1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
335 
LIVE STOCK MATTERS. 
(CONTINUED.) 
I believe, from my experience, that it 
is a mistake to feed breeding hens soft 
food at all. No mashes, hot or cold, for 
my breeding stock. I feed good, sound, 
sweet grain, a variety of it. My bins 
contain wheat, oats, corn, buckwheat 
and a little barley when not too dear ; 
also the best wheat screenings attain¬ 
able, for the small stuff and broken grain 
in it is harder to find in the straw. 
These fed sparingly three times a day, 
the most at the last feed, fed where they 
must work for every kernel of grain. 
Then they get, fed on the ground so 
they shall not gobble straw with it, a 
small handful of green bone cut fine to 
each yard of nine birds, every day, and 
all the cabbage or some equally good 
green food they will eat. They get this 
the year around. They have clean, dry 
houses and grounds, and I get fertile 
eggs that hatch vigorous chicks. I do 
not lose, accidents excepted, five chicks 
out of a hundred clear of the nests, and 
I get plenty of eggs at any time of the 
year, when I want them. I can get a 
good, fair egg supply during the moult¬ 
ing season if I try to get them. 
New York. n. s burdick. 
Corn Is Good Hen Food. 
I should add cut clover and meat or 
beef scraps to the ration of bran and 
corn meal. If sufficient range and green 
food are given, bran and corn meal make 
a pretty fair ration for the morning 
meal. I think that all fowls should have, 
at least, one feed of whole grain daily 
to give the muscles of the gizzard and 
digestive system something to do, other¬ 
wise they become relaxed and weak. If 
the range does not furnish insects, meat 
or beef scraps are good substitutes. Buy 
meat scraps that are coarse enough so 
that you can see the meat fibers, instead 
of being ground so fine that you cannot 
tell whether it is composed of half bone 
or tankage or what not. 
If nitrogenous green food is not plenti¬ 
fully supplied, more bran should be 
given as well as wheat middlings, cheap 
flour and corn gluten. I suppose that a 
small quantity of cotton-seed or linseed 
meal might be added to advantage, 
but I have not used it. Too many over¬ 
look the importance of green food in in¬ 
suring fertile eggs as well as in saving 
the cost of the most expensive food ele¬ 
ments. Second-crop clover is, probably, 
the most valuable, while green fodder 
from rye, oats, peas, sweet corn and rape 
is excellent as food and to furnish bulk. 
One or the other may be had the year 
through, and should be provided. Vege¬ 
tables may be used to give bulk or dilute 
the concentrated grain food if green 
stuff or clover is not available, and 
may be fed both cooked and raw. Tur¬ 
nips, beets, parsnips, carrots, cabbage 
and potatoes may be utilized in this 
way. 
A large amount -of food, a quantity 
that taxes the digestive and assimilative 
powers to the utmost, is undesirable, is 
not only detrimental where fertile eggs 
are desired, but is the principal cause of 
disease. It is astonishing how small a 
space fowls may be made to thrive in. 
They will take sufficient exercise, if fed 
lightly enough, given pure air and kept 
clean. Overfeeding yarded fowls is a 
more common evil than not feeding the 
right elements. An overfeed or soft food 
will make a fowl feel more sluggish and 
inactive than an oversupply of dry grain; 
it will be eaten faster, and if not digest¬ 
ed, will ferment and cause trouble 
sooner. Although a small quantity is 
more digestible than dry, whole grain, 
there is more risk in giving them all they 
can fill up on. I advise giving it but 
once per day, and then only about half 
what they would eat if very hungry. 
Although a greater egg yield can be se¬ 
cured by feeding soft food, a greater 
per cent of fertile eggs will be secured 
from a flock fed the right quantity of 
dry, unground grain containing the right 
elements, as well as meat and green food. 
Birds thus fed will be less susceptible to 
colds and more active and vigorous, 
more inclined to be continually on the 
move. Fowls that are confined, deprived 
of out-door air and exercise, may, like 
sedentary people, do best if they eat a 
small quantity of soft food of the right 
kind, and less whole grain. 
While I would warn poultry keepers 
against feeding nothing but clear corn 
to confined fowls, I believe that corn 
should be 50 per cent of the food, and 
that any other or all other grains could 
be dispensed with better than corn. 
The greatest value of corn comes to the 
front when you want something to piece 
out or balance a ration of green stuff, 
say fresh cut clover, oats or rye. Corn 
possesses properties that make it better 
for this purpose than any other one 
grain. After eating mush and slops for 
a time one’s muscles grow softer, he is 
less inclined to lift heavy weights, and 
more contented to sit still. A small 
saucer of oatmeal with sugar and cream 
at breakfast may limber him out and 
make him feel lighter and think clearer, 
but leave off the sugar and the cream, 
and he may find that it does not digest 
and that he feels weak and depressed. 
Distend the stomach with hasty corn- 
meal pudding and milk, and I will war¬ 
rant that you will feel more like dozing 
or going to bed than anything else. 
Solid food in small quantities has the 
opposite effect. Beef scraps make the 
soft food richer and more appetising, 
and furnish similar elements, but in a 
more digestible form. The beef scraps 
are to the soft mess what the milk is to 
the hasty pudding, or the sugar and 
cream are to the oatmeal. The stiffer 
the mess—the less water there is in 
it — the better. Have it crumbly, not 
sticky. 
I find that birds fed in such a way as 
to make the droppings soft are not as 
easily kept in good condition as those 
fed so that the excrement, when voided, 
will almost roll off from a board ; they 
will not be as active or produce as many 
fertile eggs. Fowls fed in a way to give 
the greatest possible egg yield will, I 
believe, have soft droppings. The 
greatest possible egg yield and the 
greatest possible fertility of eggs must 
not be expected from the same pen, or 
will not be secured by the same manage¬ 
ment. 
Say what you will about the evils of 
too much carbonaceous food, I believe 
that an excess of it is less dangerous to 
health than an over-supply of nitrogen 
in the food. Neither is desirable, but if 
it is to be one way or the other, give 
me the excess of carbon. The system 
can take care of a little too much 
of either of the iood elements, but a 
great excess causes trouble. An excess 
of carbon can be exercised and breathed 
off or stored up as fat. It furnishes 
heat and force, or the power that runs 
machinery. An excess of nitrogen, if 
not absorbed, causes the most serious 
bowel troubles. If taken into the blood 
in excessive quantities, it is only thrown 
out through the liver and kidneys. 
According to high authorities, what is 
not required to build and renew muscle, 
nerve and feathers or, supply a part of 
the material for the eggs produced, is a 
clog and a danger. It cannot be stored 
away for future use in the same way 
that carbon is. It seems to me that 
corn is getting a black eye that it does 
not deserve, that the anti-corn writers 
are going too far. The various grains 
have properties that chemical analyses 
do not show, and which have a great 
deal to do with their digestibility. The 
experienced feeder will not feed the 
same combination continually, or to all 
breeds alike, but will make up his pro¬ 
portions according to the nature of the 
breeds to be fed, and will watch the 
results closely and change the amount 
of the different elements as the condi 
tion of the flock requires. 
Rhode Island. samukl*cushman. 
Kicking Cows.—All cows are “ leg- 
roped” in this colony for milking ; that 
is, a strong rope with a ring or loop at 
one end, is placed around the leg just 
above the hoof and drawn tightly enough 
to bring the leg on the milking side 
back clear for the milker to get at the 
back teats. The rope is secured to a 
post behind the cow, generally the post at 
the back of the bails (or stanchions). All 
heifers are trained this way, and when 
quiet enough, milk without being leg- 
roped ; sometimes a “kicker” or “tricky” 
cow (one that lifts her foot quietly into 
the bucket, you know), has always to be 
roped back. reader. 
Australia. 
" Drying Off ” a Cow. 
TV. II. E., Helena , Ark. —When a cow is with 
calf, should she be dried off, say three weeks be¬ 
fore calving, to give her a rest ? Or should she 
be milked right along until she drops her calf? 
Of course, some cows will go dry themselves, but 
mine don’t. How soon after calving can the milk 
be used ? 
Ans. —Yes, at least three weeks, and 
some say that six weeks is none to long. 
Much depends upon the cow and her 
feed. It is almost impossible to dry off 
some of the heavy milkers of the great 
dairy breeds. Great care must be exer¬ 
cised in drying off such cows, and it is 
best to drop all grain feed. Even then, 
they cannot be dried off so long before 
calving as some other cows. Milk is 
usually considered good about the 10th 
milking after calving, if the udder is all 
right. 
Recently my little daughter was attacked with a 
severe and DEEP-SEATED COUGH, which my wife 
thought she could cure with other remedies, but they 
all failed, and she had to resort to our old stand by, 
Jayne's Expectorant. This medicine cured the child. 
—F. E. HOLDEN, Greenleaf, Minn., October 15,1895- 
Stimulate your Liver with Jayne’s Painless Sana¬ 
tive Pills — Adv. 
GALLl 
POWDER 
'gure§ 
roasts, backs, mouths, otc., 
loaled, toughened and cured 
while at work by . . 
MOORE BROS.’ 
1 80c. and $ 1 by Poll 
1 mail,postpaid. VJd.il 
k Moore Bros. 
| Albany, N.Y. POWdCf 
WHILE hi 
0RSE WORKS 
THE BEST HORSE 
being u willing worker is most 
likely to suffer from sore back 
Vor shoulders. BICKMOEE '8 
'GALL CURE will cure him 
of Buddie sores or collar or 
harness gall while he works 
Guaranteed to do it. Equal¬ 
ly good for sores in man. Ask 
fe&HEANDVfilRKTlf HOUSE wll'l’be m’.flwUOQ 1 lor 10 oSltf 
Bicbmora Gall Cure Co Bos toy Old Town, Me. 
?8o FEED for PROFIT? 
FLIES So o b (5“ MILK F 
No Flies, Ticks, Vermin, or Sores on Cows, 
if 1 cent is spent in —-— —- 
Send 25 centsto 
Mfg. Co., 1005 Fair- 
mount. Ave., Phila., 
Pa. They will return Ipint, and guarantee to refund 
money if cow is not protected. MEKIT brought more 
duplicate 10 and 80 gallon orders in 18% than ever 
before, A bonanza for Aftcmts* 
SHOO-FLY 
HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN 
FREE RIFT TO SHEEPMEN. 
Valuable book premium to purchasers of Coopkk 
Sheep Dip between April land July 1: “The Dis¬ 
eases of Sheen-their Prevention and Cure”; 85 
pages. Apply Wi LLM. Coopkk & Nephews, Galves¬ 
ton, Tex. Send receipt or say where bought. If you 
cannot buy locally, send $1.75 to $2 (100 gal.) packet, to 
Cyril Franklin, Cotton Exchange, N. Y. City. 
<L A. Kelly Co., Pittsburg, F. S. Ilurch <B Co., 
178 Michigan St., Chicago. 
Sheepmen 
You will have health¬ 
ier sheep, more and better 
wool if you use Uliloro- 
Naptholeum Dip. Kills 
all ticks and lice, cures 
scab and foot-rot, cleans 
and increases the growth 
of the wool. 
Chloro-Naptholeum 
is a perfectly harmless antisep¬ 
tic, insecticide, and disinfect¬ 
ant, and the most effective stock 
remedy known. One gallon sent 
free upon receipt of $1.00 to pay 
freight charges. Agts. wanted. 
>VKST DISINFECTING CO., Me' 
3WA 208 L. 6UUbt.> flew lurk. 
CATTLE, 
SMITHS & POWELL CO., 
“Lakeside” Stock Farm, Syracuse, N. Y. 
OFFER SEVERAL 
VERY FINE YOUNG BULLS, 
Now ready for use, and whose four to ten near¬ 
est female ancestors have made weekly butter 
records which average from 20 to 25 lbs., and 
yearly milk records which average from 15,000 
to 20,000 lbs.; also Females of all ages, and of 
equally good breeding. 
No Herd of any breed has made a better 
showing for either milk or butter. 
Write them for particulars. 
Guernseys. 
SIXTY HEIFERS FOR SALE. 
Highly bred, good Individuals, perfect condi¬ 
tion. Very uniform lot. Come and see them. 
ELLERSLIE STOCK FARM, 
RH1NECLIFF, N. Y. 
JERSEY CATTLE FOR SALE. 
First-c 
Registered CAI 
R. F. SHANNON,] 
First-class Dairy Stock. 
Registered CALVES, BULLS and COWS. 
907 Liberty 8 t., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Farm, Edgeworth,P.F.W.&C.B.K 
/CHENANGO VALLEY STOCK FARMS, Greene, N 
.V* T.-Dut°h Belted and Jersey Cattle; Dorset and 
Ramboulllot Sheep; Poland-Chlna. Jersey Red and 
Suffolk Pigs; White and Bronze Turkeys. Peafowls 
and Blooded Chickens. J. D. VAN VALKKNBURGH. 
For Sale Clicap-JoT^soid 8157 BULIj CALFt 
A. CULBERTSON. Knox, Clarion County, Pa. 
Have you bought a Roar ? 
Wlllswood Herd 
Recorded Berkshire Swine. 
WILLS A. SEWARD, Rudd’s Lake, N. J. 
Reg. P. Chinas, Berkshires 
and C.Whites. Positively hard 
times prices. Spring Pigs eight 
weeks old. not akin. Boars 
anil Sows, all ages. Sows 
„ „„ bred. Pure Poultry Pays. 
HAMILTON & CO. Cochranvllle, Chester Co., Pa. 
P OLANIJ-CIIINA PIGS, formerly sold for $10, 
reduced to $7, caused by the depression in farm 
produce, and not from being overstocked. Orders 
booked. F. U. Gates & Sons, Chittenango, N. Y. 
75 Head o f Registered Chester Whites 
now ready for shipping, from 
two to eight months old, 
Hired by my prize boars, 
Chester 2nd 0017, Eureka 
King 8981, George R., 7359, 
and out of choice reg. sows 
a „ Order soon and get the best. 
Send 2-cont stamp for catalogue and prices. Come 
see my stock and select for yourself. EDWARD 
WALTER, Eureka Stock Farm, West Chester, Pa. 
EGGS 
that will hatch, $2 per 13. P. Rocks, Wyan 
dottes, Mlnorcas and Pekin Ducks—business 
breeds of America. Satisfaction or money back. Best 
Is cheapest. Brookslde Poultry Farm, Columbus, N J 
Rftflk FrPiP 22 Poultry —Buff and other 
wuu niAi breeds. Eggs $1 per 13; $8 per 100; 1.000 
prizes won. DAVIS BROS., Box I)., Washington, N.J. 
VERY BEST 
Buff and W. P. Rocks. Brown Leg¬ 
horns and Polish. My Show record, 
egg basket and scales proves It. 15 warranted eggs, $1. 
Circulars. JOHN BRUCKART, Lttitz, Pa. 
BIG MONEY IN POULTRY 
llPet Stock and Incubators if oonduoted 
(according to "The Chautauqua 
‘ Guide to Big; Profits "lust oat and 
sent postpaid with oar 1897 Catalogue 
for 4c to help pay postage, etc. Best eggs 
and stock cost no more if pnrchaseaof 
us, yon can then sell yonr product to 
j,UR and thousands others for high fancy prices. 
nWr own 300 acres most elegantly adapted to 
* poultry. CHAUTAUQUA POULTRY A 
PET STOCK FARM.BOX 14 KENNEDY,N.Y 
INfWUTftlW Self-Regulating. Catalogue free. 
a HIVGHIR r,rriim,iAn nh 
YMIR IIFNQ are l° us y unless you do 
■ VJUII M LUO something tc prevent. 
Ub6 Lambert’s Death to Lice to keep 
them clean and comfortable, It's a disin- 
fectant insect powder for poultry vermin, 
etc. Hook free. Sample 10c. 100 ozs. expr. *L 
D. J. LAMBERT, Box 807 Apponaug, R. I. 
SAUMEWIG1 I 
Made on the best lines, of the 
best material known to the art. 
HEATS WITH HpT WATER 
Entirely automatic: will hatch i 
every egg that can be hatched. 
Simple, durable, effective.Scmi 2 
stamps for illiutruied catalog No. 28- 
INVINCIBLE HATCHER CO 
SPRINCFIELD, OHIO. 
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AN ACRE 
Can only be made from one source T > OTJl 4 f TR F. Wheat and corn do not pay by comparison. You 
may smtle, but have you ever tned keeping poultry right. The egg basket is a handy source of 
revenue these hard times. TH E POULTRY KEEPER,Box &PARKESBURC. Pa. 5 °cts. a year 
tells how it is done. Sample free. The paper i year and four grand Poultry Books, $i. Write to-day. 
LICE 
mail soc. For sale by all relial 
THYMO-CRESOL 
Fleas, Ticks, Scab, Mange and 
other parasitical troubles. ‘‘The 
Cold Water Dip,” recommended 
and used by the leading Breeders and Veterinarians all over the 
world; non-poisonous. Mixes instantly with cold water. Sample by 
For sale by all reliable dealers. Lawkord Bros., Baltimore, Md., Sole Agents for U S 
AMERICAN LIVE-STOCK COMPANY 
will buy any purebred animal needed on your farm. SPECIAL FACILITIES in securing freight and 
other charges. Close connections with breeders in the United States and England enable this 
company to make exceptional selections at reasonable prices. Address 84 State St., Mew York. 
A3U Refers by permission to The Rukal New-Youkek. 
