LICE ON FOWLS. 
At this season, many poultry houses are 
infested with lice. Again and again do we 
hear the question, "How can 1 get rid of 
the lice?'* But why have them at all? If 
you do not, you'll have none to get rid of. 
Five years ago the present season, wo had 
twenty-eight nests in one. sitting room, of 
which twenty were occupied from April 1st 
to July 1st; and during the whole season we 
did not sec a louse. Our preventive was 
very simple—only perfect cleanliness. As 
soon as a brood hatched, the nest was taken 
out and a clean one put, in its place, with 
fresh straw. The old one was put in water 
for twenty-four hours, then scrubbed out, 
dried, whitewashed and laid rip in a dry 
room, ready to supply the place of the next 
to 1»e removed. Once a month the whole in¬ 
side of the sitting room was treated to a coat 
of whitewash; twice a week the whole, floor 
of the room was scraped and brushed out. 
That year we attended to it ourself, and 
of course knew that it was done. The next 
year we had a man whom we put in charge, 
and gave him precise directions how and 
Avlmt to do. We had at no time during that 
season over twelve hens silling al once, and 
yet before June 1st we found the place fairly 
alive with vermin. Of course our man as¬ 
serted that he hud followed our directions to 
the letter, and of course we did not believe 
him. Ou pinning him down he acknowl¬ 
edged that he forgot to change the nests, and 
finally remembered that the house was not 
whitewashed in May ; and alter polishing up 
his memory by a vigorous head scratching, 
lie recollected that the floor had not been 
scraped for “ t wo, yes three,—well it might 
be four”— 
“Now, wasn’t it five weeks ago?” we 
asked. 
" Well, no, he did not think it was, hut it 
might be; but. it had been swept regularly.” 
“ Well, where is your broom?” 
“ O, right out here.” 
“ Get it,” we said. 
In a few minutes he returned without the 
broom. 
“ Well, it’s queer what became of it. I 
had it yesterday.” 
“ Are you sure ?” 
“Well, sir, and it was the day before, 
then.” 
The broom was found al last behind some 
hot-bed sash which had been there a full 
month, and yet lie persisted that it could not 
Have been there tit most over three days. 
Purification was the first thing in order, 
and we had every nest out of the room in 
quick time. Then we swept out the house 
thoroughly, top and bottom, and scraped off 
all the whitewash that would come. Then 
gave it a heavy coat of whitewash, in which 
was mixed a couple pounds of flour of sul¬ 
phur and a pint of strong suds made from 
whale oil soap. Fortunately, we had some 
reserve nests ready, and after giving the 
hens an application of “ vermin extermina¬ 
tor,” we put them in tluir now quarters, 
first lining the nests with tansy leaves, We 
presume the lice skedaddled in disgust at 
such treatment. At any rate, we saw no 
more of them that year. 
Another good remedy for vermin is tobac¬ 
co smoke. Puff it into the feathers of the 
fowl. The only trouble is to get it thorough¬ 
ly through the feathers; for if one spot is 
untouched the work till has to he done over 
again. We have an excellent little article 
for this purpose called “a tinnigator,” which 
was sent us by a friend in Maine, costing, wo 
believe, about four dollars. It is a tin cylin¬ 
der with a nose at one end and an India rub¬ 
ber bellows at, the other. The tobacco is put 
into the cylinder and lighted and the bellows 
drives the smoke, into every nook and crev¬ 
ice. The whole length of the implement is 
only about nine inches. It would be an ex¬ 
cellent thing for cattle or sheep that are 
troubled with parasites or to use in fumigat¬ 
ing plants. 
Cresylic soap suds is said to he sure death 
to insects. But we should think it would be 
a hard matter to apply it thoroughly to poul¬ 
try. Some have used snuff, and claimed it 
succeseilll, others flour of sulphur, dusting 
it into the feathers; but in this, as in many 
other things, we would give ten times as 
much for an ounce of preventive as for a 
pound of cure. n. 
■-- 
TRANSPORTING EGGS. 
I have read the Rural with much inter¬ 
est as regards poultry and the transportation 
of eggs. 1 have sent East several times for 
cggS, lmt never have succeeded yet in getting 
any that would hatch, and I think that they 
have a way of “doctoring eggs” there so 
that they will not hatch; for I have sent 
<^gs this spring to Wisconsin, Michigan, 
New York State, and all over this State, and 
of all that. I have heard from more than 
seventy-five per cent, of them hatched. I 
will send one of the many letters that 1 have 
received ; out of twenty-six eggs twenty-five 
chickens were hatched. 
My mode of packing is:—Take a good 
strong box, and lake curled hair, or the 
material that comes around furniture, put 
in the box and around the sides of the box, 
and then put in dry sawdust; wrap the 
eggs in cotton wadding, and paper around 
that ; set the eggs on the little end ; after one 
layer is in, fill up between the eggs w ith saw¬ 
dust, and then another layer, Ac. Fill the 
box full, pack solid, and there will be uo 
chance to shake. Good eggs packed in this 
way may be sent to California, and fifty per 
cent, of them hatch. 
As regards the number of liens to a cock, 
I have usually kept only live or six, and 
never more than two-thirds of the eggs 
hatched. This spring l had fourteen pure 
Brahma hens and two cocks, and not more 
than half of the eggs hatched. I took away 
one of my cocks to try Hie experiment, and 
since then 1 have not failed to get from ten 
to twelve chickens out of each dozen of eggs. 
Pniuesvtllo, O. n. b. 
The note accompanying this letter con¬ 
firms the statement that twenty-five out of 
twenty-six eggs hatched in one instance, 
after having been transported from Paines- 
ville, O., to Sidney, O. 
Jfl 
arm (rcanomm 
A CLOD CRUSHER. 
I SEND you a sketch of a clod crusher or 
pulverizer much used hereaway in place of 
a roller It is made by taking two pieces of 
four by four scantling, and three planks, 
each eight feet long and one foot wide. Nail 
or spike the plank on the scantling, lapping 
them (the plank) two inches, and letting the 
FEEDING TROUGH FOR POULTRY. 
In Rural of June 12th, appears a design 
for a feeding trough for poultry, which is 
open to so many objections that I cannot 
help noticing it,. First, it is open to the 
weather, and, if out of doom, w hich it should 
be in warm weather, the food is wet hy every 
rain. Then, again, the dirt from the feet of 
the fowls is constantly sifting through into 
both feed and water, and, thirdly, it is not 
in convenient form to clean. If a feeding 
trough must be, used, we should much prefer 
one which we saw Iasi season in the yard of 
a friend. 
Take a pine board nine or ten inches wide, 
and cut two pieces fifteen inches long for the 
ends, A, A. Then cut, two pieces, each 
twenty-two inches long, for the sides, X, X, 
and also two pieces for the top, C, each two 
feet two inches long, so as to project an inch 
over the. ends. Then cut. a piece twenty- 
two inches long and five inches wide for the 
bottom and tw o pieces same length and two 
or two and a half inches wide for the sides 
of the trough, D. O.ne board will thus make 
a hopper large enough for a dozen or twenty 
fowls. In putting them together, bevel off 
the bottom of the sides, X, X, where they 
come together, thus leaving the space be¬ 
tween them one inch. Also set them up 
\ p about half to three-quarters 
// of an inch above the floor 
/j of the trough, 1>, letting the 
// sides, S, S, be about an inch 
~— /s above the floor. The top, 
C, can bo hinged on, or not, as preferred. 
Once filling the hopper will last, a dozen 
fowls one to two wrecks, and there can be no 
grain wasted, for it is impossible for it to 
get out, except as eaten by the fowls, and 
t he sloping roof on top, C, keeps it dry and 
clean. Of course, the hopper may be made 
any length desirable. But we would much 
prefer several of this size to out large one. 
For feeding young chicks, a fountain on 
the above principle should have only about 
half an inch escapement for the feed, when ' 
cracked corn or wheat tailings are used— 
otherwise the food runs through too fast. 
When it is desirable to set the fountain 
against the fence, a side of the room or 
house, make it as it w ould appear cut by the 
vertical line, O. 0. n. 
- +++■ - 
Selection of Breeding Coek.— Miss Watts says: 
“ Much has been said by some relative to the se¬ 
lection or t he cook, but till their direct ions come 
to one point. Whatever he the breed to which 
ho belongs, he should exhibit the distinctive 
Charneleristics of that, breed in full perfection ; 
he should be bold, lively, clean made, with close, 
glossy plumage, and a bright eye *. his comb and 
wattles should be of a rich vermilliOn: his crow 
should bo clear, loml and long drawn ; his breast 
should bo broad and fleshy, liis thighs muscular 
and firm, mnl Ids tarsi stout and armed with 
sharp spura; his claws should be strung, slightly 
hooked, and sharp; and lie should carry himself 
with a proud, yet graceful, air. It is unneces¬ 
sary to say that, he Should he in perfect health. 
Ills age. should lie not less than a year, not more 
titan two years; for although some birds retain 
all their tire and energy until tin , or oven six, 
si ill they uro beyond their prime after the fluid, 
or at most the fourth year, and may probably 
disappoint the breeder." 
---- 
l’erscrving Egipi. A Parisian paper recom¬ 
mends the following method for preservation 
of eggsDissolve four ounces of beeswax in 
eight ounces of warm olive oil ; in this put the 
tip of the finger and anoint the egg alt around. 
The oil will immediately be absorbed by tlio 
shell and the pores tilled up by the wax. If kept 
in a cool place, the eggs, after two years, will be 
as good as if fresh laid. 
• 
scantling run over four inches in front, 
beveling off the underside of the forward 
end of the scantling, (as Bhown in the en¬ 
graving.) Nail on a plank wide enough to 
cover the beveled edge of the scantling and 
letting it lap on the edge of the first, of the 
three planks, forming a sort of runner. The 
spike heads should be. sunk in the wood. 
A ring on each corner is the most con¬ 
venient method of hitching to it—running a 
chain from one ring to the other, forming a 
sort of bail, to tlm renter of which the team 
is hitched. The rings should he placed 
about mid-way of the Ion piece, to prevent 
the forward end drawing too high. It differs 
from and is better than the roller in its effect 
upon the soil, since it rubs the lumps to 
pieces instead of simply crowding them into 
the soil. E. Reynolds. 
Ton du Lae Co., Wist. 
--- 
ALWAYS-READY GATE. 
1 send you a plan of an Always - Ready 
Gate—a small gate for a barn-yard or else¬ 
where, where a passageway is much used. 
It is very onnvcnidht. The gate swings in a 
V-shaped inelosure, or in two sides of a tri¬ 
angle. Having top hinge the longest and 
the post plum, the gate, at rest, always hangs 
in the cenicr, and, rightly constructed, will 
always leave a passageway of two feet. Cat¬ 
tle cannot get through it; nor do I think 
sheep will pass it. It is always shut and al¬ 
ways open. It requires no watching to keep 
it shut. It is not patented. c. It. 
Greensburah,O. 
--- 
FANCY GATES. 
what kind of posts he uses to “ last the next 
thing to forever,” and how many of his wire 
fences will turn hogs, especially the kind 
that are in the habit of running through 
hedges ? 
The best fence we have in this country for 
turning cattle, hogs or anything else arc 
hedges, and also the most durable, and cost 
the least And in proof that. I am not alotfc 
in my opinions I will say that the “ evil," as 
he calls it, does go on bravely! People who 
were formerly opposed to hedges are now 
setting them out. 1 think there have been 
more miles of hedge set out in this portion 
of the State in the last three years than in 
all previous time. 
Let, no one be afraid to plant hedges for 
fear they will be nuisances, for they are like 
children—if you “ train up in the way they 
should go,” they Will he a pleasure to you in 
afte r years Fifty dollars will buy enough 
plants to set a mile, and it is not much 
trouble to set them. The common way 
here is for a man to take a narrow-Waded 
spade, and going backwards along the row, 
sink it in, then raises it up slightly while a 
boy inserts the plant under the spade and 
holds it there while the spade is being with¬ 
drawn, Some cut off their hedges at about 
four and a half feet; others prefer cutting 
them half off near the ground and bending 
them down lengthways ot the row. Either 
of these modes will make a good fence, and 
it is no more trouble to cultivate than a row 
of corn, provided there is nothing in the way 
on either side. 
It is true there have been some failures. 
Some people thought all they had to do was 
to plow a few furrows through the prairie 
sod, stick the plants in, and let them go. 
But many of these failures are now being 
redeemed by cutting off entirely, the brush 
forming a fence until the young sprouts grow 
up sufficiently, which they often do in one 
year. 
I am not in any way interested in the sale 
of plants. H. M. T. 
Lincoln, Ill. 
--- +-*-•*■ - 
CHEAP HAY RIGGING. 
Last season, just before haying time, I 
was obliged to make a hay rigging. De¬ 
siring to he at as little expense about it as 
possible, I resolved to use what lumber 1 
had on hand available for the purpose. This 
consisted of two oak planks, two hy six 
inches, a few oak fence boards, one by six 
inches, some pickets (oak) sawed for a hen 
yard, one by two inches. 
These data at first seemed hardly ade¬ 
quate to a solution of the problem; they, 
however, proved amply sufficient, and the 
result of my adventure in ibis department 
of the mechanic arts I consider as great a 
triumph in its way as was C amah's cele¬ 
brated bridge over the. Rhine. The style of 
rigging I adopted is easily recognized by 
reference to Figure 1, which represents an 
end section—as it is usually made,— a, a, 
showing the bed pieces ; A sill or cross-piece; 
r, c, arms of sides j d, d, d, rails. 
We give herewith two more cheap fancy 
framed gates, which any carpenter can make 
and which maybe used appropriately with 
almost any style of picket or oven iron fence. 
These gates are usually made three feet six 
or eight inc hes wide. The space between 
the posts for an ordinary door yard gate 
should be three feet ten inches. That is, 
however, a matter to be decided by con¬ 
venience and the use to which it is to be put. 
A wide gate is more convenient than a nar¬ 
row 7 one, especially where w heelbarrows are 
much used aud the gate is employed as a 
common and general entrance aud exit by 
the family for all purposes. 
--- 
SUBSTITUTES FOR FENCES. 
Under the above heading in the Rural 
•of May 15, Northwest says a great many 
things that I am surprised at, and cannot 
let pass without an answer. Ilad North¬ 
west's article emanated from some stony, 
timbered country, I should not. be so much 
astonished. During a residence of eighteen 
years in Central Illinois 1 have only seen 
wire fences tried in two instances, and those 
two were enough—but I would like to know 
Fig. 1. 
My rigging is peculiar only in the manner 
of putting the pieces together, gaining 
therein a saving of materials and several 
other advantages, as will be apparent by 
reference to a plan of it, shown in Figure 2, 
and a comparison of the two diagrams. 
Fid. 2. 
Tims rt, a are the oak planks mentioned, 
serving as bed pieces; the sills, />, arc made 
of fence hoards, secured in position by pins 
acting as shoulders against the inside of the 
bed-pieces. No pins are needed on the out¬ 
side, the wagon stakes doing duty instead. 
The pickets served for both arms and rails. 
The former, it, is seen, are made double and 
slightly notched to receive the rails between 
them, and arc firmly bolted at the joints; 
the ends of the anus, as seen projecting be¬ 
low the sill, are sprung together and nailed. 
Thus iu each arm the upper piece forms 
a tie ami Ihe lower one a strut; in this 
way a considerable mechanical advantage is 
gained with a corresponding economy of 
material. 
This rigging can he taken apart and put 
together, piece by piece, hence there is no 
necessity for calling in the neighbors to pull 
it on and take it off a wagon. 
Phelps, N. Y. J. P. k. 
-» ♦ » -- 
ling Fastener.— We have been shown by Wee- 
den & Thomas, AVaterbury, Connecticut, a 
patent bag fastener, which will prove of great 
convenience to farmers and millers if it is put 
upon the market in the right shape and at two 
or three dollars per hundred, as the inventors 
propose. It renders the tying and uutying of 
bags a momentary transaction. 
tTbr jlpismnn. 
OLD COMB FOR fcfew SWARMS. 
A. II. n. has lost several swarms, and 
wishes to know “if it will benefit young 
swarms to put them in these hives this sum¬ 
mer, with tltis comb in them.” See Rural, 
page 218. If I should answer w ithout any 
qualification, and take the chances of its 
being a benefit, I would say “ no.” I have 
known too many valuable swarms ruined hy 
such operations. 1 have known, also, very 
weak swarms changed iu this way to very 
good ones. The result depends out he con¬ 
dition of the combs. When I hear a man 
complain that he put his first swarm into “ a 
hive full of combs and honey, ami tt re¬ 
mained just the same all summer, if any¬ 
thing it was lighter in the fall than when 
the bees were put in ; the next swarm was 
put in an empty hive, and filled it. and made 
several boxes of surplus,—1 don't think I’ll 
try the old combs again !” I feel as if he had 
not profited by his failure. Very likely 
some one who had met with good results 
had recommended the measure. Had he 
gone into an investigation as to the cause of 
his failure, he would probably have found 
that some of the following conditions were 
present at the time of hiving his bees Most 
colonies an* lost during the winter. U they 
were smothered, starved or frozen the bees 
were in a cluster among the brood comfis. 
Iu such case, by Ihe end of cold weather, 
not only the bees, but Ihe combs where they 
are, are becoming moldy, and by swarming 
time entirely rotten. Now, to put a swarm 
in with all this filth, they would very likely 
fail to do much; even a small spot of it 
would bo very detrimental. 
Suppose the dead bees were discovered, 
and removed from between the* combs im¬ 
mediately, and the*hivc and contents are 
kept iu a temperature sufficiently moderate 
to hatch the eggs of the moth that may he 
left, they will hatch out long before the 
swarming season, aud the interior of the 
hive — a large or small space — may be a 
mass of webs, while Ihe bottom of the combs 
may appear all right: 1 speak of box hives. 
A swarm of bees put. into a hive in which 
the worms have hatched out would have 
more labor to remove it all and get it in con¬ 
dition to live iu, than to fill a half-dozen new 
hives. Again, suppose a colony had become 
queen less the summer previous while very 
strong, and had filled Ihe hive willi bee- 
bread and honey — mostly bee-bread —to its 
utmost capacity. The bees in Bitch case all 
die in early winter, leaving the combs clean. 
“ Not a handful of dead bees were left." 
Now to put a swarm of bees in such combs, 
they are compelled to inaction. The queen 
finds so few cells in condition in which to 
deposit her eggs, that the increase of bees is 
not one-tenth of what dies off, and the col¬ 
ony in two or three months is very much 
weakened and infested with worms. All 
these conditions are unfavorable for new 
swarms. But when the combs are clean, 
sweet and nearly empty, it is a very good 
investment to put bees into it. It will pay. 
When too full of honey, take out half or 
two-thirds, and it will be a great help. 
If it is a movable comb hive all tilled with 
stores, distribute it, giving a comb or two to 
several. I would remark here that any one 
understanding his business would never al¬ 
low n movable comb hive to remain queen- 
less or become over-stored or bees lost incon¬ 
sequence. Combs without bees that have 
frozen thoroughly during winter will have 
all the worms ami moth eggs destroyed. But 
combs that have been taken from the bees 
j since winter will be likely to have the worms 
at work the first warm weather. To get rid 
of these and save the comb, make some old- 
fashioned brimstone matches — such as we 
used to smother bees with —and subject the 
combs to the smoke for six hours, twice at 
least, a week or two apart. Give such combs 
an airing a day or two before using, and I 
will guarantee that the bees will have no ob¬ 
jection to them. 
When we can realize the cost, of making 
new combs we shall take more pains to save 
what is made, and keep it-in order. The ox 
consumes grass ami secretes—manufactures 
— tallow, flesh, hone. The bee consumes 
honey, secretes wax, manufactures combs. 
Under many circumstances, we can compute 
the money value of the pound of flesh in the 
ox as exceeding but little that of the grass 
to produce it. The money value of the 
honey that it takes to make or secrete a 
pound of wax exceeds that of beeswax 
thirty times. Hence the object to save it. 
M. Quinsy. 
St. Jolinsville, N. Y. 
-—-- 
I'riputenled Movable Comb Hive. — T see that 
a subscriber asks, in the Rural of June 5th, lor 
an unpatented movable comb bee hive. The 
new Non-Swarming Bee Hive invented by Mr. 
Qtjinby is not patented by him, and I believe is 
not covered by any other patent.—J. H. Nellis, 
Canajoharie, A', F. 
---- 
Our Headers are watching their bees. Let 
