8i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
December (5 
must spend effort in solicitation; he must advertise, 
keeping himself and his business constantly before 
the people. Most of the large concerns maintain a 
regular system of agencies and confine the goods 
handled to these purchasers. Others who are quite 
shrewd and not always particular as to quality will 
buy their goods in the city when a surplus is pre¬ 
sented. I think, however, these last-named firms 
rarely are purveyors to the best trade. The best is 
found purchasable in the city, but usually those who 
have bought produce of selected quality in the coun¬ 
try are unwilling to part with it, knowing that their 
regular trade will demand and accept no other. Con¬ 
tracts are made upon a basis of New York quoted 
prices, usually at a premium over them. It often 
seems strange how a price nearly equal to current 
high quotations can be paid for country produce; then 
add express or freight and commission and handle 
upon the same market. These prices are only paid 
for reputed brands that pass on to retailers or con¬ 
sumers without resale, the buyer retaining a com¬ 
mission for his trouble and profit. These people are 
perfectly willing to pay above market prices in order 
to secure uniform name and quality. 
The Problem of Milking. 
How does H. E. Cook manage his help about milking, 
hours, etc.? 
Milking on our farms is a part of the work of the 
day. For many years milking was an extra. A day’s 
work must be done in the field and the milking and 
chores done before and after. It is practiced to-day 
upon many farms, and is no doubt responsible for 
much of the trouble to get milkers. Milking is not 
more objectionable than other farm work. Our men 
get up uniformly at about 4.30 A. M. and finish their 
work, including milking, at 6 P. M., eating supper 
after milking. These hours are not materially 
changed with the changing seasons. I am not sure 
that men will accomplish more by working longer 
days. If the disposition is in a man to accomplish 
something he will do it anyway. That is the main 
thing; keep men interested in the welfare of the busi¬ 
ness, and all goes well. 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
WINTER EGGS.—What are the conditions which 
will insure a full yield of eggs in Winter, when nature 
seems to call a halt in egg production? We discussed 
this question last week, and its importance and timeli¬ 
ness warrant further consideration. David Ayres, of 
Circleville, N. Y., is one of Orange County’s progres¬ 
sive and substantial farmers. I frequently met him 
in town last Winter with a big basket of eggs, and 
heard him tell what good success he was having with 
his hens. Yesterday I concluded to improve the 
lovely Fall weather by driving out to his place, to 
see if I could learn anything which would throw light 
on this dark subject. On the way I passed at least 
one farm, where a subscription to TirE R. N.-Y. 
would have been a good investment. The proprietor 
is evidently a hustler, and among other improve¬ 
ments I noticed a large new r plantation of raspberries. 
The work seemed to be well done except that the 
rows were set only about 3 y 2 feet apart. Had he read 
The R. N.-Y. the past year he should have learned 
that they require more space between the rows. 
A WORKING FLOCK.—I found Mr. Ayres with his 
working clothes on, and willing to give all the in¬ 
formation passible. His flock consists of about 100 
Barred Plymouth Rocks, which he keeps in two flocks 
of 50 each. A year ago, he says, he had 40 old hens 
and 80 pullets; too many to be accommodated in his 
one house, so he built a second hennery. This was 
well built, but the way the moisture condensed on 
the walls was “something fierce/’ as he expressed 
it, and soon after the birds were placed in it roup 
broke out in his flocks, and he lost about 30 of the 
birds, leaving him only 90. This was in November 
and December, 1901. He got but few eggs in those 
months, but by January those that recovered from 
the roup began to lay well and kept it up through 
the Winter. No daily record of the egg yield was 
kept, but Mrs. Ayres has an account of every egg sold. 
She estimates that six eggs a day were used in the 
family, and that about 20 dozen were set prior to 
April 1. These, with the 284^ dozen sold, make a 
total of 4,194 eggs, an average of a little more than 
45 a day for the three months from 90 hens. Can we 
draw any lessons from this? 
QUICKENING EGG PRODUCTION.—I said last 
week that as the system passes from the weakened 
condition of half feed to the thriving condition of 
full feed there is a general quickening of all the 
bodily powers. Here we had the same conditions 
spoken of last week. No one who has ever handled 
a flock with roup sufficiently severe to lose 25 per 
cent of them will doubt that those birds were thin 
and weak when they recovered from it. “Never saw 
hens so hungry in all my life,” said Mr. Ayres, -when 
asked about their appetite. I am not going to recom¬ 
mend roup as a desirable way to prepare hens for 
Winter egg production, but can we not get the same 
conditions by means of a period of semi-starvation? 
Did they cat more than a maintenance ration? 
Mr. Ayres, with the help of his daughter, who does 
most of the feeding, measured out carefully a day’s 
ration as the 90 hens ate it, and it amounts to about 
five ounces per hen daily of dry feed. As the hens 
passed from the weakened condition caused by the 
roup to the thriving condition of convalescence, the 
bodily powers were all quickened, and the organs of 
egg production stimulated to action at a time when 
nature is inclined to let them lie dormant. 
FEEDING RATIONS.—Mr. Ayres’ method of feed¬ 
ing would fit such a case as this better than a mash 
of balanced ration made up of purchased feeds en¬ 
tirely. I have not figured out the nutritive ratio ex¬ 
actly, but think it will not vary much from 1:6. At 
any rate it gave him good results last Winter. For 
the encouragement of those of us whose hens are do¬ 
ing little now in the way of eggs, I might add that 
Miss Ayres could only find four eggs from her flock 
of 100 fine-looking birds the day I was there, Novem¬ 
ber 20. He feeds a morning mash with whole grain 
at noon and at night. His morning feed is made up 
as follows: Wheat bran, two parts by measure; 
ground oats, one part; wheat middlings, one part; 
corncob meal, one part; meat scrap, one-half part. 
The whole grain mixture is as follows: Buckwheat, 
one p£rtl oats, one part; corn, three parts; wheat, 
CROSS SECTION OF A COW’S UDDER. Fig. 330. 
one part. A light feed of the buckwheat and oats is 
given at noon, and a full feed of the corn and wheat 
at night. It will be noticed that all of the above, ex¬ 
cept the bran, middlings and meat scrap, could be 
grown on the farm if desired. 
HENS, HOGS AND COY/S.—The following letter is 
from a farmer in Putnam County, N. Y.: 
I am on a farm of about 160 acres together with my 
father and brother. We are at present making butter 
from about 20 cows. We would like to change to hogs, 
hens and fruit. Now, I think we could raise quite a 
large part of our grain, such as corn, rye, oats, barley 
and buckwheat cheaper than to buy all western grain. 
At times I have been very much discouraged about 
farming. Our hours in the dairying are from 4 A. M. to 
7 P. M. nearly the year around with small profits. The 
young men are nearly all leaving the farms and going 
to the shops, getting from $2 to $3 per day. a. c. p. 
I am going to suggest to A. C. P. that he think 
twice before disposing of the dairy. I look for better 
times ahead for dairy farmers. All the indications 
point to higher prices in the near future. In the 
meantime why not add the other branches named, 
to the products of the farm? One of the strongest ar¬ 
guments in favor of hens and pigs is that they do not 
interfere with dairying, but on the contrary can be 
kept on the same farm, and be a help rather than a 
hindrance to dairying, on account of the increased 
amount of fertility furnished. On a farm where 20 
cows are kept and say $1,000 worth of butter pro¬ 
duced, $1,000 worth of poultry and pig products, or 
even $5,000, can also be secured without interfering 
in the least with the amount of dairy products. I 
speak of course of a case where the feed for the poul¬ 
try and pigs is purchased. A man who buys or rents 
a store and sells $10,000 worth of groceries a year at 
a profit would consider it good policy to be able to 
also sell $10,000 worth of dry goods and an equal 
amount of hardware at a profit from the same store. 
Rent is one of the big items of expense in almost all 
branches of business, and farming is no exception. It 
■would seem that in a case like that mentioned the 
father and two brothers ought to be able to do some¬ 
thing in the line of “poultry, pigs and fruit” without 
disposing of the dairy. I would suggest, however, 
that one of the first reforms to be adopted is to man¬ 
age somehow to put in shorter hours. From 4 A. M. 
to 7 P. M. is too long. If there is work that must 
be done at such extreme hours of the day, the same 
man ought not to be expected to do it, and also work 
all of the intervening time. o. w. mates. 
THE CONFESSIONS OF A PEDDLER. 
What to Peddle. 
Part III. 
RAISE THE RIGHT MATERIAL.—No matter what 
it is, let it be the best of its kind. Bring your reli¬ 
gion right into your work; that is the way to live it. 
Raise and gather your crops, sort and pack your pro¬ 
duce by the Golden Rule—“Would I want to buy such 
goods as this?” If it happens that you must sell 
second-quality goods, sell them as such and at a right 
price. It is this part of the work where the greatest 
skill, the keenest oversight and the best judgment 
are required. If one has to hire help it is very difficult 
to have things done right, but if a man has children 
and can make them have a feeling of pride about the 
quality of the farm produce, and can make them work 
faithfully, each one having a responsibility about it, 
the problem will easily be solved. Long before the 
planting, one should find out the right varieties to 
raise. He should consult his customers and learn 
their likes and dislikes, and then he must respect 
their prejudices. Some may like the wax-podded 
string beans, while others are just as sure that the 
green ones are best. In our town there is a prejudice 
against the Country Gentleman sweet corn. It does 
no good to say that it is really very nice; people will 
not believe it. Therefore the only thing to do is to 
raise the kind they do like. It is a thankless task to 
try to educate the public taste. Not what ought to be 
wanted, but what is wanted, should be raised. 
GATHERING AND HANDLING.—Then when the 
right varieties have been planted and tended to, they 
must be gathered at just the right time. There is al¬ 
ways a large demand for green peas, and if they could 
be got on to the consumers’ tables in perfect condition 
there would be a still greater demand. The one who 
gathers the peas should be some one of critical taste 
and keen observation; in short, one who can tell at a 
glance which pods are just right to gather, and which 
should be left to the next picking. And then they 
should be sold as soon as possible. If they can be 
gathered in the morning and cooked for that day’s 
dinner, your customers will probably say they were 
the nicest peas they ever ate, and will ask what va¬ 
riety they were, never suspecting that it is because 
they were fresh that they were so sweet and tender. 
Green corn is another vegetable that should be hur¬ 
ried from the field to the consumer. I believe that 
the moment it is broken off it-begins to lose its sweet¬ 
ness. This, too, should be gathered at just the right 
stage of growth, and before it becomes tough and 
waxy and tasteless. While peas and corn deteriorate 
the fastest, other things should be in the best stage of 
growth and as fresh as possible—Summer squash be¬ 
fore the shells get tough, string beans before they get 
stringy, shell beans when the pods are well colored 
but before they begin to wither. This gathering of 
things I would never trust to one who was merely 
working for pay and took no interest. The good 
picker must have common sense and a conscience. 
PERISHABLE PRODUCTS.—The perishable berries 
and fruits need careful handling. Strawberries, rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries must be hurried to market, 
and even worse than these are peaches, which require 
to be handled as carefully as eggs, in order not to 
bruise the delicate skins. Apples and Winter vege¬ 
tables will look attractive if carefully sorted and 
clean. Small quantities of fruit or berries that are 
not sold, or are not quite fit to sell, may be canned 
and sold in the Winter. All cow products need great 
care and cleanliness. Milk absorbs odors, we are told, 
and some milk I know of has wonderful opportunities 
along this line. Homemade butter, if made by a care¬ 
ful woman who is neat and has a sense of smell which 
she uses, brings a good price and is in great demand. 
Don’t despair if you have no molds or ornate prints. 
If the butter is patted into perfectly plain, symmeti- 
cal bricks, it will be attractive and something of a 
novelty. Skim-milk and buttermilk for cooking pur¬ 
poses may be disposed of on the route, especially in 
Winter when the milk will keep sweet. Eggs should 
be clean and always strictly fresh. If one can dress 
poultry quickly and neatly, orders can be taken, and 
this will be a profitable way to dispose of surplus _ 
fowls. In fact, no matter what a farmer has to sell he 
can easily dispose of it if he has a little peddling 
route, whether it be a bushel of potatoes, a dressed 
chicken with some home-grown sage for its stuffing, 
a cord of wood or a quart of dry beans. Everything 
goes, provided always that the quality is a little above 
the average. Not only is it pleasant to know that one 
gets the profit that is his right, but when one’s cus¬ 
tomers keep saying how nice everything is, and not 
only tell the peddler but their friends and neighbors 
too, why, that also is very pleasant, and makes one 
feel almost like a benefactor to his kind. 
SUSAN brown robbing. 
