382 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 5 
Live Stock Matters 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
SOMK EXPERIENCE WITH HENS. 
The object of giving the results of 
operations at Hope Farm, is not to re¬ 
cord successes alone, but rather to give 
exact accounts of farm operations, which 
may, possibly, result in failure. We find 
farmers quite ready to record successes, 
but they are often silent about failures, 
without thinking that it is only by 
bringing the failure out into the light, 
that it can be brought up to a success. 
We started early in March to obtain 
as large a flock of laying hens as we 
could conveniently get together by fall. 
The first purchase was a breeding pen 
of 10 black birds from Mr. A. Johnson, 
whom our readers will remember as the 
“One-IIorse Jersey Farmer.” The orig¬ 
inal stock of these black birds was a 
cross between the White and Brown 
Leghorn made several years ago. From 
the eggs resulting from this crossing, 
were batched a number of large black 
birds, of pure Leghorn blood. These 
hens were mated with a Minorca cock, 
and Mr. Johnson has kept them separate 
from his other stock, believing them to 
be better layers and larger birds than 
either the Whites or the Browns. We 
bought them because of their fine ap¬ 
pearance and because of their good egg 
record. We have mated them with a 
young Minorca cock, and have kept 
them in a separate pen, for the purpose 
of learning just how many eggs 10 hens 
will lay during their natural life. They 
were kept in small quarters in town 
until May 1G, when they were moved 
out to the farm. We purpose to call 
this strain Black Business Birds, and to 
breed the hens alternately with Black 
Minorcas and Brown Leghorn cocks. 
In 30 days of March, these hens laid 
121 eggs. For the first week after we 
got them, they laid only one or two 
eggs per day, as a change in quarters 
always seems to affect such birds injur¬ 
iously. In the 30 days of April, they 
laid 175 eggs, and the 16 days of May, 84 
eggs, making a total of 380 eggs in 76 
days, or an average of exactly five eggs 
a day. We do not pretend that there is 
anything remarkable about this egg rec¬ 
ord. The hens had been laying for, at 
least, two months before we bought 
them. Only two of them have shown 
any inclination to sit thus far, and they 
were broken up without any trouble, 
and have, apparently, gone to laying 
again. As to feeding, we started with 
the design of preparing the simplest 
possible ration. We fed a morning mash 
of half wheat bran and half wheat 
middlings, with table scraps and dry 
bran at noon, and whole corn at night. 
During the past two weeks, we have fed 
in the place of the bran and middlings, 
the poultry food prepared by the II.-O. 
Company, and this, we think, has given 
us better returns than the former mix¬ 
ture. The 380 eggs laid till May 16, cost 
us less than $1.25 for food. We shall 
now begin a different ration containing 
meat and oil meal and, during the year, 
we purpose to try different combinations 
of foods in order to try to answer several 
important questions. 
The eggs from these hens were all in¬ 
tended for hatching, most of them being 
used in the incubator. Our experiment¬ 
ing has been done with a Prairie State 
incubator, of 100-egg capacity. For a 
starter, we put in 56 eggs, not of our 
own breeding. As a result, we hatched 
seven chickens. For the next run, we 
used 80 eggs of our own breeding, and 
20 from other flocks. The result was 35 
chickens from 57 fertile eggs. From the 
third run, with 100 eggs of our own 
breeding, we obtained 41 chickens from 
63 good eggs at the last testing. The rea¬ 
sons for our failures are slowly coming 
to us, and we shall discuss them later. 
We conclude that the trouble with the 
last hatch vs as chiefly that we kept our 
eggs too long, and did not handle them 
properly, before putting them into the 
incubator. We were anxious to obtain 
all possible chicks from this breeding 
pen, therefore, used some eggs that were 
20 days old. The dates of laying were 
carefully marked on the eggs, and we 
now find that most of those which failed 
to hatch were the oldest eggs. A very 
large proportion of the eggs put in the 
incubator within 10 days of their laying, 
have hatched safely. We have learned 
from this to put our eggs under hens 
about as fast as they are laid, and not 
to hold them as long as we formerly did. 
We shall now fill the incubator in a 
different way, and thoroughly test this 
matter of holding the eggs for more than 
10 days. 
It had been hard to account for the 
fact that 20 percent of these eggs proved 
infertile at the first testing. In theory, 
every egg from such a small breeding 
pen, with only 10 hens to one cock, 
should be fertile and strong. We notice, 
however, that many breeders make the 
same complaint, and we think that 40 
hens running with four cocks would 
give a larger proportion of fertile eggs 
than the same number divided into four 
pens. There seem to be several hens in 
the pen that are entirely neglected by 
the cock. We know that geese must be 
carefully mated before they will breed, 
and to some extent, the same matter of 
individual likes and dislikes seems to 
hold true of “chickens.” In a large 
flock, each individual seems to find an 
agreeable mate. In one small pen there 
seem to be some “ misfits.” 
We also conclude that our food ration 
has contained too much soft food for 
that, when their flocks are attacked in 
that respect, they diagnose all cases 
as “cholera”. Usually, they give no 
symptoms or details, simply stating, 
“ My fowls have cholera ”. 1 have, for 
30 years, made it a point to investigate 
all supposed cases of cholera, going to 
quite an expense at times in order to do 
so, but so far, have met only two cases, 
roup or indigestion having been mis¬ 
taken for cholera. In fact, cholera is a 
very rare disease. Overfeeding, espe¬ 
cially on grain, with no exercise, has 
caused many diseases incidental to such 
management, such as fatty degeneracy, 
enlarged liver, diarrhea, etc., whole 
flocks being affected because of the 
treatment in feeding, all individuals 
being alike. 
Cholera is a disease that sweeps quickly 
through a flock. It “ kills or cures ” in 
36 hours. There is no lingering illness 
or slow progression of the disease. In¬ 
digestion, on the contrary, may exist for 
weeks, and so may roup (really consump¬ 
tion, scrofula, etc ). The term roup 
covers a great many ills, and is not spe¬ 
cific in its application. Cholera may be 
noticed by large evacuations of a green¬ 
ish color, which are very watery and 
frequent. The fowl has intense thirst, a 
peculiar, anxious expression, and refuses 
all food, growing weaker rapidly, dying 
usually in 24 hours. If it survive 36 
hours, it recovers rapidly. The disease 
spreads among all the members of the 
flock, but few escaping. If disease ex¬ 
ists in the flock beyond the few hours 
in which it proves so destructive, it is 
not cholera. 
producing the most vigorous eggs. We There is no certain remedy, as it is a 
want to learn how to secure the great- germ disease. Medicines can be given 
est number of fertile eggs from this only through the agency of the drinking 
pen of Black Business Birds, and at the 
same time, obtain a large egg record. 
Can a hen prove a reliable breeder while 
being pushed to lay eggs rapidly ? We 
doubt it, but we are going to try to find 
out. We have had better success in 
nursing the little chicks than in hatch¬ 
ing them. We have lost but two thus 
far in our homemade brooders. More 
about them at another time. Is there 
any reason why a hen should ever fly ? 
We fail to see any, and we expect to 
keep the wing feathers of pullets clipped 
as fast as they sprout. h w. c 
NOTES ON CHICKEN CHOLERA. 
IS THE DISEASE liEALLY COMMON ? 
I have never had a case of chicken 
cholera on my place, therefore have had 
no experience in treating the disease, 
but like other diseases of poultry, it is 
much easier prevented than cured. I 
have never seen a case of cholera where 
the fowls had pure, clean water, good, 
sound food and plenty of grit. It is a 
mistaken idea that they will find enough 
grit when allowed free range, as all the 
suitable hard, sharp grit is soon picked 
up. The disease is much less frequent 
in this vicinity than in former years, 
when I have known some of our neigh¬ 
bors to haul the carcasses out by the 
cart-load almost. There is no doubt 
that the majority of people think their 
fowls have cholera when they have any 
kind of bowel trouble. True cholera 
may be distinguished by the greenish- 
yellow droppings, and by its quick 
work, as it usually kills within 48 hours ; 
while with indigestion or ordinary diar¬ 
rhea, they will linger for days and weeks, 
sometimes die, but mostly get over it. 
I have known the cholera to kill 15 or 20 
per day, and when once started, it usually 
keeps at it at about that rate while the 
supply lasts. j. e. Stevenson. 
One difficulty with farmers and others 
who are not familiar with diseases is 
water. Good results have been obtained 
by the use of a teaspoonful of liquid 
carbolic acid in three pints of drinking 
water, but nothing is reliable as a cure. 
(Continued on next page.) 
A man cannot run 
away from Death. 
If he would con¬ 
quer it he must 
stand and fight 
with the weapons 
of common sense 
and science. Thou¬ 
sands of men and 
women try to es- 
‘cape Death’s most 
active agent, con¬ 
sumption, by running away. They flee 
from one climate to another, and from one 
end of the world to the other, forgetting 
their demon is within them and not to be 
escaped from by a change of locality. Con¬ 
sumption has been pronounced incurable. 
It is not. It is curable and without change 
of climate if the proper remedy is resorted 
to, in reasonable time. 
q8 per cent, of all cases of consumption 
are cured by Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical 
Discovery. It goes to the seat of the troub¬ 
le. It cures all disorders of the digestion. 
It makes the appetite keen and the assimi¬ 
lation of the food perfect. It fills the blood 
with life-giving elements. It is the great 
blood-purifier, flesh-builder, and nerve-in- 
vigorator. It acts directly on the lungs. It 
not only cures consumption, but all other 
wasting diseases due to improper nourish¬ 
ment. All good druggist sell it. 
“ I have used one bottle of your * Golden Med¬ 
ical Discovery ’ and am now on the second one," 
writes Amanda E- Blankenship, of Templeton, 
Dyer Co., Tenn. "I am pleased to say that I 
have received more benefit from it than from all 
the medicine I have taken from our home doctors 
in the last twelve mouths." 
Whoever would like a complete medical 
library in compact form should send for Dr. 
Pierce’s Common Sense Medical Adviser. 
This is a book of 1,008 pages, illustrated 
with more than 300 drawings and colored 
plates. Dr. Pierce is one of the best known 
medical men in the United States. The 
best of what he knows is “boiled down ” in 
this book. He talks to you in plain En¬ 
glish of all the sickness you ever heard of. 
Several chapters relate to the physiology of 
woman’s reproductive organs. This book, 
until recently, sold for $1.50. At this price 
680,000 copies were sold. Now an enor¬ 
mous edition in paper covers is to be distrib¬ 
uted absolutely free. Send 21 one-cent 
stamps to the World’s Dispensary Medical 
Association, Buffalo, N. Y., to pay the cost 
of mailing only. If a copy in fine French 
cloth with embossed covers is desired, seud 
10 cents extra—31 cents in all. 
• Is’t so ? 
, , Don't idle 
and ask, 
i . BUT USE till f ° r 
Jacobs 
NEURALGIA, 
] | and you'll find out how quickly and surely it SOOTHES and CURES. ■ ' 
DE LAVAL “BABY” 
CREAM SEPARATORS. 
De Laval Alpha 
“Itaby” Cream .Sepa¬ 
rators were first and 
ever best and cheapest. 
They are guaranteed superi¬ 
or to all imitations and 
infringements. Endorsed by 
all authorities. More than 
100,000 in use. Sales ten to 
one of all others combined. 
Ail styles and sizes—$50.- to 
$225.- Save $5.- to $10.- 
per cow per year over any 
setting system, and $3.- to 
$5.- per cow per 
year over any imi¬ 
tating separator. 
Send for brand 
new “Baby” or 
Dairy Separator 
Cat alogue, N o. 257. 
containing a fund 
of practical dairy¬ 
ing information. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO. 
Randolph & Canal Sts., I 74 Cortlandt Street, 
CHICAGO. I NEW YORK. 
CREAM FOR ICE CREAM. 
When you want to make ice-cream 
you need good, sweet, 
and rich cream, free 
from froth. The most 
profitable way to get 
this kind is to do your 
own skimming with a 
Safety Hand Sepa¬ 
rator. It is easy to 
operate and increases 
the quantity of cream 
about 25 per cent in 
summer time. 
P. M. SHARPLES, 
West Chester, Pa. 
Elgin, Ill. 
Rutland, Vt. 
The Common Sense 
Milk Bottle. 
No rusty metal covers 
or twisted wire fasten¬ 
ers, less breakage, and 
can be washed abso¬ 
lutely clean and much 
quicker than any other 
milk bottle, avoiding 
tainted or sour milk. It 
is the handsomest, 
cheapest and best milk 
bottle ever offered for 
sale in any market. 
The Celebrated Thatcher’s 
Orange Butter Color 
Secured the only award of Medal and 
Diploma at the World’s Columbian Ex¬ 
position at Chicago, from the analysis 
of the Government Chemists and Ex¬ 
perts, also Thatcher’s Cream Cheese Color. 
For circulars and Price Lists, send your address 
to Thatcher Mfer. Co., Potsdam, N. Y 
THE PERFECTION 
MILK COOLER 
AVI) AERATOR. Latest 
and Best. Why? Because 
It is low down. It has 
the greatest cooling sur¬ 
face. It is cheap! Cost¬ 
ing no more than In¬ 
ferior coolers. Circulars 
and prices. 
L. II. LEWIS. 
f>0 Main St. Cortland N Y 
THIS HORSE POWER 
Is our Internal Double Geared Two-Horse 
Tread Power with Speed Regulator. 
Our F 
Book on Powe. 
It is the acme of perfection in tread 
powers, and just the thing for the fanner 
who wants a good power for running 
his Cream Separator, Churn, Cutting 
and Shredding Fodder and 
KtiNllage, Shelling Corn, 
Grinding drain, &c. 
A tread power is saf o 
and economical. 
Can’t blow up or 
lire your buildings; 
does not consume 
coal; don't even re* 
quire a man to 
drive as do the 
down powers. Man 
and beast B 0 TII 
* WORK INDOORS. 
ST. ALBANS FOUNDRY CO., ST. ALBANS,VT. 
Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Swine. 
Geo. W. Curtis, M. 8, A. Origin, History, 
Improvement, Description, Characteristics, 
Merits, Objections, Adaptability South, etc., 
of each of the Different Breeds, with Hints on 
Selection, Care and Management. Methods of 
practical breeders of the United States and 
Canada. Superbly Illustrated. About 100 full 
page cuts. Cloth, 82. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, New York. 
