* 
M0OBWB SlITBilli HE 
SR] Tv 
t'j Si>. 
EGGS HATCH BADLY? 
ance and good layers, though not. extra or 
equal to the old Top Knot, or Poland, so 
popular forty years ago; while the Bolton 
Grays are t he best layers of all the breeds, 
and one of the neatest, prettiest of all do¬ 
mestic poultry—as trim for their kind as an 
Wti hear complaints from many sources 
of ill success with eggs—not only those, re¬ 
ceived from n distance but those gathered at 
home. We hear all manner of reasons given 
as the cause, thereof. One ascribes it to there 
being too many hens for the cook; another 
gays that, the cocks are too old or too young, 
ortho hens arc too young; another says keep 
them shut up,or let them run loose; another 
class, the old fogies, say, “ It. is all owing 
1o these new fangtod kinds <>1 fowls; lhe 
old-fashioned fowls were good enough before 
these now ones were brought over.” And 
so on, “swinging around the circle.” 
For once the old fogies arc pretty near 
right. We think the prime cause of Hie non¬ 
fertility of eggs is high breeding. It is il¬ 
lustrated more fully and particularly in the 
now varieties, because those have received 
t he most attention, and therefore they get the 
blame. 
Take any fowls, and breed them to a high 
point of perfection, and the result will be the 
same. Even our common barn-yard fowls, 
if taken up, and certain points selected us 
the ultimatum to be reached and bred lor, 
wo will hud that the nearer we come to that, 
ultimatum, the more apparent is llie lack ol 
fertility in the eggs. 
We have heard parties advocate throwing 1 
aside, the newer varieties and returning to 
the old. But we cannot see the necessity 
for that. Granting that but one-half of the 
eggs of the CTevc-Cmur, (or other new vari 
oty,) hatch, is it not more to the breeder's 
profit to raise six chickens out of thirteen 
eggs that will weigh forty pounds, than to 
raise twelve that will weigh as much and no 
more? Certainly, six will not eat as much 
as twelve, neither take quite as much care. 
And again, if those six, (presuming them lo 
be pullets,) will lay one hundred to one hun¬ 
dred and filly eggs each during the year, 
will not more profit be derived from them 
than from twelve that will lay filly to seven¬ 
ty-live eggs each, granting that the eggs arc 
all the same in size, w hich is not the ease V 
H. 
— ■ - ■ *> - -‘ 
GOLDEN CHICKEN RULES. 
Tiie following arc some, rules that if 
would he well to observe in rearing chick- 
oils. 1. Keep Hie chicks in a warm, clean, 
dry coop. 2. Don’t let them rim out in the 
ntorning until the sun has removed the dew 
from the grass. S. Let them have plenty of 
food and fresh water. 4. The coop must be 
rat proof. 5. Don’t let the chicks have 
access to slops or stagnant water. <5. See 
that they are housed when a storm is threat- 
citing. 
Rules for keeping the hennery in proper 
order;—1. Clean out every day and sprinkle, 
a handful of lime. 2. Sprinkle ashes over 
the floor, two or three limes a week. -i. 
Frequently change the st raw or hay forming 
the nests, and whitewash the nest-boxes at 
i 
w 
Rules for the management of setting liens. 
1. Bet the hen in a place where she will not 
ho disturbed. 2. Give, a large lien fourteen 
or fifteen eggs, a medium sized one twelve 
or thirteen, and a small hen eleven. S, Don t 
let the hen come out <4 the setting room 
until she has hatched, but keep her supplied 
with gravel, food and water. 4. VI hen the 
chicks are hatched leave t hem in Hie nest for 
the first eight or ten hours. 5. Don t med¬ 
dle with the eggs during incubation; sprink¬ 
ling them with water, turning them once a 
day, and all such foolishness, is apt to pre¬ 
vent the eggs from hatching. 
Ayrshire is amon 
neat stock —none of 
rz 
(Tit? Naturalist. 
ABOUT ANGLE WORMS- 
Permit me to 
them can compete with the Colored Dork- j already given by .II- II. Hojiton. In 
iii.r^i They are among chickens what the of May 20th, he sa ys : Attu liftce 
AT . — I . 1.1*1 * 1. .... 4 1, 
experience, 
and heavy.’ 
add my testimony to that 
lit; UAL 
on years’ 
think they make Hie soil dead 
1 would sny, alter twenty-five 
Durham is among cattle or the Messenger 
breed among horses, good, re< vi/alare. 
1 am not going to eon I end with any faucy 
poultry dealer who has chickens of his own 
pet breed to sell, for I have norm; mine are 
loo good lo eat; but I am willing lo take any 
ten points and bet a chicken 1 can show 
more good ones out of the ten in Hie Dork¬ 
ing than can be shown by any other breed. 
A. Thorn. 
.--■♦♦♦■•- 
CHICKENS DYING. 
Thebe is a disease among my chickens that is 
carrying them off very fast, audit is very fatal 
throughout a large portion of this city. Shortly 
alter being at lacked they become stupid, refuse 
to out, and tlielr combs and gills turn to a light 
color. It carries (hem oil in a few hours—two 
days at the furthest. I have noticed that their 
excrement is of ft greenish yellow color. My 
chickens are well taken care of, fed on a variety 
of feed, and their house kept quite clean. ’I hey 
are in excellent condition, ' an you, or some of 
your subscribers, give the name of the disease 
and its remedy'(— (J. Cunningham, Lcavcvwoi Hi, 
Katun w. iwj. 
From C. (Vs description, wo think the 
disease is a species of cholera that is proving . , . . , 
S( , fatal to poultry ttirongliout the United I «K« of the soil, button they reader ttdca.1 
years’ experience, I think the same thing. 
In this locality, all literally manured land is 
invariably infested with these zoophytes in 
great numbers; and all clay land thus in- 
fested, becomes heavy, compact and hard. 
Have seen this thing exemplified in numer¬ 
ous instances, in gardens which have been 
highly manured with bam-yard manure, all 
teeming with these slimy fellows, while im¬ 
mediately adjoining land was comparatively 
free from them. 
Naturalists tell ns these worms are pos¬ 
sessed of a vegetable natusre, endued with 
animal life; that though thi?y lack the sense 
of seeing mul hearing, vet they possess ali¬ 
mentary organs, and a moulth to convey the 
proper nutriment to them. The intestines 
are always filled with a very hue earth, upon 
which they wholly subsist. 
Now, 1 believe the dead ness of the soil is 
the result of Hie action of Hie worms, and 
not that the “ worms arc a result of the con¬ 
dition of the soil.” 1 believe that the worms 
not, only Kip, or eat. out the fertilizing prop- 
mentioned above. He came one afternoon, 
very hungry, for a feed of Cariboo. My camp 
birds were chuckling away on a bough, in a 
state of repletion, but hardly had the intruder 
dug his bill into the meal, when they both 
went at him, tooth and nail. 1 never saw a 
bird get such a thrashing, the old cripple 
pulling in some ugly ones from behind. IIow 
the wool dkl fly! Soon they were out of 
sight, but the screaming lasted half an hour, 
and from their pleased expression when they 
returned, 1 think they killed him. 
-- 
PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 
Scientific anti fistful. 
States. NVe have thus far only seen one 
case. A fine block Spanish cock was at- 
tftckcd one Sunday morning in May last. 
We did not know the disease,(lhe symptoms 
ami appearance of which were as described 
by C. C.,)end *° had to doctor at random. 
We gave him m ally two spoonfuls of gin 
and molasses in the morning, and about as 
much more late in the afternoon. By 1 ues- 
day he was all right again. 
We keep a bottle of the above mixed and 
always ready for use. To a pint ot gin add 
out* gill <>1 molasses, or In that propoiliou, 
shake it up well, and keep it corked when 
not using. We consider this one of (lie most 
valuable poultry medicines we know of, 
and acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. S. 
J. McIntosh, of Worcester, Mass., for the 
recipe. 
There is nothing better for fowls that have 
just lauded from shipboard, or that have just 
been received from some other section ol 
the country. It seems to act as a corrective 
and preventive of any disease arising lrom 
change of air, water and feed. 
In moulting it is also excellent, ami when¬ 
ever a Jowl appears drooping, trom whatever 
cause, our first remedy is gin and molasses; 
and in nine cases out of ten it is successful. 
We should like our readers who art- 
troubled with the disease described by C. 
C. to try the above remedy, and report re¬ 
sults to the Rural. h. 
- ■+++■ - 
I-onp* for Fowls. - T. C. Peters, New York 
City, asks, in the last number of the Rubai., 
“How he can keep a few fowls w ithout iheex- 
j penaeof pulling up a poultry house, &c." II. 
Perhaps the coop I am 
a nd heavy by their constant action in il while 
wet. "We all know that the inevitable result 
of plowing or moving clay land in any way 
while wel, is to make it more compact; the 
more it is moved in such a condition, the 
greater is the tendency lo become dead and 
heavy; and this is a reason why angle worms 
injure land. 
During early spring, myriads of them, 
writhing in the soil, wet soil ol old and well 
manured gardens, will transform them into 
beds of mortar, which dry weather will 
again transform into a substance analogous 
to brick bats. 
Halt freely used is doubt less a good remedy. 
Untouched ashes is supposed by some to be 
better. J * s - M - 
Florcnce, Erie Co., Ohio. 
THE MEAT BIRD OF CANADA. 
’ ... „i .mil (..iff. >1 veal* thoroll-’hlv ! has respondeU very well. Perhaps* the coop sun 
•veiy iem.wnl. and Dm • } « 1 ,** 1 ,,^. by way «r tr-stintr it* practicability, may 
whitewash the whole interior ol the Mouse. h0 lls(< to Jiir. Pbi kbs and Ol Iters, t like ii 
Fairfax Co., Vn. 
Lewis Hoof, Jr. 
DORKING FOWLS. 
very iuiii Ii. There Is no reason why a dozen 
fowls cannot be kepi, or five hundred, if neces¬ 
sary. i not the plan from Oegkmn’s Poultry i 
Hook, described thus by Hu mo.es L. FLINT: | 
“Build coops of lath or thin boards, about ton 
feel lonjr, four loot with- and two teot high 
lour feet in IcnjiHi at one cud lo be a tight Itouao 
or coop ot boards, with Hoof and feeding con¬ 
veniences, wider, &e. The hittieed portion lobe 
bottomless. Arrange bundles at oueli end, so 
flmt, two men could lilt mid move the whole. 
Set. these coups upon grans around,and move 
them tlielr length or width daily, thus ullonUng 
u l'resli grass run." — Geo. Jv. Hawi.ev, (Hens 
Fall*, N. F., .Udl/ 21. 
its 
SoxrE time since I saw a. line or two in 
the Rural saying that “ Dorking fowls 
were tender and unprofitable,” or something 
akin to that, meaning. I do not now remem¬ 
ber the exact words; nor do T care to look 
them up, or make words about them, other 
than to say all persons do not agree with 
any such conclusion. 1 have kept and bird 
colored and white Dorkings since 184(5, and 
during that time 1 have had two turns of 
Poultry Fever, inducing me to try other 
breeds' in variety. One of those fever fits 
brought me. in cure of over fourteen kinds 
of birds, and even to the paving sixty dol¬ 
lars for a pair of White Brahmas. How¬ 
ever, l lived it through; ancl after a fever of 
two years at a time, came out fully satisfied 
that there is no one breed so valuable in all 
res peels as the Colored Dorkings. 
In this chicken matter, like all others, my 
main object every lime has been to learn 
which is host,; and while 1 give Brahmas and 
Shanghais credit for being good winter lay¬ 
ers—first-rate breeds for the small pens of 
citizens whose rear play grounds consist of 
twenty by forty feet of paved yard; w hile 
the Black Spanish are beautiful in appear- 
A Pick Brahma Fork. I have a very large 
Brahma cork who was, until lately, always in 
perfect health, very lively, and strong on his 
legs; but about a week ago I noticed that, be 
staggered a little, has been growing worse ever 
since, and has got so now that ho cannot stand 
on his legs. He seems well in every oilier re¬ 
spect,but I noticed this morning that Ins crow is 
weak, lie has always roosted on a low roost ; 
bus gained very last in weight lately, but, as ho 
is eleven months old, I do not think that Is the 
cause of it, as he ought to be able to stand It 
it Unit age. Can you or any of your readers in¬ 
form me what the cause is, what the disease is 
(.fit is a disease,) and what wlliuurutl?- n„/i’iu'- 
huvin Mass, 
-- 
Common Imported Poultry. — I have nine 
liens, eight of which are the common barn-yard, 
and one u black Poland. From February :Mst to 
May S.’d, Inclusive — ninety-one days- they laid 
live hundred and twenty -three eggs, being ail 
average of ufty-cigiit-and one-uiuth eggs to the 
lieu, and five mid throe-fourths eggs per day. 
Thirty-nine of the ninety-one days, they were in 
a confined place, with no advantages to produce 
eggs. They have corn twice a day. with snaps 
from the tabic, egg shells, pure water, and u 
good range. 
Let dealers in imported stock “look to llieir 
laurels.”— J. L. Patton, Bcrliiisoilk, Penn., Man 
Si, 18(19. 
—--4-*-4--• 
Lady Poulterers.—All English writer says:—“It 
is impossible to imagine any occupation move 
suited to a lady living in the country. Ilian that 
of poultry rearing. If slie has any superfluous 
affection to bestoiv, let it he on her ehieken- 
kiud, and it will be returned cent per cent." 
In the letters of “ A Sportsman 
through New Brunswick,” is the following 
description of a voracious winter bird ot that 
region, the Meat Bird, or Moose Bird (Car- 
ruins Canadensis:) 
No amount of cold keeps this most impu¬ 
dent bird at home when meat is to be got. 
So far from being afraid of man he follows 
him through the. woods, comes into lib camp 
through the smoke hole, and almost takes 
the hit out of his mouth. I have killed one 
“to encourage the rest;" Iris comrades stolid 
|y looked on, and by-and-by picked his hones. 
They cat anything—meat, bread, provisions 
of any kind—nothing cornea amiss to the. 
robbers. Soap they are very partial to. 
When the hunter slops for dinner and lights 
his lire, no bird is to be seen or heard ; hardly, 
however, is the frying pan on the tire, when 
lhe moose bird makes his appearance, and 
stands chuckling on a bough within six feet 
of the pan. He eats the bait out of the trap, 
or the trapped animal. 
Moose birds arc very numerous in districts 
where moose have been slaughtered, and eat. 
and light, the livelong day. They make 
several different, sounds, each more discord¬ 
ant than the other. Late in the fall, when 
the trout go to lhe shallow waters, the moose 
bird takes a wrinkle from the kingfisher, and 
catches small trout. 1 have seen my dog 
feeding on one end of a dead heaver, and a 
moose, bird on lhe other. 
It, is generally supposed that birds cannot 
smell, but the moose bird must be an excep¬ 
tion ; for in thick woods lie ran not see, and 
how then does lie find meat so quickly V On 
one. occasion, one of my men caught three in 
steel traps, and cruelly put them in a box 
together, where, to use his own expression, 
“ they fit like bulldogs.” 1 told him to kill 
t hem at once, us they were all more or less 
mutilated. On opening lhe box, however, 
one fellow escaped, hopping away on one 
leg and one wing, amidst a shower of missiles. 
1 thought nothing more of the circumstance 
till about a week afterward when I observed 
another of these birds fly off with as much 
meat as lie could stagger under. I had the 
curiosity to watch him, and saw him take it 
to a stump some thirty yards off, where 
contrary to their usual custom, he commenc¬ 
ed to share it amicably with another bird, 
whom on closer inspection 1 recognized as 
the cripple, I took charge of the poor 
fellow, and fed him during his convalescence, 
and have thought hotter of the. meat bird 
ever since. Two or three of these birds take 
possession of a camp and drive off intruders; 
when one is killed, another takes ids place. 
A law lias just passed the Legislature to 
provide for a better protection of out various 
game birds, and other purposes, which is 
certainly needed, and if carried out and en¬ 
forced would be of great, advantage lo the 
State. It forbids the killing or offering for 
sale of woodcock and partridges, bet ween 
January 1st, and August loth. Qualls are 
protected from destruction from April 1st, 
1801) to November 1st, 1872, thus giving a 
chance for this rather scarce bird to increase 
and multiply. No marsh birds or upland 
plover arc to he killed between March 1st, 
ami July 1st, There are other provisions for 
the protection of fresh water and sea fowl, 
which vary somewhat from previous enact¬ 
ments on the subject, and those interested in 
sporting would do well to study the new 
statute. 
The talcing and killing of deer are forbid¬ 
den from December 15, 18(511, to the same 
date in 1872, and thereafter between Decem¬ 
ber loth and September 1st. The penalty 
for violating any of the provisions ol the act 
is fixed at twenty-five dollars. The seventh 
section applies to the killing of birds gener¬ 
ally and destroying their eggs, with some ex¬ 
ceptions. The section is as follows: 
Whoever, at tiny season of the year, takes 
or kills anv undomestieated birds not hereto¬ 
fore mentioned in this act, except snipe, 
hawks, owls, crows, jays and gulls or de¬ 
stroys or disturbs the eggs or nests of such 
undomestieated birds, except the nests of 
eggs of snipe, hawks, owls, crows, jays and 
gulls, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each 
offence, provided, that any person, having 
first obtained the written consent of the 
mayor and alderman of any city or selectman 
of any town, may, in such city or town take 
or destroy, for scientific purposes only, such 
birds and eggs as said written consent may 
On Foot I specify .—Massachusetts Ploughman. 
|k gpi 
putnatt. 
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 
On a subsequent occasion, 1 observed the 
treatment an intruder met with at the hands 
(or bills) of the two friendly meat birds 
A correspondent in the Country Gentle¬ 
man, writing on ibis subject, pays:—“In 
May last 1 took two bee frames, one of 
which contained the queen, out of a strong 
Italian colony, putting the same into an 
empty hive and setting it in the place tv hero 
the full hive had been, having tilled it out 
with empty frames. In ten days the bees 
swarmed, Imt went back w ithout clustering. 
Not wishing any natural swarms, 1 opened 
the liiye and found it but two-thirds full of 
comb. Where does the Non-ftwarmer hive 
come in? 
Taking the frames out carefully, after ex¬ 
amining thoroughly, 1 set them in an empty 
hive for convenience. 1 found one queen 
cell almost cut through hy the young queen, 
and carefully cut it out. Not finding any 
others, I concluded I had found the cause of 
swarming. In putting the frames back I 
discovered the old queen all right. After 
tin frames were all in, there were a pint of 
bees in a ball on the bottom of the empty 
hive. With a feather 1 commenced putting 
them in the proper hive, when 1 found a 
live queen showing none of the Italian 
marks. I raised a full hive of bees from her, 
the workers being finely colored; 1 also 
raised a lull liiye from the cell that 1 cut out, 
the queen being as handsome as any Italian 
1 have seen, as are the workers also. I use 
the Langstrotb Improved hive, and by set¬ 
ting the hives at an angle of thirty degrees 
it forms a medium hive, neither too .(shallow 
nor too deep, and lias all the advantages 
claimed for the Vent or A shaped hives.” 
- +++ - 
Hues nml Itasplicrrie*.— A correspondent, of 
the Practical Farmer says: — " 1 have quarter of 
an acre in raspberries adjoining my apiary of 
two hundred swarms of Italian bees, and I am 
very sure the bees were a great advantage to t he 
berries. Every blossom produced a berry. Bold 
between thirty and forty gallons of raspberries 
off the quarter acre tho second and third year 
niter it was planted. J value tho raspberry 
highly for its honey ami fruit, and think of 
planting ten acres next year." 
-4-4"*.- 
To Prevent Bees nobbing. — M. E. Keeth, 
Marshall, Mich., writes the Western Rural: 
“Take your knife and shape a piece Of wood 
that will stop the entrance, leaving a place for 
one bee to enter. As the robber enters he is 
caught by the guards and soon disposed of. 
When several bees enter at once, the guards 
stand a narrow chance in saving their store of 
lald-up treasure. Please try this remedy, and it 
will prove a suro cure, i have tried it.” 
POPLAR FOR PAPER. 
I visited, several days ago. a mill built to 
grind poplar wood into pulp to he manu¬ 
factured into printing paper. Three grind¬ 
stones, about eighteen incites thick, and I 
should say about, twelve feet in circumfer¬ 
ence, were used. The wood is cut ten 
inches long, with the heart taken out, and 
the hark off. It is then placed in boxes (like 
a box with one side off) and the stone turns 
against, it so pressing it against the side of 
tho box towards which it turns. It is kept, 
to the grind-stone by small belts fixed in 
such a manner that they turn screws, by 
which the wood is pressed steadily to the 
stone. This creates a great deal of friction, 
consequently a stream of water is kept con¬ 
stantly running upon the stones. The water 
and ground wood is carried by small troughs 
into large vats, where it is stirred and tho 
water drained off. Then it is taken out and 
pressed into cakes,— then scut to be made 
into paper. R- C- 
Mnrble Dale, Conn. 
-- 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 
The Castor Bean is becoming an important 
article of culture in Texas. This year hun¬ 
dreds of acres are planted; the soil is prolific, 
and in some instances lias yielded sixty 
bushels of castor beans to the acre. Very 
little machinery lias as yet been introduced 
for getting out the oil. 
Potato Sprouts .—The sprouts of the potato 
contain an alkaloid termed by chemists 
sola nine, which is very poiqpnoilS if taken in¬ 
to the system. This does not exist, in the 
tubers, unless they are exposed lo the light 
and air, which sometimes occurs from the 
accidental removal of the earth in cultivation. 
The Bullock Printing Press .— One of these 
presses, tit the Government printing office, 
Washington, attended by two persons, does 
the entire work which recently required for 
its execution no less than eighteen of the 
Adams presses, coupled with the labor of 
twenty persons. The steam power used to 
drive lhe Bullock press is not much greater 
than that needed for one of the old presses. 
To find the area of a square or oblong 
piece of land, measure lhe length and 
breadth in rods (sixteen and a half fdet); 
multiply the two together, and divide the 
product by one hundred and sixty, which 
•will.give the number of acres in the Jot. In 
measuring irregular fields, divide the space 
into parallelograms, ascertain the area of 
each, and the sum of the whole w ill give 
the total area. 
To Prevent Guns Bursting. — The Turf, 
Field and Farm says, without care a favorite 
and valuable, weapon may be injured beyond 
repair hy silent corrosion. To prevent this, 
it gives a preparation it knows to be good, 
viz:—Twenty ounces best olive oil, one 
ounce and a half spirits of turpentine. This 
should he rubbed on the gun barrels, outside 
and in, \\ iili a rag ; leave all that adheres to 
the barrels, and put the gun away until 
wanted. Do this, and you may bid defiance 
to rust, even in the swamps of Louisiana. 
Effect of Tries on Climate. —The drvnesSof 
the Egyptian climate is such that rain is tin- 
know n in Upper Egypt, and in oklcn time it 
never rained oftener than five or six days in 
a year on the Nile della. The viceroy, 
Mcliemed All, caused twenty millions of 
trees to be planted on this delta; these have 
now attained their full size, and the number 
of rainy days lias increased to forty annually. 
Such is the power which man can exert over 
nature In the matter of varying meteorologi¬ 
cal conditions, 
India Rubber Liquid Blacking ,—Take of 
ivory black, sixty pounds; molasses, forty- 
five pounds; gum arable dissolved in a suf¬ 
ficient quantity of Lot water, one pound; 
vinegar, twenty gallons; sulphuric acid, 
twenty-four pounds; India rubber, dissolved 
by the aid of heat in nine pounds of rape 
seed oil, eighteen ounces; mix them well 
together. This blacking may be applied by 
means of a small sponge, attached to a piece 
of twisted wire, like the well known Japan 
blacking .—Scientific A merican. 
Improved Bank Notes .—George T. Jones, 
a Cincinnati engraver, has perfected and 
patented a new system of printing bank 
notes which is said to defy the counterfeit¬ 
er’s skill. lie. prints on unsized paper, 
(which takes the clearest and sharpest im¬ 
pressions,) and then proceeds to apply me¬ 
chanically a sizing of Ids own invention, 
which, being set by subjection to a heat of 
200° Fahrenheit, is thenceforth insoluahle 
and irremovable without destroying the im¬ 
pression beneath it, and thus leaving Hie 
paper nearly while and wholly illegible. 
The colors, being scientifically selected, < an- ^ I 
not he photographed, but are japanned, as 
it were, and laugh at the most ingenious and 
skillful efforts t<» transfer, which can remove 
only by effacing or destroying them 
t 
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