1900 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
843 
The Chicken Yard. 
Western Incubator Notes. —The tirst 
season I set ray incubator in a cellar, 
where there was standing water. I had 
poor luck, and moved it into a building. 
This time 89 per cent of the fertile eggs 
hatched. I have used it for three sea¬ 
sons, and find that a building is better 
than a cellar or cave. I always set two 
or three hens the same time that I do 
the incubator, and find that the incuba¬ 
tor always hatches better than the hens. 
It is also the best way to test the air 
cells. When setting the incubator be 
sure to have eggs from healthy hens; 
otherwise you can never nope for suc¬ 
cess. The mistake which beginners are 
most likely to make is getting too much 
moisture for the chickens. I never saw 
an incubator until mine was snipped to 
me. I knew nothing about one, and 
would have had splendid results had it 
not been for too much moisture. The 
chickens hatched from an incubator are 
as strong as when hatched under the 
hen, and the incubator is not naif the 
trouble hens are. mbs. estiier straub. 
Minnesota. 
Two Crowing Hens. —In your issue of 
November 24 is an interesting article 
on the crowing hen. In the past five 
years I have had two, and will tell you 
my experience on the chance of its con¬ 
taining something interesting. The first 
case occurred about five years ago. The 
bird was a mongrel and grew to matur¬ 
ity without anything out of tne ordi¬ 
nary. 
tention to her was the fact that she led 
a lonely life. The other nens had very 
little use for her, and the old rooster 
Avould not allow her in the same part 
of the yard, and never permitted her to 
eat with the flock. That Fall i had 
quite a few small yolkless eggs, and fin¬ 
ally caught her in the act of laying one, 
and as she left the nest she crowed dis¬ 
tinctly twice. The second case was dur¬ 
ing this past Summer. I think this hen 
laid a double-yolked egg, but have only 
circumstantial evidence to prove it. 
Many times during the Summer I saw 
and heard her crow, i regret to say that 
both these hens were killed and eaten 
without my knowing it, so cannot give 
any information as regards anything 
out of the ordinary in the make-up of 
the bird. H. a. h. 
Killing Mites on Fowls. 
On page 731 G. M. A. told about killing 
mites without any expense. How does he 
do it? READER. 
My method of exterminating mites is 
very simple, and I often wonder why in¬ 
telligent people spend their money for 
patent lice killers, etc., unless they wish 
to help out the advertisers in the poul¬ 
try papers. Now for the method. Have 
all roosts made of smooth poles, or 2x2, 
or 1x3 scantling. If the latter, leave 
undersides rough (not planed); this 
makes an ideal place for mites. Have 
the roosts loose, so they can be taken 
up and carried outdoors any time. Fi.l 
the teakettle full of water; have it boil¬ 
ing hot. Soon as hens have left the 
roosts in the morning take the poles 
outdoors, place one end higher than the 
other, and with teakettle, begin at high 
end and give mites a hot bath. Repeat 
this two or three times, and you will 
not be bothered with mites again unless 
introduced from abroad. Never put coal 
oil, coal tar, lice killers, etc., on roosts; 
keep them sweet and clean, so all the 
mites in the house will gather there; 
then you have got them. These few 
lines would be worth hundreds of dol¬ 
lars to the poultrymen of the country 
if they could all read them. I know 
whereof I speak, as 1 have had plenty 
of mites, but none for three years. It 
does not take money to get rid of lice 
and mites, only a little work at the right 
time. o. m. a. 
Tamaroa, Ill. 
R. N.-Y.—We have found it profitable 
to smear the underside of the roost with 
any soft fat, like lard or melted tallow. 
Experience with an Incubator. 
An incubator is a fine machine, and I 
would not like to do without one, as it 
is much handier than to hatch with 
hens. In fact, the chickens which the 
incubator has hatched are just as strong 
and healthy as those hatched by the old 
hen and another fact is that they are 
free from lice. I have two incubators, 
one a 200-egg incubator and the other 
a 54-egg size. If a person will follow 
directions carefully I think he will suc¬ 
ceed. Last Spring I Hatched about 600 
and nearly every one lived. One Sun¬ 
day I took the eggs out of the large in¬ 
cubator in the morning as usual to cool, 
and went to church forgetting to put the 
eggs back, and I came home at noon and 
never thought about my machine. I al¬ 
ways regulate it well in the morning 
anu then leave it run till evening, and 
when I came down in the evening there 
stood my eggs. The window was open 
and it was quite a cool day. I had had 
the eggs in the machine two weeks, and 
I felt so sorry, as I imagined ah my eggs 
were spoiled, but I resolved to put them 
in again and in another week the incu¬ 
bator was full of chickens. I had as 
good luck with that hatch as I had with 
the others. I keep my incubators in the 
basement. I tried to have'them up in a 
room, but they did not do so well as they 
did in the basement, mrs. ii. pierson. 
Iowa. 
No Middlemen.—’ The question of milk 
supply is not attracting the attention of 
consumers in Burlington that it is in 
the larger cities, for the reason that we 
are in closer touch with tne producer, 
and we get about what we pay for, or 
else know the reason why. Burlington, 
including its suburb Winooski, has a 
population of over 20,000, and our milk 
supply all comes from within a radius 
of about 10 miles. There are about 30 
peddlers who own their own dairy 
farms, Besides as many more small ped¬ 
dlers and stationary dealers. The old 
stock joke about the social relations of 
the milkman, and the pump is sprung 
about as often in Burlington as in other 
cities, I suppose, but withal, we have a 
pretty satisfactory way of getting re¬ 
dress. If the milk that we obtain from 
our regular milkman becomes too trans¬ 
parent when one holds a glass of it up 
to the light, we simply dismiss him and 
a half dozen others are on hand ready 
to serve us with the “real article.” I 
believe that the quality of the milk sold 
in Burlington is constantly improving, 
within the past six years several milk¬ 
men have discarded all their old-time 
native scrub stock and have grown into 
high-grade Jersey herds. The majority 
of the dealers live on their farms and 
personally superintend the whole busi¬ 
ness of caring for their cows, milking 
them and delivering the milk to their 
customers. The largest dealers have as 
much as 100 to 140 cows’ milk to dispose 
of and by having regular customers, 
they have but little left over at the end 
of their routes. 
One milkman who lives near me has 
a herd of high-grade Jerseys. He has 
worked up quite a large trade in cream; 
this he obtains from the night milking, 
and the milk that he delivers to his cus¬ 
tomers in time for breakfast is all fresh¬ 
ly milked. He is obliged to rise very 
early m the morning to accomplish this, 
but 1 am informed that other dealers are 
adopting the same method. The usual 
price for milk is five cents a quart in 
Summer and six cents in Winter; occa¬ 
sionally a dealer advertises to deliver 
milk at four cents but it does not last 
long; either milk fails to suit the cus¬ 
tomer, or the dealer fails to produce the 
milk. Of late years there has been a 
growing tendency on the part of the con- 
It Saves Five Times Its Cost 
in a single Winter—the Rochester Radiator .—Ado 
The first thing that called my at- MILK SUPPLY OF BURLINGTON, VT. 
sumer to look into the conditions of his 
milk supply; no doubt caused by reading 
about tuberculosis and the germ theory 
as affecting the milk. This has had the 
effect of urging the milkman to have 
his cows tested, and have his barns ven¬ 
tilated and sweetened. It is a case of 
the survival of the fittest, and has pro¬ 
duced good results. Various attempts 
have been made to form a union of the 
milkmen and to parcel out the territory 
to the end that one team could serve all 
the customers on one street more cheap¬ 
ly than naif a dozen extra teams, all 
tagging each other around all over the 
city. This is theoretically true, but I 
question whether the public would be 
as well served as under the present 
method. I take it that others have Aie 
same preference that I have for milk, 
first-handed from the producer. I pre¬ 
fer milk from a farmer in whom I have 
confidence, straight from the cow, rather 
than from a corporation, even though 
the corporation has every method of 
aerating, sterilizing and purifying it af¬ 
ter it comes into their hands. The same 
principle holds good of the raw ma¬ 
terial that is applied to the finished 
product in the shape of butter. Cream¬ 
ery butter is good, but dairy butter un¬ 
der known conditions is better. 
c. w. SCARFF. 
SWEET CORNSTALKS AND STRAW. 
I have a lot of sweet cornstalks and oat 
straw that I wish to feed to cows. Will 
you tell me the best way to feed them, cut 
them and mix in the mow or feed whole 
separate? Would they heat and mow burn 
if cut mixed? I shall feed some grain with 
them. f. a. w. 
Pulaski, N. Y. 
While the stalks of sweet corn are an 
excellent feed for dairy cows, it is quite 
questionable whether it ever pays to 
feed straw to cows that are in full flow 
of milk. Straw is about half digestible, 
and the other half indigestible; the part 
that is digestible has just as much feed¬ 
ing value as the same weight of digest 
ible material from cornmeal, but the 
trouble is that the indigestible part re¬ 
quires so much energy to masticate it 
and to digest the soluble part that there 
is not much available value left. Out 
of about 800 units of feeding value in a 
pound of straw, 500 units are used up in 
chewing and digesting, leaving but 300 
for the use of the cow in producing milk 
or flesh. Every pound of straw that the 
cow eats takes up so much room in her 
system that could be more advantage¬ 
ously filled by more concentrated feed 
that has higher possibilities of produc¬ 
tion. It may sometimes, however, seem 
advisable to use a little straw to help 
keep the sweet cornstalks in the best 
shape. If put in the mow they will heat 
and spoil, unless so thoroughly dried as 
to lose much of their palatability, and 
consequently much of their value. One 
should never attempt to cut the sta’ks 
either with or without straw and then 
put them in the mow. Keep tue stalks 
in the mow or in large shocks outdoors 
near the barn, and once every week or 
10 days cut the stalks as they are need¬ 
ed. The stalks of sweet corn are so 
much liked by cows that if cut up fine 
they will probably be eaten quite clean. 
If there is much waste, they can be 
made more palatable by sprinkling with 
water and allowing to lie for a few hours, 
when they will heat and soften and be 
better relished. w. w. c. * 
National 
Hand Separator 
The closest skimming, light¬ 
est running, and most eco¬ 
nomical hand separator. To 
prove this, we will give 
you ten days’ trial 
without charge. 
Use it 
Ten Days Free 
fl if xmn fi nH «» foiilt 1 n 4+ 
and if you find a fault in it, return at our 
expense. Full particulars on request. 
National Dairy Machine Co., Newark, N.J. 
Cream Separators. 
De Laval “ Alpha ” and “ Baby " Separators. 
rim—Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sites 
Prloes, SBO to *800. 
Bare 110 per oow per year. Send for Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph a.nd Canal Btreeta, | 74 Cortlandt Street 
CHICAGO | NBW YORK. 
YOU ARE NOT GETTING ALL 
YOUR CREAM IF THE 
IMPROVED 
U. S. CREAM 
SEPARATOR 
IS NOT USED BY YOU 
TO SEPARATE YOUR MILK 
VT. FARM MACHINE CO 
Bellows Falls, Vt. 
TRADE 
MARK 
BESTOtf 
BUTTER P ROFITS 
More money comes with the use 
of improved machines—and easier 
work. Send for our big illustrated 
catalogue—mailed free. 
"BESTOV” every¬ 
thing for dairymen. 
THE DAIRYMEN’S 
SUPPLY CO., 
1937 Market St. Phila. 
Clark’s Root Cutter. 
Cuts all roots fast and tine. For 
fowls, cattle, sheep and swine. 
Send for circulars to 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO., 
Higganum, Conn. 
Sharpen your own Hors® 
THE BUZZARD 
the greatest of all 
HORSEICE CALKS 
Agents Wanted. Address, 
S.W.KENT.CazenoviM.Y 
The Best Dishorner. 
A The easiest on both operator and cow, because it uiakc-s 
the smoothest, quickest cut, is the 
CONVEX DISHORNER. 
r Mucker Stock Holder and calf dishorners are 
equally good. All dishorning appliances. 
Geo. Webster, Box 64.Christiana,Pa. 
'Western trade supplied from Chicago. 
harneaa, old or new, Is made pliable and easy—will look better 
and wear longer—by the uf ^ of 
Eureka Harness Oil 
The finest preservative for leather ever discovered. Rave* 
many times its cost by improved appearance and in the cost 
of repairs. Sold everywhere In cans—all sizes. 
Uule by STANDARD OIL CO. 
Hornless cows give more milk. 
Hornless steers make better beef. 
IT PAYS TO DEHORN. 
I mane and easiest to use Is the Keystone Dehorning Knife 
, . .— ,,, Cuts on four sides at once, without crushing or bruising. Endorsed by leading relieves. 
Highest award at world s fair. Send for circulars. «. J. PHILLIPS. Pomeroy, Pa., (.Successor to A. C. BRCSIUS). 
