1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER . 1 
25i 
Hens Picking Feathers; Milk and Poultry 
Some of my hens have lost the feathers 
from the under side of the neck. Last 
year about this time nearly all of them 
lost feathers in this way. I examined 
them with a magnifying glass, and could 
find no living thing on them. I white¬ 
wash my henhouse twice a year and put 
sulphur and kerosene in the whitewash, 
and the birds have a box of road-dust be¬ 
fore them all the time to wallow in. I 
have lots of milk and give it to them for 
drink. Do they need any water if they 
have milk before them all the time? 
McKean, Pa. H. c. 
The loss of feathers is probably due to 
the feather-pulling habit. Give the fowls 
about one pound of ground meat per day 
for each 20 birds; also all they will eat 
of cut clover hay, and cabbage, beets, 
carrots, or other green food, and com¬ 
pel them to scratch for all their grain. 
I do not think it absolutely necessary 
for fowls to have water when they have 
plenty of milk, as I have kept them for 
several weeks at a time, as an experi¬ 
ment, with no other drink but sweet 
milk, and always with good results, the 
birds remaining in perfect health and 
appearing perfectly satisfied; in fact, 
better satisfied with their milk without 
water than with water without milk. 
What is the most satisfactory proof that 
the milk suited them all right is that 
they turned out more eggs on the milk 
diet. I also noticed that they would 
drink much more milk than other pens 
of the same number of fowls would 
drink of water. When milk can be had 
at all times, it would probably be best 
to keep water also where they can get it, 
for if allowed their choice, they will not 
bo likely to go far wrong. j. e. s. 
Cross-Breeding Geese. 
Can any of The R. N.-Y.’s readers tell 
me at what age the wild geese breed and 
lay, and where I can get a male of mature 
age? t. h. 
For a very complete treatment of the 
breeding of geese I refer the questioner 
to the tenth annual report (1897) of the 
Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment 
Station. On pages 414, 415 of this report 
is found the following : 
“The wild Canada goose is quite read¬ 
ily domesticated, and the ganders will 
usually mate the second or third year 
with a domestic goose. A dark-colored 
female, usually Toulouse or African, is 
selected for such mating, and the pro¬ 
geny is the ‘mongrel’ goose so highly 
prized for the table, and which always 
far exceeds the price of other geese in 
the market. The wild female is seldom 
mated with the domestic gander, as 
she lays but few eggs, and the produc¬ 
tion of ‘mongrels’ from such matings is 
very limited and nardly profitable. The 
‘mongrel’ progeny of either mating is 
sterile. Audubon says: ‘The greatest 
number of eggs i have found in the nest 
of this species (Canada goose) was nine, 
which I think is more by tnree than 
these birds usually lay in a wild state. 
In the nests of those which I have had 
in a domesticated state I have some¬ 
times counted as many as 11. Several of 
them, however, usually proved unpro¬ 
ductive. They never have more than 
one brood in a season unless their eggs 
are removed or broken at an early 
period.’ 
“The successful breeding and rear¬ 
ing of wild (Canada) geese and ‘mon¬ 
grels,’ or hybrids between the wild and 
African or Toulouse goose, is the per¬ 
fection of art in goose raising, and only 
those who are thoroughly lamiliar with 
the habits and peculiarities of the wild 
as well as the domestic goose and so sit¬ 
uated as to provide each pair of them 
with abundant space, including a nat¬ 
ural supply of water in some secluded lo¬ 
cality in which they may reign supreme, 
can hope for good success. 
“The few men who are successful 
breeders of mongrel geese have as a rule 
grown up in the business from boyhood, 
and have a life-long apprenticeship com¬ 
bined with infinite patience and tact.” 
The leading breeder of geese in this 
State is Horace D. Miner, Westerly, R. 
How to Grow Good Fruit. 
L. I have found our “mongrel” geese 
here at the Station disposed to resist 
confinement, and as they easily fly over 
any fence it is necessary to provide 
for them ample range. 
A. A. BRIGHAM. 
Green Food tor Poultry. 
Can you advise as to planting of Kaffir 
corn for poultry feed? I also wish to start 
a piece of clover, not for cover crop, but 
to furnish green food for poultry. What 
variety of clover do you advise, and what 
is advised as to preparation of land for 
seeding, and when sow? r. 
Eastern Massachusetts. 
In locations where Alfalfa succeeds it 
would probably make an excellent per¬ 
manent pasture for poultry, but with me 
I have never been successful in getting 
it to stand over the second year, it mak¬ 
ing a light growth the season it is sown, 
and that is the last of it. It will be 
found a very difficult task to get any 
kind of forage plant that will stand the 
constant picking of fowls where they are 
kept in large numbers, and the best plan 
where one wishes them to cut their own 
green food is to arrange two yards for 
each pen, allowing the fowls to forage in 
one while some crop is growing in the 
other. Even then you will have to have 
quite large yards, or you will find the 
birds will get along with their part of 
the business much faster than you can 
induce the crops to get ready for them. 
I find Dwarf Essex rape and Crimson 
clover make a very good team for fur¬ 
nishing green food for poultry. The 
rape is sown in the early Spring in 
drills about two feet apart, on rich, well- 
prepared land, cultivated a few times, 
and if the season is not too dry, it will 
furnish a greater amount of choice ten¬ 
der green food than any other plant I 
know. It can be cut several times dur¬ 
ing the season, and will keep green and 
crisp until severe freezing weather. 
Crimson clover we sow, in July, August, 
or September, whenever we have a spare 
piece of ground, usually in the garden, 
cornfields, etc., at the last cultivation, 
sowing ahead of the cultivator, unless 
the season is very wet, when we sow 
directly after it. This furnishes us with 
gieen food after the rape is gone, and in 
the early Spring before it returns to 
business again. I think Kaffir corn 
would make a good food for poultry, by 
way of variety, but have had no experi¬ 
ence in growing it. I am expecting to 
try it in a small way this season. 
J. E. STEVENSON. 
Corn and Hens. —I have found that 
corn is a grand feed for hens. I tried 
to fatten some hens with corn last Fall, 
but failed, because they were laying 
well, but I expected them to begin to 
moult about October 1. September 15 I 
contracted to sell them, to be delivered 
October 1, so for an experiment I gave 
them a corn diet exclusively for two 
weeks. They laid as many eggs the last 
day I kept them as the day I began 
feeding the corn. I’m not afraid of get¬ 
ting hens too fat while laying, but the 
trouble is before hens begin to lay. 
What is beating me now is this: I have 
20 hens selected for breeding purposes 
in one part of my henhouse, and 50 in 
another part, all fed alike. The 20 have 
a day house 12x18; the 50 have a day 
house 12x27. The roosting apartment 
for all is 8x14, between the two day 
houses, with a screen partition in the 
roosting apartment, giving the 20 hens 
one-third, and the remainder to the 50 
hens. I get from the 20 from 7 to 13 
eggs a day, and from the 50, 14 to 18 
eggs, and have had as low as 10 eggs 
from the 50. Can it be the difference In 
room? That is the only way I can ac¬ 
count for it. My fowls are B. P. Rocks, 
the best all-’round fowl, to my notion. 
Michigan.__ R- L. H. 
Ghost of the Glacier 
And Other Tales, including Making a Revolution, 
Susquehanna Trail, Sculpture of the Elfs, Once 
a Pillar of the World, Feathers of Fashion, and 
others. A delightful volume, beautifully illus¬ 
trated. Ready for distribution about May 1. 
Send 10 cents to T. W. Lee, General Passenger 
Agent, Lackawanna Railroad, 26 Exchange Place, 
New York City. Edition Limited.— Adv. 
. -Before Buying a New 
Harness 
Send 5 ct*. in rlamps to pay postage on descriptive cat¬ 
alogue 100 styles of single and double Ortfc-tflHHf" 
Leather Harnena to aelect fiom. Sold direct to tho 
consumer at wholesale price. We can aaveyou r.ioney, 
KING HARNESS COMPANY. Mfrs. 
21» Church St., Owego, N. Y. 
More than once that a child has been 
carried off by an eagle. When such 
a thing does happen the press rings 
with the story. There’s not a line 
given by the press to the babies ear¬ 
ned off daily bjr disease. It isn’t the 
fact of the child being taken away 
that is startling or interesting, it’s 
only when the method of taking off 
is novel that it exoites interest. How 
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been saved if the mother who bore 
them had been able to give them 
Strength and vitality. Dr. Pierce’s 
favorite Prescription makes healthy 
mothers and healthy mothers have 
healthy children, strong enough to 
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Mrs. Axel £jer, of Gordonville, Cape Gir¬ 
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This Is my fifth child and ths only one who 
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Weighed ten and one-naif pounds. He is 
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sees him wonders et him.” 
Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets keep 
the bowels healthy and regular. 
WAGON BEDS $1 
To tit the Carskadon’s pat. grooved standards. 
Beds made in 9 minutes. Boy puts on or off. “Of 
great value and economy.’ - — 8 . M. Atkinson, i’res’t 
VV. Va. B’d Agr’e. “One of the most valuable in¬ 
ventions of the age.”—Hon. O. D. Hill, W.Va. “Shall 
Introduce this valuable Invention on that expeii- 
mental farm.” —Wilmer Atkinson. Farm Journal, 
Phlla. T K CAK8KADON, Keyser, W.Va. 
GOOD WHEELS 
MAKE A GOOD WAGON. 
Unless a wagon lias good wheels It Is 
“the ELECTRIC WH E E E eL8 
are good wheals and they make a wagon 
last Indefinitely. They are made high or 
low, any width of tire, to fit any skein. 
They can’t get loose, rot or break 
down. They lastulwayo-Catalogfree. 
Electric Wheel Co.. Box *8 Quincy, Ills. 
The Superintendent of the Lenox 
Sprayer Company of Pittsfield, Massa¬ 
chusetts, has delivered an address before 
the Lenox Horticulture Society, at Len¬ 
ox, Mass. The address bore chiefly upon 
spraying and general culture of orchard 
and field crops, how to do it, do it cheaply 
and good, and how to obtain the most 
profit from your labor in the easiest 
manner. The address is quite lengthy, 
about an hour’s talk. It will not be sent 
to the disinterested. Owners of fruit 
trees, stating if at all interested in fruit 
culture, will get this book. Had this ad¬ 
dress been placed on the market in book 
form it no doubt would have sold at a good 
price. The full address, profusely illus¬ 
trated, in pamphlet form was intended to 
be sent to fruit growers and owners of es¬ 
tates, free for the asking, but to prevent 
imposition by the curious and disinter¬ 
ested, the book will be sent compli¬ 
mentary to any one enclosing ten cents 
for postage, to the Lenox Sprayer Com¬ 
pany, 420 West St., Pittsfield, Mass. 
POULTRY NETTING 60c. PER ROLL. 
All rolls 160 feet long, best quality wire, galvanized. 
Our lllus’il circulars give lowest prloes. freight paid. 
JAMES 8 . CASE (Box N), Colchester, Conn. 
FARM EDUCATION. 
One of tho fertile sources for a complete education 
l'or successful farming is to be found in the various 
catalogues Issued and sent out free by the manu¬ 
facturers of farm implements. They contain the 
best matter written on the subjects they represent. 
True! Not all that is said Is to be relied upon. As 
Burns says, “If self the wavering balance shakes, 
It’s rarely right adjusted”, but the misrepresenta¬ 
tions that are sometimes found do little harm, as 
ttie practical farmer can quickly detect them and 
sift them out. Of all the ” Educating Catalogues ’’ 
we have seen, tho 11)00 Issue of the Farmers Handy 
Wagon Co., of Saginaw, Mich., is the best. It con¬ 
tains nearly forty photographs of farm scenes, each 
helping to show how almost indispensable are low- 
down, broad-tlre, short-turning, tlat-platform farm 
trucks. It also contains an Important discussion 
on the comparative merits of steel and wood wheels. 
They are glad to send this catalogue to all who ask 
for it. 
4 Buggy Wheels, with tire on, 86.75 
With Axles and Boxes set, 89.75 
I make all sizes and grades. Carriage and 
Wagon Hardware every description. Cat. 
free. W. B. BOOB, Center Hall, l’a. 
Steel Wheels wagons 
Any size wanted, any width of tire. Hubs to 
fit any axle. For catalogue and prices write 
Empire Manufacturing Co., Quincy, Ill. 
STEEL WHEELS and HANDY WAGONS 
of every style and price aro made In our 
mammoth factory and sold direct to farmers. 
We supply all trucks used by U. 8. Govt. 
Farmer’s Handy Wagon Co., Saginaw, Mich. 
“FOR THE 
LAND’S SAKE” 
Mil I■ 
B0WKERS 
pk 
IBB 
Ira 
TERTIL1ZERS 
THEY ENRICH 
THE EARTH 
WRITE TO-DAY FOR CATALOGUE <5f PRICES. 
ROWKFff FERTILIZER CO 
UVff IV JE IV C /NOEPEN DEN T CO-1 
Ul BOSTON • new yorkI 
