I 
DEC. 27 
THE BUBAL UEW-VOBKEB, 
sacrificing the benefit of the present course of 
management and having new bams built, it is 
possible the weight mentioned might be in¬ 
creased. and I know that the sheep exhibited 
for premiums at the agricultural shows are 
favored in this respect, but they are seldom 
good for breeding afterwards, and generally 
go to the butcher after the show is over. 
o. G. 
|airltrg gad). 
FATTENING POULTRY FOR MARKET. 
FORREST K. MORELAND. 
How many farmers thtfre are who, although 
they are good farmers in other respecte, are 
very s’ovenly and negligent in regard to their 
poultry. Were you to inform one of them 
that his pork was not properly fattened, or 
that his dairy had not been profitably man¬ 
aged, he would be very apt to resent the inti¬ 
mation as an insult. The fattening of pork is 
a matter worth attending to properly. If this 
is not done, the farmer is sure to know it when 
he comes to market. The dairy is even more 
important. The farmer prides himself not 
only on owuiug good stock, but in caring for 
them to the best of his ability, making them 
as profitable as possible during the year ; for a 
large proportion of our farmers' prosperity 
depends upon the dairy. Why is it that the 
majority of them seem to be so coustitnted 
that it appears to be a moral impossibility for 
them to attend to the small things incident to 
farm life. I have known good farmers, men 
capable of cultivating premium fields of corn, 
wheat and potatoes, who were utterly unable 
to understand the value of a good garden and 
had none worthy of the name. 
This peculiar quality of the minds of our 
farmers is most emphatically shown by the 
attitude the majority of them occupy towards 
the poultry industry. I do not know a single 
farmer who takes auy especial interest in poul¬ 
try. Many of them give the proceeds of this 
department to their wives and daughters for 
“pin-money.” I do not find any fault with 
this; it is as it should be; but evsn then they 
should take some little interest in the matter. 
Fowls need comfortable quarters and suitable 
food; if deprived of either, they will not 
thrive. The supply of both of these necessa¬ 
ries of fowl life depends somewhat upon the 
good-will of the farmers. I know that some 
of these argue that fowls do uot amount to 
much, and that they are uot *• worth the 
trouble,” Let us see: I think one important 
difficulty in making them plainly profitable, 
lies in the manner fowls are usually fattened. 
The appearance of dressed fowls iu our meat 
markets is often enough to frighten even not 
very fastidious poultry eaters. The chickens (?) 
weigh from one-half pound to one pound 
and a half; the latter is considered a good 
weight and is rarely reached. They are poorly 
picked and the skin tears in many places; but 
it is the size of a large proportion of the 
chickens in market to which I would call 
attention; they are almost all under two 
pounds in weight and at from eight to 
ten cents per pound dressed weight, it 
certainly does uot pay to raise such chick¬ 
ens. I think 1 can hear the great majority 
of farmers say, “ I told you so." But there is a 
remedy for the evil, aud the fault is so great 
that it is worth some little trouble to seek a 
remedy for it. 
If farmers aimed to keep the best breeds 
of fowls as they do of swiue and sheep, the 
poultry interest of the country would make 
a long stride iu advance. I do not propose to 
discuss iu this place the merits of the differ¬ 
ent breeds of poultry. If country folks were 
to feed their youug chicks as tkev do their 
calves aud pigs, the chickens would weigh 
much more and be much more profitable than 
under preseut treatment. Talk to auy en¬ 
terprising farmer about his calves, and the 
chances are tcu to one that he will ventilate 
his peculiar views about rearing calves in 
something like the following style: "Calves 
must bo kept growing alt the time from birth 
until maturity; if they are starved for a tow 
days, it is so much growth lost, aud it is 
growth that the calves cannot regain." Across 
the way from the calf pasture there is a 
chicken coop with a brood of young ehickeus 
tbat have had no feed since yesterday and no 
water since the day before. But these young 
chickens are very different from young calves. 1 
Were I to enlarge on the proper treatment of ' 
growing chickens, this letter, Intended to be ' 
very biief, would grow to the dimeusions of ' ' 
a treatise on poultry raisiug. I propose to J 
call attention as brieliy as possible to a few 1 
hints ou fattening poultry. t 
It is u mistake to suppose that a fowl one * 
or two years old cannot be fattened so as to l 
bo teudur. Above two years or thirty mouths ‘ 
birds should not be kept. Ou the other hand,' • 
the chickens should be kept loug enough to f 
have the proper amount of fiesh or lean meat. f 
lt^wiUbe but a sorry job to undertake to fatr r 
of ten a growing chick or one that has been 
is starved. If chickens have been ted as 
n- they ought to be fed, they are ready to fat- 
jd ten at the age of four or five months. For 
re my own table I prefer to take them from the 
in yard just as they are at that age, without any 
1 y extra fat; but for the market a different mode 
mnst be adopted. From their habits chickens 
do not take on flesh rapidly unless confined. 
— A friend of mine is in the habit of building 
a large pen of rails, like a stock pen six or 
eight feet high and covered. In this ho con- 
I fines from 35 to 50chickens while they are being 
fattened. Although it is much better than allow¬ 
ing them to run at liberty, still it is objectionable 
as affording too much exercise. My own plan, 
which is very satisfactory for feeding a small 
number of fowls, is to provide as many coops 
as there are birds to be fattened at one time, 
so that each one may be confined alone aud out 
of sight of all others. Each pen is as neat 
as may be, about one foot wide, eighteen in¬ 
ches long and twenty inches high, closed on all 
sides except the front; with no floor, but cleats 
so placed that a wooden platter covered with 
fresh earth, may be used for the floor. The 
front of the pen should be of a few slats 
nailed up and down. The feed and water 
tins should be placed outside, as with pens 
of the dimensions I have described, there is no 
room in the pen for anything except the fowl. 
The water tins should be replenished twice in 
the day and the food tins at least four, times. 
The most desirable food for fattening fowls 
is buckwheat flour. The French poultry- 
raisers esteem it very highly, and it Is much in 
vogue in all large establishments. Farmers 
can usually procure it for this purpose at as 
little cost as any other grain. If for any rea¬ 
sons it cannot be obtained, a mixture of equal 
parts of corn meal, ground oats and barley 
flour will be found very satisfactory. A little 
fresh meat, chopped fine aud giveu daily will 
not come amiss. And, as poultry are at all 
times fond of vegetables aud green leaves, they 
should not be neglected in this particular. A 
few cabbage leaves, if nothing else offers, will 
answer the purpose. They will do much to 
insure good health, aud an unhealthy fowl will 
Feed to but poor purpose. Every possible 
Means should be adopted to insure a good di¬ 
gestion; for this purpose a handful of gravel 
ihould be thrown Into the pen, or a few broken 
jyster shells. For the same reason, the fowls 
mist be kept perfectly quiet, and their coops 
>e darkened for a short time, say a couple of 
lours, after each feeding. This may be ac- 
iomplislied by dropping a cloth over the front I 
if the peu. If these few suggestions are I 
idoptcd, andthefetd is abundant and good, 
he process of fattening fowls for market will 
lot necessarily take more than two or three 
reeks, at the farthest. 
Care should be takeu to prevent the pens 
rom becoming infested with vermin. Before 
ny fowls are placed therein, the pons should 
e thoroughl) cleaned and white-washed. This 
txould be repeated every time a bird is re¬ 
eved and before another is placed iu the pen. 
F one should become infested with vermin, a 
ttle sulphur rubbed on at the roots of the 
jathers will be pretty sure to work a cure. 
11 these suggestions must be adopted and 
roperly carried out, and the result will be a 
reat increase in the weight of the fowls, and 
corresponding improvement in the quality 
ad appearance of the bird. When the fowls 
re sent to market, they will not only eom- 
Laud a higher price per pound, but the greater 
weight acquired at less cost than the smaller 
weights of fowls uot half fattened while run¬ 
ning at large, will nett the farmer a much 
larger profit p$r pound, iu proportion to this i 
outlay, than if the poultry were fattened in < 
the old way. . j 
If extra fatness is desirable, the fowls, if i 
there are not too many of them, may be ' 
crammed during the last week. A mixture of 
buckwheat and barley flour or corn meal is 
made into a dough, aud fashioned into rolls 
about the size of a pencil. Cnt these into sec¬ 
tions about two inches in length, aud dip the 
pieces in milk before placing them in the bird’s 
mouth. The proper quantity to feed a fowl at 
one time will probably be learned alter a few 
have been stuffed to death. 
The French peasants are such adepts at this 
one of the fine arts, that they use a sort of a j 
ramrod to assist the fowl iu swallowing. I • 
Could they assist the bird in digesting its food ^ 
the whole thing would be mastered. But the 
process of cramming is wholly unnecessary, 1 
aud in the hands of the uuskillful, is not sel- v 
dom cruel, and too often the occasion of loss 1 
to the poultry raiser. I think this matter of 
fattening poultry for market is a subject well 
worthy of iheuarnest consideration of tbiuking 
farmers. When it is known that poultry can 
be produced as cheaply as pork or beef_for 
such Is the fact—more farmers will turn their 
attention to the industry, breed aud fatten 
birds worth shipping, and ship such poultry to * 
our large cities at a good profit to themselves. 1( 
Aud, what is much more to the purpose in a 
financial point of view, by so doing a demand 
for good poultry may be enlarged or created at 15 
remunerative prices.^ 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Mass., Chelsea, Suffolk Co., Dee. 15.—We 
have a new variety of tomato called the Day- 
ton Purple, which is large, smooth aud very 
firm and a good keeper. c. a. b. 
Michigan, St. Johns, Clinton Co., Dec. 5.— 
Wc have unusually warm weather for this time 
of the year—plenty of rain now. The summer 
was very dry, with no rain when it was most 
needed for the benefit of the corn, so the latter 
was a short crop. vv. t. b. 
Iowa, Fredonia, Louisa Co., Dec. 8.— Corn is 
worth here 80c.; rye, 70c.; good hops, *2.30 
per lOOlbs. There is every prospect here of an 
open winter ; no snow hitherto, except a few 
light falls that soon disappeared ; no frost iu 
the ground, except what has gone there during 
the last 34 hours. n. .j, B . 
Mo., Milford. Barton Co., Dec. 13th.— Oar 
corn crops were good, considering the droughr. 
will average from 30 to 50 bushels per acre! 
Wheat was good, but rather a small yield. Oats 
a very light crop—the lightest for a number of 
years. Stock of all kinds bring a good price, 
and money is more plentiful than for severs! 
years. Wo cold weather yet; the ground has 
not frozen an inch. No snow; country settling 
np fast; land cheap yet. a. a. s., m. d. 
Kansas, White Water. Butler Co., Dec. 10.— 
The White Water Sorgo Association manufac¬ 
tured the past season 20,000 gallons of sirup 
but as yet ouly a limited quautity of sugar! 
Our supply of sirup is inadequate to the de¬ 
mand. Price 40c. to,00c. per gallon. Farmers 
can grow enough sorgo for 300 gallons of sirup 
with as little labor and expense as 100 bushels 
of corn. The blades and seed are valuable for 
| feed; the bagasse for fuel; tlie sklmminge for 
vinegar, and much of the sirup granulates. 
The quality of butter depends much upon 1 he 
cow, more upon the feed, but most upon the 
handling. The flavor of sorgo is equally de¬ 
pendent upon the seed, soil, and manufacture. 
The same varieties of seeds plauted on like soils 
produce unlike flavors; while the same juice, 
differently handled, fnrnishes a variety of fla¬ 
vors. Auy deterioration of the cane, admixture 
in the soil of foreign elemeuts or mistake iu boil¬ 
ing fucks the impurities iu, which otherwise 
may be removed by fire alone. Sorgo is as sus¬ 
ceptible of taiut as milk and butter. The 
sorgo taug belongs just .as properly to sorgo as 
the butter tang does to tainted butter. 
White Water. Kana. o. w. h. 
Colorado, Burnet, Dec. 10.—A year ago I 
sowed some black-walnut seed, and now the 
plants are 18 iuehes high. From peach-stones 
sowed at the same time I now have seedlings 
three feet high. Both have doue well the first 
year. Not so European larch, Norway spruce 
and Scotch pine; these are all dead, though I 
shaded them with lath frames, aud watered 
aud petted them as well as I knew how. Last 
spring I sowed a little catalpa speeiosa seed; 
the plauts came up well, and made from eight 
to ten inches of growth, and, to all appearances 
the trees will do well here. A few arc covered 
slightly. About the same time I put out a few 
Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, and 
Grapes. The Raspberries did the pi orest, the 
Strawberries the best; out of 33 of the former 
three only have managed to survive. All this 
sort of thing is expet imental in this taw coun¬ 
try* i. W. S. 
13. Legs short, small below the knee, with 
small hoof. 3 
14. Tall fine, reaching the hocks,'with good 
switch. 
15. Hide thin anil melt'ow.'wtih fine.' soft half 1 
16. Color of hide where the hair Is white, and 
.. T , udder ana inside or ears, yellow. 
li. Fore udder full In form, and running well 
J®* J!' n ,' 1 ttdder full In form, aiidweU up behind 
19. T Cider free from long hair, and not fieshv. 
20 - Tear^s rather large, wide apart, and squarely 
21 . Milk veins prominent ",.. 
22 . Escutcheon high and broad, and 'full "on 
thighs. 
23. Disposition high and good-natured. 
24. General appearance rather,bony than fleshy 
Perfection.^ 
In judging heifers, omit Nos. 17, 18 and31. 
The same scale of points shall be used in 
judging bulls, omitting Nos. 17, 18, 19 and 21 
and making moderate allowance for mascu¬ 
linity. 
It is recommended that judges at fairs do 
not award prizes to animals falling below the 
following minimum standard, viz: Cows, 70 
counts ; heifers, 55 counts; bulls 50 counts. 
Miscellaneous. 
W. H Brown, Afton, Union, Oo. Imoa . asks, 
1, whether Rennie’s White Field Corn would be 
likely to do welt in that locality; 3. for the 
address of Daniel Steck, of Lycoming Co., Pa:, 
who told the Rural some time back how he 
raised 97 bushels Df corn to the acre. 
Ans.—1. Rennie’s White Field Com, being 
a Canadian sort, would probably thrive in the 
above latitude, but if the experiments with the 
Blount corn all over the eouutry, this year, 
have proved one thing more strongly than 
another, it is the necessity of testing each va¬ 
riety iu different places, iu order to be able to 
determine whether it will succeed there. 2. 
We give our frieud’s address iu full,so that Mr. 
Steck can correspond with him direct, should 
he wish to do so. We do not feel at liberty to 
give the addresses of our contributors, as fre¬ 
quently explained here. 
B. F., Kilayt/i, Ont., Canada, asks where 
several of the varieties of potatoes mentioned 
in our Potato Number can be obtained. 
•Ans.—F rom B. K. Bliss As Son, 34 Barclay 
St., N, Y. Price list will be published in spring. 
C. V., Tranquility , 2f. J., sends ns some ore 
and says he would like to know what we think 
it is. 
Ans.—I t is an iron ore known as brown 
hematite—chemical symbol Fe^Os, combined 
with three equivalents of water. Tne water 
will be driven off by heating; It will then be- 
‘ come red hematite, or blood-stone. 
./. R. i Lawrence, Texas, asks where wheel 
harrows are made. 
Ans.—W heeler & Melick Co., Albany, N. Y., 
Warrior Mower Co., Little Falls, N. Y.; Jno. 
W. Stoddard & Co., Dayton, Ohio. 
L. E. r.. River head, AT. F., asks for the 
name of a dealer in dressed poultry in this city. 
Ans—J. B. Helfrich, Park Place, between 
West St. and Washington St. 
HJistfllaneous. 
BEE NOTES. 
Texas, McKinney, Collin Co., Dec. 8.—Of 
twelve varieties of wheat I am testing, the 
Clawson looks the best at this time. Texas 
farmers are preparing for a large cotton crop 
another year. Cotton and wheat are the 
“ money " crops here. w. n. w. 
ijjc (fiimst, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Scale of Points of Jersey Cattle. 
W. S. M., Martinsburgh, W. Va., asks what 
is the scale of points by which Jersey cattle are 
judged at fairs. 
Ans.—T he followiug is the scale adopted by 
the Jersey Cattle Club, on April 21, 1875, aud 
which still rowaius iu force: 
Points. Counts 
l. Headsmall, lean and rather long. 
•2. Face dished, broad between tile eyes and 
narrow between the boras.,. i 
S. Muzzle dart, and encircled by a l Ight color.' t 
4 . Eyes full aud placid. . ! 
5. Horns small, crumpled and amber color a 
6. Ears small and uan . ^ 
T. Neck straight, thin, rather long, with clean 
throat> and uot heavy at the shoulders t 
6. Shoulders sloping and lean, withers thin 
breast uellUcr deficient nor beefy. 3 
9. Back level to the setting on ot the tail, and 
broad across the loin. 4 
10 . Barrel, hooped, broad and deep at tlie 
tl a rt Ir r 
U. Hips wide apart, liud'tiue tii the bone,' rump 
tong and broad. .. y 4 
12. Thighs long, thlii, and wide apart, with 
legs standing square, and not to cross in 
walking. i 
Has anybody noted the results of breeding 
in-and-in on bees? Is it not frequently the 
cause of disease aud the dwindling down of 
stocks ? Many old bee-keepers of my ac¬ 
quaintance have almost given up ; their stocks 
dwindled from 75 to 100 down to three or four. 
Their never having introduced new strains for 
a number of years, I believe to be the sole 
cause. That I have been more successful than 
my neighbors this year [ believe is owing to 
my having purchased stocks from different 
localities. If my theory is right, it would be 
a good plan to buy or trade for stocks from 
a distance, still keeping some of our own to 
cross with the strangers. This has been a 
good year for bee-men in Canada. Where 
extractors wore used, hives averaged from 
75 to 100 pounds of honey, Mr. Jones, of 
Beaton, obtaining the nice quantity of 70,000 
pounds, or 35 tons of honey. T. F. F 
--- 
Horsb Sale.— L. S. Follett, of Hastings, 
Minn., has just purchased of the Messrs- 
Smith & Powell of Syracuse, New York, 
the Clydesdale stallion, Souter Johnnie, 
imported last September. His sire is the 
celebrated Tam O’Shauter, by Rantin Robin. 
Souier Johnnie has been a great prize 
winner in Scotland, having won five first 
prizes in competition with some of the most 
famous prize winners of the British Isles. Mr 
F. also took Maggie, the three-year-old Clydes' 
dale mare, imported at the same time. Her 
sire, Sampson, was by Emperor, dam by Gen, 
Williams. This mare is a model in form, of 
great strength aud power, and cannot fail to 
make a flue breeder. Mr. Follett has a large 
and new field to work iu, aud certainly deserves 
credit for his enterprise in introducing so 
meritorious a class of horses Into the State. 
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