1903 
289 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAPtS, THE HEN MAN, 
Mr. Mapes says in a late number of The 
K N.-Y. that one man can take care of 
2,000 hens. Doubtless many would like to 
know how this is done. Cain Mr. Mapes 
give us all the details of the business? Is 
the man a nine-hour man? How long does 
it take him to go through 40 pens feeding 
50 hens each, cleaning off the roosts, gath¬ 
ering eggs, and lots of other tilings es¬ 
sential to running a hen ranch? One rea¬ 
son why 1 ask is because a man in this 
place who has just sold off his stock of 300 
hens, says the proper care of them is be- 
yeiid the ability of one man. He says it 
does not pay to hire extra help. 
Connecticut. H. H. boardman. 
He.vs by tile Acre. —Were it not for 
the fact that there is always a job ready 
on a farm, it would be bard to keep a 
good nine-hour man busy in the care of 
2,000 bens as we care for them. Our 
place is far from being ideal in respect 
to convenience, too. In the first place, 
we use the colony plan, with most of the 
houses located about eight rods from 
each other. The idea was when we built 
to keep only about 100 bens to the acre. 
‘ Hens by the acre” may sound familiar 
to many of the older readers of Tile R. 
N.-Y. With only 100 bens to the acre, 
the sod keeps green and fresh, with the 
exception of a small space about the 
door. Ic takes more time, however, to 
eggs, and our next job will be to drive 
to the station with them and bring back 
any needed supplies of corn, feed, empty 
crates, etc. We can always find some¬ 
thing to do in the way of smearing 
perches with kerosene, cleaning up, etc., 
to occupy our time until 4 P. M. We 
usually kerosene the perches every two 
or three weeks, and clean the di'op- 
pings from the tables five or six times 
a year. At 4 P. M. we will start on our 
round once more, armed with a quart 
basin and a lot of baskets on our arm. 
How long does it take at each stop? 
What is there to do? 
In each house there is a covered bin or 
box, holding a bag of corn, when full, 
and beside it stands a shallow box with 
hinged cover, holding perhaps a peck. 
We will first gather the eggs from the 
nests and place them in a basket. I 
usually take four eggs in the hand at 
once, and this is soon done. Now raise 
the covers of both corn boxes, scatter 
two or three quarts of corn about the 
floor, acording to the size of the crowd 
of hens that has gathered and throw 
enough corn into the small shallow box, 
so there will surely be some left in it, 
after they have eaten their fill. Leave 
the cover of the small shallow box open, 
secured by a button, close the cover to 
the large box or bin, and we are ready 
to proceed to Colony No. 2. 
How long did it take us? 
About two minutes. Multiply by 40 
and we will have ample time to care for 
2,000 hens and carry our eggs to the 
house before supper time. 
feed and care for the hens on this plan 
than on the plan of the long house and 
alley recently described in these notes. It 
is still an open question with me, 
whether or not this extra time is offset 
by greater liability to disease and con¬ 
tagion where larger numbers are 
crowded in small areas, with its conse¬ 
quent fouling of the soil, etc. Another 
disadvantage under which we woi’k is in 
being four miles from a railroad station. 
We have a station in four different di¬ 
rections, but all are four iniles from our 
farm. A daily trip to town consumes 
fiom two to three hours of the nine 
under consideration. There are but few 
days in a month when there are not eggs 
or poultry to ship, or feed of some kind 
10 bring home. 
Labor REquiREO.—I am not as spry 
as 1 was 25 years ago, but if H. H. B. 
will come with me for a day, he will get 
a pretty good idea of a day’s work with 
a hen dairy; 5;3U A. M. finds us out of 
bed, and starting the kitchen fire. Whiie 
the cook is preparing our breakfast, we 
will go to the barn, feed and care for our 
team and mix the feed for the hens. We 
have not quite 2,000 to feed, but there 
are 35 flocks, which avei’age about 50 
hens each, probably 1,700 in all. Our 
feed basket holds 40 pounds of the anti- 
corn mixture, (page 176) and it does not 
take long to dump three basketfuls into 
the tight box on the old buckboard, and 
pour on eight pails of water or milk, as 
Ihe case may be. By the time the break¬ 
fast horn blows we are ready with a 
good appetite. Charge up half an hour 
to work and one hour to breakfast and 
the morning paper and 7 A. M. finds us 
with 8^4 hours still to our credit. The 
feed in the box has absorbed most of the 
water (or milk) while we were at break¬ 
fast, and it takes but a few minutes to 
give it a few turns with a shovel, har¬ 
ness a horse to the buckboard, and we 
are off. 
Feedl.n’g THic Hens. —We arrived at 
Colony No. 1, and this is what confi'onts 
us. We must dip four shovelfuls of the 
mash into our pail (equal to about 3^/4 
pounds of dry feed) step inside, raise the 
cover or shield to the feed trough, draw 
our big si>oon the length of the trough 
to remove any dirt or litter therein, and 
toss the mash from our pail into the 
trough as evenly as possible, the wihole 
length of the trough, and turn down the 
shield again. This shield Is high enough 
above the trough to allow the hens to in¬ 
sert their heads and eat, but prevents 
their standing in it with their feet. Now 
open the small door or exit for the hens 
and we are through with Colony No. 1. 
How long did it take? Not more than 
2(4 minutes at the outside. Repeat this 
40 times and we will have 2,000 hens fed 
and back to the Imrn before 9 A. M. with¬ 
out hurrying. Jesse often feeds our 1,700 
in 50 minutes, when in a hurry. Jesse, 
by the way, is my son and partner. The 
hens now have the day before them, 
with all outdoors in which to roam, and 
need no more attention until evening. 
They find plenty of water at the spring 
brook and pond. While we have been 
feeding the women of the household 
have cleaned and packed yesterday’s 
Closing Up. —Another trip around 
must be taken between daylight and 
dark, for the purpose of closing the exit 
doors and the covers to the shallow 
corn boxes containing the remnant of 
the evening feed of corn. If any broody 
-hens are found on the nests, this is 
the best time to remove them and place 
them in the elevated “jail,” for a three- 
days’ fast. This takes about a half 
hour, and is the part of the work which 
most nine-hour men would object to, as 
it cannot be done until after the hens 
have gone to roost. In the long house 
described recently, the same work of 
closing doors and feed boxes can be done 
in an instant by pulling down a lever. 
By building on that plan and locating 
close to the express office and feed store, 
a good deal of time could be gained. 
This is not a story of possibilities, how¬ 
ever, but of actual practice. The hand 
which is penning this at 8 P. M., March 
28, has fed 1,700 hens and gathered 851 
eggs by actual count since 4 P. M. 
O. W. MAl'ES. 
Money Ahea-d. 
At tbe end of tbo first Tear juu caa 
count up a good profit it jou ruuan 
AMERICAN 
Cream Separator. 
The one that !• sold on tesL The 
one that la told at a low price. 
One that received Paris KxpoeltloD Medai? 
rite for catalogue. It Is free. 
AMKKICAN SEPAKATOU CO., 
Kox 1U€0 Rainbrldtce, N. Y. 
For Lice 
and mites use l.ee’8 Lice Kil¬ 
ler. Simply paint orsprinkle 
on roosts for poultry; it does 
the rest. Easy to buy, easy 
touso. NohandlinKoffowls, 
Certain to kill both body-lice 
and mites. Quarts, 35 cents; 
gallons, (1.00. Send for free 
catalogue, poultry calendar, 
and list of 3,000 ugenciea 
More agents wanted. 
CEO. H. LEE CO., 
OMAHA, Nia. 
DREER’S 
POULTRY SUPPLIES 
Prairie State Incubators and Brooders 
Send for Catalogue 
HENRY A. DREER, 
714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 
STOCKMENS UPPLIES 
Sheep Dips, Tanks, Worm Cures, Bar Marks, 
Punches, Tattoo Markers, Shearing Machines, 
Shears, Sheep Marking Paint, Lamb Feeders, 
Lica Paint, Poultry Supplies, Veterinary 
Remedies, etc. Write for Catalogue J. 
F. S. BURCH & CO.. 144 Illinois St., CHICAGO, 
BARREM OOWS OURED, 
Write for Pamphlet and Testimonials. 
Oldmmt mnd Bm»t Ti^atmmnt Extant, 
Mooro Brodm, V SmAlbrnny, Nm Ym 
^BLATCHFORD’S^ 
/CALF MEAlX 
r THE MILK SUBSTITUTE ^ 
THE MILK SUBSTITUTE 
'Th»rm it nothing llko It to raise 'thrifty 
.Jersey Caloes.” 
ASA B. aASONSR, CM., «I.MCOt. I 
AddrMt, BUTCHFORO’S CALF MEAL 
WAUKEGAN, ILL. 
1 
^^arsei 
x: 
r« 'thrifty 
NCOC, 
A GOOD MORTGAGE PAYER. 
The De Laval Separator Co. Madison, Wis., Jan’y 20, 1908. 
Gentlemen : — Calendar received. I am no longer on the 
farm. Tlie cows and your Separator paid off the mortgage, and 
made it possible for me to retire. 
Yours truly, 
MYRON H. ATWOOD. 
NEXT AFTER WIFE AND GHILDREN. 
New Windsor, Md., Oct. 21, 1902. 
The De Laval Separator Co., New York City. 
Gentlemen:—I tell you the De Laval Cream Separator in a 
family comes next after the wife and children—even before the 
dog. I have used my “ Baby” No. 2 on the farm just t«n years 
(with hired help) and I am sure it has paid for itself five times over. 
Wouldn’t think of owning three cows unless I had a separator, 
and I am no agent either. Very respectfully, 
NATHAN H. BAILE, 
Cashier Firat Nat’l Bank, and also a farmer. 
TEN YEARS OF USE WITHOUT REPAIRS. 
South Plymouth, N. Y., March 4, 1903. 
The De Laval Separator Co. 
Gentlemen I have used my machine 10 years without any 
repairing or any expense. Will have to ha e it repaired soon. 
Please send me a catalogue of your modern machines. 
Truly yours, M C. STEWART. 
The De Laval Separator Co, 
Randolph & Canal Sts., 
CHICAGO. 
1213 Filbert Street, 
PHILADELPHIA. 
2 I 7-2 2 I Drumm St. 
SAN FRANCISCO. 
General Offices: 
74 Cortlandt Street, 
NEW YORK. 
121 Youville Square, 
MONTREAL. 
75 A 77 York Street, 
TORONTO. 
248 McDermot Avenue, 
WINNIPEG. 
M. 
No more lifting heavy cans. 
No more scouring dingy pans, 
Da.iry work is talmost pla.y, 
DoLiry fa.rmer ma.kes big pa.yt 
Jolly Molly—weeLlthy Da.i\ 
Since they use tbe Empire ple.n. 
THE EMPIRE 
CREAM SEPARATOR 
wHl double the actual profits of your herd of milch cows. It will make more 
money for you than any other separator because it Is simpler in construction, 
easier to run, easier to clean. Our new book shows why. Let us send you a copy... 
ool 
L2o ^ 
Don’t buy a 
Cream Separator 
until you have 
tested the Empire. 
Empire Cream ^parator Co, 
Bloomfield. N. J. 
Western Office, 
Fisher Building, Chicago. 
TF3iP(o. 
Shear Your Sheep 
with ths 
“COOPER” 
Finast Model Mad# 
Complsts with 
Qrlsdlaf OIk, Six 
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sad Oil Caa Spanaer 
Fully aicoo 
15 ! 
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COOPER HHEEP SUKABINO MACHINE OO. 
_ 148 Illinois Htreet. Chlosgo. 
Cftr Qilno HOOPS and LUGS. Write for Clrcu- 
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ROUND SILO 
The “Philadelphia.” 
The only Perfect Continuous 
Open Front Silo made. See our 
Patent Roof. Ask for catalog 
E. F. SCHLICHTER, 
321 Vine Street, 
• PIIILADELPUIA, PA. 
Also made in the west by the 
DUPLEX MFG. CO., South 
Superior, Wis. 
nream 
dairy aud oreame 
SEPARATORS 
All about them and other thiuge for the 
dair/ aud creamery. Ae U. BEllh* PhlladelpklA. 
A Miik Cooler 
is a device tor cooling milk quickly 
just after it is taken from tbe cow. 
f Tbe object Is to expose every par¬ 
ticle of it to the air. thus cooling 
lit and driving out all bud odors 
'^and wermA which spoil milk very 
quickly and reduce its value. 
The Perf^tlon Milk Cooler and Aerator 
does this quicker and better than any other. 
Send for prices otad free circulars. 
L. R. LEWIS. Manfr.. Box 12. Cortland. N. Y. 
A Revolution in Dairying. 
We can prove that the Plymouth Cream Extractor 
baa more points of excellence 
than any other. Here are a few: 
Milk not mixed with water. Re¬ 
movable inner can. Inner can 
has center tube which is also 
water receptacle. Water distrib¬ 
uted equally around aud under 
inner can; also through center 
tube, giving greatest possible 
cooling surface. No water re¬ 
quired live months in the year. 
New and original faucet; impos¬ 
sible to leak or sour. You’ll be 
sorry if you buy any other before 
Pat. April 29,1902. cato*Io^.*^^'^YMOUTH CREAM 
SEPARATOR COMPANY, Plymouth, Ohio. 
DEATH TO LICE 
D. J. LAMBERT, B 
on HE^NS and CHICKS 
64-page book FREE. 
Box 307, Apponaug, B. L 
