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THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 1882 



of feeiliug gne.o vesrotables is a gooil oue if perse 

 vert-d in. Of this lliey are fond. Above all, do not 

 nesletl fowls that are in confinement; give them 

 their rations at reijular intervals, and all the occu- 

 pation that may he afforded. They will pick bones 

 and pluck the sreenuess from a fresti sod in a short 

 time, and afterwards scratch among the fresh earth 

 for a length of time. If the yard is ample a portion 

 of it may t)e dug over, aud the fowls find some in- 

 sects in the turned up earth, and will liunt for more, 

 which gives natural employment and exercise. It is 

 useless to plant any seeds for green food in their 

 yards, as nothing will grow beneath their constant 

 tread — Country Gentlemen. 



^ 



Geese. 



We think more attention should be paid to the 

 rearing of geese than is usual. One may often 

 travel half a day's journey in the country without 

 seeing a flock of geese. Their flesh is by no means 

 to be despised when the birds are young, and their 

 feathers always command ready sale. 



It is an erroneous opinion, and one without doubt 

 generally prevalent, that geese cannot be success- 

 fully raised away from ponds and streams of water. 

 Per-sons may soon ditabusc themselves of this idea 

 by visiting the suburbs proper of the city of Chi- 

 cago, when the green patches about the tenement 

 housicR aud shauties are converted into "geese 

 farms," Hocks averaging from the progeny of a single 

 goose to that of half a dozen. Oue of the best flocks 

 we ever knew, and which, for the years we knew it, 

 ran from forty to fifty goslings each year, had for its 

 nearest water a brook three quarters of a mile away, 

 and which the geese never saw. Our own flock, 

 when we kept geese, had ample water facilities in a 

 river close at hand. Our friend used to beat us and 

 laugh at us, when visiting each other, at my losses. 

 His standing joke was: "I only have weasels and 

 skunks to look after, and you, in addition, have cat- 

 fish and snappers (turtles)." We think he was 

 right. 



If a pool of water is near, it is desirable and an ad- 

 vantage. If not, a shallow tub in which they can 

 plunge, dabble, and drink, will really fill all the 

 absolute necessities of the case. 



As to varieties, we think it lies between the Emb- 

 den and the Toulouse geese — both of them descended 

 from the gray-legged goose (Auser ferns) of the 

 north of Europe. Either of the varieties are of the 

 largest size, growing to the extreme weight of 

 twenty two to twenty six pounds. 



The true Embden, called also the Bremen goose, 

 should be pure white with brick-red legs, and heavily 

 feathered. The Toulouse goose is gray, but darker 

 and more uniform in color. Both are round-bodied, 

 compact, short-legged, with large abdominal devel- 

 opment, are quiet, lay plenty of eggs, fatten readily, 

 aud have excellent flesh. A cross of the Embden 

 and Toulouse is said to make better birds than 

 either of the pure breeds. This we cannot vouch for, 

 but we have found the Toulouse rather better able 

 to take care of themselves than the Embden. On the 

 other hand, the excellent white feathers of the Emb- 

 dens are more valuable than those of their relatives. 



Ueese are not dittieult to manage. They want a 

 dry, warm place to huddle under in winter, and 

 which, in summer, may bi- given plenty of air. This 

 must be cleaned regularly," and often enough to be 

 sweet and wholesome. In the summer they will 

 pretty much supply themselves with food, grass, 

 worms, and various insects- but what grain they will 

 eat should be also supplied every night, and it is al- 

 ways better that this be supplied to them at the bot- 

 tom of a vessel filled with water. In winter this 

 food may be corn and the screenings of small grain, 

 in connection with cabbage leaves or other greens, or 

 else chopped root, daily. ♦ 



The Wonders of Incubation. 



It Is wonderful to trace the development of the 

 chicken during the process of incubation, from the 

 day in which the mother hen begins her tedious term 

 of setting to the moment when the downy biped 

 bursts the shell and enters on life as an animate and 

 Independent existence. In the pursuit of science and 

 the interest of learning no seeming destruction of 

 material is of any moment, and we trust no eco- 

 nomical poultry raifer will accuse us of extravagance 

 if we remove each day or oftener of the twenty oi e 

 days required for the perfection of the chicken, a 

 single eL'g, and show you (as far as we can under- 

 stand the iirinciplcs of creation) how the feathered 

 tribes of our barnyards are made. 



Of course the germ of life is in the egg from the 

 beginning, as no amount of warmth aud quiet will 

 produce a bird from a sterile egg, but with this fact 

 assured, the hen has sat on her eggs hardly twelve 

 hours before we find some lineament of the bead and 

 body of the chicken. The heart may be seen to beat 

 at the second day and the asj)ect orsliape is that of a 

 a tiny horseshoe. Blood vessels appear at the end of 

 the second day and their faint pulsation is distin- 

 guishable, one being the left ventricle and the other 

 the rudiment of the great artery. About the fifteenth 

 hour one auricle of ihe heart appears, resembling a 

 loop folded downupon itself. At the end of seventy 

 hours symptoms of the wings are apparent and on 



the head five bubbles are seen, two of the incipient 

 brain, one for the bill and the other two for the front 

 and back of the head. At the end of the fourth day 

 the auricles, already visible, approach nearer to the 

 heart, and the liver appears towards the fifth day. 



At the end of seven hours more we see the lungs 

 and stomach, aud, with wonderful rapidity, are de- 

 veloped; four hours afterwards the intestines, the 

 loins and the upper jaw. At the 144th hour two 

 ventricles are visible, and two drops of blood in- 

 stead of a single drop which we had seen previously. 



The seventh day the brain begins to have some 

 consistency; and at the U9th hour of incubation the 

 bill opens and flesh appears ou the breast. Four 

 hours after the breast bone is seen, and in six hours 

 after this the ribs appear, forming the back of the 

 chicken; and the bill is distinctly visible, as well as 

 the gall bladdei:. The bill becomes green at the end 

 of 2.'iC hours, and if remove the chick from the shell 

 it evidently moves itself. At the 200th hour the 

 eyes appear, and US hours after the ribs are perfect. 

 At the 33l6t the spleen draws near the stomach and 

 the lungs to the chest. About the fifteenth day the 

 bill frequently opens and shuts; and a careful listener 

 can catch the smothered cry of the imprisoned chick 

 at the end of the eighteenth day. 



For the remaining three days it grows continually, 

 developing the finishing touches to its various organs 

 and to the silken color of down which envelopes the 

 tiny creature from glossy beak to tender drumstick. 

 Strength comes with all the accelerated forces of 

 quickening life, and a few strokes of the powerful 

 bill sets the pretty prisoner free, and his after life 

 and prosperity is something with which we as its 

 owners have more or less connection. 



A Meat Diet. 



It is generally conceded by the majority of poultry 

 breeders that a meat diet is essential during cold 

 weather, when worms, bugs and insects are not to 

 be found by the birds. But though considered nec- 

 essary to atone for the lost insect food it should be 

 used sparingly and not fed too often to youug fowls. 



In winter and early spring to keep up egg produc- 

 tion, the fowls must have something to work on. The 

 best way to supply them if there is not enough of 

 waste meat scraps from the breeder's table to meet 

 the required demand, is to get scraps from the 

 butcher or slaughter house. The waste meat, oflTal 

 and the bloody pieces which are unsalable can be 

 bought for a cent or two a pound. 



The best way to utilize these scraps and to render 

 them more digestible and nutritious is to cut them 

 into fine pieces, put them into a boiler with plenty of 

 water aud boil them until the bones separate from 

 the flesh. Then stir cornmeal into it until it makes 

 a thick mush, season with salt and pepper, and cook 

 till done. Feed this when cold to the poultry and 

 they will eat it with evident relish, and you have a 

 most excellent food which will keep during cold 

 weather. 



Our experience is in favor of cooking the meat. It 

 goes further, is more nourishing and less injurious if 

 over fed than in a raw state. Sheep's heads, shanks, 

 livers aud bone pieces can be utilized in this way aud 

 the soup mixed in with meal or scalded wheat and 

 seasoned to suit. Young fowls should be fed sparing- 

 ly with flesh ; meat, grain and cooked vegota'^les is 

 the best staple food when properly yaried..— Poultry 

 Monthly. 



^ 



Feed for Laying Hens. 

 Fat hens rarely lay. If hens are fed so much or 

 so often that they begin to fatten rapidly, they will 

 soon stop laying. No food is better than Indian corn 

 or ground corn (Indian meal), to fatten hens, and of 

 course it should be fed sparingly to laying hens. If 

 hens do not lay and aie fat, f^eed them but once a 

 day — at evening, just before they go to roost — giving 

 wheat screenings, buckwheat and oats, in such pro- 

 portions as you judge best. Throw the feed upon 

 clean ground only so fast as they pick it up. Stop 

 just as soon as you see any of the flock begin to wan- 

 der away. Let them forage all day for weed seeds, 

 grass, insects, t-tc. They must have warm quarters, 

 A'ell ventilated at night, and a sunny run by day in 

 winter. After a while begin to feed them sparingly 

 a little meat scrap chopped fine, broken bones, 

 oyster shells, etc., aud they will probably soon be- 

 gin to lay. 



Literary and Personal. 



The Shaker Manifesto, an octavo of thirty 

 pages, published by the United Societies, Shaker- 

 village, New Hampshire, mouthly, at sixty cents a 

 year, devoted to moral and miscellaneous literature, 

 poetry, domestic economy, farm and garden, house- 

 hold affairs, etc. Its general utilitarian spirit may 

 be illustrated in the following description of " A 

 Minister of the Olden Times " : 



" There was once a minister of the gospel 



Who never built a church ; 



Who never preached in one ; 



Who never proposed a church fair to buy the 

 church a new carpet; 



Who never founded a new sect; 



Who never belonged to any sect ; 



Who frequented public houses and drank wine 

 with sinners ; 



Who never received a salary ; 



Who never asked for one ; 



Who never wore a black suit, nor a white necktie ; 



Who never used a prayer-book ; 



Or a hymn-book ; 



Or wrote a sermon ; 



Who never hired a cornet soloist to draw souls to 

 hear the ' word : ' 



Who never advertised his sermons ; 



Who never even took a text for his sermons ; 



Who never went through a course of theological 

 study ; 



Who was never ordained ; 



Who never was ' converted ' ; 



Who never went to conference. 



Who was he ? 



Christ." —N. Y. Graphic. 



If the foregoing should not be deemed sufficiently 

 radical and conclusive, it might be added that 



He never wore a hat or cap ; 



Never wore boots or shoes ; 



Who never was married ; 



Never wore breeches ; 



Never used a fork ; 



Who ate his meals ''lounging"; 



Who never used coercion, except to drive people 

 out of the Temple, instead of driving them in; 



Who never traveled by railway or canal. 



But, it must be remembered, iTe lived nearly nine- 

 teen hundred years ago, and said with emphasis, 



" BeU LD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW." 



Regulations and premiums list of the "Fred- 

 erick County Agricultural Society." Twenty second 

 Exhibition, 1882. §8,000 are oflfered in premiums. 

 Lists of all the officers are carefully given, and the 

 regulations and general arrangements elaborately 

 set forth, and the whole exhibition divided up into 

 thirty-tive classes, embracing all the objects, pro- 

 ducts, implements, machinery and industries usually 

 included in such fairs; but, except that the books of 

 entrance will be closed at 10 o'clock on Tuesday, 

 October 10th, it is no where stated explicitly on 

 what days of the month the exhibition will be held. 



Department of Agriculture Special Report - 

 No. 45, upon the area and condition of corn, the 

 condition of cotton, and small grains, sorghum, to- 

 bacco, etc., July 1882, 33 pp. octavo, Washington, 

 D. C. 



The returns for July indicate an increased area 

 planted in corn exceeding 4 per cent, or fully 2,,500,- 

 000 acres. The general condition on July 1 gives an av- 

 erage of 85 against 90 a year ago; although in eleven 

 States it was over 100, notably in Georgia, which is 

 registered 108. Late planting, could and wet 

 weather, aud planting after floods, is the principal 

 cause. Winter wheat averaged 104, and spring 

 wheat 96—14 percent above 1881, indicating an ag- 

 gregate crop of .500,000,000. Rye, similar to that of 

 wheat, 100 and upwards. Oats in a high condition, 

 with a persentage of 103. Barley averages 100. The 

 general average of cotton is 92. Seven per cent, 

 increase in the area of potatoes, averaging 

 102. Acreage of tobacco same as 1881 — condition 

 high southward, but low uorth. Southern increase, 

 and northern decrease in Sorghum. Apples and 

 peaches fairly abundant. Delaware and Maryland 

 will exceed 4,000,000 baskets. The report contains 

 many valuable tabulated statistics. 



The Sidereal Messenger, conducted by Wm. 

 W. Payne, Directorof Careleton College Observatory. 

 No. 5, vol. 1, of this interesting astronomical journal 

 has reached our tatile, and we are pleased to see 

 that it not only maintains the excellencs with which 

 it started out a few months ago, but that it very 

 perceptibly improves. It is an octavo of 32 pages, 

 exclusive of the tinted covers, and is published at 

 §2.00 lot ten numbers, Northfield, Minnesota. The 

 material, typographical execution and the literary 

 contents are of a high order of excellence, the con- 

 iributious being able, scientific and pr.actical. In a 

 personal remark, the editor says: "C. Piazzi, As- 

 tronomer Royal of Scotland, was the first foreign 

 subf^cribcr to the .S'irferea? Mes.'ienger, which at least 

 indicates that it is appreciated by learned astrono- 

 mers abroad, if it should find no recognitiou at 

 home. It is fortunate in having an able corps of 

 contributors, and is well posted in the current astro- 

 nomical literature and discoveries. Surely our 

 "Star Club" would become vitalized, under the most 

 discouraging circumstances, by the perusal of such 

 an able publication. 



The Sugar Beet. Third year,number 3, has been 

 received. This handsomely illustrated quarto abates 

 not in the least in its advancement of the utilization 

 of the sugar beet. The production of sugar and of 

 silk in this country, sufficient for the needs of the 

 country alone, involves industries that must ulti- 

 mately redound to its more perfect independence, 

 and the wonder is that their progress has been so 

 slow. 



The cultivation and utilization of root crops in 

 general have an immense bearing upon the quantity 

 and quality of other productions than sugar, that 

 seem to be but faintly apprehended by agricultur- 

 ists. 



