144 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[September, 1877. 



long to spring that they will not realize that it is mid- 

 winter, then we can have eggs. Some poultry keepers 

 do have eggs all winter long, and always obtain good 

 prices and make large profits from their investments. 

 Poultry, if properly managed, we believe, may be 

 made to pay the largest per cent, of profit on the 

 amount of capital invested of any of our live stock. 

 The outlay Is small on each fowl, and the returns are 

 qutckly made. We do not have to wait two, three 

 or five years, as is the case with cattle or horses, be- 

 fore the harvest season begins. A chicken is fit for 

 the market in a hundred days from the shell, and a 

 good pullet will pay for herself in eggs before she is 

 a year old. 



^ 



Errors in Poultry Keeping. 



In confirmation of what I said in a previous article, 

 in regard to keeping none but one year old fowls for 

 layers, I annei the following : "Although there are 

 many widely different breeds of fowls, adapted more 

 or less to the varied wants of the farmer, there are 

 some general rules for their management which are 

 applicable everywhere ; and many flagrant errors are 

 made by most farmers. One serious error is the com- 

 mon custom of keeping hens until they become too 

 ' old for profit, because they were choice birds and 

 good layers when young. A hen of any breed will 

 lay only about half as maiiy eggs the second year as 

 the first after she commences laying. All fowls kept 

 by a farmer after they are two years old are kept at 

 a loss, as far as money ie concerned. When a whole 

 flock Is allowed to run without killing 08' the old 

 ones and replacing them by pullets, disease is sure to 

 attack them. They become liable to cholera, etc., 

 after they become aged. If the practice of keeping 

 only pullets is once followed I am sure that no farmer 

 will ever abandon it." — The Farmer's Friend. 



Profit in Poultry. 

 The Philadelphia Times says : As a general rule 

 we do not think farmers pay sufficient attention to 

 the production of poultry for sale. Carefully-kept 

 accounts will demonstrate that one pound of poultry 

 can be produced at about half the cost of the same 

 weight of beef or pork, and alwaj s meets with a 

 ready market. Another advantage is that it can be 

 attended to quite as well, if not better, by women 

 and children than by men, thus economizing the la- 

 bor of the whole family, and directing it into the 

 production of profit for the general purse. Try the 

 experiment of allowing the children, if large enough, 

 to take care of the poultry for a share of the pro- 

 ducts, either in eggs or dressed poultry. Charge 

 them with all the food consumed and credit them 

 with all the eggs and flesh consumed by the family, 

 and note your percentage in the speculation and the 

 benefit it has been to them. 



Caponizing. 



It is the universal practice of mankind with their 

 domestic animals, when intended either for food or 

 work, to deprive the males of their productive organs. 

 The flesh of males nut castrated, of many species of 

 animals, is strong, disagreeable, and hardly fit for 

 use ; and yet poultry raisers generally fail to recog- 

 nize the fact that a cock is as much improved for 

 table purposes by the operation as a bull or ram. 

 Those who give the subject thought are deterred 

 from undertaking the matter, fearing it is a delicate 

 and difficult process. Yet it much resembles the 

 epaying of a sow or heifer. With the convenient 

 instruments of the present day the operation, after a 

 little practice, is easily and quickly performed on 

 both cobkerels and pullets. An expert in the business 

 can caponize two hundred in a day, with the loss of 

 only five per cent. 



^ 



Gapes. 



Gapes is supposed to be caused by a parasite, which 

 infests the heads of young chicks. These can be de- 

 stroyed by greasing the heads of the chicks or the 

 hen, as described in treatment for lice. When once 

 infested the following remedies are said to be good : 

 Cover the bottom of the coop with quick lime. 

 Another is a lump of tailow of the size of a hen's 

 egg, melted and stirred up with a quart of oatmeal 

 for feed. Another, pluck the web from both sides of 

 a feather, leaving the tip, which wet with a solution 

 of 20 drops of carbolic acid and 1 oz. of glycerine ; 

 run the feather down the wind-pipe, give it three or 

 four turns and withdraw quickly ; repeat a few times 

 with a new feather. The acid paralyzes and the 

 glycerine sticks the worms to the feather, so that 

 they can be drawn out. In treating sick fowls all 

 matter, etc., should be burned, to prevent exposure 

 to the rest. 



^ 



The Number of Hens to a Cock. 



Houdans, tan hens to one cock ; CreveciEurs, eight 

 hens to one cock ; Cochins, eight hens to one cock ; 

 Gray Dorkings, ten hens to one cock ; White Leg- 

 horns, fourteen hens to one cock ; Spanish , twelve 

 hens to one cock ; Brahmas, eight hens to one cock ; 

 Hamburgs, fourteen hens to one cock ; Polands, 

 twelve hens to one cock ; Game, ten hens to one 

 cock. With this proportion of hens to a cock, the 



vitality of the eggs will prove good, and at least 

 eleven out of twelve eggs set should produce 

 " chicks." — American Poultry Journal. 



Chicken Cholera. 

 In the last week's Farmer, N. W. inquires how to 

 cure chicken cholera. It was very bad here last 

 spring, and if you will allow me space in your paper, 

 I will tell your readers how we cured it. \ For every 

 forty fowls we took a piece of asafietida the size of a 

 hickorynut, broke it in small pieces and mixed it in 

 about a pint of corn meal, wet it thoroughly with 

 boiling water, and place it near the roosting place, 

 so that the chickens can eat of it the first thing in 

 the morning. If they are not too near dead to eat, a 

 cure is certain. 



^ 



Lime Dust. 



The following has been recommended as the best 

 mode for preparing lime dust for slugs and other in- 

 sects, for mildew, etc. : Take say a peck of fresh or 

 sharp lime, broken up into small pieces; then add 

 four pounds of flour of sulphur, or in like proportions 

 if in smaller quantity. Add one-third as much boil- 

 ing water, or just enough to slack the lime to dry 

 powder, and cover the vessel as soon as the water is 

 poured on. By adding water, it may be made into 

 an excellent whitewash for trees, the sulphur increas- 

 ing its efficacy. 



LITERARY AND PERSONAL. 



We respectfully call the attention of our readers 

 to the advertisements which from time to time appear 

 in the columns of the Farmer, which we have 

 reason to believe are all reliable. 



Parties desiring trees, plants, or bulbs, are refer- 

 red to Ellwanger & Barby's advertisement, now ap- 

 pearing in our columns. Their establishment is 

 recognized as one of the largest and most reliable in 

 the United States. 



E. Moody & Sons' semi-annual wholesale trade 

 list of fruit and ornamental trees, evergreens, roses, 

 shrubs, small fruits, climbing plants, cuttings, grafts, 

 cions and buds, for the fall of 1877, will be found of 

 interest to those who are engaged in the nursery busi- 

 ness. Niagara Nurseries, Lockport., N. Y. 



Art of Propagation. — A concise practical work 

 on the rapid increase and multiplication of stock — 

 amply illustrated. Price pre-paid by mail, .50 cents. 

 Published by Jenkins' Grape and Seedling Nurseries, 

 Winona, Columbiana county, Ohio. Send for it, and 

 for free catalogue. 



Worth $100.00 for 3 Cents. — We have just re- 

 ceived Helmick's Centennial Cook Book, containing 

 over 100 valuable receipts for cooking, besides other 

 useful information. The same will be sent to sub- 

 scribers of our paper only by sending a three cent 

 postage stamp to the publisher, F. W. Helmick, 50 

 West Fourth street, Cincinnati, O. 



"Out of Work."— A very touching and insigfi- 

 cant title in these days of great financial depression; 

 and the attention of our readers is directed to our 

 advertising columns, if they desire to possess one of 

 the most beautiful and expressive ballads we ha have 

 ever read — or perhaps that has ever been written by 

 any author — the hearty appreciation of which, under 

 our present circumstances, is a natural sequence. 



By referring to our advertising columns our 

 readers will see that Benson & Burpee, Fine Stock 

 and Reliable Seed Dealers, No. 223 Church street, 

 Philadelphia, have associated with them Mr. Wm. 

 H. Maule in said business, and that the title of this 

 firm is now Benson, Burpee & Co., and with su- 

 perior facilities to meet the increasing demand of 

 their business they solicit a continuance of public 

 favor. 



Monthly Report of the Kansas dtate Board of 

 Agriculture, for July 1877, an octavo of 34 pages, 

 three folded diagrams, and one page illustration of 

 an improved Hshway. The statistics of the State are 

 very full, and don't at all look as if the State had 

 ever been visited by the "Rocky Mountain Locust." 

 It exhibits enterprise. When will our Pennsylvania 

 State Board do likewise ? 



E. P. Roe's Circular and Price List, for summer 

 and fall of 1877, including gooseberry, strawberry, 

 raspberry, blackberry and currant plants, &c., on 

 hand and for sale. Address E. P. Roe, Cornwall, on 

 the Hudson, Orange county. New York, and get a 

 circular at least. Their patrons think it will pay to 

 keep their circular on hand for future reference, be- 

 cause he makes a specialty of "small fruits," and 

 has them in all varieties and prices. 



Fruit Farm, and Small Fruit Nurseries. Whole- 

 sale price list for 1S77. Samuel Kinsey, Dayton, 

 Ohio. Branch Nurseries at Columbia City, Indiana. 

 This enterprising nurseryman includes in his list : 

 Deciduous trees, ornamental and flowering shrubs, 

 evergreen blooming plants, fruit trees, flowering 

 bulbs, evergreens, hedge plants, cuttings, fruit scions, 

 and miscellaneous plants. Send for catalogue, and 

 get " 3[onarch of the West" Strawberry. 



I. C. Plumb & Son, Green Hill Nursery, .Milton, 

 Wisconsin. Descriptive price list for 1877-78, with 

 advice to tree planters. Hardy fruits for the north 

 made a specialty, and as they are an establishment 



of 30 years standing fruit growers would do well in 

 this section, and might be benefited by making a note 

 of this. 



In the July number of The Farmer we called the 

 attention of our readers to a new and useful cooking 

 utensil recently invented, which is known as the 

 Centennial Cake and Baking Pan, made of Russia 

 iron, and is so constructed that after your cake is 

 baked, you can instantly remove it from the pan 

 without injuring it; and having a raised bottom the 

 cake can not possibly burn. It is also provided with 

 a slide on the bottom, so that when you remove the 

 tube, you can close the hole, Qiakiug a pan with 

 plain bottom for baking jelly or plain cakes, bread, etc 



Since then we have seen one of the pans, which was- 

 shown us by Mr. B. G. LeFevre, formerly of Quarry- 

 ville, who is agent for this county, and who is now • 

 canvassing for the same. 



Poppleins' Siltcated Super phosphate or 

 Lime, embracing new ideas on fertilization ; com- 

 posed of vegetable silica, soluble phosphates, and 

 jiotash salts. General office. No. 11 German street, 

 Baltimore, Md. They base their formula for each 

 crop on the analysis of the ash of the plant to which 

 it is to be applied. This, to our apprehension, is the 

 true theory of fertilization, and we believe it will 

 eventu.ally be confirmed by experience. For sale by 

 Joseph Tatnall & Co., northeast corner Front and 

 Orange streets, Wilmington, Del., and at Stanton 

 Mills, Stanton, Del. The philosophy of this theory 

 is in harmony with views upon the subject we have 

 entertained for a long time, and which we embodied 

 in an essay on " Rust in Wheat," a month or two 

 ago. Wheat grower notice this. 



Viok's Floral Guide, No. 4, for 1877, it a splen- 

 did demi-octavo of 35 pages of capitally executed 

 letter-press, on fine calendered paper, and over 125 

 well executed illustrations of plants, flowers, flower- 

 stands, brackets and flowers groups ; together with 

 copious lists of flowering and ornamental plants, and 

 directions for their proper cultivation. It also con- 

 tains a circular announcing that No. 1, Vol. 1, of 

 Vick's Ncvi Illustrated Monthly MagaziJte, will be 

 'issued in January, 1878. 



This is an enlargment and improvement of the 

 Floral Onide, each number of which will contain 

 thirty-two pages of reading matter, and numerous 

 fine wood-cut illustrations, and one colored plate. 

 Subscription $1.25 a year, and five copies for five 

 dollars. Vick's antecedents are such, that the bare 

 announcement of his new anterprise must secure for 

 it a liberal Support, and there is no journal in the 

 country, on a similar subject, that we would sooner 

 have as an exchange. 



The Cabbage Family, its varieties, qualities, 

 and culture. By David Landreth & Sons (Bloom- 

 iiigdale) Philadelphia. Price 25 cents. This is a 

 beautiful octavo pamphlet of 35 pages, and eight 

 finely execufed engravings of the leading varieties of 

 cabbages,, including Landreth's Large York ; Early 

 Sugar Loaf ; Bloomsdale Bullock Heart ; Bloomsdale 

 Early Market ; Jersey Wakefield ; Bloomsdale Bruns- 

 wick ; Bloomsdale Early Drumhead ; Bloomsdale 

 Late Flat Dutch ; Drumhead Savoy, and Curled 

 Savoy. The Landreth establishment is 90 years old, 

 and as an illustration of its standing it is only neces- 

 sary to state that at the International Centennial Ex- 

 hibition the firm was awarded seven International 

 Reports, four medals, four diplomas, and three 

 special prizes of $100 each. Send for a phamplet at 

 once. 



The Locust Plague in the United States ; being 

 more particularly a treatise on the Rocky 3Iounlain 

 Locust, or so-called Grasshojiper , as it occurs east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, with practical recommenda- 

 tions for its destruction, by Charles V. Riley, M. A., 

 Ph. D., State Entomologist of Missouri ; Chief of 

 the U. S. Entomological Commission ; Lecturer on 

 Entomology in various colleges ; author of " Potato 

 Pests," etc. With 45 illustrations. Published by 

 Raud, McNally & Co., Chicago, Illinois. This is a 

 handsome royal I2mo. of 236 pages, with three full- 

 page colored maps, in addition to the other illustra- 

 tions, printed in clear type, and on fine tinted and 

 calendered paper. The name of the distinguished 

 author alone is a sufficient guarantee that the two 

 chapters into which the book is divided contains the 

 most valuable information that has been yet de- 

 veloped on a subject which is deeply interwoven with 

 western and southwestern agriculture, and no farmer, 

 gardener or horticulturist in that region should fail 

 to possess a copy of it. But this is not all. On 

 looking at the infested region of 1876, as indicated 

 by the coloring on the maps, we find that in that 

 year it extended down to about the twenty-eight de- 

 gree of north latitude, which is below Galveston, 

 Texas ; therefore it has reached the Gulf of Mexico, 

 with the eastern margin of said district or region, 

 about midway between the fifteenth and twentieth 

 degrees of west longitude from Washington, em- 

 bracing British America, Montana, Dakota, Wyoming, 

 Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory and "Texas, and 

 parts of Minesota, Iowa, Missouri, and a corner in 

 Arkansas ; and all that is required is for the belt to 

 shift eastward to sweep over the larger portion of the 

 United States ; but whether there are any circum- 

 stances to limit its eastern border, arbitrarily, will 

 require time to fully develop. 



