October, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



in 



is at its height. They get pale of comb and 

 often seem to have hardly ambition enough 

 to eat. Then they should have plenty of 

 green stuff as an appetizer. The more 

 vigorous the birds the more quickly they 

 go through this experience and resume 

 their egg-laying function. There seems to 

 be no good basis for the belief that hens 

 moult later the older they grow, but it does 

 seem to be a fact, judging from experi- 

 ments, that a longer time is required by 

 old than by young birds. This is not a 

 matter to be tested by the ordinary poultry 

 keeper, however, for if he is wise he will 

 keep only young stock, notwithstanding that 

 birds of advanced ages occasionally make 

 enviable records, which are reported in the 

 papers with comments. 



It is not at all unusual for pullets which 

 were hatched in February or earlier to 

 moult the same season, and the reference to 

 early pullets already made applies to those 

 which broke the shell about the middle of 

 March or even a little later, for the smaller 

 breeds. Birds hatched extra early, espe- 

 cially if grown rapidly, are therefore likely 

 to complicate matters by going into the 

 Winter as moulting pullets, which means 

 that they will be slow in beginning to lav. 

 Even though they do not moult but start 

 laying in early October or perhaps late Sep- 

 tember their eggs are pretty certain to be 

 small and alogether unsatisfactory. 



It is an interesting fact that the new 

 coat of feathers grown by a moulting hen 

 are quite likely to differ greatly in appear- 

 ance from that cast off. As a rule, dark 

 fowls moult lighter. Anconas offer an ex- 

 cellent example. White feathers are al- 

 most sure to show in constantly increasing 

 numbers, and it is not unusual to find three 

 or even two-year-old birds which are nearly 

 white. Breeders being aware of this ten- 

 dency select extra dark hens and cocks 

 when making up their breeding pens. Un- 

 commonly good pullets, from the viewpoint 

 of the fancier, not infrequently moult into 

 specimens which are worthless so far as 

 feather markings go. and this statement 

 holds good as applied to various other 

 breeds, particularly those having laced or 

 pencilled feathers. Fanciers find it espe- 

 cially necessary to give their birds careful 

 attention while they are in the moult, watch- 

 ing to see that the new feathers are not in- 

 jured. Twisted tail or wing feathers are 

 often removed, new ones growing to replace 

 them. 



HOW HUMMING-BIRDS BATHE 



NOT being acquainted with the bath- 

 ing habits of humming-birds, says 

 Katherine E. Dolbear in the Atlantic 

 Monthly, I put out an abalone shell as 

 the most artistic bathing-dish I could 

 find ; but never to my knowledge did she 

 pay the least attention to it. One morn- 

 ing, in the midst of a shower, however, 

 she crouched down on the wet blade of 

 a dogwood leaf, and her rapidly flutter- 

 ing wings spattered the rain-drops in 

 every direction. She went from leaf to 

 leaf until she had succeeded in getting 

 her feathers very wet; then she perched 

 on a twig, shook off the drops, and care- 

 fully preened her feathers. It is not im- 

 probable that, in the absence of rain, 

 humming-birds use the dewdrops in early 

 morning. In closer captivity, the bird 

 bathed in a gladiolus blossom. Hereafter 

 a pitcher-plant is to be used. A hum- 

 ming-bird that was arcnstome.l to drink- 

 ing sweetened water from a spoon one 

 day found water in tlie spoon, instead 

 of sweets, whereupon she at once alighted 

 on the edge and took a bath. 



No royal coach builder 

 ever lavished more infi- 

 nite care and pains on a 

 monarch's equipage. A 

 standard developed 

 through sixty years of 

 unceasing endeavor has 

 given Rauch & Lang 

 Electrics an unchal- 

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 commends them to those 

 of ultra discernment. It 

 is a matter of "not how 

 many, but how good." 

 Naturally our production 

 is limited. 



For Alt Driving 

 Necessities 



Front Control— Rear 

 Control — Combination 

 Control. The latter type 

 is interlocking — also 

 brakes. Protection 

 against meddling from 

 person seated in rear 

 while car is being oper- 

 ated from Front, and vice 

 versa. The Rauch & 

 Lang Control System is 

 the most wonderful pro- 

 tective item in the Elec- 

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The Climax in Electric Car Construction 



The New Rauch & Lang 

 Worm Drive 



Rauch & Lang leadership in the 

 making of electrics is again empha- 

 sized in the adoption of the Worm 

 Drive — the greatest single advance- 

 ment in the history of the electric car. 



As utmost beauty and refinement 

 have always distinguished Rauch & 

 Lang Electrics, so does the worm 

 drive mark their continued suprem- 

 acy in respect to method of propul- 

 sion. It excels the advantage of the 

 double chain over the single — of 



the bevel gear shaft over the double 



THE RAUCH & LANG CARRIAGE COMPANY 

 2186 West Twenty-Fifth Street 



chain. It is the engineering world's 

 latest and greatest offering in perfect 

 driving mechanism. It means utter 

 simplicity in driving, greatest power- 

 economy, greater all round efficiency, 

 better riding and coasting qualities, 

 no adjustments, no misalignment, and 

 lower upkeep cost. Its silence is sootn- 

 ing. The worm drive is the only prac- 

 tical direct drive in electrics, and the 

 Rauch & Lang Straight Type Worm 

 Drive is superior to all others. 



Any Rauch & Lang Agent will gladly dem- 

 onstrate. Catalog mailed on request. 



JH.BROOKSsCo.ClE^O. 



Iloor&Sidewalk Lights. 



^0F EVERY DESCRIPTION. 



Send^Catalogue. 



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SPARK COILS 



Their Construction Simply Explained 

 Scientific American Supplement 1514 tells 



you how to make a coil for gas-engine ignition. 



Scientific American Supplement 1522 explains 

 fully the construction of a jump-spark coil and condenser for gas- 

 engine ignition. 



Scientific American Supplement 1124 de- 

 scribes the construction of a 6-inch spark coil. 



Scientific American Supplement 1087 gives 



a full account of the making of an alternating current coil giving a 

 5-inch spark. 



Scientific American Supplement 1527 de- 

 scribes a 4-inch spark coil and condenser. 



Scientific American Supplement 1402 gives 

 data for the construction of coils of a drnnau- length of spark. 



The above-mentioned set of six p.ipers will be supplied for 60 cents. 

 Any single copy will be mailed for 10 cents. 



MUNN <k COMPANV, Publishers 

 361 Broadway New York 



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