is purchased in large quantities from the 
manufacturers in the West ami North, and 
comprises all tho different varieties of wood 
used in the construction of the instruments. 
All the lumber used tu the factory is sub¬ 
jected to from one to two years' weather 
seasoning before being placed in the steam 
heated drying room, whore it remains for 
several months longer. Tho ground floor 
of tho main building is devoted to the pre¬ 
liminary work on the Instruments, such as 
drilling and finishing the iron frames, mak¬ 
ing the bottoms, tops and rims, and carv¬ 
ing the legs and lyres; from thenoe the 
work is transferred by a steam elevator 
to the third floor, where the cases are put 
together and finished, and the sounding- 
boards put in; they are then Rent, up to 
the fourth floor, where the varnishing, or¬ 
namenting and stringing is done. On the 
this Company, fully appreciating the fact 
that a good article is the best recommenda¬ 
tion they can have, allow no instrument to 
leave their factory, excepting such as must 
prove a permanent guarantee of the relia¬ 
bility and quality of their make. Another 
cause of the 41 Arion " possessing such uni¬ 
form excellence as characterizes it, is that 
every part is made in one factory, under 
the same supervision. 
Visitors to the warerooms where the 
pianos are exposed for sale, can gather only 
a very Imperfect idea of tho immense 
amount of skilled labor, and tho great vari¬ 
ety of material involved, in tho construc¬ 
tion of (he piano, and it would well repay 
any person to make a tour of tha Arion 
Company's establishment; ho would then 
understand how it is that these instruments 
have, in so brief a time, risen to a position 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES, 
Chickens with Crooked Nooks.—T ask 
you, or anv of your numerous readers, what 
ails the chickens '! I have had three, in tho 
last two mouths, that got t.lieir heads a. Ut- 
tio to one side, aud their necks appeared to 
be still aud crooked, so thev could not pick 
up Corn, and of course died. I had one 
whose mouth T opened, and he lived two 
weeks; but his neck got two or three short 
crooks, ao that it was difficult for him to 
breathe toward the last; and then he died 
—G. W. Thuey. 
We have had no experience with such a 
trouble among chickens, and shall be glad 
to receive information from some one who 
has. 
When to Use Young Cocks,—I should 
like some of your experienced poultry 
breeders to tell mo how old a male chick 
should be before he is allowed to servo 
THE PATENT ARION PIANO FORTES 
Where and How they are Made —A Model 
Plano Factory. 
Very many good pianos aro made in the 
United States, among which the Arion 
piano forte takes high rank. It is already 
celebrated for its fine tone and durable 
construction, so much so that a brief ac¬ 
count of the establishment where they are 
manufactured will not prove uninteresting 
to our readers. 
Owing to the rapidly increasing demand 
for their pianos, the Arion Piano Forte 
Company were compalled, a few years since, 
to greatly enlarge their manufacturing fa- 
l/l/lAAfl 
MANUFACTORY OF THE ARION PIANO FORTE COMPANY. 
cilities, and they selected as the site for 
their now factory an entire square, in Mott 
Haven (or what is now caUed North New 
York). Here they have erected one of the 
largest and most elegant factories to be 
found in the United States, from which 
they are enabled to turn out from fifty to 
seventy-five piano fortes per week, finished 
and complete in all tliotr parts. Tho main 
structuro is an ornamental brick building, 
267 feet long by 40 feet in width, and four 
stories high; in addition to this there is a 
two story brick building 160 feet by 30 feet, 
and a boiler-house with a drying-room 
over it, 40 by 75 feet, and a fine two story 
brick stable, together with a series of 
lumber sheds, etc. The Company have also 
just erected and completed a very neat row 
of three story Freuoh roof oottages at the 
eastern end of their grounds, which will be 
occupied by their workmen. The entire 
factory ts divided into several departments, 
according to the process of construction, 
each of which is placed under the constant 
personal inspection of a skUled foreman; 
no man is permitted to work at more than 
one branch of tho business; thus eaoh man 
continually working at but onoartiole must 
attain the highost perfection. 
The immense eu one of one hundred and 
fifty horse-power which propels the entire 
machinery is situated m the main building. 
The two-story brick building contains all 
the wood-working machinery,among which 
is an immense Daniel Planing Machine, 
numerous circular, band aud gig saws, joint¬ 
ing aiul boring machines. 
From the fact that all the various ma¬ 
chinery has been purchased new within a 
year, the Company have had a decided 
advantage in proouring the latest improve¬ 
ments in this line. The second floorof this 
building is used for manufacturing the keys 
and actions. Adjoining the factory build¬ 
ings is the Company’s lumber yard, in 
which is constautly stored upwards of one 
million feet of the choicest lumber, which 
roof of the rear two story building is erect¬ 
ed a largo covered platform (which is con¬ 
nected with tho varnishing floor by a 
bridge) where all the varnished work is 
thoroughly dried in the open ah —this is 
one of the reasons why the Arion Pianos 
possess such an elegant exterior finish. 
From the varnish floor they aro lowered to 
the second floor, which is devoted to the 
finishing, fly-finishing, regulating and tun¬ 
ing; from here the instruments are trans¬ 
ferred to tho shipping room, from wheuco 
they aro either shipped direct to purchas¬ 
ers, or sent to the warerooms of the Com¬ 
pany. No. 5 East Fourteenth street, whioh, 
by-the-by, are very elegantly fitted up. 
The private office is luxurious, and much 
taste has been displayed in the frescoing 
and ornamenting of the warerooms. 
Mr. G. C. Manner, the Superintendent of 
the factory and Inventor of the improve¬ 
ments used in the construction of the Ariou 
Piano, i3 a praotioal piano forte maker of 
over twenty-five years' experience, and, iu 
addition, is a skilled musician. He devotes 
his entire time and ability at the factory, 
and every instrument is carefully inspected 
and thoroughly tested by him before being 
sent away; hence it is that each and every 
Arion Piano proves a permanent advertise¬ 
ment for the Company. 
The general business management, ware- 
rooms and various purchases, are under the 
control of Mr. J. B. Simpson, Jr., the Sec¬ 
retary and Treasurer, who (although a 
young man) has had a large amount of ex¬ 
perience in mercantile life, and fully main¬ 
tains the high reputation he has gained as 
a onccessful business manager. 
Tim sales of the Arion Piano Forte Com¬ 
pany are steadily increasing, and we ven¬ 
ture to say that there are very few manu¬ 
factured articles which have gained so 
noted and deserved a reputation, in com¬ 
paratively so short a time, as the Patent 
Arion Plano; the secret of which is, that 
among the highest in the estimation of the 
musical profession. 
TO BREED GREAT LAYERS. 
In every lot of hens some will be better 
layers than others. Let us suppose wo start 
with six Houdans—a cock and five hens. 
Probably out of this five, two may lay thirty 
eggs per annum more than either of the 
others; their eggs should be noticed and 
only these sot. By following this for a few 
years a very great inorease in egg-prnduc- 
tiou may be attained. Aly attention, was 
drawn to this subject by a friend having a 
Brahma pullet, which laid nearly three 
hundred eggs in one twelve-month, though 
valueless as a faucy bird, and the quality 
descended to several of her progeny ; and I 
have sinoe found other instances which 
prove conclusively that a vast improvement 
might easily bo effected In nearly all our 
breeds, were that oareful selection of brood 
stocks made for this purpose, which the fan¬ 
cier bpstows on other objects. It is to be 
regretted more is not dune in this way, and 
having more room than T hud. I hope myself 
to make some experiments in this direction 
shortly. I will say now that I am perfectly 
certain tho number of two hundred eggs per 
annum might be attained in a few years 
with perfect ease were the object syste¬ 
matically sought; and I trust these few re¬ 
marks may arouse a general attention to it, 
amongst those who keep poultry for eggs 
only, and who can easily do all that is neces¬ 
sary without any knowledge whatever of 
fancy points, or any attempt to breed ex¬ 
hibition birds. L. Wright. 
-*-*-♦-- 
“Aro Carrier Pigeons Bred In this 
Country ? ”—So asks a correspondent. We 
do not know that any one is breeding them 
here. 
hens- r mean keeping In view the health 
and durability of the bird and the vitality 
of his progeny. I think this an important 
matter to breeders, and should liko an ex¬ 
pression of opinion based upon experience. 
—R. P. (’., Stamford, Conn. 
We may say, without, desiring to forestall 
the expression of opinion of our readers, 
that wo have asked several breeders a sim¬ 
ilar question, and the minimum age given 
was six months and the maximum ten 
months—tho majority preferring from 
pcvon to nine months. 
Fattening Geeses’ Livers. -Can you 
tell me whether it is tho practice among 
farmers or poulterers lu this country io 
fatten geeses* livers for that dish so highly 
prized among epicures known as pate ,1c 
foie gras ? If s.,, will they pleaso give, the 
process through the Rural ? — Young 
Poulterer. u 
I.v tHe Rural New-Yorker of February 
17. 18,2, pages 113 and 114, wo gave illust ra¬ 
tion and descript ion of the German method. 
We do not know that there is anything of 
tho kind practiced in this country. 
Preserving Eggs. — A Parisian paper 
recommends the following method for pre¬ 
servation of eggs;—Dissolve four ounces of 
beeswax iu eight ounces of warm olive nil • 
io this put tho tip of the linger aud anoint 
tbeepg all around. The oil will imtuudi- 
ately be absorbed by the-hell and the pores 
filled up by the wax. If kept in a cool 
place, the eggs, after two years, will bo as 
good as if fresh laid. 
A Hen Becomes a Genuine Rooh- 
ter.-STANwooD Brooks, of Abbeville, 
South Carolina, has In his possession a 
strange chicken. It Is a hen changed into 
a rooster. Tho chicken laid the eggs, and 
raised a brood of chickens this year, „ince 
which time it has undergone a complete 
metamorphosis. It has a new comb and 
tail, aud it is to all intents and purposes a 
rooster. So It is said. 
