262 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 28 
“Let those pinch back the canes in summer who 
like. None of it for me. .Just notice the big, fat 
buds on the lower portions of these whips, as you call 
them. They are fruit buds, and by next June every 
one of them will produce a side branch containing 30 
or 40 berries. If the canes had been pinched back last 
summer, these buds would have been forced into 
growth then to form the branching growth we hear 
so much about. This year’s fruit buds would then 
have been found on those small side branches, and 
would have been sma?l affairs beside these big fat fel¬ 
lows. This row is now trimmed as far down as we 
have gone, and it only remains for the hired man to 
carry out and burn the surplus wood and apply a 
heavy coat of manure.” 
The Part that Cultivation Plays. 
“ Ilow do you manage the cultivation ?”6aid Harry. 
“The first step will be with a one-horse plow to 
throw a shallow furrow from each side towards the 
rows, allowing the furrow to roll in among the canes, 
completely covering the surface among them. The 
rest of the surface is kept clean and mellow between 
the rows by stirring with a cultivator once a week 
until we finish picking. Each alternate year, instead 
of turning the furrow among the canes in the row, 
the plow is run as closely as possible turning a shal¬ 
low furrow away from the rows. A hoe or shovel is 
then used to scrape down the slight ridge among the 
canes directly under the wire formed by this year’s 
furrow being turned toward the row. In this way we 
need to hand-hoe (or shovel) only once in two years. 
Before the weeds have time to recover from this 
annual scraping or covering, as the case 
may be, the tops have made sufficient 
growth to shade the ground beneath the 
rows and keep the weeds in check. The 
weekly cultivating takes care of the 
rest. The canes being tied securely to 
the wire; nearly the whole space may 
be stirred up with the cultivator. Where 
now stands this row of whips of which 
the Deacon is inclined to make fun, will 
stand next June a solid mass of rasp¬ 
berry bushes covered with berries and 
blossoms high enough to completely 
conceal both horse and driver.” 
How the Bushes Pay for this Care. 
“ I have frequently picked two bush¬ 
els of berries from one of these rows at 
a single picking. Here are three rows 
of Shaffers, 30 rods long, which have 
been in bearing seven or eight years. 
Last season, we sold 800 quarts from 
them, besides what we used in the 
family and for canning. The season 
before (1892), we sold about 1,100 quarts. 
In 1890, I had 14 rows in bearing, three 
Shaffers and 11 Cuthberts, and sold 9,574 
pints for S516.93. The 14 rows occupy 
just about one acre.” 
“ How often do you pick ? ” 
“ Usually every second day, although 
for shipping, I believe it would pay to 
pick them over every day. The picking 
would cost a little more, but the fruit 
would reach market in better condition, and sell for 
enough more to make it pay. As soon as a raspberry 
is ripe enough to part from the stem, it is at its best, 
and I notice that it deteriorates from that moment 
fully as quickly on the bush as it does in the basket. 
It is also liable to be attacked by bees and wasps as 
soon as fully ripe if left hanging on the bush. There 
is one good thing about the raspberry business. It 
makes busy times while it lasts, but from the day I 
make the last picking, about August 1, until the huds 
begin to start in spring, about April 15, I can drop it 
completely from mind, and might just as well spend 
the intervening time in California or Europe, provided 
I left a good stout fence around the raspberries. 
O. W. MAPES. 
HOW TO MAKE A BROODER. 
For the farmer and, in fact, any one not engaged in 
the broiler business, outdoor brooders are best. For 
incubator-hatched chicks, they are a necessity, and 
may be used advantageously when chicks are hatched 
with hens. The brooder here described is large 
enough for from 50 to 75 chicks, but is better calcu¬ 
lated for 50 ; with that number it may be used until 
the chicks are eight weeks old. Of course, everything 
must be kept perfectly clean ; I would advise that the 
floor be well sprinkled with clean, sharp sand, and 
thoroughly scraped and cleaned every morning. 
The material necessary for the brooder will cost 
about $5, and is as follows: nine 12-foot matched white 
pine boards, three-quarters inch thick by six inches 
wide, planed on both sides; one piece sheet iron 30 
inches square-; one piece 15 by 20 inches in size ; two 
pieces galvanized iron or zinc 30 inches long by 2K 
wide ; glass for sash of run; one Little Queen oil stove; 
four hinges; six hooks; one pound sixpenny and one 
pound eightpenny wire nails ; a little putty, and paint 
for two good coats. Fig. 1 shows the brooder finished, 
with inclined bridge, E, in place. This bridge should 
be fastened to the end of the brooder with hooks, see 
S. The sides of the bridge should be made of one- 
inch-mesh wire, or muslin tacked to light frames, or 
it may be of solid boards. F is the door or exit for 
the chicks, and should have a slide. F is a ventilating 
hole two inches in diameter ; there should be one on 
each side, fixed to close with slides. C is a chimney to 
carry off fumes from the lamp. Including the run, the 
brooder is 72 inches long by 32 wide ; at the highest 
point, X, it is 20 inches high, and at both front and 
back 16 inches from the ground. The chimney is four 
inches square by two feet long. A is a sash door hinged 
to the run ; T T are hinges; the opposite side should be 
provided with hooks, like S S, on the back cover or roof, 
JJ. Hinge both A and B to open on the side most con¬ 
venient to get at the chicks. A should lap over B as 
shown in Fig. 2. B should be of solid beards and as 
nearly watertight as possible ; dampness is fatal to 
chicks. 
Figs. 2, 3 and 4, show sections of the brooder; Y is 
the floor ; J is a piece of sheet iron 30 inches square, 
firmly nailed to cleats, M, on the four sides of the 
brooder. In Fig. 4, a hole or door eight inches square 
is cut, opposite the chimney, for a lamp door; here 
the cleat is cut away to admit the top of the lamp and 
the sheet iron is nailed to a short 10-inch cleat be¬ 
tween the floor and sheet iron. Except these there 
Homemade Broodkk all Pictured Out Fig. 74. 
are no cleats at the sides above the sheet iron, as will 
be explained further. At front and rear, cleats II 4 
inch wide are nailed, and to these the floor is fastened 
after putting in the deflector, H ; this is made as fol¬ 
lows : two pieces of board are made like I, 20 inches 
long on top, by one and a quarter wide in the center; 
they are to be nailed to the floor as cleats, and must 
be 15 inches apart from outside to outside, placed as 
in Fig. 3. To these is nailed the 15 by 20 inch piece 
of sheet iron. At each end of I, a one-half inch air 
space is left. This deflector serves a double purpose; 
it prevents overheating the floor, and also divides the 
heat which passes up into the chicken chamber under 
the hover, as shown by the arrows. The floor in the 
brooder is one-half inch-scant for 30 inches from back 
on each side, as shown on the right side. Fig. 3. Be¬ 
fore fastening the floor, nail on the pieces O O, see 
Fig. 5 ; they are 30 inches long by three inches high ; 
at the top of each, a piece is cut out 20 inches long by 
one-half inch deep, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5; now nail 
in the floor, and there will be a half-inch air space on 
each side. Take the strips of galvanized iron or zinc, 
bend them as in K, tack them to the sides of the 
brooder and to the ends of the top oi O Q ; these are 
to direct the heat into the chamber under the hover 
L, The edge that is tacked to G, should be neatly 
folded over, see K. The hover, L, Fig. 3, should rest 
on top of GO; when the chicks are first put in, the 
cleats which fasten it together should be up; this 
gives the chicks a chamber three inches high. In 
three or four days, turn the hover over and they will 
have a four-inch chamber ; the hover should be scant 
30 inches square, with one inch cleats on the ends. 
As the chicks grow, it must be raised, or in warm 
weather after they are a week to 10 days old, it may 
be removed. Don’t overheat the little fellows ; place 
a thermometer on the floor in the center under the 
hover. Ninety degrees will be warm enough for the 
first two or three days, then gradually reduce to 80 
degrees and lower. The chicks themselves are the 
best thermometer ; when they are too cold, they will 
huddle together, and the weaker may be smothered, 
when too hot they will “move out.” When the heat 
is just right you will find them spread all over the 
floor and hear contented little peeps. The best way I 
know to find out the condition of things is to put your 
hand under the hover and feel for yourself. 
The arrangement of the brooder when finished 
should be as follows: depth of lamp box from sheet 
iron to floor, eight inches ; heater box between sheet 
iron and floor, 1)^ inch. The cold outside air comes 
into the heater box through four one-half-inch holes, 
D, Figs. 1, 2and 4, is warmed by passing overthesheet 
iron, and is driven up between O and the sides of the 
brooder into the chick chamber. The lamp must stand 
under the center of the sheet-iron heater. To make 
this a sure thing, nail two cleats, N N, Figs. 3 and 4, 
just far enough apart for the bottom of the lamp to 
slide between them, and at the back nail another cleat 
or stop ; when the lamp hits this, it is in the center. 
The door of the lamp box must have several holes 
bored through it to admit air to the lamp. Opposite 
the door is the two-inch hole P. This opens into the 
chimney and carries off the fumes from the lamp. 
Should the lamp smoke, it doesn’t have air enough It 
is best to have air holes at the bottom of the door. The 
run is 30 by 40 inches ; the chicks should 
be kept in this for a few days, then at¬ 
tach the bridge, E, which it is well to 
cover at the top as well as at the sides, 
and let the chicks out into a small en¬ 
closed run, say, 10 feet square. There 
should be an opening in the side to 
correspond to that of the bridge. Should 
the sun be too hot, shade the glass of 
the run in some way, or there may be 
roast chicken before it is wanted. Feed 
and water the chicks in the run. 
In building the brooder, put the boards 
on up and down, see Fig. 1. The first 
thing to make is the bottom of the lamp 
box, 30 inches square; this to have cleats 
all around except where the lamp enters. 
By having boards planed on both sides, 
there will be no waste in cutting the ma¬ 
terial for the sides. For top cleats, so 
as not to hinder the removal of the 
hover, have narrow cleats the same thick¬ 
ness as the sides; nail these right on 
top of the ends as shown in Fig. 1. The 
floors of the brooder and of the run are 
continuous. The legs of the run are 
made by extending the siding to the 
ground ; they will be about 103^ inches 
long, which is the depth of the heater 
and lamp box, below the floor. Muslin 
may be used instead of glass for A. 
When the chicks are placed in the 
brooder, put a water fountain, made 
by inverting a deep tin can into a 
round roast-beef can, or other shallow tin an inch 
or two larger than the other can. Bore an awl 
hole into the side of the inverted can about a quarter 
of an inch below the edge of the shallow tin ; by dip- 
•ping these together into a pail of water, filling both 
while under the water inverting the taller can into 
the other tin, you have a day’s supply of water. The 
shallow tin will remain full as long as water remains 
in the other can. The first feed for the chicks should 
be cracked wheat or oat flakes fed dry; feed little 
and often, at regular intervals, only what they eat 
clean. Feed cracked wheat and oat flakes until they 
are large enough to eat whole wheat and cracked 
corn. Always keep fine grit and charcoal, about as 
large as wheat grains, where they can get at it. A 
little cabbage or onion chopped fine is good for an 
occasional feed. Never feed anything sloppy. Let 
them out of the run into their little yard whenever 
the weather permits. Keep everything clean, and 
you should raise nice chicks. Daring warm weather, 
after the chicks are a week or 10 days old, when the 
sun shines they will not require artificial heat. If 
the Little Queen oil stove is not procurable, an or¬ 
dinary hand lamp may be used, but the Little Queen 
is the best brooder stove that I have ever used. Keep 
the basin above the oil filled with water, and it is 
safe and reliable. If anything in the directions for 
building either incubator or brooder is not under¬ 
stood, I will willingly explain, but the inquirer must 
inclose a stamp for reply. j. h. e. schultz. 
Mountain View, N. J. 
Hen(8)ce, to brood(er) not to brood, is the question. 
