214 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
April  & 
from  some  other  good  family.  This  system  will  give 
good  results.  Have  as  many  chicks  hatched  at  one 
time  as  possible,  so  that  there  will  be  no  advantage  of 
age.  The  most  precocious  layers  should  be  retained. 
Several  neighbors  should  act  in  this  way,  and  then  a 
change  of  males  could  be  made  without  risk  of  hurting 
the  flock  by  introducing  inferior  blood.  If  some  one 
would  make  a  specialty  of  breeding  cockerels  suitable 
for  use  in  egg-producing  flocks,  big  prices  could  be 
obtained.” 
“  Is  it  necessary  to  change  every  year  ?  ” 
‘  ‘  Not  if  the  breeds  are  wisely  selected  for  constitu¬ 
tion  and  vigor,  but  for  egg-production  I  would  prefer 
foreign  blood  if  equally  well  bred.  ’ 
“  What  would  you  feed  those  hens  which  are  to  pro¬ 
duce  those  wonderful  chickens  ?  ” 
‘  ‘  A  large  variety  of  nutritious  food.  There  are 
many  combinations  of  food  which  produce  good  re¬ 
sults.  In  the  morning  a  ration  of  two  parts  of  bran, 
one  of  corn,  one  half  a  part  of  oil  meal,  mixed  with 
warm  milk  and  a  little  salt,  and,  in  winter,  some 
pepper,  would  be  excellent,  and  at  noon  a  light  grain 
ration  in  chaff— two  of  wheat,  one  of  corn  and  one  of 
buckwheat  or  oats.  At  night  give  all  they  will  eat, 
clean,  of  whole  grain,  which  is  better  warmed.  Give 
also  whole  beets,  or  cabbage,  as  well  as  shell  material, 
and  water  at  all  times.  Supply  large  runs  and  plenty 
of  exercise.” 
“  Would  you  use  incubators?” 
“  Vres  ;  although  they  are  still  in  their  infancy.  The 
incubator-hatched  chicks  I  have  grown  are  perfectly 
healthy,  and  some  of  them  are  now  laying  when  five 
months  old.  Many  chicks  are  ruined  by  mismanage¬ 
ment  of  the  incubator.  I  would  never  bother  with  a 
hen  for  nursing  chicks.  A  number  of  hens  can  be  set 
at  one  time,  and  thus  supply  a  brooderful  of  chicks.” 
“Is  there  much  risk  from  disease  in  the  poultry 
business  ?  ” 
“  Yes  ;  considerable  ;  but  most  of  it  comes  from  im¬ 
proper  treatment.  One  cause  is  a  method  of  feeding 
which  fails  to  make  good  the  drain  on  the  system, 
which  is  very  large  during  the  laying  season  ;  then  im¬ 
pure  a;r,  ammonia  and  carbonic  acid  gas  injure  the 
lungs.  Damp,  cold  quarters  cause  roup,  colds  and 
rheumatism.” 
“  Do  you  believe  in  the  ‘  egg- type  ’  hen  ?  ” 
“  Those  organs  which  are  unduly  stimulated  will  in¬ 
crease  in  size,  while,  if  not  used,  they  diminish.  The 
future  hen  will  be  wingless.  The  requirements  for 
egg-production  will  develop  certain  portions  until  the 
shape  will  be  changed.  She  will  have  a  long  body, 
large  digestive  organs,  and  be  wide  between  the  legs. 
She  will  also  be  active  in  disposition.” 
“  Name  some  of  the  things  you  deem  most  essential 
to  success  ?  ” 
“  Warm,  nutritious,  properly  balanced  food  fed  fre¬ 
quently  ;  a  warm,  dry  house,  pure  air,  plenty  of  care, 
and  skillful  breeding  to ‘get  there’ — 100  parts  breed¬ 
ing  to  100  parts  feeding,  kept  on  the  warmer  side  of 
freezing.” 
Mr.  Eice  is  a  young  man  in  love  with  his  work.  I 
am  sure  the  results  of  his  experiments,  which  will  be 
published  in  future  bulletins,  will  be  of  great  value  to 
poultry  keepers.  c.  e.  chapman. 
Plums  and  Potatoes 
The  varieties  of  plums  were  mostly  the  Lombard  or 
Bleeeker’s  Scarlet,  with  a  few  Purple  Eggs  and  German 
Prunes,  and  none  were  budded  ;  all  were  sprouts,  with, 
perhaps,  some  seedlings,  as  they  were  dug  from  among 
some  bearing  trees,  where  the  sprouts  and  everything 
that  came  up  were  allowed  to  grow  until  they  were 
large  enough  to  be  transplanted.  The  soil  of  my  plum 
orchard  is  a  clay  loam,  and  it  was  worked  in  potatoes 
the  year  before  it  was  planted:  then,  in  the  spring  of 
1880,  it  was  fitted  again  for  potatoes,  and  marked  out, 
three  feet  apart  each  way,  and  in  every  third  hill,  nine 
feet  apart  each  way,  a  plum  sprout  was  set.  The  holes 
for  the  trees  were  dug  about  two  feet  square  and  a 
foot  and  a  half  deep,  and  filled  with  the  loam  of  the 
surface  soil.  The  piece  was  then  worked  and  culti¬ 
vated  the  same  as  usual  for  potatoes,  as  the  rest  of  the 
hills  were  planted  with  that  crop. 
During  the  following  two  years  the  ground  was 
plowed,  fitted  and  planted  to  beans,  and  cultivated. 
Since  then  no  crop  has  been  planted  ;  but  the  ground 
has  been  plowed  and  worked  except  during  the  past 
year.  The  trees  now  average  about  three  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  tops  nearly  cover  and  shade  the 
ground.  They  were  sprayed  with  Paris-green,  one 
pound  to  200  or  300  gallons  of  water,  after  the  blos¬ 
soms  had  fallen,  and  the  trees  were  jarred  twice  to 
catch  the  curculio.  The  pigs  and  chickens  were 
allowed  to  run  in  the  orchard  until  picking  time.  The 
fruit  was  mostly  picked  from  the  last  week  of  August 
until  the  middle  of  September,  all  ripe  ones  being 
picked  and  marketed  in  our  home  market,  Erie  city, 
Pa.,  every  other  day,  the  first  bringing  $4  per  bushel, 
and  some  of  the  last  as  low  as  SI.  50,  making  all  average 
a  little  over  $2  per  bushel. 
While  my  orchard  has  done  well  the  past  year,  I  am 
convinced  that  the  trees  are  too  close  for  future  crops  ; 
therefore  I  intend  to  remove  many  of  them  this  spring, 
as  I  think  10  to  18  feet  close  enough  for  older  trees  of 
the  Lombard  variety,  as  they  are  very  thrifty  and 
almost  exempt  from  the  black  knot,  and  the  rose  bitgs 
won’t  eat  the  leaves,  as  they  will  those  of  the  German 
Prunes;  but  when  the  weather  gets  cold  enough  to 
kill  the  peach  buds,  the  Lombards  go  too.  Some  of 
mine  are  freestones,  and  some  ripened  in  August, 
while  others  lasted  until  late  in  October,  thus  indicat¬ 
ing  that  some  of  them,  at  least,  are  seedlings,  although 
they  belong  to  the  Lombard  family  by  appearance  of 
V 
(See  first  page.) 
V,  v,  are  ventilators:  C,  coop  bung  from  celling;  N,  nests  opening 
into  alley  so  that  the  eggs  may  be  collected  from  outside;  P,  perches, 
hung  on  hinges  and  raised  up  to  clean;  X,  board  for  droppings ;  B, 
space  under  alley:  A,  alley.  There  are  no  posts,  boards  being  set  up¬ 
right. 
tree  and  color  and  taste  of  fruit.  The  Lombard  is  a 
wonderful  bearer.  Some  limbs  were  completely  cov¬ 
ered  with  fruit  as  thick  as  they  could  have  been  stuck 
on  with  wax.  I  have  not  used  any  fertilizer  on  the 
orchard,  except  some  wood  ashes. 
The  only  remedy  I  find  for  black  knot  is  to  cut  off 
the  limbs  below  the  affected  places  and  burn  them, 
and  the  best  preventive  is  to  plant  varieties,  like  the 
Lombard  or  German  Prune,  not  liable  to  the  disease, 
and  to  be  sure  to  dig  up  all  varieties  of  plums  and 
n 
w 
5  l0rT  ,orT 
j  r  i  I  :  r  Itm 
iarr- 
GENERAL  YARD  iCENER/IL' YARD-TOR 
f  for  ]  HE  ns  f  |  If  T 
.  30FT 
CHCKE/V5 
30TT 
General  View  of  Yards  and  Houses.  Fig.  109. 
(Sec  first  page.) 
U,  perches;  F,  feed  boxes;  O,  water  trough:  S,  shell  box;  D,  dust 
box;  A,  alley;  W,  window;  E.  exit  to  yards;  G,  feed  boxes  for  chicks; 
Du,  dust  bath  for  chicks;  M,  manure  barrels:  X,  out-door  brooder;  Z 
chicken  crop;  V,  ventilator;  plum  trees  are  to  be  set  out  in  the  spring; 
woods  on  N  to  protect  from  the  wind. 
cherries  on  the  farm,  which  are  especially  subject  to 
the  disease  and  burn  them.  One  should  also  get  his 
neighbors  to  do  likewise,  if  he  can.  t.  m.  rvan. 
Permanent  Pastures. 
Permanent  pastures  are  not  likely  to  occupy  so 
prominent  a  place  in  our  agriculture  relatively  as  they 
do  in  that  of  Great  Britain.  Our  seasons  are  too  dry. 
In  July  and  August  and  sometimes  in  September,  the 
weather  is  oftentimes  so  dry  that  Lucern  even,  grows 
Wooden  Shutter  for  Hen  House.  Fig.  110. 
(See  first  page.) 
but  shyly.  In  Great  Britain  during  the  same  months 
there  is  also  often  too  much  moisture.  Again  our 
winters  are  too  cold.  Because  of  the  intensity  of  the 
frost,  many  grasses  of  much  value  in  Great  Britain 
cannot  withstand  the  cold  of  our  winters  and  conse¬ 
quently  they  perish,  and  we,  happily,  do  not  require 
them  so  much  as  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  as  we 
have  our  Indian  corii,  art  ertsiiag6  arid  a  fodder  crop,  of 
much  mofe  value  than  anything  which  they  can  grow 
fo? these  purposes. 
Yet  it  would  rtot  be  prudent  to  say  that  we  have  iid 
place  for  permanent  pastures  laid  down  upon  the  Eu¬ 
ropean  plan.  Many  farmers  may  find  it  to  their  ad¬ 
vantage  to  keep  a  certain  field  in  pasture  for  a  term 
of  years  in  succession.  In  these  instances,  niixed 
grasses,  if  properly  selected,  will  give  more  pasture 
than  can  be  obtained  where  not  niore  than  two  or  three 
varieties  are  gro\Vn.  The  value  of  permanent  pastures 
in  this  cdUrttry  will  depend  almost  entirely  on  the 
hatUre  of  the  soil,  artd  the  selection  of  the  grasses  to 
be  sown.  The  soil  should  be  a  loam,  rich  in  hunius, 
rtnd  well  drained  naturally  or  Otherwise;  that  is  to 
Say,  it  should  be  soil  which  is  naturally  well  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  grass.  On  dry  gravelly  soils,  very 
stiff  clays  or  on  light  sands,  it  would  be  a  great  mis¬ 
take  to  try  to  grow  mixed  grasses  in  the  permanent 
form.  The  returns  would  certainly  be  disappointing, 
as  such  lands  are  not  well  adapted  naturally  to  the 
growth  of  grasses.  On  the  stiff  clays  the  results  would 
be  more  satisfactory  than  on  the  light  lands,  after  the 
seeds  had  got  a  start.  The  following  is  the  list  of 
grasses  and  clovers  that  I  would  recommend  in  laying 
down  a  permanent  pasture  in  Canada,  and  also  the  re¬ 
spective  amounts  of  seed  of  each  to  be  used. 
Lbs. 
Timothy .  3 
Orchard  Grass . 3 
Tall  Oat  Grass .  2 
Alstke  Clovor .  2 
Yellow  Clover  or  Trefoil.  1 
Total,  ii,...,...;.... 
Lbs. 
Meadow  Foxtail..., . .  2 
Meadow  Fescue...., .  3 
Lucern . . 4 
White  or  Dutch  Clover... 1 
21  Lbs. 
These  varieties  are  all  hardy,  and  will  still  stand 
Well  the  rigors  of  our  cold  winters.  Some  of  them, 
US  limothy  and  AlsikC,  will  last  only  for  a  limited 
term  of  years.  Orcliaril  Grass  is  biinching  in  its  habit 
of  gTowth  when  sown  thinly,  hence  it  is  so  far  objec¬ 
tionable,  but  it  furnishes  a  large  amount  of  food  both 
early  and  late  in  the  season.  Tall  Oat  Grass  is  a  vig- 
oTous  grower,  of  proved  hardiness,  and,  like  Orchard 
GTass,  furnishes  a  good  bite  in  spring  and  also  in 
autumn.  Meadow  Fescue  is  a  midsummer  grass,  a  per¬ 
sistent  grower  and  has  much  power  to  withstand  well 
the  influences  of  frost  and  drought.  Lucern  is  a  most 
persistent  grower,  but  it  should  not  be  sown  where  the 
subsoil  is  not  deep  and  porous,  and  where  the  water 
table  is  not  below  the  line  of  the  growth  of  the  deepest 
roots.  Kentucky  Blue  Grass  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
list,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  indigenous  to  our  soils, 
and  in  one  form  or  another  will  soon  make  its  way  into 
the  pasture. 
1  would  also  have  it  distinctly  understood  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  quantities  of  the  different  varieties  to 
be  sown  may  vary  from  those  given  in  the  above  list. 
The  capabilities  of  the  soil  may  call  for  this,  and  also 
the  wants  of  the  particular  kinds  of  stock  to  be  grazed 
upon  the  pastures  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  that  there 
may  be  other  grasses  or  clovers  which  could  with 
advantage  be  added  to  the  list  as  soon  as  we  have 
proved  their  capabilities  ;  therefore  a  list  of  grasses 
given  some  years  hence  may  differ  considerably  from 
that  given  in  this  paper.  The  value  of  these  grasses 
has  been  proved  here,  at  the  Ontario  Experiment  Sta¬ 
tion,  Canada,  and  to  some  extent  at  other  places,  hence 
they  are  mentioned  as  varieties  which,  if  sown,  will 
not  prove  a  delusive  hope.  [prof.]  thos.  shaw. 
Notes  from  the  Rural  Grounds. 
Pea  Trials— General  Notes. 
It  was  in  187(5  that  The  E.  N.-Y.  first  began  to  try 
the  different  kinds  of  peas  which  the  seedsmen  of  the 
day  offered  for  sale.  The  volume  of  1877  will  show 
that  27  varieties  were  tried  and  reports  rendered, 
while  every  year  since,  the  pea  novelties  of  the  cata¬ 
logues,  either  before  or  after  their  public  announce¬ 
ment,  have  been  planted  and  the  reports  added  to  the 
list.  The  American  Wonder  was  tested  in  1877,  before 
its  introduction.  So,  too,  were  such  varieties  as  Tele¬ 
graph,  Telephone,  Pride  of  the  Market,  Market  Garden, 
Stratagem,  Itural  Eew-Yorker  and  Alaska. 
The  almost  immediate  popularity  of  the  American 
Wonder  has  always  been  a  wonder  to  the  writer  of 
these  notes,  for  the  reason  that  McLean’s  Little  Gem 
was  then  well  known  and  was  inferior  only  in  being  a 
few  days  later,  which  fact  itself  The  E.  N.-Y.  was  the 
first  to  announce  somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  Mr.  B. 
K.  Bliss,  the  introducer  of  the  Wonder. 
Landreth’s  Extra  Early,  American  Wonder  and  Mc¬ 
Lean’s  Little  Gem  were  grown  side  by  side  for  com¬ 
parison,  and  our  report  may  interest  Eural  readers  of 
to-day.  The  seeds  were  planted  April  2. 
On  June  26,  200  pods  of  the  Wonder  were  picked. 
They  contained  954  seeds,  which  weighed  10  ounces. 
Average  vines  one  foot  in  height. 
On  the  same  date  200  pods  were  picked  from  Lan- 
dretli’s  Extra  Early.  They  contained  1,202  seeds, 
which  weighed  13  ounces.  Vines  nearly  four  feet.  On 
July  1,  200  pods  were  picked  from  McLean’s  Little 
Gem.  There  were  720  seeds,  which  weighed  103^ 
ounces.  Vines  18  inches  in  height. 
