The Question Box. 343 



board floors, gapes are seldom seen. Air-slaked lime sprinl^Ied 

 lightly on the chicks will cause them to sneeze out the worms, at 

 times, and they are sometimes removed by the use of a feather. 



Is it not better to feed soft food to hens at night than in the morning? 



Mr. Stevens. — I have experimented on both lines, with both 

 the American and Asiatic breeds, and have concluded to feed the 

 warm mash in the morning. At noon, grain^ made of a mixture 

 of two-thirds oats and one-third corn. I do not know that I would 

 make any difference between white and yellow corn, except for 

 exhibition purposes. For those I would feed white flint corn. It 

 is known as " white sanford." 



Are beets better for hens than flat turnips? Will hens eat turnips as 

 well as beets? 



Mr. Rice. — I think a ton of beets is worth more to feed hens 

 than an equal weight of flat turnips. They are sweeter and 

 juicier. The actual difference in food nutrients, however, is very 

 slight. Figuring from analysis, we find that in a ton of mangels 

 there are 2.2 per cent, protein, 10.8 per cent, carbohydrates, 2 per 

 cent, fat; flat turnips, 2 per cent, protein, 14.4 per cent, carbohy- 

 drates, 4 per cent. fat. The nutritive ratio for the mangels is 

 1 of protein to 5.1 carbohydrates, and for flat turnips 1 of protein 

 to 7.6 carbohydrates. The real difference is more on account of 

 the tenderness and fine flavor of the beets. Notwithstanding all 

 this, we always raise plenty of turnips for the hens, because it 

 is so much cheaper to produce them. In fact,- we have nearly 

 ceased raising beets. They require the whole season to grow. 

 They must have exceptionally rich ground to make a good crop, 

 and of necessity need considerable care and some hand weeding. 

 They are expensive. The turnips we sow broadcast after early 

 potatoes or in the com or young orchards at the last cultivation. 

 They hustle for themselves. All we have to do is to pull and top 

 them. They are therefore cheap; while hens usually prefer raw 

 beets to raw turnips; they like both. Cooking greatly improves 

 the turnip; when it is boiled and mixed in with the ground feed 

 it makes a very savory mash. The fowl like it. If you don't 

 believe it, try it. 



