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THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Dec.  24 
SUNDRY  POULTRY  THOUGHTS. 
Partnership  ok  “Whites.” — The  Rural  has  re¬ 
ported  the  past  season  as  one  rather  unfavorable  to 
the  hatching  business.  Such  has  not  been  true  as  far 
as  my  experience  has  gone.  As  my  incubator  was  not 
in  first-class  order,  and  it  was  not  intended  to  hatch 
very  many  chickens,  it  was  decided  to  use  the  hens 
as  incubators  or  follow  natural  methods.  My  suc¬ 
cess  was,  no  doubt,  attributable,  in  great  degree, 
both  to  the  kind  of  eggs  set  (White  Leghorn)  and  also 
to  the  breed  of  hens  used  for  incubating  purposes — 
White  Wyandottes.  It  cannot  be  disputed  that  under 
ordinary  circumstances  Leghorn  eggs  show  a  remark¬ 
able  fertility,  and  certainly  this  scores  a  point  for  this 
breed.  Not  one  pure-bred  White  Wyandotte  refused 
to  sit  even  when  placed  amid  new  and  strange  sur¬ 
roundings.  Cross-bred  hens  (only  part  Wyandotte) 
were  not  so  reliable  in  this  respect  as  the  pure-bred. 
The  Wyandotte  is  so  kind  and  gentle  and  level-headed 
that  she  will  permit  handling  to  any  reasonable  extent 
with  the  utmost  calmness.  She  is  also  not  of  an  exces¬ 
sive  weight,  so  as  to  be  a  clumsy  breaker  of  eggs.  I 
am  well  pleased  with  the  Wyandotte  as  an  incubating 
fowl.  It  affords  a  pleasant  surprise  to  enter  the  room 
where  the  sitters  are  confined,  and,  on  seeing  a  little 
white  head  protruding  from  beneath  the  feathers  of 
the  mother  hen,  to  lift  the  fowl  from  the  nest  and  find 
almost  every  egg  hatched.  Hens  sitting  ui>on  15  eggs 
would  bring  off  13  or  14  chickens.  They  certainly 
could  not  have  done  much  better  than  this. 
Business  Leghorns. — The  more  acquaintance  I  have 
with  the  Leghorn,  the  more  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  she  is  the  fowl  for  business,  for  practical  work 
upon  the  farm.  Parties  in  offering  objections 
to  this  breed,  lay  by  far  too  much  stress  upon  the  fact 
that,  as  a  table  bird,  the  Leghorn  “is  not  in  it.”  Rea¬ 
soning  in  a  similar  way,  it  might  he  said  that  the  Jer¬ 
sey  cow  is  of  no  value,  since  she  is  worth  little  or  noth¬ 
ing  for  beef ;  yet,  of  course,  no  sensible  person  will 
speak  thus  of  the  Jersey,  as  for  the  work  for  which  she 
is  intended  she  is  without  a  rival.  Likewise  the  Leghorn 
has  been  bred  for  a  specific  purpose,  viz.,  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  eggs  ;  and  it  is  fair  to  judge  the  fowl  only  from 
this  basis.  Let  those  that  think  so  much  of  substance 
in  a  fowl  just  estimate  what  a  very  small  proportion 
of  the  profit  on  a  hen  comes  from  the  sale  of  the  car¬ 
cass.  A  couple  of  dozen  eggs  will  usually  represent 
the  entire  value  of  an  old  hen  in  market,  and  the  Leg¬ 
horn  may  be  counted  upon  to  produce  at  least  four 
dozen  more  eggs  per  year  than  the  so-called  market 
breeds.  So,  obviously,  this  question  of  market  poultry 
value  is  unduly  weighed.  If  the  Leghorn  is  utilized  as 
a  fertilizer  only  at  the  close  of  her  usefulness,  still  the 
breed  will  come  out  ahead.  Farmers  must  have  the 
best  laying  fowl.  All  else  is  entirely  of  a  secondary 
nature. 
Geese. — There  are  many  farms  upon  which  geese 
may  be  profitably  reared.  Water  beyond  enough  for 
drinking  purposes  is  not  required.  The  chief  necessity 
is  the  possession  of  an  abundance  of  grazing  land. 
This  need  not  be  valuable,  but  such  as  is  usually  met 
with  upon  thousands  of  farms  in  New  England  and 
New  York.  Rough,  rocky  hillsides  will  afford  geese 
excellent  pasturage ;  and,  as  these  birds  are  close 
feeders,  cropping  most  species  of  plants  snugly  to  the 
ground,  noxious  weeds  and  other  undesirable  vege¬ 
tation  will  be  kept  down  and  eventually  “choked 
out.”  In  this  way  geese  form  a  good  second  to  sheep 
in  the  reclamation  of  wild,  waste  land.  Geese  will 
produce  two  or  three  litters  of  eggs  per  season  ;  the 
first  of  these  may  be  given  to  hens  to  incubate,  and 
the  last  one  to  the  old  goose  herself,  if  thought  best. 
Perhaps,  however,  the  old  hens  had  better  do  all  the 
hatching,  as  the  geese  themselves  are  inclined  to  he 
heavy  and  bungling  in  their  movements,  often  tread¬ 
ing  upon  the  young  goslings.  The  great  inducement 
to  the  rearing  of  geese  is  the  fact  that  they  can  be  pro¬ 
duced  so  cheaply  upon  the  many  wastes  of  the  farm. 
The  main  growth  can  be  made  on  grass  alone,  only  a 
small  quantity  of  corn  being  demanded  for  fattening, 
or  “  finishing  off.”  Spring  goslings  should  dress  at 
least  10  pounds  apiece  by  the  holidays,  when  roast 
goose  forms  considerable  of  a  dish,  to  many  of  our 
people.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  geese  rearing  offers 
considerable  inducements  as  a  profitable  business  ven¬ 
ture,  providing  of  course  grass  in  abundance  and  other 
cheap  food  are  readily  attainable.  This  is  not  all,  how¬ 
ever,  as  many  of  our  standard  breeds  are  quite  orna¬ 
mental  in  appearance.  In  our  flocks  of  poultry,  geese 
generally  provoke  the  most  comment  and  admiration 
from  visitors.  The  carriage  of  the  goose  is  stately, 
and  quite  imposing :  and  her  operations  are  decidly 
interesting  when  she  appears  upon  the  surface  of  a 
sheet  of  water,  enjoying  her  daily  ablutions.  The 
Toulouse  and  Embden  are  preeminently  the  twTo  most 
desirable  breeds.  An  average  weight  at  maturity  is  20 
pounds  apiece.  They  grow  with  remarkable  rapidity, 
laying  on  the  tenderest,  juiciest  and  richest  of  flesh  at 
a  rate  to  please  the  feeder.  I  have  attempted  to  show 
that  geese  are  a  desirable  class  of  farm  poultry,  and 
to  note  some  of  the  advantages  these  birds  offer. 
There  are  some  minor  drawbacks,  one  of  which  is 
the  harsh  and  somewhat  discordant  voice  with  which 
Nature  has  endowed  them.  Some  people  like  it.  Others 
are  tormented  by  it.  But  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to 
keep  the  geese  near  the  house,  m.  sumner  perkins. 
EYE-OPENER  ON  BICYCLES  FREE. 
A  13-year  old  boy’s  experience. 
The  Eye-Opener  has  not  opened  lately  on  the  dark 
and  evil  ways  of  some  men.  These  and  their  children 
have  not  closed  shop  ;  they  are  obliged  to  keep  at  it, 
giving  those  fine  offers,  because  there  are  still  many 
fools  alive,  and  so  many  new  crops  coming  on. 
A  very  nice  bait  for  young  people  is  a  safety  bicycle, 
and  they  are  offered  for  next  to  nothing.  I  have  re¬ 
ceived  the  offers,  and  have  nibbled  at  the  bait,  and 
great  numbers  of  boys  and  girls  have  been  fooled, 
not  exactly  defrauded,  by  several  companies  operating 
on  their  credulity.  One  is  the  Western  Pearl  Baking 
Powder  Co.  It  makes  a  fine  offer  of  a  bicycle  for  sell¬ 
ing  150  boxes  of  baking  powder.  One  can  canvass 
first,  or  send  on  the  money  for  150  pounds  of  baking 
powder  or  for  smaller  amounts,  until  the  150  boxes  are 
reached.  He  will  get  the  powder  all  right,  but  the 
bicycle  does  not  come  so  readily.  Hence  one  is  out  his 
time  in  receiving  goods  and  making  sales,  with  dis¬ 
appointed  hopes  added.  The  concern  could  well  afford 
to  give  a  bicycle  on  the  sale  of  $75  of  baking  powder, 
for  in  the  first  place  the  $45  wheel  offered  should  not 
cost  it  over  $25,  and  in  the  second  place  chemists 
say  a  good  active  baking  powder,  though  perhaps, 
not  so  much  a  good  and  healthy  one,  can  be  made  very 
cheaply. 
Another  quite  similar  dodge  from  the  same  city,  and 
likely  enough  to  be  in  the  same  family  is  practiced 
under  the  firm  name  of  A.  Curtis  &  Co.  They  issue 
type-printed  letters  to  boys  and  girls  all  over  the 
United  States,  and  when  they  get  after  a  boy  they 
fill  him  up  with  letters  and  offers.  Their  fast  selling 
article  is  toilet  soap.  At  first  they  send  perfectly  plain 
little  squares  put  in  very  plain  pasteboard  boxes ;  but 
afterwards  they  send  out  more  fancy  cakes,  round, 
but  not  much  larger  than  a  silver  dollar.  Their  first 
offer  was  on  the  sale  of  140  boxes — a  dozen  cakes  in  a 
box,  at  40  cents  a  box,  and  they  also  provided  a  gift  to 
the  purchaser  of  each  box  of  a  silver-plated  spoon 
or  fork. 
One  has  to  pay  down  for  the  soap  the  full  price — 40 
cents  a  box — as  fast  as  he  orders,  the  concern  paying 
freight.  The  canvasser  gets  as  his  reward  the  $45 
wheel.  The  soap  and  presents  get  to  him  all  right, 
but  the  wheel  never  reaches  him.  Other  and  better 
offers  are  made,  and  photographs  of  boys  and  girls 
receiving  bicycles  are  sent  out.  Then  comes  an  offer 
to  send  a  prize  of  a  $45  bicycle  to  each  10  boys  and 
girls  who  first  in  every  day,  send  for  and  sell  one  dozen 
boxes  at  40  cents — $4.80.  In  order  to  oil  this  offer  to 
get  it  down  the  gullible  gullet,  they  say  this  is  their 
method  of  advertising  and  getting  the  soap  into  use. 
These  offers  were  got  up  very  cutely.  I  received  a 
number  of  them,  one  of  which  I  showed  to  a  keen 
business  man.  He  studied  on  it,  and  finally  sent  the 
printed  offer  and  the  sum  required  ($4.80)  to  a  friend 
in  Chicago,  instructing  him  where  to  purchase  the 
soap,  and  demand  the  bicycle.  The  friend  tried  ;  but 
the  representative  of  the  firm  told  him  they  were  just 
out  of  bicycles.  He  denounced  them  as  a  fraud,  and 
wrote  that  they  had  removed  their  quarters  not  long 
ago.  I  think  Curtis  &  Co.  never  advertise,  but  get 
their  names  for  correspondence  from  various  concerns 
like  the  Western  Pearl  Company  and  the  lists  from 
“  dodger”  newspapers. 
One  can  earn  a  bicycle  by  selling  baking  powder  to 
be  sure  ;  and  the  way  to  do  it  is  to  make  and  put  up 
the  powder  at  home.  There  is  no  great  secret  about 
it,  and  the  profit  is  enormous  The  newspapers  re¬ 
ported  the  earnings  of  the  Royal  Baking  Powder 
Company  a  few  years  ago,  and  the  amount  was  put  at 
400  per  cent  on  the  investment  per  annum.  One  can 
earn  a  bicycle  selling  toilet  soap  too  ;  but  the  best 
way  would  be  to  bargain  with  a  soap  company  to  put 
up  the  soap  for  one  and  stamp  his  name  on  each 
cake.  They  will  do  it.  A  quality  like  Ivory,  Poppy 
or  White  Swan  is  about  right.  But  sales  made  from 
house  to  house  are  slow.  Money  does  not  flow  around 
very  freely,  and  one  will  certainly  earn  every  dollar 
which  comes  in  from  peddling.  Well,  I  got  my  bicycle 
and  I  did  not  earn  it  by  any  of  the  above  fast  ways  of 
making  money  either.  I  succeeded  in  getting  my 
father  interested,  and  he  consented  to  my  planting 
and  having  a  patch  of  potatoes.  It  was  on  sandy, 
almost  waste  land,  but  phosphate  pulled  me  through 
for  a  good  safety.  linxe  l.  devereaux. 
Wayne  County,  N.  Y. 
(.Every  query  must  be  accompanied  bv  the  name  and  address  of  the 
writer  to  Insure  attention.  Before  asking  a  question  please  see  If  It  Is 
not  answered  In  our  advertising  columns.  Ask  only  a  few  questions 
at  one  time.  Put  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
FARMERS  AS  FLOUR  MAKERS. 
Last  week  we  printed  a  note  from  a  subscriber  in 
Virginia  who  wished  to  know  about  making  flour  on  a 
small  scale.  The  plan  was  for  a  few  farmers  to  com¬ 
bine  and  grind  their  own  wheat  into  flour,  thus  saving 
the  miller’s  charges  and  profits.  Following  are  notes 
from  several  manufacturers  of  flouring  mills,  which 
state  the  case  from  their  side  : 
We  have  never  built  flouring-mill  plants  on  such  a 
small  scale,  nor  do  we  know  of  any  concern  which  has 
done  so.  Our  experience  has  been  that  one  cannot 
make  a  miller  out  of  a  farmer,  and  it  would  not  do  to 
employ  a  miller  for  such  a  small  plant.  It  would  be 
cheaper  for  farmers  to  buy  flour  or  take  the  grists  to 
the  nearest  large  mill.  the  Bradford  mill  co. 
The  smallest  roller  flour  mills  we  have  built  have  a  ca¬ 
pacity  of  about  one  barrel  per  hour,  but  are  not  portable. 
They  are  capable  of  making  flour  of  excellent  quality, 
and  will  do  nicely  in  many  locations  to  supply  a  small 
local  trade.  We  are  prepared  at  all  times  to  furnish 
estimates  to  intending  purchasers  for  plants  of  this 
description.  the  edward  p.  allis  co. 
Milwaukee,  Wis. 
The  smallest  mill  for  the  manufacture  of  flour  that 
can  be  built  on  the  roller  process  has  a  capacity  of  not 
less  than  15  barrels  per  day  of  24  hours.  We  build 
mills  as  small  as  15  barrels  per  day  of  24  hours,  par¬ 
ticularly  adapted  to  custom  work.  The  quality  of  the 
flour  they  will  produce  is  fully  up  to  all  requirements, 
but  of  course  the  line  of  machinery  is  so  short  that 
only  moderately  close  yields  are  possible.  The  quality 
of  the  flour  and  the  yield  on  a  mill  of  this  character 
are  much  better  in  both  respects  than  can  be  produced 
on  a  buhr  mill  outfit.  We  would  not  recommend  under 
any  circumstances  that  occur  to  us  now,  the  erection 
of  a  buhr  mill  anywhere  in  this  country,  except  at  some 
point  extremely  remote  from  railroads  and  where  the 
demands  and  requirements  of  a  mill  are  not  very  great. 
Everything  being  favorable,  it  is  practical  for  farm¬ 
ers  to  combine  for  the  purchase  and  use  of  a  mill 
plant;  but  the  trouble  is  that  in  cases  of  this  kind  their 
peculiar  ideas  seriously  interfere  with  the  manage¬ 
ment  and  practical  operation  of  the  mill.  In  other 
words,  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  for  a  number  of 
farmers  to  agree  upon  any  one  line  of  action.  We 
have  furnished  many  mills  to  farmers’  organizations, 
but  they  got  at  the  matter  by  incorporating  under  the 
State  laws  and  turning  the  management  over  to  one 
or  more  individuals.  It  seems  to  us  that  if  farmers 
can  cooperate  to  advantage  in  merchandising  they  can 
do  so  with  equal  success  in  milling. 
Indianapolis,  Ind.  nordyke  &  marmon  co. 
The  smallest  mill  we  have  ever  attempted  to  bui’d 
is  one  with  a  capacity  of  25  barrels  in  24  hours,  or,  in 
other  words,  One  barrel  per  hour.  We  think  this 
would  be  about  the  capacity  mentioned.  Such  a  mill 
is  practicable  in  every  respect,  and  we  have  built 
hundreds  of  them  for  parties  all  over  the  United 
States.  The  flour  made  on  a  mill  of  this  kind  is  a 
straight  grade  which  gives  the  farmer  better  satisfac¬ 
tion  than  either  a  patent  or  bakers’  flour,  as  it  makes 
a  stronger  and  sweeter  bread,  having  all  the  flour 
from  the  grain  of  wheat  in  one  grade.  Such  a  mill 
can  be  built  for  about  $2,000,  and  with  it  we  give  a 
guarantee  to  produce  flour  equal  in  quantity  and 
quality  to  that  ground  by  any  other  mill  making  a 
straight  grade  of  flour.  the  j.  b.  allfree  mfg.  co. 
Indianapolis,  Ind.  _ 
“  Chemicals  and  Clover  ”  at  a  Profit. 
J.  C.  O.,  Southern  Jersey. — I  have  35  acres  of  land 
which  has  been  run  down  so  badly  that  not  even  Crab 
grass  grew  on  it  the  past  season,  and  I  would  like  to 
know  The  Rural’s  opinion  of  green  manuring.  How 
would  it  do  to  grow  rye  until  it  heads,  then  plow  under 
and  follow  with  buckwheat,  and,  when  this  crop  is  in 
bloom,  plow  it  under  for  rye  again  or  for  clover.  I 
can  put  Philadelphia  manure  on  the  place  for  $1.35  per 
ton,  not  counting  the  cost  of  hauling.  Will  this  be  my 
cheapest  fertilizer?  Would  Peter  Cooper’s  bone  be 
beneficial  on  the  rye  and  buckwheat  ? 
Ans. — There  is  no  question  as  to  the  advantages  of 
green  manuring  for  improving  worn-out  land,  or  very 
poor  land.  Whether  it  is  the  best  and  cheapest  method 
depends,  of  course,  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances.  The 
method  you  propose  of  using  rye  and  buckwheat, 
though  good,  may  not  be  the  best  for  two  reasons  :  1. 
Because,  in  order  to  secure  fair  yields  of  these  crops, 
manure  containing  nitrogen  is  necessary,  and,  2,  be¬ 
cause  in  these  crops  there  is  nothing  added  to  the  soil 
