i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
683 
POULTRY YARD. 
Continued. 
of the Argonaut is claimed to be peculiarly 
its own. It seems to be a symphony of 
Plymouth Rock and Game, with a little 
Dorking thrown in. 
The Argonauts originated by crossing the 
Pea combed Plymouth Rock and the Crim¬ 
son Game. This was the first cross, but 
not proving satisfactory, a cross with the 
Plymouth Rock and Indian Game with the 
Crimson Game was made. The progeny of 
the different crosses were bred together and 
better results were obtained. But the final 
steps in the building up of this breed were 
made when some fowls were used that are 
described as remnants of the old-fashioned, 
clean-legged Shanghai or Cochin, so these 
Argonauts are a combination of Indian 
Game, Crimson Game, Pea combed Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks and clean-limbed, old-fash¬ 
ioned buff Shanghais. 
NINETY PER CENT BY THE NAT¬ 
URAL METHOD. 
The barn-yard fowl having become so 
largely a creature of man’s fashioning 
through domestication, it is a question as 
to just what degree of freedom must be 
allowed her in the so-called “natural meth¬ 
od.” The most purely natural method is a 
“ go-as you-please” which allows the moth¬ 
er hen to feed, breed, nest and brood at her 
own sweet will. Must this be insisted on 
in order that the method may be called 
natural ? Shall breeding stock be confined 
to such an extent as merely to bring 
breeding conditions under the control of 
the owner of the birds, or may we look 
upon any method that does not make use 
of the wooden hatcher and mother as nat¬ 
ural ? The last, I think, is now the com¬ 
monest acceptation of the term, and with 
such meaning it will be used in this article. 
First, then, even with natural methods it 
is far better that the breeding stock be 
selected, using the be-t cockerel with older 
hens, if a preponderance of pullets is de¬ 
sired. Let the hens be the pick of the 
whole flock in size, vigor and laying quali¬ 
ties. If it be impossible to make such 
selection, let the male be of the best, not 
related to the hens, and note the eggs of 
the best hens, using these for setting. A 
light feed of grain once a day, together with 
a little meat twice a week, will pay, even 
where the fowls have the freest range. 
To hatch the chicks under hens is the 
natural way ; it is also natural for the hens 
to be lousy, to fight among themselves, to 
break eggs and to leave the nests at random 
—at least these are some of the natural re¬ 
sults of domestication. If even a fair num¬ 
ber of chicks is expected, the sitters ought 
to be as completely subject to their owner’s 
will and as free from other interference as 
possible. Those of quiet nature can be re¬ 
moved to the hatching room at night, with 
the precaution of giving them china eggs 
for a few days until they show that they 
are fully settled in the new quarters. If the 
general flock is allowed to molest sitters it is 
at the cost of at least half the possible num¬ 
ber of chicks. Ordinarily it is better that 
the hen should sit in a fence corner, shel¬ 
tered by a few boards only, but in solitude, 
than that she be in the house with the lay¬ 
ing hens. They should have a regular run 
and feed, and attention enough to make 
sure that each returns quietly to her own 
nest, and that all are comparatively safe 
for the next 24 hours—except from lice. 
The breed makes some difference with the 
number of chicks, as hens of pugnacious, 
uneasy breeds, or those of extra weight, 
cannot make as good sitters or mothers as 
those of medium weight and tranquil tem¬ 
per. Victory over lice may be secured at 
this stage of the work by a free and fre¬ 
quent use of good insect powder or carbolic 
acid. Lice need not be very troublesome 
at any time if clean nests and good dusting 
facilities are always provided for the sit¬ 
ters. An earth nest will not invite lice as 
a chaff or hay nest will, and is so far pre¬ 
ferable. It may be made in a box as well 
as on the ground. All nests must be hol¬ 
lowed at the center only enough to keep 
the eggs together. If so deep that some can 
lie above the rest some breakage is certain, 
and one or two broken eggs, soiling others, 
may spoil the whole hatch unless all are 
cleaned at once in warm water. The box 
must be very little larger than the hollow¬ 
ed nest, and the corners should be filled a3 
high as the rim of the nest, lest some eggs 
be pushed out by the hen in her efforts to 
turn them, or herself. 
All eggs may be easily tested by any 
novice on the eighth day. Dark ones—the 
ones containing ohe chicks—can be doubled 
up and new settings given to part of the 
hens, the clear eggs being saved in a cool 
place until hatching time. The yolks may 
form one-half the feed once a day for three 
or four days with perfect safety; the hens 
will be glad of the whites, and just that 
quantity of other food will be saved. 
The chicks once fairly hatched, the heav¬ 
iest work will consist in fighting lice, 
gapes, etc. Nowhere is the ounce of pre¬ 
vention better worth the pound of cure 
than in the chicken yard. Gapes can be pre¬ 
vented by using chopped onion or garlic 
daily in the soft food, or can be largely 
warded off by keeping the chicks in a 
building on a board floor sanded or strewn 
with chaff, for two or three weeks, or until 
they get a good start. Lice can now be 
headed off by a liberal use of insect pow¬ 
der and kerosene. Kerosene is safe if judi¬ 
ciously used any time after hatching, (never 
before) and nothing else is so sure. But it 
will take off both down and skin if used too 
freely on young chicks. It is safe to brush 
the coop with it, to pass it lightly through 
the hen’s feathers, and merely to touch the 
down on the chicks’ heads. 
If tne hen and her brood are to run at 
large, they should be fed regularly, counted 
as regularly, and watched closely. Even 
this will not prevent loss in wet grass, 
through hawks, or through the quarrel¬ 
some propensities of mothers at odds with 
one another. To be master of the situa¬ 
tion, one must coop the broods in floored, 
vermin proof, non-choking coops; that is, 
in receptacles wide-slatted by day, and 
close-netted or close-boarded at night, with 
ventilation at the top if boarded. 
Almost any feed is good if given in ju¬ 
dicious variety; too much hard-boiled egg, 
scalded curd or raw corn meal, or heavy 
allowances of thick, sour milk may cause 
bowel trouble, as may unwholesome water 
or lack of shade. Meat is not the safest 
thing to feed in unlimited quantities; 
many broiler men taboo it for the first two 
weeks. Possibly it may be thought to 
have no place in the natural method, ex¬ 
cept as Nature supplies it in the form of 
bugs and worms. Still, for myself, with 
that modified natural method under which 
I am to have control of conditions, I should 
use meat once or twice a week if I could 
get it; but I would rather have bone than 
meat, if It must be a choice. Bone meal I 
always use, and meat when it is at hand. 
Clean, pressed scraps, such as farmers can 
get at two cents a pound, or less, are whole¬ 
some and pay well, in my opinion. 
If chicks grow listless, neglect their food 
and show loose bowels, or the reverse, look 
for the cause. There is always a cause, 
and it must be found and removed. “What 
ails my chicks ? ” wrote a troubled owner to 
his favorite paper this very season. “ They 
sit around listlessly, their wings droop, and 
after moping a few days, they die, one after 
another.” This man was on the right 
track because he was asking the cause. 
But the reply was “ Thousands of chicks 
die thus every year; we never heard of a 
remedy for this trouble.” To thus throw 
an inquirer off the right track is culpable. 
There certainly was a cause for the death 
of those chicks. It might be that their an¬ 
cestors had been inbred so long that they 
had no constitution; it might be that they 
had been subjected to a chill, or that they 
were infested with lice. If told this, the 
owner would have known at once whether 
the first reason was correct; the second usu¬ 
ally shows in bowel trouble and a pasting 
up of the vent; the third could have been 
overcome by the use of the proper means. 
Possibly he might not have been able to 
save the chicks on hand, but his question 
showed good sense enough to make it seem 
certain that he would see that next year’s 
chicks did not “ droop ” thus, it once given 
a strong hint as to the probable causes of 
the difficulty. 
The prominent causes of disease, or of a 
condition which may invite disease, may be 
briefly summed up as follows: Generally a 
lack of ancestral stamina or vigor; specific¬ 
ally, raw or sour feed, impure water, lack 
of green food, lack of sharp grinding ma¬ 
terial, excessive sun heat, or the reverse, a 
chill or a drenching, filthy quarters, pres¬ 
ence of vermin. Any one of these may take 
off half the flock while the owner is waking 
up to wonder what ails the chicks. There¬ 
fore vigilant watch must be kept for symp¬ 
toms of disease, and more especially for the 
precursor of these wrong conditions, and 
such conditions must be corrected at once, 
if they exist. 
A physician called to attend a typhoid 
fever patient never rests until he ferrets 
out the cause of the disease. He doesn’t 
give his medicines in poisoned water, waicii 
will constantly nullify their elect; oi the 
contrary, he orders an immediate and thor¬ 
ough change in every unfavorable condi¬ 
tion. Those who keep poultry may well 
take a lesson from him, for hens are very 
like persons as regards water, shade, diet 
and medicine, even to the size of the dose 
of the last. They feel the heat worse than 
do their owners, for they wear “ winter 
clothes” almost throughout the year. They 
are even more thirsty than thirsty man¬ 
kind, and are thus sure to be made unhappy 
through the lack of water, or sick, if that 
to which they have access contains the 
germs of disease. 
Another fact In connection with hens and 
chicks which, if noted, will give a key to 
every difficulty, is that the moment there is 
anything wrong with the fowls, the bowels 
are almost sure to be affected. Indeed, the 
droppings may be called a sure thermom¬ 
eter by which to gauge the condition of the 
flock. 
A sunken look about the eyes, and a pale 
face and comb will quickly catch the eye of 
the close observer, and these outward signs, 
together with listless instead of bright, 
quick and eager motions, may show even 
the novice that something is wrong. The 
hen in perfect health always takes an in¬ 
terest in life. If cooked food is not regu¬ 
larly used, a change to it is always wise at 
the first sign of bowel trouble. The one 
great point is to see that the digestion is 
kept perfect. This assured, and gapes and 
lice kept at bay, the chick has little to fear 
but accidents, which the foresight of the 
owner must and can largely ward off. 
No raiser of chicks, whether for home 
use or for market, should be satisfied with 
raising less than 90 per cent of all hatched. 
One out of every ten is all that he ought to 
afford to lose; it is surely more than he can 
afford, if by any means he might have 
saved that one. c. s. valentine. 
GOOD CHEAP BOOKS. 
Silo and Silage ■ —BvA. J. Cook Thiril 
Edition, 189 . Contains the latest and fullest on 
the subject. More than 20,000 sold In less than two 
years. This work Is praised by such men as 
John Gould, Colonel Curtis, Professors Shelton 
and Gulley, and Pr. C. E. Betsey. The author 
has proved the silo to be a very valuable aid on 
his own farm. Price, 25 cents. 
Bee-Keepers’ Guide. -By a. j. 
Cook. 15,000 sold. 460 pages; 222 illustrations. 
Praised by Bee-Keepers In every land. The 
science and practice of modern bee keeping 
fully explained. Every Bee-Keeper should have 
It. Price, $1.00; reduced from $1.50. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
Times Building, New York. 
Canning and Preserving. 
By Mrs. S. T. Rorer. 12mo, with in¬ 
dex. Price, bound in cloth, 75 cents; 
paper covers, 40 cents. In this useful 
manual Mrs. Rorer discusses at length 
the canning and preserving of fruits 
and vegetables, with the kindred sub¬ 
jects of marmalades, butters, fruit jel¬ 
lies and svrups, dying and pickling. 
The recipes are clearly and simply 
given, while an exhaustive index affords 
easy reference to every subject. 
We will send the paper-covered edi¬ 
tion, free and postpaid, for four trial 
subscriptions at 25 cents. Or with 
The RuralNew-Yorkerot American 
Garden to January 1, 1892, for only 
$1. The cloth-bound edition for six 
trials at 25 cents: or with The Rural 
New-Yorker to Jan. 1 for only $1.25. 
How to Multiply Plants. 
How to Graft. 
How to Bud. 
How to Seed. 
How to Inarch. 
How to Increase by Cuttings. 
How to Increase by Layers. 
How to Increase by Separation. 
How to Hybridize. 
How to Produce New Varieties. 
How to Propagate over 2,000 
varieties of shrubs, trees and her¬ 
baceous or soft-stemmed plants: the 
process for each being fully described. 
All this and much more is 
fully told in 
The Nursery Book. 
A new book, by L. H. Bailey, 
assisted by several of the most 
skillful propagators in the 
world. In fact, it is a careful 
compendium of the best prac¬ 
tice in all countries. It con¬ 
tains 107 illustrations, 
showing methods, processes 
and appliances. 
Over 300 pages. 16mo. Price, library 
style, cloth, wide margins, $1.00; Pocket 
style, paper, narrow margins, 50 cents. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
Times Building, New York. 
3 
Years’ Subscription Free. 
I. e., a Three Years’ Subscription and a Serviceable Fruit 
Drier for the price of the latter. 
3 
The II, S, Cook Stove Fruit Drier or Evaporator, 
Thoroughly Tested and 
Approved. 
Latest, Cheapest. Best. 
A Veritable Little Bread- 
Winner. 
Weight, 25 Pounds. 
Handsome Metal Base. 
Can be used on any kind 
of Stove. 
Dimensions: Base: 22x16 
inches; Height, 26 inches. 
Eight Galvanized Wire- 
Cloth Trays, contain¬ 
ing 12 square feet of 
tray surface. 
No Extra Fire. 
Always ready for use, and 
will last a lifetime. 
Easily and quickly set on 
and off the stove as 
needed, empty or 
filled with fruit. 
Facsimile of Machine Complete. 
Price, 87. 
Its Capacity is Ample for Domestic Use. 
Up to two bushels of fresh fruit per day. It is just what thousands of careful, prudent, 
economical household managers need and want, even if they do not have time or neces¬ 
sity to engage in evaporating fruit as a business. 
flllR flEFER- Price the Drier alone, $7. Price to our 
UUn urrcili subscribers, together with a three years’ 
subscription, $7 ; this will pay your subscription for three years 
from the date of expiration of time already paid for. Or we will 
give it free to any present subscriber who will send us four new 
subscriptions at $2 each. Subscriptions to The Rural New-Yorker 
count the same as The American Garden. 
If you want a larger fruit drier (prices $25 to $350), write 
us for terms, stating capacity desired. 
