1C/58 
THE RURAL NEW-YOKKEh 
seeds a rest of two to four weeks before planting; 
some conifers, such as the yew, take two years to 
germinate. 
Sow seed in the Spring; in the North the middle 
of May is advised. The seed-bed should be sandy 
loam, very mellow and well worked, which may be 
enriched with well-rotted cow manure. Cover the 
heavier seeds, such as pine, with one-quarter inch 
of soil; small seeds merely require a sprinkling of 
soil. Very little moisture is needed for germination, 
but it is well to put a mulch of pine needles or moss 
between the rows, to keep down weeds. The little 
seedlings, however, dry out easily the first three 
months, and until the crown bud is formed they 
must either be watered, or protected by a lath 
shade. If, however, they are too much shaded and 
unaired, especially in foggy or wet weather, they 
will damp off. In the Winter, a covering of ever¬ 
green branches or coarse litter is desirable. 
Another plan is to sow the seed, soon after gath¬ 
ering, in well-drained boxes, which are piled four 
or five deep in a sheltered place, covered with 
boards, and during cold weather covered with leaves 
or hay. About the middle of April the boxes are 
uncovered and put in a place where they get morn¬ 
ing sun, after which they are watered, weeded, and 
shaded as above described. They are ready for 
transplanting the following Spring. Conifers are 
■very slow in growth at first, and may be left the 
first three years, when they are root-pruned and 
transplanted. In forestry, where economical plant¬ 
ing is considered, one to four-year-old plants are 
used; we believe the latter run about 12-15 inches 
high, or less, according to species. 
WATER EXAMINATIONS. 
The question of M. B. on page 891 as to why the 
State Department of Health should not undertake 
to make examinations of private water supplies at 
cost suggests the desirability of a brief statement 
of the value of these examinations. As a local health 
officer I am frequently compelled to explain the atti¬ 
tude of the Department upon this point and tell why 
such examinations are not often made for private 
individuals. In the first place, the value of such 
examinations is slight except in the case of water 
from public reservoirs which may easily become re¬ 
sponsible for an outbreak of some water-borne dis¬ 
ease. These examinations are most frequently asked 
for because of a bad odor or taste to the water of a 
well, or because the existence of typhoid fever in 
the family leads to the suspicion that, the well may 
have been contaminated with typhoid germs from 
some source. It is thought that if this be the case 
a bacteriological examination will disclose the pres¬ 
ence of these germs. As a matter of fact, typhoid 
germs cannot be isolated from well water by ordi¬ 
nary laboratory methods, and all that an examina¬ 
tion can show is the number of bacteria of various 
kinds in the water—known as the bacterial count— 
and the relative numbers of a certain type of bac¬ 
teria which inhabit the intestines of men and ani¬ 
mals and are known as the “colon type.” The sig¬ 
nificance of the presence of this tyjie of germs is 
that it shows pollution by organic matter, which 
may or may not have come from human sources. If 
it has, there is, of course, the possibility that typhoid 
germs are present among the rest. Since the colon 
bacilli of human and of animal origin cannot be 
differentiated in the laboratory, their presence indi¬ 
cates only the possibility of fecal contamination 
from human sources, and does not show whether the 
water is or is not responsible for any outbreak of 
typhoid fever. Their presence does indicate pollu¬ 
tion of the water, however, and since this pollution 
is almost always from surface wash it can be dis¬ 
covered without resort to laboratory examinations. 
A careful inspection of the surroundings will show 
whether surface water can obtain access to a well, 
and if so, measures can be taken to prevent it. 
Leaky walls and well platforms are responsible for 
much well pollution, and this much may be prevent¬ 
ed by making the upper six feet of the well curbing 
of impervious material, such as concrete, and ex¬ 
tending this curbing for about 18 inches above the 
ground. Dirt may then be graded up about this wall, 
making a slope that will carry surface water away 
from the well, and insuring that if it does reach it, 
it will have been filtered through at least six feet 
of earth; in itself a valuable means of purification. 
Except in fissured rock formations infection of wells 
by percolation beneath the surface is probably very 
infrequent. It is quite possible that the spring from 
which M. B. is lugging water is far more liable to 
contamination than his well, and if he will take the 
precaution to see that there are no privy vaults 
close to that well and that surface water cannot 
enter it, there is little likelihood of its being a source 
of danger to his family. m. b. d. 
A CONCRETE SILO. 
I have had some experience in cement work; nave 
put in stable floor, and have built cisterns that hold 
water. I have worked at carpenter trade, and have 
for many years cut my cornstalks with a power 
cutter, and have ground feed for my own stock' and 
some for my neighbors, so when I decided to build 
a silo I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I 
asked questions of silo owners and builders, but I 
never had been inside of a silo before I built mine. 
I went to a planing mill with some patterns that 
I made for rims for the forms in segments of a 
circle, material being inch Southern pine lumber. 
These segments we nailed together in two thick¬ 
nesses so as to “break joints.” The rims were cut 
in four equal parts, a short piece of segment nailed 
CROSS SECTION OF SILO ROOF. Fig. 403. 
on an end and bolted on the other end held the form 
in place while in use. Two pieces of the rim were 
held two feet apart and three-foot lengths of old 
fence boards nailed on to make a section of a form; 
four sections bolted together made one form. There 
are two outside forms and two inside forms, the 
boards being nailed to inside of outside form and 
outside of inside form, one joint of inside forms be¬ 
ing cut on a bevel so the form can be pried loose. 
The walls of silo are five inches thick, reinforced 
with nine-wire 38-inch fence placed 1% inches from 
outside of wall. 1 dug six feet in the ground for 
foundation walls, which are nine inches thick; used 
inside form and built with cobblestones rammed 
into cement mortar one to five, and very wet. The 
hole was dug as plumb as possible and the stone and 
CONCRETE SILO. Fig. -404. 
cement laid firmly against the dirt. The wire fence 
was started eight inches below surface of ground, 
which is level. No basement to barn. Silo 12x30 
feet, six feet in ground, one to five Portland cement 
and gravel and sand mixed, about three of gravel 
to one of sand. There are nine half-inch bolts 12 
inches long bedded in cement, which hold roof plate 
on; eight rafters support next plate, which is three 
feet smaller in diameter and a three-foot raise. These 
plates are made of segments nailed together same 
as the rims for forms. All rim segments are made 
of inch lumber. They arc four inches wide and 
about three feet long. 
We used a half-inch rope and 10-quart galvanized 
pails to lift the cement as we filled the forms. Fas¬ 
ten a six-foot boom .of 2x4 near top of scaffold pole, 
guy it to top of pole and to another pole, use hay 
September Y7, 
fork pulleys, one on end of boom, one on top of 
pole, and pull up by hand. The man on top walks 
astride of forms, one foot on each rim, and empties 
pails and tosses i>aii to man on mixing platform, 
who fills and pnlls up the pail. Have some five-inch 
blocks to keep forms apart and cleats or buttons 
to keep them in place, keep them plumb and build 
one form each day. 
The silo must be plastered inside with a one to 
three mortar, wetted with strong alum water. 8ift 
the sand. A two-inch square strip should be nailed 
on outside of door frame, inside edge, and curved 
in middle of top and bottom. This will make a 
groove for doors to rest in. The door should he in 
two parts, top and bottom, and held in place by 
silage. Make door of matched spruce, with a layer 
of felt roofing between and a strip where door rests 
on cement jamb. 
There are four doors, each two feet seven inches 
by two feet 10 inches high, commencing six feet 
eight inches up from bottom of silo, and three feet 
between them, which brings top of top door two 
feet four inches below top of silo wall. Have doors 
in line above one another, the door frame is made 
of five-inch boards top and bottom, curved same as 
silo wall, and three-quarter inch narrower on out¬ 
side to permit of frame being withdrawn. There 
are two frames. There should be a large spike 
driven in the under side of the upper form rim, when 
the forms are taken apart and moved up. Ropes 
should be fastened on the spikes and tied to scaffold 
or the forms will drop to ground. Raise forms by 
these ropes, the inside one first; set it up, bolt to¬ 
gether. then put in wire fence and tie ends together. 
Cut out place for door frames. It will take about 
41 feet to go around once. A 20-rod roll is enough 
for the silo; he careful to get forms plumb and level 
and round, or a true circle. If the first form is right 
the rest will come all right. The mortar should be 
very wet. should be well tamped and if the work is 
delayed the top of wall kept wet. 
Fig. 403 shows cross section of the roof. Lower 
roof boards four feet long, 0 % inches wide at bot¬ 
tom end-, five inches wide at top end, about 75 pieces. 
Upper roof hoards five feet eight inches long. It) 
inches wide lower end to point at top; about 40 
pieces. Use six 35-foot poles for scaffold. Leave 
room enough between staying and forms to raise 
them as the wall goes up. josiah emery. 
Michigan. 
SEEDING A LARGE LAWN. 
I have about three acres of sod which has not boon 
cultivated for mauy years. I wish to put it in grass 
for a lawn Not to be cut with a lawn mower, but to 
be kept close cut with a regular field mowing machine. 
The soil is loam. Would the following treatment be 
advisable? Plow and harrow this Fail, plow and har¬ 
row again in the Spring; sow buckwheat to kill out 
the weeds, and next August plow the buckwheat under 
and sow grass seed. Should lime be used and if so 
how much per acre? What would be the best com¬ 
mercial fertilizer to use ? n. 
We have often stated that a soil for a permanent 
lawn should be stuffed full of humus, sweetened by 
an application of lime, well drained both under¬ 
ground, and with an even grade to take off surface 
water; thoroughly fitted so as to be line as an ash 
heap, and with an abundance of available plant food. 
Land which has not been cultivated for a long time 
is apt to be sour, full of weeds and hide-bound; that 
is in poor mechanical condition. To fit. such a soil 
we should plow it this Fall before October, if pos¬ 
sible. After plowing apply at least one ton per 
acre of slaked lime, and then thoroughly harrow it 
in. Under ordinary conditions in Northern New 
Jersey we should sow rye on this land, but in ybur 
latitude, and with this kind of soil, it may be better 
to leave it thoroughly exposed to the weather 
through the Winter. Next Spring as early as the 
land can be fitted, we should sow a heavy seeding 
of oats and Canada field peas, plowing under the 
peas, and harrowing under the oats, and plowing 
in the opposite direction from this Fall plowing. 
In the latter part of June we should plow the growth 
of oats and peas under, and then give a heavy seed¬ 
ing to buckwheat. Li the latter part of August plow 
under the buckwheat deeply, and then proceed to fit 
the ground as well as possible for the grass seeding. 
Work it with a disk and smoothing harrow again 
and again, making the upper surface as line as pos¬ 
sible. With a grader fill in the lower places, so that 
there will be no hollows or depressions. Early in 
September give a heavy seeding of either one of the 
mixed lawn grasses, or a combination of Blue grass, 
Red-top and White clover. Use at least. 400 pounds 
per acre of one of the mixtures specially prepared 
for seeding down. With the land prepared in this 
way, it will contain an abundance of organic mat¬ 
ter, and should endure for years, with a thick heavy 
sod, and uniform growth of grass. It will pay to 
put under all these green crops, and to follow out 
the plan here outlined as closely as possible. 
