THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



9 



©HE ©OLtLTI^Y yAI^D. 



(EMBODYIXG RESri,T.S OF ACTl'AL EXPERIENCE.) 



PROVIDING A SUPPLY OF GREEN FOOD. 



One of the greatest difficulties in the way of 

 keeping fowls in winter is that of procuring a 

 plentiful supply of green food. As November is 

 a month during whicli many of the crops are put 

 up for winter, it is an excellent time for making 

 provision for the poultry also. One of tlie best 

 vegetables to use is cabbage, but in order to reacli 

 it conveniently for use, .some better method than 

 burying the heads under ground must be adopted, 

 and this may be done by placing them close to- 

 gether, witli the roots under ground and the 

 cabbage covered with straw and corn-stalks, 

 ■which may be removed whenever a supply is 

 desired. As poultry are not partial to frozen 

 cabbage, they may be eliopped and left over 

 night in cold water. In fact, by placing turnips 

 in cold water to thaw, they may be chopped and 

 fed raw also. A proportion of raw vegetables at 

 times is highly relished by the fowls, though a 

 mess of cooked food is also excellent. 

 . We can cut rye this monrli for green food. The 

 rye will not be very tall, but so much the better. 

 When cut, let it be dried enough to prevent fer- 

 mentation, or place it loosely in the barn. It 

 may wilt ; but it will be tender when moistened 

 with warm water. It reijuircs but very little 

 labor to chop a few handsful) into short lengths 

 once a day, and if fed in coniiectifm witii cabbage, 

 a good dish of green food may be supplied. We 

 might recommend spinacli, lettuce, and turnip 

 tops, but the rye and cabbage may be more easily 

 procured, and also fed with less labor. We are 

 not stating what should l»e fed, but what may be 

 done in November. Of course, if one iias lettuce 

 in cold frames it may be fed, but lettuce is too 

 valuable at this season, while cabbage is always 

 cheap, especially as a single head furnishes quite 

 a large meal for a flock. The hay from the 

 second growth of clover may be cut up in winter 

 also, and a portion shouM he placed aside now for 

 that purpose, while the small while potatoes may 

 be used advantageously, when boiled and mixed 

 with the soft food. Green food need not be fed 

 every day, as a rule, but if nllowed three times a 

 week will be found very beneficial. 



BREEDING STANDARD FOWLS. 



Of Ifite years there ha.s been a tendency on the 

 part of some to breed poultry for market and also 

 to standard requirements. This cannot be tlone, 

 for the reason that too much attention is devoted 

 to the undesirable points, when breeding to the 

 standard, such as comb, wattles, earlobes, and 

 legs, which compels a breeder to discard all mem- 

 bers of the flock that may not come up to the 

 points demanded. This necessitates the rejection 

 of the strongest and most vigorous fowls, should 

 the comb be uneven or the face a little out of 

 color. To reject a Leghorn of vigorous constitu- 

 tion because the earlolie may have a dark spot on 

 it is a suicidal method, which must in the end 

 result in debility. The majority of those who 

 are interested in poultry are desirous of deriving 

 a profit from the sale of eggs, chicks and adult 

 fowls in the market, as buyers pay no attention 

 to color marks ; and yet it is not to be understood 

 that a fowl is not pure because it has a speck of 

 black on a white ground, or because the comb is 

 deficient in a point or leans to one side. We 

 believe in breeding, or crossing, from the pure 

 breeds, for they are bred for certain characteris- 

 tics, but there is no reason for making selections 

 entirely from color to the exclusion of that which 

 is more important. 



Breeding poultry for market purposes should 

 be done with a view of sacrificing everything to 

 vigor. Health and activity are important factors 

 in successful poultry raising, and this can be best 

 obtained by judicious mating of those fowls that 

 will give the greatest return for the care and 

 labor bestowed. The Black Spanish fowls are 

 among our best layers, but nearly one-third of the 

 total number of points required by the standard 

 are given to the head alone, a course which is 

 destroying their useful qualities. If a hen is a 

 good layer, is careful with her chicks, and pos- 

 sesses a strong constitution, she will prove more 

 valuable to one who breeds for usefulness than 

 the best hens that are lired for standard require- 

 ments alone. 



plumage, the under parts of the body a pale bufi", 

 penciled with black lines. The White Chinese 

 has an orange colored knob at the base of the 

 bills, the body being white, no colored feathers 

 being on any part of the plumage. The Brown 

 Chinese is similar to the White in shape, the 

 color being grayish brown, with darker bro"^!! 

 on the back and wings than on the under parts, 

 while the knob at the base of the beak should be 

 brown or black. The Enibden is one of the lar- 

 gest varieties, the b(j(ly large, deep, and square, 

 in fat specimens nearly touching the ground, the 

 color being entirely white. The Toulouse is a 

 large goose also, in color light gray, and like the 

 Enibden, the under part nearly reaches tlie 

 ground. Of the above varieties, the best are tlie 

 Embden and Toulouse. A cross of the two breeds 

 by mating a Toulouse gander with an Embden 

 female, is larger than either of the parents. 



BREEDS OF GEESE. 



There are six breeds of geese, and seven, if we 

 include the wild variety. They consist of the 

 African, Brown Chinese, White Chinese, Egyp- 

 tian, Embden, and Toulouse. 



The African is dark gray in plumage, with a 

 large knob on the head and heavy dewlap under 

 the throat. The Egyptian is black and gray in 



KEEPING THE DROPPINGS IN WINTER. 



We have given several methods for saving 

 poultry manure, but as the volatile matter is 

 more easily retained during the cold season than 

 when the weather is warm, the manure may be 

 kept in a more compact form. Dry earih is not 

 easily obtainalde when the ground is frozen, and 

 too much dampness in the quarters does not facil- 

 itate the process of cleaning. Why may not two 

 valuable fertilizers be combined while saving the 

 manure? If sulphate of potash ikainiti be used 

 lor dusting the floor of poultry houses, it not only 

 answers as a disinfectant as well as an aiisorbent, 

 but should the manure begin to ferment, the 

 gaseous ammonia will be converted into a sul- 

 phate, and remain in a solid form. The potash 

 itself is a valuable ingredient, and as the kainit 

 also contains traces of magnesia and lime, it is 

 still better. It is cheap if procured in the crude 

 state, which answers all practical purposes, and 

 is superior to pla'<ter. One part of the kainit to 

 one of the droppings will be sufficient, though a 

 larger proportion of kainit may be used if pre- 

 ferred. We recommend it, and hope our readers 

 will give it a trial. 



THE GROWTH OF YOUNG CHICKS. 



Considerable discussion as to the growth of 



young fowls having reached us, we give here the 



result of careful experiments. 

 The growth of chicks, as ascertained by us 



during the past three months, was as follows, 



viz : — 



The egg weighs 2 ounces. 



Chick newly hatched weighs U " 



" 1 week old weighs 2 " 



" 2 weeks old weighs 4 " 



" 3 " " fii " 



" 4 " " 10 " 



" 5 " " 14 



" 6 " " 184 " 



" 7 " " 23i " 



" 8 " " 28 " 



n 9 " " 32 " 



" 10 " " !!!!!!"!!!!!] se 

 " n " " 41 



The chicks experimented with were Plymouth 

 Rocks, though considerably mixed with other 

 bloods. They were fed mostly on a mixture of 

 bran, oatmeal and corn meal, moistened with 

 milk or water, and baked, sometimes merely 

 cooked with boiling water. Whole wheat and 

 skim milk cheese served as a variety during the 

 first four weeks, and the cake was sometimes 

 made richer by the addition of a little animal 

 meal, ("pulverized dried bone and meat"). 

 Out (if quite a large flock, not one chicken died 

 from disease. They were fed very regularly, 

 three times a day," and all they would eat up 

 clean. A flock which increased two pounds in 

 weight a day, consumed less than six pounds of 

 corn meal, or its equivalent in other food, in 

 twenty-four hours; and what vegetable or animal 

 matter they could pick up, which, in spite of un- 

 limited range, did not appear to be very much : 

 at least they were always hungry when they 

 came to their meal. From the above, you will 

 see that the actual expense of making one pound 

 of "spring chicken" was, in this case not more 

 than four cents. The market price in citiefi dur- 

 ing July varied between twenty and twenty-eight 

 cents 



We might have grown these chicks still faster 

 by giving them a greater variety of food, but did 

 not attempt to force them. Or we might have 

 grown them slower, but with less expense, had 

 we made them shift for themselves. There were 

 no grasshoppers. 



COLLIE SHEPHERD PUPS, 



FROM IMPORTED KENNEL. 

 Ailflrcfis. RIVERSIDE FARM, Portland, Me. 



POULTRY SCRATCHINGS. 



Stale Bread lor Chicks.— There is nothing better for young 

 chicks than stale, hard bread, but it should be soaked in 

 milk before feeding. 



The Wild Birds.— No attempt has been successfully made 

 to domesticate the wild turkey, but the wild goose has 

 been tamed and crossed with the common breeds 



Governing Ihe Sexes.— Itisclaimed that by matiugathree 

 year old cock with pullets, that themajority of the chicks 

 will be females, and when a young cockerel is mated 

 three-year old hens, the males will predomiuate. 



Dieting tor Bowet Disease.— When the chicks are afflicted 

 witli diarrlKpa, one of the best remedies is boiled milk, 

 iliickened with corn meal while boiling. Let it remain 

 until nearly cold, but should be fed warm. A pinch of 

 red pepper will improve it. 



Brahmas and Common Fowls.- Inordertoincreasethesize 

 of conmiuii n.wls, the cock selected should be a light 

 Brahma, which will give heavy feathering, compact size, 

 and small comb. Such a cross will lay earlier than the 

 pure Brahma, and make better nurses for chicks. 



Oats lor Feed.— They should always be ground, if possi- 

 ble, and mixed with the soft food, feomeiiraes the hena 

 will reject the whole grains, and when this is the case, 

 they may be soaked over night in hen water, when they 

 will he eaten readily, as well as being more digestible. 



Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks.- In crossing these breeds, 

 the Dominick Leghorn and Plynioutli Rock hen should 

 be used, the combs of both being straight and single, 

 while the colors are nearly the same.. It is a more com- 

 patible cross than that of the White or Brown varieties 

 with the Plymouth Kock. 



Ducks In the Poultry Yard.— Ducks should be allowed as 

 much liberty us possible, as they are not partial to con- 

 finement like chickens. When they are kept in the- 

 poultry yard with hens they become quarrelsome, and 

 do more damage than they are worth, and for that rea^ 

 son should be kept separate. 



The mites.— The most troublesome pests are the small 

 mites, which can scarcely be seen. Many persons sup- 

 pose their fowls to be free of vermin while they are full 

 of them, simply because the mites are so small tliut they 

 cannot be seen. Persian Insect Powder, dusted among 

 the feathers, is excellent, and the dust bath may be made 

 serviceable bj- sprinkling the dirt witn Carbolic Acid. 



Rules lor Observance. — Keep the coops warm and dry. 

 Avoid crowding loo many fowls together. Feed a va- 

 riety of tood. Give clean, pure water. Collect eggs for 

 hatching as soon as laid. Hatch your pullets for next 

 year as soon as possil)le. Use only pure-bred males. 

 Give the fowls a dry dust bath, but do not use wood 

 ashes. Sell young chicks as soon as they ai-e large 

 enough. Give soil food in the morning and whole grain 

 at night. 



Breeds ol Bantams.— Some breeders hatch bantams aa 

 late as this month, in order to dwarf them in size There- 

 are nine varieties, consisting of the Golden Sebriglit, Sil- 

 ver Sebright, Booted White, Game, Japatiese, Pekin, 

 Rose-Combed Black, Rose-Combed White, and White 

 Crested White Polish. They are all bred for novelty 

 rather than usefulness, hut we believe they will produce 

 as many pounds of meat, in proportion to food consumed, 

 as the larger breeds. 



The Rare Breeds.— Among the rare breeds with wliich 

 many |)ersnns aie not familiar, are ilie Frizzles; whose 

 featliers curve backwards, especially on the hackle and 

 saddle; theRumpl*"R9 orbirds without tails, the Russian* 

 which have a beard under the beak, reaching around in 

 the shape of a curve to the back of the eyes, the Silkies, 

 which are crested, witli one feather falling over tlie side 

 of the back in a silky mass, and the Sultans, which pos- 

 sess a beard and crest, tlie plumage being white. 



The Best Condition lop Lading. -While it is suggested that 

 the poultry be well fed, it is not best to keep the laying 

 hens too fat. Twice a day is otten enough to feed the 

 fowls, and they should be given only as much as they 

 will eat up entirelv, leaving nothing on the ground. 

 Keeping food before them a'll the lime is not economical,, 

 and induces them to eat at irregular periods, as well as- 

 depriving them of exercise. Let them become hungry 

 between meals. Exercise is tlie best remedy for pre- 

 ventin-i the hens becoming tuo fat, and if they are com- 

 pelli-ri to scratch and hunt for their food, to a cerlaia 

 extent, it will be beneficial. 



A Cheap Cholera Medicine.-Take of hypo-sulphite of soda, 

 one pound, ginger one-quarter of a pound, extract log- 

 wood one-qnarter of a pound, red pepper one-quarter of 

 a pound, sulphur one-quarter of a pound; rosin, salt, 

 and copperas one-eighth of a pound. This should all be 

 fine and well mixed, and as the materials are cheap, a 

 quantity should always he on hand. During the first 

 stages of the disease it may be fed in corn meal dough, 

 mixing two tablespoonfuls of the mixture to each pint 

 of meal. Should the fowls be very sick give each a tea- 

 spoonful of the mixture in water. It is a harmless med- 

 icine, and may be given as a tonic once a week, by mix- 

 ing a tahlespoonful to a quart of meal. 9 ' 



INCUBATORSS 



■ trial. C. W. SaviUge, 25 



The SAVIDGE, .100 



eKffS.S8l. Different sizes. 

 Never fnils. Sent on 

 2924 Huntingdon St.. Phlla. 



