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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 10 
SOME MICHIGAN HENS. 
We keep about 50 hens mostly full-bred Leghorns, a 
sample of which may be seen at Fig. 95. They are non¬ 
sitters, so we keep a few common fowls to do the hatch¬ 
ing. I have the general supervision of the poultry, and 
think they return quite as good a profit for the expense 
and attention required as any stock on the farm. In warm 
weather they have the free run of the farm. In winter 
they are provided with warm, comfortable quarters, in¬ 
cluding dust and-gravel boxes. The food consists of a mix¬ 
ture of different grains with an occasional meal of boiled 
vegetables. During January and February last their 
rations consisted of a mixture of buckwheat, oats and 
peas. About the first of March wheat was given in the 
place of oats, and in a few days the number of eggs in¬ 
creased astonishingly. I mentioned this fact to my hus¬ 
band and attributed the increase to the wheat ration ; but 
he said it was undoubtedly due to the McKinley Tariff 
Bill, which affords such fine protection to the American 
hen. He says all birds are guided by instinct and never 
make mistakes. This may be so, but for the present at 
least I shall anchor my faith in the wheat-bin. Below is 
given the number of eggs for January, February and 
March, with the average price for each month. There is 
nothing uncommon of course in the outcome, but still it 
is fair, as the birds had no special care. We formerly 
suffered considerable loss in winter from the hens eating 
eggs; but a hint in the RURAL some years ago has en 
abled me to abate the nuisance. I simply build the nests 
in nail kegs or deep, narrow boxes fastened to the walls 
of the house several feet from the ground. 
No. of eggs, Jan. 360 Average price per doz... 80c. 
“ Feb. 580 “ “ “ .. 25c. 
“ March ....1,054 “ “ “ ..20c. 
Harrisville. MRS. J. E. A. 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Don’t feed your chicks with too much sloppy food. Make 
the staple article cracked wheat, and when you do feed 
bread and milk, drain it so that the milk will not run. 
If you want fertile eggs from your breeding pens, just 
see that your hens are kept busy. It is a very small task 
to litter the yards with hay or straw, and the good it does 
is hard to estimate. 
THE average farmer spends very little of his time in the 
poultry yard. Hesays: “ The wimmen folks tends to’em;” 
but he seldom forgets the basket of eggs when he gees to 
the country store to do the trading. 
When a farmer has a lot of fowls for sale, and you ask 
him the price, he says: “ Well, I don’t really know. What 
will you give ?” I generally reply: “ I will give you plenty 
of time to find out,” and go on about my business. 
A friend of mine who had a bad attack of the “ hen 
fever,” and who ordered a 300-egg-capacity incubator, 
said: “ Oh, I can manage it all right, for I understand a 
good deal about electricity but he didn’t know as much 
about the machine as he thought he did. He is out of the 
business now, and wants to swap the machine for a good 
“ purp.” 
Mr. E. O. Thiem, the veteran Golden Wyandotte breeder, 
of Vail, Iowa, and a man who has had considerable prac¬ 
tical experience in the management of fowls, says : “ Here 
is what I use in the place of oyster shells, and I will stick 
to it as long as I keep fowls in confinement. Give your 
fowls sand aDd plenty of it. I get a load of fine gravel, 
sift through a coarse sieve, fill a wash-tub half full, and 
pump it full of water; then stir it with a broom and 
keep pumping till the water runs off clear. I dump the 
sand on a few boards to dry: when dry, I store it in the 
feed-room. Every morning when mixing the soft food, I put 
in two good handfuls of this sand to each dozen fowls, 
and if I notice any bowel disorder among them, I give an 
extra dose of sand. If I have any birds that show signs 
of getting too fat, I separate them and give them sand. 
By following this advice you will never have any soft- 
shelled eggs.” 
I HAVE experimented with several of the best incubators 
manufactured, and my candid opinion i3 that 500 eggs can 
be hatched under hens better than in any incubator that 
has so far been placed before the public. I do not wish to 
be understood as claiming that eggs cannot be hatched in 
incubators, but I do claim that 500 chickens hatched by 
hens will be more healthy, stronger and better developed 
than the same number that have passed through the in¬ 
cubator. The incubator of the present day is a little too 
complicated to be placed in the hands of the masses, and 
cannot be depended upon for successful work without a 
great deal of care and attention. I may say the same of 
the brooders, for I have yet to find one in which I could 
place the same amount of confidence as in the old hen. 
To raise a large number of chickens successfully with in¬ 
cubators and brooders, one has to be an expert at the 
business, and has to expend considerable money in putting 
up the right kind of buildings, which is something that 
the masses are not prepared to do. Give me 40 hens and 
500 young chicks, and I will raise a larger percentage of 
them than if they were consigned to the tender mercy of a 
lot of spider-legged, hot-water machines. Nearly every 
person who attended the late poultry and pigeon show in 
New York City looked at and admired the incubators and 
brooders in operation, but I doubt if many of them heard 
that eggs were being smuggled into the machines after 10 
o’clock at night, and that those that would not, or could 
not hatch, were taken out. I cannot, of course, make an 
affidavit that this was done, but I saw considerably more 
smoke than what came from the incubators and brooders, 
and received very good evidence that such exchanges were 
being made every night during the show. c. B. 
READ, SEEN AND SPOKEN. 
Parasites and Tarred Paper.— Henry Hales, speak¬ 
ing of the general belief that if hen-houses are lined with 
tarred paper there will be no lice on the poultry, says: 
“This is a delusion: the tarred paper prevents the mites 
from spreading to the sides of the buildings, but it will not 
keep the nests and perches free. As to lice on the bodies 
and plumage, the tarred paper does not affect these kinds 
of parasites at all, as the odor from it is not strong 
enough to disinfect their bodies. The dust bath must be 
provided for this purpose.” 
Late Peas. —No vegetable proved more profitable iu 
the New York market last year than late peas. They 
were demanded just about the time when our melons be¬ 
gan to ripen, and it was impossible to supply the demand. 
The R. N.-Y. raised a small crop, but they mildewed so 
badly that the results were not satisfactory. We shall 
try it again this year, planting Telephones on warm, dry 
soil, so situated that it can, if necessary, be irrigated. 
The R. N.-Y. will be glad to have any of its friends who 
have succeeded in growing a crop of late peas tell how 
they succeeded, stating varieties, soil, dates of planting 
and treatment. 
“That Middleman.” —What shall we do with him? 
Now, I want to pass him by, but when my farm wants its 
ration of fertilizer, how can I do so ? I wanted to use some 
of a certain brand of fertilizer and wrote to the manu¬ 
facturers for the price. They sent me a circular giving 
their agent’s name, but on inquiry I could not find him. 
How much better it would have been had they sent me 
their price and dealt with me directly. Several neighbors 
and myself sent to another firm and bought five tons 
directly from it, thus saving agent’s commission. Will 
the Rural publish the names of the manufacturers of fer¬ 
tilizers who are willing to deal with farmers without 
agents’ assistance ? H. D. 
Greenwich, Conn. 
R. N.-Y.—We have not a complete list of such firms 
now and would rather make the list complete before pub¬ 
lishing any names. 
Paper Fruit Boxes. —Many readers are asking about 
the paper fruit packages now quite extensively advertised. 
The R. N.-Y. has not used them and it has not been able 
to learn anything definite regarding their value for long 
shipments. For use in near-by markets many strawberry 
growers find them useful. The general opinion seems to 
be that they are mainly useful for supplying what may be 
termed fancy trade, for which firm, solid, fresh berries are 
demanded. The paper peach baskets introduced some 
years since have never become popular, as the wooden 
baskets are very cheap and strong. The paper boxes have 
some friends, however. Here is a note from a Maryland 
subscriber who says : “I try to raise strawberies so as to 
make the most money with the least work. I never tried 
paper boxes; but believe they will be better for us than 
the baskets now used, provided they can be furnished 
cheap enough to be given away to buyers. My straw¬ 
berries are looking excellent; but the frosts of the first of 
the week killed lots of them; still enough will be left to 
pay; as peaches and pears are about all killed, strawberries 
should be a paying crop.” 
Fruits Against A Mortgage. —In these times when 
we hear so much about the dark side of mortgages, it is a 
hopeful sign to receive a note like this one, from a Mich¬ 
igan subscriber. 
“ I bought the farm on which I live about three years 
ago for $3,000. I paid only $1,400 down, and gave a 
mortgage for $1,600 with interest at seven per cent. This 
I have still to contend with on a 40-acre farm. I am only 
34 years old, and if I keep in good health I expect to pay 
off the mortgage in a few years; but it will take steady, 
well-directed labor and strict economy, governed by good 
practical business methods The farm is located seven 
miles northwest from Grand Rapids and half a mile from 
a post-office and rail-road station. I have planted about 
1,400 fruit trees and intend to make my money out of fruit 
growing. I have about 18 acres planted to small fruits : 
about two-thirds of them will come into full bearing for 
the first time the coming season. I was brought up to 
fruit growing: for my father, who lives about seven miles 
northwest from here, has grown from four to 20 acres of 
small fruits ever since I can remember; but with all this 
experience I take five horticultural papers besides the 
R. N.-Y.” 
Burning Stable Manure.— A friend in Iowa wants to 
know what benefit there is in burning dry stable manure 
in which there is considerable straw. The R. N.-Y. learns 
that a number of Western farmers actually burn their 
manure piles as they do their straw stacks. Such farmers 
keep their cattle in straw sheds during the winter. After 
several seasons' feeding, the manure, straw and stalks ac¬ 
cumulate iu such bulk that either the sheds or the manure 
must be removed. The result frequently is that the poles 
and boards of the sheds are taken to some other place; 
while the strawy manure is set on fire and the ashes alone 
are used on the soil. The benefit in this business is not 
apparent to one who has any use at all for manure. It 
saves hauling it out—that is the only benefit we can see. 
In burning manure all the nitrogen—the most valuable 
part—is lost. The ashes of the manure may be called a 
chemical fertilizer which contains no nitrogen. By burn¬ 
ing your manure, you avoid hauling many tons of water, 
while you lose, according to Prof. Roberts’s figures, nearly 
75 per cent, of the fertilizing value of the manure, besides 
the favorable mechanical effect it may have on the soil, 
and the good results it may effect in helping to make the 
latent fertility in the soil available as plant food. 
Japanese Persimmons.—A small portion of this fruit 
was sent to the N. Y. market from Florida during the past 
season, and found ready sale at good figures. It was a 
novelty, and the small quantity offered hardly supplied 
the demand of those who desired to test it. This year, 
many trees in Florida and California will come into bear¬ 
ing, and growers are afraid that it will be impossible to 
market the entire crop. Every new product must stand 
on its merits in this market. The people who would 
naturally buy this fruit will pay any price for what suits 
them, while they cannot be hired to take what they don’t 
want. There is every reason to believe that Japanese per¬ 
simmons possess the qualities necessary to render them 
popular. It is not believed, however, that a large quan¬ 
tity can be sold here this year. Indications point to a large 
crop of small fruits while the banana crop is unusually 
heavy. Again, a good portion of this season must be spent 
in showing the public what this new fruit is good for. It 
looks, therefore, as if the growers of Japanese persimmons 
had better not send large quantities of the fruit here this 
season unless they are willing to give a portion of it for 
advertising purposes. The Japanese make the fruit into 
marmalades and jellies and also dry it, in which condition 
it is said to be superior to figs. If we are to grow this 
fruit on American soil, we should seek to utilize it so that 
there will be as little waste as possible. 
Feed the Soil.— Our readers will remember what was 
said about the fertilizer farmers of Cranbury, New Jersey, 
last year. These men have succeeded in competing with 
the West at growing wheat, corn and potatoes. Their suc¬ 
cess, from their own point of view, is due to the fact that 
they use more fertilizers than their neighbors. The more 
money they spend for fertilizers, up to a certain point, the 
more they make. This idea of spending more in 
order to make more is a new one to many farmers. 
One would hardly expect it to find favor in districts where 
“ abandoned farms ” are to be found, yet the following 
note from Central New York is but one of many we have 
received: 
“ In our own neighborhood many farms have been vir¬ 
tually abandoned on account of non-productiveness, and 
others are in train for the same result.Grain has not paid, and 
hay being about the only money crop, has been extensively 
raised and sold. As a result, farms are showing the effects 
of the removal of fertility without any compensating 
return. There must be a change in our ways, or the West¬ 
ern man who predicted disaster to Eastern farmers in a 
late Rural will be a true prophet. There will be a change 
as soon as the producer is convinced that he must feed 
the soil if he would gather crops. More commercial ferti¬ 
lizers were sold in this county last fall than ever before. 
It would seem that the Cranbury farmers had almost 
solved the problem. If there is a better solution than 
theirs, we expect to hear of it through the Rural.” 
Unsatisfactory Market Methods.— The following 
note from a reader who sells his small fruits in Scranton, 
Penn., will be considered sensible by many of our readers. 
What steps have you taken to co operate in selling your 
fruits this year ? The R. N.-Y. will be very glad to learn 
from any communities or associations that have attempted 
to regulate this matter. Another point is, how far can we 
go, with profit, in evaporating and canning our surplus 
fruits ? 
“ All being eager to get the first prices, we rush on the 
market to the ruin ot paying figures, giving the transpor¬ 
tation companies the benefit of our foolishness. It would 
be much better not to supply more than could be sold at a 
living profit. It would be better to put the rest in the 
compost heap as a fertilizer than to throw away time and 
money in getting it to market. In my brief experience I 
have found the market reports very unsatisfactory. Re¬ 
ports of to-day may tell of prices from 15 to 50 per cent, 
higher than one can get next day when his goods are 
offered for sale, and if induced by the high figures to send 
his goods to market, he must meet with a heavy loss. I do 
not hold my crop when it is ready for market, unless the 
prices are too low to pay expenses. Farmers should have a 
knowledge of the supply, and should regulate the sales in 
accordance with the demand. By so doing they might 
receive living prices, or keep their crops at home and make 
a better use of them. I believe this can be done by co¬ 
operative work. Suitable store-houses should be built iu 
central locations on a railroad, or, better, at railroad junc¬ 
tions, and suitable help should be employed to buy goods 
and fill orders.” 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address 
of the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question, please 
see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate piece 
of paper.] 
Cough and Skin Eruption in Horses. 
H. W. B., Ulster Hlghts, N. Y .—My 10-year-old mare is 
troubled with hives and coughs badly. I am giving 
her oil of tar and flax-seed oil—a pint of the former to a 
quart of the latter. She gets one table spoonful three 
times a day. I wet her feed ; but it doesn’t seem to help 
her. She is in the stable most of the time and in good flesh. 
How should she be treated? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
For the cough, apply a blistering liniment over the whole 
region of the throat, equal parts of strong aqua ammonia 
and sweet oil well shaken together. Internally give two 
or three times daily, after meals, one dram of solid extract 
of belladonna and four drams of nitrate of potash mixed 
with sufficient honey or syrup to form a thick paste, and 
smeared upon the back teeth and tongue to be swallowed 
at leisure. For the skin eruption or hives give an active 
physic, (six or eight drams of aloes with one half ounce of 
ginger) and follow with a bran mash diet until freely 
purged. Repeat the dose in 36 hours if not purged by the 
