200x272  feet  which  made  it  iieeeBsai^  to  lay  it 
out  as  it  is.  The  yards  1,  1,  are  50x44  feet; 
except  those  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner 
which  are  36x44.  Some  gates  are  shown  by  g, 
g.  and  I  can  take  my  wheelbarrow'  and  start  at 
gate  1,  (g  A  in  plan),  of  course  1  liave  iny  feed 
and  waU;r  on  my  barrow,  and  go  to.  iind  through, 
each  house  in  that  row  audtlion  cross  and  come 
bnxtk  in  the  other  row  feociing  and  w  ateriiig  all, 
as  the  breeders'  coops  open  inbj  the  cenbir  yard. 
On  the  north  side  is  a  row  Of  Norway  spruce  set 
three  feet  apart,  and  tlic  yiirds  are  filled  with 
plum  trees  set  on  the  (piincnnx  ])lau,  rows  10 
feet  apart  and  tr<!cs  12  fiad  ajjait  in  the  row. 
()nr  aim  in  this  plan  of  kcciiing  fowls  is  to 
make  as  little  labor  as  posHibk;,  in  taking  care  of 
the  fowls,  to  protect  our  trcfis  from  the  curculio, 
and  to  have  our  houses  while  cheap  yet  warm 
enough  so  that  our  fowls  will  lay  well  in  winUu'. 
Fort  Howard.  Wla.  A.  M.  Van  Ackkn. 
she  used  to  comb  out  their  hair  with  her  bill,  in  ! 
the  same  W'ay  as  hens  in  general  comb  ont  the 
feathers  of  their  chickens.  AVliile  engaged  in 
this  process,  however,  she  used  freqtiently  to 
stop  and  look  with  one  eye  at  the  wriggling  nest- 
fnll  with  an  Impiiring  gaxe  e.xpressive  of  astou- 
islunent.  At  other  times,  also,  Inw  family  gave 
her  good  reason  to  be  surprised  ;  for  she  used 
often  to  lly  oil’  the  nest  stiddenly  with  a  lotul 
scream— .‘in  action  which  was  douLtloss  due  to 
the  unaecnstomod  scnHiition  of  being  nipped  by 
the  young  fen'ets  in  tlieir  searcli  for  the  (eats. 
It  is  further  woi'th  wliile  to  remark  that  the  hen 
showwl  so  much  utKiasiness  of  mind  when  the 
fornds  wore  taken  from  her  l.o  be  fed  Unit  atone 
time  I  thougbt  she  was  going  to  ilesert  them 
altogether.  Aflor  this,  therefore,  the  feirets 
were  always  fed  in  the  nest,  and  with  this 
aiTangement  the  hen  was  perfectly  satisfied — 
apjiarently  hecanse  she  thought  that  she  tlien 
had  some  share  in  the  feeding  ]jrucess.  At  any 
rate  she  used  to  cluck  when  she  saw  the  milk 
coming,  and  siu'voyed  the  fiicding  with  evident 
satisfactiou. 
VAEIATTON  OF  INSTINCT  IN  ANIMALS, 
A  oouiiKsfoNUENT  of  Loudou  Nature,  gives 
some  vej-y  remarkable  variations  of  what  is  gener¬ 
ally  ternu'd  instinct  in  fowls,  fi'ora  wliich  we 
clip  the  toUowiiig : 
Three  years  ago  1  gave  a  pea-fowl's  egg  to  a 
Brahma  lieu  to  liatoJi.  The  hen  was  an  old  one, 
and  had  previously  reared  many  broods  of  ordi¬ 
nary  chickens  with  luinsual  success  even  for  one 
of  her  breed.  In  order  to  liatch  the  ixia-chick 
she  had  to  sit  one  week  longer  than  is  reipiisito 
to  hatch  an  ordinary  chick,  but  in  this  there  is 
nothuig  very  unusual,  for,  as  ISfr.  Hpaldiug  ob¬ 
serves,  the  same  thing  happens  with  every  hen 
that  hatches  ont  a  brood  of  ducklings.  The 
object  with  which  I  made  this  exjieriment,  how¬ 
ever,  was  that  of  ascertaining  whether  the  iieriod 
of  niaU'iial  care  subsequent  to  incubation  ad¬ 
mits,  under  peculiar  conditions,  of  being  pro¬ 
longed  ;  for  a  pea-ohick  requires  such  cares  for  a 
very  much  lunger  time  than  docs  an  ordinary 
chick.  As  the  sejiaration  between  a  lien  and  lier 
chickens  always  avqiears  to  be  due  to  the  former  j 
driving  away  the  latter  whoa  they  are  old  enough 
to  shift  for  themselves,  I  scarcely  exjiocted  the 
heu  ill  this  case  to  prolong  lier  period  of  maternal 
care,  and,  indeed,  only  tried  the  experiment 
because  I  thought  tliat  if  she  did  so  the  fact 
would  bo  the  best  one  imaginable  to  sliow  in 
what  a  high  dogi’ee  hereditary  Instinct  may  be 
modified  by  peculiar  individual  experiences. 
The  result  was  very  sui'prising.  For  the  enor¬ 
mous  period  of  cigbte^  months  this  old  Brahma 
hen  remained  with  her  ever-growing  chicken, 
and  throughout  tlio  whole  of  that  time  sJie  con¬ 
tinued  to  pay  it  unremitting  attention.  She 
never  laid  any  eggs  during  this  lengthened 
period  of  maternal  supervision,  and  if  at  any 
time  she  bocamo  accidentally  separated  from  iior 
charge,  the  distress  of  both  mother  and  cliicken 
was  very  great.  Eventually  the  separation 
seemed  to  take  place  on  the  side  of  the  peacock, 
but  it  is  remarkable  tliat,  altlioiigh  the  mother 
and  chicken  oventually  sejiarated,  (hey  never 
afterwards  forgot  each  otlier,  as  usually  appears 
to  be  the  case  with  hens  and  their  chickens.  So 
long  as  tlioy  romained  (ogeUier  tlie  abnomal 
degree  of  pride  wiiich  the  mother  slioweti  in  her 
wonderful  chideen  was  most  ludicrous ;  but  I 
have  DO  spiace  to  enter  into  details.  It  may  be 
stated,  however,  that  both  before  and  after  the 
separation  the  mother  was  in  the  habit  of  fre¬ 
quently  combing  out  the  top-knot  of  her  son — 
she  standing  on  a  seat,  or  other  eminouce,  of 
suitable  hight,  and  be  bending  his  head  forward 
with  evident  satisfaction.  This  fact  is  particu¬ 
larly  noteworthy,  because  tlie  practice  of  comb¬ 
ing  out  the  top-knot  of  theii'  cliickcns  is  cus¬ 
tomary  among  poa-hens.  In  couclusion  I  may 
observe  that  the  peacock  roared  by  this  Brahma 
hen  turned  out  a  liiioi'  bii'd  in  c\cry  way  than 
did  any  of  Ids  brothoi's  of  the  same  brood  which 
were  reared  by  tlicir  own  mother,  but  that  on 
repeating  the  experiment  next  yeai‘  witli  another 
Brahma  heu  and  several  pea-chickcus,  the  result 
was  different,  for  the  hen  deserted  her  family  at 
the  same  time  when  it  is  natural  for  ordinary 
hens  to  do  so,  and  in  consequence  all  the  pca- 
chickens  miserably  iiorished. 
I  have  just  concluded  another  experiment 
which  is  well  worth  recording.  A  bitch  feiTet 
strangled  herself  by  trying  to  squeeze  through 
too  narrow  an  opening.  She  left  a  very  young 
family  of  throe  orphans.  Those  I  gave,  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  to  a  Brahma  hen  which 
had  been  sitting  on  dummies  for  about  a  month. 
She  took  to  them  almost  immediately,  and 
remaiiied  with  them  for  rather  more  than  a 
fortnight,  at  the  end  of  which  time  I  had  to 
cause  a  separation,  in  consequence  of  the  hen 
having  suffocated  one  of  the  fen'ets  by  standing 
upon  its  neck.  Bm'ing  tlie  whole  of  the  time 
that  the  feiTots  were  left  to  the  hen,  the  latter 
had  to  sit  upon  the  nest ;  for  the  young  ferrets, 
of  com'so,  were  not  able  to  follow  the  heu  about 
as  chicks  would  have  done.  The  hen,  as  might 
be  expected,  was  vei’y  much  puzzled  at  the 
lethargy  of  her  offspring.  Two  or  tlu-ee  times  a 
day  she  would  fly  off  the  nest,  calling  upon  her 
brood  to  follow,  but  upon  hearing  their  cries  of 
distress  from  cold,  she  always  returned  immedi¬ 
ately  and  sat  witli  patience  for  six  or  seven  Lours 
more.  I  should  have  said  that  it  only  took  the 
heu  one  day  to  leai'n  the  meaning  of  these  cries 
of  distress ;  for  after  the  first  day  she  would 
always  run  in  an  agitated  manner  to  any  place 
where  I  concealed  the  feiTcts.  provided  that 
this  place  was  not  too  far  away  from  the  nest 
to  prevent  her  from  hearing  the  cries  of  distress. 
Yet  I  do  not  think  it  could  be  possible  to  con¬ 
ceive  Qf  s  greater  contrast  tlian  tliat  between 
the  shiiD  piping  notes  of  a  young  chicken  and 
the  hoarse  growling  noise  of  a  young  ferret.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  camiot  say  that  the  young 
fenets  ever  seemed  to  leani  the  meanhigs  of  the 
hen's  clucking.  During  the  whole  of  the  time 
that  the  hen  was  allowed  to  sit  upon  the  ferrets, 
MAX  ADLER  INDIGNANT 
In  speaking  of  the  Massachusetts  law  making 
it  necessary  that  a  “dozen  eggs  weigh  one  and 
one-half  jsiimds,*'  !Max  Adler  says :  "We  approve 
of  tins.  The  hens  have  too  long  had  Uieir  own 
way  In  this  business  of  la5'ing  eggs,  and  they  have 
constantly  defrauded  the  public.  It  is  high  time 
this  outrage  was  crushed,  and  wc  arc  glad  that  the 
Tiegislaturo  of  Massachusetts  is  going  (o  do  it. 
If  free  American  citizens  arc  to  be  imjioseil  upon 
with  impmutyjby  debauched  and  corrupt  chickens, 
the  govei'iimeut,  for  which  William  I'enu  fought 
and  Johu  Hancock  died,  is  a  disgraceful  failure. 
Hereafter,  MasHachusetts  hens  will  either  have 
to  lay  two-ounce  eggs  or  emigrate.  The  people 
will  submit  b)  their  tyranny  no  longer.  They 
have  bonio  the  yolk  until  it  has  become  unen- 
durable.  TJicy  denounee  present  prices  for  pres¬ 
ent  eggs  us  eggstortion,  and  liens,  they  demand 
a  reform  Avitli  the  deU'rni illation  to  draw  up  this 
chicken  bill,  and  pullet  tlirough  the  Legislature.” 
IS  HEAVES  IN  HORSES  CONTAGIOUS, 
POULTRY  BREEDING, 
“A  SriJHcitiiiK.u  "  writes,  asking  the  above 
question,  and  that  he  has  a  four-year-old  colt, 
which  has  been  stabled  tho  past  winter  with  two 
other  horses  having  the  heaves,  and  now  the 
colt,  also,  has  this  disease,  and  hecaTinot  account 
for  it  in  any  othei'  way  than  that  “  heaves  are 
catcliiiig.” 
Our  own  opinion  is,  that  lieaves  is  not  a  con¬ 
tagious  disease,  iiut  thei'c  is  something  in  the 
In  the  following  you  need  not  expect  any  in¬ 
structions  on  breeding  “fancy”  poulti-y ;  that 
field  is  filled  by  abler  writers  tlian  I,  but  I  sball 
NORTH _ _ 
INFLUENCE  OF  SOIL  ON  EGGS 
INJURY  TO  HORSES’  LEGS 
The  English  Grocer  is  creiiited  with  this  state¬ 
ment,  by  Mr  Hothara,  the  Britisli  Consul  at  Calais, 
in  regard  to  influence  of  soil  on  the  quantity  of 
eggs  laid  by  fowls : — “  In  this  neighborhood,”  he 
remarks,  “  as  well  as  near  Boulogne,  there  exists 
a  mai  ked  quantity  of  silica  m  the  soil,  highly 
favorable  fur  egg-layiug  purposes  i  remove  the 
fowls  fiom  this  pecuhar  soil,  and  tiiia  fecundity 
ceases,  and  that  tJiis  is  the  case  about  here  as 
well  as  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boulogne,  is  well 
known.  At  A  niiuius.  again,  this  same  quality  of 
soil  is  found,  and  the  poultry  from  (bat  district 
arc  remarkable  for  their  laying  qualities ;  indeed, 
they  are  the  most  celebrated  layers  iu  France.” 
A  thibscrihfv — coutiuue  the  application  of  arni¬ 
ca,  or  some  other  liniment,  to  the  sore  siiot  on 
the  leg  of  your  horse.  Perhaps  wi'apping  it  up 
ivitli  a  wet  cloth  at  night  will  be  lienefieial  in  re¬ 
ducing  iiiflamation,  then  remove  in  tho  morning 
and  mb  dry,  afterwai'ds  apply  the  liniment.  We 
hare  more  faith  iu  cold  water  bandages  for  allay¬ 
ing  inllamatiou  than  in  a  majority  of  the  lini¬ 
ments  generally  used.  Try  it  and  see  what 
effect  it  will  have. 
tread  in  a  field  where  no  author,  to  my  knowledge 
has  walked  before.  First,  reader,  imagine  your¬ 
self  raising  fruit  and  vegetables  for  tlie  market ; 
then  the  curculio  takes  tho  plums,  the  meadow 
grasshojiper  takes  your  cubhiige,  your  tuniips, 
occasionally  a  few  rows  of  yonr  unions,  and  likes 
tho  juice  of  your  strawbon-ics  and  gooseberries, 
the  squash  bug  is  fond  of  your  vinos,  and  so  on 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
“  What  are  you  gouig  to  do  about  it  ?  ’’  Will 
you  let  them  go  on  and  destroy  things  or  will 
you  “hand-pick?”  (the  cure-all  with  amateurs.) 
We  can  do  neither,  the  first  is  bad,  and  the  last 
is  out  of  the  question.  What  shall  wc  do  ? 
Well,  how  will  chickens  do  ?  We  will  keep  the 
old  ones  yarded  in  our  |ilum  orchai'd  to  take  care 
of  the  curculio  and  set  tlie  coops  of  little  ones  iu 
the  garden  to  see  to  the  others. 
Now  if  we  conclude  to  try  chickens,  we  must 
bo  cramped  a  little,  our  old  fowls  are  to  be 
yarded  in  our  plum  orchard;  they  must  he  a 
iirecal  that  will  not  lly  over  a  reasonably  high 
fence  and  that  will  not  wisli  to  roost  in  tho  plmn 
trees.  Wo  must  have  caiiy  cliickens,  and  to 
lliis  end  must  have  fowls  that  ai'o  winter  layers 
and  good  sitters  and  mothers.  Ma-iy  will  think 
that  chickens  will  be  destructive  to  some  of  our 
fruits  and  vegetables.  1  will  allow  that  they  are 
fond  of  ripe  tomatoes  and  that  old  fowls  like 
lettuce,  cabbage,  currants,  etc.,  but  young 
chicketis  will  not  bothw  anytliing  but  tomatoes, 
and  sti'awbenies,  if  well  fed,  if  half  starved, 
look  out;  our  tomatoes  and  strawberries  wo 
keep  tire  chickens  away  from  as  soon  as  tlie 
fruit  begiuB  to  color. 
A  genUemau  eugaged  in  gardening,  had  last 
summer  some  6.000  late  cabbage  and  uo  chickens ; 
ou  each  side  of  him  was  a  meadow,  and  they 
wore  full  of  grasahoppsrs  and  said  gi-asshoppers 
were  fond  of  cabbage,  and  he  had  to  keep  a 
couple  of  boys,  with  a  rope,  in  the  patch  all  the 
while  iu  order  to  save  them.  Now  our  patch 
vvas  populated  with  chickens  and  on  one  side 
was  a  grass  plot,  yet  we  lost  but  three  or  fom' 
plants  by  grasshoppers  and  in  the  fall  perhaps 
one  per  cent,  of  the  heads  were  hui’t  by  the 
chickens :  here  wc  lost  no  more  cabbage  than 
ho,  and  while  he  was  paying  one  dollai'  per  day 
for  protection  we  were  paying  less  than  that  for 
feed  -ind  vvould  get  all  oui-  money  back  in  tho 
fall  and  his  was  out ;  hesiiles  we  had  protection 
ou  Sunday  which  he  did  not. 
Here  is  our  hen  yai‘d : — 1,  1,  layers  yards. 
2,  2,  breeders’  yards.  C,  C,  layers'  houses.  D, 
D,  hreeders'  houses.  The  narrow  strips  through 
the  center  ai'e  lanes  12  feet  wide ;  the  piece  was 
Corn  Meal  and  Potatoes  for  Fowls.— We 
notice  that  aomo  of  the  English  breeders  of 
fowls  assert  that  potatoes  always  cause  diseased 
livers,  aud  corn  meal  fat  only.  Ground  oats  or 
barley  meal  is  recommended  in  place  of  Indian 
meal,  and  feeding  whole  corn  once  a  week  for 
its  fattening  properties.  We  think  our  poultry 
men  depend  too  much  on  corn,  and  that  oats, 
barley,  wheat,  aud  some  of  the  coarse  kinds  of 
grass  seeds,  would  be  far  preferable  than  to  con¬ 
fine  the  birds  to  an  exclusive  diet  of  one  or  two 
kinds. 
SHEEP  HUSBANDRY  IN  COLORADO 
Perhaps  I  was  not  suthciently  explicit  in  my 
last  letter  wliicb  appeivied  iu  the  Rural  of  April 
Ist.  I  am  asked :  “  Can  a  man  start  and  make 
a  success  of  Sheep  Husbandi'y  in  Colorado  with 
^>800  or  §1,000  capital  ?”  My  answer  is  uo. 
About  §3,000  is  the  least  sum  a  mau  should 
think  of  beginning  with,  aud  be  could  spend  it 
economically  as  follow's : 
A  Rtincii . . . 
&00  Mexican  ewes . . . L’n" 
lOpure  blood  Npaolsli  merino  raius. ...... — 
1  cow,  f  10;  1  pony.  >40.. . . .  80 
5  ton*  of  hay  at  >10  per  ton .  50 
Dipping,  shciirtng,  etc.,  etc .  50 
Leaving  §320  out  of  the  $3,000  to  caiTj  a  man 
tlu'ough  the  first  seasou  for  supplies,  and  he 
would  have  to  economize  pretty  closely  to  do  it. 
In  May,  or  June,  he  could  clip  1,500  pounds  of 
wool,  worth  20c.,  or  §300.  This  will  be  all  he 
gets  the  second  year  for  expenses.  He  will  have 
to  be  his  own  herder,  and  talte  the  (lony  and  ride 
to  town  for  supplies  at  night,  for  it  is  necessary 
to  go  out  with  the  flock  durj’iug  the  day.  Now 
the  second  clipping  of  theews,  say  1,500  pounds, 
and  400  lambs  2,000  pounds,  being  of  much  bet¬ 
ter  grade  it  will  command  a  better  price,  say  25c. , 
3,500  lbs.,  §875.  At  this  time  a  mau  might  think 
he  could  afford  to  hire  a  herder,  and  not  be 
confined  so  closely  to  business,  but  this  is  a  mis¬ 
take.  for  success  is  not  yet  certain,  aud  a  mau 
must  piucb  it  tlu'ough  if  his  fortune  is  to  be  as¬ 
sured, 
llesults  will,  of  course,  vary  somewhat,  and  a 
man  with  a  family,  lOid  some  of  the  children 
lai'ge  enough  to  help,  could  manage  better  in 
some  respects,  but  bis  exiienses  would  be  in¬ 
creased.  As  it  costs  no  more  to  bei’d  1,600  sheep 
than  it  does  lOOj  a  man  had  better  start  with  the 
larger  uiunber,  if  possible,  for  iu  either  case  the 
herdsman  must  be  with  his  flock  during  tlxe  day 
and  bring  them  into  the  corral  at  night. 
Fort  Collins,  Colorado.  John  sueldo.v. 
1’.  S.  Your  compositors  made  me  say  some 
strange  things  in  my  last.  I  stated  that  my 
losses  were  about  6?-;ri3er  cent.,  but  it  read  5}i 
cwt.  “ Cache  at  LaParide  valley,”  should  have 
read  (Jachf.  a  La  Poudre  valley.  Again,  in 
speaking  of  friend.s  in  tiio  East  calling  me  an 
“enthusiast,”  you  have  it  ••authority,”  which 
would  lead  your  readei-s  to  believe  me  an  “  ego¬ 
tist  ”  as  well.  J-  ®' 
HEREDITARY  DISEASES  IN  HORSES 
One  good  reason  why  we  see  so  many  jioor 
horses  tbrougbont  the  counfa^  is  that  breedei's 
are  not  ciu'eful  enough  about  selecting  their 
brood  mares.  It  has  been  altogether  too  com¬ 
mon  a  custom  among  farmers  to  use  old,  broken- 
down  marcs  for  breeding  pm-poses,  and  then  they 
wonder  why  colts  are  so  liabio  to  all  sorts  of  dis¬ 
eases  to  which  horse  flesh  is  known  to  be  subject. 
Darwin,  the  most  careful  and  painstaking  of 
living  naturalists,  iu  seeking  the  cause  of  certain 
diseases,  sums  up  his  researches  as  follows : 
“  Even  if  uo  single  fact  had  been  known  with 
respect  to  the  inheritance  of  disease  and  mal¬ 
formations  by  man,  the  evidence  would  have 
lieen  complete  iu  the  case  of  the  horse,  and  this 
might  have  been  expected,  as  horses  breed  much 
quicker  than  man,  are  matched  with  care,  aud 
are  higUy  valued.  I  have  eonsulted  many 
works,  ami  the  unanimity  of  belief  by  veterina¬ 
rians  of  all  (laticms,  in  the  trausmission  of  vari¬ 
ous  diseases,  is  smprising.  Authors  who  have 
had  wide  experience  give  in  detail  many  singuiar 
cases,  and  assert,  that  conti'acted  feet,  with  the 
numerous  contingent  evils  of  ring-bones,  curbs, 
splints,  spavin,  founder,  and  weakness  of  the 
front  legs,  broken  aud  tliick  wind,  melanosis, 
specific  ophthalmia,  and  bltnduess— the  great 
French  vetei'iuarian,  Hugai'd,  going  so  far  as  to 
say  that  a  blmd  race  could  soou  be  formed — 
crib-biting,  and  iU  temiier— all  are  only  heredi¬ 
tary.  Youatt  sums  up,  saying,  that  ‘there  is 
