542 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 8 
for teaching, and can explain to a boy why a thing 
should be done thus and so, and can impart the 
knowledge without impatience or ridicule and with¬ 
out arousing resentment 
All those who have young people working with 
them should, I think, feel that it is a serious respon¬ 
sibility. In a large measure it rests with them as to 
whether the boy or girl will be a useful member of 
society, capable, systematic, helpful; or inefficient, 
slovenly, and always standing in his or her own light. 
Let the one who has the experience remember that 
the boy is young, and not expect too much of him. 
There may be times when it is well to let him think 
things out for himself, but when explanations are 
needed let them be given patiently, and so that the 
boy will understand the why and wherefore. It is im¬ 
portant to impress the boy with the idea that there is 
a best way to do everything, even to the hanging up 
of a harness, or bringing in wood, and that the best 
way is usually the easiest and quickest, and will save 
himself and others time and trouble. Perhaps in no 
way uo people make themselves so much work as in 
mislaying tools. It is very annoying to want a ham¬ 
mer or screw-driver and not be able to find it in its 
usual place. One has to rack one’s brains to think 
where the tool was used last, and much valuable time 
is wasted. If a boy acquires the habit of always put¬ 
ting things in their places after using them it will be 
of great value to him all his life. Another waste of 
time and strength is that occasioned by one’s fore¬ 
thought coming afterwards. Very often it may'seem 
a waste of time to stop and think just how to do a 
piece of work, but it is really a much shorter way 
than to rush into the work, hurry through it, then 
find it all wrong, and either have to do it over, or else 
be constantly irritated by the sight of a botched piece 
of work. It is really astonishing how many wrong 
things a green hand will do in attempting for the 
first time even a simple piece of work. It seems cruel 
to let them keep blundering along in this way, even 
if they are to learn the right way in time. Why not 
tell them of the short cut and save them weary 
traveling? The know-it-all boy may need a little 
wholesome snubbing or ridicule, but the one who is 
sensitive and has a poor opinion of himself needs 
more considerate treatment. Boys have the reputa¬ 
tion of hating work, but probably none of us likes to 
do work that we do not know how to do and take no 
interest in. After we have learned how and can do a 
nice piece of work, we enjoy it. Perhaps if boys were 
shown the best ways of doing things and realized the 
importance of small details they would sooner get 
over their “laziness,” and come to see the blessing 
that labor really is. susan brown robbins. 
M APES, THE HEN MAN. 
That Henhouse Window. 
Of course, it should have one, and a good-sized one. I 
once saw a farmer’s henhouse warmly built and fairly 
good otherwise, with a single pane' of glass to make it 
light enough for the hens to know when morning came, 
and it was time for them to go to work again. He had 
a lot of old sashes from a torn-down house, that were 
lying idle, but he “didn’t know that hens needed light in 
the house.” But why does Mr. Mapes put that window 
in his colony houses close to the west end? I have been 
much interested in his stories of his hen business, and 
think that his experiences have been of inestimable 
benefit to the poultry industry of the country. His con¬ 
clusions and practices seem to be the result of careful 
reasoning and hard study. But the why of the location 
of that window puzzles me. My only use for a window 
in the Winter is to let in as much direct sunlight as pos¬ 
sible. Nothing beats the direct rays of the sun for puri¬ 
fying and sweetening a house (in connection with fresh 
outside air whenever possible), and sunshine is a great 
germ destroyer. So we want all we can get of it in the 
house. My long house has a wide door at the east end, 
close to the south side, with a wire-netting door inside 
this, so the outside door can be left open to let the morn¬ 
ing sun stream nearly the length of the house long before 
it shines in the south windows. And did you never notice 
how many more sunny mornings we have than after¬ 
noons? I have, and a photographer friend, whose pic¬ 
ture-printing operations depend largely on the sunlight, 
tells me that we have about three sunny mornings to 
one sunny afternoon. With the window located as Mr. 
Mapes has it, no direct sunlight would strike into the 
house to any extent till nearly noon. Then with the 
preponderance of sun in the forenoon as stated, the sum 
total of hours of sun received by the hens would be 
largely reduced. Or does he make up for this by opening 
the door at the opposite end? If so, how about stormy 
weather, and driving winds? Let us know, Mr. Mapes, 
what the “Deacon” thinks about that window! But 
speaking of windows, how many have tried those made 
of strong muslin or some similar cloth in place of glass? 
There are numerous advantages in the use of the cloth. 
In the first place, it Is cheaper. No sashes are needed, a 
strong frame to fit the opening being all that is neces¬ 
sary. Though the cloth might not last so long as glass, 
provided no accidents occur to the latter, it is more eas'.ly 
and cheaply replaced if they do occur. It is simply 
tacked snugly and firmly to the frames. Its chief ad¬ 
vantage over glass is in the fact that it allows air to pass 
through it, thus affording ventilation as well as light. In 
a tightly-closed house, in cold weather, moisture will 
accumulate on the glass as well as on the walls, and if 
the windows and doors be not opened during the day, so 
as to air thoroughly, the house becomes damp and un¬ 
wholesome. This is obviated by the use of cloth for win¬ 
dows. Again, the use of too much glass in a house makes 
it too warm during a sunny day, followed by such a 
radiation of heat at night that there is too great contrast 
between the day and night temperature. Glass windows 
should have shutters or curtains for use on cold nights. 
While the cloth admits plenty of light and heat during 
sunny days, it is tempered somewhat, and the radiation 
of heat at night is much lessened, thus equalizing to a 
certain extent the day and night temperatures. The 
cloth windows have several advantages and few disad¬ 
vantages. Try one and report. f. h. v. 
Bergen Co., N. J. 
It must be confessed that the Deacon had to scratch 
his head when he read this letter. It looked aS 
though our window was in the wrong place. 
“Come on,” said the Deacon, as he hunted up a 
pocket compass. “Let us investigate. Just as I ex¬ 
pected,” as we stopped at one of the houses. “Here 
you have been telling that these houses face south, 
while the compass says this one faces at least 10 de¬ 
grees east of south, and this seems to be about a fair 
sample of the way they are all set.” 
The Deacon then called my attention to the win¬ 
dow sill, which is 2 y 2 feet above the floor. Where 
so many cattle and hogs are running about, it is not 
wise to let the window extend down to the floor. A 
cow is as apt to break a window with her “reverse 
end” (in turning around), as she is with her horns. 
The Winter sun hugs the horizon all the morning, 
and by the time it gets high enough, so that its 
beams reach down to the floor, where the hens are, 
it has advanced far enough south, so that after al¬ 
lowing for the slight eastern exposure referred to, 
the floor is first bathed in sunlight at the extreme 
western corner. From here it moves clear across 
POTATO HARVE3TKR. Fie. 219. 
the floor, until it begins to climb the siding on the 
eastern end, unless intercepted by the cloudy after¬ 
noons referred to. The dust box is located at a point 
on the floor where the direct beams of the sun strike 
it just after mid-day. A hen likes a warm bath much 
better than a cold one. Set the dust box where F. H. 
V.’s morning sun, from his open door, can strike it, 
and the probabilities are that Biddy will stand on 
one foot and look down at it. Old Sol has not yet 
had time to get in his work. Set it where my after¬ 
noon sun shines into it, and the hens will vie with 
each other to see who can raise the biggest fog. 
While it may be true that we have more sunny morn¬ 
ings than afternoons, it is also true that a henhouse' 
is generally cold in the morning and warm in the. 
afternoon. 
“Well,” said the Deacon, “I guess we will leave 
the window as it is for the present.” 
I am in no hurry to try cloth instead of glass for 
the hennery window. My chief use for a window at 
all, is to prevent storms from beating into the house. 
Glass does this better than cloth. While better ven¬ 
tilation can be secured by the cloth, still better can 
be secured by wire netting and better light as well. 
Our windows are opened by sliding them back inside 
the house. One reason they were located close to 
western end, was to give plenty of room to slide 
towards the east before striking the door post. They 
are probably wide open 90 per cent of the year, 
where they are safe from breakage, and from the 
action of the weather. I had to fight every carpenter 
I employed to get them fitted loosely enough. They 
should have at least one-quarter inch play in every 
direction. If fitted tighter, a little dirt- or ice will 
surely prevent quick opening or shutting, when in 
the greatest hurry. Paradoxical as it may seem, I 
predict that in the near future the warm house, 
which takes the place in Winter egg production that 
the modern cow barn now takes in Winter milk 
making, will have the window wide open at night, 
with nothing but wire netting to prevent a fox from 
walking in and picking the hens from the perches. 
RASPBERRIES AND BROILERS—Here is a ques¬ 
tion from New York: 
How can you raise 100 bushels of raspberries as easily 
as 50 bushels of corn, and how much do you get a quart 
for them? What price do you receive for your broilers? 
Hoosick, N. Y. reader. 
In starting out to raise raspberries in place of 
corn, the first thing to do is to select a good piece of 
ground. Any good soil that can be depended on for 
50 bushels of corn (shelled) will answer. Care should 
be exercised not to select a spot where heavy snow 
banks are likely to form. This can be done at once. 
When a snow bank settles, it is sure to break the 
canes down more or less. If now in sod, it should 
be plowed at once. Next Spring prepare as you 
would for early potatoes, marking out 3% feet apart 
Plant each alternate row with potatoes. In the rest 
of the rows set good Cuthbert raspberry plants, every 
two feet. This close setting insures a larger first 
crop, and is no detriment afterwards. Give both po¬ 
tatoes and raspberries clean culture during the grow¬ 
ing season. This will be assured if the surface soil 
is all stirred weekly, either with hoe, rake or culti¬ 
vator. All weeds can thus be easily killed while still 
hardly above ground, and a dust mulch will secure 
the necessary moisture in case of dry weather. A 
few berries can be picked this first season, if good 
strong plants are set. The potato rows being seven 
feet apart will be likely to give more than a half 
crop of extra fine tubers. The next Spring, set strong 
stakes at each end of the rows, stringing a telephone 
wire (No. 12 or 14) tightly over each row. If the 
rows are long, smaller stakes, every three or four 
rods apart, should be used to hold the wire at the 
proper height from the ground. This will depend 
somewhat on length of canes secured; 2% to three 
feet is about right as the canes grow with us. Now 
tie a bunch of the canes (four to six if possible) tight¬ 
ly to the wire every two feet. Strings can be used for 
this, but I find a short piece of soft small wire (No. 
19 or 20) to be preferable to strings. This is cheaper 
and quicker than strings, and is sure not to break 
before the season is over. Now take the clippers 
and cut off the tied canes six inches above the wire, 
and also all laterals from them, six inches from main 
stems, together with all superfluous canes found in 
the row. These may either be cut close to the 
ground or pulled. After the fruiting stems have 
grown, you will have a continuous hedge of berries, 
as high as the ordinary picker can reach. Give clean 
level culture up to close of picking time, fertilize as 
you would for a good crop of corn, and repeat the 
process year after year, cutting away all old wood 
each Spring at trimming time. We count on our 
best crops the second or third season. As the roots 
grow older, they are more liable to winterkill. I was 
the first to practice this method, at least in this sec¬ 
tion, and now a good many farmers’ families are rais¬ 
ing from one-fourth to two or three acres. Picking 
time comes right in vacation, and many school girls 
and boys earn enough to buy a new dress or a new 
watch in the berry patches. Two cents per quart is 
the usual price paid, and a smart boy or girl can pick 
40 to 60 quarts a day. Raspberries are selling for 14 
cents per quart at this writing (July 24) in New York 
market, with probabilities of their bringing 16 to 20 
cents before the season is over. One can often pick 
a quart of the ripe berries from such a hedge at a 
single picking, every three or four feet. We have 
picked 35 bushels from an acre at one picking. Prob¬ 
ably in other localities, other varieties may do better 
than Cuthbert. Shaffer, Colossal and Columbian arc 
very prolific with us, but do not stand shipment, un¬ 
less canned on the farm. 
Our June-picked broilers netted us 32 cents per 
pound, and thus far in July they are bringing 25 
cents per pound. o. w. mapes. 
A NEW POTATO HARVESTER. 
About 15 years ago a new machine was reported 
from Michigan—said to dig potatoes and load them 
on a wagon. The report proved unreliable, and since 
that time we have been hunting for such a machine. 
Up to last year the nearest we came to it was an 
account of a man who hitched a traction engine to a 
Hoover digger with a large stone boat behind it. The 
engine hauled this outfit across the field and most 
of the potatoes were landed on the stone boat. Now 
we hear of a new harvester manufactured at St. 
Cloud, Minn. A picture of the machine is shown at 
Fig. 219, and J. Colgrove, the inventor, gives this 
account of it: 
“The principal features of the machine are a shovel 
which can be set to run at any desired depth, an end¬ 
less chain carrier in rear of shovel, a revolving cylin¬ 
der in rear of chain, a potato elevator projecting 
into rear end of cylinder, and a potato sacker in rear 
of elevator. The heads or chines of the cylinder are 
supported and revolve upon trucks or rollers. The 
periphery of the cylinder is composed of small rods 
placed a proper distance apart to retain the potatoes, 
and within the cylinder attached to, and revolving 
therewith, is a spiral which operates like an augur, 
and forces the potatoes back until finally by an in¬ 
genious device the potatoes are carried up on to the 
elevator which delivers them into sacks. In operat¬ 
ing this machine two men and four horses are re¬ 
quired when the potatoes are sacked, but when 
dumped in piles in the field one man only is needed. 
The machine is capable of harvesting 1,000 bushels 
in 10 hours, or, ordinarily, will dig from four to five 
acres per day. I might add that the cylinder re¬ 
volves slowly; the potatoes and lumps continually 
roll to the bottom thereof, which action breaks the 
lumps and sifts out the dirt. The vines are carried 
through the machine and dropped on the gre und.” 
