Fowls Plcltiutr Each Others’ Feathers. 
A writer in tlic London Field gives the 
following as his experience with fowls that 
had formed the pernicious habit of plucking 
each other of I heir feathers. We g|ve it for 
the benefit of those having fowls affected in 
like manner. 1 Ie says:— “ Last year I rear¬ 
ed some spangled llamburgs, and I kept 
eight pullets and a cock. They commenced 
with a low grade of goods. They will then 
he willing to pay an extra [nice, and there 
can he no difficulty in establishing a market 
for “ fancy butter.” 
emustic (Cconomn 
SELECTED RECIPES, Etc, 
ANSWER TO SEVEN INQUIRIES, 
FACTORY MILK CREDIT SYSTEM, 
Clrutiina Timvnre. 
An experienced housekeeper says the best 
thing for cleaning tin ware is common soda. 
She gives the following directions:—Damp¬ 
en a cloth and dip in soda and mb the ware 
briskly, after which wipe dry. Any black¬ 
ened ware can thus be made to look as good 
as now._ 
Frozen J’olnfiteo, 
says the Scientific Press, if not permitted to 
thaw before being cooked, can he baked so 
as to be as good as though never frozen. 
They can not lie boiled, however, nor even 
baked if submitted to the usual cleansing 
process of washing. 
<l!iinces Done In iUoInast'Si 
Almira, E. A., in the Western Rural, 
says:—Pare and quarter them, boiling the 
skins and co-os in new eider, and straining 
them. To five pounds of quince use one of 
brown sugar, one quart of molasses, and the 
cider in which you boiled the skins. Add 
the whiles of two eggs, and clarify. When 
tool, add the quinces, and boil till tender, 
adding more cider if necessary. Spice with 
orange peel or ginger root. 
Coi*m Starch Cnltc. 
One cupful of butter, two of sugar; heat 
to a while loam ; add four eggs, beaten quite 
still'; one cupful of coin starch, one cupful 
of milk, two cupsful of prepared flour, and 
1. No doubt, raising chickens for market 
as food,” will pay belter than raising pork 
as food.” 
The Boston Cultivator, in a recent issue, 
asks for some plan by which patrons deliv¬ 
ering milk of variable quality at cheese fac¬ 
tories may be properly credited according 
to the richness of milk delivered. It says : 
“ As every patron of the cheese factory re¬ 
ceives at the end of the season his propor¬ 
tion of the cheese made according to the 
milk with which he is credited, whet her it 
bo in pounds or gallons, and as it is known 
that poor milk weighs most, does not the 
contributor of the latter get more than his 
share of cheese, aud the contributor of good, 
well-cured milk gel less? How is this in¬ 
justice to be corrected ? Who can and will 
suggest the remedy? What says X A. 
WlI.T.AUD? ” 
The questions propounded by the Cultiva¬ 
tor have been from time to time before the 
various cheese conventions, but so far as we 
hear, no plans have been adopted practically 
at the factories for erecliting milk strictly up¬ 
on this basis. And we know of no method 
that could ho applied practically on each 
mess of milk as it is delivered irom day to 
day. It is true we have the cream gauges 
and lactometer, which give pretty accurately 
uiu ijii.uiiy wi any nuujjm; in iiiuiv. i coid 
with these instruments may be made from 
week to week and if samples are found to he 
exceedingly poor or watered, Ihe patron 
furnishing such is notified and his milk ex¬ 
cluded from the factory. But the factory 
manager, when receiving milk, lias no time 
for making tests for the quality of each man’s 
delivery. The teams arc waiting to unload, 
and the cheese making will admit of no de¬ 
lay. The best the manager can do is to take 
samples of suspected milk, examine them at 
his leisure, and make note of those that are 
abominably poor. These he can bring to 
notice and have the parties delivering ex¬ 
cluded from the factory, or he made to take 
it less proportionate rate of per e.entage. But 
there may he several intermediate qualities 
from the richest to that most aWminably 
poor. Wc have no instruments that will 
rapidly indicate the exact quality of different 
samples of milk, and even il we had such an 
instrument it is doubtful whether it could he 
introduced practically at the factory in 
crediting the milk of patrons. Conceive I 
(or a moment the amount of labor in testing 
every man’s sample accurately, and theu 
arranging the proper per ccntngc of quality. 
Then how much dissatisfaction and trouble 
would arise on Account of deducting per 
centagesamong the patrons, which, together 
with tlie liability of haste and inaccuracy in 
making the tests—all would militate against 
its general introduction. Such an instru¬ 
ment, however, might he very useful and 
doubtless would soon become almost indis¬ 
pensable for determining milk exceedingly 
poor. 
Evidently the factory system is faulty 
in this respect ; as for instance, when one 
pa troll delivers milk very rich, milk Irom 
furrow or from Alderney cows, lie ought to 
he credited for the extra rich quality; but 
it is not an easy matter to say how much. 
The question is how much more weight of 
cheese will a given number of pounds of 
such milk make over ordinary milk ; and 
then, again, how much should be allowed 
for the extra quantity of blitter in the cheese 
from the use of such milk? Then perhaps 
the cheese will not sell for any more money 
by having this extra quantity of butter. 
Many more questions of this character 
might be presented, but we have perhaps 
given enough to show that this question of 
crediting milk exactly according to its qual¬ 
ity (richness) is surrounded with difficulties. 
We should he glad to see a wider dis¬ 
crimination made in the samples of milk 
delivered at factories than now obtains — a 
discrimination based upon a practical ap¬ 
plication of the instruments mnv in use. 
There is no excuse for allowing one patron, 
or more, to deliver thin, poor or badly con¬ 
ditioned milk at the factory from day to 
day and from week to week without bring¬ 
ing the offending party to account. If 
neighbors and factory managers would meet 
and talk over tills matter in a friendly way, 
resolving upon a credit system to be deter¬ 
mined upon from occasional tests with instru¬ 
ments in present use, we should do very 
well, even though the full credit to every 
patron could not he reached. 
-*-*-*■- 
Cool hi 2 Milk. 
Mr. E. IL Stuart, Oedarvillc, N. Y., 
recently said:— 44 The idea of cooling or ex-, 
eluding the animal beat from the milk as 
soon as drawn from the cow, has not re¬ 
ceived its share of consideration by our 
dairymen. A great percentage of increase 
in quantity as well as quality of cheese 
would result could the. milk be properly 
coolod Before inclosing it in the can prepara¬ 
tory to Bending if to the factory. In my 
opinion,'exposure to the air is far preferable 
to cooling with water or ice. I have been 
in the habit of dipping or stirring the milk, 
hut this is rather slow and tedious. I have 
been shown' an air pump for cooling milk, 
invented by Messrs. T. t>. Curtis, IIunry 
Miller and L L. Wight, which I consider 
the most simple, cheap and effective method 
that has yet been devised.” 
LEAIR OP r.ETZ PIOKOISTS. 
2. 1,000 or 2,000 liens, or more, can he 
kept profitably on a farm of one hundred 
acres as layers only. With the average price 
of eggs in Now York City, liens as layers 
would nett at least filly cents per head per 
annum. 
The farm would pay better if the pro 
duoliou of eggs and chickens lor market 
were combined. 
L Experiments have been tried by the 
undersigned, proving the profitableness of 
producing eggs aud chickens for market on 
a small scale. 
5. The only cause of failure is want of 
proper < are and suitable arrangements. If 
I can make fifty hens pay a handsome profit, 
why cannot JO/WK) lgi made to pay under 
the same management? 
G. Incubators arc not sufficiently known, 
practically, to be recommended. 
7. 1 would recommend the Light Brahma 
for several reasons;—They are a liardy bird 
and raised easily, mature early, and a fence 
four feet high keeps them. 
8. The system I would advise would he 
the same 1 pursue with success. To fifty 
fowls allow a half acre of land, if fertile, 
and divide this equally, allowing tIso fowls 
to occupy one part fifteen days and then 
change them to ihe other for fifteen days, 
and then return and continue this changing 
through the season that grass grows. A 
building eight by twenty feet, with shed 
roof, eight feet high ou southerly side and 
six aud a-half on the northerly, of inch 
mulched boards; floor of ashes or loose, dry 
earth ; frame of two and u-half by five inch 
seauUlng, two-thirds of the southerly side in 
length and four feet in width, two feet from 
the ground, to have glass window ; with ten 
nests ou the ground under the window, and 
roosts at the easterly .cud, two feet high- 
say six—of strips throe by two inches, would 
accommodate fifty fowls amply. A coop 
Four by six feet and four feel high would 
also be necessary to coniine broody hens for 
a week, when you did not wish setters and 
did layers. A shed twelve feet long and 
rool eight feet wide, facing south, should also 
be provided. Duplicate this to any extent. 
I would prefer, unless the land is very pro¬ 
ductive, to give each fifty hens one acre, di¬ 
vided as mentioned. l. a. s. 
Lock port, N- Y., isri. 
-- 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES, 
1 . 1 ‘iz lMueous. 
A few weeks since we gave an engraving 
in the Rural New-Yorker of a pair of 
German Toy Pigeons, which we deemed 
worthy of a place in every dove cot. We 
now present nn illustration of another pair, 
termed “ Letz Pigeons,” which wc think are 
decidedly beautiful birds. They are some¬ 
what similar to Blue Brunswicks, or rather, 
are classed in that variety of Toys, We 
have never seen, to our recollection, any of 
this breed shown in this country, but learn 
from Teqktmeier that they have been in¬ 
troduced into England within a few years, 
where they have made a great sensation 
among fanciers. 
These pigeons are described as having 
bodies entirely white; the head is ornament¬ 
ed, as show n in the engraving, with a large 
sized turned crown, or cowl, and the Kgs 
and feet are well and beautifully feathered; 
the shoulders arc covered in dark colored 
plumage, the wing bars being white. They 
will add in beauty and ornamentation to any 
well kept lawm ; and as keepers, are said to 
be perfectly hardy. 
to lay in November, and I had an average 
of thirty-five eggs per week up to the first 
week in October, and they were very healthy. 
1 fed them w ith equal quantities of barley, 
wheat, and Indian corn once a day, and 
once with barley meal, with a few potatoes 
and scraps from the house; they were under 
cover, aud had fresh water daily, and a deep 
sand bath. Iii the spring they commenced 
to pick off each other’s leathers until their 
backs and breasts w ere quite hare, but it did 
not stop their laying, and they w ere all in 
good health. 1 was told by persons of ex¬ 
perience there was no cure, and that I had 
heller kill them. 1 was then told the fowls 
were short of grubs and worms, and that if 
I gave them some cake from the tallow 
chandler’s, some call it scratching cake, or 
greaves, boil it, lake out any pieces of hone, 
and mix it when cold with the barley meal, 
this would cure them. 1 have done so, and 
my fowls left off the bad habit, and all of 
them are fully and warmly clothed for the 
winter, and I have no doubt will commence 
to lay again soon after moulting.” 
Wnod-l’iucoilM. 
We find in the London Laud and Water, 
the following, as the edict of the editor llicre- 
f of against the wood-pigeon,—a bird that is 
esteemed very highly by epicures in this 
country It sovs :—Game-keepers and nat¬ 
uralists are agreed that the wood-pigeon is, 
afier all, the worst of the fanners’ foes. It 
has hitherto enjoyed a sort of indirect pro¬ 
tection, inasmuch as its natural enemies—the 
kite and hawk—have been well nigh exter¬ 
minated, and the gun tax effectually dis¬ 
courages the efforts to destroy it which were 
once made by the ordinary rustic. As the 
season is now commencing wheu the bird 
begins tube injurious, it may be as well to 
offer some inducements for its pursuit. Of 
course, every one knows that the wood* 
pigeon is good eating ; indeed, a “ quist with 
a red herring iti il ” is regarded by west 
country 1‘olk as the greatest of table delica¬ 
cies. But every one does not know what 
Mr. Walters lias learned in China—namely, 
that its flesh composes the mind of him who 
partakes of it, and enables him to do with 
little sleep. _ 
Tbnt Large lSesr. 
Tiie poultry readers hero of the Rural 
New-Yorker can’t “swallow” that large 
cir‘ r noticed in the November number of 
the American Agriculturist. The writer 
says:—“It measured * twenty-eiglil inches 
in circumference,’ and weighed four ounces.” 
Is not there some slight mistake about this 
statement? 1 think the “tape” had lost 
twenty of its first inches. 
AVe are trying to breed up to the “ Stand¬ 
ard of Excellence,” and to have us good 
fowls and as large eggs as any one else. 
Now what would you do, give it up or try 
again ?—II. R., Frostburg, Md. 
EaCiilbUf'Mt of Poultry. 
R. D. M., Glens Falls, N. Y.—We would 
advise you not to exhibit your Brahmas at 
the coming State Poultry Show, us such, if 
they are crossed with Cochins. They are 
neither “ fish, nor flesh, nor good red her¬ 
rings.” If exhibited at all exhibit them for 
what they are, a cross of the Cochins on 
Brahmas.* AVe care not if they are adjudged 
fine birds, better have them praised us such 
than try to palm them off for what they are 
not. _ 
The American luciibaior. 
J. IIasbrook, Long Island.—AVe do not 
know where the American Incubator is 
manufactured, or the price of it. Mr. 
Grates’ address is 37 North street, Boston. 
llilYOl Willi U1M3 ICilSjHH M1IWI ui un it i uimwmia. 
If you have no prepared flour, hi ft one tea¬ 
spoonful of cream of tartar with the flour, 
and add half a tcasponiihd of soda, dissolved 
in a tenspooiiful of milk, the last thing ; heat 
thoroughly after the soda is added, and bake 
ini med in lely. _ 
A Jllvnl to Tea noil Cofl'cc. 
Tea and coffee are threatened with a 
Brazilian rival, called gii/iinna. Gnnrana 
consists of the seeds of a tree known to bota¬ 
nists as the Paulina sorbiti*, which is very 
abundant. The tree produces a fruit about 
the size of a walnut, containing five or six 
seeds. The seeds are i ousted, mixed wiilt 
water, and dried. Before being used they 
require grinding, when lltey fall into a kind 
of powder The active principle is an alka¬ 
loid identical ivilh that found ill lea and cof¬ 
fee, but there is twice as much of it m guar- 
ana as there is in lea. The effects me simi¬ 
lar to those of tea and coffee. 
French III ode ol Frylmi Poluloeo. 
Cut them in whatever shape you wish, 
above a bowl of cold water, so they will 
drop into it. Then drain and wipe them 
dry. This must he done quickly, so as: not 
to'allow the potutoes to become reddish. 
Have a coarse towel ready, then turn the 
potatoes into a colander, sprinkle salt on 
them, and serve hot. It you wish them 
light or swelled, leave the potatoes in the 
colander only about half a minute, then put 
them back in the very hot tat, stir for about 
a minute, and put them again in the colan¬ 
der. If the fat is very hot, when dropped 
into il for the second time, they will swell. 
flow lo Extract (offer. 
A SCIENTIFIC paper says:—“If coffee, 
after roasting, were made as fine as flour by 
pounding in a mortar, il could he extracted 
so much better us to require no more than 
two-fifths as much as if it were only coarsely 
ground. An equally strong eximet can be 
made by allowing water to stand <m the 
grounds, ns by giving it a hoi I or by Altering 
through it. The latter method is the true 
one for retaining all of the aroma. When 
coffee beaus are roasted, uu empyreumatie 
oil is produced, which being very volatile, 
is expelled if the coffee extract he boiled. 
It is better to make the grounds as tine as 
flour,and to extract by filtration, uud never 
lo boil. 
How to Cure Hums. 
Here is J. Howard McHenry's recipe: 
The meat after being cut out, must be rubbed, 
piece by piece, with very finely powdered 
saltpeter, on the flesh side, and where the 
leg is cut off’, a tahlOSpoolifid (nut lumped) lo 
each ham, n dessert spoonful to catm shoul¬ 
der, and about halt that quantity to each 
middling aud jowl; this must bo rubbed in. 
Then salt it by packing a thin coating of salt 
j on the flesh side of each piece, say one-half 
inch thick, pack the pieces on a scaffolding, 
or on a floor with strips of plank laid a few 
inches apart all over it (that is, under the 
meal;) the pieces must be placed skin side 
down, in llio following order:—First layer, 
hams; second, shoulders; third, jowls; 
fourth, middlings—take the spare-libs out of 
the middlings. The meat must lie in this 
wise:—Six weeks if the weather is mild, 
eight if very cold—the brine being allowed 
uTrun off freely. 
UalLSoap. 
Gall-soap, for the washing of fine silken 
cloths and ribbons, is prepared in the fol¬ 
lowing manner:—In a vessel of copper one 
pound ofcocoam.it oil is heated to GO 3 Fall., 
whereupon half a pound of caustic soda is 
added with constant stirring. In another 
vessel, half a pound of white Venetian tur¬ 
pentine is heated, and when quite hot, 
stirred into the copper keltic. This, kettle 
is then covered and left for four hours, be¬ 
ing gently heated, after which the fire is in¬ 
creased until the contents are perfectly clear, 
whereupon ouu pound of ox gall is added. 
After this, enough good, perfectly dn Castile 
soap is stirred into”the mixture to cause the 
whole lo yield hut little under the pressure 
of the finger; for which purpose, from one 
to two pounds of soap are required for the 
abovequaulily. After cooling, the soap is 
cut into pieces. It is excellent, and will not 
injure the finest colors .—{Engineering and 
•I rl I T J 
MARKETING “ FANCY BUTTER.” 
A correspondent asks whether wc 
think “ a market could he established in iu- 
luinl cities iiko Rochester or Syracuse for 
fancy butter, if put up In rolls, and if the 
butter was very nice ?” We suppose our 
correspondent means by establishing a mar¬ 
ket, the ready sale of his butter at an extra 
price. And why not, if liis butter is extra 
fine in quality and deserves the name of 
4 fancy ? ” There is not a town of any con¬ 
siderable size along the line of the Central 
Railroad but has its residents, more or less, 
who can appreciate the luxury Of good but¬ 
ler and who would gladly pay an extra price 
for a fancy article, and especially so, if it 
could be furnished regularly and could be 
relied upon us uniformly fine. 
In cities as large as Rochester, there must 
he a considerable number of wealthy people 
to whom an extra price for very nice butter 
would he no objection. A few cents per 
pound above the ordinary market rates is of 
no consideration with these men it they can 
Ix- assured of getting just the thing needed. 
Nor can we see how furnishing it in rolls 
would be of any serious objection. No, the 
whole matter of success lies in texture, color, 
flavor, qualify. Any maker of “ fancy but¬ 
ler,” it seems to us, ought lobe able to mar¬ 
ket liis butter at an extra price in any city, 
and to regular customers who must really 
feel that they are fortunate in being aide to 
secure a reliable and uniform product the 
year round. We know persons who market 
a variety of products, even in country vil¬ 
lages, who are enabled to obtain mi extra 
price—a price often considerably abovg the 
market rates and who Bell to regular cus¬ 
tomers that they have retained year lifter 
year for a long period. There is no diffi¬ 
culty in ihe matter so long us you do not 
decei o j our customer and give him a poor 
or ordinary thing in place of the extra goods 
for which he is paying. Integrity, scrupu¬ 
lous honesty and truthfulness me impera¬ 
tive requisites. You must be able to furnish 
an unexceptionable article and at the same 
time inspire confidence in your customer, 
that he may l ely implicitly upon your word 
in furnishing him with the goods that he 
wants. There is so much cheating in the 
world and so many devices in deception that 
wise men will always pay au extra price for 
the certainty of having a good thing. Men 
of large means, overtasked as they often me 
with business, have no time to hang about 
the markets testing samples of butter for the 
table; It is cheaper to pay mi extra price 
for a certainty and lie done with it. 
Ami here wm wish to say a word to fawn¬ 
ers, whether they be dairymen or otherwise. 
1 1 pays best in the long run, to market the 
good product by itself, and Ihe poor or ordi¬ 
nary product also by itself, selling each for 
what it is, and on its own merits. A tempo¬ 
rary gain may sometimes be made by mixing 
up the good and bud, and deceiving your 
customer by making him think your goods 
arc better than they me. But such success 
is short-lived, and does not pay in ihe end. 
Men deceived once are wary, and are not 
easily caught u second lime, and thus, per¬ 
haps, your high priced marketing is seriously 
injured or lost altogether. AVe think farmers 
nut unffeqnently make great mistakes in the 
careless manner in which they put up their 
goods for market. If all grades of quality 
are mingled together, they will not bring so 
much money in the market as they would 
were they separated atul the good uud bad 
sold in parcels, each by itself. 
It is true a purchaser may sometimes be 
deceived ns lo the quality mid pay more 
than the market rates; but in such ease the 
seller is a marked man one can rely upon it. 
His good name will suffer oil this account— 
thus more will be lost in the end than ob¬ 
tained in the small temporary gain from such 
occasional deceptive transactions. 
AVe have had a very large experience in 
widening--the result of sales of farm and 
dairy products in a public market during a 
long series of years, and we find almost in¬ 
variably that honesty and truthfulness, iu re¬ 
gard to imperfect goods, have always paid 
best in the long ruu. Such men are sought 
alter, and wlien they have a nice arlide are 
prei ty sure to gel mi extra price fin’ it. _ 
AVe say, them that a butter-daiiy man who 
is able to make a fancy, article, can very 
readily get mi extra price Ibr life goods if he 
will take pains in make an nnifthmly good 
thing, and if he will make it mi imperative- 
rule in transactions never to sell n poor arti¬ 
cle to Ids customers as a good one. We 
should say, never offer a poor article to your 
regular customers. If you have such mi 
article (and the best are liable to have such 
at times) let i go into the general market as 
ordinary at the price for ordinary. Keep 
your brand up to “ gilt edge” with your regu¬ 
lar customers, and let them understand that 
under no circumstances, and for no consider¬ 
ation, can you he induced to furnish them 
