NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



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BEAL'S PATENT CORN-CRACKER AND COB-CRUSHER. 



This machine is used for cracking cobs and corn 

 previous to passing through the millstones, and for 

 reducing the same for provender ; and for cracking 

 corn alone, suitable for hominy and for stock. 



This is a valuable invention, as it is remarkably 

 compact, very durable, uniform in its work, and 

 economical in power. Its height, when set up, is 

 two feet eleven inches. It will crack cobs and corn 

 as fast as a mill will grind them. 



The experience of the most intelligent men in the 

 farming community shows the great utility of grind- 

 ing cobs with the corn, for cattle, horses, and sheep. 

 These animals arc accustomed to coarse fodder ; and 

 when fed on com separate from the cob, the food is 

 too much condensed, and there is a lack of bulk to 

 the food, to give the stimulus of distention. Besides 

 this advantage, there is nutriment in the cobs, as has 

 been abundantly shown by the production of alcohol 

 by fermentation and distillation. And when cobs 

 have been boiled and fed to cattle, they have made a 

 great saving of food, and kept the animals in a 

 healthy condition. 



MANAGEMENT AND PROFIT OF FOWLS. 



Since the exhibition of fowls last November, there 

 has been a great interest shown in regard to the dif- 

 ferent breeds of hons and their management. It is a 

 snhjcct of more or less interest to every reader of 

 your paper. Most persons are trying to obtain the 

 largest hens. I think that small hens are much 

 more profitable as layers. They will lay more eggs 

 than those of the large breeds, and they can be kept 

 at half the expense of tliose that are extremely 

 large. ^ly object is to obtain the hens that will 

 yield the most e^gs according to the expense. I 

 have purchased a jiair of Poland Tojiknots, from 

 which to raise stock for the next year. They weigh 

 about seven pounds to the pair. 



I will now give you an account of my manage- 

 ment the past winter. I kept twenty-five hens and 

 a protector, of the native breed. My pullets that 

 were hatched in Aj)ril commenced laying in Novem- 

 ber, and those hatched in May began to lay in De- 

 cember. I have not kept an account of the number 

 •f eggs laid during the winter. The first week in 

 January they laid ninety-one eggs. In the first two 



weeks in February, they laid one hundred and 

 ninety-two eggs. I sold the eggs at fifteen cents 

 per dozen ; and, during the winter, the cost of keeping 

 the hens was only equal to two fifths the value of 

 the eggs. 



I give my hens corn and cob meal every day, 

 mixed in milk or hot water. I kept corn, barley, 

 and oats by them all the time ; I also kept by them 

 ashes, lime, and oyster shells. Haw meat was given 

 to them every day ; I kept all the egg-shells during 

 the summer, and gave them to the hens in the win- 

 ter. I kept my hens in a house twenty by fifteen 

 feet, with a large window in the south side. I find 

 no difficulty in making my hens lay in winter ; most 

 people fail by neglecting to supply animal food, as a 

 substitute for the numerous insects which they de- 

 vour in summer. 



Hens should be left out a few hours every day 

 when the ground is bare. The best layers should he 

 selected as breeders, and the protector changed every 

 year. Grain should be kept by hens all times during 

 the year. The principal reason that some farmers 

 find no profit in keeping hens, is because tliey only 

 half feed them ; therefore they are always in mis- 

 chief, scratching for food. When farmers plant corn, 

 they should give their hens a good supj)ly, and they 

 will not scratch it up. If hens arc well managed, 

 they afford more net profit than any other stock. 

 Young hens should always be kept over, as they will 

 lay better in winter than old hens. — Mass. riotuj/i- 

 man. 



FOWL EXHIBITION. 



On our cover is a full advertisement of this shov/. 

 Particular attention should be paid to the arrange- 

 ment. Let every one who can, aid in making this 

 not only one of the greatest, but the greatest of fow! 

 exhibitions ever held in any country. Let everv 

 breed, and every valuable variety, be rcpreseiiteil. 

 Those persons who cannot contribute to the show, 

 may encourage the enterprise by visiting it. 



The present price of wheat in France is ninety- one 

 cents a bu.shol ! In New York it is one dollar and 

 forty cents. This fact will explain why it is that 

 France is just now sendin;^ into European markets h 

 vast deal more wheat and flour than the United StiiU>b. 



