1904 . 
1 1 TITHE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
6i5 
ONE WAY OF MAKING EGG-EATING 
HENS. 
A man sees an empty orange crate in the 
village store, and says to the grocer : “Give 
me that, will you? It’s just what I want for 
a couple of hens’ nests.” He takes it home 
and nails it up in the henhouse, putting two 
inches or so of straw in the bottom. The 
liens like that nest and lay six or eight eggs 
in it; the next hen that jumps down into the 
nest is a heavy one, and her toe smashes an 
egg. As she turns to cuddle the eggs under 
her she sees the most delicious morsel chat a 
hen ever tasted, plunges her beak into it and 
greedily sucks it up ; then eats the shell and 
begins to scratch to get the last particle of 
it, throwing the eggs against the side of the 
box and perhaps breaking another, which is 
also eaten. Next day she goes to scratching 
again in that nest, remembering what a treat 
she found there, and breaks another egg, and 
now your confirmed egg eater is formed. The 
remedy, in the case of that hen, is to cut off 
her head. But prevention is much better; 
have no nest that a hen has to jump down 
into. Kill all nests to within four inches of 
top, so the hens can step from the edge into 
the nest, and the liability of having egg eaters 
in the flock will be very much lessened. 
I make nests in this way: Take some 
half-inch boards 14 inches wide; saw off four 
pieces four feet long; nail three cleats 
(*4x1x14 inches) across, one 14 inches from 
end, one 14 inches above that, and one 14 
inches above the second : nail three cleats at 
same distance on another four-foot piece. 
These are the two outside boards; the other 
two have six cleats, three on each side; these 
cleats are for the bottom boards of the nests 
to rest on. Saw off nine pieces 14 inches 
long, stand the cleated boards on edge and 
put three of these 14-Inch pieces between 
them, resting on bottom cleats, also three at 
top. Saw off three pieces 44 inches long, six 
inches wide, and nail on even with top edge 
of the cleats; this makes the front of the 
nests. Nail on similar pieces to make the 
back. Stand it up and you have 12 nests, 
three on the ground, the other nine with 
board bottoms. These nests will stand any¬ 
where in the coop; do not touch the build¬ 
ing, so if they get lousy the coop does not; 
can be taken out of the coop, nest stuff 
burned, bottoms taken out, and all parts 
whitewashed, and I think are much preferable 
to a lot of boxes nailed up around the build¬ 
ing, which if. they gel lousy are sure to infest 
the house. I like to have all Hie appliances 
in a henhouse separate from the building. 
My roost platforms stand on legs and do not 
touch the house, and I am very seldom both¬ 
ered witli lousy buildings. g. a. cosgrovk. 
SUNFLOWER SEEDS TO HURRY 
MOULTING. 
I have read of a New Jersey poultry keeper 
who shuts up his hens the middle of August 
and feeds them sunflower seed or cotton-seed 
meal for a month, which hastens moulting, 
and they begin laying early and make good 
Winter layers. Can you tell me more about 
this? k- 
New Lyme, O. 
We do not know tlic man in New Jer¬ 
sey who does tin’s successfully, and have 
never met anyone who has tried it more 
than once. We believe it was tried at 
Cornell, and although they were success¬ 
ful in getting the moult, the hens did not 
begin laying any earlier than those which 
were allowed their natural moult, and 
they lost the eggs the fowls would have 
laid in August and September. 
white & RICE. 
A CREAMERY AGENT'S YARN. 
An agent at work here claims to be install¬ 
ing co-operative creameries on what he calls 
the Elgin system, by which two men do all 
the creamery work, which would ordinarily 
require about eight or 10. lie says he can 
average about seven pounds of butter manu¬ 
factured from about 100 pounds of average 
milk; that he has an outlet for all the butter 
that can be made by this system at a quarter 
cent above Philadelphia Record quotations for 
fancy prints f. o. b. the factory. Are such 
claims sound? c. b. 
Delaware. 
I know of no patent procedure by which 
two men do the work of eight or 10 as 
arranged in a modern creamery, nor do I 
know of any way of securing seven 
pounds of butter from 100 pounds of aver¬ 
age milk. Average milk in New York 
State carries about 3.8 per cent fat, which 
would, on an 85 per cent basis, make 4*4 
pounds to the hundred. To produce seven 
pounds on the same basis would require 
milk testing six per cent, which is seldom 
found, as everyone who is at all familiar 
with milk knows. I would not dispute 
that the price named could be obtained, 
but that any agent selling machinery has 
an immediate outlet for large quantities of 
butter beyond the simple commission 
house opening that can be used by anyone 
I very much doubt. The stranger within 
our gates who has some marvelous sys¬ 
tem by which the usual methods are dou¬ 
bly discounted would best be thoroughly 
investigated before adoption. h. e. c. 
PUMPS FOR WATERING STOCK. 
Can large hand pumps (barrel per minute 
kind) be relied on to supply a herd of 40 
cows with water—elevation very slight? How 
many cattle can be watered from a good door- 
yard well? How can a person calculate the 
flowing by capacity of one? i. m. ii. 
Goshen, N. Y. 
These large “stock pumps” are satisfac¬ 
tory for shallow wells, say up to 20 feet. 
While they will hardly throw a barrel per 
minute, they will do good work. Prob¬ 
ably, however, a windmill would be more 
satisfactory; it would save time and could 
be used to force the water into the barn, 
where it should be. I know of no way to 
determine the capacity of your well ex¬ 
cept to pump a given amount of water and 
note how much it is lowered in the well, 
and how long before the normal level is 
again secured. h. e. c. 
HOW TO MARK PULLETS. 
Could you toll me how to mark the young 
pullets now so I will not have so much trouble 
selecting them in the Fall froni the older 
ones? h. s. 
Edgerton, O. 
Hie system of marking pullets is very 
clearly shown in some of the poultry 
papers, and is done by a small punch 
called a poultry marker. You simply 
punch a hole in the web between the 
toes of the chick and keep a record of 
what each peculiar mark means. For in¬ 
stance, a hole in the right web on the right 
foot should mean one thing, and one in 
same web on left foot another, making 
an almost endless variety of marks, and 
for that reason each mark should have a 
record made of it. white & rice. 
SMOKING MEAT. 
The curing of meat by smoke is a chemical 
process. The meat is saturated with an anti¬ 
septic substance, which is simply pyroligneous 
acid. This acid is distilled only from green 
wood, and it is exceedingly distasteful and 
repugnant to flies. When green wood is 
burned slowly in a confined lire the smoke is 
all saved, and it is made up of carbonaceous 
matters and pyroligneous acid in a state of 
vapor mixed with the steam from the fuel. 
Without this acid the smoke would be quite 
devoid of any preservative qualities and 
would consist only of carbonaceous matter 
unconsumed. The wood would be consumed 
in making heat merely and the meat would 
simply he dried, and he hard and unpleasant 
to use. Meat properly smoked with green 
wood, especially of such kinds as contain the 
most wood acid, is tender, moist and yet 
resistant to decomposition, for the reason 
that pyroligneous acid prevents this change 
in the meat and is an antidote to decomposi¬ 
tion. The sharp odor and taste of it is also 
repugnant to flies and other vermin which prey 
on the meat. There is no other product which 
approaches this aciu in its preservative effect 
on animal matter. The ancient Egyptians 
used this to prevent decay of their dead, the 
lwdies of which are found even now after 
4,000 years in almost perfect preservation. 
The curing of meat is a scientific process, 
and the best method of it is by the use of 
cool smoke made by the slow burning of hard 
wood in an open fire in the smokehouse, 
which is kept from burning too rapidly by 
keeping the house closely shut, or by the 
smoke from a closed stove carried by a pipe 
which cools it, the stove or fireplace being a 
suflicient distance from the smokehouse to en¬ 
sure the proper condition. The heat should 
never be so great as to melt the fat of the 
meat. As soon as the meat is smoked pack 
it in tight boxes in bran and keep the boxes 
in a cool, dry place in the dark, taking care 
to replace the covers safely with a sheet of 
cotton cloth over the bran when they have 
been removed. This is better than using paper 
bags, for 1 have known the meat hugs to eat 
their way through the necks of the bags 
where these have been tied. The paper bags 
are safe against fly-blowing, which cotton bags 
are not. 
“Extract of smoke” is simply creosote, this 
being a product of the dry distillation of 
wood. The effective agent of smoke of wood 
used for the curing of meats is simply this 
creosote, sometimes called oil of tar. This 
creosote is quite often a source of annoyance 
to the housewives in Winter when it is col 
lected in the stove pipes or chimneys as the 
smoke cools in Us passage to the air outside, 
it exists as what we call pyroligneous acid, 
this word meaning simply the acid of burned 
wood, or wood exposed to destructive heat, as 
in making charcoal. In smoking meat this 
acid is absorbeu by the cool meat on which it 
is deposited more or less as circumstances 
may make it possible. The effect is to pre¬ 
vent early decomposition by means of a par¬ 
tial smoking, and the penetration of the 
warm acid vapor into the flesh, the antiseptic 
action of the acid preserving the meat. A 
large quantity of the smoked meat in com¬ 
merce is prepared by the use of this wood 
acid, and in practice it is more convenient 
and economical to use it by rubbing it on to 
the meat than to use smoke with all the risk 
of lire. It costs practically nothing, while 
to smoke the thousands of tons of bacon an f j 
hams annually prepared in any one of the 
great western packing establishments would 
add considerably (o ihe price paid by the con¬ 
sumers. 
Any expert can easily detect Ihe difference 
between realiy smoked meat and that pre 
served by the acid. It is the difference be 
tween the coarse, strong flavor of the latter 
and Ihe mild aromatic flavor of home-smoked 
meat, and especially when maple or birch is 
used for making the smoke. This gives a 
very mild, agreeable taste to meat, while oak 
smoke is harsh and strong and pine turpen- 
tiny. As woou acid is volatile, only green 
wood should be useu for smoking meat, all 
the more so because The acid is mixed, indeed 
combined, with the smoke, and thus is more 
easily taken up and absorbed by the meat. 
H. STEWART. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
It. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
A STABLE FIXTURE. 
Why not fit up cow barn or stable once for 
all to' save work when you handle feed and 
manure every day in the’ year? 
LOUDEN’S FEED AMD LITTER CARRIER 
saves barn and stable labor. Has roller bear¬ 
ing wheels. Runs anv height, over switches 
and around curves. Fox water tight, clean 
and strong. 
WE FURNISH TRACK 
Switches, etc., and guarantee to work right. 
Specialists on Overhead Trolleys. Hay Tools 
and other farm labor savers. Write and ask 
us to send catalogue and tell you all about 
them. 
LOUD FIN MACHINERY Co., 
f?i) Broadway, Fairfield, Towa. 
Lambs for Profit. — I find by experience 
that lambs dropped in April are the most 
profitable for me, and they are now ready for 
market and will weigh from 80 to 100 pounds. 
Grass is the cheapest feed for me to raise 
lambs on, and it is much less trouble to raise 
lambs dropped in April than February. There 
are very few early lambs raised in this sec 
tion, and as a rule people find it more profit¬ 
able to raise them later. There is no doubt 
that much depends on the feed and care, as 
well as the breed of sheep. I find the Chev 
iots to be the most hardy and free from dis¬ 
eases, and the best for raising market lambs. 
Garrattsville, N. Y. a. h. e. 
Potash Fills the 
Grain Sacks 
Potash is a necessary nourish¬ 
ment for grain and all other crops. 
W rite to-day for our valuable 
books on “Fertilization”—full of 
information that every farmer should 
possess—sent free to applicants. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS 
93 Nassau Street New York 
HARNESS 
PROTECT YOURSELF 
from High Prices. We can save 
you 25 p. c. on Harm ss. Send 
for large Illustrated Catalogue. 
KING HARNESS COMPANY,6L»keSt .Ow-iro v v 
a t 
rS 
How would you buy a million 
dollars’ wortli of separators! 
You would learn everything about 
them. Try them everywhere, every- 
hovv. Investigate from “A” to “Iz- 
zard.” The John Deere Plow peo¬ 
ple did so and have bought, out¬ 
right, after exhaustive trials and 
thorough examination, nearly 
A Million Dollars Worth 
of Tubular Cream Separators. They 
bought to sell—staked a million,and a 
world wide reputation, on 'I'tibular 
quality. More positive proofof Tubu¬ 
lar superiority is im¬ 
possible. The low 
supply can—simple, 
easy to wash, tubular 
bowl-are found only 
In Sharpies Tubular 
Separators. Big im- 1 
plement dealers—the 
strongest houses in 
| the world, those who 
I get first choice-know h >• 
this and select the ,g/i3M Bw8< W» 
Tubular. Such areY 
the Dairy Outfit Co., ■ 
England; Richter & 
Robert, Germany; S. Pllssonler. France; 
I Newell & Co., Australia; Runclman & 
Co.. Argentine. In tlieir judgment Tu¬ 
bulars are best and tlieir judgment is 
dependable —is right. Ask for catalog 
No. 11-163. 
Sharpies Co. P. M. Sharpies 
Chicago, Illinois West Chester, Pa. 
LL 
$100 REWARD 
for any case of colic, curb, 
splints, contracted or knotted 
cords, recent shoe boils, splints 
or callous that cannot be per¬ 
manently and positively cured, 
if directions are followed, by 
TUTTLE’S 
ELIXIR. 
It relieves and cures Spavins, Ring Bone. Cockle Joints, 
Scratches, Grease Heel, Founder, Sore Backs and 
Shoulders, Bruises, Wire Cuts, Collar and Saddle Calls, 
Pneumonia, Distemper, Chafed Places, etc. Used and 
endorsed by Adams Express Co., Chicago Fire Department 
and others. Tuttle’s American Worm Powders never fail. 
Tuttle’s Family Elixir stoj>s the pains and aches ofmankind 
instantly. Our 100-page book, “Veterinary Experience" free. 
Tuttle’s Elixir Co.. 30 Beverly Sf., Boston, Mass. 
Beware of all other lilixirs . Tuttle's is the only genuine 
Avoid all blisters; they arc only temporary relief . 
BEST IN THE WORLD 
I 
Separators 
IHE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO 
74 CORTLANDT ST. 
NEW YORK. 
RANDOLPH 5 CANAL ST. 
CHICAGO. 
THE PARSONS 
“LOW-DOWN” WAGON 
has many 
imitators, 
but there 
are 
NONE 
JUST 
AS 
GOOD. 
Can have Rubber Tires and Roller Bearing Axles 
If desired. Catalogue FREE. 
JOHN R. PARSONS, Manager, Earlville, N. Y. 
Separator T ruths. 
They stand out best in the trial. We’re 
not afraid t o 1 e t honest men try the 
popular priced 
AMERICAN. 
Seeing it work sells it. That’s our plan. 
It’s a machine that wins its way. 
Shall we send catalog 1 It’s free. 
AMERICAN SEPARATOR CO., 
Box t 066. Balnbrldgs, N. Y. 
Sfiavms 
airw wone 
45 minute 
ireatmem 
_ f lEMiNC’ 8 is Mia 
quick and lure spavin Crura. 
Thousands cured by this 
wonderful ihtnlnute method. 
Guaranteed always, 
Buok about 8pa«ln, <Jur«». 
Ringbone, Splint, eto. Writs 
PLBBIsa BROS., Cfetnms, 
to Lnloa Stock I4s.Caissg.iRl. 
