19()« 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CUl.lUKE 



1085 



iu eainebi auempi to gel hold ol enough o( It to test thoroughly 

 among our some hundred varieties, but at present 1 do not know 

 where to lay hands upon it. If you had not asked for the return 

 of the clipping I should have liked to send it to the Idaho experi- 

 ment station and note what they have to say in regard to it. 

 Peihaps you will do so and let me know. The station is locat- 

 ed at .Moscow, Idaho. C. C. Willia.ms. 

 Wooster, Ohio, Aug. 13. 



Of course we returned the clipping at once; 

 and when our experiment stations get hold of 

 some of the seed we shall all be happy — yes, even 

 if we should not get c/u/tf 277 bushels to the acre. 

 [ give place to the whole matter here so that no 

 one who reads Gleanings may be swindled by 

 l)aying a great price for this new seed wheat. 



Later. — We clip the following from the Kansas 

 Farmer: 



KX-(;ovEKNOK <;lick on " .\l.\sk.\ '' whe.^t. 



Editor Kansas Farmir: — I am pleased to see the Kansas Farmer 

 expose that " .Alaska " wheat scheme th t certain parties are try- 

 ing to work off on the farmers. This is an old fake that was 

 worked off on the farmers of Ohio over sixty years ago. It was 

 sold to them under the name of " Egyptian " wheat of wonderful 

 prolificacy. Wonderful stories were told of the immens" crops it 

 would produce, and bearing three to seven heads to the stalk. 

 .Many farmers bought the wheat and sowed it, but it proved to be 

 worthless in Ohio. If the soil and climate of that State would 

 not produce it, I do not think Kansas soil would do any better 

 for it. 



The second sowing seemed to end its vitality. I never saw 

 over three or four heads on a stalk, and very few of them. 



My father bought enough of this wheat to sow a half-acre, and 

 two years" fial proved it to be worthless in Ohio, and I never 

 knew a farmer to sow it after the second trial. If any Kansas 

 farmer pays $5 a pound lor it he can join the procession of the 

 crowd that invested in the coreless and seedless apple. 



.Atchison County. G. W. Click. 



Poultry 

 Department 



HOPPER FEEDING AND AUTOMATIC WATERINC; 

 FOR POULTRY, ETC. 



On page 848 I gave you quite a description of 

 this, and I now give you some views of it. See 

 cut on page 1074. !«ij«-,;«*i*- ^--i«n>^ . -i^JS 



You will notice my invention is not' particu- 

 larly different from the great variety of 

 atmospheric watering-devices, except 

 that it can be hung up on the wall 

 out of the way, and the chickens can 

 not get on top of it nor into it. As 

 they grow in size it can easily be 

 hung a little higher up on a suitable 

 nail. Since we have had such warm 

 weather I find the devices I have been 

 sending out are so soon emptied, es- 

 pecially when the' fowls get to be half 

 grown, or larger, that something larg- 

 er is needed. In fact, we have them 

 made of the largest size of wash-basin 

 to be found in the tin-shop. Well, 

 another thing has come to pass. Dur- 

 ing the dry weather the bees from 

 our apiary of several hundred hives 

 discovered the "chick-waterer " is a 

 very handy place for them also to get water. 

 The result is just now that the bees empty the 

 little utensil once a day or oftener; and this has 

 suggested to me that, by using a syrup instead 

 of water, the little pan would make quite a handy 

 bee-feeder. Just drive a nail in one side of the 

 hive and there you have it. If you feed very 



WATERING- 

 DEVICE. 



hea\ily, howesei, the bees might build lonib 

 at each side of the feeder. 



To go back to watering chickens, however, as 

 my flock of 75 or 80 aie now mostly half grown, 

 it takes quite a lot of water during an August 

 day; and the very best arrangement I have e\er 

 found yet is to have running water, or, what 

 amounts to the same thing, dripping watei. 

 Have a pipe run into the poultry-yard, with a 

 valve on it so you can set it so the water will 

 drip just fast' enough to keep up the supply for 

 the fowls, and have a little dish running over 

 more or less. If you have a supply of water 

 from the regular waterworks, or from an elevai- 

 ed tank for the purpose, the arrangement is then 

 automatic. A good deal has been said about 

 scalding and thoroughly cleaning the drinking- 

 utensils; but where your watering-dish is all the 

 time running over I feel quite sure that no such 

 scalding is needed. It should be high enougii 

 up so the chickens can not scratch filth into it; 

 and on this account a separate watering-place had 

 better be arranged for the little chicks. Have a 

 wire-cloth pen around it with openings just large 

 enough to let the little ones in and out; and this 

 same wire-cloth inclosuie should also contain 

 chick feed and wheat, where the little chicks can 

 always get in and help themselves; and have this 

 inclosure large enough so that the larger fowls 

 can not by any possibility reach in and nag the 

 little fellows when they help themselves to feed 

 and drink. And this latter remark reminds me 

 of a letter I have just received. It reads: 



1 see in the last Practical Farmer something about your " hop- 

 per-feed '' chickens. I should like to know how your hoppeis 

 are made, both for young chickens and fowls or older chickens. 

 I have made several kinds of hoppers, and they are not satisfac- 

 tory at all. They let the food down all right, but the chickens 

 either pull the food out with their bills or scratch it out with their 

 feet, thus wasting it. 



I like dry feeding very well; so I wish you would k ndly in- 

 form me about this; and, also, if it isn't any trouble, draw an 

 outline and give dimensions of the hopper you use, both for young 

 and old chickens. W. C. .Merkili.. 



Pocomoke City, Md. 



HOW TO MAKE A HOPPER FEEDER FOR HOPPEK- 

 FtEDING CHICKENS. 



Friend M., this opens up a question that has 

 been a good deal discussed, and on which I ha\e 

 experimented quite a little. In a large chicken- 

 range near Tampa, Fla. , I found they used boxes 

 of different sizes, procured at the grocery, to hold 

 the dry mash, and, to keep the chickens front 

 getting in, a piece of wire-cloth netting of about 

 one-inch mesh is dropped loosely in the box. I 

 used this quite successfully while in Florida. It 

 is true the chickens can not scratch out the feed, 

 but they can get in and stand in it. To prevei.t 

 this, and also to keep out of the rain, we want 

 some sort of cover, just high enough so the hens 

 can reach up under. Each cover should be sup- 

 ported on a little post nailed in each corner of 

 the box, and it should be removable to facilitate 

 replenishing the feed. Now, this is all right so 

 far as preventing waste, making the chickens eat 

 it all up, and keeping out of the rain are concern- 

 ed. But there is another trouble. Where you 

 undertake to give your chickens grain enough to 

 last them a whole week you will be sure to har- 

 bor rats and mice sooner or later. I am glad to 

 say there are no mice in Florida — at least I ne\er 

 heard of any. Probably they will get around 

 after a while, however; and I kno,\ of only one 



