^10 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



Apijl ^), Ib2;. 



young fowls should be reared every year, to keep 

 up a stock of good breeders ; and by this atten- 

 tion, and removing bad layers and careless nurses 

 you will have a chance of a good stock. 



Let the hens lay sometime before you set them, 

 which should be done from the end of February 

 to the beginning of May. VVIiile hens are laying, 

 feed them well, and sometimes with oats. 



Brood.s of chickens are iiatched all tiirough the 

 summer, but those that come out very late re- 

 quire much care till they have gained some 

 strength. 



If the eggs of any sort are put under a hen with 

 some of her own, observe to add her own as many 

 days after the others as there is difference in the 

 length of their sitting. A turkey and duck sit 

 thirty days. Choose large clear eggs to put her 

 upon, and such a number as she can properly cov- 

 er. If very large eggs, there are sometimes two 

 yolks, and of course neither will be productive. — 

 Ten or twelve are quite enoujh. 



A hen-houae should be large and high ; and 

 should be frequently cleaned out, or tlie vermin of 

 fowls will increase greatly. But hens must not 

 be disturbed while sitting ; for if frightened, tliey 

 sometimes forsake their nests. Wormwood and 

 rue should be planted plentifully about their 

 houses ; boil some of the former, and sprinkle it 

 about the floor, which should be of smooth earth 

 not paved. The windows of the house slic^uld bo 

 open to the rising sun, and a hole must be left at 

 the door, to let the smaller fowls go in ; the larg- 

 er may be let in and out by opening the door. — 

 There should be a small sliding board to shut 

 down when the fowls are gone to roost: which 

 would prevent the small boasts of prey from com- 

 mitting ravages, and a good strong door and lock 

 may possibly, in some measure, prevent the dep- 

 redations of human enemies. 



When some of tlie chickens are hatched long 

 before the others, it may be necessary to keep 

 them in a basket of wool till the others come 

 forth. The day after they are hatched, give them 

 some crumbs of w'hite bread, and small (or rather 

 cracked) grits soaked in milk. As soon as tliey 

 h»ve gained a little strength, feed them with 

 curd, cheese parings cut small, boiled corn, or any 

 soft food, but nothing sour ; and give them clean 

 water twice a day. Keep the hen under a pen 

 til! the young have strength to follow her about, 

 which will be in two or three weeks and be sure 

 to feed her well. 



The food of fowls goes first into their crop, 

 which softens it ; and then passes into th.e giz- 

 zard, which by constant friction macerates it : and 

 this is facilitated by small stones, which are gen- 

 erally found there, and which help to digest the 

 food. 



The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking dirty 

 water, or taking filthy food. A white thin scale 

 on the tongue is the symptom. Pull the scale off 

 with your nuil, and rub the tongue with some salt: 

 «nd the complaint will be removed. 



It answers well to pay souje boy employed in 

 the farm or stable, so much a hundred for the 

 eggs he brings in. It will be his interest then to 

 save them from being purloined, which no body 

 but one in bis situation can prevent ; and si.x or 

 eight cents a hundred will be buying eggs cheap. 

 To Fiitten Fowls or Chickens in four or /fie 

 days. — Set rice over the fire with skimmed milk, 

 only as much as will serve one day Let it boil 

 till the rice is quite swelled out : you may add a 



tea spoonful or two of sugar, but it will do well But although any or all the above antidc 

 without. Feed them three times a day, in com- 1 the ravages of insects may be effectual, we i 

 mon pans, giving them only as much as will quite i wliether anything will often be found more i 

 fill them at once. When you put fresh, let the tageous than common soap suds. " 'I'his mS 

 pans be set in water, that no sourness ni;iy be [ of an oil and ;in alkali will dislodge and dt 

 conveyed to the fowl.5, as that prevents them from \ the insects which have alreudy formed their 

 fattening. Give them clean water, or the milk of and bred among the leaves. And when ns 

 rice, to drink ; but the less wet the latter ia when the early part of the year, it seems to prevea 

 perfectly soaked the better. 13y this method the ! insects from settling upon them ; but whetii 

 flesh will have a clear whiteness which no oilier i rendering the surface of the leaf disagreea| 

 food gives ; and when it is considered how fur ai the animals, and thus repelling them, or by 

 pound of rice will go, and how much time is sav j tralizing the acid they deposit, and thus pre 

 ed by this mode, it will be found to be cheap. — ing the leaf from contracting into a nece 

 The pen should he daily cleaned, and no food i form for their reception, I cannot pres.ume 

 given for si.xtcen hours before poultry he killed. | tern,ino. One of the modes by which this- 



To choose egs!;s at Market and preserve them. — | ture indirectly contributes to the fertility o^ 

 Put the large end of the egg to your tongue ; if ground may be by its destruction of the 

 it feels warm it is new. In new-laid eggs, there which prey upon the plants. It is also, I 

 is a small diviision of the skin from the »hell, [ to be preferred to lime water, or the wood- 

 which is filled ivitli the air, and is perceptible to and lime which Mr Forsyth recommends fa 

 the eye at the end. On looking through them ; destruction of insects. It is preferable ta 

 against the sun or a candle, if fresh, eggs will bo iime water, and the lime, because lime los^ 

 pretty clear. If they shake they are not fresh. j causticity, and with that its efficacy, by expo 



Eggs may be bought cheapest when the hens : to air, and must consequently be frequently 





first begin to lay in the spring, before they sit ; 

 in fall and winter they become dear. They may 

 be preserved fresh by dipping them in boiling wa- 

 ter and instantly taking them out, or by oiling 

 the shell ; either of which way is to prevent the 

 air passing through it : or kept on shelves with 

 small holes to receive one in encli, and he turned 

 every other; or close packed in the keg, and 

 covered with strong lime water. 



NEW ENGLAND Fx\RMER, 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1827. 



plitid ; and to the dredging of the leaves with 

 fine dust of wood ashes and liuie, becnusel 

 same effect is produced by the mixture 

 out the same labour, and is obtained withouj 

 pcnse."* 



Deaue's New England Farmer likewise s^ 

 that soap suds, forcibly applied (by means 

 syringe, garden engine, &c.) is the best rei 

 against the aphides, or that species of plant! 

 which is found oa (he leaves of plants 



SOAK YOUH SEED CORN IN COPPLIRA; 

 WATER. 



,I»tho fourth volume of the New Englaud Fan 

 er, page 284, we publ'shed a communication froi 

 a correspondent, dated Gloucester, March It 

 ie2(i, and signed " .4 Subscriber," recommendji! 

 the use of copperas water to preserve Indian win 

 from the wire-worm, from which tlie follow iii»i 

 extracted : " I used about one and an half poulKl: 

 of copperas in three pocks of corn. I made l|ii 

 water warm, and soaked the corn full 48 hours be 

 fore planting, putting in corn and copperas as Wf 

 used it out. It is not easy to use too much cop 

 peras. I belime the more the better." Tlii-- pro 

 paration the writer says, " I am confident is a lul. 

 and entire remedy against the wire worm, Mii 



INSECTS. 



It will be well to begin in season to make war 

 on insects. Your weapons, offensive and defen- 

 sive may be decoction of elder, made by pouring 

 boiling water on the leaves or roots of the com- 

 mon elder, but more especially the dwarf elder ; 

 decoction of tobacco ; quick lime ; lime water ; 

 soot; unleached wood ashes ; strong lye; water 

 impregnated with tar, or turpentine ;* salt water; 

 urine, and soap suds. Scalding beds, or plats of 

 ground in which you intend to sow garden seeds, 

 by drenching them with boiling water, has been 

 done to good effect, but must be a tedious pro- 

 cess. Dusting plants with flour of sulphur, or pul- ! also against birds, who will not eat it after th»j 

 verised roll brimstone is good' against bugs, mil- I have pulled it up. I am even sanguine in my be 

 dew, plant lice, &c. and serves to give vigour to , lief that it is a preventive against the ravages of 

 vegetation. 1 the cut wrrm, for I could not otherwise accuunt 



Care is necessary in using some of the above j for their not injuring my field, when many of raj 

 mentioned remedies not to injure the plants by neighbors actually lost most of their fields, sail 

 your applications. Strong brine, or urine if not some of tliem were under the necessity of replant- 

 dilutod, will sometimes destroy plants as well as /ing." 



the insects, which prey upon them. It appears, likewise, that " Mr Ralph Owen, o( 



Mr Yates of Albany recommends the following I Belchertown, Mass. in May last, planted :i or 4 

 prescription for destroying caterpillars : " Take i acres with corn which had been soaked in coppei- 

 a handful of worm wood, one of rue, and two of i as water ; the seed caujc up well, and not a plant 

 Virginia tobacco ; (a sufficient quantity of tobacco w'as destroyed by worms. An adjoining ilcld, 

 alone will do, but not so well.) boil these together [planted with corn which had not been st.eped 

 in about two pails of rain-water, for nearly half was very much injured." N. E. Farmer, vol. iv. 



page 395. We have likewise been verbally in- 



an hour, strain it through a cloth, and with this 

 liquor sprinkle the trees. He performs this with 

 a barrow engine ; but the operation should be 

 performed when the caterpillars or worms have 

 left their nocturnal nest or webb, and are dispers- 

 ed on the trees. Repeat the operation two or 

 three times and they will drop down an'! e'^pirp "* 



formed by gentlemen, who have e.xperieuced of 

 witnessed the effects of the above mentioncl pre- 

 paration that it has, in every instance, couipletily 

 answered the purpose of a preservative against in- 

 sects ; and it is supposed greatly to accelerate 



Tliacher's Oruliardist. 



Par 



of the Eath Agricultural Society. 



