39o 
June 33 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
quired no more attention till nearly night, when I 
would press the button and go out and gather up from 
S4 to $5 worth of eggs.” 
“Why can’t Stephen gather the eggs, too, after 
school ? ” said the Deacon. 
“Simply because he cannot carry so many. We 
often get 30 dozens a day.” 
The Deacon claims that their hens always hatch 
best when they steal their nests. Acting on this sug¬ 
gestion, I proceeded to try to fool some hens, and 
make them believe that they had stolen their nests. I 
took half a dozen coops, such as I use for a hen and 
brood of chicks, carried them to the knoll back of the 
house, and placed a nestful of eggs in the back corner. 
I then went to some of the houses farthest away from 
the knoll just at night, and selected some broody 
hens, placed one in each coop and fastened her in by 
nailing up the front slats. One of them was a Brown 
Leghorn pullet. After a couple of days, I knocked 
off a slat from each coop and placed a box of corn 
and some water close by. The coops are placed about 
20 feet apart. I watched them carefully for a day or 
two to see what they would do. They soon found the 
corn and water. Seeing no trace of their old homes, 
they soon went back to their nests and settled down 
to business, Leghorn pullet and all. They will be due 
to hatch in a few days. They have required no atten¬ 
tion except to keep up the supply of corn and water. 
One might have sitting hens by the acre on this plan. 
When they hatch, it will only be necessary to nail 
up the slat again, and they are ready for business. 
___ O. W. MAPES. 
THE COLOR LINE IN POULTRY. 
AKK “WUITES” IN ANY WAY SUPERIOR? 
1. Are the White Plymouth Rocks superior to the Barred as (jeneral- 
purpose farm fowls 7 If so, In what respect? 2. AreWhlteWyan- 
dottes superior to the Slivers and Goldens ? If so,why? 3 Which of 
the LeRhorn breeds Is superior for Keneral purposes, and why 7 4. 
How are these newer breeds originated 7 6. What of the Buffs In 
the different breeds 7 
No Difference But Color. 
1, 2 and 3. There is no difference whatever in the 
breeds named, except in color. Any claim made for 
one is also made for the others. They are alike in 
hardiness, size, market quality and prolificacy. 4. 
Usually they are said to be sports, but the majority 
originate from the selection of those which approach 
nearest to the desired color. Sometimes crossing is 
resorted to. Such breeds (?), however, are in no man¬ 
ner uniform. 5. Some of them are new, and not 
firmly established, but they differ in quality, when 
perfect, from other kinds in color only. p. h. Jacobs. 
Whites Generally Better for the Table. 
1. The White Plymouth Eocks are superior as a 
table fowl, especially as young chickens, as they do 
not show the dark pinfeathering when dressed. As 
layers they are about equal. 2. The same reason 
applies to the Wyandottes as to the Plymouth Rocks : 
they are about equal as layers, but the White are 
superior for market. Of course, every man has his 
own opinion and fancy, and each thinks his the best. 
3. With the same treatment, there is little difference. 
They are poor as table fowls; the dark ones, when not 
in perfect feather, make a very poor showing. The 
White Leghorns are not equal to the Plymouth Rocks 
or Wyandottes, for table use ; but I think they are a 
little larger than the dark or colored varieties of Leg¬ 
horns. 4. The new breeds are mostly sports, but 
some of them are made by crossing with other breeds. 
They require close inbreeding to make them breed 
true to color, and consequently are rather delicate for 
some time, until new blood can be obtained from 
other yards. I would not advise a new beginner to 
try them until they had been thoroughly tried and 
proved all right by older breeders. 5. The Buffs are 
a new diversion, and may prove to he of great value 
in a few years ; but at present, they are rather weak 
and imperfect. james h. seely. 
Where the “ White ” Comes From. 
The White Plymouth Rock is not superior to the 
Barred for any practical purpose. Some people ad¬ 
mire white poultry of any breed merely as a matter 
of taste; yet in no case do I know of superior merits 
in any variety of white poultry (except White Leg¬ 
horns) over colored ones of the same class. White is 
one of the results of domestication. Some specimens 
of almost every domestic animal, except donkeys, may 
be found white, and in Egypt even white donkeys are 
known, although they are rare. When Plymouth 
Eocks were first introduced, I found white very trou¬ 
blesome in them ; for some years, some birds would be 
almost half white. Wyandottes were somewhat, but 
not so much so, before the dark color was selected and 
bred many times over. It is an easy thing to select 
birds from either the barred or laced breeds with 
more than usual white ; mate them and select the 
whitest, till the progeny become white. But a much 
shorter cut is to mate a Barred Plymouth Rock, or 
a Wyandotte, to a white bird, especially if the white one 
is of no special breed, and select from their progeny 
the best types in white, until the ideal form, color of 
legs, size, comb, etc., are attained. I have no doubt 
in my mind that such white fowls have been used to 
hasten the permanency of the perfect white of many 
of our varieties. As a matter of fact, the birds show 
it, as few of the white birds of most varieties are a 
perfect type of the original colored breeds. I have 
noticed this particularly with White Plymouth Rocks. 
The first well-shaped birds raised a sensation, and 
commanded high prices when first introduced. These 
finely-formed birds were quite an exception to the 
average ones of the yards. If the birds had been 
merely selected from all Plymouth Rocks, this would 
hardly have been the case to such a degree. Golden 
Wyandottes are no exception ; many of them are not 
the exact shape of the Silver. Where is the feathering 
on White and Black Cochins, compared with the Buff ? 
The White Dorking cannot be brought up to the size 
of the colored. I am not sure that White Langshans 
or Minorcas average as large as the Black. Buff Leg¬ 
horns are only beginning to bud out into a decent Leg¬ 
horn shape, white in this breed being one of the earli¬ 
est permanent colors. I am convinced that it is fully 
equal to any other color, if no more is claimed for it. 
There are other colored Leghorns, Black and Barred, 
but the White in this breed loses nothing of the most 
perfect form and size. 
As to “ which of the Leghorn breeds is superior for 
general purposes,” none of them can lay claim to that 
quality, as they are poor sitters, if not nonsitters, and 
are not much esteemed as table fowls; as layers they 
are unsurpassed. The White lay the largest eggs, 
fine ones at that. The Brown lay a few more eggs in 
a year, but their eggs are smaller than the White. As 
to the making of Buff Leghorns, it would not be as 
necessary to cross on a buff of any other breed, as 
there are so many yellowish fowls in this class, that 
selections for a few years would soon bring a buff 
variety. There are plenty of yellowish common fowls 
in the barnyards of America, but they are usually 
accompanied with dark hackles the one thing hard to 
avoid in all yellow poultry. Besides the buff breeds 
mentioned above. Buff Polish were once popular, but 
are now almost extinct. I remember seeing but oae 
other variety of clear Buffs, Buff Cochin Bantams. - 
__ HENRY HALES. 
STOCKYARD MANURE ONCE MORE. 
ONE WHO HAS TRIED IT. 
Some years since, I had several car-loads of stock- 
yard manure sent to my station in the month of June. 
Nothing was paid for it excepting the railroad freight 
at the rate of $14 per car. A l^aul of IX to 2 miles 
was necessary to get it on the land. It was piled up 
awaiting use on a fall crop of rye sown in September. 
Like all “stockyard” manure, it was largely composed 
of refuse hay, and piling insured a more thorough rot¬ 
ting before use. Of course, the crop of rye was bene¬ 
fited to some extent by its application, as were also 
one or two succeeding crops. A summary of cost and 
result afterward satisfied me that it was a most ex¬ 
pensive manure. The railroad freight was about $1 
per ton, and hauling nearly two miles was certainly 
worth another dollar per ton. To be of especial bene¬ 
fit, nearly or quite 10 two-horse wagon-loads per acre 
were necessary; indeed this might be considered a 
light dressing of that kind of manure. The land im¬ 
mediately adjoining was treated with a good commer¬ 
cial fertilizer and produced equally good results in the 
crops that followed, at a far less expense. If time is of 
any value, it can easily be seen that the hauling from 
the station alone is an important item of cost. I never 
applied for any more stockyard manure, and as I kept 
an accurate account for years of the cost and applica¬ 
tion of different kinds of manures, my books showed 
a most unsatisfactory balance for it. I certainly would 
not haul it two miles if it were delivered.to me at that 
distance entirely free. 
No better evidence of the waning estimate of city 
and stockyard manure need be given than that afforded 
by the prices paid for stable manure throughout New 
York City a few years ago by the Long Island and 
Jersey truck farmers, and the present demand for it 
by the same parties. Fifty cents per horse-cart load 
was the common price paid by truckmen, while now 
the stable owners are glad to contract at a yearly * 
round price to have it taken away, receiving nothing 
for the manure itself. The lessened demand unques¬ 
tionably comes from the general and cheaper use of 
commercial fertilizers. It is an easy thing to spread 
400 or 500 pounds of fertilizer per acre, but not an 
easy one to spread 10 to 15 tons of manure per acre. I 
am not an agent for fertilizer companies, or the son of 
an agent, but, although figures may lie, yet the expe¬ 
rience of years, and close attention to its effect on my 
bank account, are sufficient proof, while all the evi¬ 
dence for a long term of years is overwhelmingly in 
favor of the easier and cheaper handled commercial 
fertilizer. Of course, I do not contend for the willful 
squandering of what the barnyard may afford, and I 
use with good effect what a small amount of stock 
produces; but as for making up deficiencies by the 
purchase of stable or stockyard manure, it is simply 
out of the question financially considered. 
Just across the Hackensack River on the Jersey 
meadows, is a pile of stable manures that, judging 
from its appearance from the car windows, contains 
millions of tons. The daily additions from the city 
stables are freely wet down by hose pipes in the hands 
of a gang of men. The rotting process goes rapidly 
forward, and when ready for sale by the ton, it will 
cut like an old cheese. Of course it weighs heavily, 
as with the amount of moisture it contains it natuially 
must do so ; but it is also undoubtedly a valuable plant 
food. As I understand the matter, it is the contents 
of the city horse stables, slaughter houses and stock- 
yards, thoroughly mixed and rotted as described above. 
As a competitor with commercial fertilizers among 
farmers who have three or four miles to haul, neces¬ 
sarily “ it is not in it.” For those living close to rail¬ 
road stations at which it may be deliveied, its use per¬ 
haps may pay and pay well. I have seen more or less 
of it shunted on side tracks of the Pennsylvania rail¬ 
road, waiting to be unloaded by purchasing farmers, 
and therefore conclude that it is in favor with those 
who buy it. Just now, however, is probably not a 
favorable time to create a demand in excess of the 
ability of the company to supply. A. t. t. 
Franklin Park, N. .1 
APPLYING PARIS-GREEN TO POTATOES. 
It is a matter of surprise to me that some growers 
adhere to the old way of applying arsenites to pota¬ 
toes in a solution of water. When the Colorado beetle 
first came east, I tried hand-picking. This was very 
costly. Then came the use of sprinkling pots, and 
especially pails and whisk brooms. Barrels of water 
had to be drawn to the field, and when those pails had 
to be carried along every row of 20 or more acres of 
potatoes, the very thought was wearisome. It was 
truly hard work to apply the green in that way, and 
we necessarily spent much time resting at the ends of 
the rows. Then came the knapsack sprayer, and this 
was a great improvement. But for ease and effective¬ 
ness, nothing that I have tried equals a sifter, the 
arsenite being diluted with flour, 
I can make three or four sifters in half an hour, all 
the material needed being quart tin cans, broom han¬ 
dles, a few sixpenny nails and some common tacks. 
After a score or so of holes have been punched 
in the bottom of the can, transverse slits are made in 
one side of the can near the top, and, when the flaps 
of tin are pulled back, a handle is thrust in and fas¬ 
tened with a nail to the opposite side of the can. Then 
the flaps of tin are tacked to the handle, and all is 
ready for work. The handle of the sifter is jarred 
with a stick as one moves it along the row, and no 
cover for the sifter is needed. One man can go over 
two acres a day when the tops are half-grown, and 
three acres when quite small, jarring a little of the 
mixture in the bud of each plant. The advantage of 
flour over other diluents is that it forms a paste in 
case of rain, and does not wash off readily. This is 
important. Last year I used the green in very showery 
weather, and it would stick and kill the beetles. The 
flour is more palatable than lime, plaster, or road dust, 
and when we apply Paris-green, we want the beetles 
to enjoy the eating. By the way, our local grocery 
keeps a very low grade flour that sells for 35 or 40 
cents a sack of 24 pounds. I was thoughtless enough 
to make one purchase of this for the beetles, and then 
remembered that, as I got 36 pounds of good flour for 
table use in exchange for a bushel of 50-cent wheat, 
the good flour cost me only 33 cents a sack. Tne 
beetles liked the low-grade flour very well, but as it 
cost seven cents a sack more than high-grade, I bought 
no more. I sell a bushel of wheat for 50 cents, and a 
laborer pays 50 cents at the mill for 24 pounds of 
good flour. The result is that he takes a low grade 
at 40 cents, and the beetles take the high-grade at 33 
cents. This may be good for the latter, but is hard 
on the laborer. 
One and a half pound of Paris-green to a 24 pound 
sack of flour is the best ratio I have tried This will 
not burn the vines, and yet is strong enough to make 
a very small portion sufficient for a hill, always pro¬ 
vided one’s druggist has not adulterated his stock of 
green any more than usual. While it sticks better 
when the vines are wet, yet we continue to apply it 
all day long unless the wind rise too much. The 
material and labor cost me 70 cents an acre this year, 
as I have both rows and hills slightly closer together 
than usual, but I have made the applications more 
cheaply in other years. One application is usually 
sufficient, as the hatching season is soon over if the 
weather be hot, and when the little ones go to the 
bud, as is their habit, they find the arsenite ready. 
With care there is no danger in mixing the green 
