THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 23 
198 
I am talking about 40 per cent powder. Like every¬ 
thing else, powder must have something to lift against; 
common, sandy soil is not strong enough ; hardpan 
clay would answer better. I removed a number of 
large pine stumps with giant powder and fire. I first 
bored a 1%-inch hole in the center of the stump, 
then fired a charge of powder (from tw o to four sticks, 
about one pound or a little more) that would blow 
part of the stump clear out of the ground; the rest 
would be split and shattered so that I could set fire to 
it and burn it out. The trouble with boring the 
hole, is to get the exact center of strength. If the 
center is not reached, it will blow off the weaker half. 
I could not get the center once in 20 times. Any one 
using giantypowder must remember that the gas will 
get out of the hole the easiest way every time, and it 
beats all how easy it will find weak places that you 
knew nothing about. E. K. 
Portland, Col. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
A Fa km’s Finances. —I didn’t answer the request 
for my experience in regard to the finances of the 
farm for 1893, for when I was selling onions for SI a 
barrel, and eggs and butter for 11 cents, I thought if 
I couldn’t make a living at farming, I would go into 
the grocery business. My sister, in town, was paying 
her grocer 35 cents a dozen for eggs, and the grocers 
were buying for 21 cents. I thought that I’d like to keep 
a grocery with that margin, but I’ve taken my invent¬ 
ory since, and I find there’s money in the treasury. So 
I will try to answer some of the questions that were 
given in The R. N.-Y. in September about “ More or 
Less Money in Farming” : 
RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES FOR FOUR YEARS. 
Receipts. Expenses. 
1891 .$1,737 $ 700 
1892 . 1,612 740 
1893 . 2,000 629 
1894 . 1,524 1,010 
My labor expense averages $250 a year. You can see 
that last year was not fraught so much with milk and 
honey as former years, but in 1890 with no fruit, the 
receipts were but $008. Gross receipts are several 
hundred dollars larger than 10 years ago, and it takes 
that much more thought and enterprise than it did to 
catch a dollar 10 years ago. For instance, then we 
used no phosphate, and last year our phosphate bill 
was $150. The following articles are cheaper : Ilay, 
wheat, beef, fowls, onions and grapes. We sold eggs 
in February of 1893, for 35 cents a dozen, and in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1894, for 17 cents. As we keep about 500 fowls 
on our 100 acres, and keep them for eggs, the low 
price of eggs cut into our profits. Hard times help 
us, though, for they have taught us to economize and 
lower the cost of production ; and we study our busi¬ 
ness more. Fruit pays best, and eggs next. R. N.-Y. 
potatoes have been such a blessing to us that we can 
afford to take the paper the rest of our lives for the 
same reason that we keep our old horse—the good it 
has done. We never had a large yield of potatoes till 
we raised those, nor a crop to sell ; but last year we 
had $175 worth of beauties, and we purpose to raise 
12 acres of them this year. I think the prospect for 
the future is bright ; for experience has taught us 
what crops pay best, and prices have probably touched 
bottom. Hens, hogs, cabbage and potatoes have 
paid us well this past year. 6. h. 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
That 1,000-IIen House. —I am very much interested 
in those plans and specifications for the house, rations, 
etc., for 1,000 hens. Concerning the open question of 
whether it is better to keep a large number of fowls 
in one mammoth building, or in several comparatively 
small and scattered houses, I personally much prefer 
the large house. While this plan will increase the 
risk from certain diseases, it will more than compen¬ 
sate in cheapness of plant, and convenience in caring 
for the fowls. In fact, I think the danger from disease 
would be trilling while the plant was new, but after 
years of occupation, I would fear some trouble in this 
respect, especially from the yards. On the whole, I 
believe the plan on page 83 to be a valuable addition 
to the poultry architecture. Hut there seems to me 
to be one very objectionable feature, but it is a fault, 
if fault it be, which can be easily remedied, and at the 
same time lessen the cost of the building. I refer to 
the small rooms only two feet high under each apart¬ 
ment. I decidedly object to have any part of my hen¬ 
house so arranged that my fowls can get where I can’t, 
or at least where 1 can’t reach. I would much prefer 
one floor,- and let that be earth, well drained, or 
cement if one can afford the expense. 
I would suggest that, if the henhouse were but 240 
feet long, and 25 instead of 20 hens were kept in each 
apartment, the plant will <?ost less, and the fowls will 
do as well. I am a firm believer, from economic con¬ 
siderations, in much fewer square feet of floor per hen 
than are generally advocated. The hens will thus 
keep warmer in winter, and they need only a place 
under a roof in summer, to roost and to lay their 
eggs, except on rainy days. The ration I think a good 
one. The statement that 1,000 hens will lay 12,000 
dozen eggs in one year, does not accord with my ex¬ 
perience. There are doubtless many hens that will 
lay 12 dozen eggs in 12 consecutive months, but I think 
it very improbable that 1,000 hens or pullets can be 
got in one flock, that will average so well, especially 
if they must be purchased at 65 cents each. The price 
of new-laid eggs here during the recent cold weather, 
was but 26 cents per dozen at retail grocery stores, 
and last April and May it was but 14 cents at the same 
stores. I am sure the average price here for the year, 
considering the season when the most eggs are laid, 
could not be more than 18 cents at retail, and prob¬ 
ably not more than 17 cents at wholesale. m. h. l. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
"HOW / RUN A BROILER FARM.” 
LEARNING A NEW BUSINESS. 
Wanted! Winter Work For Hired Men. 
After two years’ experience with new methods of 
farming as taught by The R. N.-Y., I found myself 
very busy during the summer; but when winter came, 
my income was very materially reduced. Resides 
that, two extra men whom I hire by the year, were 
wearing out more pantaloons than leather. I again 
studied the files of The R. N.-Y. to find something to 
turn this idle time into profit I decided on poultry 
farming. After one year of experimenting with differ¬ 
ent incubators and brooders, in two rooms in a build¬ 
ing on the second floor, I visited some of the principal 
broiler farms in the country. I experimented with 
all kinds of feed, temperature, ventilation and differ¬ 
ent varieties of fowls, and 1 came to the decided con¬ 
clusion that it was a paying business and worth a 
trial on a large scale. I set to work planning build¬ 
ings, and the result is shown at Fig. 61, which pic¬ 
tures the brooder house in which I raise chicks by 
the thousand. This building is 114 feet long, with a 
feed room attached 14x20 feet. The main building of 
the brooder house is 14 feet wide on the ground floor. 
I use single brooders holding 100 chicks each—15 
brooders in all—each one running independent of the 
other. I use the hot-water pipe brooders, heated with 
lamps. They are easy to run, and are a material sav¬ 
ing of expense. I can brood 100 chicks, or 1,500, just 
as I desire, without any inconvenience one way or the 
other ; 100 chicks can be brooded at a cost of 14-15 
less than 1,500, and so on up to the full limit of 1,500 
chicks. When chicks are feathered, or sufficiently so 
to do without any extra heat than that of the room 
itself, I remove the lamp and bottom of the brooder, 
and place chaff, leaves or cut straw in the bottom of 
the brooder, and they are just as happy and do as 
well and grow more robust. 
How the Thing Started Off. 
The first year, or during my first experiments, 1 
bought my eggs from neighboring farmers. This is 
all wrong, as most farmers do not give the proper 
attention to their stock to give the desired result for 
incubation. I now use none but my own eggs for 
incubating, with average hatches as high as 96 chicks 
to 100 eggs. The result of my first year with my new 
brooder house, was over 4,000 broilers. For most of 
them, I found a market in the coal towns near home, 
at hotels, restaurants and in rich families in the 
cities. The rest I expressed to good commission men 
in New York City, who advertise in The R. 
N.-Y., and they have used me as well as I could 
desire—gave me good prices for good stock and in pro¬ 
portion for the poor with prompt remittances. The 
first 10 days I run my brooder at a temperature of 103 
degrees, the same as that of the mother hen ; after 
the first 10 days, I drop to 100 degrees and then to 97 
degrees and never below 90. 1 use additional heat 
from a system of hot air in six-inch pipes running 
through the brooder house during very cold weather, 
to keep my room at this temperature. This I am 
about to replace by the hot-water pipe system, but 
this system will remain independent of the brooders. 
How the Chicks are Fed. 
I have no “ best feed ;” any and all feeds that con¬ 
tain a balanced ration, are good enough for me, and I 
have good success with all of them ; young chicks will 
do well on any kind of feed that is properly balanced. 
I prefer the dry or baked feed, and use both. When 
quite young, I use ground corn, two quarts ; ground 
meat, lean, fresh or dry, one half pint ; ground 
fine bone meal, one-half pint ; two raw eggs, 
season a little with very little salt and pepper, mix 
well and bake the same as corn bread. Instead of 
corn meal a mixture of ground oats and dark mid¬ 
dlings may be used ; with it I use oat meal flaked or 
cracked dry. After three weeks, I gradually change 
to broken wheat, cracked bone, fine cut lean meat, 
cracked corn, plenty of fine grit and charcoal. Pure 
dry sand, two inches deep, is all over the pen ; I use 
the sand and charcoal from the time they are taken 
from the incubator, until they go to market. I keep 
a perfectly dry pen, with chaff an inch or two deep to 
work in, and frequently scatter small seeds such as 
millet, steel-cut oatmeal or any kind of dry feed 
among the litter, but use something with as little dust 
as possible. At no time do I allow any feed to remain 
to sour or for the chicks to run over. I remove all 
feed from the chicks after 15 minutes. I always use 
clean, pure feed of any kind, give all the water they 
can drink from the first day to the last, and use a 
vessel in which they cannot get wet. A common 
fruit can with the top taken off. a few small nicks in 
the edge, filled with water, with a saucer placed over 
the end and turned quickly upside down, is excellent 
and cheap. I put it on a block to keep the chicks 
from soiling it. I have a self-feeding box with five 
partitions, in which I keep my charcoal and different 
kinds of grit. It is so constructed that the chicks can 
get all they wish, but can’t waste any. I keep them 
busy, at all times, working in the sand and litter ; 
they must have something to do, to work at, to keep 
them healthy and out of mischief. I use plenty of 
green feed, some cut fine, such as young clover, cab¬ 
bage, lettuce and celery ; this they must have fre¬ 
quently. 
To learn how to feed and care for young chicks, 
watch and study the mother hen for a week or so, and 
you will find your time well spent. She can give 
lessons, if she is a good mother, that will make any 
man a successful chick raiser. Watch her with her 
brood from sunrise to sunset; see how and what she 
finds for them, how she feeds them on all kinds of 
feed, from the fine stone grit to the most delicious 
bug; how she warms them under a body with curtains 
of feathers to keep all draughts off, and at a tempera¬ 
ture of 103 degrees with no ventilation ; see how busy 
she is from hour to hour—no over-feeding, oftener 
under than above. When you have mastered the in¬ 
stinct, or rather, the genius of the mother hen, and 
then couple that with the invention and knowledge 
of the human mind, you can raise chicks successfully. 
“A blind pig may find an acorn” now and then, but 
a man ig-norant of the fundamental laws of nature, 
even in the chick, and lazy besides, would better keep 
out of the chicken business; for he will never make 
it a success. If, however, he take the time and pa¬ 
tience to study and master it, there will be many a good, 
shining dollar in it to add to the happiness of himself 
and family. As game is growing more scarce, food 
of this kind must take its place, and a dish more ac¬ 
ceptable to the palate than young spring chicken, 
properly prepared, is not to be found on any table. 
Snyder County, Pa. M. L. snyder. 
HOW TO GROW ‘‘FANCYVINELAND SWEETS.” 
FROM THE SEED TO THE STOREHOUSE. 
Part II. 
How “Fire Beds” Are Made. 
The fire beds may be divided into two classes—the 
hollow bed, and tile bed. They all vary somewhat in 
material and construction. Which is the more desir¬ 
able, depends somewhat on the locality, nature of the 
ground, and the cost of different materials. My bed 
is made by scooping out a space 12 feet wide by 50 
feet long, to the depth of one foot. At one end is 
built a brick furnace two feet high, two feet wide and 
three feet long. The top of the furnace is arched, and 
on a level with the bottom of the pit. A hole must be 
dug in front of the furnace for an entrance. Two flues 
are laid from the furnace to within three feet of the 
opposite end. They should rise a little—four or five 
inches in the whole distance will be enough. They 
may be made of six-inch drain tile, terra cotta pipe, 
or brick, whichever is the cheaper ; I make them of 
brick. The ground is made perfectly smooth and 
firm, and two rows of brick set on edge six inches 
apart, for each flue. The top is covered with brick 
laid crosswise, all joints made with mortar. 
Eighteen inches from the bottom of the pit, is the 
floor. 1 use cedar rails from three to four inches in 
diameter. Three string pieces are laid on blocks or 
posts at the required height, the full length of the 
bed, one in the middle and one at each side. The rails 
are cut 12 feet long, and laid crosswise. The sides are 
made of inch boards, and should be 20 inches high 
above the floor. They are nailed to stakes driven in 
the ground, and are banked clear to the top with the 
earth thrown out of the pit. The smokestack is built 
over the furnace, but has no direct communication 
with it. There is an opening into it from the space 
under the floor. This arrangement insures a good 
draft at all times. As soon as a fire is started in the 
furnace, the air in the stack is heated, and begins to 
rise at once, drawing a fresh supply from the space 
under the floor. This creates a vacuum which is filled 
by the smoke and heat from the flues. Some beds 
made on this plan, have the flues go only half the 
length of the bed, with the smokestack at the oppo¬ 
site end from the furnace. I like the former plan 
