648 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



Once more, let me remind you that the 

 great and good men and women came from 

 very humble homes, where no such style 

 was ever known or thought of. As I write, 

 there is a great lament over the death of Gov- 

 ernor Johnson, of Minnesota; and I am told 

 that in some great procession that was march- 

 ing behind his remains, one of the banners 

 contained the information that he came from 

 a home where the father was a drunkard 

 and the mother a washwoman. Now, are 

 the children fortunate or unfortunate who 

 are born, reared, and educated in homes 

 where fashion prevails, and where there are 

 plenty to serve? May God help us to learn 

 the lesson he is striving to teach us. 



POULTRY 



Department 



By a. I. Root. 



POULTRY SECRETS, FfRELESS BROODERS, ETC. 



Somebody set the pace two or three years 

 ago of charging a very big price for a very 

 small book on poultry culture, giving as an 

 excuse for the high price the fact that the 

 book contained a wonderful invention, and 

 that each purchaser would get a "family 

 right ' ' to make and use the invention describ- 

 ed in said book; and finally there seemed to 

 be a mania pervading almost all the poultry 

 world for advertising some great secrets or 

 new system; and while the price grew big- 

 ger the information contained in the books 

 became smaller and smaller, and less valu- 

 able — such as sprouted oats for 15 cts. a 

 bushel, etc. The price of the book was 

 $5.00; but it has now come down to $1.00, 

 and there are quite a lot of other books that 

 in price should come away down while their 

 quality should go away up. Here is a letter 

 from the editor of Poultry Culture, Topeka, 

 Kansas, which hits the spot: 



I thank you very much for your complimentary re- 

 marks on our booklet. One of the main reasons that 

 caused me to get this book out was I got " sick and 

 tired " of seeing ideas exploited in the poultry journals 

 as worth from $1.00 to $5.00 when the same ideas have 

 been known to practically all the poultrymen (who are 

 at all " on to " their jobs' for many years. Practically 

 all these ideas have been published time and again in 

 the poultry press; but poultrymen differ very much, 

 and the beginners are thick every year, and they be- 

 lieve there are " millions in it " from the start. 



Topeka, Kan., SepL 21. R. V. HiCKS. 



As stated in the above, there is a great 

 army of beginners coming along every year. 

 I know, because I am getting Tetters every 

 little while from women and cliildren, asking 

 me if the statements are true about the mon- 

 ey that can be made in just a little while, in 

 the back yard, with a few chickens. To il- 

 lustrate the whole matter I want to give you 

 some of my experience during the last few 

 days. 



On page 551, Sept. 1, the author of the new 

 book, "The Dollar Hen," describes briefly 

 the Curtiss lampless brooder. You will no- 



tice he says these parties raised 20,000 chicks 

 last season. A few days after this was out I 

 saw an advertisement in one of the poultrj'- 

 journals reading: 



DAY-OLD CHIX. 



CURTISS' IMPROVED FIRELESS BROODER, $3 



EACH. 



After my check had been sent for the 

 brooder I noticed they also advertised a book 

 in regard to raising chickens. The price of 

 it was $1.00. I accordingly wrote them that 

 if they would put the book inside of the 

 brooder I would at once remit the extra dol- 

 lar or return the book, explaining that I had 

 bought so many books that were almost 

 worthless to me I thought I would, in the fu- 

 ture, see the book before sending the mon- 

 ey. They replied that they must have the 

 doUsLV first; but they added that, if I was not 

 satisfied the book was worth it, the money 

 would be returned. This is the way the 

 "book " is advertised: 



RAISING CHICKENS NATURALLY AND AT SMALL 

 COST 



IS THE KEYNOTE TO A SUCCESSFUL POULTRY BUSINESS. 

 25,000 last season. Cost of machinery, one cent per 

 chick; 95 per cent raised in spring and summer. 



THE SECRET OUT AT LAST. 

 Mauy people wonder why we are bo successful In raistntr 

 chicks. We have published a little book glvlig our way in 

 every detail. You can not fall If you follow directions. 



Price $1.00. . Ninety per cent raised in winter. 

 W. R. CURTiSS & Co. 



This seemed fair, so I sent them the dol- 

 lar. Now for the fireless brooder. When it 

 came I was a good deal disappointed. It was 

 a very cheap affair. The lumber had shrunk 

 so much that the rain would go right through 

 the roof had I not covered it with roofing- 

 paper. When I looked for directions I could 

 find nothing but a piece of paper containing 

 the following, tacked on tne inside of the 

 cover: 



THE CURTISS NATURAL BROODER; CAPACITY 50 CHLX. 



The simplest and best brooder on the market to-day. 

 Chix raised in this brooder are as healthy and strong as 

 those brooded by the old hen. No oil required to run. 

 The chix furnish the heat. Chix can not get lousy if 

 directions are followed. Chix get the natural hen heat 

 in this brooder, which makes strong chix. We have 

 300 in use now on Niagara Farm. This brooder is en- 

 tirely different from any other on^|ihe market. Birds 

 do not crowd and smother; and they always have an 

 abundance of fresh air. Once tried you will use no 

 other. W. R. CuRTiss & Co., Ransomville, N. Y. 



Price $3.00 each. 



Can you, my friend, find any directions for 

 using the brooder in the above? It says, 

 "Chicks can not get lousy if the directions 

 are followed. " But what are the directions? 

 I wrote, protesting, but it was some little 

 time before I could get any directions as to 

 how to run this $3.00 fireless brooder. After 

 writing again I finally did succeed in get- 

 ting the following: 



DIRECTIONS FOR OPERATING THE CURTISS BROODER. 



Baby chicks should have heat the first week. Use a 

 Universal or Adaptable hover. When a week old, 

 place our Curtiss Natural brooder in the pen in front 

 of the heated hover; close off all chance of getting 

 back to the heated hover. Do this at 4 or 6 o'clock in 

 the afternoon, and they will all go into our brooder. 

 If you have but 40 or 50 chix, use a jug of hot water or 

 heated brick two or three times daily in the center of 

 the Curtiss brooder for the first week. Feed, the first 

 week, equal parts of boiled eggs, corn meal, or bread- 

 crumbs. The brooder can be used out of doors after 



