442 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Poultry Yard. 
WHEN TO SELL SURPLUS POULTRY. 
Shall the old hens go ? 
Shall the old hens go? 
Yes! wisdom and experience 
With one acclaim say so! 
THE QUESTIONS. 
When have you found it most profitable 
to dispose of old hens and surplus stock ? 
Is not the present as good a time as you can 
find ? What proportion of your hens do 
you keep through the summer f Do you 
send the surplus to the market alive, or do 
you kill and dress them or obtain a special 
market for them ? What would you advise 
the farmer to do with his surplus stock. 
Disposing of Laying Leghorns. 
I aim to dispose of one-half of my hens 
every year and replace them with pullets 
in order to have a supply of eggs for my 
customers in the late fall and early winter 
months when hens are moulting. The hens 
are not sold until they cease laying and be¬ 
gin to moult; and as they are only about 
two and a half years old then, I have no 
trouble in finding purchasers for them who 
are willing to pay double or more what they 
would bring in market for laying purposes. 
Wnen rearing chicks that are hatched in 
April, May or June, the cockerels are sold 
as soon as they can be picked out—usually 
when from three to four weeks old—mostly 
to parties who grow them up for home use, 
or for market. I consider Leghorns too 
small a breed to grow for market when 
hatched as late as the months named, which 
I find to be the best period for me to hatch 
and rear pullets for winter layers. 
I would advise farmers to dispose of 
their surplus stock early in the season—the 
cockerels as soon as they can be grown and 
fattened to marketable size, and the old 
hens as soon as they cease to be profitable 
as egg producers. Then if a little care and 
attention are given to make them fat and 
in good marketable condition, most of them 
could be sold to advantage near home, as 
but few country towns and villages have 
even a decent supply of poultry for market 
during the summer months. If not able to 
dispose of all at home, crate and ship them 
alive to the city markets. A great many 
farmers seem to think that their surplus 
poultry can be sold only in the fall when 
buyers are picking them up for the Thanks¬ 
giving or Christmas markets and when 
eveiy one is ready to sell and prices are 
pretty sure to be low. c. H. wyckoff. 
Tompkins County, N. Y. 
High Grain and Low Eggs. 
The best time to sell old hens is when eggs 
are low in price and grain is high. That 
time varies more or less every year, but as 
a rule May is probably the best time to re¬ 
duce the flocks. This year April would 
have been even better, considering the very 
high prices of all grains. 
I am not engaged in raising poultry exten¬ 
sively at present, confining my business 
altogether to thoroughbred fowls. I set all 
the eggs I get up to the middle of April, or 
at latest May 1st, and then proceed to sell 
all my breeding stock except the very 
choicest birds, seldom retaining more than 
10 hens of any breed. In pursuing this 
course I obtain very good prices for the breed¬ 
ing birds, as there are always men ready to 
buy thoroughbred stock, even as late as 
June. I usually obtain an average of #2 per 
hen for such stock. The hens I retain, be¬ 
ing the choicest of the entire flocks, are 
used to produce the early chickens and 
breeding stock for future years, the same 
weeding out process going on every year. 
In this manner I have succeeded in improv¬ 
ing a very uncertain breed until it is a very 
satisfactory and reliable one. When 1 was 
on the farm and bred a great many fowls, 
I usually sold off the older hens about 
June, and turned out all the rest on the 
pastures and in the orchards, feeding them 
only once per day on oats or buckwheat. 
Much depends on the breed. If I kept 
Plymouth Rocks I would sell the hens as 
soon as eggs dropped below 20 cents per 
dozen. This would apply perhaps to most 
of the heavier breeds that have a tendency 
to incubate. The price is usually good for 
such hens, and the best parties to 
whom to dispose of them are retail dealers 
or private customers in towns or cities. A 
plump, well-dressed chicken will always 
bring 15 to 16 cents per pound at retail. I 
do not believe in shipping the surplus 
stock alive unless I could make a contract 
with a butcher who supplies the hotels at 
watering places. Commission dealers I 
have never looked u^on as favorable to a 
profitable sale of live poultry. 
In the case of Leghorns I think it advis¬ 
able to keep them until they begin to 
moult in the fall. They will supply eggs 
all through the summer, and usually the 
eggs can be sold at a higher price if they 
are nice in appearance. A farmer near me 
contracts his Leghorn eggs at 40 cents per 
dozen by the year. He delivers them to a 
dealer in Newark, New Jersey. It would be 
exceedingly foolish for him to kill any sur¬ 
plus stock as long as the latter continued 
to lay eggs. 
I believe this covers the ground laid out 
in The Rural’s questions. I wish to add 
one thing, however, and that is that when¬ 
ever a fancier gets a good offer for his sur¬ 
plus stock, he should sell it. Speculation 
is the worst thing to enter into, especially 
in the poultry business. 
J H. DREVENSTEDT. 
Good Hens Find Good Buyers. 
I keep mostly all Leghorns, and my main 
object is eggs. I have shipped to one com¬ 
mission merchant for seven or eight years, 
and always obtain fancy prices, being very 
careful to gather the eggs every day and 
keep them clean, washing all soiled ones, 
and shipping every week except in very 
cold weather. I keep all my hens until 
there is quite a falling off in the number 
of eggs, which is usually in September. 
Then we use a great many of the poultry 
at the table until December, when we kill 
our hogs. As there are but few flocks of 
hens around here as good as ours, we can 
generally dispose of our surplus stock for 
breeding at about double the price which 
we could obtain by the pound. 
I would advise the farmer to do just 
what he finds most profitable with his 
surplus stock ; but to be sure to keep the 
best, and he should not mix different breeds, 
or give the largest share to the middlemen. 
If I can’t get what any thing is worth at 
home, then I ship it myself; and in buying, 
if the home merchant is not ready to sell at 
a reasonable profit, he will not sell to me. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. C. H. EVERETT. 
Before August 1st or Sooner. 
By all means dispose of all surplus stock 
by August 1st, or sooner. At this season 
hens partially or altogether cease laying 
and enough only should be reserved to sup¬ 
ply the eggs needed for use until winter 
when the pullets ought to commence busi¬ 
ness. The fall months are occupied in 
moulting, when we can not look for suffi 
cient returns to pay the cost of their keep. In 
this section we sell the birds alive to the 
boarding houses and hotels when the mul¬ 
titude of city guests are rusticating in the 
country. We get fully as good prices as can 
be realized in the city markets, and save 
freight charges and commissions. This rule 
applies to ordinary fowls. Of course, if 
one has choice breeding stock, it may pay 
to keep them over ; but the fact remains 
that birds which lay well during the latter 
part of winter and up till June or July will 
have about six months’ rest anyhow. A 
good motto is : “ Crowd them while the 
season of laying lasts and when that is over, 
replace them with new stock.” 
Mo. ORSON WINANS. 
Don’t Support an Idle Old Hen. 
The method which I adopt in my business 
would not answer for the average farmer, 
because I am a breeder of thoroughbred 
poultry exclusively, with a large trade in 
eggs for hatching, and I am never without 
orders at any season of the year. My stock 
is selected and culled from all my hatch¬ 
ings and contains no bird unsuitable for 
breeding; hence my entire collection are 
all breeding flocks. I annually select and 
keep as many of my best pullets as possible, 
after supplying my customers, but I am 
compelled to carry more or less of my best 
hens over the winter to keep the number 
good; but sell enough of the least desirable 
hens every year to prevent the flocks from 
exceeding my limit. 
Were I differently situated, however, and 
if an 80-point hen were as good for me as 
one scoring 90 or 95 points, I would dispose 
of every hen before winter, and let my 
stock consist of pullets. The time I would 
suggest for selling them would depend 
upon circumstances ; but whether the in¬ 
come is to be derived mainly from eggs or 
from market poultry, I consider May rather 
too early. 
Where eggs are the principal reliance, it 
is of course desirable that the supply be 
continuous, and in this latitude that is 
usually obtained by relying upon April and 
May-hatched pullets to furnish them dur¬ 
ing the fall, winter and spring, assisted 
after the arrival of February, by whatever 
of last year’s hens may have been wintered, 
and depending upon late summer or early 
foil hatched pullets to be laying plentifully, 
when the above-mentioned two sources fail, 
by reason of exhausted forces. But it is 
not indispensable to the supply of eggs at 
any season of the year, that the old hen 
should be wintered, because she is never 
laying when pullets are not, and it fre¬ 
quently costs so much to support her in 
idleness that she becomes unprofitable as 
an egg producer, for which reasm, as a 
rule, I would not advise keeping her over. 
Where the profit is chiefly realized from 
market chickens, the sale of fall-batched 
ones is a very important item. A neigh¬ 
bor of mine recently marketed 75 last-fall 
chickens, for which he received over $122, 
so that in whichever direction we look for 
our profit, the fall-hatched chickens are 
essential, and of course cannot be had if we 
now dispose of the hens that are to hatch 
them. 
JUNE 6 
The Chieftain Tedder. 
WITH PATENT ATTACHMENT. 
to relieve strain on Forks. Frame and Horse. Square 
Steel Axle extending from Wi.eel to Wheel. Com 
btned Shaft and Foie. If .vou need a Tedder, write 
for Circular and Special Cash price, or name of near¬ 
est Dealer. 
THE CHIEFTAIN CO., Canton, Ohio. 
I would advise the generality of farmers 
to dispose of all their old hens as soon as 
they are in proper condition for market 
after having weaned the last brood of 
chickens to be reared that season, unless 
they resume laying, or give strong promise 
of being productive if longer spared. Of 
course, hens should not be sold so long as 
they continue profitable, unless one is pre¬ 
paring to abandon the business; but when 
they cease to be productive, if the price is 
not too exceedingly low, the sooner they are 
turned into money the better. Farmers 
should watch their poultry as well as the 
market, and try to strike while the iron is 
hot. Whether to dress them or ship alive 
will also depend upon circumstances. I 
have a very large Jew trade, and poultry 
to them must, of course, be sold alive, as a 
Gentile to them is not good enough to do 
their slaughtering. Sometimes it is belter 
to sell to them than to dress for market. 
Every farmer who has many to dispose of 
should correspond with some reliable com¬ 
mission dealer, who will inform him con¬ 
cerning the market and give all necessary 
information. w. H. rudd. 
Suffolk Co., Mass. 
KttSToNE 
Aft.ooo of th^e/lacliines^ 
! pe been sold.Tne/'are n$ejn 
in nearly eVejy® 
MAM 
ruin in t mwiamran.i**' 
LPAOER 
SEND FOR 
GATALOGUE 
Tl E 
The Leghorn-Brahma cross is very pop¬ 
ular in New England. 
More skill is required in feeding Light 
Brahmas than any other breed because of 
their inclination to take on fat easily. The 
right kind of feeding makes all the differ¬ 
ence in the wcrld witn their laying. 
Adulterated Insect Powder. 
In reply to Horace P. Hayes, as to the 
harmlessness of Dalmatian Insect Powder, 
I will say that I spoke from my own ex¬ 
perience. Having previously used insect 
powder freely on young chicks with good 
results, I purchased a can of the Dalma¬ 
tian, and used it with bad results. I lost 
a number of the chicks. Tney acted pre¬ 
cisely as did some which I once killed by 
too free a use of sulphur; but no sulphur 
had been near them unless it was in the 
powder. I am well aware that it is claimed 
that the powder is made from pyrethrum 
flowers, but in these days of adulteration 
it is very difficult to tell what is pure. I 
do not wish to prevent any one from using 
it if it can be done successfully, but remem¬ 
bering my “ bad luck,” I would say, “ Use 
it cautiously.” “Frances.” 
One of Our Pets. 
When I was four years old father look us 
children out to the barn and showed us a 
nest of six kittens. I took my pick. Mine 
was a gray and white and had a white tip 
on his tail. I called him Jim. I used to 
dress him in my doll’s clothes and put him 
i Continued on next vane. < 
When writing to advertisers, please 
mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
DIPlfPT WILLS, Drag Saws, Circle Saws, 
riUlVC I House Powers, for Farm orMill use- 
Ji. C. MACHINERY CO., Rattle Creek, Michigan. 
g 3 -NAilE THIS PAFER «erj time jou write. 
Ku * l tKf\ C°. Sterling,I n. 
* * MENTION THIS PAPEA 
WINDMILLS 
The HALLADAY MILL 
is acknowledged the Standard Wind 
Mill of the World, and is made in 18 
sizes, 8 to 60 ft. diameter, 1 man to 40 horse 
power. It is adapted to pumping water for 
Btock and Dairy Farms, Ornamental and 
Village Water Supply and Fire 
Protection, Hailway Water Sta¬ 
tions, Irrigation, Drainage, Etc. 
THE HALLADAY is 
made upon honor and 
guaranteed The 
Powerful, Rumble 
) anil Iloil Regiilated 
Mlorm-Uefyine Wind 
mill on the market. 
U.S, SOLID WHEEL 
And STANDARD 
VANELESS * 
WINDMILLS** 
These Mills are guaranteed 
the KEST of their class. Are 
not made cheaply, but heavy and 
strong in construction. They are rap¬ 
idly taking the lead of all Solid and 
Vaneless Mills on the market. 
PUMPS 
We make a complete line of 
WIND MILL, HAND and 
POWER PUMPS. Iron, 
Brass and Brass-Lined . 
CYLINDERS. Our3Way 
Force Pumps have no equal. 
TANKS 
ake the largeKt nMMortnient of Tanka 
on the market? consisting of Round, 
Half Round and Square Stock Tanks, 
Milk Cooling Tanks, Storage aud House 
Tanks. Special sizes made to order. 
STANDARD 
HAY TOOLS 
For stacking out in fields aud 
mowing away in barns. The 
use of a good Hay Carrier 
and Fork a few hours before 
a storm may save many times 
their cost. We make the most! 
complete line of Horae Hay j 
Toola on the market, consisting 
of Anti-Friction, Swivel, Revers¬ 
ible aud Rod Hay Carriers. Har¬ 
poon and Grapple Hay Forks, 
Pulleys, Floor Hooks, etc. We also make the 
HALLADAY STANDARD GEARED WIND MiLL 
in 11 sizes, 1J^ to 40 horse-power. Corn Shelter*, Horae 
Powers and Jacks, Stalk Cutters, Feed Grinder*, 
Saw Table*, Tank Heater*, Etc* All goods guaranteed, 
itcllable Agenta Wanted in all unassigned Territory. 
Send for Catalogues and Prices to 
U.S. WIND ENGINE & PUMP CO., 
BATAVIA, ILLINOIS, L T . S. A. * 
BRANCH HOUSES: Kansas City, Mo.: Omaha, Neb. 
DEPOTSBoston. Mass.: Fort Worth. Texas. 
-THE- 
4 ! 
LARK’S 1 
UTAWAY^ 
ORN 
ULTIVATOR 
IT WILL 
CULTIVATE 
CORN and 
COTTON 
to a Height of 
THREE FEET 
Throwing th* 
Soil to or from 
the Plant. 
Send for Special 
Circular. 
Sole Manufacturers HIGGANUM, conn. 
New York Office, 183 Water St. NEW YORK. 
