‘Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1325 
Concrete Dam for Ice Pond 
A few years ago there was a picture and detailed 
information of a concrete and stone dam in Tiie R. 
N.-Y. I want some good advice on building a dam ; can 
get 50 loads of stoue from an old wall. I do not know 
how many I need. This dam is for an ice pond. Fish, 
bullheads and suckers, have thriven in there. What 
other kind would be good? They are all gone now, as 
1 took out the old dam, which was defective and weak. 
The soil is sand; pond covers an acre, fed by springs; 
only a little creek now runs continually. Snapping 
turtles are a nuisance, preventing keeping any ducks; 
I know of no way of exterminating turtles. M. w. P. 
New York. 
spring-fed water it would seem that it would be 
possible to grow trout, but there may be other limit, 
ing factors making this impossible or at least unsuc¬ 
cessful. Cornell University, some time ago, got out 
a bulletin on stocking farm fishponds, and no doubt 
vou can get the desired information there, r. H. s. 
they will find out that it requires a great deal of 
skill, a great deal of sweat and a very large amount 
of common sense to work it out. 
IIE Atlas Portland Cement Company recommends 
a dam of the so-called gravity type, as being 
A New Jersey Strawberry Patch 
T IIE picture at Fig. 563 shows a strawberry patch 
grown by R. W. Costner of Bergen County, New 
Jersey. This shows something of what can be done 
under close or intense cultivation. Early in the 
Spring, on March 11, to be exact, this strip of land. 
the cheapest concrete dam for small installations, containing something over one-third of an acre, was 
The cross section of such a dam is 
shown in the sketch. Fig. 560. A trench 
is first made across the bed of the 
stream about 2 ft. in depth, or deeper 
if necessary, to insure a firm founda¬ 
tion. or to get down to an impervious 
layer of earth, thus preventing seepage 
under the dam. 
As seen by an examination of the 
cut, the dam is about iy> ft. thick at 
the crest and 4 ft. thick at the base. 
This with the foundation of 2x4 ft. 
cross section will require the use of 30 
cubic feet of material for each lineal 
foot of the dam where it is built to the 
full height. At the ends where it ex¬ 
tends back into the bank this size will 
be lessened somewhat. 
The concrete used may be a lean mix¬ 
ture. one part cement, three parts sand 
and six parts gravel being sufficient if 
the materials are clean, well graded 
and properly handled. It is best to 
screen the gravel before using it. then 
recombine it in the proper proportions, 
considering all material that passes a 
14 -in. mesh screen as sand, and that 
retained by it as gravel or stone. This 
is necessary, because most bank-run 
gravel contains too large a proportion 
of sand. 
Tn mass work of this kind ltnny 
large field stones may be'imbedded, 
making it possible to have them form 
nearly 50 per cent of the mass. They 
should be clean, should not touch each 
other in the mass and should be “jog¬ 
gled" with a bar when placing to insure 
that the concrete makes contact all 
around them. 
Using the mixture given and assum¬ 
ing the use of one-third field stones in 
the mass, the dam in question would 
require about 10 cubic feet of field 
stone, one barrel of cement. 12 cubic 
feet of sand and 24 cubic feet of 
screened gravel or crushed stone for 
each foot in length. The above esti¬ 
mate is a little low on the cement, sand 
and gravel, but possibly the field stone 
may be increased enough to cover the 
deficiency. 
Building a dam of this size is quite 
an undertaking, and care should be 
exercised to see that foundations are 
secure and that forms are tight and 
sufficiently rigid to withstand the 
stress imposed when placing the con¬ 
crete. It is well to leave the down¬ 
stream form in place for a considerable 
length of time after building the dam 
if the pond is allowed to fill. In build¬ 
ing the concrete should be placed as 
continuously as possible. When the 
work must be interrupted stones should be imbedded 
and left with their tops projecting, furnishing an 
anchor for the next concrete placed. In addition, 
the surface should he thoroughly cleaned, wetted 
down and clean cement sifted over it before deposit¬ 
ing the new concrete. 
The dam should be provided with a waste weir— 
a depression in the crest—so that the excess water 
will go over here rather than all along the crest of 
tht dam. The space where the water discharges can 
then be protected to prevent washing of the stream 
bed by the falling water. Provision should also be 
made for completely draining the pond when desired. 
The overflow from the dam, if sufficient, could be 
used to drive a small overshot wheel, and power 
furnished for lighting and pumping, a very little 
water serving for this last purpose. 
As to the kinds of fish that could be grown in this 
I 'nd. I am unable to state. With this depth of 
A Storage Pit for Vegetables. Fig. 562 
Kew Jersey Strawberry Patch Under Intense Cultivation. Fig. 566 
Effect of Nitrate of Soda Used Alone 
H AVING read with interest various discussions 
on the uses of nitrate of soda on farm crops, 
some seeming to think its use hastens maturity, let 
me add our experiences with its use on peach trees 
in years when there was a crop. 
The last two peach crops we have put nitrate of 
soda on half of each variety of bearing trees—none 
on the others—or if some on all. then twice as much 
on half (a second application, perhaps, on half only) 
with the expected result that those 
trees with the extra heavy dose of 
nitrate of soda made more foliage, 
made somewhat larger fruits, fruit 
that ripened later, relatively, than 
those that had less nitrate. We were 
told to try nitrate this way by a large 
peach grower of New York State. Our 
sales are largely at retail to automobile 
trade—$4,400 on peaches this year at 
retail, about $100 at wholesale only, 
and the nitrate this year, as in the 
past, has spread out. lengthened, the 
picking and selling period on each 
variety as it came along. 
However, one year, when the season 
was extra late, nitrate kept some 
Champion peaches from ripening at all 
—it froze too hard before they got ripe. 
So judgment must be used, according 
to age of trees, amount of fruit they 
are carrying, the type of season, etc. 
This year was two or three weeks 
early, and even with nitrate all peaches 
were through about September 24. 
An expected result of nitrate in a 
wet season, a late season, is large fruit 
in heavy foliage, late fruit as a result, 
and relatively poorer flavor than if no 
nitrate were used; in fact, with some 
varieties like Ray with us the peaches 
can hardly be eaten out of hand, they 
are so bitter, even when left to ripen 
on the trees, following the use of ni¬ 
trate, but this only in a wet season 
(1921. was relatively dry in Eastern 
Massachusetts), and all peaches after 
ripening early had excellent flavor even 
where nitrate was used heavily. 
Massachusetts, john d. peakmaix. 
R. N.-Y.—This agrees with our own 
experience with nitrate when used 
alone. It has started a quick and 
vigorous growth of foliage and fruit. 
This usually delays ripening, and the 
fruit thus stimulated is likely to be 
lacking in flavor and light in color. 
Garden Notes From New Eng¬ 
land 
A 1 
Concrete Dam for Ice Pond. Fig. 56Jf 
planted with Prosperity peas and well cultivated. 
The peas gave a good crop, yielding probably $125. 
As soon as they were cleared off, which was done 
about July 1, the ground was fertilized with chicken 
manure and acid phosphate, thoroughly worked and 
then planted to strawberries, with such varieties as 
Marshall, Big Joe and others. Thorough culture 
was given through the Summer, and after the plants 
were well started early Refugee beans were planted 
between the rows. These beans gave good results 
and were pulled after picking. We see the result in 
the rows of strawberries now growing. The picture 
shows the plants well cleaned up and ready to go 
through the Winter under a mulch, with every indi¬ 
cation of a good yield. This story, you will notice, 
tells something of what can be done on a small piece 
of ground under intense culture by raising two or 
even three crops on the same soil. This may look 
easy to some of our people, but if they ever try it 
asparagus, witloof 
lions 
Forcing of 
the t 
■ellar has 
beco 
that 
growers 
are 
roots 
of rhubs 
irb. i 
ory. 
Rhubarb 
is e; 
will 
not force 
satis 
GARDEN IN THE CELLAR.— 
There is no reason why the gar¬ 
den shouldn’t be productive of fresh 
vegetables much of the Winter. It is 
an easy matter to force rhubarb. 
chicory and dande- 
these vegetables in 
me so common now 
advertising forcing 
asparagus and chic- 
easiest to handle, but 
tisfactorily until after 
the first of the year. Well-established 
clumps several years old are required. They should 
be dug in November and allowed to freeze before 
being stored under cover. Then a few should be 
planted at a time in a box of earth or sand, or per¬ 
haps set on the cellar bottom in a pile of ashes. The 
rapidity with which growth is made will depend upon 
the heat in the cellar. A temperature of 50 degrees 
is best, and the earth must be occasionally sprinkled, 
although not kept wet. It is desirable to grow the 
rhubarb in comparative darkness, perhaps by the use 
of old blankets. If only a few clumps a-re being 
grown, a box with holes in it for ventilation may 
be set over the plants. When extra good stalks and 
rapid growth are required a little fresh manure may 
be placed under the clumps of rhubarb roots. If con¬ 
ditions are right the first stalks should lie ready for 
use in about six weeks. The forcing of rhubarb for 
market is done in a large way in some sections 
around Boston, special houses being used for the pur- 
