MOORE’S  RURAL  {^lEW-YORKER. 
233 
MANAGEMENT  OF  ORCHARDS. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Peiina.  Fniit  Grow-  i 
ers’  Society,  John  I.  Carter.  Superintendent  of 
the  Experimental  Farm  in  Cliester  County,  road 
the  following  ])apor  on  making  orchard.s  profits 
ahlo : 
“  I  holiovo  that  jiuheioiusly-aclected  and  well- 
managed  orchardM  wll  pay,  and  that  farmei-B  will 
find  it  profitable,  and  greatly  to  their  interest  to 
give  more  attention  to  this  department  of  their 
farms.  It  is  common  to  say  tliatif  farmoragrew 
much  more  fruit  tlmy  wonld  soon  over-stock  the 
market,  forgctthig  that  as  fho  supply  iTjcreases, 
and  as  their  products  are  freely  offered  in  the 
market  the  tastes  of  the  poojjle  grow  in  that 
direction,  atul  Irnlt  becomes  a  ncceosily,  when 
before  it  was  only  a  luxury.  I  retnembor  twen¬ 
ty  or  twenty-llvo  years  ago,  when  dwarf  pears 
first  became  popular,  and  an  impetus  wivs  given 
to  pear  culture,  it  was  coMtUlcntly  asscided  that 
this  branch  would  soon  be  overdone,  and  that 
pears  wonld  be  a  drug  U|)on  the  miirl(*st.  Yet, 
notwithatandiTig  the  great  iiun'easo  in  produc¬ 
tion,  we  had  no  ditViculty  in  soiling  onr  pear  crop 
this  year  at  bettor  prices  than  eva*r  heffire. 
Hence,  I  think  farmers  need  have  no  fear  of  a 
permanent  glut  of  really  good  fruit,  hut  might 
very  safely  make  considerable  .additiisns  to  their 
orchards  and  give  them  more  careful  attention. 
One  word  more  as  to  the  varieties  to  plant.  1 
intend  my  remarks  on  this  point,  as  well  as  on 
some  others,  to  ho  more  ap)iropi  late  to  fanners 
than  to  amatonr  fruit  growers  or  regular  orchard- 
ists.  IJ<)th  of  tliOKO  oliwses  would  prcihahly  plant 
many  varieties  as  specimens,  as  lusts,  luid  f<> 
keep  up  a  complete  snceession ;  Imt  for  plain 
farmers,  who  want  reliable,  easily  managed  Iroes 
and  marketal)le  fruit,  hnl  few  varieties  are  need¬ 
ed.  Among  the  apples  the  IMaiiicrrs  Blush. 
Smokehouije,  and  Kmith’s  Cider  would  he  the 
tlu'ce  safest  as  stand-bys.  Among  the  pears  the 
Bartlett,  Seckle  and  Lawrence  woulik  (sstupy  the 
same  position;  while  llm  Oovernor  Wood  and 
early  Richmond  cherries  woulii  genoniUy  bo  safe 
to  rely  on.  Those  vuneties  do  well  almost  any¬ 
where  in  Eastern  J’euiisylvania,  and  the  fruit  is 
known  and  valued  in  the  market.  For  my  part  I 
do  not  like  any  of  tho  ahove-mentioned  apples  as 
eaters,  but  they  sell  and  tho  trees  aro  good  bear¬ 
ers  and  hardy. 
I  do  not  mention  iwachcs  in  this  connection, 
because  wo  can  make  no  successful  competition 
with  this  fruit  witli  oiu’  Delaware  and  Maryland 
neighbors.  In  rogaid .  to  the  treatinont  of 
orchards,  1  believe  it  i.s  with  trees  as  with  any 
other  crop  we  raise,  judicious  manuring  and  good 
cultivation  give  the  most  paying  results.  Trees 
cannot  grow  too  rapiilly,  jirovidcd  it  is  a  healthy 
growth,  such  as  wouH  result  from  a  timely  supply 
of  all  the  needed  ingredients  and  conditions 
wanted  to  make  it  such.  ■  And  wlien  bearing  time 
comes  there  must  be  no  cessation  of  food  and 
care,  as  is  too  often  the  case. 
I  have  always  objected  to  Mr.  Meehan's  prac¬ 
tice  of  non-cullivutioii,  iirincipally  because  it  too 
often  led  fanners  into  a  neglect  of  their  orchards 
at  the  veiy  time  they  needed  most  attention.  In 
following  his  plan  they  too  often  stopped  at  the 
grass  and  neglected  tho  manure. 
To  secure  healthy  trees  and  goodiTopsof  fruit, 
not  only  roipiiros  tlie  ground  in  good  mechanical 
condition,  but  a  plentiful  supply  of  availuhle 
food  of  such  variety  as  meets  all  tho  requirements 
of  tho  trees.  Experience  has  shown  that  in 
many  localities  wo  cannot  grow  a  perfect  crop  of 
wheat  wit  h  a  iim  oly  nitrogenous  maun  re.  Wo 
can  make,  jjerhaps  a  great  weight  of  straw,  but 
not  that  bright,  perfect  stalk  farmers  like  to  see 
and  hearing  a  head  of  well-developed  grains. 
We  must  use  minoraJ  fertilizers,  or  in  some  way 
moke  those  in  the  soil  more  available.  So  it  i.x,  I 
conceive,  in  growing  ))orfect  trec.soi'  making  j«;r- 
feet  fruit.  ^Ve  must  insure  them  an  abundant 
supply  of  mineral  fertilizers.  I  IhLik  tjas  was 
demonstrated  In  our  orchards  tho  past  season. 
We  had  tho  most  perfect  fruit  we  over  had;  in¬ 
deed.  the  finest  I  ever  saw,  Some  of  onr  Bart- 
letts  weighed  sovenlecn  ounces  each,  and  other¬ 
wise  perfect.  Our  Secklcs  brought  from  $4  to 
•56  per  bushel,  and  oiur  apples  were  fine,  though 
this  was  our  off  year.  Oin  orchards  havo  here¬ 
tofore  been  rather  unthrifty  in  growth  and  beai  -  i 
ing,  but  latterly  wo  have  been  giving  them  better 
cultivation,  and  using  phosphoric  fertilizers  free¬ 
ly  on  tho  hoed  ci’ops  between  tlio  trees. 
Our  treatment  last  season  v>u%  about  as  follows  : 
W'e  gave  them  the  usual  winter  |iiTining,  which 
was  slight,  merely  cutting  out  injured  limbs,  ami 
water  Hjironts,  and  tliosc  that  interlocked,  and 
cut  back  some  of  the  most  wayward  audrampant,  : 
keeping  the  tree  in  reasonably  good  shape,  with 
as  little  pruning  as  possible.  We  tlien  washed  or  ' 
painted  the  trmiks  and  larger  branches  with  a 
composition  of  one-half  bushel  of  muriate  of  jxit- 
ash,  the  same  quantity  of  cow  manure,  five  | 
pounds  of  sulphur,  and  one  baiTel  of  water.  | 
Previous  to  tins  and  during  the  winter,  a  light  | 
coat  of  yard  manure  had  been  applied.  The 
ground  wjis  then  carefully  [ilowed.  and  planted 
with  potatoes,  giving  them  a  good  dressing  of 
acidulated  South  Carolina  rock.  Immediately  un¬ 
der  each  tree  we  sprinkled  five  pounds  of  muriate 
of  potash.  Wo  find  this  miu'iato  tho  choapo.st 
form  in  which  we  c.au  buy  potash.  It  costs  about 
2^  ctiut.s  per  pound,  analyzes  about  45  per  cent, 
of  potiissinm.  As  tho  groimd  contained  plenty  . 
of  lime,  wo  thought  wo  had  furmshed  tlio  most 
neoded  matoi'iala  for  maturing  wood  and  milking 
henltliy  trees,  and  tho  result  fullillcd  onr  ex¬ 
pectations.  The  trees  held  on  their  fruit,  and 
retained  their  foliage  lato  in  tlie  season.  We 
suffered  very  little  from  blight  or  disease. 
or  course  we  do  not  raise  and  sell  tTops  on  onr 
Exporirnontal  Parni  to  tho  best  pecuniary  advan- 
lago,  and  our  limited  moans  prevent  us  from  do¬ 
ing  any  of  tho  many  things  undertaken  very  well ; 
but  we  marketod  this  year  about  flSO  worth  of 
Governor  Wood  cherries,  from  twelve  or  fifteen 
troes;  and  over  -5100  worth  of  Bartlett  pears 
from  1 50  bearing  trees ;  and  sold  5100  worth  of 
ajiplos  from  an  orchard  of  the  usual  farm  size. 
Special  attention  to  thinning  fruit,  and  market¬ 
ing  to  tho  heat  advantage  would, have  increased 
our  mceipta,  and  I  only  mention  these  figures  to 
show  what  can  be  done  in  an  orchard  witli  but 
tolerable  treatment. 
Insuniiicx  Jlciiiirtmeiit. 
INSURANCE  NOTES  AND  NE'WS. 
Propni^f'd  hunirance  Lams. — A  bill  has  been 
introduced  in  tho  Assembly  of  this  8tato  to  per¬ 
mit  tho  policy  holder.s  of  mutual  and  stock  and 
mutual  life  and  health  insurance  companies  to 
choose  tlie  directors  and  trustees  of  such  corpo¬ 
rations,  each  one  being  allowed  one  vote  for 
every  thousand  dollars  of  inHiuatico.  To  this  is 
added  a  clause  providing  that  no  olficor  of  one 
company  shall  liold  any  official  position  in  any 
other.  Tho  last  part  is  de.cidcdly  good.  Unless 
ho  is  a  mere  ligurc-hcad— iu  wliich  case  he  has 
no  right  to  occupy  tho  place — no  man  can  per¬ 
form  the  duties  of  more  than  one  office  well,  if 
at  all,  and  the  possossiou  of  duplicate  power 
presents  too  many  and  strong  tcrajitations  to 
ahmie  of  privilege.  Tho  first  part  is  impractiua- 
hlc.  We  are  sorry  to  say  it,  hut  such  is  the  case. 
The  State  can  neither  override,  abridge,  nor 
altor  the  charter  of  tho  coqioratious,  which 
lirescribes  tho  manner  of  elections  and  the  distri¬ 
bution  of  suffrage.  Besides,  it  may  lie  qncs- 
tioimd  whether  a  life  insurando  company  con  lie 
snwcHsf  idly  managed  as  a  popular  or  democratic 
institution.  Legislation  upon  theso  matters 
needs  to  be  a  great  deal  more  crucial  and  wisely 
devised,  or  less  open  to  tho  imputation  of  being 
a  parasitic  indnatiy. 
rndu.strial.  J.ife  /nsumuce. —There  has,  we 
believe,  been  no  successful  endeavor  to  intro¬ 
duce  iuto  tliis  country  that  sort  of  insm’ance 
called  “  Industrial,”  though  it  is  successful 
clscwhero,  especially  in  England,  where  one 
ciunpauy,  tho  special  patron  of  this  kiod  of  in¬ 
surance,  issued,  it  is  said,  in  1875  more  policies 
than  all  the  other  ollices  comhined.  This  com¬ 
pany,  the  Frudeutial,  insured  at  every  age  and 
for  any  amount  and  premium,  taldng  sixpence  a 
week  or  a  foi’tnight,  and  issuing  policies  to 
parents  or  guardians  upon  tho  Jives  of  young 
children.  Its  chief  ustTulness  lies  in  insuring 
poor  people’s  lives  for  very  small  amounts,  and 
for  really  small,  though  relatively  high,  pre¬ 
miums.  Ju.st  wliy  some  of  the  more  enterpris¬ 
ing  itwiiraiicc  managers  do  not  embark  in  a  simi¬ 
lar  entorpriso  is  not  readily  cxiilained,  but  it 
would  .seem  to  ho  worth  a  trial,  c-spociully  in  the 
great  cities,  wliero  the  char, actor  of  tho  proposed 
beneficiaries  assimilates  more  closely  to  that  of 
its  patrons  clsewlioro. 
Fon/lumiint’ss  EytraonMnari/.  — Q’he  Coroner’s 
investigation  of  the  torrible.  explosion  that  oc¬ 
curred  recently  in  Westohester  County,  near  this 
city,  disclosed  the  astounding  circumstance  that 
the  employes  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
nitroglycei’ino  and  its  almost  equally  dangiiroiis 
compounds  weu;  in  the  habit  of  smoking  their 
pipes  while  at  work,  and  tliat  a  match  care¬ 
lessly  thrown  among  the  inflammahle  di-hris 
caused  the  disaster.  Ordinaiily  iicoplc  slirink 
with  horror  from  the  proximity  of  such  deadly 
substances,  but  these  peojile  had  become  so 
familiar  with  dliugcr,  this  particuliir  danger,  that  | 
they  despised  it.  And  it  i.s  much  the’ same  j 
lialiitiial  contact  with  kerosene  that  loads  equally  j 
careless  jicoplo  to  blow  down  tJie  chimneys  of  | 
coal-oil  lamj)s  and  otherwise  imperil  then  lives 
and  property,  in  sublime  ignorance  of  the  risk  of 
disaster  and  death. 
I 
Immuliary  Fires  in  Albany.— U  the  extent  of 
incendiarism  elsewhere  is  to  be  measured  by  tliat 
which  is  said  to  prevail  in  Albany,  tlie  aUege.<l  ! 
exceasiveness  of  file  insmance  premiums  is  | 
readily  explained.  Out  of  70  fires  occurring  iu 
ten  months  of  1875,  40  are  attributed  to  iricen- 
diaiifim,  and  of  tho  total  loss  (252,000),  eighty  I 
per  cent.  (210.000)  is  ascribed  to  the  same  cause. 
Much  of  the  expense  entailed  by  intentional 
fires  falls  upon  the  owners  of  farm  and  otJier 
property.  Those  people  arc  not  only  too  honest, 
as  a  genwal  rule,  to  bum  their  property  for  tlie 
sake  of  tho  insurance,  but  they  lack  the  incen¬ 
tives  provided  by  fluctuations  of  v.alue.  But  if 
they  do  not  sin  in  this  way.  they  bear  no  small 
share  of  the  burden  of  increased  and  increasing 
premiums  entailed  by  otliors’  sins. 
A  JJouhk  Calamity. — During  a  recent  great 
fire  ill  Charleston  the  police  were  unable  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  burning  and  adjacent  buildings  from  a 
mol)  of  drunken  and  brutal  whites  and  blacks, 
wlio  broke  into  and  pillaged  tho  storos  and 
dwellings  of  their  contents.  Though  tho  loss  by 
fire  amounted  to  a  few  hundred  thousands  only, 
partly  covered  by  insurance,  that  from  pillage  is 
thought  to  he  greater. 
®I)C  |)ill‘il. 
PLAN  FOR  A  POULTRY  COOP. 
EncI/Osei)  1  send  plan  of  chicken  coop  which  I 
have  Used  fer  the  last  two  years  and  find  it  su¬ 
perior  to  any  that  I  have  seen; 
Coop  to  he  2  feet  6  inches  lorig.  2  feet  wide,  2 
feet  high,  front,  18  inches  back,  dotted  line 
rejiresents  tight  hoard  bottom  on  slant  of  half¬ 
inch  to  the  foot  toward  front  of  coop  to  run  off 
any  wet  that  may  enter.  Front  of  coop  hoarded 
tight  half  way  with  holes  bored  slunting  near 
toji  for  ventilation.  A,  wire  door  on  hinges 
which  shuts  down  over  lower  half  at  night  and 
fastened  by  heok  and  staple.  Fin  back  end.  I 
niiike  a  door  7x10  inches  to  [iiit  in  hen  and  chick, 
iil.^o  to  elCiui  out  coop,  'riiey  should  be  made  of 
hair-inch  material  to  he  a.s  light  as  possible.  By 
having  a  light  bottom  and  shutting  up  tight  at 
night  you  are  entirely  free  from  any  liarm  that 
tills  or  skunks  can  do,  and  yet  yon  liave  a  good 
vmitilii,f((iii  at  all  times.  By  bujing  empty  shoe 
boxes  at  the  storos  and  getting  good-sized  ones, 
they  can  bo  used  to  good  advantage,  and  save  ex¬ 
pense,  tho  wire  netting  can  be  had  at  any  hard¬ 
ware  store,  but  it  should  be  pretty  firm  so  there 
will  be  no  danger  from  rats.  If  bottoms  of 
coops  are  covered  with  hay  chaff  and  cleaned  out 
once  a  week,  hens  and  chicks  can  be  kept  in 
good  conflition.  H.  D.  Wellinoton. 
East  Lexington,  Ma.ss. 
- - — 
FEEDING  POULTRY. 
Oun  novice  buys  a  poultry  book  and  on  one  of 
the  first  pages  roads,  •' never  over-feed.”  "Never 
allow  any  food  to  lie  about.”  "  Never  feed  from 
pan,  trough,  basin,  or  any  vessel.”  Feed  only 
while  tho  bii'ds  will  nm  after  the  feed,  and  not 
at  all  if  they  seem  careless  about  it.  •'  Do  not 
feed  raw  meat.”  "  Do  not  feed  one  kind  of  food 
continnously,  a  change  from  corn  to  wheat,  from 
wheat  to  rye,  from  rye  to  barley,  etc.,  will  give 
better  results.” 
After  reading  this  and  much  more  of  the  same 
strain  our  novice  considers  himself  a  master  of 
the  jirofession,  and  goes  in  ;  bat  December  comes 
and  goes  and  no  eggs;  January  melts  into 
twenties  and  no  eggs ;  he  consoles  himself  that 
it  is  very  cold  weather  and  his  house  is  not  very 
tight,  (tliougli  it  is  as  warm  as  lie  could  make  it) 
and  it  freezes  had  in  it;  he  rings  tJic  changes  in 
food  and  let’s  none  lie  about,  hut  no  success. 
He  Inippciis  one  day  to  be  in  tho  grocery  when  in 
come.s  a  couutrynum  with  a  big  willow  basket 
wrapped  iu  paper  and  blankets,  and  out  of  it 
conic.s  eggs,  layer  after  layer  of  fresh  eggs ;  one 
of  the  bystanders  says,  "  Well  John  your  lions 
are  doing  well  this  year.”  •‘Oh  yes,”  says 
Jonx,  "  they  are  buying  my  groceries  for  me.” 
"How  many  have  you,"  asks  novice.  "Well 
about  50  1  guess,  don’t  know  exactly."  You 
must  have  a  warm  house,  says  novice,  “No I 
have  lost  many  eggs  by  freezing,  and  my  Leg¬ 
horns  all  froze  their  combs  and  feet.”  “  What 
do  you  feed:-'”  says  novice.  "Well,  in  cold 
weather,  mostly  corn  ;  though  1  give  some  raw 
meat  that  I  get  from  tho  biilclier,  and  they  have 
a  feed  of  boiled  turnips  once  a  week,  and  raw 
onions,  twice  a  week,  and  when  wc  cleaned  our 
grain  1  fed  tliem  on  screenings  for  a  while.” 
“  How  do  you  feed 't  "  “  Well,  that  depends,  if  the 
barnyard  is  not  covered  with  snow,  1  feed  in  a 
hopper,  if  it  is,  I  throw  the  feed  in  a  pile  of 
chaff  on  the  floor  so  as  to  keep  them  bn.sy  all  day 
scratching  for  it.”  "You  say  you  sometimes 
food  with  a  hopper,  don’t  they  ovor-eat  ?  ”  "No, 
at  least  thoy  keep  on  laying  just  the  same.” 
"  Wliat  kind  do  you  keep  ?  ”  "  Dunghills  crossed 
with  a  light  Brahma  rooster,  but  I  have  doue  it 
for  several  years,  and  now  my  stock  could  not  be 
told  from  full  blood  Brahmas  by  a  common 
observer.”  "  Don't  your  Brahmas  want  to  set 
too  much  ?  ”  "  No,  all  sot  onco  and  they  rarely 
offer  a  second  time,  hut  my  best  sitters  are  my 
boat  early  layers."  "What  kind  of  a  hon  bouse 
do  you  have?"  "Well  you  see  just  below  my 
house  is  a  steep,  gravelly  bank,  and  I  dug  into 
tho  side  of  it  and  built  me  two  log  houses,  each 
12x18  feet,  30  feet  apart,  thoy  wore  4  feet  high 
to  tho  eavOs,  were  roofed  with  logs,  flattened  like 
R.  K.  tics,  then  the  cracks  filled  well  with  cement, 
and  the  wliolo  covered  with  gnwel  from  tho 
bank,  and  between  the  two  houses  a  sort  of  a 
shod  was  made  and  covered  with  gravel;  the 
south  end  between  tho  logs  and  the  roof  w'ua 
only  rough  boarded  and  not  hatl  ened  aa  I  cou- 
sider  air  of  more  good  than  warmth;  on  the 
south  side  wo  put  iu  each  house  two  common 
slide  windows  of  10x12  glass.”  “Do  you  give 
fre.sh  wator  dally?”  "In  summor;  but  not 
when  there  is  snow  on  tho  grounfL”  “How 
many  eggs  have  yon  had  this  winter  ?”  “  I  don’t 
know,  how  many  have  I  brought  you  Mir.  Bbown  ?" 
Mr.  Bhown  goes  to  his  ledger  and  in  a  fow 
minutes  says,  "  from  Dec.  16,  till  date  (Feb.  10) 
you  have  brouglit  me  100  dozen  ogga.” 
Novice  goes  homo  and  ponders  over  those 
things  and  tho  next  day  goes  out  and  visits  somo 
of  his  brother  poulterers,  he  finds  ono  who  foods 
hl.s  fowls  every  morning  a  mess  of  cooked  corn 
meal,  all  they  will  cat,  and  hS  keeps  a  hopper  of 
corn  always  before  Iheni,  they  aro  voty  fat  and 
lay  regularly  and  heavily,  and  when  tho  breeder 
wants  to  market  lliom  ho  oan  seU  them  at  much 
above  the  market  rale.  He  flnd.s  another  who 
feeds  on  wheat  screeningfi  entirely,  and  always 
puts  it  in  a  pile  of  chaff  BO  as  to  make  the  fowls 
scratch  for  it ;  his  lay  well  too.  Novico  goes 
home  with  tho  opinion  that  it  pays  to  feed  fowls 
well  andthat  fi’esh  moat  won't  hurt  them,  that 
fresh  air  i.s  move  good  to  them  than  wannliousos, 
and  he  acts  on  his  opinion  and  tho  next  winter 
and  each  succeeding  ono  he  has  as  many  eggs  aa 
any  one.  ’  A.  M.  Van  Auken, 
Fort  Howard,  Wls. 
- - 
HENS  THAT  DON’T.  SET. 
The  nonsitting  varieties  of  fowls  comprise  the 
different  kinds  of  Hambiu'gs,  Spanish,  Leghorns 
and  Polands,  and  also  some  of  tho  French  fowls, 
yet,  we  oftoii  moot  with  inihvidualB  of  the  fore¬ 
going  hrcfids  which  aro  medium  bitters.  Non- 
sitlvrs,  if  well  bred,  will  not  give  ono  coivfiruiod 
caso  of  sitiing  among  fifty  birds,  though  they 
Bometimos  sit  for  a  few  hours  or  a  day,  but  soon 
leave  off.  Thoy  often  have  periods  of  leaving 
off  laying  lor  sovoral  days  or  a  week.  Thono 
correspond  to  tho  sitting  fever  of  the  incubating 
breeds.  The  iuHlancos  of  fowls  sitting  steadily, 
although  belonging  to  a  breed  of  piuro  non-sit¬ 
ters,  show  reversion  to  tho  primitive  typo  when 
incubation  was  imivertHil.  A  cross  betwoon  two 
different  breeds  of  non^sitters  will  produce  a 
race  that  will  sit  as  regularly  and  persistently  as 
any  fowls.  Some  crosses  between  breeds  are 
very  desirable,  but  uon-sittors  should  bo  kept 
pure,  or  tho  trait  which  constitutes  their  princi¬ 
pal  value  xvili  bo  lost.  Where  many  fowls  aro 
kept  it  is  better  to  havo  the  larger  port  consi.st  of 
some  nou-sittiiig  breed.  A  greii  t  saving  may  bo 
made  in  a  sitting  breed  to  produce  a  fow  good 
motlicrs.  The  rest,  say  threc-quartcis  of  tho 
whole  of  your  stock,  sliould  bo'  of  somo  breed  of 
non-sitters.  It  is  as  easy  to  take  care  of  200  non¬ 
sitting  hens  diuing  the  warm  season  as  100  of  a 
sitting  variety. 
POULTRY  NOTES. 
Tlm-c.  is  a  oast  diffurence  in  the  flavor  of  eggs. 
Hens  fed  in  clear,  sound  gi’oin,  aral  kept  on  a 
clean  gi’asa  run,  givo  much  finer  flavored  eggs 
than  hens  that  have  access  to  stable  and  nianuro 
heaps,  and  oat  all  kinds  of  filthy  food.  Hons 
feeiling  on  fish  and  onions  fl.avor  their  eggs  ac¬ 
cordingly,  the  same  as  cows  eating  onions  or  cab¬ 
bage,  or  drinking  offen.sivo  wator,  imparts  a  bad 
tasto  to  the  milk  and  butter.  The  richer  the  food 
tho  higher  tlie  color  of  the  eggs.  Wlieat  and 
corn  givo  eggs  tho  best  color,  while  feeding  on 
buckwheat  luiikos  thorn  colorless,  rendering  them 
unfit  for  some  confectionary  purposes. 
Brcrdiuij  Farmy  FnuUry. — A  great  many  bo- 
giimers  in  [lonltry  breeding  fail  tluough  confin¬ 
ing  their  fowls  too  closely,  keeping  ono  cock  iu  a 
small  ijcn  with  one  or  two  hens.  This  is  tho 
natural  result  of  trying  to  breed  jiurely.  Begin¬ 
ners  usually  have  only  two  or  three  choice  fowls, 
and  turning  these  out  with  a  fioek  of  dungliills 
destroys  all  chances  of  purity.  One  cock  may  be 
kept  with  15  or  20  bens,  and.  by  having  only  this 
number,  the.  eggs  from  the  pure  breed  fowls  will 
he  full  Wood,  whilo  the  others  will  be  half  breeds, 
and  all  will  bo  muro  sure  of  hatching  than  if 
fewer  hens  wore  kept  with  tho  cock. 
