1904 . 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
811 
A WINTER POULTRY HOUSE. 
The production of eggs in Winter is an important 
matter. While one has time to attend to their needs, 
giving every attention to make laying a certainty, it 
may he that the one thing lacking is a warm building 
A WINTER POULTRY HOUSE. Fig. 309. 
for the hens. The poultry house shown at Fig. 369 is 
one built by the writer (who is not a carpenter) with 
the assistance of a handy man a day or two. An open 
spell just before Christmas afforded an opportunity 
to put it up. It is not advisable to delay the work 
until cold weather comes; much better build it when 
the Fall work is done, and have the hens laying by 
New Year’s. 
After I had put on the first course of boards a neigh¬ 
bor said it would be warm enough; that hens are warm¬ 
blooded creatures, and so need plenty of air. I agreed 
with him that they are warm-blooded like ourselves, and 
that they need plenty of air of a suitable temperature. 
But zero winds and snow have no place in a building 
where eggs are expected. I put on a coat of sheathing 
paper and another course of boards and battened the 
cracks. It rests on posts driven in the ground, and 
sawed off level two or three feet high. On top of these 
are laid sills, which serve also for plates, the door and 
window sills being on these plates. Only two windows 
are shown, but the top of the door should come off 
and a three-light sash be placed at the top of the door¬ 
way. My hens have done excellently without the third 
window, but it would certainly be an improvement. The 
roof-boarding is closely done, sheathing paper laid on 
and then shingled. After a thorough banking about the 
base with horse manure, it is very warm, and, with 
good care, the hen< lay well in it. It is 16 feet square 
on the ground, and in this space I have wintered 75 
hens successfully, but 50 would be a better number. The 
building has a southern exposure and the half next the 
windows is devoted to a scratching pen, where fresh 
litter is constantly kept in Winter. In this all the 
whole grain is scattered, and I feed them often to keep 
them at work. Wet feed is given them in eight old 
pans nailed to boards so they will not tip over. They 
are put up out of the way after the liens have done 
eating. Just beneath one window is a dusting box, kept 
supplied with dry coal ashes, and in another place is a 
dish of oyster shells and grit. Thus managed, I obtain 
an abundance of eggs after January 1, as many perhaps 
as if the liens were in an expensive building. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. clark m. drake. 
MULCHED TREES AND MICE. 
We have planted some apple trees in sod. They have 
done finely, and we believe were ahead of a similar 
block planted on good soil and well cultivated. This 
sod orchard is five miles from home and we cannot 
see it every day. Yesterday we were there to set out 
about 150 more trees and upon examining the others 
found the mice had given us a good black eye, about 
100 of the 500 are badly girdled and the more the 
mulch the more they had gnawed them. We had ex¬ 
pected they would bother them in the Winter and had 
planned to protect them with fly screen netting. We 
have taken away all mulch un'il this is done and are 
now putting on the wire netting. We cut it in strips 
7x18 inches and give it a good roll before trying to put 
it on. Then dig an inch or two close to the tree, put 
the wire, securing it with two pieces of wire about four 
inches long, putting back the dirt and stamping it. 
This work we can do quite fast and no more trees go 
in without wire on them at time of setting. 
We found a few borers and believe the wire put on 
at setting will keep them out. We paid rather dear for 
our lesson, as it will cost us perahps $25 to $50 
and a year’s time, but we are not discouraged, and expect 
to continue, as we contracted yesterday for cleaning 
about 12 acres adjoining, which we expect to set same 
way, in sod and mulch with fertilizer; Baldwin and 
Greenings 40 feet apart and fillers of Wagener and 
Wealthy 20 feet apart. H. o. MANCHESTER. 
SPRAYS FOR SOUTHERN VEGETABLES. 
1. Give receipt for making liquid soda-Bordeaux mixture 
for spraying egg plants, peppers and tomatoes. 2. What is 
receipt for making arsenate of lead solution? 3. I)o you 
think soda-Bordeaux mixture with arsente of lead solution 
less likely to burn foliage on plants and fully as effective 
as an insecticide and fungicide as iime-Bordeaux mixture 
with I’aris-green? r. 
Miami, Fla. 
1. The formula for making soda-Bordeaux mixture 
is as follows: Soda (Lewis’ lye), one pound can; 
copper sulphate, three pounds; lime, five ounces; water, 
30 gallons. The amount of soda to be used will vary 
with the brand or make used, as will also the amount of 
copper sulphate. In Bulletin 167 issued last year by the 
New Jersey Experiment Station (New Brunswick), is 
given a table by which one can tell how much copper 
sulphate is required to be used with each pound can of 
11 different brands of soda. The amount of sulphate 
varies from 1.6 to 46.22 pounds. The contents of two 
or more of the one-pound cans will readily dissolve in 
a gallon of water, and before using, this solution should 
be diluted. For quantities of soda-Bordeaux ranging 
from 25 to 50 gallons, dilute the soda solution to about 
15 gallons and pour it slowly into a 10 gallon solution 
of copper. Stir the mixture thoroughly, and after about 
two-thirds of the soda has been added, test trcquently 
with red litmus paper. As soon as there is a change in 
color from red to blue icase adding the soda solution. 
AN APPLE PICKER. Fig. 370. 
Then add slaked lime in the form of a thin whitewash, 
previously strained, at the rate of 5 ounces to 30 gal¬ 
lons. Dilute this mixture to 10 gallons of water to 1 
pound of copper sulphate, and it is ready for use. Lime 
in the above small proportions has been found sufficient 
to make the mixture decidedly alkaline, and, therefore, 
safe. The precipitate is slightly increased and remains 
of a permanent bluish color instead of changing after a 
time to a dark brown or black, which occurs if an 
excess of soda or potash is used. 
2. To make arsenate of lead, dissolve in one gallon 
of water 11 ounces of acetate of lead (sugar of lead). 
In another vessel dissolve four ounces of arsenate of 
soda in half a gallon of water. Pour the arsenate solu¬ 
tion into the lead solution, stir, and add 50 gallons of 
water. Hot water dissolves the chemicals more readily 
and completely, and wooden pails should be used. 
When the two solutions are united a milky mixture is 
produced, and a very fine, white, precipitate forms which 
remains for a long time in suspension. Both chemicals 
should be of high grade. Arsenate of lead already pre¬ 
pared can now be bought of many of the larger dealers 
in insecticides. It is sold by one firm under the name’ 
of “Disparene”; it costs about 12 to 15 cents per pound, 
and it requires about two pounds to do the work of one 
pound of Paris-green, but it is much safer to use on 
tender foliage and sticks much better than Paris-green. 
3. I do not know that the arsenate of lead has been 
used with the soda-Bordeaux Mixture. The New Jer¬ 
sey Experiment Station reports that Paris-green was 
used with this fungicide at the rate of one pound to 
100 gallons on potatoes, egg plants, squashes, cucum¬ 
bers and beans without harmful results after three ap¬ 
plications. I should expect the arsenate of lead would 
work equally as well, and that the effectiveness of the 
fungicide or insecticide would not be lessened by the 
combination. m. v. slingerland. 
KILLING THE SCALE ON YOUNG TREES. 
I have recently ordered a number of peacli trees for Fall 
setting. I have no San Jose scale now, but am afraid I 
shall get it on some of these trees. One nurseryman offers 
to fumigate when asked to do so but will not guarantee re¬ 
sults. Would you have him fumigate and take the risk? 
I-Iow would it do for me to get the potash whaleoll soap 
and after trimming the trees invert them and place them 
in the solution. You see they would get it pretty thoroughly 
that way. If I did that, how long would it be necessary 
and how long would it be safe to leave them in the solu¬ 
tion. I suppose it would not be necessary to soak the roots 
also. I am willing to go to some trouble to be safe. 
Fort Smith, Ark. r. 
I think it would be a cheaper, safer and surer method 
for your southern correspondent to re-fumigate the 
trees when lie gets them. Fumigation, properly done, 
is by far the most effective insecticidal measure we have. 
I would not soak the trees in the soap solution, but 
simply dip them in, leaving them in for a minute or 
two perhaps. To kill the San Jose scale, the soap 
mixture should be made at the rate of two pounds of 
whaleoil soap dissolved in one gallon of water. I would 
not dip in a hot solution. Yes, I would dip the whole 
tree, roots and all, for there may be woolly aphis on the 
roots. M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
T must confess that I do not see the use of dipping in 
the soapsuds a tree that has been properly fumigated. 
Whaleoil soap, two oounds in one gallon, of water on 
a perfectly dormant tree, is harmless provided you do 
not dip the roots. It will kill every scale it touches. 
It is not so penetrating, nor so effective as the gas and 
any scale that escapes the gas would stand an excellent 
chance of escaping the soap as well. Fumigation al¬ 
ways weakens a tree to some extent. Soaking it in a 
solution of soap strong enough to be effective might 
be fatal. I do not advise it. john b. smith. 
In regard to the whaleoil soap solution, it has usually 
been recommended in the strength of two pounds of 
soap to one gallon of water; but this is a very strong 
solution, and it seems to me that I should prefer the 
lime and sulphur mixture made either with or without 
boiling. I should not soak the trees in it, nor dip the 
fibrous roots—merely dipping the stems as far as the 
roots, taking care that all of the stem that grew above 
ground and two or three inches of that below are 
thoroughly coated with the mixture. I should simply 
dip them and then place them where they can dry. I 
should be afraid that the trees might be injured if 
either roots or tops were soaked in it. 
_ W. E. BRITTON. 
REPLANTING WASTE LANDS.—The Forest Commission 
of New York State'is about to plant a large number of trees 
on Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence River. About 
50,000 trees, representing Hie oaks, walnut, chestnut and 
locust, and averaging from one to two years old, will be sot 
out. As Hie island is practically barren, and as it occupies 
a very prominent place, the experiment is one which will 
lie noted by thousands of Summer visitors to the famous 
river. The State lias been very successful in its efforts to 
raise trees to reforest waste lands. The location chosen 
was the Wittenburg Mountain in the Catskills, 2,250 feet 
above the ocean level. Here 500 seedlings of Norway spruce 
and 500 of White pine were set out in May, 1901. That 
fall 1,200 White pine, 1,800 Norway spruce and 2,000 
Scotch pine, all three-year-old trees, were planted on the 
east slope of Tlmothyburg Mountain on denuded ground and 
are now growing finely. The success of these trials has led 
to the establishment of extensive nurseries and plantations 
in the Adirondack region for the purpose of raising trees to 
plant the numerous denuded tracts there. In these planta¬ 
tions there are now many thousands of trees which will soon 
lie ready to set out in the great spaces where forest fires and 
lumbering have wrought havoc. Several of the largest ium- 
WHERE’S MY MA? Fig. 371. 
her and pulp corporations are about to undertake the work 
of replanting tile ground ttiey have cilt over, and the pres¬ 
ident of one of the companies lias figured out that the trees 
Which are set out at a comparatively small cost wili in from 
10 to 20 years’ time prove a most profitable investment. 
The Commission hopes that its work can be so pushed for 
ward in this particular direction that in a few years it will 
lie posssihle to furnish trees to farmers for the purpose of 
restoring tlieir wood lots, just as fish are now furnished 
freely from the State hatcheries to restock depleted streams 
