58 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



0\1 



Itry. 



Fencesfor Poultry Yards. 



No inateiial would seem to be more suitable 

 for fences than woven galvanized wire, were 

 it not that this, of its own accord, provides no 

 protection from winds in winter. Where the 

 yard is well sheltered by plantations of ever- 

 green trees, not too far away, this objection, 

 of course, loses its force. Then with the gi-een 

 verdure of the trees in neai" conjunction the 

 year round, a well-painted woven-wire fence 

 presents a neat and pleasing appearance. 



A picket fence six or seven feet high makes 

 a complete kind of a bai'rier, but the expense is 

 an objection to many. Where something 

 cheaper is wanted we would suggest a lath 

 fence. One of these, if rightly built, will 

 last for three or more years, and answers for 

 all ordinary pvirposes well, indeed. 



In making a lath fence, a height of six feet, 

 at least, should be aimed for. If it be seven it 

 would be better. The addition of a board 

 next to the ground would of coui'se bring the 

 six-foot length, which we recommend for the 

 lath part, up to this. 



Posts for the fence should be set eight feet 

 apart. They should bear three strips length- 

 wise, on which to nail the lath ; or the lower 

 one might be dispensed with, nailing directly 

 on the bottom board. The middle strip should 

 be raised two feet above the lower strip, or 

 board, and the top one three feet higher. 



As to lath : Use four-foot ones in whole and 

 half lengths. The former are to be nailed from 

 the middle strip npwai'd, and will project be- 

 yond the upper rail one foot. The latter should 

 be used on the lower space, between the hori- 

 zontals. As these are but two feet long, if 

 placed close together, say an inch apart, and 

 well nailed, the bottom of the fence wiU be 

 strong enough to resist considerable pressure, 

 keeping off dogs, and even larger animals. 

 The upper section may have the laths some- 

 what further apart, say two inches. 



The outlay needed for such a fence is very 

 small. If it be well made and treated to a 

 coat of crude petroleum thickened somewhat 

 with mineral paint, and applied with a brush, 

 it will not only look remarkably neat, but will 

 last for a number of years. 



Keeping Individual Records. 



Mr. E, L, Requa, of Higland Mills, in this 

 state, is right when he says that if we kept in- 

 dividual records our poultry would soon be lay- 

 ing more eggs. By this course one can see ex- 

 actly which birds produced the largest number. 

 Poor hens can be weeded out, with no poor 

 progeny to follow. Here are his practical ob- 

 servations on this matter, from the Ponltrij 

 Bulletin: 



Take, then, 12 hens of any breed, as a good 

 number to try with. Do not let them run at 

 large, or you lose track of the eggs laid in 

 stolen nests. The true test is one year's time, 

 with hens well cared for; this will give the ex- 

 cellence of the flock as egg layers. Keep the 

 male bu'd confined by himself, except during 

 the breeding mouths. 



In keeping an egg record you will learn 

 many things about your birds that you never 

 before noticed. Thi-ee hundi-ed and sixty-five 

 days is a long time to keep a daily record, but 

 it is in setting down the figures of mouth after 

 month that you will find out the valueless na- 

 ture of any record taken at some particular 

 season of the year, when the hens are either 

 laying very well or very poorly. 



If the record shows poorly for certain fowls 

 it will cause you to look into the reasons why 

 it is so. If it shows well you may then know- 

 just what to do to make hens lay, as you've 

 only to go right on as you've begun. There- 

 fore, I say, keep an egg record: My egg 



record is as follows : 13 Leghorns — number of 

 eggs laid between November 1st, 1883, and No- 

 vember 1st, 1884, 2916; average per hen for 

 year, 243 eggs. This I call a big record. 



About Roosts. 



Nearly one-half of a hen's short Lifetime is 

 spent on the roosts. We should, therefore, not 

 be always planning for her when off of the 

 roosts, and then giving the matter of night 

 accommodations hardly a thought. 



As for room on the roosts, each hen in a house 

 should have at least one foot of space. One 

 hundred hens would then reqiure ten roosts 

 ten feet long. Keep them as near level as you 

 can, else there will be strife for the higher 

 places; with "upper ten" crowds, consisting 

 of the pluckiest. 



The perches should be placed not nearer than 

 a foot apart — fifteen inches would be a better 

 distance. Make them part of a frame that is 

 hinged against the wall, and which can be 

 raised up out of the way for cleaning out the 

 droppings. Another thing: We cannot ap- 

 prove of placing the roosts as high up as they 

 are often put, but rather within two feet of 

 the floor. Our reasons: The air is less pure 

 the higher up we go — a most important consid- 

 eration for the health, — and fowls, especially 

 heavy ones, are often lamed by flying down 

 from high roosts. 



For the perch, a rough pole with the bark on 

 answers better than any other. To such an 

 one the claws cling more readily than to a 

 smooth one ; besides, the bark is softer than 

 wood. By far the greater number of perches 

 are too light. In om- houses we want them not 

 less than three inches in diameter, and from 

 this running up to four inches. Small and 

 smooth perches are a prolific cause of deformed 

 breast bones, for the fowls cannot cling to 

 them without an undue strain as to posture 

 and to certain important muscles of the body. 



Incubators and Handling Them. 



Mr. P. H. Jacobs, a correspondent of the 

 Rural New Yorker, writes on this subject as 

 follows: It is impossible to state which is the 

 best incubator. Many are offered, each with 

 some pai'ticular merit of its own. Though 

 some of them are well equipped for regulating 

 the heat, supplying moisture, and turning the 

 eggs, yet, aft^r all, almost everything depends 

 upon the operator. The novice may have been 

 led, by the exaggerated praises of the makers, 

 to rely upon the machine too exclusively, and 

 thus have been induced to overlook many little 

 details that require hiunan attention. While 

 it would require a lengthy article to fully de- 

 scribe an incubator, it may be said that any 

 device, by which the temperature can be kept 

 uniformly at 103°, with proper provision for 

 air and moisture, will hatch eggs, though suc- 

 cess depends largely upon the vitality of the 

 pai'ent stock. 



In operating any incubator, the common 

 errors are the handUng of the eggs too much, 

 and the meddling of curious people. Let 

 method and business-like conduct prevail. The 

 first two days the eggs should not be disturbed 

 at all, not even to turn them, as the heat should 

 be well maintained at a temperature fully 

 up to 103 degi'ess, and without variation, in or- 

 der to give the germ an advantageous start, 

 which is very important. After the second 

 day the eggs should be turned twice a day 

 (morning and evening), and cooled well once 

 daily. A pan of water under them, with a 

 few moist sponges in the egg di-awer, will usu- 

 ally supply all necessary moistm-e where there 

 is not a constant stream of warm air flowing 

 through the incubator. When the chicks have 

 nearly reached the time for brealiing the shells, 

 they wiU pai-tially heat the egg drawer with 

 th6ir bodies, and at the time of coming out a 

 temperature of 102 degrees is better than a 

 higher one. At Hammonton, New Jersey, all 

 the incubators used are home-made, some being 



heated with lamps, while others ai'e operated 

 simply by pouring in a supply of hot water 

 once or twice daily, and the hatches vary from 

 40 to 90 per cent, according to the quality of 

 the eggs and the cai'e bestowed upon them 

 during incubation. Upon one farm two young 

 ladies managed thwhatching of 3,000 chicks last 

 winter and propose to double that number this 

 season. The prices obtained for the chickens 

 ranged from 3.5 to fi.5 cents per pound, according 

 to earliness. 



CONDENSED POULTRY NOTES 



Neatness is its own reward. 



Brown eggs are favorites with bu.rers. 



Hens are early risers; feed to correspond. 



Never breed Javas from red-feather fowls, 



A very common tault^allowing too mauy fowls 

 to run and to roost together, 



£ggs laid without shells come from overfeed- 

 ing, and lack of lime in the feed. 



The best plan is to change the poultry run 

 once a year. With portable fencing it can readily 

 be done. 



Time. It perhaps ought to be told for the ben- 

 efit of some, that hens' eggs hatch in 20 days; tur- 

 keys' and clucks" in 28 days; geese's in 30 days. 



For lining coops and houses tarred felt is to 

 be preferred to an}- other material; insects have 

 decided objections to taking up their residence 

 within the layer. 



Bats are a pest about the chicken yard. Cats, 

 sometimes, are almost as bad. Do you know how 

 the former detest chloride of lime? If this is scat- 

 tered about their runs freely the.v will clear out. 



Meat, in some shape, is always recommended as 

 one important element of the l^ood of laying hens. 

 But meat is not alw ays to be had for this purpose 

 on farms, A good substitute is milk, in one form or 

 another, and no farm is without this. 



In considering tlie profit of keeping poultry 

 about the home, too often we forget the large item 

 of home consumption of the products. Now, we 

 suggest that you keep a close account of this, day 

 by day, during the year. You'll be astonished at 

 the footing next December. 



We visited some poultry houses a short time 

 ago, tiie lloors of which were asphalt, of smooth 

 surface. On this was scattered an inch deep of 

 sawdust. The appearance certainly was clean and 

 nice. The sawdust was swept up with a hand broom 

 and replaced, every Saturday, 



Not enough light, especially the sunlight, is very 

 objectionable in a poultry house. Too much light 

 is also not good, for this means much glass surface, 

 and glass is cold. Put windows of ample dimen- 

 sions, and make them movable to admit of their use 

 as ventilators. Shutters, to close up against the 

 windows in cohl nights, are of great value. 



The poultry raisers are taking a lively inter- 

 est in P, G., and this we expected. Some even de- 

 clare that its contents yield as much pith and sub- 

 stance on hen matters as the regular journals in 

 this line. This we will not contradict. Now, what 

 we want, is, that every poultry raiser hatch out a 

 club of ten subscribers for us. That 50,000 must 

 come, somehow ! The earlier at it the better. 



With laying begun, there will be an appetite 

 for more food: with more food there should be 

 more exercise, so don't neglect now to get up an 

 ample scratching box. Most any kind of light, 

 di*y material in it, into which some gi-ain has been 

 scattered, and worked in a little with the food, will 

 do. Remember how that hens, more than any other 

 live stock, naturall.v exercise themselves in gather- 

 ing food. Besides roaming about for it. they 

 scratch, scratch, and peck, peck, almost constantly, 

 working the muscles of the body at a great rate. 

 It is policy to meet this natural w-ant. How verj- 

 easily done. 



Stoves in the Hen House. The Poultry Joumul 

 is of the opinion that the principal value of ar- 

 tificial heat in the poultry house is when its sit- 

 uation is against getting the full benefit of the 

 winter sun. In such cases the use of a small heat- 

 ing stove during the coldest w-eather will Iw found 

 very beneficial. A little heat will guard against anv 

 danger from frost-bitten combs and wattles, and 

 will matei'ially aid in producing a more satisfactory 

 supply of eggs. However, where the house is fitted 

 up wanu and comfortable, and there is plenty of 

 glass in the south side of the coop, which will give 

 the fowls the f uU benefit of the winter's sun, there 

 is but httle need of any artificial heat, as they will 

 get .ilon^ nearly as well without it. 



