MOORE'S BUBAL ISEW-YORKER 
» loultim f;tt[d. 
AYLESBURY AND ROUEN DUCKS. 
Cannot vou give us pictures through the 
Rural New-Yorker that will show us the 
difference between the Aylesbury and Rouen 
ducks ? Some of us are green in the duck 
business and do not know enougli to know 
when we are cheated. I find there is a dif¬ 
ference of opinion as to the color and style of 
these two breeds. Any information you can 
give U 3 will help us to settle the question.— 
Simon s. Williams 
In response to our correspondent's request 
we give herewith portraits of Aylesbury and 
Rouen ducks. The pure-bred Aylesbury has 
plumage of unspotted whiteness ; a pale, 
flesh-colored bill; a dark, prominent eye 
and orange-colored legs. They weigh when 
properly fed, ten to twelve pounds. They 
have a more upright carriage than the Rouen. 
As they grow old, it is not infrequent that 
the bill turns black or becomes stained with 
dark spots. 
The Rouen drake is thus described:—Bill 
inclined to green, the nail and around the 
nostrils being black ; head and neck, as far 
as the white collar, which should be very dis¬ 
tinct, iridescent green. Throat and breast, 
claret brown ; back scapulars and thighs 
gray, minute wavy, dark lines at right 
angles to the shaft of the feather; tail brown, 
with the outer edge of the feathers white, 
forming a broad margin of that color, the 
three center feathers being curled; prima¬ 
ries, brown ; secondaries the same, with a 
liar of bright steel-blue forming the speculum, 
the bgnd of black, the extremities being 
tipped with white ; lesser wing coverts rich 
brown ; greater wing coverts the same, with 
a narrow white margin ; under part of the 
l>ody gray, with the same dotted, wavy lines 
as on the back ; legs and feet orange. The 
plumage of t i e duck is of n rich brown color, 
every feather being marked more or less, 
with block ; bill, legs and feet, dusky ; i rides 
Cochin is seen in this breed the birds ought 
to be disqualified, to protect the amateur 
and uphold the purity of the breed. 
.-- 
NEST FOR EGG-EATING HENS. 
The Poultry World publishes the illustra¬ 
tions of the following description of a nest 
for egg-eating hens, invented by Mr. G. A. 
Pitkin, a noted Leghorn fowl fancier. Fig. 
1 shows a vertical section. Au artilicial egg 
©u| dsntityn. 
ABOUT VEGETABLES. 
We commenced looking over the list of 
choice vegetables to see what could be said 
in favor of the new sorts, but sdon came to 
the conclusion that very few families were 
supplied with even the old aud well-known 
Nest for Ego-Eating Hens—Fig. 1. 
in both sexes arc of a light-brown color. The 
body of the ducklings, when first hatched is 
of a yellowish-brown color, and remains so 
until they are in perfect feather. 
-- 
CROSSING LIGHT BRAHMAS WITH 
WHITE COCHINS. 
William Ford writes to the London Cot¬ 
tage Gardener someth i »g which may inter¬ 
est our American importers of English fowls. 
He says '.—Having paid a visit to the Bir¬ 
mingham Show, T was pleased to see such a 
display of Light Brahmas. No doubt this is 
a noble breed if kept up to the proper stand¬ 
ard of merit, but one finds breeders going in 
for points which bring Light Brahmas too 
near the Cochin, it is my opinion that some 
of the prize birds at tliis Show have been 
crossed with the White Cochin, i think 
they ought to bo judged by a higher Brahma 
standard than mere size and heavy feathering 
of legs, the latter points one finds carried too 
far, many birds shown being vulture hocked; 
another fault is that many prize birds are 
very yellow and exhibit a Cochin tail. I 
would insist on having prize birds as follows: 
Blue whiteness of feathers, proper pencilling 
of hackle, white side strips in tho two top 
feathers of the tail of both cock and hen, 
plenty of fluff, cushion, and size, a perfect 
pea comb, symmetry of frame, heavy feath¬ 
ering of the legs, but clear hocks. These 
points, I., think, with the exception of a 
stripped saddle, which I do not care to see, 
are generally understood by all Light Brahma 
breeder's to constitute perfection. If this is 
not insisted upon it makes it a very easy 
matter for breeders to put a pair of large, 
heavy feathered, or vulture-hocked birds 
together and breed a number of birds, and 
then pick out the best and advertise the 
others by the hundred. It. makes the art of 
breeding a matter of chance with no honor 
attending it, and disgusts buyers who have a 
taste for poultry breeding. Ancestral like¬ 
ness is one of the strangest freaks of repro¬ 
duction, and often the yoimg birds bear a 
greater likeness to their grandfather or 
grandmother than to their immediate pro¬ 
genitors ; so that where a cross with the 
AY r LESBURY DRAKE. 
is fastened at B. The bottom of tho nest, A, 
is made just slanting enough for tho new-laid 
egg to roll gently and fall upon the trap C, 
which turns upon a pivot at a point midway 
between C and D. The weight of the egg 
depresses tho part of the trap utC, and the 
egg rolls down the inclined plane E, and may 
be taken out by the poultry keeper through 
the door F. Fig. 2 shows tho nest as viewed 
looking downward. The straw should bo 
fastened to the sides with twine passed 
thx'ough holes in tho boards. 
-» ♦ » - 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Catarrh in Chickens.—Judging by James 
Anderson's description of his chickens, the 
trouble with them is catarrh, or it may be 
roup. The symptoms are catarrh, frequently 
terminating in roup. If it is simply catarrh, 
make the pills the size of a large pea of 
mashed potatoes with cayenne pepper in the 
oentor, and feed to them every other day 
with the food. Anothergood remedy is finely 
pulverized fresh-burned charcoal and now 
yeast, each three parts ; flour one part; pul¬ 
verized sulphur tvvo parts ; sufficient water 
to mix well and make into balls the size of a 
hazelnut, and give one three times a day. 
Bathe tho eyes and nostrils of the fowls with 
warm milk and water, and with vinegar fre¬ 
quently. Cleanliness is essential. 
That Inexpensive Incubator. —I read with 
much interest Susie St. Clair Smith’s arti- 
vurietics. Plenty of good vegetables, well 
served up, is the next thing to a sumptuous 
meal at any time, and especially in winter. 
Carrots, parsnips, vegetable oyster plant 
(Salsify), cabbage, cauliflower, onions, beets 
and a bed of spinach to .draw upon during a 
thaw in winter as well a3 in early spring, are 
things scarcely to be over-estimated in any 
family, although readily obtained by every 
farmer. We might even suggest a few 
frames of winter-grown lettuce or radishes 
to those farmers who have an abandonee 
of fresh stable manure; for the hnt-bed can 
bo kept going iu the coldest weather by tho 
use of this usually plentiful material. But 
as the weather may lie too cold to think of 
doing much in t,lie way of raising such lux¬ 
uries, perhaps our readers will be content by 
taking au inventory of what there is in tho 
cellar, noting any deficiency either in quality 
or quantity and then making the proper ar¬ 
rangements for supplying them another 
season. 
Wo know there are many who will tell us 
that they never have any luck in raising cer¬ 
tain kinds of vegetables, although their 
neighbors are very successful, and it Is just 
tiiis depending upon luck instead of a rich 
soil and a thorough use of the hoe that pro¬ 
duces so many failures. 
Probably the new Egyptian beet or the 
old Bassano will not withstand as much 
hard usage as tho mangels so extensively 
cultivated for feeding cattle ; still garden 
fore, let them begin now to rectify their 
mistakes by making composts of rich soil, 
muck and manure, to be used expressly for 
the vegetable garden. Tho litter from the 
hon-housa or pig-pen may be added and all 
turned over ns frequently as time and 
weather will permit. If hot-beds arc to be 
made, commenco assorting and laying aside 
the fresh horse manure for this purpose, 
turning it over occasionally if it commences 
to burn and got too dry—in other words, 
makeup your mind what you are going to 
do, and do it. 
There is no economy in waiting until the 
seeds are wanted for sowing before sending 
to) tho seedsman, and then, perhaps, fail to 
get them iu time, and a, failure follows. 
Now, we believe that every one who intends 
to have a vegetable garden next season could 
just as easily make up their minds in Janu¬ 
ary what seeds were required and must be 
purchased as they could in May or June ; 
still ninety-nine out of every hundred of the 
customers of our seedsmen wait until plant¬ 
ing time before purchasing or ordering what 
they require, and the consequences may be 
seen in tho increased number of clerks during 
tho spring months in all our large seed stores. 
To fill the orders received, requires the 
greatest haste, and frequently Inexperienced 
hands luivo to bo employed who make mis¬ 
takes very annoying to both purchaser and 
seller We have frequently been told by our 
leading seedsmen, during the busy season, 
that they were a week or two weeks behind 
in their orders and that it was impossible to 
fill them as fast as received. All tliis con¬ 
fusion, overwork of help and thousands of 
mistakes might he avoided if everybody did 
not practice this tardy system of sending 
in their orders. In relation to purchasing 
garden seeds the good old maxim is reversed, 
and no man purchases to-day what will not 
bo wanted until to-morrow. But this is all 
wrong, and one of tho many reasons why 
good vegetables are so scarce in our farmer’s 
cellars at this moment. If our seedsmen 
rtOXJENT DRAKE. 
ele in the Rural New-Yorker of Dec. 6th. 
relative to her “incubator.” Now, as she 
has tested and known just how to manage 
it, will she please give me still further infor¬ 
mation regarding it f She says she put 90 
eggs into the incubator at one time ; hence, 
there must have been several layers of eggs. 
If the lower eggs are bat.died first, how are 
the chicks liberated i It seems to me that 
the weight of the eggs above would crush 
them, la it necessary that the incubator be 
kept in a warm room ? 1 would also like to 
know how she real's the young chicks.—W. 
B. Pratt, 
Nest for Egg-Eating’ Hens- 
culture is not field culture, and no one should 
expect the delicate aud more valuable vege¬ 
tables to grow without corresponding care. 
Timely preparation, is one of the principal 
causes of failure in growing all kinds of 
garden vegetables. The soil is not manured 
in time, or the manure is coarse, unfermented, 
just from the stables, being spread upon the 
garden patch aud hastily plowed under, the 
seeds going in in the samo hasty manner. 
Jf any of our readers have failed hereto- 
practiced tills procrastinating system their * 
customers would fare still worse, but doing 
business in a business-like manner, they pur¬ 
chase their stock in advance of tho planting 
season. 
Perhaps gome of our readers may he at a 
loss to know what varieties of vegetables 
they want; if so, we would recommend 
them to look over our advertising columns 
and send for tho catalogues of such seeds¬ 
men as advertise with us; for wo believe, as 
a rule, they are all reliable, and their cata¬ 
logues contain a vast amount of valuable in¬ 
formation in regard to tlio culture of the 
plants and seeds enumerated therein. Re¬ 
member the vegetable garden for the coming 
season, anil if the above hints lead you to 
have a greater quantity and better quality 
next winter than this, just place it to the 
credit of the Rural New-Yorker. 
-♦♦♦- 
SOOT FOR CABBAGE: FLEAS. 
As soon as our readers begin to work in 
the garden we shall begin to hear complaints 
of the injury being done by cabbage and 
turnip fleas. In time let us say that a 
dusting of the plants with soot is not only 
au excellent preventive of the ravages of 
these insect s, but it is idso a first-rate meth¬ 
od of stimulating growth. Now, when you 
have occasion to clean out your chimneys, • 
stove pipes or stoves, where soot accumulates 
more or less, save all you can and put it 
aside in some dry place for a time of need. 
Put ail your flue, dust-like ashes iu with the 
soot and in spring sift out all the lumps, add¬ 
ing an equal quantity' of dry earth or sand 
to tho pure article. To every barrel of this 
compound add one pound of powdered sul¬ 
phur, thoroughly mixing it through the 
heap. Keep dry and under cover until 
wanted for use. This mixture will also be 
found excellent for dusting over melon and 
cucumber vines as well as upon cabbage and 
tomato plants. 
