The first time I heard the hog story was from a popular recording of it by Farm and Ranch Magazine editor Tom Anderson, of Tennessee. His speech given before an audience of John Birch Society members was recorded in the early 1960's, and also contained the hunter and his dog story, the hunter and the bear story, and dozens of other great stories meant to teach and warn about big government. The 33-1/3 album with his speech, called "Bi-partisan Treason" was so popular because of Anderson's rich Tennessee drawl, and his masterful blending of serious warnings sprinkled with pointed humor and practical tips on how to help America head - off the welfare staters, Pinkos, and communists dominating both political parties in the early 60's. Anderson was a popular syndicated newspaper columnist whose "Straight Talk" columns were featured in many small town, weekly newspapers in those years. He was a patriot, a gifted speaker and I am sorry that he never lived to see the rise of our current Tea Party movement and candidates - he would have been wildly popular and appreciated today.

"If you burn a tree, it doesn't affect the global carbon levels as a tree is only a very brief part of the carbon cycle and the carbon trapped in it would have been soon released as Co2 when the tree died and decayed." This is totally incorrect. There is no CO2 gas trapped in a tree that is released during decay. Gasseous CO2 is taken into a plant through pores on the underside of a leaf. Through the process of photosyntesis a plant uses Chlorophil and Sunlight as a catalyst to combine the Gassesous CO2 and Water (H2O) to form Sugar (C12H22O11). Sugar is the stored form of carbon that is used as a fuel by both human and animal cells and combustion. In fact, combustion itself is merely the oxidation of carbon. Complete combustion, whether it takes place in a human or animan cell or in a fire requires 2.16lbs of oxygen per lb. of carbon. Heat is a byproduct of combustion. As plant matter decays, the sugars, which are the stored form of carbon are concentrated by heat and compression, first into compost, then to Peat, and finally to lignite and bituminous coal (Soft Coal) and with another million or so years of compression, it produces Anthracite or Hard coal. The problem here is that when excess vegatative matter decompose in the earth, they also combine with other elements that are present in the soil. Coal and oil is fundamentally only a concentrated form of plant sugars, however during the compression phase in the soil coal picks up trace amounts of other elements. The worst of which is sulphur. When complete combustion occurs the Hydrogen and carbon in the sugar is transformed by oxidation back into water vapor H2o and Carbon Dioxide which is then recycled back into sugars by plants. The process is never ending. (The presence of sulphur is almost non existant in corn or wood, therefore they do not contribute significantly to acid rain) However, when deep mined fossil fuels, that now contain trace amounts of sulpur are burned, the sulphur combines with oxygen to form suphur dioxide (SO2). The emitted Sulphur-dioxide then combines with water vapor (H2O) to form (H2SO4) sulphuric acid which falls in the form of acid rain. You stated in your post that growing corn is an extremly polluting process,,, AGAIN, TOTALLY UNTRUE.. With the advent of no-till planting and harvesting techniques the average fuel consumption per acre of corn is less than 1/2gal/acre as compared to the national average of 11 to 14 gal/acre to maintain a lawn for the same growing period. (Ref. Ohio State University- Agricultural Extension Service Bulletin) Fertilizer is only applied prior to planting as a preplant subsoil application of anhydrous amonia, and one post emergence application of nitrogen, but only after germination and before the corn plants produce the third leaf on the stalk. The application of fertilizers after the formation of the third leaf will actually yellow the corn and reduce crop yeilds (Again- The Ohio State University -Agricultural Extension Service Bullets on corn production). The applicaton of fertilizer is carefully regulated. Prior to application a farmer is required to perform soil tests and may only apply the absolute minimum necessary to maintain the nitrogen requirement of the specific crop. In no case may more than 10lb/acre per season be applied. By contrast, it is conservatively estimated that the american homeowners apply an average of 35lbs/acre on thier lawns. In fact, after nearly ten years of study the Ohio State University Agricultural extension service has determined that excess nitrate runoff from urban and suburban lawns and gardens is nearly 1000 times greater than the maximum allowable runoff for a farm. While it is easy for everyone to sit in there easy chair and point fingers at industry and agriculture for pollution, the fact is, we need to really monitor what we are discarding as a matter of course. By example, if a truck driver is unloading his trailer and drops a gallon jug of chlorox on the ground, he is required by law to stop and file an EPA hazmat incident report and define the method of cleanup, but once the truckload of chlorox is placed on the grocery shelf every consumer in town can dump gallons down thier drains, in their wells and swimming pools or whatever, without so much as a conscious thought of the outcome. Examine the chemicals under your kitchen sink, in your garage, basement and store room. Now multiply that by how many homes in your community? If any single corporation had that much excess hazardous waste laying around in a warehouse their would be no end to the public outcry. Everyone likes to complain about the electrical utility generating plant, but in truth they are required to constantly monitor their stack emmissions and make instant changes if it gets out of hand, but most homeowners havent a clue as to the combustion effieciency of their furnaces or water heaters.

* Dental floss makes a good plant tie! It's very sturdy, with a small container that fits easily in your pocket. It even has its own 'cutter'. Some of the Mint flavored floss even comes in green so it practically disappears in the plant. * Need plant markers? Use old window blinds. The blinds are constructed of light resistant plastic (or metal if you get the really, really old ones) and last forever in the garden. Use a grease pencil, a liquid needlepoint marker pen, a permanent magic marker (good for a year or two) or a regular construction pencil with thick lead to write on the blind, cut it to length and presto - great garden markers. * Mulch, mulch, mulch. Can't stress enough how mulch can help a garden or flower bed in this Oklahoma heat by conserving moisture. Also keeps my weeds down. I hate to weed! * I like to cut up panty hose for tying up plants. They don't cut in to the stems at all. They are cheap, and one recycles when using them. * When sowing tiny seeds it is so easy to plant them too thick. The trick is to mix them with a little sugar as you sow the seeds. This way, you can control how many seeds you are dropping. The sugar will dissolve when you water the planted seeds. * To protect young fruit trees from weed eaters and mowers, cut a piece of PVC pipe down the center, enclose the bottom of the tree, and tape it back together with duct tape. You can also use these in place of those expensive 'tree wraps' for winter protection from sun scald. * Here's an old fashioned tip! The Farm and Household Cyclopedia - circa 1888. A New England farmer says: "In my own gardening I have found a most satisfactory substitute for bean poles, which latter are not only expensive, but a source of trouble and care. I plant a sunflower seed by each hill of beans, the stock answering the same purpose as the ordinary bean pole, besides providing an excellent feed for my poultry. I have been using for this purpose a mammoth variety of sunflower seed, many of the flowers of which measured fifteen inches across the seed bed." * Fill outdoor containers full of cut evergreen, holly and boxwood branches for a decorative holiday look. They last a long time in the cold winter weather. * Losing Tool Again?? Wrap the handles of your garden tools in brightly-colored tape, so it shows up against the grass. The chances will then be less that they might get left outside to rust or get lost. * Before cutting your ornamental grasses, tightly tie twine around the foliage and then cut the grass blades. It can then be taken right to the compost pile or the curb. No mess to rake. * My best trick ever was to get my husband in on the watering, Wow he has done a great job ever since! Now I introduce him as my "Master Gardener" He beams, I get some rest! * I use a pick axe when I dig. I am a woman and cannot handle a shovel. When I dig up a new area, I can use my arms and toss that pick axe into the ground and easily break up the (soil) clay. It also works well for those big tall weeds that quickly get out of hand. My pick axe is short and has 3 prongs on it. The other side is like a spade, but I never use it. * When designing a new flower bed, lay out a garden hose or rope to outline the bed. You can change the angle of the bed, twist it one way or another and step far back to look. It's an easy way to get the shape you want before you dig! * Bribery works around here - I used to plant cherry tomatoes and ever bearing strawberries to entice my kids to do some weeding. Pick one or two row(s) of weeds and help yourself to however many strawberries or toms are ripe. Now they're teenagers and demand money but it still gets the job done. * Ok, I'm not sure this is right but this lady I know said that she doesn't dig up her elephant ears. Instead she cuts them back and throws a bail of hay on top of them for the winter. * I never dig my elephant ears. I lose them about once every ten years. We've been below zero before and they've been okay. I never add any more mulch than what is already in the beds. What hurts them more than the cold is having a WET, cold winter. But I'm in zone 7a, right on the edge of 7b, so you might get colder in Tulsa. I am up on top of a hill though, with no protection. We had three nights down to eight degrees last winter. I do dig my Alocasias and Xanthosomas though, but not most Colocasias. * One of the best things I have found to dig up a weed or to plant your spring plants is to buy a BIG screwdriver, it works so good and I also have a spoon that I use. I just leave them in a pan that I keep all my small garden tools in. Also before you mulch your plants lay down newspaper around whatever you are planting then the mulch. Not only does it hold water, but no weeds. It will last a couple of years. * Along the fence line between the pet's side of the yard and the flower bed I have that black edging that goes into the ground about 4 or 5 inches to stop the underground stolon and that is topped with old roofing shingles cut in half lengthwise to a) deter runners and b) make it easier to mow next to the fence. The shingles protrude into the flowerbed side by about 2" and the pet's side about 5". The grass also won't climb into the fence because you cut it off before it reaches it and no need for a weed whacker either. * For top notch weather information bookmark the Web Site for the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (To find the current URL, do a search on Oklahoma Climatological Survey and look for an entry with 'OKLAHOMA MESONET at Norman, OK'. The site has great weather information including soil temperatures by county! =========== Tips Contributed by: Members of Oklahoma Gardening - Compiled by: Jerri_OKC Thank you Jerri and all of you!!

The flowers are just coming out. Bright pink at the moment in clusters rather like a blackberry and opening to very small white single petal blooms. The buds show in one picture. Many many sharp thorns. What a shock to find out it is not a rose! If you remember the name please let me know. I will post a picture of the blooms when they open which should be within a week. Thanks so much....