Maech 1, 1902.] SiipiJlement to the ''Tropical AgricuUwist: 
647 
Chickens should be fed every couple of hours 
for the first week, four to five times the second 
and third weeks, gradually reducing the number 
of meals till you get them down to the old 
bird's meal limes— twice a day. To be successful 
with young chickens, they should be fed often, 
and a little at a time; it is bad management, 
and waste of food if more is given than they 
eat up clean. 
lou could keep 250 to 300 hens to the acre 
if you divided the acre and penned them pro- 
perly. It is not good management to run more 
than 25 to 30 hens together, and then the room 
given should be large enough for that number. 
Much depends on the breed which you intend 
to keep ; if of the Leghorn class one rooster to 
ten or twelve hens would be about correct, if 
of the heavier breeds such as Brahmas, one 
rooster to six or eight hens. If you intend to 
produce eggs only, you do not require any 
roosters with the hens. Oa the other hand, if 
you wish to rear chickens, you should use good 
healthy roosters. 
Try to keep the temperature of an incubator 
as near 103° as possible— of course, the last 
few days of the hitch, I don't mind it going 
up to 105°. A Foster Mother or Brooder 
should be heated to a temperature of 90° or 
95° ^uhen the chickens are in lY— not 90 and 
then run the chickens in to the Brooder. You 
must remember that the body heat of 60 or 
70 chicks means a few degrees when they are 
shut up. 
Never feed whole grain in a trough or feed- 
box. AVhen so fed, there will be domineering 
hen's which will get more than their share, but 
when the grain is scattered each hen must seek 
lier portion and all have an equal chance. You 
need not fear to scatter it over every square 
yard of ground, for not a grain will be wasted, 
and it compels the hens to work. All penned 
fowls should have their grain food placed under 
straw, or some kind of a litter, so that they 
will exercise themselves in scratching for the 
grain. 
Poultry can be bred for high records of eggs, 
iust as dairy cows are bred for high butter 
records. We have many good layers, and some 
in these breeds are better than otlers. If we 
select high record hens that are good all-the- 
vear-rouud layers, and breed along that line, 
we can add an extra dozen egqs to each hen 
for the year, then that will be profit. By care- 
fully selecting the pullets for layers from the 
best laying hens, our egg-gathering is increased 
each year, which also means a larger profit 
each year. The cockerels used for breeding pur- 
poses should be selected from good laying hens 
as well as the pullets. For, it would be bad 
management to select the female line only, we 
must have the male line as carefully attended 
to if we wish to be successful in building up 
A record egg-producing breed. 
The best breed is the one you have tested 
and tried as the one best adapted to your dis- 
trict and your purpose. There is no best breed 
that is best for all purposes, and for all cli- 
mates ; remember, that a breed has only one 
dominant talent and seldom excels more than 
one single characteristic. To a very large extent 
each poultly farmer must determine for himself 
which is the best breed — well — the best breed 
for his purpose, and the one most profitable to 
keep in his district. A breed may approach 
perfection in some districts, and give very little 
profit when kept in other localities. The influence 
of the climate often has much to do with the 
selection of the breed. With all the advantages 
in favour of a breed for prolificacy, hardiness 
is always essential to success, otherwise, loss 
and disease may more than balance the gain 
in other essentials. 
VEGETABLES : ' 
HOW TO COOK AND SERVE THEM. 
Vegetables may be plainly boiled, or cooked and 
served up in some fancy way. Li the former, 
just as much as in the latter case, they require 
careful attention; it is a common but very serious 
mistake to suppose they can be left to themselves, 
or to the tender mercies of chance. The average 
servant and — dare I say it? also the average 
mistress as well, puts down her vegetables to cook 
when she thinks of it, and they are either very 
much over-down when the time comes for serving 
or as hard as stones. 
Now, of course, I know if the dinner hour is 
not punctual the cook cannot be expected to have 
her vegetables, or, indeed, any part of her dinner, 
very nice. But where there is a fixed time for 
dining, and the members of the family keep 
strictly to it, there is no excuse whatever. 
The time required for cooking each vegetable 
should be carefully calculated, also the time for 
cleansing and preparing it ; this latter, however, 
may be done with advantage some time, even 
hours, beforehand, and the vegetable be either set 
over or left in cold water, according to its nature. 
In cases where it is really quite impossible for 
punctuality to be observed at meals — and I am 
quite willing to allow there are such, as in the 
case of a doctor, for instance — I would recommend 
the adoption of the following plan. In large high- 
class households, as most of us are aware, there is 
an utensil called a bain-marie, which is used for 
the purpose ot keeping liot sauces, gravies, or any 
dish which the cook has been obliged to complete 
before it is required. What is this bain-marie P 
A large, shallow, open saucepan or kettle of nearly 
boiling water, into which the smaller vessels can 
be placed, thereby keeping them hot without 
altering their quality or quantity. Doubtless this 
bain-marie is expensive to buy, but what I am 
about to suggest is a substitute in the shape of a 
deep dripping pan, which can be set on side of 
kitchener or gas stove, and partly filled with 
nearly boiling water. 
The potato, of course, is our principal vegetable, 
and if one can cook it well it is a good test of 
