83 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 18 
HOPE FARM ROTES. 
Roup cures come in from all over the 
country. It is likely that the disease is 
very widely spread. Most of the so- 
called cures consist of the usual appli¬ 
cations for colds and sore throats in 
humans, and a tonic in the food. We all 
know how each housewife has a favorite 
cold remedy. Last week, the little baby 
began to cough hard in the night. Doc¬ 
tor told us to put a little vaseline on 
the end of the little finger and smear it 
on the baby’s upper throat. It stopped 
the cough at once. I advise those who 
try it, however, to look out for the baby’s 
teeth ! Here is the latest roup suggestion: 
Try smoking your roupy bens for a couple of 
hours on the roosts, two or three times a week, 
with anything that will make a thick, suffocat¬ 
ing smudge, tobacco stalks, leather, horn or 
feathers, tar, and about a tablespoonful of sul¬ 
phur. Give them in soft food every morning, 
sulphate of quinine and copperas and red pepper. 
1 have what I take to be the roup—having nearly 
12 of my hens with one eye closed up, and not 
getting an egg. I have to keep them in the yard 
most of the time, and no way of separating. I 
tried everything I could read or think of without 
avail. Since using the above, I find that they 
have returned to their appetites, begin to sing, 
and are far livelier, and it does not seem to 
spread. J- c. 
Richmond, Va. 
I said last week that we had used a 
mixture of bran and dry meat for the 
mash in place of our regular balanced ra¬ 
tion. One morning, we found six roupy 
hens in one pen I They had been a little 
crowded, and we put in a new roost with 
one end close to the window. Several 
hens crowded up close to the window, 
and of course, they took cold. We are 
satisfied that bran and meat are “too 
strong” for a mash, and that a hen can¬ 
not safely sleep in a draught. We ought 
to have known that before—you say. 
We admit it, but we are going to tell 
our failures as well as our successes. 
There is but little disease in the hens of 
our own breeding. 
t t t 
Does it pay to buy live hens in the New 
York market ? We don’t know yet. The 
hens we have bought have not yet paid 
for the food they have eaten, but it would 
not be fair to discard them yet. Most 
of them are well-shaped, vigorous and 
clean. We did not find them as lousy 
as we expected. One lot were quite 
badly diseased, while the others were 
reasonably healthy. They were mostly 
poor and thin, and not very vigorous 
when we first brought them home. They 
compare very favorably with the com¬ 
mon stock found on the farms around 
us, and under good feeding, have greatly 
improved in appearance. We believe in 
these hens yet, and shall stay by them 
until June 1. Tney cost about 40 cents 
each on an average. At present, it costs 
about one-fifth of a cent a day to feed 
them grain. Fifty cents each will pay 
for their grain food up to June 1 , when 
we can sell them at an average of 35 
cents each if we like. How many eggs 
should a hen lay in 150 days ? Enough 
to bring 60 cents ? We shall see. They 
ought to get started pretty soon, though i 
t % t 
A good deal is being said about im¬ 
proved laying strains of hens. I am 
satisfied that many hens lay less than 
40 eggs during the year. We ought to 
breed from the best layers, if possible. 
Mr. 0. W. Mapes is working along this 
line. This is what he says : 
I have a June-hatched pullet that has laid 15 
eggs in 15 consecutive days. I purpose to spend 
my spare time this winter in selecting a breeding 
pen like her, that produce an egg eaca in 24 hours. 
Most hens require from 30 to 36 hours to develop 
an egg. Why cannot I establish a business strain 
of superior excellence in this way ? I expect to 
use a male from my hen that does not stop to 
moult in fall or winter. I had poor luck with her 
brood of chicks. She raised only three, and they 
are all roosters. She hatched her chicks July 7, 
and commenced to lay again when they were 
about four weeks old. She laid 40 eggs before 
becoming broody again, October 8. She yielded 
to treatment readily (jailing), and started in 
again October 13 for her winter’s campaign. Is 
it not about time to breed something better than 
feathers ? 
Better than leathers ? I should say 
so. ^Lets>somej.one come and* feed 150 
hens lor one month at a cost of eight 
cents an egg, and see what he will say 
then I We want the hen that feathers 
her nest with eggs. We mark the hens 
that begin earliest to lay, and shall put 
them in a separate pen for breeders. 
Only one of our black pullets has begun 
laying. This is a little chunky bird with 
something of the Brown Leghorn shape. 
In the 28 days ending December 5, this 
pullet laid 21 eggs, and she is still at it. 
This is the first pullet from the Black 
business birds, and we are satisfied with 
her showing. Her grain food cost six 
cents, and her eggs are worth 63 cents. 
Some of our poultry writers could make 
a great story out of that, but the facts 
are that this one little pullet is the only 
one out of 60 that is laying. It C03t, at 
least, $3 to feed grain to this flock during 
November, and the pullet earned only 
63 cents ! There are two sides to this 
poultry business. Just now, the dark 
side is on top. November and December 
are the idle months—the time for train¬ 
ing and recuperation, A man must put 
lots of good solid faith into the mash 
just now, and it won’t do to substitute 
faith for meat, either. Stay by the hen 1 
Don’t neglect her now 1 Her credit is 
good ! Stay by her ! h. w. c. 
LEGHORN HENS THAT LAY. 
HINTS ON BREED AND FEED. 
Mr. II J. Blanchard, of Groton, N. Y., 
has been highly successful with poultry. 
Starting with a small flock, he gradually 
increased as the business warranted, 
until he now has 600 birds. His methods 
differ somewhat from those of Mr. 
Wyckoff,as Mr. Blanchard has a smaller 
place, and has grouped his houses in 
yards on a hillside that would hardly 
be suitable for most cultivated crops. 
In a recent conversation with Mr. Blan¬ 
chard, we asked him why he preferred 
to keep White Leghorn hens. His reply 
was that he has found these birds hardy, 
active and bright. The pullets develop 
quickly. They are the best of layers, 
and they produce a large, white egg. 
His present season’s pullets are now lay¬ 
ing eggs plenty large enough to satisfy 
a fancy trade. 
“ Have you ever tried the Black 
Minorcas ? ” 
“ No, I have not, and I do not see any 
reason why they would be better for me 
than my White Leghorns. I understand 
that they are somewhat later than the 
Leghorns to mature, and do not lay 
quite so many eggs. Their eggs may be 
larger, but my Leghorns lay eggs that 
are entirely satisfactory to my cus¬ 
tomers.” 
“ But do you not find the White Leg¬ 
horn hen a nervous, high-strung bird, 
and very hard to keep quiet ? ” 
“Not as I have bred them with incu¬ 
bators and brooders. I do not hatch 
any chicks under hens, and I think the 
constant handling and watching that 
(Continued on next page). 
Free to Readers. 
Readers of The Rural New-Yorker 
will be pleased to learn that the great 
discovery Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp-Root has 
been so universally successful in quickly 
curing all forms of kidney and bladder 
troubles, that those who wish to Prove 
for themselves its wonderful merit may 
have a sample bottle and a book of 
valuable information both sent abso¬ 
lutely free by mail. Nothing could be 
more fair or generous than this liberal 
offer, and we advise readers to write 
mentioning The Rural New-Yorker, 
and send their address to Dr. Kilmer & 
Co., Binghamton, N. Y. Swamp-Root 
is the discovery of a great physician and 
scientist and as such is not recommended 
for everything, but will be found by men 
and women j ust what is needed in cases of 
kidney and madder disorders—or troub¬ 
les arising from weak kidneys, such as 
gravel, rheumatism, pain or dull ache 
in the back, too frequent desire to pass 
water, scanty supply, smarting or burn¬ 
ing in passing it. Swamp-Root stands 
the highest for its wonderful cures. 
The regular sizes are sold by druggists, 
price fifty cents and one dollar.— Adv. 
The Improved U. S. Separator 
Excels all others 
Its increased product pays for itself 
in a short time 
“ It paid for itself the first year.” 
Highgate Center, Vt., Jan. 15, 1897. S. W. Russell. 
“ ‘ Uncle Sam ’ gets all the cream every time.” 
East Sullivan, N. H., May 3, 1897. Albert Davis. 
“ The U. S. beats both the American and the DeLaval.” 
Croton City, N. Y., May 22 , 1897 . C. H. Bentley. 
“The Improved U. S. was making us $30 a month more 
than the Creamery could.” Gardner & Bly. 
Ashville, N. Y., April 8th, 1897. 
Changed from Baby No. 2 to Improved U. S. 
Cologne, Minn., July 12, 1897. 
After using the Baby No. 2 hand Separator I was in need of a larger machine, and 
upon thoroughly investigating the different kinds of Separators, 1 purchased an Improved 
U. S. No. 3. I find that it runs no harder than my old machine, although the capacity is 
more than double. The bowl is much easier to care for than the tin plates. The sim¬ 
plicity of the bowl, the high frame and enclosed gears, along with the excellent skimming 
done by the U. S. Separator, will commend it to all thinking prospective purchasers. 
Otto Mesenbring. 
SCIENTIFIC TESTS 
When reading above statements from practical dairymen, giving their experience in 
continued use of the Improved U. S. Separators, remember that if you require proof of 
efficiency, from scientific experimenters, we can give you an abundance of such records : 
Note a Few 
1897 1 
fests of Skim-milk 
Maine, 
Feb. 2 . 
.0.03 
Cornell, In 23 tests, Jan. 7 to Mar. 18 , 
“ 9. 
.0.04 
9 showed only.Trace 
Vermont, 
Jan. 13 . 
. 0.01 
>4 
“ “ 0.03to 0.05 
" 28 . 
. 0.02 
Wisconsin, 
Jan. 4 . 
0.03 
“ 29 . 
.0.03 
“ 5. * 
. 0.02 
“ 30 . 
.0.04 
“ 21 . 
.0.03 
New Hampshire, 
Feb. 18 . 
. 0.01 
South Carolina, 
April 23 . 
0.04 
“ 19 . 
.0.04 
“ 24 . 
0.05 
Massachusetts, 
Feb. 10 . 
. 0.01 
“ 30 . 
.0.04 
“ 12 . 
.0.03 
Michigan, 
Mar. 10 . 
0.05 
Illinois, 
Mar. 12 . 
. 0.01 
“ 10 . 
.0.05 
“ 15 . 
0.005 
May 19 . 
0.06 
Ohio, 
Jan. 15 . 
. 0.02 
Nebraska, 
Jan., 1897 , to 
Feb. 2 . 
. 0.00 
Mar., 1897 ... 
.0.05 
“ 15 . 
. 0.02 
Hinnesota, June, 
*5 
O 
O 
O 
© 
ON 
oc 
0.02 
18 tests 
not over. 
0.05 
Average of 9 runs. 
0.05 
Read the list and then note the testimonials from these very Stations, and the detailed 
records published in our pamphlets, which we furnish free on application. 
We want Agents where we have none. 
VERMONT FARM MACHINE COMPANY, Bellows Falls, Vt. 
CREAM SEPARATORS. 
De Laval “ Alpha ’’ and •* Baby ” Separators. 
JTIrst—Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sizes 
Prices, $50 to $800. 
Save 810 per cow per year. Send for catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph and Canal Sts., I 74 Cortlandt Street, 
CHICAGO. I NEW YORK. 
COOK Your FEED and Save 
Half the Cost—with the 
PROFIT FARM BOILER 
With Dumping Caldron. Emp¬ 
ties Its kettle In one minute. The 
simplest and best arrangement for 
cooking food for stock. Also make 
Dairy and Laundry Stoves, 
Water and Steam .Jacket Ket¬ 
tles, Hog Scalders, Caldrons, 
etc. fW Send for circulars, 
D. R. SPERRY & Co., Batavia. III. 
DOGS FOR SALE. 
All varieties of Thoroughbred Sporting, Hunting, 
House and Watch Dogs. Trained, untrained and 
pups. Bend stamp and state kind wanted. 
JAMES BETTIS, - Winchester, III. 
CARET FA RM KENNELS. 
Oak-tanned leather Harness 
Send your address with 2-cent stamp for Illustrated Catalogue, 
all kinds of Single and Double Custom-Made Harness, sold direct to 
the consumer at wholesale prices. WE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY. 
KING HARNESS CO., No. 9 Church St., Owe go, N. Y. 
WANTED, AGENTS, 
to sell to farmers the only Dividing Board for Mow*, 
ing Machines that will not drag grass in bunches. 
A good thing for fanners’ sons Send for terms to 
J. BORTON HAYES, Moorestown, N. J. 
■■eef Coolers ani Tank Heater? 
BEST AN D CHEAPEST ON EARTH 
AM You* Dial** or. S»D TO C. 
70* CxacUiA*. 
Keonoay Hfg. Co., Homer, Hleh. 
TRUCK FARMs^i 
A valuable farm, 15 acres. Centre city of 10.0.0. 40 
miles from Philadelphia—city lot and residence. 
Will ba sold cheap. lor particulars, address _ _ 
J. D. Box 169?, Pwladalphis. 
