February 4, 1922 
132 
lished in New York, were called in to describe the 
plan already in operation in many of the California 
co-operatives. Later they were retained, and Mr. 
Sapiro, who is a lawyer, drew up the by-laws and 
the contract between the association and the individ¬ 
ual members. On November 5. 1921, the Maple Pro¬ 
ducers' Co-operative Association was incorporated 
under Article 13-a of the membership corporation 
law of the state of Netf‘York. The headquarters 
are in Syracuse, but the field of activities covers the 
entire State. 
BRINGING LOCALS TOGETHER—The 22 locals 
already established will continue to function. In 
fact, there will be move cause for their existence 
than ever before. No longer will they be lying 
around at loose ends, like so many unassociated 
spokes. The Maple Producers’ Co-operative Asso¬ 
ciation, Incorporated, is the hub into which they all 
will fit. Membership in the central will include mem¬ 
bership in the local, und the contract which is be¬ 
tween member and member will prove the iron tire 
with which to bind the wheel together. Competition 
between the several locals was giving promise of be¬ 
ing as keen as between each of the 25,000 producers 
in the State. This was exemplified this last Fall 
when Mr. Delevau, in his work with the Cortland 
association, was asked by a buyer for a large group 
of chain stores for prices on a carload of syrup. Mr. 
Delevnn offered Cortland Comity syrup for some¬ 
thing over $2 pet gallon. Evidently similar letters 
were addressed to each of the other local co-opera¬ 
tives, for the firm finally secured its carload of 
syrup from a northern county for 78 cent ft a gallon. 
Such is too often the effect of co-operation when it 
limits its operation to local associations, none of 
which control a sufficient quantity of a given pro¬ 
duct to warrant a sales organization, or in any way 
control the means by which their product may be 
merchandized. 
SIGNING UP.—The New York Maple Producers’ 
Co-operative Association aims to sign up, before the 
first of March, 3922, at least 200,000 gallons of 
syrnp. Membership in the association is $10. There 
are no annual dues, but in signing the contract the 
member agrees to sell all of bis surplus maple sap 
products through the association for the next five 
years. The member agrees that except for such 
syrup as lie may desire for home use, or to dispose 
of to his immediate neighbors, he will turn all of the 
product over to the association with full power to 
sell. The only exception to this plan is that under 
special circumstances a member may secure permis¬ 
sion from the secretary to dispose of some of his 
product to private customers. Even in this case he 
must, report every gallon so sold, and pay into the 
association an amount sufficient to take care of the 
operating expenses on that amount of syrup. Ibis 
assures the association of a definite volume (bar¬ 
ring in if' »retold weather conditions) for at least five 
years. Subsequent contracts will probably be made 
on the same basis. Business can thus be built up as 
permanently as can the business of any other well- 
established firm. 
A SUBSIDIARY CORPORATION—The associa¬ 
tion contemplates the organization of a subsidiary 
corporation, the object of which will be to maintain 
warehouses, hold the syrup until ready for sale, and 
bottle or manufacture in a form attractive to the 
trade. In taking out his membership in the parent 
association, each producer automatically becomes 
rhe owner of one share of common stock in the sub¬ 
sidiary corporation. Funds for financing it will be 
secured by the sale of preferred stock, one-fifth of 
which will be amortized each year for live years. 
This corporation can issue warehouse receipts for 
each gallon of syrup stored with it. Upon these 
warehouse receipts banks will he empowered to ad¬ 
vance money for the initial payment. 1 lie syrup 
will, of course, be graded and pooled according to 
the various grades. The association is non-profit 
and co-operative. This means that after disposing 
of the syrup, all necessary operating costs will he 
deducted and the remainder will be returned to the 
producer, according to the amount, of the several 
grades of syrup which he turns in, 
FEATURES OF TIIE PLAN.—There is much 
more that might be said about the Maple Producers’ 
Co-operative Association, Incorporated. The con¬ 
tract has been merely mentioned. Suffice it to say, 
however, that it is as nearly iron-clad as it. is pos¬ 
sible for the best available legal talent to devise. 
The subsidiary warehousing and manufacturing cor¬ 
poration deserves nearly as much attention as the 
central co-operative. The big feature of this is 
included in the fact that within five years the pre- 
few-d *toek will be paid off. and the member pro¬ 
ducers will have acquired common stock in its place, 
giving them ownership and full control. Much 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
might be written about the plans for the future, of 
the ways in which syrup and sugar will be merchan¬ 
dized. something of the prices which may reasonably 
be expected, and last, and perhaps most important of 
all, the effect which the results of this association 
are going to have upon a large number of the farm¬ 
ers of this State. This is not a vague, nebulous 
dream which can be achieved in the future. It is a 
reality! The skeleton has been constructed, the 
spark of life has been kindled within it. There is 
capacity for tremendous growth, but right now it is 
still a good deal of an infant. With a man like 
Ralph Delevan as organization manager, supported 
by a hoard of directors and a loyal corps of workers, 
it gives promise of heing a success. These men are 
now actively engaged in getting out over the State, 
and by every possible means reaching the farmer 
producers in order that they all may have an op¬ 
portunity to join. As the news of this association 
becomes more and more general, the responsibility 
for its success will rest more and more heavily 
upon the shoulders of the maple syrup producers. 
The association offers them a chance to break away 
from the old methods of individual competition and 
take advantage of modern business machinery. 
G. H. COLLING WOOD. 
The Champion Hen’s Egg 
W ITAT is the biggest egg that ever came from 
a ben? Mr. Joseph E. Guldner of Coopers- 
town, I*a., claimed the record—from a R. I. Red 
hen. We told him, as we shall tell others, that we 
have great respect for his figures, but we want to 
see the egg. The Hope Farm man’s “70-foot tree’’ 
A Large Egg from Pennsylvania. Fig. 52 
is a warning, So Mr. Guldner made good by sending 
tlie egg. It tame safely, and a picture ot it is shown 
at Fig. 52. It measures 8(4 in. around the long way 
and 6% in. the oilier way. Its weight is 0 ozs. 
There may be larger lien's eggs for all we know, but 
this one stands as the record until wo actually see 
and handle a larger one. You will excuse us if we 
decline to accept any figures or weights except, those 
made here—right from the egg. If anyone lias an 
egg large enough to beat this record we shall be glad 
t.» look at it. 
Is Egg Production Voluntary? 
T HE HEN’S WILL POWER.—I claim that egg 
production is largely, if not wholly, under con¬ 
trol of the hen’s mind. The egg within her that has 
reached the stage where the yolk is covered by the 
white, and the white covered by the tough skin, 
must then pass on to where, near the vent, the 
calcareous matter of the shell is deposited upon it, 
and then it must lie laid. But no more eggs follow 
if tlie hen wills not. The yolks that have not been 
shed into the mouth of the oviduct can be retained 
and absorbed back into the system again. This can 
be demonstrated by killing a hen when she first 
becomes broody and examining the yolk mass. They 
will be found in all stages of development, some 
nearly large enough to be shed into the oviduct. 
Kill and examine one that has been sitting for two 
or three weeks. The yolks will be found shrunken 
down to the size of a pea or less. They do not 
remain 1 lie size they were when she first became 
broody, but are absorbed in some way into the 
system again. 
A MENTAL ATTITUDE.—Change a flock of lay¬ 
ing liens from the house they are familiar with and 
put them into a strange or differently arranged 
house: egg production will fall off at once, feed and 
everything being just the same as before they were 
moved. The hen stops making eggs while she ex¬ 
amines this new house and gets acquainted with it. 
Mauy times I have taken a laying'lien and shut her 
up in a little coop in my cooking shed. The first 
thing she does is to try to get out, but she cannot 
prevent the egg that is in her oviduct from coming 
along. One egg must be laid, but not. another, though 
I kept her in the coop a week or two weeks. The 
state of a hen’s mind has much to do with egg pro¬ 
duction. When they are contented and happy, when 
there is a perfect chorus of singing lions in the 
flock, then you can expect good egg production. But 
of course the happiest hen cannot produce eggs un¬ 
less she can find in her food all needed elements. 
TIIE BROODY HEN.—If a hen when first broody 
is shut up and “broken up” in a. few days, she will 
usually begin laying again in a week; but if allowed 
to sit and hatch a brood of chicks, she won't lay an 
egg in six or seven weeks. My opinion, therefore, 
is that a hen cannot be compelled to lay against her 
will, that egg production is largely voluntary on the 
part of the heD. george a. cosgrove. 
Methods of Brooding Chicks 
I am starting in this Spring with about 500 young 
chicks. While I know a little something about chickens, 
my experience has been very vague. Just what is the 
proper way to brood those chirks, bottom heat, top heat, 
or bottom and top heat combined? F. T. it. 
A PERSON starting to raise chicks artificially 
should study the science and principles of 
brooding so as to avoid many of the mistakes usu¬ 
ally made by beginners in the business. In this 
work we find men with varying opinions in regard 
to the correct methods of brooding, because there 
are different ways of accomplishing the same re¬ 
sults. Personally, I prefer the coal-heated colony 
brooder to any other that I have ever seen. Natur¬ 
ally, there must be good reasons for this preference. 
A brooder must first be safe, so with proper care it 
must not be liable to go up in smoke. After running 
a large number of these brooders for several years, 
we have never had a fire to do any damage. The 
next requirement, it must furnish plenty of heat to 
keep the chicks comfortable in cold weather, and 
must be automatic to such an extent that it does not 
require attention after nine o’clock at night or before 
five or six o’clock in the morning, one of tlie most 
important requirements is proper ventilation, which 
is automatic in n coal-heated colony brooder with 
both top and bottom drafts controlled by wafer 
thermostats, as the air from under the hover is 
drawn into the fire and passes right up through the 
fire pot and out of the chimney or pipe, making room 
for fresh air which is drawn in under the hover 
gradually without calming any drafts, but always 
furnishing fresh air for the chicks to breathe. All 
top heat or all bottom heat has never proved as 
successful as n combination of the two, keeping the 
floor just warm enough to he comfortable and fur¬ 
nishing lop heat enough to bring the air in the 
brooder and brooder house up to Hie required tem¬ 
perature. Side heat, as furnished by a colony stove, 
seems to accomplish the desired results, as the hover 
or deflector holds the heat right down near the floor 
where the chicks get full benefit. Of course the 
temperature must be high enough in the room so the 
chicks will find their most comfortable place is 
right around the edge of tlie hover, partly outside. 
In cold weather these brooders require a limited 
amount of air space, as they will not heat a large 
room to the required temperature. From 000 to 900 
cubic feet, of air space, depending somewhat upon 
the size of the stove and the weather conditions, is 
sufficient for each 250-chick brooder until the 
weather gets quite warm. Another very Important 
point to watch when getting ready to brood chicks 
in cold weather is to provide an unheated room for 
the chicks to run in before going outside, so they 
will get used to a cool temperature gradually. This 
cooling-off process should be done when the chicks 
are from one to two weeks old, so they will be ready 
to run outside as soon after they are two weeks old 
as the weather will permit. c. s. greene. 
Changing a Right of Way 
A right of way passes diagonally throughout my farm. 
Could I change the right of way to a right angle, then 
could I plow up the old way and make a good field, 
nearly square? SV w. fit, 
Y OUR right to change the right of way depends 
entirely upon the instrument, granting the right 
of way and the language thereof. If the instrument 
describes clearly tiie bounds of the right of way of 
course you cannot change it without the consent of 
the grantees; if it gives the grantees the shortest 
route across you cannot change it to a longer one. 
If the present right of way has beeu traveled for a 
sufficient number of years to make it a public high¬ 
way you could not change it without the consent of 
the grantees. A careful inspection of the instrument 
will give you considerable assistance. N. T. 
