week old they commenced to die by the 
wholesale. We saved 75; the only reason we could 
give then was that there was sickness in the family 
and they did not get the usual care. Last Fall we 
bought cockerels from another New York breeder. This 
Spring we hatched out about 350 lively, strong chicks. 
When a week old they commenced to droop, wings ex¬ 
tended from the body, thirsty, puffy crops, starving 
hungry even with full crops; would eat to the last. 
They usually died in 24 hours; we lose from 5 to 12 
per day. Most of those that died had a fihalky deposit 
on feathers below the vent. Now and then as the 
chicks grew older I noticed blood in droppings. The 
first 50 were fed bread soaked in milk the first week; 
then substituting a prepared chick food. The next lot 
were fed bread for two weeks, then pinhead oats and 
chick food. Though not all at same meal, they died the 
same way. The first 100 were kept in a dry, airy house' 
8 x 15. When they commenced to die we put the next 
lot in coops, 15 to one hen, and the third lot in another 
house. Those in the coops did the best. When the sec¬ 
ond lot began to die we sent to a fancier for 100 eggs; 
from them we hatched 89 strong chicks June 17. They 
were put in new coops away from the others, were fed 
eggs, boiled, and bread the first week; after that bread 
and pinhead oats, and-they died the same way; have 
13 left. Grit and fresh water in clean dishes are always 
before them; the houses were fumigated and white¬ 
washed before the chicks came, and kept clean after¬ 
wards. T. he hens were dusted with insect powder dur¬ 
ing incubation, and greased after. We were on the 
watch constantly for lice. We left nothing undone that 
we could think of to save them. Here we are depend¬ 
ent on our hens for bread and butter with 125 chickens, 
not half of which look as they should, when we need 
150 pullets. Is it possible where one breed is kept so 
long that in time they will show a lack of vigor? But 
why should it come so overwhelmingly? The last three 
years our hens have been very well till just lately we 
have had quite a number sick with some digestive and 
bowel trouble. Our trouble before this has usually been 
roup and canker. We like the Leghorns, and are sup¬ 
plying a white egg market. poultry woman. 
Illinois. __ 
These “patent peaches.” We have found one man who 
claimed to get one profitable crop from these “new” varie¬ 
ties. We never heard of anyone else who was paid for 
buying trees in that way. 
Owing to a scarcity of platinum, which is now used to 
enormous extent in electrical work, we are told that the 
price of false teeth is increasing to an amazing degree. 
The increase in food prices, however, seems likely to make 
the purchase of teeth less of a problem than the purchase 
of enough provender to keep them busy. 
