1885 
THE RURAL ftfcW YOHREK. 
AZ7 
middle of the day. When chicks are cooped 
up in yards without shade in hot weather,they 
are almost sure to sicken and die. They first 
begin to look thoughtful; soon their wings 
droop; then they lose their appetites and pine 
away. 
Another great cause of mortality arises 
from not giving them water in a cool place. 
If their drinking vessels are exposed to a hot 
sun, the water gets too warm for their health. 
Be careful that the coops are removed every 
day, or two at the most, to a clean spot, so 
that no bad odor will sicken the inmates, for 
at their age, if there are many together, their 
droppings accumulate x’apidly. If you have 
not room to remove them far or often enough, 
after cleaning, put plenty of dry earth or ashes 
on the floor. Farmers must look out for bens 
going off with the chicks to some quiet corner 
at night, instead of retiring iuto their regular 
coops. This is all well enough while the bens 
are with the young ones, but as soon as their 
mothers leave them, they are left iu the surest 
places for their enemies to find them, and 
most of them are lost after all the care given 
them. Preparations should now be made for 
getting the chickens to the places where they 
are to be kept. Move the coops a little nearer 
to the poultry house every day or two, so that 
when the birds are big enough they can be 
easily driven in. If there are too many for 
that, put up a few temporary open sheds, and 
of drugs has. He is looked upon as an open- 
handed benefactor of mankind deserving 
neither compensation nor thanks. The honor 
of originating and uaming, is) considered suf¬ 
ficient to appease all his wants. 
Mr. Breezee died a poor man, while the re¬ 
sults of his experiments in producing the Early 
Rose Potato, have materially aided almost 
every family in the land, and added millions 
of dollars to the general wealth. The Govern¬ 
ment gives a right to Bell and Glidden and 
Goodyear for comparatively momentary work, 
by which they, or those to whom they have 
disposed of their rights, amass millions, while 
the worker in the soil may originate a variety 
by skillful combinations in selecting, crossing 
and hybridiziug, that is capable of converting 
the crude elements of nature into the most ex¬ 
quisite beauty in flower, the richest flavor in 
fruit, or great abundance of most nutritive, 
vegetable, fruit or grain, and yet find no law 
for redrew against others who may so readily 
deprive him of bis product by getting a 
“start,” either honestly or dishonestly. If 
protection is granted in one case, it ought to 
be in tbe other. But so many difficulties 
beset a plant patent, that it is questionable 
whether it would benefit the originator, if 
granted. But an organization for mutual aid 
might partly alleviate the lot of the horticul¬ 
tural experimenter. Such an organizatiou 
will probably be quietly attempted during the 
WHITE LEGHORNS. 
COMISSIONER COLMAN’S AGRICUL 
TURAL CONVENTION. 
At Fig. 314, we show the White Leghorn 
cock Sultan, re-engraved from the London 
Live Stock Journal. This bird won the cup 
offered for the best cock of that breed at the 
Crystal Palace Show last November, and also 
carried off the cups at Edinburgh and Chel 
tetibam, A pure-bred White Leghorn cock 
should be pure white iu plumage, with yellow 
legs and skin; a long, stout, yellow beak; full 
bright eyes, and a ied single comb deeply 
serrated, erect and extending well over the 
back of the head The neck should be long 
and well arched; the back of medium Ieugth 
and width; breast full and carried well for¬ 
ward; wings large; tail full, somewhat ex¬ 
panded and carried very upright. The sickle- 
feathers should be large and well curved, and 
the tail-coverts abundaut. The carriage of 
the cock should be upright and proud. The 
hens much resemble tbe cocks, differing from 
them in having drooping combs and a less 
erect carriage. 
This breed is very hardy. The hens are 
good layers and poor sitters. The young are 
easily raised; feather out early, so that when 
six or eight weeks old they are perfectly 
feathered and appear like full-grown 
chickens, excepting in size. The hens 
are quiet and docile, but great foragers 
and will scale high fences so easily as 
to endanger the adjoining gardens. 
In the neighborhood of the Rural 
Farm they are the most profitable 
breed kept, there being ten White 
Leghorns to one of auy other breed. 
They are great layers and profitable / 
for eggs; the eggs are large and white , 
and are preferred in our local market. 
For an all-purpose fowl, however, A 
there are a number of other breeds ,[■ 
which are more desirable, notably the 
Wyandottes and Plymouth Rocks. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
Commissioner Colman’s call for a conven¬ 
tion of the representatives of the various 
agricultural colleges and experiment stations 
iu the different States, brought together, last 
Wednesday, in the seed-room of the Agricul¬ 
tural Department, between 50and 60 delegates 
representing all the leading agricultural col¬ 
leges aud experiment stations in the country. 
Among those present were Major Alvord of 
Houghton Farm; Director Sturtevant of the 
N. Y. Experiment Station; Prof. Sanborn, 
Missouri: Profs. Knapp. Iowa; Prof. Armsby, 
Wisconsin; Prof. Lazeuby. Ohio; Dr. Cook, 
New Jersey; Secretary Gold, Connecticut; 
Prof. Blanford, New Hamphire; Dr. Goess- 
man, Massachusetts; Pres. Atherton, Penn¬ 
sylvania; Prof. Lebow and Dabney, North 
Carolina; Gen. Lee and Dr. Phares, Missis¬ 
sippi; Prof. Dinwiddle, Texas; Pres. Fairchild, 
Kansas; Prof.Wing, Nebraska; Pres. Willets, 
Michigan; Prof. Patterson, Kentucky; Prof. 
Wood hull, Dakota: Prof. Dwinelle,California. 
The purposes of the meeting have already 
been dwelt upon at length in the Ru¬ 
ral. It is desired to devise some 
means of unifying the work of the 
separate institutions by establishing 
a more vital connection between them 
and the Department at Washington. 
There is little doubt, that an unavow¬ 
ed object was to obtain from so influ¬ 
ential an assembly an indorsement of 
tbe Cullen bill, which gives £15,000 a 
year to the agricultural college in 
each State, to be used for experimental 
purposes. The arguments in favor of 
this measure during tbe last- session 
of Congress were so convincing that 
the bill was reported favorably by a 
unanimous vote of the Committee on 
0' Agriculture, and the vote necessary to 
f pass it was ready, if the measure could 
have been brought before Congress; 
but it has for years been customary 
for something to interfere with the 
passage, by tbat body, of bills benefi¬ 
cial to agriculture. 
/ • The project embraced by tbe Cullen 
bill will probably meet with no'serious 
^ opposition in Congress next Winter, 
p- It received the unqualified support of 
the assemblage. 
Commissioner ColmaD. in his ad¬ 
dress of welcome, said that the pre¬ 
dominant idea iu Congress in so richly 
endowing the agricultural colleges was 
that of interesting young men in farm¬ 
ing operations and in the fundamental 
principles of plant culture by showing 
how they might realize profit in rais¬ 
ing crops without diminishing the fer¬ 
tility of the soil. Facts were submit¬ 
ted to Congress showing that the ave¬ 
rage of yields was gradually diminish¬ 
ing in quantity, and the soil was being 
rapidly exhausted of plant food. To 
arrest this somewhat alarming ten¬ 
dency toward the spoliation of arable 
lands, it was deemed advisable to en¬ 
courage institutions where the results 
of scientific investigations in vegetable 
physiology would be exemplified, and their 
practical application in fields and gardens 
clearly illustrated. The results bad not beeu 
commensurate with public expectations. 
Complaint was made that comparatively few 
graduates become farmers, and the truth of 
this must to some extent lie admitted. It was 
not surprising, especially in cases where the 
maintenance of the farm was noted as a tax 
upon the funds of the college, that graduates 
should avoid a calling thus demonstrated to 
be unprofitable. 
In conclusion, he said, there was nothing 
which would so attract and rivet the attention 
of the agricultural public to the colleges as 
experimental work. On the college farms 
should be tested every variety of fruit, ce¬ 
reals, grasses, timber trees, and even domestic 
animals, and those found in all respects 
adapted to the locality should be disseminated 
by the college. Thus one college farm would 
be trying experiments for hundreds of thous¬ 
ands of farmers, who would enjoy the bene¬ 
fits aud not suffer the losses in money, labor 
aud time of making the tests for themselves. 
He could see the necessity for a great national 
experimental farm also, which he would have 
established near tbe capital, and if be might 
go further, he would establish upon it a per¬ 
manent national or world’s exposition, where 
the products of this and other nations might 
be exhibited side bv side. His views were in¬ 
dorsed by a “resolution" proposed by the Com¬ 
mittee on the.Order of Business. H. 
CHICKENS IN SUMMER. 
HENRT HALES. 
The easiest part of the poultry busi¬ 
ness is hatching the chicks, either by 
heus or incubators; the next easiest 
part is the caring for the little chicks. 
With sufficient frarmth and plenty of 
good, soft, nourishing food, given fre¬ 
quently, they will thrive and grow to 
every one’s satisfaction. For the first 
two or three weeks they will look 
strong and lively; and their funny little 
chicken ways make them quite inter¬ 
esting. The only event of importance 
that happens at this time is the drop¬ 
ping off of a weak member of a fa¬ 
mily, or perhaps a dull or excitable 
mother sets her foot incautiously upon 
the neck of a downy little being. As 
time goes on, events begin to multiply; 
yet so much has been said and written 
about the care of young chicks, that 
we will, for this time, pass the era 
of young chickenhood till we come to 
that period of which so little is said or 
understood—the time when the mo¬ 
ther relaxes her care, and the young¬ 
sters are left somewhat to their own 
resources. 
Between the ages of five or six weeks to 
three months, is the period when the greatest 
losses occur; some get drowued, stepped upon 
by cattle, killed by hawks, rats, skunks, wea¬ 
sels, or some other enemy; or disease steps in 
and thins out the ranks, and it is now thut we 
hear the anxious inquiry “What ails my 
chicks?” All the exoerience the nrAr>i.iV«l 
WHITE LEGHORN COCK 
draw the coops nearer them till they take to 
the perches in the sheds; then, later in the sea¬ 
son, they can be disposed of, and permanent 
stock selected for the poultry house. 
meeting of the American Pomologieal Society 
at Grand Rapids, Mich., next September, 
when, doubtless, many of the leading origin¬ 
ators of the country will be together, afford¬ 
ing a most favorable opportunity. Such a 
club would be no detriment to the larger soci¬ 
ety; on the contrary, it would materially aid 
it in various ways, especially in giving accur¬ 
ate and quick results from tests of new 
varieties. Ou the other haud, the great gen¬ 
eral societies, though of vast benefit to tbe 
country at large, are of comparatively little 
benefit to experimenters and originators. 
We want a select few to w hom we can trust, 
for testiug our best originations, and an or¬ 
ganization of these few, through which correct 
reports of tests, experiments, new products, 
etc . can be made public, thus aiding both the 
originator of a valuable variety, and protect¬ 
ing the public against frauds. 
The reports of such a society would be very 
eagerly sought by all persons interested in 
advanced horticulture. Some enterprising 
journal of sterling worth and integrity, such 
as the R. N -Y., would possibly agree to pub¬ 
lish all reports of the society,suitable for gen¬ 
eral reading, aud thus materially benefit itself 
aud the society. Such a paper ought to, aud 
would,receive the largest share of advertising 
patrouage from the members when introduc¬ 
ing their varieties or other business to tbe 
public. Such a society need not be expensive 
to inotnbers.and could usually hold its sessions, 
as side-meetings, while attending the large 
meetings of other societies. u. 
A SOCIETY FOR TESTING NEW VA 
RLE TIES AND PROTECTING THE 
RIGHTS OF ORIGINATORS. 
AN ORGANIZATION FOR MUTUAL AID. 
In the interests of true horticultural ad¬ 
vancement, it has beeu suggested that true ex¬ 
perimenters aud originators need a select or¬ 
ganization among themselves, for the purpose 
of mutual aid in making experiments, testing 
each other’s products, and also horticultural 
novelties which are put before the people 
from any source, and for reporting their works 
to the public. The natural rights of origin¬ 
ation in horticulture have been so cruelly dis¬ 
regarded, that generally our best aud greatest 
horticulturists have derived no adequate 
compensation for their years of patient sacri¬ 
fice, toil ftud research. Varieties that have 
cost long years of experiment to originate, 
have beeu snatched from their modest hands 
by greedy peddlers, and made to accumulate 
fortunes for them, while the originators have 
had no recourse through a protective law, as 
the inventor of a machine, or a foul concoction 
