1883.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



79 



much whole corn aad scraps as they will eat. Always 

 keep broken oyster shells ami dry ashes or ;,'ravel 

 where the chickens can get to them. Fortrreen food 

 give anything: you may liave, such as eahhaifc, tur- 

 nips cut up fine, or anytliintf of tliis kind. Turnips 

 and potatoes boiled and maslied at tlie mornini; feed- 

 Ini; are excellent. If you add these you do not re- 

 quire so much meal, (live the mash in the morninj^ 

 as hot as they can eat it ; ifyou can put your finsjer 

 Into it wilhout pain, you need not fear to give it to 

 to the chickens. Any kind of cooked food, such as 

 is left from the table bits of moat, potatoes, all kinds 

 of vesjelaliles — in fact almost anything which is 

 cooked for human beings, is good for chickens 

 Chickens must not be over fed ; if they are, they will 

 not produce many eggs. The best rule to follow in 

 feeding it to give no more than they will eat up 

 clean, without stopping to go away and come back . 

 Chickens fed iu this manner and kept iu a dry place 

 (not too close ; better wide open than closed up so 

 that there is not free circulation of air) will give you 

 eggs from the first of December straight through the 

 winter, and nearly all summer. 



Lettuce for Young Chicks. 



All kinds of stock like green food, and it is cspe 

 cially desirable for young poultry. Where the fowls 

 have plenty of range it is no trouble to have them 

 supplied in that direction, but there are breeders 

 who have but little room and keep several varieties, 

 who are compelled to keep their birds yarded all 

 through the breeding season, and all poultrymen 

 know how soon the fowls will clear up every vestige 

 of grass in their yards. To keep them supplied with 

 fresh sods is a good thing, but it either necessitates 

 going some distance for the daily supply or soon 

 disfigures a plot of ground by taking so much sod 

 from it. Kaising cabbage for them is desirable, but 

 it takes some time to get it. Tlie (Quickest growing 

 thing to raise is lettuce. In very early spring a 

 small hot-bed will start enough to last until the sow- 

 ings in the open ground have grown large enough to 

 feed. Small beds can be sown; and if a good growth 

 is kept up at first, the bed will last quite a while as 

 the tops can be cut off as wanted for the poultry, 

 the roots being left in the ground to sprout more 

 leaves and tops, which they soon do if well cared 

 for. The expense of keeping up a small bed of 

 lettuce is not very great, and from it the fowls can 

 be supplied with good wholesome " greens," at a 

 time when other "garden sass," is yet iu its infancy. 

 It is one of the best things for pigeons in confine- 

 ment, and as many of our readers are pigeon tanciers, 

 as well as poultry breei^ers, the advice above given 

 will be of two-fold advantage to them. Breeders, 

 try it. — The Southern I'lmitcr. 



Poultry Pickings. 



Who ever heard of a hen that fed abstemiously 

 that she might remain slim and not be eaten? She 

 comes rushing along with unseemly haste whenever 

 any one calls, "tucky tuck-tuck tuck tucky," (itself 

 an absurd and demeaning formula, suitable only for 

 a hen) gluttony in every feather and lack of grace 

 in every movement. 



As fowls are fond of fruit, it would be well to 

 plant currants in their run, and grapevines to run 

 over their house and fence. If one must invest in 

 an incubator, it pays to get one of the best, even 

 though the first cost should be five or ten times as 

 much as the price asked for a cheap machine. All 

 the best incubators are high-priaed. There are no 

 reliable cheap incubators in the market. 



At the bottom of the uesling boxes place a damp 

 sod of earth arid mould it into a coueave form. This 

 dampness is beneficial, as it supplies the moisture 

 the eggs lose during the process of hatching. 



A dry substance like wool or sawdust, for liens' 

 nests, abstracts moisture from the eggs and ruins 

 them. The hen, if left to herself, will make rhe 

 nest on the moist earth. 



The practice of running hay through a hay-cutter 

 and reducing it to as short picees as possible, and 



then mixing with corn and sending It to an ordinary 

 grist-mill to bo ground in provender for poultry, has 

 been followed for several years by certain breeders 

 with good results. 



Let any one try roasting corn before feeding It to 

 fowls, and tell you by-and-by If his egg-basket does 

 not till much mere rapidly than usual. 



All the malice of civilization has been expended 

 upon fowls. Legs so heavily feathered that the 

 wretched birds only walk by a ferles of fortun.ite ac- 

 cidents ; heads decorated with tufts so enormous that 

 the creature's circle of vision is limited to the ground 

 it stands upon ; combs so wonderful a kind that each 

 cock appears to carry a beefsteak and two mutton 

 chops above his startled visage ; these are the results 

 of centuries of scientific breeding. 



While the poultry show strikes one blow In a year, 

 and strikes hard, so as to awaken vibrations that 

 last ttirough the whole twelve month, the jioultry 

 press works constantly and steadily. 



Origin of the Domestic Turkey. 



Many suppose, from its name, that the turkey 

 originated in the Kast. Not only does the English 

 name give support to this belief, but the French name, 

 dhutoH, a contraction of Oiseaii tV Tniie^ (a bird of 

 India,) shows that the same is held in Europe. Pro- 

 fessor S. T. Baird, of the 3mithsoTiian Institution, 

 than whom there can be no better authority, has 

 iuvestigated the subject, and finds that we have two 

 distin<-t species of turkey iu North America : "One 

 confined to the more Eastern and Southern Stales, 

 the other to the southern Kocky .Mountains and ad- 

 jacent parts of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and 

 Arizona ; that the latter extends along eastern 

 Mexico, as far south, at least, as Orizaba, and that 

 it is from the Mexican species, and not that from 

 eastern North America that this domestic turkey is 

 derived." One of the points of differeuce between 

 the two, and the one believed to be constant, is in the 

 colorof the tipsof the tail-feathers and of the feathers 

 overlying the base of the tail. These are creamy, or 

 yellowish white, in the Mexican, and typical barn 

 yard birds ; while, in the wild turkey of eastern 

 North America, the same parts are of a ]chestniit 

 brown color. The domestic turkey was introduced 

 into England, in 1-41, ami some years later became 

 sufficiently abundant to atTord the farmer bis Christ- 

 mas dinner. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, 

 the turkey was found in a domesticated state, and it 

 probably had been reared as a tame bird for several 

 centuries to that time. 



To Keep Eggs. 



1. Eggs may be kept for an indefinite time If 

 packed when quite fresh in boxes with rock alum in 

 shape like rock salt. Put in a thick layer of alnni, 

 then the eggs, small end down, cover with alum 

 around and over them, and peep iu a cool, dry place. 

 1. .Slack fresh lime with boiling water; when cold, 

 thin with cold water to the thickness of cream. 

 Pack the eggs, small end down, in a barrel or in 

 stone jars, then pour on the cold whitewash covering 

 the eggs. Care nuist lie used in taking them out, as 

 they are easily cracked. This has been used with 

 success for forty years. ;i. Three gallons of water, 

 one pint fresh slacked lime,one half pintsalt. Use per- 

 fectly fresh eggs with sound shells If more lime is put 

 initeals the shell; if more saltil hardens the yolks. 

 Put them in carefully; they will keep perfectly good 

 for a year or more. 4. Hold perfectly fresh eggs in 

 boiling water while counting six. A wire basket can 

 be used for this purpose. Be sure to have water 

 enough to entirely cover the eggs. Let ihem dry 

 and cool, then pack in oats. Put a layer of oais on 

 the bottom of the keg or barrel sufllclenl to support 

 the eggs. Pack them closely, small end down, and 

 proceed till the barrel is lllleil. Shake it gently to 

 settle oats and eggs firmly. This method has given 

 eggs a year after packing, iu as good a stale of pn- 

 serva'ion as when first packed, in answer to several 

 inquiries. 



Fifty Per Cent fiom Fowls. 



The truth is that the average barndoor fowl, with 

 no nonsense about her In the way of |H-dlgn>e, will 

 pay, by actual count, just .Ml per cent. If she Is motl- 

 eralely well treateil. What vUv on a rmall farm 

 does tha*, uidess under exceptionally favorable 

 conditions ? Last January viy bad sixteen pullets 

 which had begun their winter's work mme weeks 

 before, and eighteen old hens ; the pulleln kept our 

 egg basket full until late In the winter, when the 

 old hens began to lay. When wu «ummv<l up lo 

 December, wc had collected 4,08i) eggs, of which 

 t 02worth were sold. Cats and rats (nude love to 

 our little chickens In the early spring, and we only 

 sold thirteen, beside keeping pullets lo lay In the 

 winter. This, and the fact that heavy rains pre- 

 venteil several broods from doing at all well, re- 

 duced our profits somewhat, but after valuing all 

 grain fed out at the market price, the sixly-niue odd 

 liollars we received for eggs and chickens were clear 

 gain, as tlie eggs and fowls used In the house bal- 

 aiK'ed the expeni^os. Also, we have a stock to go on 

 with, both pullets and old hens. 



This is not tlie result of any very great outlay In 

 time or trouble, for we were too busy to do many 

 things that would have swelled uiir total ; It Is only 

 what any small farmer can do easily enough. We 

 used common coops knocked togeliier from any old 

 boards, but whitewashed often, and with kerosene 

 and carlK>llc acid In the whitewash. For food we 

 give corn, oats, rye and buckwheat, some table 

 scraps, and in the winter pounded shells and bones, 

 warm messes fur at least one meal and warm water 

 lo drink. Hens are fond of sour milk, and during 

 the warm weather we gave them all they wautad, it 

 being the only Item wc did not couut up in our esti- 

 mate. New coups and all manner of patent appll- 

 ances'are nice If one can get them, but wc hare 

 been obliged to do wilhout, and find II is jKisslble to 

 have a creditable result ; every year Ihe ."iO per cent. 

 is the same, and we have more chickens to sell, but 

 always we find that the liltle book In our egg basket 

 balances in Ihe same fashion. Dame i'artlet pays 

 quite as well I'or her board and loilging af the .ler8e)'B 

 we all regard so complacenlly, and nee<ls far less 

 care and trouble. — M. N. S'., /itdii'tldii , f'oini 



LITERARY AND PERSOiNAL. 



CHOICE MCSIC. 



"Under the willows, the drooping green willows 

 Under the willows lies beautiful May." 



Very many ballads of Ihe "Lilly Dale" order have, 

 of late years, been given to the |)ublie, liut, very few 

 of them have such smooth, beauiiful music as that 

 totheahove wonis, which belong lothc 8ong"UDder 

 the Willows," (:iOcls.) by C. Connolly. 



Aiiolher cliarmiug musical lidbil by the same 

 author is "Tliat first little Kiss he gave me," (35 

 els.) an artistic song and dauce In the play of "My 

 Sweetheart." 



Still another beauty is "Sleep, Baby Sleep!" (SO 

 els.) a charming lullaby by Angelica McCoun Fel- 

 lowes. 



"The Train," (.« cts.) Iiy Molloy Is a song of our 

 hurrying time, and "Oh that I bad wings," (2.5 els.) 

 by Havens, will sound well in chuich. 



"Emma Polka," (40 els.) by Granado, is one of 

 the pieces plnyed by the .Spanish Students. 



"Heart and Himd Waltz," (30 cts.) by I^e Baron, 

 is a go<Ml arrangement. 



"Sunshine Polka," (30 cU.) by Ida Hurley, is a 

 pretty piece of brightness. 



All these sonirs and piano pieces come to us In a 

 package sent by Ihe well known publishing house of 

 Oliver Dilson & Co., Boston. 



How we regret that "when we could we would 

 not, but now we wouhl but caoiiol" sing the beauti- 

 ful songs so clalKiralcly provided by this enterprising 

 company. He that "is moved by coiiconl of sweet 

 sounds," can feel assured that lie will not be Id- 

 rtuenced by "stratagems, by treasons ami by spoils," 

 whilst he is engaged in such exercises as are shadowed 

 in the above. 



