1901. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
8i9 
A WOMAN AND HER HENS. 
Success with Farm Poultry. 
On page 7^7 Mrs. Howard Smith, of Connecticut, gave 
some advice to girls, and mentioned poultry keeping as a 
source of income. Siie has now prepared the following 
full statement: 
My hen house is a cheap affair, not costing over 
$15 when new, 12 or 15 years ago, but it is a good 
warm one, built of plain rough chestnut boards, two 
thicknesses of boards with building paper between, 
with a good cement floor. I use kerosene oil on roost 
poles and around the nests, so I never have any lice 
to bother with. My breed of poultry is nearly pure¬ 
bred White Wyandottes, as I have sent away to get 
good cockerels of that breed for a number of years, 
keeping my own hatched pullets, and I now have a 
beautiful flock of them. One can get good cockerels 
from the fancy breeders, not the prize winners, but 
good ones for $1.50 to $2 each. I have just received 
two good ones hatched in April for $4. 
I never keep my hens shut up. They have the full 
range of the farm, but we put wire netting around 
the garden to keep them out of that, unless in Winter; 
when we are having a really bad snowstorm, I keep 
them shut in their house till it is over. There is a 
large open shed next to the henhouse, where my hus¬ 
band stores his farming tools, and the hens have that 
to get under in bad weather, and there is where I feed 
them in cold weather. My feeding in the morning is 
two quarts of wheat (I get what is called No. 2 wheat 
at $1.10 a bag, called 100 pounds), and one quart of 
oats that have been soaked in water 24 hours; feed 
that hot in cold weather. At noon I give them one 
quart of dry wheat scattered under this 
shed to keep them busy scratching, when 
the weather is bad, so they cannot get 
out to range. At night all the corn they 
will eat up clean. I feed well, so I can 
kill them at any time 1 have a market 
for them, or to use in the family; the 
chickens I feed four times a day 
with wheat and cracked corn. 1 soak 
that in curd and whey, sour milk curd¬ 
ed, heated on the stove. 1 turn off most 
of the watery part and mix the thick 
curd with the chicks’ feed. There is 
nothing that will make chicks grow like 
it. I try to hatch about 50 to 75 chicks 
the last week in March, or the first part 
ot April; that is all I can give good 
warm quarters to, as the little chicks’ 
house is small. I hatch by hens, and raise 
them by hens; make one hen take all 
the chicks that two hens hatch; that is, 
if she can cover them well. These early 
chicks I sell for broilers in June; they 
will weigh two or 2% pounds by that 
time, and I get 50 cents each for all I 
can hatch. The buyers come to the 
house after them. The later ones I 
save, the pullets for my own use, and 
for some customers who come every 
year to replenish their flocks. 
I do not hatch any chicks after May, 
as I do not like late ones. The little roosters 1 kill, 
or sell alive, and eat them in the family when want¬ 
ed. My number is about 150 chicks each year; not 
a large flock. I do not believe in old hens, but do keep 
12 or 15 till they are two years old, never any longer. 
I get rid of them before they begin to moult, the lat¬ 
ter part of the Summer, and stock up with the pul¬ 
lets. I keep from 30 co 35 hens and pullets and two 
cockerels. I keep oyster shells by them all the time, 
give them warm water in Winter, also a basket of 
hayseed and rubbish off the barn floor, to scratch and 
peck over every few days. In bad weather in Winter 
you must keep them happy and busy if you expect to 
get any eggs from them. If I have it to spare in Win¬ 
ter I curd the sour milk and give the thick part to 
the hens. Last Winter I gave them some every day 
for three months, and how they did lay! I am get¬ 
ting now only eight or 10 a day; my flock is 12 hens 
that are one year old and 18 pullets. I uo not keep 
a large flock, as my henhouse is small, and if you 
crowd them they will not do well. One year I kept 
45, but did not get so many eggs from them as 1 did 
from the smaller number. Table scraps and vegetable 
peelings cooked are good for them if you have them, 
but on a farm there are dogs, cats and pigs to take 
them. Be on good terms with your flock, watch them, 
and study their wants, and they will pay you back 
with a good will. This is my statement for 1900: 
DR. 
27 bags corn, two bushels in bag. $26.00 
SOO pounds No. 2 wheat. 8.90 
800 lbs. cracked corn. 8.40 
300 lbs. oats . 3..87 
1 bag oyster shells.7r( 
2 cockerels . 3.00 
Total . S51.42 
CK. 
237 dozen eggs, 17 to .O.Oc. a dozen. $62.89 
68 pounds hens, IS to 20c. a lb. 10.75 
69'6 lbs. chicks. 20 to 25c. a lb. 1.5.08 
24 chicks alive, at .50c. 12.(X) 
45 pullets at 60 to 75c. each. ,30.35 
3 cockerels . 3.00 
Total .$134.07 
T’ront . $82.65 
I make no account of what eggs and poultry I use 
in the family of four or five, as I set tiiat down 
against the trouble in caring for them, and I think 
the poultry work the easiest of all the work I have 
to do. MRS. HOWARD SMITH. 
Connecticut. 
NOTES ON OLD AND NEW FEEDS. 
It is a little strange, and hardly understandable, to 
find in one creamery that the feeding of cotton-seed 
meal is strictly prohibited, and detective measures 
used lest some farmer slide in a bag once in a while 
unawares. Not a great distance from this creamery 
is another whose butter is sold in the same market, 
and at the same price as the first, where the feeding 
of cotton-seed meal is encouraged, and the manager 
buys it for his patrons by the carload, furnishing it 
at the wholesale price. The latter creamery buys all 
kinds of feed for its patrons, helping them in every 
way possible to reduce the cost of the milk, and co 
increase the patrons’ income. 
We have never known of so many auctions of farm 
stock and utensils as have been held this ball. High 
price of both coarse and concentrated feed, and low 
price for dairy products, have discouraged many farm¬ 
ers. Seven dollars per ton seems a pretty fair price 
for a feed containing only 18 pounds crude protein 
and 174 pounds carbohydrates. Yet we were offered 
such a bargain yesterday by a man representing a 
firm located in the New York Produce Exchange, 
sugar beet feed, otherwise known as beet pulp, re¬ 
fuse from manufacture of sugar from beets. It con¬ 
tains 10 per cent dry matter or about 160 pounds di¬ 
gestible matter in a ton; less than one per cent crude 
protein, no fat, and 8.7 per cent carbohydrates. When 
this man introduced himself as offering a new feed 
our first question was its analysis, and he replied he 
didn’t know. He said he had never been asked that 
question before. We found he had been selling this 
feed for seven weeks, and his stock in trade consisted 
of a smooth tongue and a carefully edited eight-page 
pamphlet loaded with testimonials, but telling noth¬ 
ing as to the composition of the feed. We took him 
into the house, showed him the analysis, and read to 
him a few paragraphs from Dr. Jordan’s book on 
“The Feeding of Animals,” where beet pulp is given 
a value “about half that of silage, and that full- 
grown animals will consume 100 pounds daily” (35 
cents per day). What an economical ration this year 
when feeds are high! We found out that he had sold 
a number of carloads to Connecticut Yankees, and 
had orders to stay in Connecticut until he had the 
feed firmly established. We must confess we are 
soriT for the dairyman who parts with hard-earned 
cash for such a feed at such a price. The retail price 
of this feed is $7 per ton; price to one dealer in a 
town $5.50 per ton. Unless farmers are near enough 
to the factory so that this feed can be bought at an 
expense not greater than $1.25 per ton we should let 
it alone. h. g. m. 
Connecticut. 
CORN FODDER FOR SHEEP. 
We have fed cornstalks for years, and consider 
them as indispensable as hay. We find them especial¬ 
ly useful for sheep when we do not have clover hay, 
and as a part ration with Timothy hay they have no 
equal. We would say that they are best for sheep 
and cattle, but are also good fodder for horses. Their 
usefulness depends much upon the time of cutting, 
curing and the method of feeding. To get the best 
results the stalks should be cut about the time that 
the grain is beginning to glaze nicely, but we have 
had excellent results also in their use, when we want¬ 
ed the crop of corn as well. In this case, we cut 
them when the grain has all or nearly all dented, 
shock immediately, and let them cure. They do bet¬ 
ter when cut with one of the corn binders, such as 
are now found in all the markets. As to the method 
of feeding, much will depend upon the conditions and 
circumstances of the surroundings. We feed shredded 
or thrashed, having long since given up the idea of 
feeding them in natural form. When shredded or 
thrashed, much more of the stalk is eaten, and, there¬ 
fore, it goes further and is cheaper. The refuse is 
still on hand, but it makes good bedding, then the 
best of manure, and is easily handled. Fed in this 
way then, it first serves an economical purpose as 
food, next as bedding, and finally as a by-product, 
the value of which must not be forgotten. Thus all 
the problems of handling and feeding are readily 
solved. The next question solves itself, for its stor¬ 
age capacity is so reduced that the question is scarce¬ 
ly to be considered. 
We have had excellent results in feeding oats with 
corn fodder, and I find that a good many 
are feeding the corn itself with it with 
good results. If it can be had without 
too much extra cost, one feed a day of 
Timothy and clover hay mixed would 
help its use wonderfully. Sheep do not 
like to be fed on all one thing, but 
thrive best on a variety of foods. When 
the feed can be varied, I would suggest 
that bran and oats make a splendid 
feed. One feed a day of roots is bene¬ 
ficial. A friend, who is feeding 6,000 
sheep this Winter, is feeding the corn 
on the stalk, just as it comes from the 
field, supplementing with oats for a 
change of grain. If help is high, and 
the fodder can be fed in an open field 
where the greater portion can be used 
without much loss, it may pay to feed 
without shredding or thrashing, but we 
could never succeed in its use in this 
way. Again, if an attempt is made to 
use the manure when fed in this way, 
the feeder will meet with serious diffi¬ 
culties which will probably discourage 
him in the use of it. Considering corn 
an average crop with help at the ordi¬ 
nary price, we would say that corn fod¬ 
der is an indispensable feed for sheep, 
cattle and horses. When fed shredded 
or thrashed, it goes further, is more 
easily stored, better handled, and we think becomes 
better feed. It can be fed with almost any grain, but 
for sheep, we would suggest oats and bran. Taken 
from an economical standpoint, corn fodder is one 
of the cheapest forage plants, and when the American 
people have learned this, one of the great problems 
in cheap, coarse feeds will be solved. 
Fillmore Co., Minn. johx c. mills. 
SMALL cow PEA START.—Last Spring I bought a 
five-cent package of Warren’s Extra Early cow peas, 
and they were planted on a high sandy knoll. They 
made a wonderful growth, and ripened a large quantity 
of seed. On one side of them were planted white beans 
(marrow, I think); on the other Soy beans. All did well, 
hut no nodules could be found on the roots of the white 
or Soy beans, while the roots of the cow peas were full 
of the largest nodules I ever saw. The ground was 
seeded to clover and Timothy which looks fine now, and 
I .shall watch next Summer to see whether there is any 
difference where the beans were. marvin fellows. 
Colorado. 
THE DILUTION “SEPARATORS.”-! was very much 
interested in the article in regard to the so-called water 
separators signed by E. D. R., and what H. E. Cook 
says about the dilution system. I have used an Aquatic 
cream separator three years; have never had to pay one 
penny for repairs. The first cost was $10. The cost of 
the centrifugal separator and power to run the same, 
either oil, gasoline or horse, will be about $350. The ex¬ 
pense to run any of these powers is no small amount; 
then the extra work added would more than offset the 
small amount of butter fat which H. E. Cook says is 
left in the milk. He also says that the chief disadvant¬ 
age of the dilution is spoiling the skim-milk. I have 
raised 10 calves each year that are worth, when five 
months old, $10 each; feed only the separator milk, and 
what feed they get in the calf pasture. The difference 
in the cost of the two .separator.s and the power to run 
them and keep them in repair would more than balance 
the butter fat that H. E. Cook claims is left in the milk. 
Talcottville, N. T. d. w. m. 
A YOKE OF PUREBRED JERSEY OXEN. Fig. 37’J. See Page 830. 
