1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i7i 
that it looked the best, but he could buy three-ply 
felting at the same price, and a barrel of tar enough 
to cover the whole building, for one-third what it 
would cost to buy the paint for the Neponset. In 
the yards adj fining this house and on the ponds con¬ 
nected with them, were flocks of fine Pekin ducks 
actively feeding or sporting in the water. Four 
hundred ducks intended for breeding were in sight, 
over 200 were yearlings or ducks of a previous season, 
and the rest selected young ducks. At least BOO of 
these were carried over winter and are being bred 
from. 
Scattered about another and a higher part of the 
farm were, at least, 800 white chickens. About 600 of 
them were White Wymdottes and the remainder 
were White P. Rocks. These chickens, previously 
mentioned, were reared artificially and brought out 
here when well feathered, and sheltered at night in 
wired-in sheds scattered about the place. Twenty- 
five of these sheds were of the well-known Hodgson 
make (the retail price of which is $5), and had given 
satisfaction. In very windy weather, they may be 
overturned in the day time unless staked to the 
ground. At night, however, the half-grown chickens 
on the roosts generally weighted them down suffic¬ 
iently to prevent their overturning. Oi this farm, 
Mr. Pollard will soon build a pipe brooder house 115 
feet long fitted wit.h the same brooding and internal 
arrangements that have given such good results in 
the home brooder described, also another house of 
the same pattern for a cold brooder, to receive the 
chickens or ducks as soon as they can get along with¬ 
out artificial heat. A system of water pipes with a 
steam engine to fill the supply tank once a week, as 
well as an incubator cellar will also be built immedi¬ 
ately. There will be a drive about the place from 
building to building for the convenience of the team 
to be used in making the rounds when the feeding 
and other work is done. A flock of Enbden geese 
will also be used for breeding, the nucleus of which 
has already been secured. The stone walls on the 
place, which are regular vermin harbors, will be used 
in making foundations for buildings. 
Prefers White Wyandotte Fowls. 
As Mr. Pollard has been a buyer of live poultry for 
years, he is familiar with the various markets and has 
learned what stock sells best when dressed. He has 
found that purebred stock, especially if directly from 
the yards of the fancier, has usually been in poor con¬ 
dition and unsuited to his purpose, but that farm- 
raised poultry having free range, whether they were 
purebred, cross-bred, or scrub stock, usually could be 
depended upon to suit his customers. He found that 
certain breeds that he bought, no matter how favor¬ 
able the circumstances under which they were reared, 
were, when dressed, so narrow-bodied, blue-meated 
and white-skinaed, so very unattractive in appear¬ 
ance, that they could not be sold and had to be used 
for home consumption or given away. Other varie¬ 
ties had such well-proportioned carcasses, such full 
breasts and yellow skin and legs that, even when 
rather thin, they were so attractive that they sold 
quickly at the highest price when dealers would 
refuse stock not so good at any price. This fact 
naturally caused Mr. Pollard to favor certain breeds 
and to discriminate against others. When buying 
stock for the market, he did not care what the breed 
was if the stock was good enough to suit his trade, 
but he did not fail to notice which blood had the best 
influence and gave the most value to a flock. There¬ 
fore, when he leased h's first farm and commenced to 
raise poultry in considerable numbers, he decided 
that if it paid to buy and sell the best, it was still 
more important that he should produce the best. He, 
therefore, secured a flock of Light Brahmas and Silver 
Wyandottes, although he has since discarded them 
and now keeps White Wyandottes and White P. 
Rocks. He considers the former the best all-round 
fowl and much more profitable. The latter are kept 
because there is a demand for them, and they sell 
well for breeding purposes. Although a very prom¬ 
ising fowl, the latter must be very much improved 
before they will equal White Wyandottes. White 
Wyandottes, in his experience, produce better eggs, 
as regards size and color, than White P. Rocks. The 
latter will eat twice as much and lay no more eggs. 
Their eggs, although not as handsome as those from 
Brahmas or Langshans, are nearly so, not five per 
cent of the eggs laid being light-colored. Only dark 
eggs are selected for hatching. Although they will 
not lay as many eggs as White Leghorns, Mr. Pollard 
claims that they will lay as many dollars’ worth in 
the year and sell better in eastern markets, and when 
the fowls or eh'ckens of each are dressed for the mar¬ 
ket, the difference in their value is great. 
His breeding Wyandottes are kept in small houses 
about the outskirts of the farm away from the rest of 
the stock, and are given free range to insure vigor. 
It* ■sfcb'u'ld bte rtemembfcred that k JVIy. Pollard knerw his 
market before he commenced operations. His brother 
is, also, head man at the stall of one of the leading 
poultry dealers at Fanueil Hall Market, Boston, and 
he is himself in a position to keep posted. After 
raising his stock, he knows when to sell it and how to 
get all the money that can be got for it. This end of 
the business is usually the last to be studied by the 
enthusiastic person who thinks of rushing into the 
business, but if he is wise, he will make it the first. 
Rhode Island. samued cushman. 
CHEAP WINTERING FOR HORSES. 
A RACK FOR CORN FODDER. 
On page 67, I told R. N.-Y. readers how I winter 20 
horses at “ hard-times ” prices. I spoke then of a con¬ 
venient rack for hauling fodder to the yards. This 
rack is shown at Fig. 82. This is the way I make it: 
I get two good, stout pieces four inches square and 
13 feet long for the sills, good material, stiff and 
lasting, so that, in loading, I will not be obliged to 
consider the capacity of the rack. I frame these to¬ 
gether with four cross sills, the length of the wagon 
bolster between standards. These cross sills should 
be IK x 3 inches. I make the two outer or end mor¬ 
tices eight inches from the ends of the long sills, and 
lay the cross sills flat, with a mortice the full size of 
the cross sills, clear through the main sills. I set the 
cross sills down one inch so that, when the tight floor 
is laid, all will be smooth on top, and the bottom will 
be complete. Now we want four corner posts four 
feet long. The mortices for these posts should be 
made in the main sills three inches from the end, and 
be two inches wide and three inches long. They 
should be set in from the outside face cf the sill IK 
inch. This is done so that the side boards can rest 
on the sill and not project out past it. I make the 
corner posts out of 2 x 4 studding, and make a tenon 
on one end to fit the mortice. This will leave a 
shoulder on one edge, of one inch ; I fit the tenon 
tight like a wagon standard, putting the shoulder to¬ 
ward the end of the sill. The shoulder will give 
strength, as in hauling wood the pressure is out at 
the end of the load. I taper the posts from the 
shoulder above the tenon to the top, making the top 
two inches square ; this makes them much lighter, 
and does not impair the strength. I put a quarter- 
inch hole through the sill and center of the tenon of 
the post ; this is for a bolt 4K inches long, that holds 
the foot of the side iron, keeps the post from rising, 
and the sill from splitting. I board up the front end 
with half-inch lumber, and place boards on the inner 
edge of the posts, but leave a crack two inches wide, 
2 K feet from the floor of the rack. I cut boards for 
the hind end the same as for the front; but to have a 
door at the hind end 2 K feet high, nail cleats across 
that amount of the boards, 2 K inches from the ends 
of the boards. Two feet and eight inches above the 
floor, I commence and nail on the boards to the top, 
on the inside edge of the posts, and if the door has 
been properly cleated when it is set in place, we have 
a face wall like the front end. To hold the door in 
place, I bore a naif-inch hole exactly in the center, 
and put in this a half-inch bolt five inches long. A 
cleat long enough to lap on the posts with a half-inch 
hole in the center put on the other end of the bolt, 
will hold the door securely ; loosen the burr, turn the 
cleat, and the door can be removed. Now the bottom 
and ends are complete. 
In this shape, it is a wood-rack holding three cords 
of wood, if in double rank. We can haul upon it now 
the bundled fodder of 1,200 hills of corn—if fodder is 
small, more. To hold the side boards in place, I use 
stake iron one-quarter inch thick and IK inch wide, 
four feet long. The bolt that passes through the sill 
and foot of the post is long enough to hold the foot 
of this iron also, which is to stand perpendicularly, 
1 K inch from the post, and held in this position by 
trwrj wooden washers two indhes in diameter and 1 4 
inch long. Put a quarter-inch bolt through the iron 
washer and post, two feet above the floor of the rack, 
and another just like it 12 or 14 inches higher. In 
ordinary use, this rack has two boards on each side ; 
the lower boards are one inch thick, 18 inches wide 
and 13 feet long, and slip in between the iron and 
po3t, and form a practically tight box. A board 10 
inches wide, the same length and thickness as the 
lower board between the two upper washers, will be 
high enough for an ordinary hog or sheep rack, or to 
haul shredded fodder to the stock, or bedding to the 
stables, and light manure from them to the field. If 
one wish the sides tighter or higher, slip in more 
boards ; they are quickly slipped in or out, or trans¬ 
ferred, both top boards to one side, thus making a 
back wall. In hauling wood, only the top boards are 
used, and if in double rank, they are often too close 
together; extra washers placed outside the iron op¬ 
posite those already described, and a short iron, will 
make space for the boards farther out. The crack in 
the front end and above the door in hind end, are to 
enable us to lay these two boards one on top of the 
other; with the ends thus resting, when empty, they 
furnish as nice a spring seat as one could wish. 
This rack fits all wagons, sleds or boats on our 
farm, and is in almost constant use. It supersedes 
the hog rack entirely, and if only a small amount is 
to be hauled, the hay rack also. We had some ear 
corn to haul three miles, in the fall, and found that, 
by slipping in boards to make the box tight, we could 
put on all we could draw. For the daily feeding about 
the yards, we keep this rack on what is called here 
“ a log boat” ; it is light, strong, turns and goes any¬ 
where a team can go, is only four feet wide and 
makes less track in soft places than any thing else. 
We have a set of metal wheels 24 and 28 inches high, 
with six-inch tires, that were expected to be used for 
this purpose. Those make a handy wagon, and we 
like the wheels much, but for the feeding, cleaning, 
bedding and general work of the yards, with or with¬ 
out snow, we like the boat best. 
I find that it costs about $3 per acre to husk corn, 
shred the fodder, and put both away ; this includes 
all work and board, the corn being husked by ma¬ 
chinery. I am satisfied that an animal—horse or cow 
—cannot consume an acre of good shredded fodder 
in one winter, but if fed liberally, perhaps nearly 
that amount will be used. Using that as a basis, the 
cost of Keeping a horse as I feed now cannot exceed 
$10 per winter, and this will allow him to have hay, 
oats and bran for a change. The coarse, uneaten 
parts of the fodder are well mixed with the drop¬ 
pings. The straw of the stacks receives the same treat¬ 
ment at tho hands of these 20 horses, so that, in the 
spring, we have a large amount of the best manure, 
which should be ample pay for the one hour’s work 
that is each day given them. They are strong and 
healthy. The mares never have any trouble foaling 
or with the foals being weak, and the workers are in 
the best possible shape for work in the spring. This 
is the way I am raising horses, and hope to find some 
profit, even at present prices. 
What a varied life is that of the farmer ! No work 
can be done by routine, no system followed for long ; 
the ever-changing conditions require constant shift¬ 
ing of base. We must battle with the weeds and other 
growth not wanted ; with insect and animal pests ; 
with elementary conditions, and with each other in 
the markets of the world. Ia it all, through it all, 
somewhere from among the jumble, must come the 
profitthat shall be our living, or the failure that shall 
lose us our farm. In our effort to fiad a profit raising 
horses, we have been forced to abandon the old, well- 
established ways, abandon the bjx-stalls, blankets 
and warm, luxurious conditions, and adapt the method 
I have described. Very fortunately, the necessity has 
developed the fact, that the present is the better way, 
following much closer after Nature. Da notcoatinue 
to follow a losing venture! Do not say, ‘ I don’t 
know what else to do ! ” and go plodding on. There 
must be some way to produce what you do, and have 
a profit left 1 Search for the way that shall produce 
more, and at less cost; or, if you fail to do that, try 
to discover something you can do that shall yield you 
a living ! Advice is easy, isn’t it? But is making 
one’s living worth the struggle it costs ? 
Indiana. w. w. latta. 
Potatoes Ron to Vines.— Three years ago, I 
planted two plots, side by side, on the same day, with 
Peerless potatoes from the same barrel. One plot I 
fertilized with stable manure and cotton seed; the 
other, with two parts stable manure, two parts 
cotton seed and one part hard-wood ashes. The 
latter plot made an undersized growth of vines, with 
an abundant crop of seed balls, and very few pota¬ 
toes. The other plot made a good crop of potatoes 
and very few seed balls. A good many here make two 
crops a year, spring and fall. w. f* is* 
Clinton, La. 
