1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
355 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
EXPENSES AND RETURNS PROM HENS.—Will Mr. 
Mapes state what it costs per 100 hens to keep them in 
good thrift from October 1 to April 1, and what return 
should be expected from sale of eggs for that period? 
Everything is to be bought in open market, with no 
allowance for labor, cost of buildings, etc., simply the 
cash outlay, my object being to learn positively whether 
there is a reasonable certainty of profit from hens during 
Fall and Winter, when every needful attention is given. 
Charleroi, Pa. w. a. m. 
The territory covered by The R. N.-Y. is so large 
and variations in prices of feed on account of locality 
so great that no estimate can be made which will suit 
all localities. Prices in W. A. M.’s locality probably 
are not much different from those in this vicinity, 
nor from those at Ithaca, N. Y., where Cornell Bul¬ 
letin No. 204 was issued. In that publication, based 
on prices of feed in Winter of 1901-1902, the cost was 
thus reckoned: Wheat, $1.45 per 100; corn, $1.30; oats, 
$1.75; buckwheat, $1.20; wheat bran, $1.15; wheat 
middlings, $1.15; meat scrap, $2.15. The experiments 
on which this bulletin were based began December 1, 
1901, and continued till March 29, 1902. The largest 
flock consisted of 600 hens, and the cost of food for 
the four months was $212.69, making the cost for 100 
hens about $54 for six months, estimating October 
and November to be the same as for the remainder of 
the Winter. The receipts for eggs from this flock at 
highest New York quotations were $410.60. The profit 
on this flock for the four months was $33.62 per '.00 
hens. Estimating the same rate of profit for October 
and November would give a profit for the six months 
of $50.43 per 100 hens. It is doubtful, however, 
whether the profit was as great in October and No¬ 
vember as in the following four months. Only one 
other flock of 150 pullets gave better returns than 
this flock of 600. In this case the cost of food for the 
period of four months was $31.28 per 100 fowls, with 
a profit of $62.10 for the four months. 
A WOMAN’S RECORD.—It is probable that Mrs. 
Crawford’s hens, of which I recently wrote In these 
notes, come as near to having “every needful atten¬ 
tion’’ as any I have personally seen. Her feed bills for 
350 fowls for the past Winter were as follows: Octo¬ 
ber, $35; November, $34.30; December, $37.60; Janu¬ 
ary, $35.64; February, $36.47; March, $38.57. This 
includes everything except some cabbage, and Is at 
the rate of $62 per 100 hens for the six months. Her 
hens ate more than the average flock, however, and 
also laid more eggs. From her 350 hens she tells me 
she averaged 50 eggs a day in October; 50 in Novem¬ 
ber; 100 in December; 120 in January; 200 in Feb¬ 
ruary, 250 in March. She received 40 cents per dozen 
for her eggs a good portion of the Winter, and 45 
cents for some to private families, and her profits 
must have been much greater than from any of the 
flocks reported in Cornell Bulletin 204. 
THE CORNELL BULLETIN.—It is well to look at 
some of the conclusions from the bulletin, which was 
prepared with great care and expense, as well as at 
the brighter portions of the bulletin: “In the weeks 
from December 1 to March 29 in 12 fiocks represent¬ 
ing eight owners and 2,100 fowls, the average daily 
production of eggs was 23.2 per 100 fowls. During 
the same time the average food cost of one dozen 
eggs was 16.3 cents. The average cost of feeding 100 
hens tor the 17 weeks was $32.43. The average excess 
of production over cost of food for 17 weeks was 
$23.93 per 100 fowls.” While it is undoubtedly pos¬ 
sible, as shown by the experience of Mrs. Crawford, 
to secure a good profit from hens in the Winter 
months, it is far safer, in my judgment, for a beginner 
to expect most of his profits in the Summer. 
FEEDING THE HAY CROP.—When I pointed out 
last Summer that the great success of Mr. Clark in 
raising immense crops of hay was due to his methods 
of supplying the grass plants with an abundance of 
available plant food at all times, rather than to his 
peculiar and painstaking method of fitting the seed 
bed, 1 reasoned from analogy rather than from any 
actual experience. The behavior of the small field 
of my own, afterwards seeded to Timothy and Red- 
top in accordance with the theory then advanced, to¬ 
gether with later reports from Hope Farm, seem to 
indicate that I was right. I would now like to go a 
step further and say that the great pains which he 
takes in distributing his seed evenly and uniformly 
by hand, sowing both ways in small plots, is also need¬ 
less, in my opinion. I believe that there are plenty 
of seeders on the market which will distribute the 
seed so as to secure just as good results as can be 
done by his method of hand-sowing. I am only a 
one-horse farmer myself so far as raising hay is con¬ 
cerned, but I am sure that large producers of hay for 
commercial purposes will look upon his plan of dis¬ 
tributing the seed witli disfavor. If such will use a 
good seeder and feed the plants as well as Mr. Clark 
feeds his I predict that they will be astonished at 
results. A friend of mine w'ho owns some of the 
black-dirt meadows which have made Orange County 
onions famous, tells me that he sowed Timothy and 
Red-top seed on part of it in April and in August of 
the same year cut an immense crop of excellent hay. 
He used half a ton of high-grade fertilizer to the acre, 
however, so that his plants had plenty of available 
food at hand from the start. “Feed the plant and the 
plant will feed you.” 
PIG NOTES.—Our crop of Winter-fed pork has all 
been harvested, including the two extreme runts, 
which dressed 90 and 96 pounds each. They were no 
heavier than a good hen last November at six weeks 
OAT FODDER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. Fig. 127. 
of age. A chance to balance their own ration from 
whole corn and skim-milk started them into growth 
at once, and they soon made thrifty shotes. Our local 
market does not demand much pork at this season, so 
we shipped the last of them to the New York market, 
where they sold for from 10 to lOVz cents per pound. 
Out of the lot of 88 Fall pigs from 11 sows only one 
died, and the prospect is good for about the same ' 
number from the Spring litters. It costs not over $15 
each -.1 year to feed these sows, making the cost of 
pigs about $1 each. At the prevailing price of $3 each 
for weaned pigs, what class of live stock pays better, 
labor considered? Certainly not cows, for they have 
to be milked twice a day, and milk carted to market 
every day. We took $100 to $150 worth of pork to 
market at one load as quickly and as easily as we 
could draw 10 to 15 cans of milk. In fact, most of the 
milk marketed from small dairies has to be drawn 
in lots of two or three cans each trip. Jesse and our 
hired man got to be quite expert at butchering before 
they got through. By keeping our hot-water tank at 
a temperature of 153 degrees and using a little pine 
tar in the water a good scald resulted every time, en¬ 
abling them to hang up a 120 to 150-pound pig every 
half hour, _ o. w. mapes. 
DIRECTIONS FOR TAPPING SHEEP. 
There are but few farmers who have never had 
some trouble with sheep bloating. Not infrequently 
will a farmer have several cases during a single sea¬ 
son, .and some are so serious that nothing save tap¬ 
ping will save the animal’s life. Tapping is an op- 
HOW TO TAP A SHEEP. Fig. 128 
eration that very few farmers fully understand, and 
one that should never be tried, unless the operator is 
thoroughly acquainted with the work. When an ani¬ 
mal has reached the stage where something must be 
done immediately or the animal will perish, then tap¬ 
ping should be resorted to as the last effort to save 
the animal’s life. Cases of bloat are most common 
where sudden changes of feeds are thrust upon the 
digestive system unexpectedly, and the organs over¬ 
loaded with more than their capacity will permit. 
Usually there is no danger of bloating after the ani¬ 
mals have becoiQfi ^ccustoinfld to certain kinds of 
feed, and especially animals having good working 
digestive systems. 
Last year we had one sheep after the fiock had been 
turned out to pasture that seemed to be troubled 
by any elight change of feed. If the fiock was fed 
some bright clover hay in the morning this one sheep 
would certainly be affected with bloat before the day 
was gone. Without any doubt this sheep’s digestive 
system was somewhat out of good working condi¬ 
tion, and whenever any slight change of feed was fed 
the organs failed to do their required work. During 
Summer, when the sheep have pastured the feed quite 
short, we turned them on to second-growth clover, 
with oftentimes the result of having numerous cases 
for a month or so of sheep bloating. The sheep, while 
not allowed to feed upon the clover any great length 
of time, seemed to have become so accustomed to 
scant pasture that they would overeat of the tender 
grass at first, and bloating would result. If the ani¬ 
mals are discovered in time and the bloat has not too 
much the start there are several remedies that car 
be administered that will have a relieving effect. One 
of the easiest I have found was about one tablespoon¬ 
ful of hyposulphite of soda to a 200-pound animal. 
With one or two exceptions the dose of hyphosulphite 
of soda dissolved in water and given to the sheep in 
the form of a drench was all that was necessary. In 
the course of five or ten minutes the gas would begin 
to pass off through the mouth, and within half an 
hour the animal would be entirely relieved. For cases 
where the bloat has not got too far the start this 
simple easily-applied remedy will be all that is neces¬ 
sary to use under ordinary circumstances. It some¬ 
times occurs that a sheep is suffering from the effects 
of bloat and when discovered is so far gone that noth¬ 
ing short of an operation will save the animal’s life, 
and in many instances not then. The operation is 
most commonly known as tapping. 
Fig. 128 was taken expressly of a sheep and diagram 
made to illustrate just how this tapping should be 
done, so that any farmer will be able to relieve a 
sheep without difficulty. Tapping should always be 
performed on the left side of the sheep, as indicated. 
In order exactly to locate the proper place to operate 
the brother of the writer secured the service of Dr. 
Waterman, of the State Agricultural College to trace 
the outlines, which he did by taking the photograph 
into the yard and personally comparing it with tbs 
sheep from which the photograph was made, anu 
marking accordingly. It may be a little surprising to 
some to see how far forward the proper place to op¬ 
erate is, but as the doctor made very careful work of 
the matter I have good reasons to think the place 
where the dot indicates is exact. To find the place of 
operation first start at the hook point, then forward 
till you strike the last rib, and then downward to the 
upper region of the flank near the thigh, regardless of 
what proportion the sheep is. The point near the 
center of the triangle will be the place to operate for 
tapping. Whenever it is found necessary to tap a 
sheep for bloating it is always best to use an instru¬ 
ment made specially for this purpose, called a trocar. 
But if this instrument is not at hand do not be afraid 
to use a sharp pointed jack-knife, being very careful 
not to cut too deep. I have heard of men using a 
pitchfork tine when nothing else was available, and 
succeeded in saving the sheep, but if the trocar is at 
hand it is much the safer and easier to operate. 
Shiawassee Co., Mich. leo c. Reynolds. 
FRUIT NOTES. 
YOUNG STRAWBERRY BLOOMS.—We have set about 
three acres of strawberries every Spring for some time 
past, and never neglect picking the blossoms on Spring- 
set plants. One of the worst blunders one can make is 
to let fruit ripen on the young strawberry plants before 
they have hardly commenced growing. Don’t do it. Set 
the children at the business. They will pinch the blos¬ 
soms off in short order. J- m. 
Port Jervis, N. Y. 
THE STEAM SPRAYER.—Owing to scarcity of help 
the steam sprayer is a boon to farmers. I recently pur¬ 
chased one, and the first day in use thoroughly sprayed 
10 acres of seven-year-old peach trees in 614 hours, the 
engine being fired by a boy of 12 years. The tank con¬ 
taining 250 gallons was drawn by a team weighing 2,200 
pounds over wet ground, w'hich proves that the weight 
is no objectionable point. The firm from whom I pur¬ 
chased sold 23 this Spring to the surrounding farmers. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. jay. e. allis. 
BAKED BEN DAVIS.--I am not so sure that J. P. 
Morgan’s baked apples might not have been Ben Davis. 
Some years ago 1 came into temporary possession of an 
old farm orchard. Originally planted with a variety of 
apples, everything else had succumbed to hardship and 
neglect except a few Ben Davis trees. These bore fruit 
every year, and as the market for baked apples has al¬ 
ways been particularly good in our home they were tried 
in this form. To our surprise we found the Ben Davis 
core unusually small and easy to remove after baking, 
and when the cavity thus left was filled with sugar and 
the whole dressed with Jersey cream there was no fur¬ 
ther difficulty in disposing of the product. 
Ohio Exp. Station. chas. e. thorn®. 
R. N.-Y.—Jersey cream and sugar will make almost 
anything “go.” 
