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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1898)
The Conservative , young houso-lly. As a matter of fact , flics do not grow sifter they appear as flies , but they go through an elaborate process before that. First , they are eggs , then they are three kinds of larva , one after another , then they are pu- pue , and they emerge from their pupal ease as mature flies. The entire pro cess takes fen days , with the ordinary fly of commerce , so that there is time for fifteen generations in five months of \varm weather. A single fly lays at least. 120 eggs ; : i cubic inch of horse manure will produce two hundred flies ; those who wish to know , and have the leisure , can figure out how long a pas senger train , running between the earth and the moon , loaded with flies from their neighbor's barn , would take to pass a given point. The "Washington experiments are con sidered to prove that flies are more finicky than one would think , and will only lay their eggs in horse manure , and that by taking care around the barn the eggs can be destroyed. If this is so the experimenters' conclusion seems reason able , that people in cities at lejist may arrange some day so that window- screens and fly paper may be dispensed with. It is said that by throwing the stable-sweepings carefully into a tight box or closet , and scattering chloride of lime over them , the generation of flies can bo absolutely prevented , and that the difference in the neighborhood is very noticeable. Some curious facts which we note , are that the regular honse-ily cannot bite , having only an arrangement for sucking up liquids ; that the fly which does bite is a different kind , called the stable-fly ; that the bug known as the thousand- logger is a great destroyer of flies ; that a fly that you see with a red patch on his back is attacked by parasites and will not live long ; that the lazy stupid fly who provokes you in the fall is the cluster-fly , and that it is he that you find dead , stuck on the window-pane , with a little patch of white around him ; and that flies are undoubtedly carriers of gangrene and other contagions. TUBES XOTK1) FOK SPECIFIC VIRTUES AND USES. OAK TREE , the king of the forest and patriarch of trees , wholly unrivalled in stature , strength and longevity. The timber is used for shipbuilding , the bark for tanning leather , and the gall for making ink. Oak timber is used for every work where durability and strength are required. Oak trees best resist the thunder stroke. ( William Browne is responsible for this statement ) . It bursts into leaf between April 10 and May 26. In 1757 there was an oak in Earl Powis's park , near Ludlow , 1(5 ( feet in girth (5 ( feet from the ground ) and 60 feet high ( Mai-sham ) . Panshanger Oak , in Kent is 10 feet in girth , and contains 1000 feet of timber , though not yet in JLi &ji its prime ( Mai-sham ) . Sulcoy Forest Oak , in Northamptonshire , is 24 feet in girth ( Marslmm ) . Gog , in Yardley For est , is 28 feet in girth , and contains 1(558 ( cubic feet of timber. The king of Wynnstay Park , north Wales , is ! ) ( ) feet in girth. The Queen's Oak , Hunting- fleld , Suffolk , from which Queen Eliza beth shot a buck , is ! 5 feet in girth ( Mai-sham ) . Shelton Oak , near Shrews bury , called the "Grette Oak" in 154 ! } , which served the great Glendower for a post of observation in the battle of Shrewsbury (14015) ( ) , is ! 57 feet in girth ( Marsham ) . Green Dale Oak , near Welbeck , is J58 feet in girth , 11 feet from the ground ( Evelyn ) . ( Jowthorpo Oak , near Wetherby , is 48 feet in girth ( Evelyn ) . The great oak in Broomfield Wood , near Ludlow , was , in 1704 , 08 feet in girth , 25 ! feet high , and contained 1455 feet of timber ( Lightfoot ) . Beggar's Oak , in Blithfield Park , Staf fordshire , contains 827 cubic feet of timber , and , in 1812 , was valued at 200 ( Marsham ) . Fredville Oak , Kent , con tains 1400 feet of timber ( Marsham ) . But the most stupendous oak over grown in England was that dug out of Hutfleld Bog ; it was 12 feet in girth at the larger end , ( i feet at the smaller end , and 120 feet in length ; so that it exceeded the famous larch tree brought to Rome in the reign of Tiberius , as Pliny states in his Natural History. Swilcar Oak , in Needlmm Forest , is 600 years old ( Strutt ) . The oak of the Partizans , in the forest of Parey , St. Ouen , is above 650 years old. Wallace's Oak , which stood on the spot where the patriot hero" was born ( Elderslie , near Paisley ) was probably 700 years old when it was blown down in 1859. Salcey Forest Oak , in Northamptonshire , is above 1000 years old. William the Con queror's Oak , Windsor Great Park , is at least 1200 years old. Winfarthing Oak , Norfolk , and Bentley Oak , were 700 years old at the Conquest , more than 800 years ago. Cowthorpe Oak , near Wetherby , is 1600 years old ( Professor Burnett ) . The great oak of Saintes , in the Chareiito Inferieur , is reckoned from 1800 to 2000 years old. The Damorey Oak , Dorsetshire was 2000 years old when it was blown down in 1708. In the Com monwealth , it was inhabited by an old man , and used as an ale house ; its cavity was 15 feet in diameter and 17 feet in height. In the Water Walk of Magdalen Col lege , Oxford , was an oak supposed , to have existed before the Conquest ; it was a notable tree when the college was founded in 1448 , and was blown down in 178 ! ) . On Abbot's Oak , Woburn , the vicar of Pnddington , near Chester , and Roger Hobbs , abbot of Woburn , were hung , in 15557 , by order of Henry Vllf , for refusing to surrender their sacer dotal rights ( Marsham ) . The Bull Oak , Wedgonock Park , and the Plestor Oak , Colborne , were both in existence at the Conquest. The Shollard's Lane Oak , Gloucestershire , is one of the oldest in the island. The Cadenham Oak , near Lyndhurst , in the Now Forest , buds on "old Christ mas Day , " and has done so for at least two centuries ; it is covered with foliage at the usual time of other oak trees. The same is said of the tree against which the arrow of Tyrell glanced when Rufus was killed. OUVK , used in wainscot , because it never gapes , cracks or cleaves. The eight olive trees on the Mount of Olives were flourishing 800 years ago , when the Turks took Jerusalem. OSIEU , used for puncheons , wheels for catching eels , bird cages , baskets , ham pers , hurdles , edders , stakes , rake handles , and poles. PKAK TKEE , used for turnery , joiners' tools , chairs and picture frames. It is worth knowing that pear grafts on a quince stock produce the most abundant and luscious fruit. PINK THEE. The "Old Guardsman , " in Vancouver's Island , is the largest Dongas pine. It is 16 feet in diameter , 51 feet in girth , and 150 feet in height. At one time it was 50 feet higher , but its top was broken off in a storm. PLANE THEE. Gross delights to grow in its shade. POPLAK TKEE. Sacred to Hercules. No wood , is so little liable to take fire. The wood is excellent for wood carvings and wainscoting , floors , laths , packing boxes and turnery. BLACK POPLAH. The bark is used by fishermen for buoying their nets ; brooms are made of its twigs. In Flanders clogs are made of the wood. The poplar bursts into leaf between March (5 ( and April 19. ROSE TKEE. The rose is called the "Queen of Flowers. " It is the emblem of England , as the thistle is of Scotland , the shamrock of Ireland , and the lily of Franco. It has ever been a favorite on graves as a memorial of affection ; hence Pro- pertius says , "Et teuera poneret ossa rosa. " In Rome the day when the pope blesses the golden rose is called Dominica in Rosa. The long intestine strife be tween the rival houses of York and Lancaster is called in history the "War of the White and Red Roses , " because the badge of the Yorkists was a white rose and that of the Lancastrians a red one. The marriage of Henry VII with Elizabeth of York is called the "Union of the Two Roses. " The rose was anciently considered a token of secrecy , and hence to whisper a thing null raw means it is not to bo repeated. In Persian fable , the rose is the night ingale's bride. "His queen , his garden queen , the rose. " A juvenile story in which the boy's answer begins "Please , sir , " can bo set down as not having been revised since Peter Parley's day.