1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



649 



May 1. Never close the openinc in front unless the 

 brooder is to be moved with chix in, or the first week 

 to keep them in where heat is. Send for our book, 

 ■'The Curtiss Natural Way of Raising Chix at Small 

 Cost." Price $1.00. 



Universal or Adaptable hovers are the best brooders 

 to use the first week. Write us for circulars eivintf a 

 full description and special prices. 



W. R. CURTiss & Co.. Ransomville. N. Y. 



Please notice in the above they have 

 changed the name; and instead of calling it 

 the " fireless " brooder they call it the "Cur- 

 tiss natural brooder," which I think is a good 

 change; and we are furthermore informed 

 that, in order to use this $3.00 brooder — that 

 is, if we are going to raise many chicks, we 

 must also purchase a "universal or adapt- 

 able hover." If these cost in proportion to 

 the cost or valup of the fireless brooder, I 

 fear I shall become disgusted and stop send- 

 ing my money. At present I have not been 

 able to find out what the cost of this hover 

 is that must go with the fireless brooder. 



Let me say a word more in regard to that 

 dollar pamphlet. They wrote me I could 

 have my money back if I was not satisfied. 

 Well, the "natural hen incubator" folks say 

 something to the same effect, and so do 

 quite a few others. Fred Grundy does not; 

 and I am inclined to think it might be dan- 

 gerous business for him if he did. Yes, it is 

 very good to tell customers they can have 

 their money' back if they are not satisfied; 

 but with all that is going on just now, and 

 with the changed order of business in other 

 things, many people would feel ashamed to 

 ask for their money back after they had pos- 

 session of the "secret" or "system." A 

 friend of mine expressed it in this way: He 

 says that many people, after they get their 

 "fingers burned" in this way, conclude to 

 let it go and be a little more careful next 

 time when they see something enticing 

 among the advertisements. 



When I got my dollar book I found it con- 

 tained some very poor zinc etchings in it, 

 but the directions are so badly printed that 

 I am unable to make them out even yet. 



The four cuts that are given have no titles 

 under them, and no numbers to indicate 

 which one the writer is talking about. The 

 book is very poorly printed, and the punctu- 

 ation is exceedingly faulty, sometimes worse 

 than none at all. There are periods where 

 none are needed, and where there ought to 

 be a period there is no pause at all nor capi- 

 tal letters;* and last, but not least, this dollar 

 book contains only 12 pages the size of a 

 postal card. There are pretty nearly as 



* There are also some short cuts in spelling not au- 

 thorized by the Reformed Spelling Association. It 

 will be noticed that they use the short form of " chix," 

 " dux," etc. Now, I do not object to these short cuts; 

 in fact, they are rather refreshing; but I do like to see 

 enough correct punctuation lo enable one to under- 

 stand what he is reading. We have copied the ex- 

 tracts just as printed. 



The Curtiss folks are, no doubt, progressive people ; 

 but I am afraid the trouble is they are too busy with 

 chickens to write a good plain book, big or little, or to 

 look after the goods they ship out and see whether the 

 things are finished up as they ought to be, and to send 

 out correct directions for using such articles. I have 

 not yet succeeded in finding out what the hole is for 

 in the center of the big doughnut-like cushion ; but I 

 am corresponding with them, and probably shall find 

 out after a while. 



many other pages taken up with advertising 

 things they nave for sale. One whole page 

 is occupied in explaining that they will have 

 a "real" book out Jan. 1 — price $1.00; but 

 nothing is said about giving the real book to 

 those who have paid $1.00 already for this 

 little bit of advertising pamphlet. ■ Now, 

 this is not all. The brooder is advertised as 

 being fireless and lampless; but here is what 

 is said about it on the first cover: 



Some people advocate using the fireless brooder 

 from the start. We have found that this is not practi- 

 cal. It can be done, but the chix require so much 

 watching and care the first ten days that we find it is 

 much easier and better to give them artificial heat on 

 the start for the first ten days in summer and spring, 

 and two to three weeks in winter. Artificial heat learns 

 them where to go to get warm, and once learned they 

 never forget. 



Well, friends, is not the above pretty 

 tough to be told, after you have paid $3.00 

 for a lampless brooder, that it is not fireless 

 after all — that you need another brooder 

 with fire to go along with the fireless? They 

 add, however, as follows: 



Where you only wish to raise 40 or 50 chix there is 

 no need of buying a heated brooder. Use a can or jug 

 of hot water or a heated brick or soapstone, wrapped 

 up in an old cloth to keep it from burning them and 

 place it in center of our Curtiss natural brooder, two 

 or three times a day the first week. 



When chix are two weeks old they should not have 

 any more artificial heat. In fact, this kind of heat aft- 

 er this is decidedly injurious to the little chaps. They 

 will thrive much better, grow faster, and be more 

 healthy if not given any, but handled exactly as we de- 

 scribe. 



Well, the above is all right. It is just 

 what I did with my fireless brooder in Flori- 

 da, as you may remember. But Mrs. Root 

 said she would ever so much rather have a 

 lighted lamp than be obliged to heat up a jug 

 of water, a brick, or a soapstone, two or 

 three times every day for a week or possibly 

 two weeks. By the way, it occurs to me to 

 say right here that in Fred Grundy's $2.00 

 paper-covered primer he described what he 

 calls his "lampless brooder, "and claims that 

 it is patented — nobody else has a right to use 

 it, and said lampless brooder is just a box 

 with a gallon jug filled with hot water wrap- 

 ped about with two or three thicknesses of 

 cloth. What do you think about getting out 

 a patent on the idea of using a jug of hot wa- 

 ter to warm chickens? 



Perhaps some of you may think I have 

 found enough fault with so simple a transac- 

 tion as a dollar primer and a fireless brood- 

 er; but I think we had better have all of it 

 while we are about it. Hastings says, in re- 

 gard to the fireless brooder advertised by 

 the Curtiss Brothers, that they cost only 

 about 15 cents each, and that the Curtiss 

 Brothers use something like 200 of them. 

 That is quite an item. Well, the Curtiss 

 Brothers, in this "dollar book," in their esti- 

 mate of the cost of raising chickens, put the 

 price of the fireless brooder at 50 cents. I 

 suppose the fifty-cent one is a better-made 

 apparatus than the fifteen-cent one; but how 



*Let me add there are ideas and suggestions in this 

 little pamphlet that are valuable. They may be worth 

 a dollar or more, especially to one who does not pos- 

 sess the Philo book; but their plan of growing a great 

 number of chickens on a small area differs but little, 

 so far as I can see, from the Philo system. 



