0 
MAY 4© 
In traveling raeli distances, their ordinary rate 
of flight ia considered to bo not more than about 
30 miles an hour, although there are many well 
authenticated instances where this rate of velo¬ 
city has been doubled or even tripled. 
For pleasure if not for profit ft flock of pigeons 
should ho kept on every form blessed with chil¬ 
dren. For three-fourths of the year they will ho 
able, with very little assistance, to pick up a live¬ 
lihood for themselves and, when winter lias cov¬ 
ered the earth with its mantle of snow, a little 
barley or buckwheat will cheaply eke out the bill 
of fare which they well And among the nutritive 
debris around tho homestead. A sufficiently 
commodious dovo-eoto may he formed of a box 
fastened to the side of the house or an adjacent 
barn. 
Every pair ot pigeons should have two nests ; 
this will prevent confusion, quarreling, and con¬ 
sequent breakage of eggs or destruction of 
young. These nests should be about 18 inches 
broad and tho same in bight: a partition should 
he placed botweon the nests to prevent quarrel¬ 
ing, as well as any interference of young birds 
with a sitting lien, for the latter will usually 
leave the young, when a month old, to the care of 
tho cock, and lay again. It will be necessary 
also to supply the pigeons with hay for their 
nests, for domestic pigeons, unlike their wild 
relatives, will not make nests for themselves. As 
pigeons pair, care should he taken to keep the 
proportion of sexes as equal as possible. The 
hens usually lay hut two eggs before they sit, 
but, if they receive a little extra food, they will 
sit every mouth, thus producing eight or ten 
clutches during the season. Few* animals make 
so much dirt, and yet dislike it so much, as pi¬ 
geons. The pigeou-house should therefore be 
cleaned out once a week. The nests should incline 
a little inwards, to prevent the eggs and youug 
from roiling out. A constant supply of clean, 
fresh water should bo kept near the dove-oote, 
but placed in a position where the droppings of 
the birds cannot fall into it. 
Pigeons arc singularly fond of salt, and as this 
conduces greatly to their health, they should he 
kept abundantly supplied with it. The front of 
the pigeon-house should bo kept constantly 
white-washed, both as an attraction to the birds 
and to promote their health. In starting a dove¬ 
cote, care should be taken to purchase young 
birds only, as old ones will certainly return to 
their former homes. 
. THE SKYLARK. 
A mono American songsters which inhabit this 
latitude that resembling most closely the skylark 
of Europe is the bobolink. Like the lark, bo 
luxuriates in rich pastures and wherever an 
abundance of verdure is to be found, and like 
him makes a peculiar vibrating motion of his 
wings when he is soaring. Unlike the lark, his 
song is neither so varied nor so persistent, nor 
is his flight so high and long-sustained ; and in¬ 
deed it does not appear that he so early leaves 
Ids uest to pay his matutinal devotions. Then, 
ho has a partiality for alighting on the branches 
of trees, and this the skylark never does, simply 
passing his life either on the earth or in the air. 
Although unlike, too, both in size and color— 
the lark bring the. smaller and of a somber, 
slightly mottled brown—they still enjoy enough 
in common to suggest a similarity to tho mind 
even of tho casual observer. Though living 
mostly solitary or in pairs during the pleasant 
part of the year, skylarks congregate together 
ou the approach of winter, and seek their 
livelihood throughout, the wiuter among the 
unplowed stubble land, where they appear to 
thrive and fatten on the spoils which fall in 
their way. In exceptionally severe winters they 
may he seen in t he gardens and around the pre¬ 
cincts of farm houses throughout the rural dis¬ 
tricts, hut such an oeeurreuce is raro. 
On account of the fineness of his flesh, the 
lark is much sought after by sportsmen, who 
sometimes manage to secure a dozen or moro at 
one shot, and though no larger than the common 
sparrow, in the hands of a skillful cook they be- 
corno most tempting to an epicure. Another 
natural enemy of tho skylark is the ruthless 
school-bov. who takes advantage of his running 
propensities to set n trap for him—in the Bhape 
of small, horse-hair nooses, suspended in rows 
about a foot above the surface of tho ground— 
whenever there is a heavy enough snowfall to 
cover tho short herbage. There does not appear 
to he any great affinity between the skylark and 
the meadow-larlc of this continent, further than 
their common love of the fields, neither voice 
uor habit being at all similar. Caged, the sky¬ 
lark sometimes becomes tame and even resumes 
his wonted hilarity, but, in many instances, be 
pines and dies unless bis wonted liberty is re¬ 
stored. w. H. 
-» 
HAWKS BORN BLIND. 
Con. JAllies Gordon of Pontatoc, in writing to 
the Chicago Field, says: 
“ I am feediug my young chickens and the 
common quails ou my place with nut vomica, to 
kill (he hawks, and I have about finished all in 
my neighborhood. It is a sovereign remedy, as 
it does not kill any fowl batched with its eyes 
open, but kills anything born blind that eats a 
bird whose system is charged with it.” 
Now, will the Colonel 41 rise and explain,” and 
tell* us, if the hawk cornea blind from the egg, 
how many days or weeks it ran urns in this con¬ 
dition ? Having ourselves never had an oppor¬ 
tunity to see young hawks as they come from 
the shell, we cannot assert, positively, that they 
are born with good sight, but shall continue to 
believe they are until some one who has investi¬ 
gated the subject personally and bred the birds, 
informs us to the contrary. 
GOOD FOR YOUNG CHICKS. 
Sni:—I read tho articles of your regular con¬ 
tributor. Hunky 11ai.es, Esq., with interest. I 
like them—they are instructive; but instead of 
giving us an elaborate bill of fare for youug 
chickens, is it not more important, to know what 
are one or two of the healthiest kinds of food, 
in place of variety, and how chicks can get all 
necesaary care, with due economy iu time of at¬ 
tention ? Professional breeders have their whole 
time for the business, but tho masses, who de¬ 
light iu a fine yard of Brahmas, Dorkings, Leg¬ 
horns, or other choice birds, have but a few 
hours of daily leisure. I have no time to chop 
meat up fine, feed hard-boiled eggs, or sift 
broken beef scraps, yet 1 can raise some pretty 
fair feathers. 
Perhaps my stock Light Brahmas—are very 
hardy, but I never lose a chicken through dis¬ 
ease. 1 have to - day every chick batched iu 
March and since. I put them out-of-doors as 
soon as hatched, hut had their coop—a barrel— 
in a sheltered position. 
1 feed nothing hut dry rice, raw, until the 
chicks aro three or four weeks old; then give 
cracked corn, with rice, hut once a day, viz., in 
the morning. Clean water always stands by 
them. 
Gapes and kindred diseases are entirely un¬ 
known where dry rice is i'ed. I take old tin 
fruit-cans, cut them down to about one inch in 
depth, fill one with clean water and one with dry 
rice, and place a set before each coop at early 
morning, and nothing more is required hut to 
replenish tho cups during tile day. 1 cewkidcr 
that my chicks get all else that may be necessary 
to insure rapid growth from a wide range of 
garden and meadow. A. D. Smith. 
Ridgewood, N. J. 
-- 
AN EXTENSIVE POULTRY FARM. 
We aro always pleased to let our readers know 
of every novel enterprise that may be of interest 
or benefit to them, either iu its management or 
results. An experiment, of this kind iH the large 
chicken farm recently started by Mr. W. C. Ba¬ 
kiuk in tho neighborhood of New York. Of this, 
a lively correspondent of the Turf, Field and 
Farm gives so glowing an account, that tho bold 
Bakku may, ou reading it, reflect for a moment 
on the old adage about the futility of counting 
one's chiekenB before they are hatched. There 
is another trite, old saying, however, which will 
doubtless inspirit him in his undertaking. There 
are few enterprises, indeed good, bad, or indif¬ 
ferent—on entering upon which a man, moder¬ 
ately acquainted with folk-lore, will not find some 
encouragement iu one of these musty old pro¬ 
verbs. • i What has been done before can bo 
done again,” must inevitably occur to this ven¬ 
turesome chicken farmer and fill him with cour¬ 
age while it empties bis pockets. 
Tho undertaking, though new on this side of 
the Atlantic, has its like iu Europe in its project, 
though loss iu magnitude. Mr. Baker’s estate 
is just twenty-five acres, situated at Gltffdalo, on 
tho right bank of tho Hudson, opposite to tho 
town of Yonkers. By way of preparation, it has 
already fifteen miles of pipes under ground. 
These pipes aro to convey boated air, or water or 
gas, as the establishment needs warmth or light. 
The system inaugurated at Clilfdale is the Euro¬ 
pean one of producing crammed fowls. In Ire¬ 
land, tho counties of Wexford, Wicklow and 
Waterford aro those most largely and most suc¬ 
cessfully engaged in the trade. 
Next to tho crammed fowls of Ireland, the 
crammed poultry of France may he regarded in 
point of excellence. The Irish plan is primitive. 
There the ancient heu-wife thrusts the food iu 
large, soft boluses, down tho throat of the fowl 
until tho crop refuses to contain any moro. This 
operation is performed once every evening, about 
ten minutes after the fowls have eaten all they 
desire to consumo. The left hand of the operator 
holds the hapless bird and keeps its beak open. 
Tho boluses are administered with therighthand. 
The work is quickly and well done. 
In France a machine is used, which places 
elongated pellets of moist posse down the gullets 
of the birds to be fattened. The French system 
has proved itself a complete success, both in 
large and small establishments. The poultry fat¬ 
tened in Ireland are, in the aggregate, the com¬ 
mon barn-door fowl. Those of France, have of 
late years, been more carefully bred. The favor¬ 
ite varieties are tho La Fleche, the CYevecour 
and the Tfomlans. As yet, in our home markets, 
tho Philadelphia poultry bear off the palm. These 
same are, however, only relatively good. It is to 
supply this want that Mr. Bakes has begun his 
extensive and charming enterprise. 
At CliiTdale there is an incubating house, two 
stories high, the upper floor of which is divided 
into two rooms, the first furnished, on the right- 
hand side, witli drawers, In which the eggs to bo 
hatched are placed, there to remain twenty-four 
hours. Tho left side of this room is supplied 
with a succession of galvanic batteries. Tbe 
inner room is large, and well lighted, and con¬ 
tains several compartments, like Bhop counters, 
all full of drawers. These drawers are again full 
of silver-ware trays, iu which the eggs to be 
batched are placed. After twenty-four hours’ 
sojourn iu the first room the eggs are carefully 
removed to a dark closet, where thore is ft lamp 
encased in tin. This tin case has an orifice on 
one side, lined with thick folds of flannel, against 
which the eggs are placod, where if the embryo 
chick is visible, the egg is laid in one of the 
silver-wire trays already mentioned, (here to rest 
for twenty days. Then tho chick is duo. 
For the first twenty-four hours of its life tho 
young bird gets no food. After this lapse of 
time tho chicks are removed in flat-bottomed 
baskets to tbe chicken range, a delightfully-con¬ 
trived building, kept all the year round at an 
oven temperature ; here the chicks remain until 
they are three weeks or a mouth old. This 
range is five hundred feet long and about thirty 
deep. It is glass-roofed, aud is arranged with a 
tramway a short space from the rear wall. Be¬ 
tween this tramway and tho wall aro seed frames 
where raro and early flowers and vegetables are 
cultivated. Then comes the chicken range, di¬ 
vided into yards, whoro one hundred chicks en¬ 
joy life, part of them under ordinary green-house 
glass and part under blue glass. Every separate 
yard is supplied with a drawer of warm water, 
under which tho chicks nestle. This drawer is 
movable, and is graduated to accommodate tho 
bight of the birds. 
In tbe front of theso yards Mr. Baker lias 
some of tho most lovely roses to bo seen. The 
flowers are exquisite both in shape and form. 
From the chicken range the flocks are taken to 
another building more open aud loss heated, 
where they remain until lit for fattening, or 
until they aro allowed a sort of semi-liberty, 
should they be reserved as store fowls or as 
layers. The last, erection of the farm is tho 
fattening house; here aro eight huge revolving 
coops capable of containing one hundred, all of 
them giving an aggregate of eight hundred head, 
all falling at one time. As soon as a fowl is 
placed in the coop she is fettered with soft 
leather straps, one on each leg; these fetters 
attach hor closely aud flrtnly to the walls of bor 
coop. Her bed is a smooth, sloping board. 
The operation of cramming is novel. Mr. 
Baker uses a small hand pump, and draws tho 
food, which is in a liquiform condition, from a 
metal trough, placed on the table of a hand ele¬ 
vator which the operator works. The fowl to be 
crammed is taken by the neck, when the rubber 
hoso of the pump is placed down her gullet, aud 
a few stroke fills the crop, when the feeding is 
at an end. 
The process of hatching, rearing and feeding 
can be repeated seventeen times annually, and 
Mr. Baser thinks he can olTor for sale one 
hundred thousand he d per annum. 
Before concluding 1 would venture to suggest 
that favorite clutches of eggs could profitably he 
hatched at a fair cost, as the care Of a hatching 
hen deters many amateur poultry fanciers from 
iudulgiug iu their favorite pastime. Tho enor¬ 
mous valuo of such a large establishment can 
host, he computed when it is borne iu mind that 
Spring chickens in February are an unknown 
luxury in our great cities, also that capons are 
rare, and that Western dressed poultry is simply 
disgusting; it is badly fed, worse handled, and, 
iu consequence, unfit for human food by tbe 
time it reaches the Eastern markets. 
THE BEST BREED OF SHEEP. 
There is much difference of Opinion on this 
subject but no one need hesitate long in deciding 
on the question, for all the pure breeds of the 
present day Lave so many good qualities that 
their relative excellence is only a matter of opin¬ 
ion aud taste, and Instead of consulting with one 
and another to gain grounds for decision as to 
which of them iB the best, any man may as well 
humor his own fancy and commence with the 
breed whose appearance he likes best. 
I 
Of course there aro considerations which should 
have some weight in deciding one’s selection. 
One farmer, for instance, may have an extensive 
mountain range so broken that much activity is 
required in getting about after the herbage on a 
great part of it, while another may have a good 
deal of rich bottom-lands, with pasture so abun¬ 
dant as to require very little movement. In such 
cases the man with the high laud could not do 
better than cliooso the good, old South Down, 
while the other’s choice ought to fall on the 
Ootswolds, Lincolns, or the Leicester*. 
Where mutton and woo) are the great desidera¬ 
tum, the owner having no intention of breeding 
or raising rams to be sold at fancy prices, it 
would be advisable that tbe ewes should be 
grades of good, common stock ; then rams of the 
desired breed should be used, and pure-bred rams 
only should be employed on the young ewes of 
the next, generation. Thus, step by step, a well- 
bred animal will bo attained, which is really a 
very easy matter. 
Where the sheep have to range a good deal, 
and there is browsing and climbing to seek for 
herbage, a pure South Down ram would be pre¬ 
ferable to any other, as that breed is decidedly 
the most active of the mutton breeds, and will 
prosper where the heavier breeds would do no 
good unless they had some feed given them 
daily. 
Tho breed of sheep for any man to get is the 
ono best adopted for the pasture and for the 
treatment to which they will be subjected. And 
whatever breed may be selected it wiil pay to 
feed them w ell whenever the season is sufficiently 
advanced to require it; and however biudy tbe 
Downs may be, and however little extra feeding 
they may subsist on. still it is the fact that it will 
pay to feed them liberally, as thcro are three 
sources of increased profit arising from the sin¬ 
gle cost of grain, oilcake or whatever is given, 
viz. more mutton, more wool and better manure. 
Nor iB this all, for every business man knows 
that, mutton and wool, from well-fed, ripe sheep 
bring more per lli., so that to the increased 
quantity of meat and wool thore should bo added 
the profit of a cent or two per Hi., ou the whole 
carcass because prime meat always commands 
a greater price per lb., while tbe wool is also of 
better quality iu proportion to the condition of 
the sheep. Then again as an additional induce¬ 
ment to feed liberally with stimulating food, it 
should be borne iu nnnd that much loss hay is 
eaten in winter if other food is used. Many peo¬ 
ple, however, are so careless iu thought as to 
charge the whole cost of grain, meal or oilcake, 
making no allowance for the hay saved aud for 
the richer manure. 
Not only aro the above advantages gained by 
good feeding, but there is still another result of 
great importance which follows the high feeding 
of young stock. I refer to early maturity and 
qniek returns. Owing to this practice in England, 
the yearling wethers, called teg*, are quite as 
heavy aw any two-year-old wether in the United 
States, aud they yield a iloeco twice as heavy as 
that of an American sheep. This is caused by 
the great quantity of turnips generally eaten by 
sheep in that country and the attention paid to 
them by tho shepherds who feed them in such a 
systematic manner, as to make them eat as much 
as possible, while the farmers hero contrive to 
keep their sheep on as little as possible. 
It is really astonishing bow rapidly sheep-hus¬ 
bandry baa progressed in England during the 
last half century, for, when I was a boy, there 
were uo machines for cutting turnips, and they 
wero all eaten off as they had grown. A kins- 
mau of mine, who did business in Danbury, Ox¬ 
fordshire, invented tbe first good iurnip cutter, 
and to ttiin day no other machine has been much 
of an improvement. Geo. Gardner. 
% 
-♦♦♦- 
THE COMING SHEEP OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 
These will doubtless he descended from En¬ 
glish long-wooled rams and tho grade Merino 
ewes of the Northern States, and probably there 
will bo many with a mixture of South Down 
blood iu them, which will eventually terminate 
in the general flooks of the country having much 
of the appearance and characteristics of the 
Oxford Down. 
The Merino is long in reaching full growth 
and sells for such a small sum for mutton that, 
although it is a hardy, wool-producing breed 
and will bear the confinement of wiuter much 
closer than the English breeds, yet by crossing 
with fine early-maturing mutton-breeds a very 
much more profitable race could be established 
which would bring round a quicker and far 
handsomer return. 
A great deal iB said against crossing, but so 
long as farmers cross only with pure-bred rams 
and with those having mutton and wool iu 
abundance upon them, they cannot go far wrong. 
Of courso those who do not make wool and 
mutton the chief object, but breed rams to sell 
at high prices for improving other flocks, must 
bo particular to keep their breeds distinct and of 
pure blood for the purpose of giving the rams 
