September 14 
scene pictured at Fig. 192. There they are—from the 
boss himself down to the smallest and blackest “water 
toter,” with his heavy dose of “ bucket on the brain.” 
Two minutes after the plate was exposed, all this 
army had vanished among the trees. There was noth¬ 
ing to be seen but the superintendent galloping away 
to visit some other part of the orchard, and a low- 
down wagon crawling to the packing shed with a load 
of peaches. 
As we drove through the orchard, the first intima¬ 
tion we had of the presence of human beings, was the 
sound of a subdued chorus. A picking gang of negro 
women were singing a hymn as they worked. Scat¬ 
tered out in an irregular line, one on each side of a 
row, they went methodically through a block of the 
orchard, picking the peaches that were ready, and 
leaving the rest to grow a little more. As a rule, 
three pickings are made from the trees, though some¬ 
times the fruit ripens so fast, that only two are possi¬ 
ble. The peaches are picked into ordinary peach 
baskets, which are left under the trees as they are 
filled. The trees are so low that all can be picked 
from the ground. Negro boys carry them out to the 
narrow streets, up and down which single mule “ run¬ 
about ” wagons are constantly passing. These carry 
the baskets to the wider avenues, where the baskets 
are transferred to wide, low-dowm wagons—like the 
one showm at Fig. 191, and carried to the packing shed. 
It requires considerable skill to pick these peaches 
at just the right time. At least five days will elapse 
before the peach reaches the consumer in New York 
or Philadelphia. This means five days of slow ripen¬ 
ing, and this 
must be pro¬ 
vided for by the 
picker in se¬ 
lecting peaches 
justgreen ^ 
THE RECORDS OF A HEN MAN. 
received, and from that mating I have saved seven 
birds. These, with the two old ones, are now mated 
with a fine cock from a noted breeder, and I shall 
keep their record. With the Langshans, I have five 
S. C. W. Leghorns, and one Mottled Ancona, or, as 
some would call it, Mottled Minorca. The Ancona 
laid 140 eggs the second year of her laying, weight 
114 to the pound, and though five years old, is still a 
profitable fowl ; and so are the five White Leghorns, 
also old. The man who advises you to kill your hens 
after the first year’s laying, is on a par with that 
other bright poultry light who keeps hens until they 
are 10 years old. Asa rule, after a fowl has laid three 
years she should be killed. For instance, a pullet 
hatched May, 1894, will begin to lay in February, 
1895. She will lay well through 1896 and 1897, and in 
the autumn of 1897, off with her head ; or, if she be 
exceedingly good, keep her one year longer. 
I do not regard the B. P. Rocks and Black Langshans 
as differing much in the number of eggs laid, weight 
of eggs or of body. They will both get fat and lazy, 
if put in small runs and stuffed with rich food. I 
have a pen of Langshans that I make profitable by 
using their eggs in my family. The nine hens will lay 
just about 1,000 eggs, worth in the market, at least 
$20. The cost of their feed, outside of table scraps, 
is $5 a year, giving me a profit of $1.66 to each hen, 
besides their droppings, which fertilize two village 
lots ; when killed, their flesh is exceedingly good. A 
S. C. Leghorn will lay in three years from 35 to 50 
eggs more than a Langshan or Plymouth Rock, but is 
not very superior when killed and eaten ; so the two 
breeds balance 
each other 
quite closely. 
I get eggs all 
through the 
cold weather, 
and here in 
Montgomery 
County, Pa., in 
seven winters 
have never 
failed to fill my 
egg basket. I 
will let the 
readers of The 
R. N.-Y. into 
the secret of 
my success. 
The main part 
of it is, baked 
bones. The 
bones are 
placed in the 
oven and when 
su fficiently 
baked, are 
taken out and 
crushed with a 
hammer or 
common bone 
mill. I feed 
them every day, 
one-half ounce 
to each fowl, 
and this does 
away with the 
expensive green bone mills, as I regard the baked 
bone superior to the raw, and a better egg food. 
Henhouses should face the south with enough win¬ 
dows to give plenty of light and warmth, no ventila¬ 
tors, have matched board floors, with a layer of coarse 
straw changed every week. Constant work in cold 
weather, brought about by scattering wheat in the 
straw, is another secret of my winter yield of eggs. 
This and the baked bone, are the mainsprings of my 
“ good luck.” 
If I were a young man with a little money, and had 
a trade, say, that of carpenter or painter, I would 
waste no time, but now while land is cheap (cheaper 
than it will ever be again) buy a place near Philadel¬ 
phia, Boston or New York of about 15 acres, and from 
the old buildings construct my poultry houses. They 
would need no paint—whitewash is good enough. I 
would keep one strong horse, a cow and several pigs, 
raise each year several acres of Indian corn, potatoes, 
oats, winter cabbage, celery and winter squash. I 
would have a shop on my place and try to make con¬ 
tracts for the manufacture of patented articles in com¬ 
mon use through the country. an old hand. 
R. N.-Y.—The location suggested, is a good one. 
There are also many “abandoned” farms in New 
England which may be bought for a very little money, 
and which are excellent for poultry, small fruits and 
dairying, and are but a few hours distant from many 
good city markets. But it will hardly pay to grow 
grain near the great Eastern cities. Neither will it 
prove profitable to have too many irons in the fire 
Some of them are pretty sure to suffer. 
SOME COMPARISONS OF BREEDS. 
The business of poultry farming, is one of profit, if 
properly conducted ; but, unfortunately, many writers 
find it difficult to tell the truth about this important 
farm industry. Wild tales are told of flocks averag¬ 
ing 200 eggs to each hen per year, and of eggs that 
weigh six to the pound. For the past 12 years, I have 
been keeping a small flock for the eggs alone, as my 
yard is small ; during that time, I have kept a careful 
record of everything connected with my poultry. The 
first breed experimented with, was the Light Brahma. 
They were beautiful birds, and by feeding them 
clover, bran, and other suitable foods, I obtained 
from a pen of eight, just 808 eggs during the year, 
counting the soft-shelled ones dropped from the roost 
and in other places. This was 101 eggs each, and a 
much better result than many would have obtained. 
After the first year, they grew very fat, but all in all 
the Light Brahma is a fair fowl. Their eggs weighed 
1% to the pound. 
With the Brahmas were kept two S. C. W. Leghorns, 
and one hybrid, resulting from a cross of a Brown 
Leghorn cock on a Light Brahma hen. The Leghorns 
laid 244 eggs during the year—122 each, weight 1% to 
the pound. The hybrid laid 185, weight eight to the 
pound. She laid while moulting. She commenced to lay 
February 27 and, all reports to the contrary, notwith¬ 
standing, this is about as soon as pullets begin to lay, 
if hatched in April or May. Here is her egg record 
by months : February, 1890, two eggs ; March, 24 ; 
■ 4 ‘ ^ 
PICKING PEACHES IN GEORGIA. 
DELAWARE AVENUE” DURING BUSINESS HOURS. Fig. 192. 
