37o 
FARMERS’ CLUB-DISCUSSION. 
Will Chickens Pay? 
C. J. G., Nebraska City, Nebraska.— 
This is a question which has agitated a 
considerable portion of the agricultural 
community for many years, and it has been 
answered in all sorts of ways, and every 
fresh attempt to give a decided answer to 
it is read with interest. Such an attempt has 
been made by the Rural’s correspondent, 
“A. J.” and his reply is such a loud and 
positive “NO,” for every farmer in this 
State, at least, that, if they all take it 
seriously, it is plain that they will cease 
to rear chickens except as a luxury, or for 
amusement. Eggs here will not fetch in 
trade quTte one-third of what this corres¬ 
pondent gets for his. In fact, they 
have been sold at retail for the last six 
weeks or two months at the rate of 25 
cents for three dozen. I believe there have 
not been 60 days in the last two years when 
one dozen could not have been bought for 
10 cents in this city ? The daily receipts 
for the produce of 425 laying hens would 
therefore have to be cut down to $1.30. It 
might easily be less. Now, as to the cost: 
“A. J.” says his daily mess of half a 
bushel of small potatoes, four quarts of 
pork scraps (he must live near a packing¬ 
house), meal, middlings, ground bones, 
charcoal, Cayenne pepper, and fuel to boil 
the stuff, together with an evening feed 
for 500 birds, consisting of wheat, oats, 
corn and buckwheat, without reckoning 
the hay, costs him only one dollar. Well, 
as may be inferred from what I have 
already said, prices are low in these parts. 
During the cold weather corn was con¬ 
sidered to be worth more to burn for fuel 
than to be kept for such a market as it 
seemed likely to command. But I do not 
think a Nebraska farmer could feed his 
chickens in this way at a lower cost than 
stated by the Rural N kw-Yorker. I even 
doubt if he could do it for so little. But, 
for the sake of argument, we will admit 
that he can save 20 cents on the cost of the 
feed and fuel. Then he will have the mag¬ 
nificent profit of 50 cents a day for 
work which, as “A. J. ” admits, will oc¬ 
cupy the whole of one man’s time 1 If he 
can utilize or sell the results of his bi¬ 
weekly cleanings he may set the returns 
under that head against interest on the 
plant, and the outlay for repairs, and the 
losses by sickness or death, and to help 
him through the coldest months we will 
make a liberal allowance . of “cock-a 
leekie,” as the Scottish farmers call it, or, 
if he prefers it, for superannuated hens first 
stewed and then roasted. He will probably 
be hungry enough to eat them any way 
they may be cooked, “three times a day 
for 30 consecutive days.” But it’s a pity if 
even raising corn will not bring him better 
returns than this. Could not some one of 
the Rural’s correspondents tell us what 
•would be the result if the same quantity of 
food were distributed among a proper 
number of swine instead of among 500 
chickens, and what the net profits would 
be ? It would certainly be a good deal 
more than such “ chicken-feed ” as 35 dimes 
a week! 
R. N.-Y.—No doubt swine will pay better 
in Nebraska. In New Jersey swine might 
ruin the farmer. It is purely a matter of 
selecting the most economical sort of 
stock. There are doubtless places in the 
world where it will pay to keep elephants. 
There are also places where Bantam hens 
can be made to support a family, while 
larger stock would ruin it. Put the 
millions who live in New York, Brooklyn, 
Newark, Jersey City and Paterson within 
20 miles of our friend’s Nebraska farm and 
he might learn more about the value of 
chickens as money-scratchers. It is safe to 
say that if “A. J.” lived in Nebraska he 
would not depend upon chickens for a liv¬ 
ing. He would probably find the best pay¬ 
ing stock however. 
Some Ensilage Experience. 
John Gould, Ohio.— Prof. Wing, on 
page 324 of the R. N.-Y., speaks of having 
had more or less trouble with the carrier 
of the silage cutter, because it did not work 
properly. I have a carrier 34 feet long on 
my cutter, and would have trouble, but for 
the fact that I put a 20-feet-long slide board 
under the carrier for the chain and buckets 
to slip down upon. When the machine is 
running very fast—600 revolutions per 
minute—there is a fearful sway and swing 
to the chain and buckets in their uncon¬ 
trolled descent; but when they slide down, 
there is no reason for any “slipping.” 
Considerably more slack can then lie taken 
out of the chains, and the work will be 
smoother. I would respectfully suggest to 
the manufacturers that the carrier be made 
THE RURAL N 
double, as then it can often be put up into 
a window or door, and run with safety, 
when, if there were no return slide it 
would be impossible to do so, owing to the 
sag in the chains, and their striking on the 
sides or against other objects, The profes¬ 
sor’s conclusions are in line with my own 
observations. The best silage is not, as a 
rule, made from fodder that has been al¬ 
lowed to dry very much. I am not con¬ 
vinced that allowing it to wilt is the best 
plan. Had the professor, when he filled in 
the dryish fodder, sprinkled it with water 
at the rate of about 10 gallons to the ton, it 
would have become heated and settled into 
a quite compact layer, and turned out far 
better, but not as well as if it had been cut 
fresh. This is the experience of Edgar 
Huidekoper, of Pennsylvania, who, last 
year, put up over 100 tons of shocked field 
corn by this plan. 
Last winter my work team were fed 
about 18 pounds of corn silage per day, and 
no grain, save four quarts of fine middlings 
to each horse per day. They wintered ex¬ 
ceedingly well, and were troubled with no 
colic or cerebro-spinal meningitis, nor did 
they act as if they wanted any disease to 
attack them as an excuse against a partial 
silage diet. 
Wild Cherry Trees and Tent Cater¬ 
pillars. 
J. H. G., Barrington, R. I.—It is known 
that tent caterpillars, so destructive to 
apple orchards, make their homes upon 
wild cherry trees. I have had much dis-- 
cussion as to whether these cherry trees 
should be cut down or left to serve as traps 
for the insects. The following note sent 
me by Prof. Riley, of the Department of 
Agriculture may prove interesting to 
others : 
“The answer to your question depends, 
I should imagine, largely upon the num¬ 
ber of wild cherry trees in the vicinity of 
your orchards. Supposing that the wild 
cherry trees are numerous and that the 
caterpillars are allowed to breed upon 
them unmolested, the numbers of the pests 
will undoubtedly increase upon this, their 
favorite food plant, and the overflow will 
spread to the orchards. If, however, the 
number is very small, it will pay to allow 
them to remain, provided some measures 
are taken for destroying the worms as fast 
as their tents become perceptible. Where 
there are only a few wild cherry trees they 
will always be infested, and the moths 
will always lay their eggs upon them in 
preference to other trees. On account of 
their small number they can be readily 
watched and easily treated by burning the 
webs or by arsenical poison. I should 
think, then, that it is an advantage to have 
a very few wild cherry trees near an 
orchard and a disadvantage to have a large 
number. The eggs are so easily seen on 
the cherry trees in winter that the pruning 
and burning of these is one of the best 
preventive measures.” 
“ Do Animals Fed on Silage Require 
Warmer Quarters than those 
Eating Dry Feed?” 
Secretary J. S. Woodward, Lockport, 
N. Y.—While Prof. Roberts’s laconic answer 
NO, to the question of “G. L. F.,” on page 
319 of The Rural New Yorker, “Should 
cattle fed on silage, be kept in warmer 
stables than those fed on dry feed ?” is 
exactly correct, I cannot but think that it 
conveys to the mass of readers an erroneous 
impression and would mislead them to 
their loss, a thing which I am sure no one 
would regret more than the Professor, and 
I am therefore constrained to offer the fol¬ 
lowing explanation. 
The real fact is (and in this I am sure the 
Professor and I would fully agree), that all 
cattle, no matter what the feed given, 
should be kept in warm quarters. By this 
I would mean quarters not below 55 or 60 
degrees, and it is in this view of the case 
that the Professor’s answer is correct. 
But if “ G. L. F.” had reversed the ques¬ 
tion, and had asked, “ Can cattle fed on 
silage endure the cold and exposure of 
winter with as little harm as those eating 
dry food ?” I am sure the Professor would 
have answered as now, “No.” Yet the 
answer would have conveyed the directly 
opposite impression to his present one to the 
general reader. 
The truth is, that animals eating suc¬ 
culent feed, no matter whether silage, roots 
or cooked feed, take into their organization 
a larger quantity of moisture and require 
warm quarters to eliminate it, and cannot 
be exposed to cold without serious injury. 
Were it possible for an animal to crop a most 
luxuriant clover pasture exposed to zero 
weather, it could not do so and live very 
long. The Good Father, knowing this, com- 
E W-YORKER. 
pelled the cutting and curing of forage be¬ 
fore it could be kept for cattle feeding in 
cold weather, and when we change the 
conditions, so as to give the cattle summer 
feed in winter, we must also provide for 
giving them a summer temperature in 
warm stables. 
To the second question, as to “whether 
it would injure such cows to let them out 
into a yard (a cold one I conclude) to 
drink ?” his answer is again correct but 
misleading Although silage-fed cattle will 
not drink as much as those having dry feed, 
and consequently would not seem to be as 
liable to injury by drinking cold water in 
a cold yard, still I insist that under no cir¬ 
cumstances should they ever be turned out 
into the cold, even for a short time. My 
advice is, if it be impossible to provide 
warm quarters for the cattle and then keep 
them there, it is better not to feed succuleut 
food to even a very moderate extent. 
Trees with Purple or Yellow Foliage. 
Isaac Hicks, Westbury Station, L. I. 
—The purple plum (Prunus Pissardii) is 
pre-eminently the most perfect purple tree 
we have, holding its color until killed by 
frost. Purple beeches are very rich and 
showy now ; but late in summer they fade 
to a dingy hue. Schwerdler’s and Reiten- 
bachi Maples also lose their color late in 
the season. Purple Birch is worthless with 
us; Purple Barberry retains its hue fairly 
well—a showy bush. Golden Elder makes 
a fine appearance on the lawn ; so does the 
Golden Spirma.and also the Golden Syringa 
(Philadelphus). There is a new variety of 
the Golden Spirooa still better than the S. 
aurea or Hookeri. The Golden Poplar is 
of little worth, being a poor grower and de¬ 
ficient in leaves. The Golden Willow is 
quite pretty in winter. The Variegated 
Weigel h, and privet are desirable for a 
variety, but their go.den color changes in 
autumn, except that of the privet, which 
assumes a rich shade of green, red and yel¬ 
low. Indeed there are plenty of kinds to 
select from. 
Pyrethrum in Canada. 
A. L. Jack, Chateauguay Basin, 
Quebec. —We received the Pyrethrum 
or Persian insect powder seed from the 
RURAL six years ago. It has been planted 
and transplanted and never fails to come 
up and flower in early June, often earlier. 
The children call the gay flowers pink 
daisies and find great delight in them. 
It seeds itself and the young plants live 
through our rigorous winters, and come up 
in the spring, growing strong for blooming 
the second year. It is in a bed of hyacinths 
bordered with crocus and snowdrops These 
are all away before the pyrethrum is far ad¬ 
vanced and they seem to suit each other 
well. But when they do so well in this 
province of Quebec there can be no doubt 
of the hardiness of the plant. 
M. F. C., Orange County, N. Y.—Read¬ 
ing an article on notable trees in a late 
Rural reminds me of something very sim¬ 
ilar I saw years ago in Jacksonville, Flor¬ 
ida. Growing on the same tree, (a wild 
orange) were lemons, bitter oranges, sweet 
oranges, and shaddocks. The last is like an 
orange in shape and color, only as large as 
a cocoanut. I also learned what I believe 
few people at the North know—that bananas 
grow all pointing up. 
On page 304, first column, we are told 
about potato planting and culture. I have 
of late years planted and cared for my pota¬ 
toes as follows: I make the furrows as 
usual, drop the cut pieces and cover them 
by means of the harrow turned on its back 
and run across the rows. When the plants 
first break the ground, with the same har¬ 
row, teeth down, I harrow the whole piece, 
and do it again when the plants are three 
or four inches high. Then I cultivate twice 
with a cultivator and that is all they need 
except the regulation “bug pisen.” 
Comfort for Cattle means more than 
hay and feed. It means a good stall, a 
warm, dry bed, light, plenty of fresh air. 
and a certain amount of freedom in the 
stall, something different from the rigid 
stanchion. Thus writes the experienced 
John Gould in the Philadelphia Weekly 
Press. 
Two years ago when he built his new 
cow barn, he made a study of all these 
matters, and after two winters’ experience 
he would not change a feature of the plan. 
The basement plan was discarded, and the 
TUNE 7 
barn is all of wood, save a low stone foun¬ 
dation wall, that rises one foot above the 
ground. The walls are built double, with 
a six inch air space. Matched boards were 
used on the inside as well as the outside, 
and tarred paper was put upon the stud¬ 
ding besides. 
A large window is placed each eight feet 
on the two sides, and the south end, so that 
if there is any virtue in a “sun bath” for 
cows, they enjoy it. Instead of one main 
central ventilator, there is a 3xl2-inch 
opening at the side ot the building each 
eight feet, that carries off all bad air. 
He has no timber and plank floor. The 
cows stand on the clay, save their hind 
feet, which are on a plank 14 inches wide, 
spiked to the inner edge of the gutter. 
This clay soon becomes very hard and is 
dry and warm. It allows no frost or chill¬ 
ing blasts to come up from below, and his 
cows never get footsore. There is a par¬ 
tition extending back from the manger 
three and a-half feet between every two 
cows, making a half box stall six feet four 
inches wide, in which two cows stand, tied 
with Dutch halter chains about their necks. 
This allows them not only considerable 
freedom of movement, but a chance to lie 
down in a natural position and rest in the 
greatest comfort. 
The difficulty in all stables is the liabil¬ 
ity of the cows to become soiled during the 
winter, even if bedded with the greatest 
care. This Mr. Gould solved by making 
the gutter quite narrow, and setting it 
back four feet nine inches from the manger. 
On the far side a very wide plank was laid 
and spiked to the gutter with a fall of one 
and one-half inch to the drop. The 10 
inches slack of the chain enable the cow to 
step back over the gutter if she chooses, and 
quite an amount of soil is left there, which 
is quickly pushed into the gutter at any 
time. All fluid finds its way to the gutter, 
as the inside plank has a littie pitch to it, 
as well as the other. 
The cows are vratered in their stables 
twice a day, from a tank that keeps the 
water at a uniform temperature of 50 
degrees. This has proved to be as well as 
warming the water to a higher degree. 
The cows have silage, clover hay, and fine 
shorts. They are always well and hearty. 
A sick cow, or one off her feed, has not 
been known for the last four years. Though 
in winter milk, these cows are in fine con¬ 
dition. Many of them even thus early have 
shed their old coats, and as soon as grass 
starts they will be ready for pasture. The 
cost of feed to each of these cows, is not 
far from : silage, $6 ; clover hay, $2; shorts, 
$6; total, $14: actual outlay in money, $8, 
not giving any credit for milk or manure, 
as an effect. 
RURAL LIFE NOTES. 
The sum total of the calculation of Mr. 
C. Woods Davis, of Kansas, foots up to 
show that before this decade is half spent 
all the products of the farmers will be 
needed in the country and will command 
good prices, and that farm lands will have 
greatly advanced in value. He finds that 
as early as 1894 the population will not only 
require the productions of all the land then 
likely to be under tillage, but of nearly 
4,000,000 acres more. Altogether the data 
given seem to give assurance that the day 
is not far distant when we shall export 
nothing which our farms produce except 
cotton, tobacco and animal products, and, 
of course, the volume of these exports will 
steadily shrink as home consumption in¬ 
creases. As different products are de¬ 
manded the farms will adjust themselves 
to the best paying crops, and meanwhile 
there must be a steady advance in prices.... 
When the dawn of this prosperity comes 
the editor of the Weekly Press is almost 
inclined to prophesy its continuance for¬ 
ever, for where are there fresh arable lands 
to conquer ? But, after all, the farmer’s 
chief business is with the crops of the 
present year, and it will hardly oe wise for 
him to bank very heavily on the hope of 
good times in the future. The wise man 
will hold fast to his land for a time, at 
least, and watch the unfolding of events, 
but he will not mortgage his farm to inau¬ 
gurate any costly improvements. 
Take the R. N.-Y.’s advice, friends, 
given often and earnestly during the past 
15 years, and do not cultivate your corn 
and potatoes deep after the plants are well 
out of the ground. 
The R. N.-Y.’s motto, after crops are up, 
is now, as it was 15 years ago, shallow and 
level culture. 
A Quincy, Mass., poultry man, who 
keeps hens, ducks and pigeons, and feeds 
them on “ city refuse,” challenges auy man 
