Ja ntjary, 1919 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



183 



Round About the Home Plot 



This feature of the Garden Magazine 

 is designed to meet the needs of those people who 

 are interested in keeping a few chickens, bees, etc., 

 purely as amateurs. Hundreds if not thousands 

 of our readers have, or should have, a small flock 

 of fowls to supply the home table with unquestion- 

 ably fresh eggs and an occasional chicken or fowl. 

 Such flocks effect many economies not merely as 

 just mentioned but by the utilization of table scraps, 

 kitchen waste, vegetable tops, etc., by the application 

 of their droppings to growing crops and by the 

 destruction of insects when it is feasible to allow 

 them liberty. Bee keeping has, of course, a more 

 limited scope; but no hobby that we know of is so 

 easily adapted to limited areas or is so fascinating 

 whether the object be honey production, queen rearing, 

 or the study of insect habits — not to speak of the 

 relationship to the fruit crop. Readers are invited 

 to ask questions and to send the editor short personal 

 experiences and comments so the department may 

 be made as helpful and personal as possible. 



Proper Care of Poultry Manure 



When properly handled poultry manure is 

 richer than other manures, first, because the food 

 is generally richer being largely grain, insects, and 

 other small animals; second, because the excretion 

 which corresponds to the urine of the larger do- 

 mestic animals is mixed in a semi-solid form with 

 the manure so is not so subject to loss as if 

 liquid. For these reasons poultry manure is 

 usually rich in nitrogen and phosphoric acid but 

 relatively poor in potash, though even of this 

 it may contain a larger percentage than do 

 other animal manures. The above points con- 

 cern only the manure unmixed with straw or 

 other bedding material which, of course, serves 

 as an absorbent. 



As too often neglected and improperly handled 

 poultry manure ferments quickly and loses its 

 strength in consequence, the chief losses being 

 nitrogen in the form of ammonia which rapidly 

 passes into the air. As nitrogen is the most 

 expensive plant food to buy and the most im- 

 portant in the production of leaf crops such as 

 cabbage, spinach, and lettuce every care should 

 be taken to prevent waste. It has been found 

 that land plaster, acid phosphate, or super- 

 phosphate plaster, are excellent to scatter on the 

 •droppings not merely because they absorb mois- 

 ture but because they combine with and thus 

 hold the soluble nitrogen compounds. In the 

 group of simple absorbents which do not chemi- 

 cally combine are dry earth, powdered dry muck 

 and dry old sawdust. If these and the previously 

 mentioned materials be scattered over the drop- 

 pings each day the combining and drying will 

 be far better than if the applications are made 

 less frequently. Daily cleaning and storing of 

 the droppings in dry quarters will also not only 

 favor keeping but will maintain a purer atmos- 

 phere in the poultry house. During the cold 

 months the droppings should be stored under 

 cover but during the growing season they may be 

 applied daily to plants that need a little stimula- 

 tion. They are especially useful in the growing 

 of onions, especially if applied as a top dressing 

 after the plants are two or three weeks old. 



Water in Cold Weather. — It is a good plan 

 during cold weather to have the water slightly 

 warme'd for the fowls. This helps in egg pro- 

 duction because the fowls don't have to raise 

 the temperature of the water they drink to that 

 of their bodies, thus saving food. Simple warm- 

 ing apparatus may be bought from keepers of 



poultry supplies, and from many seedsmen, 

 or they may be made at home by enclosing 

 a "night lamp" in a box beneath the water 

 "fountain." 



Sure Death to Mites in Poultry Houses. — 

 While kerosene is generally used for killing mites 

 it is not as effective as it should be because it 

 kills only those creatures and eggs that it hits. 

 Those that escape quickly re-populate the place. 

 Kerosene does not work into the cracks well 

 enough. A better remedy is a plumber's gasolene 

 torch. The flame being produced by pressure 

 may be directed into cracks or corners that kero- 

 sene cannot reach. It will kill immediately 

 but not endanger the premises unless, of course, 

 it is kept too long in one spot, or. is directed 

 against straw or other quickly inflammable 

 material. Its application takes no longer than 

 does that of kerosene. 



Cull Out Inferior Fowls. — In every flock are 

 fowls it will never pay to keep. The food they 

 eat is mostly wasted. How may they be recog- 

 nized? Notice first the roosters. The broad 

 chested, full tailed, erect standing, bold, strong 

 beaked ones with the hearty voices are the safe 

 ones to keep. They not only advertise their 

 own vigor but give promise of sturdy progeny. 

 But the long-shanked, thin beaked, narrow 

 chested, droop and scraggle-tailed, peaked 

 looking fellows that never crow with any appar- 

 ent enjoyment are the weaklings. The hens 

 and pullets show the same characteristics, not so 

 prominently perhaps but still clearly enough to 

 separate them from their more desirable sisters. 

 They are also weaklings. Both they and their 

 inferior brothers are undesirable for breeders 

 or feeders. They can neither be made to produce 

 a fair supply of eggs or weight of meat. The 

 sooner they are manufactured into potpie, stew 

 or soup the better. For the purse and the pro- 

 geny of the flock as a whole it's no use lavishing 

 kindness or feed on them. They simply can't 

 make an adequate return. 



What is true in such a case is just as true in 

 the improvement of fowls where no new blood 

 has been introduced for several years. And it 

 applies to egg laying habits as well as to flesh 

 forming. So every two or three years a new 

 male, preferably a cockerel, should be introduced 

 from some bred-to-lay strain of the same variety 

 of fowl so as to improve the "blood." Of 

 course, where one is merely growing fowls for 

 the eggs they lay no male is necessary. Also 

 where baby chicks are reared neither cocks nor 

 hens are needed as the chicks may be raised by 

 hand. 



Unless there is a special reason for retaining 

 the male at the end of the breeding season he 

 may be used as pot-pit or stew. This will save 

 feeding him for eight to ten months for no useful 

 purpose, but rather the reverse. For if eggs are 

 to be stored in water glass in the flush season for 

 use in the fall and early winter when the hens 

 never lay well, the rooster is a menace to best 

 results. Eggs laid by fowls kept apart from the 

 male store more safely than do those from hens 

 not so kept. 



Remarkable Career Ended. — Peggy the Rouen 

 duck owned by Mrs. Isaac W. Bannister of Veron- 

 na, New Jersey, died recently. She was famous 

 for having laid 325 eggs, a record which is 10 

 eggs more than the famous #10,000 Leghorn hen, 

 Lady Eglantine. 



Send 

 for this^' 



Free 

 Fruit 



A good orchard has 

 always been an asset to 

 the owner. It is worth more 

 to-day and will be still more 

 valuable next year and for 

 many years to come. The 

 price of good fruit is high and 

 is going higher. 



Planting of new orchards and up- 

 keep of old orchards has been neg- 

 lected on account of war-time de- 

 mands and conditions. There is also 

 a growing appreciation of the health 

 and food value of fruit. 



The biggest profit is in supplying 

 local markets, and the farmer who 

 starts an orchard now and gives it 

 the little care and attention it needs 

 will have an income producer when 

 farm crops have fallen off in price. 



If you have only a small piece of ground, 

 you can make it produce a surprising amount 

 of fruit at little expense and trouble. Fresh, 

 ripe fruit from your own garden will be a 

 big help on the grocery bill and a source of 

 great satisfaction. Don't put it off another 

 year. 



Let Us Show You How 

 to Grow Quality Fruit 



Send To-day for New Free Fruit Book. 



It tells where, when and what to plant in 3 

 your section, gives planting distances and 

 descriptions of the best varieties of apple, 

 peach, pear, cherry, plum, apricot, quince, 

 grapes, bush fruits and strawberries. 



NEOSHO 



NURSERIES CO. 



NEOSHO, MO. 



Successors to Wm. P. Stark Nurseries 



When you become our valued customer we supply 

 concise, complete, reliable information on the care 

 of your trees and plants. We keep in touch with 

 you so as to help you to secure growing satisfaction. 

 We have no agents and pay no commissions to any 

 one, but sell direct-from-nurseries only. Start now 

 by mailing the coupon below. 



See book in coupon. A complete, reliable, up-to-date guide to fruit 

 growing, go pages and pictures. Price 10c. Money back if not satisfied 



Mail this Coupon To-day. 



Neosho Nurseries Co. 

 Box 31 > Neosho, Mo. 



Please send book as checked: 



Book of Fruit Trees and Plants free. 



. . . ."Inside Facts of Profitable Fruit Grow- 

 ing" (10c. inclosed). 



. . . . "How to Beautify Your HomeGrounds." 

 doc. inclosed). 



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(Please give County and Street or R.F.D. number.) 



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