396 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
June  18 
of  the  amateur,  but  of  many  of  the  professionals  who 
hatch  egg's  “  so  easily.” 
“  Do  not  come  for  those  chickens.  Bad  luck. 
Idiocy  !  Set  your  eggs  under  a  goose  and  hatch  them 
yourself.” 
Persian  Insect  Powder  Blamed. — Said  he  :  “A 
lady  called  here  to  learn  how  to  feed  chickens,  and  I 
asked  her  how  T.’s  chickens  were  doing.  4  All  dying  !  ’ 
said  she.  4  lie  lays  the  loss  to  the  incubator,  but  I  know 
it  is  the  Persian  insect  powder  that  kills  them.’  I  did 
not  take  any  stock  in  that.  I  had  some  hens  hatching 
at  the  same  time  the  incubator  was  at  work.  The  hens 
were  fighting,  and  I  put  the  Persian  powder  on  their 
chicks  so  that  they  would  not  become  lousy,  and  I  put 
them  into  the  incubator,  intending  to  take  out  every¬ 
thing  in  the  morning.  All  the  eggs  that  had  not 
a’ready  hatched  were  picked,  and  a  big  hatch  was 
sure.  In  the  morning  I  found  60  dead  little  things, 
and  none  of  the  eggs  had  finished  hatching.  I  suppose 
the  powder  did  the  mischief,  as  all  the  chicks  I  had 
put  in — about  30 — were  dead,  and  something  had 
killed  those  in  the  shell.  They  seemed  to  be  all  in  a 
heap.” 
44  Perhaps  there  was  not  ventilation  enough,” 
said  I. 
44  There  had  been  no  trouble  of  that  kind  before, 
and  there  ought  not  to  have  been  any  now.  There  is 
more  in  this  chicken  business  than  is  dreamt  of  by  most 
people  who  get  their  knowledge  from  the  few  favorable 
reports  in  the  papers.  I  would  like  to  hear  from  some 
practical  Rural  poultry  men  about  this  case.” 
Hens  No  Better. — 44  Well,  Mat,”  said  I  to  another 
man,  44  how  many  chicks  have  you  ?  ” 
44  Only  10  from  26  eggs.  The  rest  all  died  in  the 
shell  after  they  were  full-grown.  The  thunder  storm 
the  night  before  they  were  to  hatch  killed  them.” 
Did  it?  I  set  nine  hens  on  good,  clean  eggs  and 
took  extra  care  of  them.  They  were  in  coops  about 
two  feet  square.  No  other  hen  could  get  to  them,  and 
drink,  food  and  shells  were  inside  the  coop  where 
they  could  help  themselves.  One  sat  a  week  and  quit. 
Having  no  other  hen  willing  to  take  her  place,  that 
setting  was  lost.  One  broke  five  eggs  and  daubed  up 
the  others  so  that  only  one  hatched.  One  was  sick  and 
crawled  into  a  corner,  leaving  the  eggs  to  chill — no 
hatch.  Three  befouled  their  nests  and  eggs,  so  that  I 
was  compelled  to  wash  the  eggs  and  make  new  nests. 
Unless  a  hen  has  the  whole  earth,  she  seems  to  think 
she  cannot  get  off  her  nest,  and  will  leave  her  droppings 
in  it.  The  last  three  were  in  a  room  where  other  hens 
could  not  reach  them,  and  the  coop  doors  were  left 
open.  The  feed  was  on  the  floor  outside.  They  had 
only  two  fights  over  4  hens’  rights,’  both  claiming  the 
same  nest.  Two  sat  all  night  on  one  nest,  ruining  one 
setting  which  was  motherless.  I  have  had  20  years’ 
rouble  with  sitting  hens,  but  my  last  hatch  is  very 
diminutive  when  compared  with  my  experience. 
Leghorns  44  Beat  All.” — Last  evening  I  called  at  a 
neighbor’s  just  at  dusk.  There  did  not  seem  to  be  any 
one  at  home  and  as  I  started  away  I  heard  a  hen 
squall.  Guided  by  the  sound,  I  walked  down  to  an 
empty  corn  crib  and  heard  Brother  B  speaking  in 
presence  of  a  select  audience — himself  and  a  White 
Leghorn  hen.  Quoth  he,  44  You  will  stand  over  in  the 
corner  and  let  those  high-priced  eggs  get  cold,  will 
you  ?” 
“  Yes,”  squalled  the  hen,  and  away  she  flew.  The 
deacon  chased  her  around  the  crib  and  44  jawed”  till 
both  were  out  of  breath.  As  he  crammed  her  down 
on  the  nest  with  considerable  force  a  rotten  egg  ex¬ 
ploded,  which  drove  him  out.  I  fully  sympathized  with 
his  remark  44  Of  all  infernal  things  a  Leghorn  beats 
them  all.” 
I  have  not  counseled  with  the  brethren,  but  if  the 
44  person”  who  can  hatch  chickens  ‘‘sure  and  easy” 
will  come  over  and  teach  us  I  will  promise  a  full  class. 
The  only  good  hatches  I  have  heard  of  were  in  the 
case  of  two  hens  that  sat  in  the  cow  bunks  and  hatched 
every  egg.  They  were  furnished  with  eggs  from  the 
same  lot  that  supplied  the  incubator  and  the  other 
hens,  but  were  not  (man)aged.  Has  man  improved  on 
Nature’s  methods  ?  c.  E.  chapman. 
A  Typical  John  Bull  Farmer. 
A  MAN  WHO  WANTS  SOME  YANKEE  CATTLE. 
This  is  John  Cox  (see  Fig.  183),  a  typical  jolly 
English  farmer.  He  is  six  feet  in  height,  as  strong 
as  an  ox,  with  a  voice  that  can  only  be  compared  to 
a  dozen  bass  instruments,  and  he  has  never  been  sick 
except  when  some  of  his  limbs  required  setting. 
He  is  in  dehabille  now,  a  state  he  loves  to  be  in,  but 
with  his  family  and  as  circumstances  require,  there  is 
quite  a  transformation  in  him.  His  appearance  then 
is  that  of  a  well-to-do  business  man,  which  in  fact  he 
is.  John  has  smelled  the  gunpowder  of  cannon  as 
well  as  that  of  fowling  pieces,  for  in  the  Crimean  war 
he  was  attached  to  the  Commissariat  Department  of 
the  army  and  superintended  the  supply  of  live  stock 
for  the  troops  His  success  in  business  has  been  that 
of  a  farmer  and  purveyor  of  meat.  For  upwards  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  supplied  the  mili¬ 
tary  hospital  of  Netley,  the  largest  hospital  in  the 
world,  the  main  building  alone  being  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  length,  and  also  the  mansions  of  such  distin¬ 
guished  and  wealthy  families  as  Hardwicke,  York  and 
Rothschild. 
There  has  always  existed  a  remarkably  strong  asso¬ 
ciation  between  him  and  horses  and  dogs,  and  he  has 
never  been  known  to  be  without  an  enviously  fine 
horse  and  dog.  No  mongrel  breeds  of  any  class  can 
find  favor  with  him,  for  he  will  not  tolerate  them.  A 
dog  that  will  not  perform  a  duty  that  is  characteristic 
of  its  breed,  is  shot  instantly.  This  is  the  spirit  that 
has  pervaded  Englishmen  generally  for  such  a  long 
period  that  it  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  all  the 
live  stock  of  England  to  preeminence.  The  motto  is, 
44  What  is  worth  keeping  is  worth  making  excellent.” 
In  colors  he  favors  blue  and  with  ribbons  of  that 
color  his  show  prize  sheep  and  oxen  are  decorated. 
Twice  a  year  he  leads  the  cotillion.  At  festive  Christ¬ 
mas  time  he  has  a  sumptuous  gathering  of  neighboring 
farmers  and  friends,  and,  later,  one  for  the  children. 
With  the  latter  lie  is  in  his  glory.  He  sings  three 
songs  with  plenty  of  voice — the  Milkmaid,  the  Crow, 
and  the  Farmer’s  Boy — and  he  has  used  these  for 
many  years.  One  joke  he  carries,  which  is  of  a  time 
when  he  was  losing,  by  theft,  some  choice  birds  from 
a  chicken  house.  lie  ingeniously  fixed  a  loaded  gun 
inside  the  door  and  secretly  watched  for  the  coming 
of  the  constant  thief.  He  was  rewarded  by  the  appear- 
John  Cox,  a  Typical  John  Bull  Farmer.  Fig.  183. 
ance  of  a  very  fat  man,  who,  on  immediately  trying 
the  door,  exploded  the  gun.  The  result  was  that  a  fat 
man,  who  ordinarily  could  never  more  than  waddle 
ran  for  dear  life  at  a  most  astounding  pace,  jumping 
hedges  and  ditches  cleanly.  This,  his  side-splitting 
joke,  will  be  repeated  to  other  farmers  as  long  as  the 
old  clock  ticks. 
The  best  time  to  see  John,  however,  is  in  a  field  at 
harvest  time,  catering  to  an  invited  party  under  the 
spread  of  a  large  oak  tree  ;  such  a  time  must  always 
be  exhilarating  to  a  farmer.  One  would  hardly  sus¬ 
pect  any  trivial  matter  to  annoy  such  a  character ; 
yet  to  be  called  44  Pa  ”  instead  of  44  Father”  by  one  of 
his  children  (he  has  the  usual  English  complement  of 
boys  and  girls)  would  raise  his  ire  immediately. 
Not  many  farmers  can  manage  a  yacht,  but  John 
can  turn  himself  into  an  old  salt  in  short  order  and 
manages  his  own  craft  dextrously.  Of  course  he  lives 
near  the  coast.  The  same  church  has  seen  him  regu¬ 
larly  on  Sunday  for  27  years  and  all  that  time  the  same 
minister  has  preached  to  him.  No  doubt  many  of  the 
sermons  he  hears  sound  familiar,  but  what  matter  so 
long  as  the  heart  is  there. 
How  many  farmers  aim  to  educate  and  improve  the 
minds  of  themselves  and  families  by  keeping  up  a  good 
library  in  the  house  ?  This  farmer  has  a  very  excellent 
one  and  many  high-class  works.  Farming  is  ennobling 
to  the  right  man  ;  it  so  urges  and  strengthens  the 
mind  that  only  literature  of  merit  is  acceptable. 
John  Cox  has  retired  from  business  now  and  is 
enjoying  the  reservation  of  a  few  acres  for  cultivating 
some  of  his  hobbies.  His  summer-house  thereon  is 
made  from  a  horse  car  divided,  renovated  and  furnished 
comfortably  as  a  parlor  and  well  supplied  with  books. 
On  warm  summer  nights  John  is  absent  from  home. 
A  horse  car  cannot  be  readily  enough  moved  about  to 
please  him  and  he  has  secured  a  real  gipsy  van  which 
can  be  shifted  about  at  his  pleasure. 
Of  all  countries  on  earth  his  mind  dwells  most  on 
the  great  nation  of  the  West  and  oft  he  dreams  of 
what  a  great  country  this  44  New  England”  must  be, 
and  what  wonderful  people  must  dwell  in  it.  The 
desire  of  his  heart  is  that  the  government  of  England 
will  take  the  embargo  off  Yankee  cattle  and  give  Eng¬ 
lish  farmers  a  chance  to  put  on  them  the  trim  which 
makes  the  good  roast  beef  and  the  £  s.  d.  t.  j.  dixon. 
Management  of  Illinois  Orchards. 
The  following  notes  were  taken  at  last  spring's  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Central  Illinois  Horticultural  Society  : 
Clover  or  Orchard  Grass  makes  good  manure  for  an 
orchard.  Too  close  grazing  should  not  be  permitted 
and  barnyard  manure  should  be  applied  every  year  or 
two,  according  to  the  growth  of  the  trees,  which 
ought  to  produce  two  or  three  inches  of  new  wood 
each  year.  Ripening  of  the  wood  is  important  at  the 
right  time,  and  manure  in  summer  aids  this.  The 
quality  of  the  fruit  and  health  of  the  trees  are  im¬ 
proved  by  use  of  the  arsenical  poisons. 
There  was  considerable  discussion  on  the  planting 
of  a  new  orchard  where  an  old  one  had  stood.  Per¬ 
sons  who  own  plenty  of  land  always  plant  a  new 
orchard  on  land  which  has  not  been  used  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  before.  Others  claim  that  if  the  old  tree  is  dug 
out  in  the  fall  and  the  hole  in  the  ground  is  disin¬ 
fected  by  the  frost  and  rough  weather  of  winter,  a 
new,  young  tree  can  be  safely  planted  in  the  same 
place  in  the  spring.  Orchards  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois 
seem  to  need  entirely  different  treatment  from  that 
adapted  to  those  on  the  timber  land.  One  on  timber 
land  well  drained  was  cited  that  had  never  been  trim¬ 
med  or  cultivated  and  this  unkempt  growth  seemed 
to  be  most  successful  for  producing  fruit  and  healthy 
trees. 
Another  orchard  on  prairie  soil  had  received  no  at¬ 
tention  :  the  trees  were  28  feet  apart  and  had  never 
been  pruned,  cultivated  or  sprayed,  and  this  course 
completely  “busted”  the  owner. 
It  was  stated  that  the  sprouts  that  grow  up  around 
the  roots  of  a  tree  aid  in  the  ripening  of  the  wood 
through  their  leaves.  The  sprouts  that  grow  in  the 
top  of  the  tree  should  not  be  cut  off,  as  on  them  often 
grows  the  most  valuable  fruit.  [?Eds.]  Drought  causes 
great  injury  to  fruit  trees,  and  land  that  is  cultivated 
and  tilled  holds  water  best  in  a  dry  time. 
A  man  who  had  tried  top-dressing  an  orchard  with 
manure  gave  his  experience  as  follows  :  Trees  which 
had  been  top-dressed  produced  10  inches  of  new  wood ; 
those  not  manured,  only  two  to  three  inches.  The 
next  year  the  fruit  on  the  manured  trees  was  far 
superior  and  the  foliage  a  much  darker  green  color. 
The  former  trees  gave  a  profit,  the  others  did  not 
The  value  of  grazing  an  orchard  depends  on  the  extent 
to  which  it  is  done.  An  orchard  should  not  be  made  a 
hog  pen,  but  turning  hogs  in  to  run  for  a  while  and 
feeding  them  in  some  other  field  was  recommended. 
Hogs  often  kill  trees  by  rubbing  themselves  against 
the  trunks,  and  during  this  process  their  sharp  hoofs 
tear  the  bark  from  the  roots  near  the  trunks  and  so 
work  great  injury  to  the  trees. 
Mr.  James  T.  Johnson,  of  Warsaw,  Ill.,  suggested 
that  when  setting  out  an  orchard  the  locality  should 
influence  the  choice  of  varieties.  Set  the  trees  two 
rods  apart  each  way.  If  the  whole  surface  of  the 
ground  is  in  good  tilth,  dig  only  a  small  hole  for  the 
tree,  otherwise  dig  a  large  one  in  order  to  give  the 
young  tree  mellow  soil  to  feed  on.  Plant  the  tree  one 
or  two  inches  deeper  than  it  was  in  the  nursery;  mulch 
moderately  and  protect  it  the  first  year  from  sun 
scalds,  also  from  field  pests  like  rabbits,  mice,  etc. 
Use  no  manure  the  first  year,  but  afterwards  the  trees 
should  be  fed.  Let  the  branches  be  sufficiently  high 
to  admit  of  thorough  cultivation.  Cultivate  between 
the  trees.  After  having  grown  hoed  crops  for  five  or 
six  years,  sow  clover.  All  cultivation  should  cease  by 
July  1,  in  order  to  allow  the  wood  to  ripen.  When 
pruning,  train  up  the  tree  in  the  way  it  should  grow 
but  persist  in  one  system  and  give  the  tree  no  serious 
shocks.  Prune  in  June  or  December,  but  not  when 
the  tree  is  frozen.  Just  as  the  blossoms  are  dropping 
off  is  a  good  time  to  prune  ;  the  cut  then  heals  better 
because  the  sap  is  thicker.  After  the  crop  has  been 
picked,  prune  according  to  the  size  of  the  crop  ;  that 
is,  the  exhaustion  of  the  tree. 
If  you  are  able  to  choose  the  location  of  an  orchard, 
a  hillside  sloping  to  the  northwest,  away  from  the 
warm  rays  of  the  sun  in  spring,  is  the  best.  If  com¬ 
pelled  to  put  an  orchard  in  a  certain  place  or  go  with¬ 
out  one,  then  the  proper  location  is  just  where  one  has 
room  for  it.  High  land  with  a  northern  exposure  is 
better  than  a  low,  southern  exposure.  In  the  latter 
place,  the  trees  start  before  they  ought  to  in  the  spring 
and  may  be  injured  by  late  frost. 
Twenty  to  twenty-five  years  is  the  limit  of  age  of  an 
orchard  in  central  Illinois.  Top  grafts  should  not  be 
put  into  a  tree  over  10  years  old. 
