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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1908 



^ POULTRY DEPT. g 



[U5 Conducted by S. Short, Ottawa [US 



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By now the hatching season has suffic- 

 iently advanced, that all hatching opera- 

 tions should be under way, or definitely ar- 

 ranged. While the suburbanite may hatch 

 and rear late chickens successfully, it is a 

 different proposition in the city, where 

 grass runs are scarce, and the chicks have 

 to be more or less confined, and artificially ' 

 fed. At this season, too, there are many 

 who have had under consideration serious 

 ideas of embarking in poultry keeping. If 

 a start is to be made, now is the most 

 favorable time to begin. The first pur- 

 chases to be made are the incubators. Then 

 decide on the variety or breed of fowl, and 

 order the eggs, or, better still, before buy- 

 ing, inspect the local stocks and see what 

 terms may be got, and how the birds look. 



CHAS. A. CYPHERS' 



Model Incubators 

 and Brooders 



On my Model Poultry Farm I now have 

 poultry numbering 80,000 hatched and 

 brooded in my famous Model Incubators 

 and Brooders. Buy- 

 ing your incubators 

 and brooders of a 

 man who knows 

 nothing (or next 

 to nothing) about 

 hatching and raising 

 poultry is running a 

 useless risk. Don't 

 do it. 



I not only sell you 

 a Model Incubator or Brooder, but 1 add 

 to them the valuable experience of years 

 as shown in their construction. Model 

 ■Incubators show excellent hatches, hatch 

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 grow sturdy chicks. 



Send your order in to-day, and get in 

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THE MODEL INCUBATOR CO. 

 196-200 River Street TORONTO, ONT. 



being careful to note that not more than 

 ten to twelve females are mated to one 

 male in the heavier breeds, such as the 

 Rocks, Wyandottes, Orpingtons and Brah- 

 mas, and not more than fifteen to eighteen 

 of the light breeds, such as Leghorns, Min- 

 orcas, and others of that kind. Note also 

 the sprightliness of the fowl, and general 

 healthiness, for healthy parents beget 

 healthy progeny, and likewise sickly dumpy 

 fowl transmit their weakness to their off- 

 spring, should any of the eggs from such 

 fowl hatch. 



A small room, free from draughts, will 

 do for the incubating chamber, and the 

 brooders may be put out doors, in most lo- 

 calities, at this season. While the chicks 

 are growing the winter buildings may be 

 erected, if that has not already been done. 



A fault with many beginners, is that if 

 they are not successful the first season, the 

 breed of fowls kept is blamed, when us- 

 ually the fault is the breeder's own. Some- 

 times the start is made so late in the sea- 

 son that the laying stock has not had time 

 to mature to give laying results the follow- 

 ing winter. Of course it is discouraging 

 not to get eggs, but not a good reason for 

 discouraging the breed of fowl, and adopt- 

 ing another, simply because a neighbor 

 had good results frorn another breed. At 

 least two seasons is needed to determine if 

 a breed or strain of fowls kept are poor 

 layers. Hatch early the second season, 

 and give the birds the same treatment as 

 to food and care as some other breeder who 

 is making a success of poultry. It takes 

 several years' experience for the best to 

 make good. If at all convenient, join a 

 poultry association or club, where discus- 

 sions on seasonable topics are carried on 

 during the winter, and where many valua- 

 ble ideas may be picked up, and also sub- 

 scribe to a good poultry magazine. In any 

 event, if the beginner has had no previous 

 experience in poultry keeping, start with a 

 small number of birds and expand and in- 

 crease as experience may warrant. 



Management of Soils 



At a meeting of the Niagara Peninsula 

 Fruit Growers' Association, held in Grims- 

 by, Mr. Farnsworth dealt with the manage- 

 ment of soils. "Quantity and quality of 

 fruits depends largely on an abundance of 

 moisture in the soil," said Mr. Farnsworth. 



The various forms of moisture in the soil 

 and the conditions that control its conserva- 

 tion were mentioned. To receive large quan- 

 tities of moisture in the form of rains and 

 snow, the soil should be made open and por- 

 ous. It must be drained well to get rid of 

 surface and surplus moisture. This should 

 be done because plants require warmth and 

 air as well as moisture ; an excess of mois- 

 ture excludes warmth and air. Moisture 

 has two main purposes in the soil as it 

 effects plant growth ; namely, it acts as 

 a carrier of plant food and aids in break- 

 ing down unavailable plant materials. 



Plowing is a more important operati' 

 in soil management than most farmers 

 think. Moisture exists in one form as a 

 film around soil particles. Plowing breaks 

 up the large particles and increases the 

 surfaces that are exposed for attractintr 

 moisture. The soil should be deeply plo 

 ed if cold subsoil is not too near the su 

 face. 



A potent factor in holding moisture ; 

 the soil is vegetable matter or humus. 

 For this reason, plenty of vegetable matter 

 should be plowed in in the form of green 

 crops. Cover crops should be grown in 

 orchards. They should be plowed under 

 as early in spring as possible, to prevent 

 loss of moisture through transpiration and 

 assimilation by the crop should it start 

 to grow. On gravelly and sandy soils, 

 vegetable matter will fill the open spaces 

 that occur between the particles in such 

 soils ; on heavy soils, it improves the tex- 

 ture by making them more open. 



Mr. Farnsworth said also that good til- 

 large plays on important part in control- 

 ling moisture. Rolling should be practiced 

 to compact the soil so that water will rise 

 easily by capillary attraction. A light har- 

 row attached behind the roller will produce 

 a shallow surface mulch to prevent the 

 escape of moisture to the air. Tillage also 

 prevents loss of moisture through appro- 

 priation and transpiration by weeds. Till- 

 age should be thorough and incessant. 



In a discussion on this article, Mr. Farns- 

 worth said that hairy vetch is the best 

 cover crop. It costs about eight cents a 

 pound and about 20 pounds should be sown 

 to the acre. Mr. W. T. Macoun suggested 

 the use of summer vetch instead as it kills 

 down in winter and the grower thereby is 

 not tempted to leave it too late in spring 

 before plowing under. It costs about $1.50 

 a bushel and about three-quarters of a bush- 

 el should be sown to the acre . 



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THE BANWELL-HOXIE WIRE FENCE CO., (Ltd.) 

 Dept. R . Hamilton, Ont. Winnipeg, Manitoba 



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