1891 
339 
POULTRY YARD— Continued. 
abstinence from food. By the law of com¬ 
pensation extreme vigor and extreme con¬ 
sumption of vigor by overwork in any 
direction, cannot co-exist. 
Referring to the article which suggested 
this discussion, on page 142, Fig. 55 seems 
to me to present the diseased specimen, and 
her lack of vigor seems to have been caused 
by the bad “sanitary conditions” during 
her growth. The fact of any considerable 
proportion of such birds being produced 
reflects upon the breeder’s care of his 
growing chicks. Most emphatically, how¬ 
ever, do I assert the existence of an egg- 
type among breeds. A hen’s performance 
is limited to a certain direction, her make¬ 
up adapting her to this purpose or that. 
The Asiatic type is the outgrowth of long 
selection to produce gross bulk, handicap¬ 
ping capability of great egg-production. 
Vigor is inseparable from a certain shape, 
and in the Pit Game we have this shape, 
which has been determined by Nature as the 
one consistent with the greatest strength, 
vigor, endurance. The Games have a 
reputation for prolificacy among those who 
keep them, and they should know ; very 
naturally this is not in accordancs with 
the theories of the commercial fanciers of 
other breeds. The Cochins, Plymouth 
Rocks and Wyandottes are persistently 
artificialized in their shape by the fanciers, 
and the result of this blocky type is quickly 
realized by those who test these varieties 
as egg-producers in competition with egg- 
type breeds. Where Asiatics, or those 
largely derived from that blood, are kept 
for eggs, the great obstacle is their sluggish 
temperament; they grow fat and lazy ; 
they disobey the divine injunction as to 
working and eating. Undoubtedly ttey 
have their place in the hands of fanciers or 
specialists; but they require expert treat¬ 
ment, and are not adapted to give the best 
returns upon the average farm, where eggs 
are the main profit—eggs of any color, size 
or shape, at so much per dozen. 
What, then, is the best breed for the 
farm ? Probably nine farmers out of ten 
will agree with me that the old dunghill of 
our childhood had greater adaptabilities 
for this place than any of the new-fangled 
breeds. In those balmy days natural selec 
tion held sway. The most vigorous cock 
was allowed to escape the block ; the most 
vigorous hen of all was the one which 
managed to escape the housewife’s eye, un¬ 
til she emerged from her ambush some 
bright morning followed by 15 bright 
chicks, the smartest of which in her day re¬ 
peated the same feat. Vigor and egg-type 
were conserved, and often the stable-loft 
resounded to the gleeful chatter of the 
children hunting the eggs galore. Alas ! 
for the good old times, ere the fancier had 
appeared to turn the pristine thrift of that 
Golden Age into fine feathers—and barren¬ 
ness. The breed nearest to Nature is the 
best for eggs. The Dominique was good, 
but it now exists only in the fanciers pens, 
and bears the marks of Plymouth Rock 
crosses. 
Methinks I hear the remaining 10th 
man exclaiming that the Leghorns give 
him more eggs than anything he ever 
owned. Let us look into the merits of this 
breed. Their shape is all right, for the 
fancier’s selection has, for once, been 
toward the natural type. Their size, too, 
is right, for the judges have even cut them 
for excessive size. Their color is right, for 
very little selection is necessary with them, 
the Browns having the natural color of the 
genus, and the Whites generally breed tiue. 
They are bred largely, so fresh blood Is 
always easily obtained, lhe Leghorn is, 
undoubtedly, the most remarkable fancy 
breed that has yet appeared—the product 
of centuries of development in a climate 
‘ out-doors all the year round,” under non¬ 
fancy conditions, Noted originally for 
prolificness, fanciers again blundered in a 
good direction when they slyly introduced 
a cross for exhibition purposes; and the 
breed as it now stands, composite Mediter¬ 
ranean and Game, for farm purposes can¬ 
not be surpassed. Their bodies are built on 
the race yacht model, solving the problem of 
greatest compactness consistent with vigor, 
allowing just sufficient space to contain 
digestive and reproductive organs, without 
a hint of superfluous flesh or feathers to 
obstruct activity, the great conservator of 
health. They are of a nervous tempera¬ 
ment, as are the true workers among all 
animals. That great desideratum—activity 
—is at its full development in this breed, 
enabling them to withstand artificial feed¬ 
ing and confinement in winter. They are 
the true egg-type. fred. w. PROCTOR. 
Worcesttr Go., Mass. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORK'ER. 
THE GERMAN INCUBATOR. 
The Farmers’ Gazette (Ireland) thus 
describes an. Incubator which is used to 
quite an extent in Germany : “ It is heated 
by lamns placed below a boiler which is 
under the eggs. The water circulates in 
pipes (two to each row of eggs) above the 
eggs, but only the ends are zinc, for the 
entire length of piping, save at each 
extremity, is formed of thin India rubber 
about an inch in diameter. These pipes 
actually touch the eggs on either upper 
side, leaving the center above and all below 
bare. Moisture and ventilation are secured 
from below. The regulating apparatus is 
most ingenious. In each machine is Dlaced 
a regulating thermometer, so that when 32 
centigrade is reached in temperature an 
electric current is set in motion, and a flat 
metal arm, fitted in a grooved slot, is 
driven upwards automatically. Just where 
this arm lies when no current is operating 
are two holes, one on either side. Through 
these holes is passed soft two eighths India 
rubber tubing. The effect is that when at 
rest the arm compresses this tubing, and 
no water can pass through. There is a fur¬ 
ther hole, closed when the arm is raised, 
the object of which will be explained. The 
first named tubing is connected on the 
one side with a vessel holding about a gal¬ 
lon of water, and raised above the incu¬ 
bator, and on the other with a brass-closed 
vessel of about a quart capacity. When the 
temperature rises above a given point, 
the arm rises, the water then flows from 
the first into the second vessel, which, when 
full will, by means of one simple lever, 
depress two of the three lamps, and thus 
immediately the heat must be reduced. So 
soon as it falls sufficiently the electric arm 
falls, and uncovering the third hole, to 
which a return tube to a smaller vessel is 
affixed, the water immediately escapes, no 
more can enter, and the weight being 
relieved, these two lamps resume their nor¬ 
mal position. With careful trimming, and 
being guided by external temperature, this 
operation is reduced to a minimum, and 
the third fixed lamp is only used in cold 
weather.” 
is essential to the health and comfort of all 
fowls. I visited a ranch in Nebraska where 
the fowls gathered all their living from the 
seed scattered where unthrashed millet was 
fed to a herd of Jerseys. There the egg 
crop was perfectly wonderful, 27 hens 
usually producing as many as 25 eggs a day. 
I have found it is best to give fowls plenty 
of free range if possible. Close confine¬ 
ment is usually a check on the egg crop. 
H. A. WHITTHMORE. 
Always name The R. N.-Y. in writing to 
advertisers. 
BUFF LEGHORNS. 
Commenting on The R. N.-Y.’s state¬ 
ment that “Buff” Leghorns are produced 
by crossing the Whites and Browns, the 
Fanciers’ Journal says:— 
It is the opinion of a number of breed¬ 
ers and judges that the Buff Leghorns 
have been produced by crossing White Leg¬ 
horn females with a Red Pile Game male. 
The pen exhibited at New York showed 
Red Pile blood in the cockerel, for the lat¬ 
ter, if dubbed, would have passed fora Red 
Pile Game. We have repeatedly cautioned 
purchasers to go slow in investing money 
for Buff Leghorns. 
The cross referred to by The Rural is 
very likely to produce some buff birds, 
and really if fanciers must have Buff Leg¬ 
horns let them use the Browns and Whites 
of the breed" to produce the Buffs, rather 
than taint the breed by usiDg Game blood. 
The latter is excellent in its proper sphere, 
but will not improve Leghorns to any ex¬ 
tent. 
Our advices from England are not favor¬ 
able to the Buff Leghorns that so suddenly 
became famous and plentiful. But very 
few good specimens are as yet in existence, 
and these are pullets. Cockerels seem to 
be very scarce and it is doubtful if a true 
buff exists. 
Buff is such a fashionable and rather 
pleasing color that auy breed possessing it 
will find favor with the fanciers. We have 
referred to the Buff Wyandottes (?) in 
these columns before. Our information 
regarding the modus operandi by which 
these birds have been produced does not 
look promising for a true breeding Buff 
Wjandotte. It seems that White Wyan¬ 
dotte females have been mated with a 
sparsely leg-feathered Buff Cochin male, in 
fact, a standing advertisement for a clean- 
legged Buff Cochin with possibly a rose 
comb was found in one of our poultry 
papers. The natural inference is that such 
a male was to be used for the production 
of Buff Wyandottes. This is perhaps more 
readily understood by stating that the 
originator of Buff Wyandottes aud the 
advertiser for the above-mentioned Cochin 
male reside in the same town. 
FEEDING SUGAR TO BEES. 
Last fall many bee-keepers in this section 
found that their bees, instead of storing 
surplus honey, had nothing but bare combs 
for the winter. In order to save their stock, 
in part at least, some bought sugar and fed 
them through the winter. Of course, such 
colonies came out weak, and many will not 
survive, after all the trouble and expense. 
1. Does it ever pay to feed sugar to bees? 2. 
What kind of sugar should be fed and how 
much? 3. Was there a general failure of 
the honey crop last year? F. h. b. 
Youngstown, O. 
Ans.— 1. It pays to feed good, strong 
colonies that might be expected to winter 
well if they had plenty of honey. It will 
not pay to try to winter colonies that are 
numerically weak, on either honey or 
sugar. It is best to unite weak colonies 
with stronger ones, and thus. save the 
stores that the weak ones would consume 
before perishing. 2. Feed nothing but 
granulated sugar of the best quality. The 
best is none too good for bees, and feeding 
sugar of a poor quality is sure to result 
disastrously. Bees will winter as well on 
good granulated sugar as on good honey ( 
and much better than on honey gathered 
during a cold wet fall. Such honey re¬ 
mains thin and unripened and is very un¬ 
wholesome for bees. Many of our best and 
most progressive bee-keepers are of the 
opinion that there is no better winter food 
for bees than pure granulated sugar. 
Enough sugar should be fed to each colo¬ 
ny to make its winter stores amount to 
about 30 pounds. This amount of stores 
will last the bees until they can gather 
honey from spring flowers. The sugar 
syrup for feeding bees is made by dissolv¬ 
ing the sugar in one third of its weight of 
water. It Is quickly dissolved by heating 
the sugar and water to the boiling point 
and stirring the mixture till the sugar is 
all dissolved. If a strong colony has no 
honey, it would require something over 
22>£ pounds of sugar to feed them up for 
winter. Theoretically, it would require 
just 22X pounds, which with 7% pounds of 
water—one-third the weight of the sugar 
would make the required amount. But, 
as the bees will consume a small portion 
in the work of storing, and a slight loss 
will result from evaporation and ripening, 
it really requires a trifle more than 22>£ 
pounds of sugar. 3. There was a general 
failure of the honey crop last year. In a 
few localities considerable surplus was se¬ 
cured, but in most localities the bees 
gathered no more than was necessary to 
winter, and in a few localities there will be 
considerable loss from starvation if the 
bees are not fed early in the spring. The 
honey crop of last year was the shortest 
for many years. OREL L. hehshiser. 
Erie Co., N. Y. 
Plain to be Seen. 
The Bucic-Tiiorn Barb Fence is 
a ribbed strip of Solid Steel, f inch 
wide; twisted; plain to be seen. The 
barbs are small and, on the thick-set, 
only | inch apart. It is Effective, 
Safe and Strong; Handsome, Lasting 
and Cheap. Easy to build and simple 
to repair—any bright farmer’s boy or 
smart farm hand can boss the job. 
If Buck-Thorn is not sold in your 
neighborhood we will ship it to you 
from the mill, all freight paid. Sam¬ 
ples and descriptive circulars to all 
applicants by mail. The Buck-Thorn 
Fence Co., Trenton, N. J. 
“Iliglily Pleased wltli It.” 
Mr. J. H. Shelly, Richlandtown, Pa, writes: 
“ I think my sales of Buck-Thorn this year 
‘‘will far over-run any preceding year. Every- 
“body is highly pleased with it.” 
SYKIMES HAY.and.GRAM CAP 
MORE HAY BETTER QUALITY 
Practical, 
Useful, 
Best of 
latis- 
faction. 
Write 
for 
Circu¬ 
lars. 
Try 
Them 
and be 
con¬ 
vinced. 
ALDEN 4. WOODS 
ft* ^ © SOLE MANUFACTURERS 
W ' W SKOWHEGAN . MAINE 
fl hampion E vaporator. 
for MAPLE, SORGHUM, CIDER, 
AND FRUIT JELLIES. 
Corrugated pan over firebox, doubling 
boiling capacity. Small interchange/ 1 
able syrup pans (connected by si 
phons), easily handled for cleansyi 
ing and storing, and a Verfect/J 
Automatic it emulator. 
The Champion is as great 
an improvement over the 
Oook Pan as the latter 
was over the old iron ket¬ 
tle, hung on a fence rail.f 
The C. H. GRIMM ‘ 
’'MFC. CO. 
Hudson, Ohio and Botlanrj. Vi 
WHY PAY RETAIL PRICES 
When you can buy hand-made oak leath. 
er Harness, single $7 to $30. Double 
$18.50 to $40. Illustrated catalogue free. 
Order one. KING & CO., Mfrs. Owego, N.Y 
CARTS 
BUGGIES, 
ROAD WAGONS, 
At Wli ilesnle Prices where we'.have no Agents. 
If?“Seud lor Catalogue to GAY A SO.Y, Ottawa, Ill. 
Those Canadian Hens.— I am of the 
opinion that the inquiry of Mrs. Annie L. 
Jack as to poultry—see page 279—can be 
answered by saying that the hens were too 
well fed and got too little exercise. In too 
many cases of complaints the trouble lies 
in this direction. It is a fact well estab¬ 
lished that hens can be too fat to be profit¬ 
able as layers. I visited a ranch in Wyom¬ 
ing the past winter and observed the flock 
of 32 fowls and the amount of corn fed to 
them—the only feed they had except what 
they gathered around the yard—and I 
could see nothing else but gravel. They 
were housed in a long stable, and I was par¬ 
ticularly astonished when the eggs came 
In at night—17 in all. I learned that they 
were fed again at night the same amount 
of corn, and that they had produced from 
three to nineteen eggs a day for two 
months. Too high a feed and indolence 
are as detrimental to the abundant produc¬ 
tion of eggs as poor shelter and care. Give 
warm quarters and make the hens scratch 
for their living, by scattering their feed 
in loose straw or in gravelly places. Water 
KING OFTHE ROAD MAKERS 
Forster’s Patent 
ROCK BREAKER 
FOR MACADAM 
properlv cubed. No gear wheels to 
break. "Product 10 to 200 ton* ter 
day, according to size. Over 450 
in use- FOR COARSE AND FINE 
CRUSHING. Does the work or an¬ 
other breaker with one half the 
power and one third the expense for 
keeping in repair. 
Only manufacturers. Correspond 
ence solicited. 
TOTTEN Si HOGG FOUNDRY GO., 
23d Street an' 1 Railroad Ave., 
PITTSBURGH, PA. 
IT WILL 
CULTIVATE 
CORN and 
COTTON 
to a Height of 
THREE FEET 
Throwing the 
Soil to or from 
the Plant. 
Send for Special 
Circular. 
H1GGANUM MANUFACTURING CORPORATION New Yolk Office*^83 Wat e r$SI.' nTW°Y°QR K*. 
