Ihg4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
i9 
ordinary farm wagon. Mr, lILcks illustrated this by 
saying that when drilling grain, one man would load 
the fertilizer and bags of grain on this wagon, hitch 
the drill on behind, and go to the field and unload 
alone. With the ordinary wagon, two men would be 
required. For drawing potatoes in sacks, boxes or 
baskets, apples in barrels, in short, anything heavy 
requiring a wagon, for its transportation, this wagon 
is just the thing, saving the high lifting and straining 
necessary to load the common wagon. 
THE LIGHT BRAHMA AS A BUSINESS FOWL. 
WflAT HER HU3INESS IS. 
With all due respect to the sprightly Leghorn that 
figures so extensively in the columns of The R. N.-Y. 
as a business hen, par excellence. I wish to bring for¬ 
ward my favorites for a share of these business 
honors. Where eggs alone are sought in poultry cul¬ 
ture, and white-shelled eggs—such as are preferred 
in the New York market—at that, I admit that the 
Leghorn can hardly be surpassed, though I think the 
Minorca might prove a dangerous rival. B it eggs 
are not the only factors that make up the profit ac¬ 
count of poultry-keeping, and in this connection I 
wish to show how Light Brahmas earn m^ney for 
their owners, both in meat and eggs—particularly 
where one ships eggs to such a market as Boston and 
some others where uniform'y colored, brown eggs 
command some three or more cents a dozen more 
than those having white shells. 
The Light Brahma is a prolific layer; where it is 
not it simply advertises the fait that its owner doesn’t 
know how to feed and care for the breed. The same 
feed and care given to Leghorns will not make Light 
Brahmas return the greatest profit, and it is just here 
I think that so many fail to make Brahmas profitable. 
Such active fowls as the Leghorns are not likely to 
get too fat, even if over-fed, particularly if given free 
range ; but, with a Brahma, two things are important 
—the giving of just food enough to produce the best 
results, and keeping the birds everlastingly scratch¬ 
ing for what is given them. 
My plan for getting the greatest profit from Light 
B'^ahmas is as follows: Let the birds be hatched 
early—in February and March—and their growth be 
forced right along from the start. Some of the cock¬ 
erels will reach the size of “ roasters” by the last of 
.June, when prices in the Boston market are often 40 
or more cents a pound, while all the cockerels can be 
marketed at remunerative prices during the early 
summer as roasting chickens. The pullets should be 
laying in September, when eggs are soaring skyward 
in price, and they should lay steadily all through the 
fall and winter, when eggs are at their high¬ 
est. Then when the price of eggs goes 
down in April and May, let these hens be 
quickly fattened and sent to market, where 
they will fetch an extra good price, for a 
well-fattened yearling Light Brahma hen 
makes about as fine a piece of poultry meat 
as one will find in our American arkets, 
where rich yellow legs and skin and a large, 
plump body are especially prized. 
I have had some experience with various 
breeds of poultry, and I know of none that 
will lay a greater value of eggs in a year 
than the Light Brahmas. J do not assert 
t'’at Leghorns will not lay more eggs in a 
year. They will begin to lay eight weeks or 
> o before Brahmas, hatched at the same 
time, but the great bulk of Leghorn eggs so 
far as my experience in a somewhat cold 
climate goes, are laid when eggs are com¬ 
paratively low in price, while the great 
bulk of Brahma eggs, as I have shown, can 
be harvested when the highest figures are 
ruling. As to prolificacy, I may mention the fact 
that my own Light Brahmas are descended from 
stock that made a record of an average of 161 eggs 
each in one year, in a flock of not less than 50, and 
the birds of the present well sustain the record of 
their ancestors. 
Another superior point in favor of the Light Brah¬ 
mas for the farmer’s use is their quietness. One can 
hardly drive them over a two foot fence, while I never 
yet saw a fence, or a farm building, for that matter, 
that a Leghorn could not scale if it felt so inclined. 
Again, it is desirable to keep such fowls on a farm as 
will permit of poultry meat upon the table every 
week in the year, and for this purpose the Leghorn is 
not “ in it,” nor can one sell the cockerels he raises 
except for a pittance, unless he hatch extremely 
early, so as to meet the demand for broilers, and then 
the pullets so hatched would be likely to moult the 
first season. webb doxxei.l. 
One cent will buy a postal card on which to send us 
your friend’s name for a sample copy of The R. N,-Y., 
jf you wish to preserve your copy, 
TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT DORSETS. 
The R. N. Y. is deserving of much praise for its 
severe condemnation of some of the Dorset breeders 
for making such extravagant claims for the breed and 
then sending out such inferior- stock. Nothing else 
can so much injure the breed. They are good enough 
if only the truth be told of them ; but when they are 
represented as weighing, the ewes in fair store con¬ 
dition from 150 to 200 pounds and the rams from 200 to 
350 pounds, it is simply untrue, and the purchaser will 
be grievously disappointed when he receives them. 
The claim also that they are “ Dog proof” is entirely 
absurd and untrue. While they are quite pugnacious 
and will fight among themselves and might possibly 
drive away a timid dog, no dog that is in the “ busi¬ 
ness of sheep killing ” would be for a moment deterred 
from attacking a Dorset ewe or ram, either, for that 
matter. 
The Dorset is emphatically a dairy breed, and has 
the milk, form and udder, and is very liable to be quite 
thin and flat just back of the shoulders; many import¬ 
ers and breeders seem to pay no attention to this breed 
failing. We were among the first importers of Dor- 
sets, and seeing their defect were very particular to 
buy from flocks as free as possible from it. It was in 
this point that our stock ram was very strong, and 
which gave him an easy first prize over RoyaLWind- 
sor when shown in competition with him in Detroit. 
Being in the early lamb trade we have always sent 
to the shambles all but our choicest lambs, and in this 
way have kept very free from their failing. We have 
also cared for and fed our flocks as nearly like the 
English method as possible, bub still our ewes in store 
condition will not average 150 pounds. Some will 
weigh that but they will not average it. 
Dorset breeders are not alone in extravagant claims 
for their stock, although I must admit, as I have read 
some of their advertisements, I thought they were not 
far from the head of the list. But such practices are 
reprehensible and do much injury, not only to the 
breed overpraised, but to the whole live-stock indus¬ 
try. It is better by far to tell the truth and only the 
truth, and if customers are disappointed on receipt of 
stock, have them find ttock better than expected, not 
worse. Another thing that works great harm is the 
selling as breeders of all stock raised. When a lamb 
can be sold as a breeder for .510 even, the temptation 
is too great for many to resist it, when it would be 
very much better for the breed and for the breeder if 
all such were sent to the mutton market, and only the 
best sold as breeders. 
About one year ago, a gentleman in this State to 
whom I had previously sold some Dorsets applied for 
prices on some breeding ewes in lamb. I named what 
I thought a fair price, but he said he could buy of an¬ 
other breeder whose advertisement he showed me for 
considerably less, and from the claims pf the advertise¬ 
ment it could not be but they were as good if not bet¬ 
ter than mine. A few weeks after he came again and 
I let him have only half the number wanted. After 
he had them selected and paid for, he said he had been 
to see the sheep of the other breeders and he would 
rather pay the price I asked for mine than to pay a 
quarter as much for the others. In sheep breeding, 
as in every thing else, it pays in the end to “ stick to 
the truth.” .i. s. woodward 
A HOME FAGrORY FOR BERRY PACKAGES. 
WHAT can’ T a man D O W I T II A SAW? 
A Work Shop Not a Shirk Shop. 
A country home without a workshop and a set of 
tools for doing plain and practical carpenter work is 
without one of the necessary conveniences that are 
required in the economical “make up” and manage¬ 
ment of such a home. It is true that there are men 
who cannot handle tools with any degree of satis.f,ic- 
t'ou, even though they be possessors of the most com¬ 
fortable workshop and a complete set of tools. There 
are others who, with only the simplest tools will ac¬ 
complish jobs of work that would, under the former 
circumstances, necessitate the calling of a carpenter 
with the consequent expenses. But the small fruit 
grower may, if he be gifted with a natural inclination 
and ability to use tools, be able to save a great many 
dollars as well as many annoyances in the course of a 
few years, by having a home factory in which he em¬ 
ploys himself part of his leisure time in winter mak¬ 
ing and repairing crates, and overhauling his stock of 
berry baskets 
Within 35 feet of our house is a spring of pure, soft, 
cold water, over which, after laying a solid foundation 
and headwall of heavy masonry, I built a two story 
building, containing two rooms in the basement, and 
one room above. This upper room being 10 x 16 feet 
makes a good work shop. A tight flo.r of jointed 
boards keeps all dust and litter from falling to the 
milk and wash rooms below, while a large, square 
window gives good light. A solid workbench of two- 
inch plank is built just under the window, across the 
end of the room, and at the r’ght, arranged on the 
wall is a good set of tools, A few feet back on the 
right is a foot-power circular saw, carrying a six-inch 
saw. This is my “ fjctory ” where are manufactured 
crates of various shapes and sizes with their corre¬ 
sponding slides or trays, picking stands, carriers, etc., 
besides scores of other conveniences connected with 
the small fruit business and a country home. The 60 
crates shown in the engraving (Pig, 8) are all 16 quart 
or raspberry crates, complete with trays, and were all 
made last winter. In addition to these, I made ten 40- 
quart crates complete with trays, also 20 new 
picking stands, making a total of 70 crates and 
20 stands for last winter, 1892-3. 
Good lumber for crates is obtained from large hat 
boxes of three-eighths inch stuff, which may 
be bought very cheaply. The crate stuff is 
ripped out very accurately and rap'dly with 
the little circular saw, which has proven 
itself a “little ripper” indeed, as well as 
being almost perfect as a crosscut. In fact, 
I do not use a hand saw in the entire opera¬ 
tion. I use the 16 quart size exclusively for 
raspberries, as it makes a light, compact, 
attractive package, being only one-half the 
length of the standard bushel crates. The 40- 
quart size I use in retailing strawberries, and 
find them very satisfactory, as they are light, 
handy, and look very neat, being one tier 
higher than our standard bushel. To those 
who order a bushel of berries I almost invari¬ 
ably sell the 40 quarts, as they are always 
willing to “take cne crate,” thereby dis¬ 
posing of eight extra quarts that they would 
not take were the berries in bushel crates. 
This plan of making our own crates is 
likely to be criticised by some of our large 
growers whose capital prompts them to 
scorn ,the idea of making a crate. I am not 
writing at present for the benefit of that class, but 
for those young men who, like myself, are trying 
to get a start in life with no capital but a determined 
spirit to “ get there ; ” and to such I would say, let 
them criticise. If a few hard-earned dollars may be 
saved each year by having our own “ factory” with 
forms and dimensions for making all kinds of berry 
crates, picking stands, reels, markers, etc., it is right 
that we should do so ; and, if we are gifted with the 
easy use of tools, there is hardly a limit to the useful 
contrivances that may be constructed very cheaply, 
and with positive enjoyment on days that we can do 
nothing out-of-doors. 
The cost of my crates, all complete with slides, 
good solid cleated covers, hinges of new leather and a 
substantial coat of paint, averages seven cents for 16- 
quart crates, and about 12 cents for the 4()-quart size. 
I wish it distinctly understood that these crates are 
as neat, light and strong as any crates made, costing 
from 50 to 70 cents. 
An abundant supply of strong, well-made, clean 
crates is indispensable to the grower who wishes to 
build up his home market, and who comes face to face 
A Home Factory for Berry Crates. Fig. 8. 
