1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
851 
A Sport from Ancient Briton Blackberry 
(CONTINUED.) 
In order to determine whether tip 
rooting is a common occurrence with 
Ancient Briton, and to obtain a variety 
of opinions as to the desirability of a 
tip-rooting Ancient Briton, I addressed 
inquiries bearing on this subject to sev¬ 
eral large growers. Extracts from re¬ 
plies received follow: “I have never 
known the Ancient Briton to root by 
tipping. I would not consider it an ad¬ 
vantage, as it propagates too freely by 
suckers.” “ I have never seen Ancient 
Briton root at the tips. There would be 
no advantage in tip-rooting, as the 
plants grow too freely from root cut¬ 
tings.” “ The Ancient Briton black¬ 
berry has rooted from tips but one sea¬ 
son, and then at one year old, when the 
canes were inclined to trail on the 
ground.” ‘‘We have never known any 
variety of blackberry to root from the 
tips.” 
Mr. Moyle, an assistant in the horti¬ 
cultural department here, tells me that 
he has occasionally found Ancient Briton 
canes rooted at the tips, and more re¬ 
markable still, found, this season, a cane 
of that tall grower, Dorchester, rooted 
at the tip. The rooted tip had a mat of 
roots similar to a blackcap set. 
Wisconsin Experiment Station. 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Egg Records.—Last year, at this season, we 
had about 170 old hens and about 40 pullets. They 
laid during November, 1897, just 61 eggs. Most of 
the hens were bought in the New York live- 
poultry markets. The pullets were mostly of our 
own raising, and were late hatched. This year, 
we have about 100 pullets of our own raising, and 
about 30 yearling hens. They laid just 62 eggs 
last month. We know that this is a bad show¬ 
ing, and that many poultrymen will say that we 
ought to be ashamed of it. However, it is the 
truth, and that is what we are after. Our pullets 
look bright and lively, and eat well. The P. R. 
pullets are starting ahead of the Minorcas of 
about the same age. One objection to the Min¬ 
orca is that it is a late-maturing bird, though 
when it does start, it keeps everlastingly at it. 
We have tried to produce an earlier maturing 
bird by breeding in a dash of Brown Leghorn 
blood, and our first laying pullets this Fall were 
of that strain. Our flock laid 101 eggs in October. 
What Ails the Hens ?—Our neighbors all com¬ 
plain this year about the laziness of their pullets. 
This letter reached us about the middle of No¬ 
vember from New York State, and is a fair sample 
of others: 
SOME UNGRATEFUL CHICKENS. 
“ I am very fond of chickens, and raise about 
100 each year, of mixed breeds, though trying to 
have a purebred rooster all the time. This year, 
I have more Plymouth Rocks, both White and 
Barred, than of any others. Last January, I set 
two hens, hatched 18 chicks, raised 16 of them, 
and felt quite sure that, when Fall came, I would 
have eggs to sell. But—well, from 60 handsome, 
happy hens, I.am getting from one to three eggs 
a day. The chickens have a good warm, dry 
house, a 180-acre farm for a run, and plenty of 
good feed, consisting of wheat, principally—often 
browned—with a change of corn, and two or 
three times a week, a warm mash for breakfast; 
always clean water. Are they not very lazy, un¬ 
grateful hens ? ” 
In spite of all that the poultry authorities tell 
us, a person must be just about 99 per cent 
philosopher to face the usual poultry situation 
in November and December. This season has 
been a hard one on pullets. We have had a 
succession of cold, wet storms with but a few 
clear days between them. It has taken great 
courage in a pullet to start in on her lifework in 
the face of such weather as we have had. You 
can hardly blame them for wanting to wait for 
“ some more convenient day ” before sounding 
their nest call. Such silence, however, doesn’t 
fill the grain bin, and so it is that a wet, cold 
November is a trying month for the amateur 
poultryman. The “ authorities ” tell us that a 
pullet from an early-laying hen fed on a well- 
balanced ration can’t help laying early. They 
would have us think that such a pullet is like an 
alarm clock, wound up to drop an egg on a cer¬ 
tain day. Don’t you believe it! There is no such 
dead-sure thing in poultry breeding. Our experi¬ 
ence is that pullets are, at times, bound to act in 
the most unaccountable way. 
Hen Care.—We are feeding this Winter a 
morning mash composed of one part dried meat 
by weight, one part middlings, two parts bran 
and two parts corn meal. This is fed warm. 
Every night, we fill the 25-gallon cooker with a 
mixture of cabbage, small potatoes and turnips 
with ample water. We start a good fire under 
them, and put in some big chunks of wood just 
before going to bed. In the morning, it is still hot. 
We use the liquor for mixing the hen mash, and 
feed the solids to the pigs with bran added. This 
hot liquor suits the hens well. At noon and night, 
we feed cracked corn, and we keep cabbage con¬ 
stantly before the hens. Just now the weather 
is very disagreeable, and the ground is covered 
with snow. The houses are cleaned frequently. 
We like to keep the under side of the roosts well 
smeared with tar. 
The Dull Season —Life is pretty dull for the 
hens just now, and it’s likely to be duller yet for 
the humans on lonely farms. These gray, solemn 
days at the close of the year are likely to make 
grown-up folks thoughtful, and there are lots of 
us who think the wrong kind of thoughts unless 
we are very careful. I always like to have the 
20th of December come. That is the shortest day 
in the year, and after that goes, we look forward 
to an increase in the daylight. We try to avoid 
dull days at Hope Farm by keeping busy. It’s 
wonderful how much can be done in and around 
a farmhouse. The children keep things pretty 
lively. A child is naturally hopeful, and we find 
it a good plan to encourage all the innocent fun 
we can. Let the Madame try a new pudding, or 
some new way of making bread, or some other 
simple thing, and we can all find lots of interest 
and pleasure in it. May be some of you wise 
folks will quote Scripture at us, and say that 
we should “ Put away childish things.” You 
may quote all you like, but your humble servant 
will hang on to the best things of childhood as 
long as he can. I pity the people in lonely farm¬ 
houses where there are no children, or where 
childish thoughts are crushed out. The snow 
and mud don’t keep our little folks in the house. 
They all have rubber boots, and they wade and 
play in the deepest snow. None of them has had a 
cold this Winter, and they are as hearty as little 
bears. “Time enough for books and polish 
later,” says the Madame; “let them toughen 
their muscles, and learn to be loving and obedient 
first.” There must be something wrong with a 
fellow’s liver and conscience if he can’t catch a 
little hope and faith from these sound-hearted 
little folks. 
Feeding Horses.—Several persons ask how 
much we feed the horses. They each get about 
25 pounds of sweet-corn stalks per day. There 
are some small nubbins on the stalks. In addi¬ 
tion, the horses are fed about six pounds of bran 
and half a pound of oil-meal per day. Bran is 
such coarse, light stuff, that it is hard to estimate 
it by the pound. The horses are not at hard 
work this Winter, but they look well. At ordinary 
prices for bran and oil meal, this makes a cheap 
Winter ration. In our experience, sweet-corn 
stalks are much better for horse feeding than the 
stalks of field corn. I think they are a trifle less 
constipating. Of course, this ration is not ad¬ 
vised for general use. It would not do for smart 
driving horses or for heavy working teams. We 
do not attempt to produce on the farm any of the 
hay and grain needed for feeding the stock. We 
use the bran and oil meal because they make the 
cheapest balance to go with the sweet-corn 
stalks. I do not believe that it pays the small 
farmer in northern New Jersey to attempt to 
grow grain for his stock. I think we can pro¬ 
duce more profitable crops, and thus do better to 
buy the cheaper corn and bran from the West. 
It is fair to say, however, that most of our prac¬ 
tical farmers do not believe this—at least, they 
do not care to go on this theory. 
Sleigh Riding.—The week after Thanksgiving 
saw che ground well covered with snow, and our 
folks made the most of it. We got the old sleigh 
out, and brushed it up, and made life something 
of a burden for old Frank. His feet are too big 
for fancy trotting, yet he fairly kicked up his 
heels, and threw snowballs all over the sleigh 
when people undertook to pass him on the road. 
Our old sleigh carried six or seven passengers at 
times, and they had rousing good fun every 
inch of the way. “Don’t use the horses,” some 
people say. That’s not the way we talk at Hope 
Farm. The idea of great lazy horses standing 
still in the barn, while house-bound folks are 
pining for a little fresh air ! It costs only about 
six cents per day in cash to feed old Frank, and 
our folks can hitch him to a sleigh, and get six 
dollars’ worth of fun out of him. The snow is 
going now, and big black spots are appearing 
where the bare ground pokes through, h. w. c. 
Children should always 
increase in weight. Not to 
grow, not to increase in flesh, 
belongs to old age. 
Present and future health 
demands that this increase 
in weight should be steady 
and never failing. 
To delicate children, 
Scott’s Emulsion brings 
richer blood and firmer 
flesh. Better color comes 
to the cheeks and stronger 
muscles to the limbs. The 
gain in weight is substantial; 
it comes to stay. 
50c. and $1.00, all druggists. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York. 
AXLE 
CREASE 
The best slippery 
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wear and tear on wagons and carriages It saves 
horse liesh Your dealer sells it. Get some. 
FRAZER c*^ E . 
BEST m THE WOULD. 
Its wearing qualltle* are unsurpassed, actually 
Mtlaatlng three boxes of any other brand. Not 
effected by heat. V GET THE GENUINE. 
FOR BALE BT DBALBR8 GENERALLY. 
ELECTRIC H WACOM 
lasts that long under ordinary conditions. First the life of a w' g«n 
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