FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 185 



and block it there. This little kink has paid in dollars and cents. It tends to keep 

 the bees from hanging out in the hot weather, does away with considerable swarm- 

 ing, gives plenty of room for the bees to pass in and out freely, and as a matter of 

 fact I have never known a case of robbing to result from it. 



Although I aim to prevent swarming as much as possible, I still have plenty of it. 

 Occasionally two swarms issue at about the same time and I have frequently pre- 

 vented them from uniting by throwing a sheet over the first to cluster. 



The most expeditious way for removing the comb-honey from the hives that I 

 know of, is by puffing a little smoke into the tops of the supers, thus driving down 

 most of the bees and then removing them quickly and piling them up in the 

 yard ten or a dozen high and placing on the top super a cone-shape escape made 

 out of screen wire. A small hole large enough for two or three bees to pass out at 

 a time is left at the top. It is simply laughable to see the way the bees roll out 

 of those supers, and I can soon carry the honey inside. 



And now a word about marketing. I try to put honey up in the best possible 

 shape by removing all the propolis, and^ grading according to quality and color, 

 and packing in glass front cases. Prepared in this way, it finds a ready market at 

 top prices. 



FARM POULTRY. 



C. P. REYNOLDS, Owosso, at SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Institute, Owosao. 



Of a"l the kinds of domesticated fowl, the hen is doubtless the one the most 

 farmers are interested in. All breeds and varieties have their good points, but for 

 an ideal farmer's fowl, I would suggest the folllowing: Head — A heavy, short bill, 

 yellow or horn colored; head set ofl:' with a low single, rose or pea comb. Neck — 

 Medium short and heavy. Back — Medium length; broad in rear and gradually 

 tapering towards the front. Breast — Heavy, deep and muscular. Tail— Medium 

 in length and free from extending spangles. Shanks— Stocky and proportionate 

 to size of fowl; in color yellow, and free from any down or feathers. Skin— A 

 deep golden yellow throughout. Such fowls when matin-ed should weigh from 

 seven to ten pounds each. There are a half dozen varieties that come close to above 

 description. Select any one and you will not be disappointed. 



In popular estimation the next farm fowl is probably the turkey. There is 

 money in turkeys when rightly handled. One can not go into turkeys as he 

 would into other kinds of poultry; it is an exceptional farm where one tom and 

 four hens are not sufficient. If you grow turkeys, raise big ones. Practically it 

 costs no more to raise a turkey weighing 20 to 25 pounds by November than it does 

 one weighing from 12 to 15 pounds. Don't be afraid of getting turkeys too large. 

 Don't use a tom weighing less than 30 pounds, hens 18 to 22 pounds each. 



The next fowl in order is the duck. Pure bred Pekins are too cheap to bother 

 with the mongrel. The Pekin grows faster, at maturity will weigh most, and is 

 much easier cared for and handled. The Pekin has been bred for practical pur- 

 poses, and it is doubtless the best market duck. For market raising do not select 

 a breed with colored plumage. 



In handling poultry be careful about iu-breediug. For those who thoroughly 

 understand it, close mating is all right, but it will not pay the average farmer to 

 follow it. Change males regularly, and do not select anything but large, healthy, 

 vigorous stock. Always use pure bred males of a single variety, and stick to it. 



As a rule farmers make a mistake by using too many males with their flock. 

 For several years I have practiced using one male with some thirty or forty hens, 

 and have had the best of success. This year I have a flock of some forty-five hens. 

 With these I shall mate one two-year-old cock, and shall expect good results. 

 Instead of buying a half dozen males to use with sixty hens, buy a third as many 

 and get better quality. 



The last phase of farm poultry that I shall touch on is that of artificial in- 

 cubation. There are doubtless many who are contemplating the purchase of an 

 incubator for the coming season. To those I will only offer a few suggestions. , 

 You should buy the machine early, so as to have time to experiment; don't build 

 any air castles until you have run at least two hatches; don't allow yourselt to be- 

 come deluded into thinking that artificial incubation is a child's recreation; bear 

 carefully in mind that you are taking a matter out of the hands of nature, and that 

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