294 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 27 
basket. A small burner with asbestos wick, a good 
sized reservoir of kerosene, and a Falls beater bought 
or homemade, will supply the need. With its current 
of air against the water tank, the water can never 
freeze. This is our safeguard. Though for many 
days in winter it is not lighted, we feel no fear from 
an approaching cold wave, for our Little Reserve is 
ready to tackle the elements at the appointed time, 
and prepared for extended duty without attention. 
See Fig. 92, page 295. 
Self-Feeder; Automatic Water Works. 
The lower floor of the house should be terra firma ; 
the upper floor a x-emovable platform, light and sub¬ 
stantial. Suspended underneath this platform, is our 
heater, and alongside our water tank. The advantage 
of keeping these off the floor, is apparent to any one 
who has cared for fowls. For the water supply, we 
use a large-sized milk can inverted, with a cup-like 
attachment to allow water to flow only as consumed. 
It is built on the same principle as the well-known 
poultry fountains. Across the bottom of the can 
(now the top, it being inverted), a substantial project¬ 
ing rod should be soldered. This allows the water to 
he put into the house from the outside on a simple, 
track-like arrangement. If one tank is not sufficient, 
another alongside is added. In either case, fill but 
once a week ; only a very small surface of water is 
exposed, and the supply keeps pure and sweet. See 
the whole thing at Fig. 93, page 295. 
We are believers in whole grain and dry feed for 
fowls, in contradistinction to soft feed—cooked or un¬ 
cooked, cold or warm—and are also opposed to swill 
for them. We bury our swill in trenches in summer, 
and the following year a row of tomatoes (no stakes, 
no trellis, no support and no fuss), along the trench, 
make us aware that our effort the previous year was 
not in vain. In winter, we burn the swill, and scatter 
the ashes mingled with those from coal and wood, on 
the land to enrich and lighten it. Our first poultry- 
house had ashes in it. We were cranks on ashes. 
Ashes were on the floor three inches thick, this being 
carried out once a week, a hodful or more. We even 
put them in the nests, and such a mess one can have 
no idea of except by trial. The lime in the ashes, as 
is well known, liberates the ammonia in the drop¬ 
pings, and should be considered when paying $2 per 
100 pounds of fertilizer. 
Self-feeders in an automatic poultryhouse, are great 
things. Ours are made of stove pipe (see Fig. 94, page 
295), and suspended from the roof, coming down so as 
to be reached easily from the platform, but prevent¬ 
ing soiling the feed by the feet or otherwise. The 
fowls stand on the upper floor, and eat to their hearts’ 
content, of such foods as it is found prudent always to 
keep before them. In one feeder, is Bowker’s animal 
meal ; in another, Bradley’s mica crystal grit ; in an¬ 
other, dry bran, salted ; in the fourth, oyster shells ; 
the fifth contains broken charcoal. The usefulness 
of shells and charcoal, is now claimed to be merged 
into crystal grit. Each one can judge this for him¬ 
self, by leaving it to the fowls ; if the charcoal and 
shells are left after sufficient trial, then dispense with 
them. The loosening effect of bran is salutary, and 
it should not be omitted. 
Another Device for Feeding. 
In addition to these feeders, are two others which 
are used or not according to cii’cumstances. If called 
away from home, and the feeding must be done by the 
women folks, a trip to the poultry yard is saved ; like¬ 
wise in a blustering storm, or in case of over-sleep¬ 
ing, it is not necessary to leave the dwelling. These 
feeders (see Fig. 95, page 295), are arranged on the 
principle of a measure in a powder flask. We fill the 
boxes, which are up against the roof and have slant¬ 
ing bottoms. The feed works down through wooden 
spouts as fast as used. In one, we have good whole 
wheat for morning feed the year’round ; in another, 
for night feed, whole corn in winter, oats in summer. 
The measures hold just one pint each, and are oper¬ 
ated by releasing wires leading to the dwell’ng, high 
enough from the ground to be out of the reach of 
frolicsome boys. To fill the hoppers, we pull the 
wires, and make them fast. They cannot be released 
except from the house ; consequently the grain can¬ 
not be fed without our knowledge. The wires are 
drawn back by sash weights running over pulleys. 
We use the smallest size galvanized wires consistent 
with strength, and have never yet found them so 
weighted by snow, ice or other cause, as to refuse to 
respond. By an original contrivance, the upper slide 
shutting off the supply, is made to operate before the 
delivery slide, thus insuring the exact amount of feed 
desired. To the bottoms of the spouts, are attached 
pieces of rounded tin to scatter the feed broadcast 
among the swale hay on the ground floor. 
When cleaning days come, twice a year, we remove 
this hay, also the sand underneath, using both in the 
garden and replacing with a fresh supply. On the 
platform floor we use sawdust, and apply it after 
cleaning the platform, which is done weekly in good 
weather. This platform slants toward the front of 
the house, in which there are two windows, one 
above and one below. Between the two is a space 
for removable nests. Through the same space, we re¬ 
move the platform when whitewashing. 
The nests are out of reach of the droppings ; they 
are a skeleton affair, boarded up on the inside, the 
layers entering from the ends, thus insuring rather 
dark and secluded quarters. 
We use round, hollow roosts, made of wooden water 
conductors, and, contrary to the usual custom, use no 
kerosene, whitewash or other material thereon. Lice 
are driven to desperation in other parts of our plant, 
but welcomed to the roosts. These are perforated 
with gimlet holes, and the ends closed by removable 
wooden plugs. The roosts are suspended from the 
roof, and are easily removed and cleaned by pouring 
boiling water into them, or laying them in a trough 
of it. This is done in the daytime, as often as oppor¬ 
tunity will allow, until they are free from pests. 
They sleep in the daytime, but we don't. A ther¬ 
mometer is indispensable ; placed before the upper 
windows, it shows at a glance whether we are treat¬ 
ing our friends right. To protect the windows, it is 
well to have wire screens—something cheap, simple 
and easily removable. For nests, we use swale or 
marsh salt hay ; the fowls do not eat it. 
The House as a Whole. 
For ensilage, we use Crimson clover and lawn grass; 
the barrels to hold it are clean sugar barrels, tar- 
coated on the outside, and sunk into the ground to 
the top. We tread the contents as firmly as possible, 
put several inches of oat straw or swale hay on top, 
and then place on heavy weights or stones to exclude 
the air. A temporary cover from the rain and snow 
completes the work. In feeding, we have a rack on 
the inside of the door, B. We open the door, expos¬ 
ing the rack, fill it and close the door. The hens do 
the rest. Door D, when swung open, exposes the 
stairs (removable) leading up to the platform. This 
.door leads out into a run, and is kept open, except in 
cold weather. Door E raises, and can be held at any 
angle, thus giving shelter from storms, and shade in 
summer. This door, also, as it leads into the run, 
should be left open when the weather will permit. A 
temporary covered run, so that the fowls can go out, 
get the air and not be compelled to wade through 
snow, is a wholesome provision. Door C is just out¬ 
side the run. Through this entrance, water and heat 
are supplied. 
Eggs and poultry are the main inducements : still 
the matter of fertilizer should not be wholly over¬ 
looked, especially by those who yearly have to pur¬ 
chase supplies at market rates. Many recent writers 
belittle the fertilizing value of hen manure, and arti¬ 
cles frequently appear stating that- its supposed 
strength is erroneous, and its worth much overpraised. 
We believe that the quality is affected by the food, 
with poultry as with larger stock. The richer the 
food, the more of the three principal fertilizing ele¬ 
ments in the food, the richer the manure. 
In place of sawdust, some fanciers use gypsum to 
absorb and retain the ammonia. Some agent must be 
at hand, as the loss of nitrogen is rapid. We like 
sawdust; it is cheap and clean, and though it does 
not materially improve the fertilizing value, it ex¬ 
tends the manure somewhat, renders it easy to apply 
to the soil, and improves its physical condition. With 
poultry wire so cheap, it is a good plan to grow vege¬ 
tables in one run, while the fowls are using another. 
This keeps the ground sweet and healthful. Last 
year we grew cucumbers in one run; they were 
marvels for size and productiveness. 
Incubators and brooders are grand acquisitions for 
raising poultry on a large scale, but one with a dozen 
fowls or so has no use for such. Hatching time re¬ 
quires lots of attention and patience. We generally 
call on the women folks then to help out. We keep 
our sitters in a separate house, and remove the 
chickens to small separate houses as soon as hatched. 
Chickens should be raised under wire runs, or else 
they will be food for cats. For best breed of fowls, 
the Plymouth Rock is to poultry, what the Bartlett 
pear is to other pears ; it is a sure A1 general-purpose 
fowl. In the twentieth century, an ideal business 
general-purpose fowl may be evolved to surpass it. I 
do not look for it before. I believe that the Leg-horns 
in our modern poultryhouse, will make a good show¬ 
ing, as we have practically turned for them, winter 
into summer ; giving the luscious ensilage to remind 
them of verdant fields, and genial warmth to revive 
memories of balmy days. f. h. page, 
Massachusetts. _ 
The First Calf. —Is the first calf from a heifer as 
good to raise as the second and third, etc.? I have 
never seen this subject discussed in print. Give us a 
discussion on a cow’s first calf. h. j. G. 
New Jersey. 
PLANTING WHOLE POTATO SEED. 
TRIAL OF TIIE FRENCH METHOD OF SEEDING. 
( Concluded .) 
About June 20, 50 pounds more fertilizer were ap¬ 
plied between the rows, making a total of 250 pounds, 
or at the rate of one ton per acre. The crop was cul¬ 
tivated frequently until the growth of vines pre¬ 
vented ; the Planet Jr. double wheel hoe proved to be 
the best implement in such narrow rows. During the 
early summer, the growth of vines was prodigious ; 
“each vine touching its neighbor and completely 
covering the ground.” in the manner described by M. 
Girard, the whole plot being a solid mass of vines 
from end to end and from side to side, standing about 
feet high. In the middle of July, there was every 
indication of a splendid crop. Toward the end of 
July, the effect of the drought became apparent, par¬ 
ticularly among the Early Sunrise, which were injured 
much in advance of the other varieties. Every here 
and there a hill of dead vines was seen among the 
Ilebrons, which proved to be Sunrise. They were dug 
as soon as completely dead, to prevent mixture of 
tubers. Perhaps one cause of this inability to resist 
drought, was the large number of tubers set by this 
variety ; a single hill had 47 new tubers by actual 
count, while many ranged from 35 to 45. This was a 
much larger number than was found in the other 
varieties. The next to suffer were the White Rose ; 
these did not die all at once, after the fashion of the 
Sunrise, but withered graduallj-, many vines retain¬ 
ing a few green leaves at their extremities after the 
other foliage was dead. The Microsporum solani, or 
early blight fungus, was strongly marked during the 
death of these vines. Repeated sprayings with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture had no apparent effect in arresting it 
It seemed to me that this fungus was not the cause of 
death of the vines, but that it developed after the 
tissues of the leaves were injured through lack of 
soil-moisture ; that it followed an injury rather than 
created it, and that this trouble is mostly a dry 
weather one. Owing to the hot dry weather, there 
was no late blight. 
The Beauty of Hebron and Early Everett withstood 
the drought well, and were still green some weeks 
after the White Rose were completely dead. The 
Everetts were very handsome in their method of 
growth, for a long time standing erect and stiff, some¬ 
thing after the style of a Dwarf Champion tomato. 
Of the two, the Ilebrons lived a little the longer. The 
Everetts set many tubers, and had a much larger pro¬ 
portion of small ones than the Ilebrons. As s*on as 
the vines of any hill were completely dead, the tubers 
were dug and weighed. In weighing, no distinction 
was made between the Early Sunrise and Ilebrons ; 
they were all counted as Ilebrons ; this does some in¬ 
justice to the latter variety. The total yield was as 
follows : 
Average Yield per 
No. of Yield in per hill in acre in 
Variety. hills. pounds. ounces. bushels. 
Beauty of Hebron. 686 73554 17.1 230 
White Rose. 7^9 660 14.5 196% 
Early Everett. 192 232% 19.0 25756 
Total.1,607 1,627% 16.2 219% 
-27% bu. ' 
By the method of planting pursued, there are 13,000 
hills per acre. None of the tubers was large, though 
many weighed 12 ounces each. Fully two-thirds of 
the crop were readily salable. The White Rose had 
the fewest very small ones, though individual tubers 
of the Hebrons and Everetts grew to a larger size than 
any of the White Rose. In a general way, 1 concluded 
that the Beauty of Hebron was the most satisfactory 
for future propagation, the large proportion of small 
tubers being an unfavorable feature of the Everett. 
In a more favorable season, however, the Everett 
might do better, and if it could develop to a merchant¬ 
able size the greater part of its tubers, it would be 
the most satisfactory of the few varieties tested. Its 
hearty, vigorous growth is a favorable characteristic. 
The quality of the White Rose was so inferior that 
its culture is quite impossible for market purposes. 
The Early Sunrise was so easily injured by drought 
that its value is impaired for general crop purposes, 
though it may have value as an extra early variety. 
While the yield obtained was small, it was large 
when compared with other crops grown in the neigh¬ 
borhood, both in total yield and in the size of the 
tubers. My nearest neighbor on similar land, obtained 
only 12 bushels from a two-acre field; in another 
field, area not stated, he planted 12 bushels of seed 
and “ got 18 bushels of pig feed,” to use his own ex¬ 
pression. The best yield that came to my knowledge 
was one of 75 bushels per acre. This was unusually 
large. The very early crops ranged from 30 to 50 
bushels per acre, but the late planted ones were 
almost a total failure. 
On the whole, I was pleased with the results of the 
experiment, and shall repeat it on a larger scale this 
season, if opportunity offers, and with a larger num¬ 
ber of varieties. The principal drawback to M. 
Girard’s method, is the heavy cost of seeding ; but if 
