scouted the idea then prevailing, that the 
butter globule was encased in a sac. It was 
a bold stand to take then, yet at the present 
time all writers of auy reputation admit that 
Dr. Hoskins was correct, and the Doctor held 
this view years before the publication of Mr. 
Stewart’s article in which he claims to have 
been the first person in America to show the 
fallacy of the theory. 
The statement in his article that, in accord¬ 
ance with the theory of the sue or inclosing 
pellicle, farmers were taught that cream 
should lie forced through narrow places, is, in 
view of known facts, mainly incorrect. Churns 
of every kind were in use before the question 
of a sac inclosing the butter globules, was to 
auy extent discussed, While, at ouc time, 
Prof. Arnold advocated the sac theory, he 
never recommended any grinding process in 
ehuruiug. Althuogh it is true that Prof. Ar¬ 
nold may have made some mistakes, be lias 
always been honest enough to admit them, 
when convinced they were mistakes. No man, 
living or dead, lias done more for the cause of 
dairying than Professor Arnold. The dairy 
literature of the day was largely created by 
the late X. A. Willard and himself. But 
while the former was not an experiment¬ 
er, Professor Arnold has lieeu for years one 
of the most careful, and still continues to 
be so. f. w. MOSLEY. 
Clinton Co., Iowa. 
act'. 
RAISING CHICKENS NATURALLY. 
HENRY HAUCS. 
Of all the work connected with poultry none 
is more troublesome or tedious than the look¬ 
ing after sitting hens and their nests while 
incubating. If the hens are al lowed to sit in 
the poultry house where they laid and where 
other hens are laying, a great many vexatious 
annoyances occur. Two hens will sometimes 
fight for one nest and so break some of the 
e f=gSi or the sitting hen goes off, and on re¬ 
turning finds the nest occupied by an intrud¬ 
er. This state of affairs is fully set forth by 
persons who strongly recommend incubators; 
but as every farmer has not time to attend to 
an incubator, I will give a little of my own 
experience in raising chickens by the uatural 
method, aided by a plan which most farmers 
can follow. 
I have a small building divided by a wire 
pat tition into two parts, with a door from one 
to the other, and a small yard made with wire 
netting, also divided. 1 huve a slide from 
each compartment tuto each yard. The size 
of the house will depend on the number of 
chickeus desired. Two rooms four by six feet, 
with yards twice that size, will be large 
enough for 14 hens to sit in, and if these sit 
twice it will be equal to 56 sitting hens. In 
most cases the houses may be used a third 
time, raising several hundred chicks. 
When my hens get broody I set a lot to¬ 
gether in one house, using small, shallow 
boxes for nests—not over 11 or 12 inches 
square so that two hens cannot crowd into 
one nest. I set these on the floor ail around 
the sides aud a few inches apart, so that a 
greedy hen cannot reach the eggs from the 
next nest, as such bens are very apt to break 
the tenth commandment. I leave water and 
food in the house, so that the hens can eat or 
drink at any time when they come off the 
nests. There are no perches in the houses or 
anything they can get on above the nests. A 
dust-box sunk level with the floor, with sand 
and ashes, aud with a little carbolate of lime 
or carbolic acid sprinkled in from time to 
time, placed where the suu shines on it 
through the windows on clear days, will keep 
the hens clear of parasites A little sod or 
grass in the yards is good for their health. I 
don’t have trouble once in 50 times in remov¬ 
ing a sitting hen. I let her sit a few days in 
the uest she has been laying in, to see that she 
is iti cm!i6st, then X rernovo iicr one cvcuio^ 
to the sitting-house, place her nest on the floor 
(as above), and if a number of others can be 
removed at the same time, so much the better. 
Then I hang something up over the window to 
shude the light a little. This may remain for 
a few days until one learns that all mean 
business, and as soon as they settle down the 
shade should be removed, and the slides into 
the yards may be left open that the hens may 
get fresh air whenever they please. 
The advantages of this system may be easily 
seen by those who have had to spend a large 
portion of their valuable time in spring watch 
ingthe sitting hens or lifting them off and 
driving them back to their nests every day. 
As many as possible should be set at or about 
the same time—a few days are not of much 
consequence—so that if the hens change nests 
it would be of no importance, and if there are 
no more nests than hens and the nests are u 
a little way from each other so that the hens 
cannot quarrel, things will go on very smooth¬ 
ly and much loss of time and vexation will be 
avoided. 
The second batch of sitting hens should be 
set in the next compartment so that they all 
come out together in the same way as the 
first. The house should be well ventilated 
every day aud never be tightly closed. As 
the hens hatch they should be removed with 
the chicks to their coops where it is intended 
to raise them. 
The outlay of money for such a building to 
those who raise any number of chickens is 
trilling compared with the outlay of time re- 
' I Hired by the old-fashioned way, and much 
is saved as the hens do not break so many 
eggs. Of course, the nests should be looked 
to and kept clean, but if a little sulphur be 
sprinkled in them, or, what is better, some 
tobacco stems be used with the stra w in mak¬ 
ing them up, few will be troubled with vermin. 
The hens should be lifted off at times if they 
do not get off of their own accord to see that 
no broken eggs foul the nests. If only a few 
chickens are wanted, a place four by eight 
feet, with a low roof and a door opening out¬ 
ward in each room, if divided, will answer 
well. 
My tiens have an egg record which I think 
rather beats that of J. M. Smith’s, page 217. 
I wintered 20 Plymouth Rock hens. We sold 
68.kj dozen eggs from January 1 to April 1 for 
$10. 1 feed twice a day. morning and night, 
—wheat and o,ts in the morning aud all the 
skim-milk they will drink; peas, oats and 
wheat at night. They have a supply of old 
plaster broken up flue, and in one corner of 
the house u dust box. The house is 10x10 feet, 
simbly boarded and battened. Of all the 
breeds I have tried the P. R. is the best. 
Mecosta Co., Mich. X. w. clifton. 
emiks. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
The Washington “Seed Store” has done 
the farmers of this country more good tlmu 
auy seed firm in it, and has never swindled 
them out of a cent, I could name a dozen vari¬ 
eties that have been introduced by this “seed 
store into this country. The seedsmen get 
lots of our money, and oftentimes give us 
mighty little back. Let me state cine instance 
that I can vouch for: I bought a bushel 
of Norway Oats for which I paid $4. Ihe 
dealer praised them to the skies and sent out 
dozens of strong testimonials. The expressage 
was only $4. and I had to haul them 26 miles 
home. I sowed half on the best land I had, 
well prepared. The other half my neighbor 
took and sowed with great care. At harvest 
it was evident to both of us tlmt those oats 
were the poorest we had ever tided. I wrote 
the seedsman and told him about the failure. 
IV hat a comfort it was to have him write me 
that the oats had urovud so worthless that lie 
had discontinued their sale. Ho didn’t offer 
to refund my money though. If the Washing¬ 
ton “seed store” ever did such business, I 
wish somebody would tell us about it. 
Sonoma, N. C. w, s. T. 
Blowing Oct Stumps.— I say don’t use dy¬ 
namite. It is fit only for the rascals who 
want to blow up Chicago police. I use tha 
Etna powder. This is sate. I have thrown 
it into a burning log heap, hut enough 
to melt iron, and it burnt like a wax candle. 
With a crowbar, or l .’i'-incb auger, make u 
hole in the ground, IS inches deep, at an angle 
of 45 degrees, close to the stump. If yon strike 
a roottry another place. Have the bottom of 
the hole just under the center of the stump. 
V itb a penknife bore a hole in one end of 
the cartridge, put the fuse in the 
shell, aud insert the latter in the cartridge, 
elosiug the powder tightly around the shell 
with the knife. Drop the cartridge into the 
hole, throw in some dry sand or road dust, 
then finish with wet clay or brick dust and 
pound hal'd. Set the fuse on fire and get out 
of the way. When you come back the stump 
won’t be there. T . clark. 
Schoolcraft Co., Mich. 
Mending A Kettle.— A hole, over an 
inch square, was accidently broken in a large 
kettle which %vas in constant use. We are a 
good distance from a blacksmith’s shop, so I 
set about doing the mending myself. 1 found 
a thin piece of iron somewhat larger than the 
hole. This was heated red-hot. llolas were 
then punched through it. The only punch at 
hand was an old three-coruered file with the 
end that goes into the handle broken off and 
filed to a blunt point. Then the plate was 
bent to lit the outside of the kettle as nearly as 
possible. Common round steel nails were 
driven through the holes with the heads on 
the outside of the plate. Then three thick- j 
nesses of cotton cloth were put on the inside of 
the patch, running the nails through them. 
Then the patch was put on the outside of the 
kettle, over the hole, the nails were bent over 
on the inside of the kettle, so that they held 
the patch firmly iu place. The cavity was 
filled with putty. The kettle has been in use 
every day for weeks, over a hot fire, and has 
not leaked at all. x. 
Stowe, Vermont. 
Thousand-fold Rye.— “Why don’t some 
one talk about our Thousand-fold Rye?” 
Ours has lived through two years of difficul¬ 
ties. The first misfortune it encountered was 
a hailstorm;some of the hailstones measured 
nine inches in circumference. That may 
sound big, but that’s the way they sounded 
when they struck the buildings. Last fall 
was tbe third time of sowing with me. I 
sowed four bushels on as many acres, aud 
this spring it looks splendid, I suppose some 
have done for better than that. I have sold 
some for seed next fall for $1 per bushel. 
Who says it doesn’t pay to follow the Rural 
for its loaves aud fishes, or, better still, “rye 
and wheat”? r. a. 
Huron Co., Mich. 
£kk (Cvo\)$< 
BUMBLE-BEES VS. RED CLOVER. 
PROFESSOR C. V. RILEY. 
Revival of unsettled questions; Red Clover 
sterile in the absence]of Bumble-bees in New 
Zealand; some fertilization by other in¬ 
sects probable; introduction of Bumble¬ 
bees into Neiv Zealand ; their rapid jiropa- 
gation there; beneficial effects on Red Clo- 
The discussion that has recently taken 
place as to the influence of Bumble beeson the 
fertilization of Red Clover, is a very good il¬ 
lustration of the way iu which subjects that 
have received careful attention in the past, 
so as to leave little to be said, may be re¬ 
vived by individual experience, more or less 
exceptional, or by erroneous interpretations. 
No one who has followed the more accurate 
experiments whether in Europe or in this 
country, can feel any doubt as to the impor¬ 
tant part which Bumble-bees play in this mat¬ 
ter; but perhaps the most convincing evidence 
is obtained from the general sterility of Red 
Clover in those countries possessing no Bornbi. 
New Zealand has been a conspicuous example, 
and at the meeting of t he London Entomologi¬ 
cal Society on July 6, 1886, I had the pleasure 
of listening to a most interesting communica¬ 
tion by Mr. G. F. W. Dunning, relating expe¬ 
rience iu endeavors to acclimate the common 
European Bumble-bee in New Zealand, and 
the final success that had attended the efforts. 
T give herewith the substance of that commu¬ 
nication as an important contribution to the 
discussion, aud one which ought to effectually 
set the question at rest. I do not mean by 
this that Red Clover may not exceptionally 
be fertilized by other minute insects, and 1 
have always taken the ground that the small 
proportion of seed produced on plants that 
have been screened from Bumble-bees was at¬ 
tributed to such insects, possibly minute 
species crawling iu and about the corollas. It 
must not be forgotten, also, that exceptional¬ 
ly small and reduced blossoms, such as would 
be most prevalent on poor aud scanty soil, 
may be fertilized by other kinds of bees, which 
being less common than either the Honey-bee 
(Apis me Hi flea. Linn.) or the commoner Bum¬ 
ble-bees, (Bombus Pennsylvanica here; B. ter- 
restris, in Europe), fructify a correspondingly 
small proportion of flowers. I have italicized 
the following statements upon which I would 
lay stress. 
Mr. Dunning showed that in December, 
188J, and January, 1884, two parcels contain¬ 
ing 80 impregnated queens, were sent from 
England to the Cauterbiu-y (N. Z.) Acclima¬ 
tization Society, but this experiment was a 
failure. 11 was repeated on a larger scale in 
the following winter, and with complete suc¬ 
cess. Mr. Thomas Nottidgo shipped 282queen 
Bumble-bees on board the “Tongariro”, which 
arrived at Wellington early in January, 1885, 
whence (he bees were forwarded by cousting- 
steamer to Lyttleton, and were delivered at 
the Society’s Gardens on the eighth of that 
mouth. When the ease wus opened, it was 
found that 48 were alive; of these 86 were 
strong and healthy, took to the wing at once 
aud flow off iu the sunshine to some clover 
heads hard-by; they soon dispensed, and many 
of them were noticed to fly high in the air, 
giving u parting buzz und were then lost to 
sight. The weakly ones were fed with honey 
and kept warm; and on the following day, 
which wus bright and sunuy, they too were 
liberated, aud flew away like the others. The 
registering thermometer in the case was 
broken iu transit, so that no record of the tem¬ 
perature remained. A second batch of 260, 
sent out by Mr. Nottidge in the “Aorangi,” 
arrived on the fifth of February, 1885, aud in 
this ease the temperature had ranged from 858 
to 8ft'-'; there were 4ft survivors, aud when 
taken to a favorable locality and exposed to 
the warm suu, they all flew off with a strong, 
healthy hum. and were soon lost to sight. 
A correspondent of tbe “Lyttleton Times,” 
in recording this as the first successful at¬ 
tempt which had beeu made to Introduce 
them, and in happy ignorance that the females 
had been impregnated before export from 
England, wrote that, “from the habits of 
the Humble-bee, it seems probable that, as 
they were apparently taken during the 
winter period, when the drones have gener¬ 
ally died off, the shipment will he found to be 
only composed of females; if this should be 
so, of course their number will not increase”. 
This prognostication was, however, falsified. 
Mr. Farr, the Honorable Secretary of the Ac¬ 
climatization Society, reported tlmt “a few of 
the bees were seen occasionally iu the suburbs 
of Christchurch during the autumnal mouths, 
after which they hybarnated,aud iu the spring 
were seen again, then for a while uone were 
seen; doubtless this was the procreating sea¬ 
son, for, shortly after, their numbers were 
legiou, amusing many with their monotonous 
buzziug. This was tbe beginning of Septem¬ 
ber, at which time two were brought to me as 
symething new in the insect world. Large 
numbers of nests were found, some of which 
were destroyed, either from curiosity or ig¬ 
norance by some, but in wanton mischief by 
others. Soon afterwards reports came to hand 
from every quarter, far and near, some hav¬ 
ing traveled as far as Timaru (100 miles south), 
West Coast Road )86 miles west), beyond 
Gleemark (55 miles north) and in many parts 
of Banks’ Feuiusula (east). By the end of 
summer many pleasing evidences reached us 
ol their ubiquity aud utility. “On the 3rd of 
February a fanner from Avonhead Farm 
called on me, to make known to the Society 
that a field of Red Clover, in which he had in 
previous years been able to find but a small 
quantity of seed, only a few in each head, was 
this season a. perfect mass of seed, each head 
being completely full." 
Mr. Farr's account was corroborated by Mr. 
Fereday who, writing from Christchurch, 8rd 
May, 1886, says that “the Bumble-bees have 
thriven and multiplied in a most wonderful 
manner: they already abound all over the 
country.” Mr. Dunning very forcibly con¬ 
cluded. “There is no longer auy doubt that 
Bombas terrestris has established itself iu New 
Zealand; the rapidity with which be has colo¬ 
nized a large tract of laud is remarkable. By 
this time another generation, procreated as 
well as born iuthe colony, will be on the wing; 
and we may expect soon to hoar that tlielong- 
wauted fertilizer has become a nuisance, and 
that an antidote is required for the fecundity 
of the imported pest.” 
t'ttnn (ikononuj. 
HOME-MADE HARROW. 
Three years ago I made the harrow shown 
at Fig. 176. I intended it mainly for harrow- 
! ‘ '-'vi i / . NxrgVu - -•••■ * • 
6 *• • ii; 
£ J 'If * * ’ ^ 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Fig. 176. 
ing corn and potatoes; but iu using I found it 
far excelled any spike-toothed harrow I had 
ever used for fining lumpy soil or for har¬ 
rowing a Timothy or clover sod. 1 use an 
“Acme” where I want deep tillage; but for all 
ordinary harrowing my slant-tooth has 
proven itself invuluublo. The tooth-bars are 
made of 2x2-inch pine, riveted with a quar¬ 
ter-inch rivet at every tooth. The teeth are 
of three-eighths-iuoh steel, about six inches 
