606 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 29, 1922 
like to wash eggs while in incubation, no matter 
what variety, although it sometimes becomes neces¬ 
sary to do this if some have been broken. When 
washed, the oily substance which covers the outer 
shell is removed, and they never hatch as well, nor 
produce as strong poults as otherwise would be the 
case. Make your nests flat at the bottom, with just 
enough “dish” to hold the eggs well, and always set 
them on the ground, over a dirt bottom. Keep the 
eggs moist if the weather is very dry. and sprinkle 
them occasionally, especially toward the end of incu¬ 
bation. with tepid water. Nature demands that the 
under side of the egg remains cool and moist, and 
when in a wild state the nest is always on the 
ground and among dead leaves, which retains the 
moisture. 
HANDLING SETTING HENS AND TURKEYS. 
We always aim to set as many eggs as possible at 
one time, so the poults will hatch at about the same 
period, and therefore be of the same size. This is 
important, as big and little turks in the same flock 
do not get on well, since the larger and stronger will 
crowd and run over the smaller ones, and invariably 
all farm flocks are run in one hunch Make the nest 
of soft grass, over a dirt bottom, and put a good 
sprinkle of fresh insect powder in the bottom of it, 
over which place another handful of dead grass. I 
emphasize making a soft nest, since experience 
proves we have better hatches, and I have found 
nothing quite so good as short dry grass that has 
lain out over Winter. This is always soft and fine 
and makes an ideal nest. Dust all hens well with 
insect powder, but do not grease them on any part 
of body, as you will kill any egg which grease may 
touch. I know there are those who tell you to 
grease your turkeys, but don't do it; grease sticks 
up the plumage, the birds bate it. and in their en¬ 
deavor to rid themselves of it they roll in the dirt 
and the feathers gum up: then they become matted 
and trouble follows. Insect powder is best, and if 
mixed with dry sulphur it will be even better: only 
use a little, and do not apply this directly to the 
eggs, but see that it is underneath them, among the 
nesting material. 
SOME USEFUL DETAILS.—All liens are lousy; 
even though you may not see any when you set the 
hen, they are sure to appear toward the close of 
incubation. Begin at once by keeping them down, 
and you will not have any trouble with lousy tur¬ 
keys when the hatch comes off. Our hens are set 
several at a time, in a row of boxes provided for 
them in a room especially prepared for this purpose. 
Each nest has a wire door, and all hens are confined 
to nests throughout the hatch, excepting that each 
morning at a regular hour each hen is taken off for 
half an hour the first week, and left off. while doors 
are closed, and allowed a dust hath, feed and water. 
Then they are returned to nests, doors closed, and 
that is all that is necessary until the next morning. 
As hatch progresses we keep, the hens off a little 
longer, until the last week they stay off. if warm 
weather, for an hour. The last three days the liens 
are not kept off excepting long enough to feed, and 
when eggs begin to pip we do not take them off again 
until all poults have come out. If nests appear dry, 
sprinkle liberally the last two days, and you won’t 
have any turkeys stuck iu the shells, as they some¬ 
times will if conditions are too dry. 
TURKEY MOTHERS.—Our hen turkeys are set 
in the same way, and the same care is used, except 
that when convenient we put one lien in a box stall 
by herself, with feed and water, and allow her to 
come off at will through the entire time of incuba¬ 
tion. This is more satisfactory, especially with those 
who have had no experience, and then. too. turkeys 
do not like to be fussed with as much as hens do, 
and those not familiar with the work will probably 
have better success by this latter method. Don’t 
set several turkeys In same place, as they will 
change nests, and if set at different times, when 
the first tuA* hatches there will be trouble, since all 
the mother hens will want to own it. and therefore 
remaining eggs may not he covered and fail to hatch. 
If a hen won’t stay on her nest after the first turkey 
comes out, remove the young as fast as they hatch 
and take them into the house, out of hearing of the 
lien, and she will go back to the nest and stick to her 
job. Keep the poults warm by placing them in a 
box covered with woolen near the stove, and when 
all are hatched return them to their mother. Don’t 
give any food for 24 hours, as the yolk which is ab¬ 
sorbed at hatching time is all they need, and nothing 
can he digested until this natural food has been as¬ 
similated. WITXKT RANDALL. 
And now the through freight rates on California eggs 
have been cut about 40 cents a crate! 
Seed red .clover in drills and cultivate it and you 
will be astonished at the growth it w ll make in one 
reason. 
Plans for Improving Pasture 
Will you advise or suggest a plan for handling a 
dairy ou pasture badly infested with wild onions? The 
pastures are of stony nature, and are not easily culti¬ 
vated. H. w. 
New York. 
F it is possible, your pasture should be harrowed 
over several times as soon as the laud is in con¬ 
dition to work. Apply lime in the form of ground 
limestone at the rate of one ton to the acre. In ad¬ 
dition, use 200 to 400 lbs. of acid phosphate to the 
acre. The proper seeding mixture will be given 
below. If the condition of the field will not permit 
harrowing, use the lime and acid phosphate without. 
It will not lie as effective however. If only a small 
part of the field is being improved, you must provide 
some means so that grazing can lie controlled. This 
is particularly important if you are planning on a 
permanent pastu re. 
If clover grows readily on your farm where there 
is applied limestone at the rate of a ton to the acre, 
and your pasture can be harrowed, the following 
mixture lias been found successful. The quantity 
is intended to be sufficient for one acre: Timothy, 
4 lbs.: Kentucky Blue grass. 2 lbs.: Meadow fescue, 
2 lbs.; Orchard grass, 2 lbs.: Alsike clover, 3 lbs.: 
White clover, 1 lb. If you are in a section where 
clover does not grow well, even if lime is applied, 
the following mixture will be found good, but use 
the lime and acid phosphate just the same: Tim¬ 
othy. 4 lbs.; Canada Blue grass, 2 lbs.; Red-top, 
2 lbs.; Orchard grass, 2 lbs.: Alsike clover, 2 lbs.; 
White clover. 1 lb. The above suggestions are given 
not to cover all cases, but where you wish to get 
results for your pasture this year. In both cases 
mentioned above if you are using your pasture as a 
permanent one, make a second application early in 
the Spring of 1023. f. 
Suggestions for Northern New York 
I am a clergyman compelled for a season to forego 
work: have a number of acres in Saratoga County, N. Y. 
I am thinking another year of possibly putting three acres 
to raspberries. These three acres are in good cult ivarion; 
corn last year, but I want this season to prepare the 
same for berries next year as a first consideration; 
second, and quite as important, would like some income 
this year. 1 have considered beaus, white field kind, 
as profitable, popcorn for market, buckwheat, then plow¬ 
ing and sowing to rye. turning under next Spring. I 
sh.'l] have to depend largely on fertilizer, as I have no 
Staple manure. A. E. P. 
Galway. N. Y. 
WOULD suggest that for a crop of high acre¬ 
age value as raspberries that will occupy the 
land for a term of years, it. is very important to get 
as much humus or organic matter added to the soil 
this coming season, to increase as much as possible 
the moisture-holding capacity of the soil, as large 
crops of raspberries depend on the moisture supply 
during the ripening period, and this is especially 
true of the sandy loam .soil that prevails in your 
locality. 
Although in your section limestone outcrops are 
numerous, yet the soil material lias been derived 
almost entirely from the acid crystalline rocks lying 
to the northward, and brought there by glacial ac¬ 
tion, and is somewhat acid and sour. As raspber¬ 
ries seem to remain more free from disease, and 
stand of bushes seems to be heavier, and lasts longer 
before commencing to run out on a limestone soil, 
or a soil limed sufficiently to grow heavy crops of 
Red clover, and because of this I would suggest 
that, if possible, a ton of ground limestone be broad¬ 
cast per acre, and harrowed in after plowing this 
Spring. 
Buckwheat sown eaily in June, with an applica¬ 
tion of 200 lbs. acid phosphate per acre, rolled down 
and plowed under when in full bloom, soil well 
worked down, and rye sown, with a moderate amount 
fertilizer containing at least two per cent of 
nitrogen, and then turned under very early in Spring 
of 1923, would add a large amount of humus and 
available plant food to your soil, and greatly in¬ 
crease its water-holding capacity. This is, of course, 
very desirable, as the weather during July, when 
raspberries are ripening, is generally the hottest and 
driest of the year. If, however, a money crop must 
lie grown this year, assuming you have a ready 
market for it in the near-by cities, popcorn would 
be decidedly preferable to the beans, as it has a 
higher selling value per acre than the beans, and the 
labor of growing it would be much less, unless you 
have, or can readily get. bean machinery. With 
beans at almost pre-war prices, the returns would be 
very small. 
In order to keep the land as clean as possible, 
popcorn should lie planted 3x3 ft. in bills, so culti¬ 
vation can be done both ways, same as corn for 
grain; 500 lbs. per acre of a fertilizer containing 
three per cent nitrogen, eight to 10 per cent, phos¬ 
phoric acid, and three to five per cent potash should 
give a good yield of well-filled ears. In your locality 
it should be planted by May 20, if possible, to insure 
its thorough ripening before frost, as popcorn should 
get dead ripe on. the stalks if it. is to pop well. 
WILLIAM M. KLING. 
Apple Pomace and Rye 
1 AM sending you by parcel post two samples of 
growing rye. These were taken from a piece of 
white sand that was bare Winter and Summer; not 
a weed grew on it until I began putting apple pomace 
on it. The better of these exhibits was grown where 
the pomace was dropped from dirt body wagon and 
heap just leveled off; pomace about 6 in. thick. 
The other was grown within 5 ft., where the pomace 
was not spread on this soil. This ground has had 
two applications of pomace. After the first applica¬ 
tion, •which was put on with manure spreader. I 
planted corn in June, a hot, dry season. On the 
pomace, corn grew 6 ft. high; where there was no 
pomace, 2 ft. high. Everywhere the pomace was 
dropped you can see the rye standing high, and a 
good, rich color. charles w. westebvelt. 
New Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—The rye plants reached tis on April 13. 
One measured 17 in. high, the other 5 in. The larger 
plant, which grew where the apple pomace was 
pread, was darker and more vigorous than the 
other. An average sample of apple pomace will 
contain, in one ton. 5 lbs. of nitrogen, about 2 lbs. 
of phosphoric acid and 3 lbs. of potash. That is less 
than half the plant food found in average stable 
manure. It. hardly seems enough to pay for using, 
yet we know that often surprising results are ob¬ 
tained where pomace is spread and plowed under. 
The general opinion is that the pomace is so sour 
that lime should be used with it. Both rye and corn 
will do quite well on sour land, but we doubt if wheat 
and oats would give such results. Part of the benefit 
in this white sand was due to the organic matter 
which the pomace supplied. 
Value of Rye as a Farm Crop 
E VERY succeeding year gives us increased re¬ 
spect for rye as a catch or cover crop. Rye, 
like the other small grains, is uot a legume and does 
not add nitrogen or any other plant food to the soil. 
It does collect and utilize some forms of plant food 
which other weaker plants could not make use of, 
but it does not add anything except organic matter. 
It does that well, however. Rye is the toughest and 
hardiest of our common grains, and will start and 
grow under conditions which would ruin wheat or 
most other crops. Last Fall we seeded rye after 
late potatoes which were delayed in digging. The 
rye was seeded so late that it barely showed above 
ground when the soil froze solid for Winter. We 
never expected to see the crop again, yet here it is 
this Spring, thick and green. Even if it had failed 
to show above ground, we found the root growth so 
heavy that the organic matter in those roots would 
have more than paid for labor and seed. As it is. 
tlie rye will cut a fair crop for grain or for bay. 
We have seeded Alsike clover in it. We can cut 
the crop early for fodder, and then plow the stubble 
and clover under for late cabbage—seeding rye once 
move in October. 
Rye should be used more by small farmers and 
gardeners as a cover crop. It can be seeded after 
the latest harvest, and will make a fair crop under 
hardest conditions. On wet land the rye growing 
in Spring will suck out the water and often permit 
plowing a week or 10 days earlier than would be 
possible on bare ground. Many strawberry growers 
find it difficult to secure suitable mulch for Winter 
protection. Rye seeded after potatoes and cut the 
next season in time for corn will provide just wliat 
they want. Rye is never equal to wheat or oats as 
a hay crop, yet when cut at about 2 ft. high it 
makes fair feed. When plowed under for green 
manure it pays to first chop it up with a disk or 
cutaway, and then plow. Rye has not always 
enjoyed the best of reputation among farmers, but 
for some purposes it is the best grain of all. 
The people with “cures” for poison ivy have started 
early this year. Several have already advised chewing 
the leaves. During the past year several have reported 
this as a perfect cure. With all respect for these re¬ 
porters we doubt it. and cannot advise our people to try 
the “cure" unless they are willing to lake full risk. 
Wk never before had so many cases reported of lame 
or- paralyzed hens as have coilio this Winter. Ti e hens 
suddenly lose the use of their legs. It may be rheuma¬ 
tism, induced by damp quarters, nr indigestion. < oised 
by eating putrid meat. Green feed and Epsom salts 
have relieved many cases. 
