^895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
83 
probability it has shrunk in value. You apply it to 
wheat, and wait a full year for the first returns, and 
another year for the secondary use. My rule of prac¬ 
tice is, and will be, to spread the manure as fast as 
made, on grass if possible, and if more manure is 
wanted, piece out with commercial fertilizers. Na¬ 
ture's methods are to top-dress—animal droppings, 
dead insects, falling leaves, all fall on the surface and 
nourish grass and weeds, which in their turn fall 
down and decay on the ground. L. b. pierce. 
Summit County, Ohio. 
ICE AND STRAWBERRIES. 
Growers are beginning to realize the great benefit 
to be derived from the use of ice in connection with 
the handling of strawberries. The time has come 
when the fruit grower who aims at any degree of suc¬ 
cess, must use every means to get his fruit on the 
market in the best possible condition. There is cer¬ 
tainly room for improvement in the methods of mar¬ 
keting strawberries that have been employed on this 
peninsula. The most important factor in the needed 
improvement is, in my judgment, the intelligent use 
of ice, not only in the car which carries the berries to 
market, but in the berry shed where they are put in 
crates and held for train time, and in the wagon which 
transports them to the nearest railway. 
My plan for the coming season, is to construct an 
ice box to fit my berry wagon, and then load the 
berries in the ice box as fast as they are gathered, 
where they will remain until unloaded in the iced car 
at the depot. Such a box need not be very expensive ; 
it is only necessary to make a tight box, wide enough to 
hold two crates alongside of each other, with ice stood 
on end in racks around the outside. Of course the 
height and length of the box will be made to suit the 
wagon, and the load it is intended to carry. A blanket 
laid over the top will answer as well as a tight lid. 
The advantages to be gained by this plan, are ap¬ 
parent to every one having experience in the ship¬ 
ment of fruits. The berries will be cooled off at once, 
and the decay will have no chance to set in. They 
will suffer far less from the rough haul to the rail¬ 
road, and even if put in cars without ice, they will re¬ 
main cold for some time; in fact, if the whole car¬ 
load were cooled before loading, the temperature 
would be kept comparatively low until after the in¬ 
tense heat of the day is over. The berries will not 
only be cooled off at once and kept cool, but they will 
not be exposed to the hot winds which work so much 
injury to the berries. It has been abundantly proved 
that any moderately firm strawberry may be kept for 
days if carefully picked and wrapped in raw cotton. 
Prof. Van Deman tells us that he has seen berries so 
kept for a whole week in good condition. The only 
.office of the cotton is to keep out the air and the germs 
of decay with which it is laden. It is evident, therefore, 
that the sooner we can get our berries into a tight, 
cool box, the longer they will keep, and the better 
they will get to market. Another great advantage to 
be gained, is the exclusion of dust which generally 
follows in clouds after the wagon on its way to the 
station. 
It should be mentioned here that ice can be kept 
until strawberry time with very little trouble. No 
expensive icehouse is necessary, as the heat of the 
summer has not yet come on. Ice may be stored in 
any building where it can be covered with sawdust, 
and kept in perfect condition until June 1, or even 
till all the berries are marketed, for I am sure that if 
this plan is tried with strawberries, it- will be applied 
to raspberries and blackberries. I find, too, that it is 
a wonderful help to strawberry plants when ready for 
shipment, to place them, basket and all, in a cooling 
house for a few hours before shipping. Once 
thoroughly cooled, there is no danger of over-heating. 
Dover, Del. A. w. s. 
A HOUSE FOR 1,000 FOWLS. 
A HEN REGIMENT UNDER ONE ROOF. 
How One Man May Act As Commander. 
We have had quite a number of questions about 
how best to make a large building for 1,000 hens. 
The following represents the figuring of a successful 
poultryman who has studied the matter for a long 
time. It is evident that one house to hold 1,000 hens 
will be cheaper than 10 houses to hold 100 each. It 
will also require less time to care for the 1,000 in one 
house. As to the dangers from disease and other 
drawbacks in having the whole flock in one building 
—that is a matter of opinion. We will discuss that 
later. 
How the House is Made. 
The house, see Fig. 29, is 300 feet long by 24 feet 
wide, six feet high at the eaves, and 12 feet at the top 
with the roof pitching both ways. It is well lighted 
with one window in the front of each pen and one in 
the top fol each pen. The house sets north and south, 
go that fowls in the east pen get the sunshine in the 
morning through their window in front and those in 
the west side through the windows in the top of the 
house, and the afternoon sun in like manner. The 
house should be made as tight as possible and per¬ 
fectly dry. The windows in the top are hinged at the 
bottom of the sash so as to open inside for ventilation 
on warm days. There are 25 pens on each side of the 
walk, 12 feet square on the floor, which is raised two 
feet from the ground with partitions underneath the 
house the same as the pens above; this gives a dry 
place for the hens to wallow, insures freedom from rats 
working under the floor, and doubles the floor room 
for the fowls. The yards are 12 feet wide, and 150 feet 
long, and are well provided with fruit trees for shade. 
The fences are boarded two feet high, with four-foot 
wire netting above. 
The walk thi'ough the middle of the house is raised 
two feet from the floor, thus giving the fowls all the 
floor room and allowing both pens to drink from the 
same trough under the center of the walk. The 
center board of the walk should be 12 inches wide and 
hinged, so as to be raised to brush out the water 
trough. This should be of galvanized iron, run the 
whole length of the house and be supported by cross¬ 
pieces on posts between each pen, allowing it to sag 
an inch or so in each pen so as to hold water. 
The house should be built on a slight decline so as 
to allow the water to run from one end to the other 
readily, and the trough should be flushed and brushed 
out daily. There is a car runuing from the feed house 
at one end along the walk to the other end of the 
house, from which all feeding, cleaning platform 
under roosts, gathering eggs, etc., are done. All 
windows are also raised or lowered from the walk so 
that the attendant rarely has to go into the pens for 
anything. In the illustration, A A are posts two feet 
high, on which the house is set; b the water trough ; 
c c feed troughs ; d d a board five or six inches below 
the level of the walk, on which the fowls stand to eat 
from the troughs through slatted partitions; k k 
platforms under roosts three feet wide and perfectly 
tight, so that no dirt can drop through ; F f roosts ; 
G nest. The roosts, nests, etc., extend 10 feet, allow¬ 
ing a two-foot gate to enter the pens if necessary ; ii 
is a door let down for cleaning platforms ; i, door for 
gathering eggs. 
Cost and Earnings of Such a Building. 
130 locust posts for foundation at 30 cents. $39.00 
16,000 feet of frame at $14. 324.00 
14,000 feet of boards for roof, sides and ends at $18 . 252.00 
10,500 feet of matched flooring, floor, roost platforms, 
etc. at $22.50 . 236.25 
5,000 feet of inside partitions, walk, nest, etc. at $18. 90.00 
4.500 feet of wire for inside partitions at one-half cent.. 22.50 
7,800 feet of tin or steel roofing at 6 cents. 468.00 
100 windows at 70 cents. 70.00 
300 feet of galvanized spouting for water trough at 16 
cents. 48.00 
6.500 feet of felt for covering sides. 65.00 
Hinges, cord for windows, pulleys, nails, etc. 25.00 
Total. $1,539.75 
YARDS 150 FEET LONG. 
728 locust posts at 30 cents. $218.40 
20,000 feet of boards for partitions in yards and under 
, house at $18 . 360.00 
36,000 feet of wire partitions. 180.00 
Hinges, staples, nails, etc. 10.00 
Total. $768.40 
Feed room 24 feet square, at the end of the building, 
arranged with bins for different kinds of feed, etc. $120.00 
Well, pump, tanks, piping, etc. 80.00 
Boiler with dumping kettle. 35.00 
Engine for cutting bone, pumping water, etc. 250.00 
Mann’s large power bone cutter. 76.00 
Hay cutter, for cutting clover, etc. 16.00 
Total. $577.00 
Cost of poultry house. $1,539.75 
Cost of yards. 768.40 
Cost of labor for whole building about. 400.00 
Cost of 1,000 fowls at 65 cents each. 650.00 
Grand total. $3,935.15 
These prices are the retail prices of lumber in the 
lumber yards here, and of course would vary with dif¬ 
ferent parts of the country, as would also the price of 
feed and eggs. As it would take about four car-loads 
of lumber, there would be quite a saving in buying at 
wholesale. 
The food required for one year I estimate as follows: 
2 % tons wheat bran at $20. $55.00 
3J4 tons oat feed at $22 . 77.00 
2% tons corn meal at $24 . 66.00 
1 ton oil meal at $30 . 30.00 
100 bushels potatoes, turnips, etc. 15.00 
1 ton clover hay. 14.00 
365 pounds salt. 2.00 
7 tons fresh bones. 84.00 
400 bushels wheat. 240.00 
100 bushels buckwheat. 70.00 
100 bushels oats. 35.00 
100 bushels corn. 55.00 
50 bushels barley. 30.00 
200 bushels beets, carrots, etc., for feeding raw in winter. 30.00 
40 bushels charcoal. 16.00 
1 ton grit.14.00 
Total cost of feed...a $833.00 
With the foregoing treatment, good early pullets 
will lay at least 12 dozen eggs each, which will make 
their account stand about as follows : 
Dr. 
Cost of feed. $833.00 
Interest on investment at six per cent. 236.10 
Cost of fuel for engine. 20.00 
Cost of fuel for heating water, etc. 20.00 
Total. $1,109.10 
Cr. 
12,000 dozen eggs at an average of 21 cents. $2,520.00 
Profit. $1,410.90 
In the above account there is no charge for labor, 
which would require one man about as follows : IK 
hour for preparing morning feed and feeding; 1% hour 
for cleaning roost platforms and cleaning up in gen¬ 
eral; one hour for cutting and feeding bones at noon; 
IK hour for gathering and preparing eggs for market; 
one-half hour for feeding at night. If everything is 
arranged properly, the above time will be ample, and 
will allow plenty of time for looking after things in 
general. There was no account made of the droppings, 
which will be no small item if they are properly cared 
for. The platforms should be sprinkled with dry 
earth, land plaster or coal ashes or something of the 
kind after cleaning each day, which will prevent any 
sticking to platforms, and also help keep the drop¬ 
pings in good shape. These should be put under 
shelter until wanted for use. 
How to Feed the Hens. 
For the morning feed, put about 15 pounds of bran, 
20 pounds of oat feed, 15 pounds of corn meal, five 
pounds of oil meal, one-half bushel of boiled potatoes, 
turnips or cut clover, and one pound of salt, in a large 
box on the car ; pour on enough hot water to moisten, 
not enough to make it sloppy or even sticky. With a 
shovel, mix thoroughly, when it should be a moist, 
crumbly mass. Run the car along the walk, and with 
a scoop put about the same quantity in each trough, 
being particular to feed no more than they will eat 
clean. At noon, give them all the cut bone they will 
eat readily, which will be about 40 pounds. At night, 
feed wheat, corn, oats, barley or buckwheat, scatter¬ 
ing it in cut corn stalks or other litter, in their pens 
in cold or stormy weather ; in pleasant weather, 
scatter it well over their yards. They must have all 
they are willing to scratch and hunt for, which will 
be about two bushels. Keep plenty of fresh water in 
the trough, and in cold weather run hot water through 
it frequently, so that they will have warm water to 
drink. Keep plenty of good sharp grit and charcoal 
before them all the time, with an occasional mess of 
beets, carrots, etc., fed whole so that they can pick 
what they want in winter, and keep something grow¬ 
ing in their yards in summer for green food. The 
yards should supply an abundance if carefully 
managed. 
The prices for feed are those prevailing here by the 
ton, and are a little above the average for the past 
few years. Eggs are rated at about the average price 
in our local markets, which might be raised a few 
cents per dozen by getting a special trade on strictly 
fresh eggs shipped every day, or three times per week. 
Re very careful to ship all eggs in good shape, and 
put no stained or soiled ones in the crates. Send no 
eggs that are over two days old, and in summer ship 
the day they are laid if possible. Guarantee all eggs 
to be strictly fresh, and you will not be long in get¬ 
ting a first-class market for all you can get, and you 
can lengthen your house and increase your number of 
fowls to as many as you can properly look after, and 
still have a demand for more first-class eggs than you 
can supply. J. k. stevenson. 
Columbus, N. J. 
DIRECT PURCHASE OF IMPLEMENTS. 
What Alva Agee and D. II. Nash say on page 824, 
about the manner in which some farmers purchase 
implements, is true to the letter. I have known farm¬ 
ers to have the opportunity offered them to save $5 to 
$15 in the purchase of an implement or vehicle by 
paying cash—which they were well able to do—and 
decline it because a lively agent offered them a simi¬ 
lar article on six months’ time. It is a waste of time 
to talk to such men about the benefits of cooperation 
or the cash system. They don’t want either. 
I have never found any difficulty in purchasing almost 
any article at a very small per cent—barely the cost 
of handling—over manufacturers’ or wholesale prices 
by offering spot cash. It is only when the article is 
controlled by an iron-clad trust, that it cannot be 
bought very close to manufacturers’ prices by the man 
who buys in unbroken packages for cash down. Some 
dealers demand a certain profit on all they sell, and 
will not cut prices under any circumstances ; but it is 
not difficult to find others that will. Little piddling 
purchases on credit, and careless off-hand ordering 
without knowing the price, are equally ruinous. I 
have seen farmers enter a store and order “ a dollar’s 
worth of coffee, a dollar’s worth of tea and a dollar’s 
worth of sugar,” m a pompous, or free-aa^-easy man- 
