62 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



diness. C. Y. Wilson, of Massachusetts, extols the 

 Liarht Brahma, ami, while some prefer them of a 

 modified age, lie wants them as large as possible, 

 and elaims tliat a blindfolded epicure could never 

 distinguish the difference in the meat. 



E. S. K. writes to the I'onllrij ^Vorld: 



"As many persons are inquiring what breed of 

 fowls is the best for general purposes, permit me to 

 Bay, that after fairly trying Leghorns, White Brah- 

 mas, Dark Brahmas, and noudans — each variety of 

 the best stock that could be obtained — I find that 

 Houdans are sujierior to all others. Leghorns pro- 

 duce as many eggs as Houdans, but the chickens are 

 tough and stringy, compared with Houdan chickens, 

 while the hens are no better as setters. Both Light 

 and Dark Brahmas have the defect of accumulating 

 fat with such facility that, unless great care is exer- 

 cised in feeding them, they cease to lay. They also 

 have a constant tendency to sit, and the chickens are 

 mainly legs after they get too large for broilers. 

 Houdans are such restless and persistent foragers 

 that an excess of grain tlirown to them does not ren- 

 der them lazy." 



But the very thing E. S. K. recommends in the 

 Houdans — restlessness — would be considered objec- 

 tionable by three-fourths of those choosing a new 

 breed, and especially those living in or near towns 

 and villages, where they are likely to bother their 

 neighbors. 



J. F. King writes the Poultry Aryus: 



" I have fully made up my mind to raise the Brown 

 Leghorn in spite of anything. I have tried in the 

 course of my exijcrience a great many breeds of 

 fowls, and have settled down on Brown Leghorns as 

 being the best and the most economic egg producers 

 on the list ; and eggs are more profitable to me than 

 poultry." 



Mr. King speaks for eggs alone ; and thus we 

 might go through the list, some claiming for the 

 Games great superiority for the fineness and de- 

 licious flavor of the meat, which is generally eon- 

 ceded. While we have not even a desire to settle 

 the question as to the best, we have a word to those 

 Willi wi.sh to improve their chickens on the farm by 

 crofssing and grading up, thus avoiding the expense 

 of starting anew at fancy prices. Several important 

 points should be looked to — such as laying qualities, 

 early maturity, large size of body without too great 

 length of legs, meat fine, juicy and of good flavor, 

 and especially thej' should be liardy. 



Our experience is in favorof the Partridge Cochins, 

 but, from our limited knowledge of the Butf Cochins, 

 ■we believe them about equal — the bodies heavy and 

 well featliered and legs short. The Partridge Cochins 

 lay well w inter and summer, mature early, are good 

 mothers, docile, very hardj , and meat delicious. By 

 putting one cock with ten or twelve hens, the flock 

 will soon be graded up. These cocks should be ex- 

 changed for others, or sold aud others bought, every 

 spring, and there need be but little trouble about 

 sickness. Two neighbors buying one year can ex- 

 change the next. Good cocks can be bought for from 

 f 3 to $.5, and the increase in weight alone will doubly 

 pay for them the first year. — Jountal of Agriculture. 



Spring Care of Sheep. 



This is a job that is very often neglected, to the 

 great inconvenience of the sheep and loss to the 

 owner. It takes but a short time for a couple of men 

 to go over two or three hundred, and the amount of 

 wool saved will more than doubly pay the expense, 

 to say nothing about the relief it gives the animal, 

 and the saving of trouble afterwards and the risk of 

 losing some, for it is not uncommon that the accumu- 

 lation of filth causes soreness, which the flies soon 

 find out, and in a very short time all will be over 

 with those so unfortunate as to become thus affected. 

 I have known as many as a half-dozen to be killed in 

 this way out of a flock of less than two hundred. 

 Warm, wet weather is the most apt to produce these 

 results, aud the merino sheep are the most apt to 

 give tiouble in case of neglect. 



If the tags are put in the fleece at shearing time, 

 care should be taken to have them well washed, as 

 it is not an uncommon thing for people to get them- 

 eelves into serioustrouble, when through an avaricious 

 desire they allow tliem to he put in without this very 

 necessary precaution. 1 knew one to lose fifty dol- 

 lars and another fort}' dollars in this way. As good 

 a plan as any is to leave them out and sell with uu- 

 waslied wool ; it saves trouble of washing, aud they 

 can be disposed of on their merits. As a rule, a de- 

 duction of one-half is asked, wdiich in most cases is 

 not too much. 



In handhng sheep care should be taken not to catch 

 them by the wool, as is so often done. It is just as 

 easy to grab them by the hind leg or around the 

 neck, and passing the arms around the body, they 

 can be lifted up with ease, (ientleness in handling 

 sheep is a very essential thing, and they who practice 

 it will be rewarded with quiet flocks. They should 

 early learn that they are in no danger from those 

 whose business it is to watch over them. 



After a winter with as much rainy weather as there 

 has been during the past one, there is danger of sore 

 feet, and should the season continue wet, there will 

 be more or less in this direction ; and, as is very 



often the case, an oimee of caution is worth a pound 

 of cure, and a stitch in time saves nine. The hoofs 

 will grow long, and will require trimming, for which 

 a sharp knife or a pair of toe-nippers, or both, will 

 be needed. If any are lame, they should be exam- 

 ined, and if in the least sore, trim well. and apply 

 some pure pine tar or a little powdered vitriol, or in 

 many instani'es a little salt, well rubbed in, will have 

 the desired effect. If foot-rot gets among a fresh lot 

 of sheep, it makes sad havoc and quick work. Never 

 let a sheep limp a day without knowing the cause, 

 and give immediate attention. — M. N. Russell, Ilain- 

 moudsHlle, O., March S, 1S7G. — Ger. Telegraph. 



Lambs and Calves. 



Now for the calves and lambs, and there is no in- 

 terest with which farmers have to do where the 

 " ounce of prevention " pays better than here. Be 

 sure and have the cow gaining when the calf is drop- 

 ped. Give a warm, dry room, with a good bed for 

 "lying in," a light but generous diet afterwards, with 

 no ice water ; treat her with gentle kindness, and 

 above everything else, keep her from cold draughts 

 of air, and you will find that it will pay ever-so-much 

 better than doctors and farriers after your cow has 

 gotten out of sorts from want of proper care when 

 she most needed it. 



A cow that is gaining when she calves, and is taken 

 care of at and after the calf is dropped, is almost 

 sure to do well ; and such a one is all ready to com- 

 mence her season's work of producing butter-stock. 



It has been my invarialile practice, for more than 

 twenty years, to feed my cows lightly before calving 

 with ears of corn, unless they a-re in good grass ; and 

 I have not had one to retain the afterbirth in all that 

 time. 



So, too, care pays when the lambs are dropped in 

 cold weather. Every man that has a considerable 

 flock sliould have two or three small warm pens, into 

 each of which he should put three or four sheep a 

 few days before they are to lamb ; and if the weather 

 is cold he should look after them once or twice in the 

 night, and there is really no more need of losing a 

 lamb than a calf. 



It is sometimes the case when a sheep has twins 

 that she will own but one, unless she or they have 

 help. Usually if she is put in a very snug pen im- 

 mediately after the lambs are dropped she will accept 

 the situation. If one stubbornly refuses to own her 

 ofispring, just put her head between two stakes driven 

 into the floor of the pen and let her be there. I never 

 knew one I could not subdue. By all means have a 

 nursing bottle on hand, and feed the lambs just 

 enough to keep them hungry and smart ; and if the 

 sheep are poor milkers give them shorts and potatoes 

 with plenty of salt, sulphur and water. Cut the tails 

 pretty short at three days' old, if the lambs are 

 smart, but within the first week usually. Keep off the 

 ticks and the lamb will be fit to sell in season for the 

 dam to get in good order for winter, and a sheep that 

 comes to the barn fat is about half wintered. 



" An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 

 —D. II. Thing, West Mt. Vernon, Me.— Ger. Tel. 



W^hat Will Pay. 



Year after year crops are moved off without re- 

 turning anything to the soil. Manures are put under 

 the rains and the dropjiing of eaves until they are 

 drained of their best material and rendered nearly 

 useless. This could be obviated by building cheap 

 sheds to cover the manure as thrown from the sta- 

 bles. This can be done at a small cost and will pay. 

 Winter is not a good time to build, but for such a 

 purpose as this it is better to build now than not at 

 all. Plaster should also be used in the stables to pre- 

 vent the escape of ammonia, and care should be taken 

 to keep it in as good condition as possible. If the 

 barns aud yards are so situated that the wastings are 

 carried off by every rain, a little time with a team, 

 plow and scraper, will make a ditch (a broad, open 

 one it should be) around the barn on three sides; 

 then at all times keep this filled with the trash and 

 litter which naturally accumulates about the barn. 

 The ditch will hold ' the water, etc., from the yard, 

 and cause the straw to rot rapidly and will afford a 

 large quantity of good manure. When the manure 

 is removed in the sin-ing, the ditch can be filled with 

 wheat straw, uj^on which a few bushels of lime has 

 been scattered ; then as fast as it rots pile it up in the 

 ditch and fill the spaces between each pile with straw, 

 and so on. In the fall there will be a fine pile of 

 manure, which will renovate the worn out fiefd ; or 

 to scatter on the exposed knolls on the wheat field, 

 preventing winter killing. Another great waste is 

 the large crop of weeds, which each year is allowed 

 to go ty seed, and spread all over adjoining farms. 



Using too much hard labor is another wayof wast- 

 ing on the farm. Many machines can now be used 

 to save ranch of this labor. More horse-powers must 

 be used. And after we have raised our crops they 

 should larirely be fed out on the farm. It is much 

 cheaper to ship corn, oats, etc., in the form of meat 

 than to send it in the bulk as raised ; besides tlie 

 soil is made richer, instead of constantly reducingits 

 producing capacity. — Prairie Farmer. 



Management of Manure. 



A farmer's manure account is the next thing to his 

 bank account, and everything that helps one aids the 

 other. The old Hearth and Home had, while living, 

 an excellent practical contributor, who was famous 

 for " hammering away" at the manure heap. Here 

 is a scrap from one of his papers, as good now as the 

 day it was written : " Where all the stock is kept in 

 one large barn, with a manure cellar underneath, 

 there is little diflicultyin managing the manure, espe- 

 cially if there is a large tank for the spare liquid. 

 The main points are to provide sutlicient ventilation, 

 so that no deleterious gasses shall penetrate to the 

 hay or cattle above, and to use enough material to 

 keep the manure from getting wet. On farms where 

 considerable straw and cornstalks are used, and 

 where the manure is kept out of doors, the main 

 point is to get the manure into a compact heai>. 

 Where the manure from the cow stables and pig pens 

 is thrown out into a small heap by the door, it 

 freezes through and no fermentation takes place un- 

 til spring ; but if all the manure from all the horses, 

 cows, sheep, and pigs is put together in a large, com- 

 pact heap, fermentation will set in, and the frost 

 will not penetrate more than a few inches on the out- 

 side. Our plan is to place the heap in some central 

 point and wheel all the manure daily to the heap, 

 shake it out, and spread it about the heap ; endeavor 

 as much as possible to mix the horse, cow, and pig 

 manure together. It is necessary to insist on this 

 point, as the men have a great disinclination to spread 

 the manure about. If they become negligent, set 

 them to turn the whole heap over. This will do the 

 manure good, and teach the men a lesson. They will 

 will soon learn that a manure heap carefully spread 

 out, can be handled than much easier one left in 

 small heaps with the cornstalks running from the 

 lower barrow to the one above, as a well made load 

 of hay can be unloaded with less labor than one built 

 without thought or skill. It will pay to manipulate 

 with as much care as if you were making a mam- 

 moth hot-bed. An hour's work now, when there is 

 comparatively little to do, will save two hours' work 

 in the busy days of spring. Maimre so managed, if 

 the stock is well fed, can be reduced one-half without 

 the loss of any fertilizing material. Last year our 

 manure so managed was in splendid condition by the 

 first of .'Vlay to draw out and spread the ridges for 

 mangolds." 



Feeding Poultry. 



It is said that a very common-looking man, and 

 one who was supposed to be a very common sort of 

 person, found himself in the capital this last Con- 

 gress, having been elected a representative from a far 

 distant State. Anticipating fun, some old stagers 

 asked him what were his sensations on first entering 

 so grand a building. He replied, as they thought, in- 

 nocently, " he wondered how a man like him.self had 

 ever had the luck to get into such a place," but, he 

 added, " my second thoughts were still more surjiris- 

 ing, for when I looked at you, it was a complete puz- 

 zle how you got here." 



We suppose some such feeling as this must be up- 

 permost in the minds of many readers on what goes 

 as agricultural matter in the rounds of the papers. 

 They are often tempted to write, but in their modi'sty 

 hold back because they cannot conceive what they 

 would like to say could get admission into a popular 

 paper ; and thus they wonder still more when they 

 seff-the character of the s'.uff that soofteo really finds 

 a place there. Often we see paragraphs of this kind 

 and wonder how it is th;it they pass as thej' do the 

 ej'cs of the editors. 



Here before us is an article on chicken-feeding, 

 which is made up from some floating paragrapli so as 

 to appear like an original editorial note. We are told 

 that the hen that eats the most is the one that pro- 

 duces the most — which, in a certain sense, may bo 

 true. Building on this, we are assured that one 

 bushel of corn will make just twelve and a half 

 pounds of eggs, and the paragraph then closes with 

 this reflection : " Most farmers have a feeling that 

 the corn which is fed to poultry is thrown away. They 

 should look upon the transaction as just so much 

 grain exchanged for eggs." 



We fancy that most farmers have never learned 

 this exact mathematical way of turning corn into 

 eggs. Those who have had experience in raising 

 fowls know that the best success with them is when 

 they are left in a great measure to scratch out their 

 own daily bread. To give a fowl all the grain it will 

 eat, is the surest way to make it lazy and worthless. 

 The active fowl is the healthiest, and good health is 

 the first essential of a good layer, as well as of along 

 liver. The proper way to treat fowls is to place 

 them where they can be encouraged to get their own 

 food, only making up what they themselves cannot 

 find. — Gcnnantown Telegraph. 



Four thousand eight hundred and forty square 

 yards make an acre ; a square mile, six hundred and 

 forty acres. To measure an acre, two hundi-ed and 

 nine feet on each side make a square acre witliin an 

 inch. 



