J 28 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 1884. 



can be procured. If the fowls do not " tackle kind- 

 ly" to the.'i, when offered in a raw state, cook and 

 mash, aud mix with bran and meal. — Poultry World. 



How to Pluck Poultry. 



Journal of Agriculture : I have known persons on 

 market day to go out and kill twelve or fifteen fdwls, 

 and to bring them into a room where there would be 

 half a dozen women and boys pulling a few feathers 

 at a time, between the thumb and forefinger, to pre- 

 vent tearing them. Now for the Intioflt of such I 

 will give our plan : Hang the fowl by the feet by a 

 small cord ; then, with a small knife, give one cut 

 aoross the upper jaw, opposite the corners of the 

 mouth ; after the blood has stopped running a 

 stream, place the point of the knife in the groove in 

 the upper part of the mouth, run the blade up into 

 the back part of the head, which will cause a 

 twitching of the muscles. Now is your time, for 

 every feather yields as if by magic, and there is no 

 danger of tearing the most tender chick. Before he 

 attempts to flap you can have him as bare as the 

 day he came out of the egg. 



Eggs vs. Eggs 



It is a noticeable fact that while white shelled eggs 

 are much sought for in the New York markets, in 

 Boston the colored shelled will sell for from five to 

 seven cents more a dozen. 



We are quite positive we can detect Brahma eggs 

 from those of the Leghorn, Hamburg, Game and 



outside work, is the best, while lime, In the form of 

 whitewash, is now frequently used, as it gives 

 everything a bright and cheerful appearance, and 

 some claim that by soaking into the wood it greatly 

 improves the durability of the boards. The insect 

 enemies of poultry, too, are not friendly to lime in 

 any form. 



Common, unplaned boards make a very good, 

 cheap house, with hemlock studding, bracing, etc., 

 but if it is desired to have a smoother finish, planed 

 boards (planed on om or both sides) can be used. 

 If you have plenty of time and but little spare cash 

 plane them yourself, and have plenty of shavings 

 wherewith to kindle flres ; but when the cash is 

 plenty it pays better to buy the boards already planed 

 by machinery. — Poultry World. 



Food for Young Chickens. 

 We do not think that we can be mistaken in the 

 belief that we should be far more successful in the 

 raising of young chickens by giving them a great 

 deal more animal food than we are in the practice of 

 doing. The feeding of corn meal mush, boiled pota- 

 toes, and similar substances generally compose, as 

 we all know, the principal food of young chickens ; 

 but we can see no reason why these young birds 

 should be exceptions to the ordinary rule of young 

 birds in general which feed very largely, indeed 

 chiefly, on animal food even those which, when they 

 are mature, live mostly on fruits and seeds, are fed 

 when in their nests on worms, grubs and insects. 



French hens. Certainly, if used for custards, five ^® °<"''<^<^ "'« o''^ ^"'^^ all day long busily engaged 



Brahma eggs are equal to seven Hamburg or Leg- 

 horn eggs. And the Brahma egg, dropped in water, 

 comes out in a compact form ; either of the other 

 kind*, having a more watery white, will spread out 

 and present, to the Boston taste, a less inviting ap- 

 pearance ; and is, at the same time, lacking in that 

 rich flavor peculiar to the Brahma egg. The latter 

 is, on the other hand, in New York, considered 

 strong and coarse. There, preference is given to the 

 more delicate and less hearty white shelled varie- 

 ties. But the eggs of any hen that has not free ac- 

 cess to growing grass will be wanting in color if she 

 is not supplied with clover-tops. Clover hay will be 

 greedily devoured, or the tops can be softened with 

 hot water and given in the cooked food. 



Building Material. 



The question, which material is best for building 

 poultry houses, depends so much on circumstances 

 that it is impossible to give any definite reply, for 

 the man of means may consider that brick, stone 

 and hard wood is best, while the man in close cir- 

 cumstances will naturally consider common pine 

 lumber preferable, considering the smallness of his 

 purse. 



As iu most cases poultry houses are temporary 

 structures, comparatively speaking, it is best ordi- 

 narily not to build of other than wood, and this does 

 not in the least prevent the expenditure of an almost 

 endless amount of cash and labor on ornamentation, 

 if thought desirable or advisable, or the pocket- 

 book will admit of it. As a rule, brick or stone 

 poultry houses, besides being more expensive than 

 wooden structures, are also very liable to be damp, 

 and dampness engenders quite a formidable array of 

 ailments and disorders, which go far toward making 

 the profits of poultry breeding at least very uncertain 

 and problematical. They can be built so as to avoid 

 this dampness, an a great measure, but as the 

 dampness is due more to the want of care and at- 

 tention afterward, in regard to ventilation, the case 

 is not materially affected. 



All wooden poultry structures, most of which, 

 while they may not be very elaborate when flnishea, 

 can be built by almost any one who has fair mechani- 

 cal abilities, are vastly improved iu their lasting 

 qualities by keeping the surface covered from the 

 air and sun by the application of paint, or some 

 similar preservative, to the boards. Some use tar; 

 but this, while it preserves, from decay, makes the 

 house loo somber looking. Cheap paint, made for 



supplying their young with food, but alwayi 

 animal food. In fact, it is very rare that we have 

 seen anything else. Why, then, should chicks be an 

 exception ? The recommendation, almost without 

 exception, in our poultry publications, is to give 

 more animal food to our grown fowls if we expect 

 them to give us more eggs, especially in winter, 

 when they can help themselves to none. That it is 

 a great inducement to make them lay more gener- 

 ously, we have too many proofs to admit of any 

 doubt. Besides, it is claimed that animal food has 

 other advantages in the way of good health, etc. 

 Why, then, let us ask again, should the young 

 chickens not be benefited with at least a moderate 

 supply of animal food ? All chicken raisers know 

 the great losses always suffered in the growth of 

 them, and may it not be owing to a large extent to 

 the withholding of this strengthening food, which is 

 of so much benefit to the matured bird ? We, there- 

 fore, suggest to our farmers to change their method 

 of feeding their young chickens by giving a due pro- 

 portion of animal food, chopped up in very small 

 pieces, and thus find out, each one for himself, 

 whether it is not a very decided benefit in raising to 

 maturity an additional number of the chicks into 

 strong, healthy fowls. 



Will A Hen Lay Two Eggs A Day. 

 That they will under certain circumstances is a 

 fact. We know of six hens that produced ten eggs 

 in twenty-four hours— one with a double yolk ; seven 

 of the ten hard-shelled, three soft-shelled. But the 

 average product under all circumstances and for all 

 breeds, is not beyond 128 to 1S2 eggs in a year. 



Three hundred and one eggs have been produced 

 by a single Leghorn hen in a year. A little boy had 

 given him a Leghorn with its leg broken. The leg 

 was set, and after it got well the hen commenced to 

 lay, making its nest in the cat's basket, under the 

 kitchen table, laying 59 eggs in succession ; this was 

 the largest number without a rest. The hen was a 

 pet and came to the kitchen for its share of the meals 

 o f the day. 



Literary and Personal. 



Premium List of the Lancaster County 

 Agricultural Fair.— To be held at McGrann's 

 Park, Lancaster city, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednes- 

 day, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 1st, 

 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and (ith, 1884, containing also a list 

 of oflficers ; an address to the public, (which will be 

 found elsewhere in this journal); rules and instruc- 

 tions; prices of admission; agencies for the sale of 

 tickets, and indices to different departments and 

 advertisements, making in all an octavo pamphlet of 

 68 pages, Including tinted covers. The whole is 



divided into eight departments, and these are again 

 sub-divided into forty classes, and the premiums in 

 all of them are unexceptionally liberal. The public 

 will be able to judge from the characters of the oflj- 

 cers (a list of which will be found elsewhere in this 

 journal) what may reasonably be expected from 

 such a combination of energy, intelligence, and 

 social position. Although this may be paramount 

 in conducting such an enterprise, yet it is not all 

 that Is necessary to assure success. Of course, it 

 ought to pay more than necessary expenses ; but it 

 may be a success without that. No exhibitor should 

 only be influenced by hopes of pecuniary reward im- 

 mediately in exhibiting his wares to the public. He 

 merely advertises them, and his compensating re- 

 ward will be developed in the future. But there is 

 another consideration intimately connected with the 

 success of an agricultural, mechanical, commercial 

 and domestic fair, and that is the absolute presence 

 and encouragement of the people~Dot only as audi- 

 tors but as exhibiters. Fairs in Lancaster county 

 have not generally failed for the want of audiences eo 

 much as they have for the want of exhibitors. Hun- 

 dreds of men in Lancaster city and county are con- 

 stantly engaged through sensational advertisements 

 and importunities to catch the patronage of the far- 

 mers, but would not give a cent, or exhibit a single 

 article to attract the notice, or increase the interest 

 of such an enterprise as a. fair. Of course all cannot 

 be exhibitors, nor yet any appreciable number of the 

 public. Nor can those exhibit who have nothing to 

 exhibit ; and again, if all were exhibitors there 

 would be no auditors, nor is it necessary to exhibit 

 an object that has no comparative merit ; neverthe- 

 less, it may be useful and instructive to exhibit a 

 worthless object, if accompanied by the causes of its 

 worthlessness. We have seen exhibitions of very 

 inferior, and even mean fruit, but the object of the 

 exhibitors- was to warn the husbandman against 

 spending time and money iu cultivating a mean pro- 

 duct under an imposing name and a sensational in- 

 troduction. The indications now are that the ap- 

 proaching Lancaster county fair will be at least on a 

 par with those of her immediate sister counties ; but 

 it ought to be more than that, it ought to surpass 

 all of them and surely would, if its various pro- 

 ducts were displayed before the public and of which 

 it has such an abundance. 



The Countryside and Indoors and Outdoors, 

 consolidated, devoted to country homes, country 

 work and country schools. Published by the "Coun- 

 tryside Company," No. 40 Vesey streit, New York. 

 Monthly, at $1..50 per year. A royal quarto of 32 

 pages, including advertisements and covers. Ma- 

 terial, typography and literary matter first-class. 

 Except in the advertisements the illustrations are 

 but few. What there are, however, (iu the June 

 number for 1884,) are very characteristic, and a 

 capital hit on some of our Pennsylvania, and even 

 Lancaster county, modes of farming. The first page 

 very graphically illu6trates.a 5«sines(i farmer, who, 

 under the guidance of "forethought" runs his 

 farm ; and the Drudge, whose farm runs him, under 

 the reckless " trust to luck " principle. One page is 

 devoted to very fair comments on political questions, 

 and political personalities, and reflects as much as 

 every journal ought to on political matters ; for we 

 don't think any man should be deprived of the 

 liberty of rationally stating his views, notwithstand- 

 ing he may edit and publish an agricultural, domes- 

 tic and literary journal. "The Farm," "The 

 Home," " Owl Talks," " The School," and indeed 

 all the departments into which the contents of the 

 journal are divided for the sake of convenient refer- 

 ence, are conducted with taste and ability ; and in 

 each will be found such asummary of current litera- 

 ture as is seldom presented in such a condensed and 

 yet instructive form. We doubt, however, the pro- 

 priety of quoting such a paragragh as that on page 

 167, entitled the " Fireworm," notwithstanding it 

 appeared in such a distinguished journal as the New 

 York Sun. True it contains only the language of a 

 " correspondent," but its Insertion in such a journal 

 s, at least, a quasi endorsement. 



