THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
§74 
Mr. J. R. Way, Avondale, Pa., bought Belle, 
$500, and I'avorite, $310. Mr. Chas. L. Sharp- 
leas paid $400 for Reindeer Second, and Mrs. 
W. N. Rogers, Wilmington, Del. secured Red 
Robb for $300. Col. Webster, Belair, Md., 
bought Queen for $360. Mr. Bred. Ward se 
cured Snow, ($350), Young Bute ($340), and 
Janette ($230). D. Lippincott took Nankeen at 
8300. W. J. Clinn, Frankfort, Ivy., paid $285 
for Egypt Lass, $270 for Beauty, and $220 for 
Florence. He also paid $65 for Beauty's heifer 
calf. M. Wilcox, Ivy MillB, Pa. Duohess, $260. 
Pretty Maid, $270. Geo. Campbell, Manyuok, 
Pa., Mermaid, $335. J. M. Trainor, Linwood, 
Pa., Rosa, $275. J. E. Ridgway. of Philadel¬ 
phia was the largest buyer, taking seven ani¬ 
mals whose aggregate price amounted to $2,065. 
POULTRY BREEDING-No. 4 
NESTS FOR SITTING HENS. 
I have now come to the period of setting hens; 
my process is neither new nor strange, but I 
consider it good. I have the nests in the cen¬ 
tral room of the layers’ house. In each corner 
are twelve nests, made as shown in Fig. 1. The 
bottoms of the lower nests are two feet from the 
floor, and each nest is 12x12x18 inches.* The 
bottoms are of boards, and the backs, sides and 
partitions of wire netting, those where the line 
is dotted being fine and the other three partitions 
of coarse meshes, an inch or so in size. The backs 
and ends are of fine net, and there is to each 
nest a front that fastens in with buttons, and 
this also is made of fine net. In front of each 
nest is a strip, three inches high, to keep the 
eggs from rolling out, and level with each nest 
there is a sort of a step on which the fowls will 
fly and so step into the nests carefully, instead of 
flying right into them and breaking the eggs or 
killing the chickens. By having the sides and 
ends of the nests of wire net, a good circulation 
of air is obtained, and the fowls will not pant 
and show distress in hot weather as they must 
when forced to sit in dose boxes, and, moreover, 
the eggs will hatch much better. 
The nest for the sitter should be made of 
damp earth packed in a concave shape. The 
earth should be covered with straw bruised and 
broken short. It should not be out with a ma¬ 
chine, as in that case the sharp points will in¬ 
jure the tender skins of the hen and chickens. 
If the straw is left long, it will become tangled 
in the feet of the hen and cause her to break 
her eggs. In cold weather a folded newspaper 
should be placed next to the earth, or the nest 
be lined with feathers. Eggs m these nests 
need not be sprinkled, unless they are those of 
ducks or geese, as the moist earth will absorb no 
moisture from them, as does the straw generally 
used in nests. 
TREATMENT OF SITTING HENS. 
Always set two or more hens at the same time 
and set them in pairs, one on each of the adja¬ 
cent nests separated by the coarse wire parti¬ 
tions, placing 13 or 15 eggs under each hen. 
The two hens separated only by the coarse 
meshes, grow very familiar, and when the chick¬ 
ens are hatched the two oan be placed in one 
coop, as is described hereafter. 
In each room aro four Bets of nests each con¬ 
taining 12 nests, or 48 in all. In order to enable 
each hen to distinguish her own place, put under 
one frame of nests the feeding hopper; under 
another the dust bath ; under the third a box 
of gravel and charcoal, and leave the fourth 
without anything under it. Then the nests at 
one end of the frame may bo paintea red; those 
in the center white; and those at the other eud 
black. With this arrangement the hens will be 
able to find their nest3 without trouble. Yet I 
prefer, as a further precaution against my hens 
making mistakes, when setting them, to put a 
daub of paint of the Bame color as the section 
where they ait; on the tail, if in No. 1, on the 
wing, if in No. 2; on the back, if in No. 3, and on 
the breaBt, if in No. 4. By this plan one can i 
tell at a glance whether his sitter is on right or ! 
wrong. The nests should be closed at night by. 
A MODERN SWISS COTTAGE 
The building represented in the attached cuts, 
is nearly square in plan, being 30 ft. 10 in. front 
by 36 feet in depth, exclusive of piazza, bay- 
window, &o. It consists of two Btories and 
baaement. It will be observed, that the eleva¬ 
tion as well as the apartments on each story 
(see plans) are arranged symmetrically to the 
center line of the building. The house is sup¬ 
posed to front towards the south. The interior 
is laid out as follows: 
FORAGE CROPS FOR STOCK. 
In the North rye can be sown for a forage 
crop next spring, and by manuring highly and 
using an extra bushel or more of seed per acre, 
if mown about the middle of May, it would be 
very valuable for horses, cows and any kind 
of live stock when given to them 60 as to keep 
them off the pasture. Then, if com were 
planted as soon as the rye is mowed, the 
ground being merely plowed the same as if it 
had been in grass, the manure which was put 
on in the preoeding autumn would benefit the 
corn nearly as much as if the rye had not inter¬ 
vened, because the ripening process would not 
have commenced, and it is a well-known fact that 
green crops not matured are a benefit to the 
Boil when plowed in, aud extract from it com¬ 
paratively little of its fertility, even when cut 
or browsed. In the South, rape might be sown 
on all grain stubbles where no grass-seeds are 
growing, and as the winters there are compara¬ 
tively mild, the rape would make an excellent 
crop to bo eaten by cattle and sheep. 
As the grain is harvested so early in the South, 
it seems a pity to have the land lying idle for 
more than half a year when there are crops of 
several kinds which can be grown to feed a great 
deal of stock, and the pity of this is all the 
greater now that stock-raising will pay so well in 
conBeqnenoe of *he market for moat in Europe. 
Now, by growing numerous green crops, some 
for the latter part of tho autumn, some for 
early and some for late winter, and likewise 
something for early spring, stock of all descrip¬ 
tions in the can he kept in a thriving con¬ 
dition without any expense for attendance or for 
food of an expensive kind. 
If turnips are drilled, the seed run thick and 
some fertilizer placed in the same channel, or if 
the fertilizer happens to be a very strong one, 
then if it is put about two inches right under 
the seed, the fly will not attack the turnips, or, 
if it should, they wilt outgrow the injury. Tur¬ 
nips should always be drilled, as they o’an then 
be cultivated and kept clean at much less ex¬ 
pense, and, moreover, they can be thinned to a 
regular distance apart. It was with astonish¬ 
ment tho writer saw in a iournal of hillrh sf-Mnd- 
J~. Sra/r/1 
iug at the top, leaving a hole largo enough to 
partly admit an egg endwise. An oval mirror is 
fastened in a slanting position and held in its 
place by solder. The eye is placed at an open¬ 
ing, opposite the mirror, an inch from the bot¬ 
tom, a quarter of an inch in diameter, and fur¬ 
nished with an eye-piece. Put back under the 
hen only those which are cloudy, and use as food 
for chickens those that show clear-colored yelks. 
By this plan the hens do not waste their vitality 
on worthless eggs ; for, if several are sitting at 
the same time, all the old eggs can be given to 
some, and fresh eggs placed under the others. 
While the hen is sitting, she 'should he fed en¬ 
tirely on whole corn. Ground feed will cause 
her to soil her nest, and no other whole grain 
that I have tried, ha3 given satisfaction. Under 
the nest, with your feed-box, have a pail of 
water. 
When the chickens begin to hatch, they should 
be visited once or twice a day, and all pieces of 
egg shell should be removed from the nest, else 
they might cover some of the other eggs and 
imprison the chicks. Let these stay in the nest 
from 24 to 36 hours after they are hatched, and 
then remove them to a coop. 
Brown Co., Wls. 
Basement . A, area, with outside stops to the 
basement, at the rear ; B, kitchen with pantry, 
D, kitchen containing dumb-waiter, range, &e„ 
boiler, sink, &e.; C, wash-room; E, passage 
with stairs to first story; E and F, cellars for 
general storage. 
First Story : A, porch; B, main hall, (7 ft. 2 
in. by 15 ft. 4 in.), containing main flights of 
stairs to the upper story; O, parlor, (14 ft. 6 in. 
by 15 ft.) with bay-window, D ; E, conservatory, 
(7 ft. 2 in. by 12 ft.); F, passage with wash-stand 
and closet, as shown; G, dining-room, (13 ft. 
by 14 ft. 6 in.) with dumb-waiter H to kitchen ; 
J, open veranda communicating with dining¬ 
room ; K, sitting-room, (13 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in ); 
L, veranda in rear of the building. 
Second Story : A, hall; B, chamber, (14 ft. 
6 in. by 15 ft.) in communication with the bal¬ 
conies D, and C and C , C, C, balconies ; E, E, 
bedrooms, (7 ft. 2 in. by 10 ft.); G, G, bedrooms j 
TO PRODUCE HEAVY FINE AND WHITE 
FLESH POULTRY. 
ANOTHER REMEDY FOR GAPES. 
Ms. Hale's cure for gapes in chickens is a 
good one, so far aa it goes. It is not at all diffi¬ 
cult to perform it. I suggest dipping the feather 
in spirits of turpentine—one insertion will be 
sufficient—and the practitioner will never lose a 
chicken. A Blue-grass straw will answer the 
F, bath-room ; H, closet room whioh may also be 
used for a children’s bed-room. Closets are 
plentifully provided, as will be seen by examin¬ 
ing the plans. 
The cost of the building will be, where ma¬ 
terials and labor are about the same as in the 
neighborhood of New York city, from $3000 to 
$4500. 
SALE OF JERSEY CATTLE. 
Messrs. A. M. Hebknesh & Co. of Philadel¬ 
phia, sold at auotion on August 27, Mr. P. H, 
IWler’s recent importation of Jersey oattle. 
I wo of the consignment, Lovely and Light, died 
e ore the sale. The following memorandum 
of prices and purchasers has just been received : 
