394 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TUNE i4 
LOOKOUT 
ALMANAC 
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. 
JUNE. 
Monddy Ij0ok out that you keep the bolts 
_ on the cultivator teeth tight. This 
AU * sort of dentistry pays. The 
R. N.-Y. neglected to do this and lost the 
use of two cultivator teeth at a time when 
they were most needed. Look out that 
you keep the hoes sharp. Hoes are cutters 
and not scrapers. Carry a file in your 
pocket and use it on the hoe while you are 
** resting.” Look out for the near-sighted 
man hoeing among small plants. He will 
have to get down close to his work, and 
use his fingers. Look out for the little 
chickens this hot weather. Give them 
plenty of shade and cool water. 
Tuesday 
17. 
* 
* * 
Look out that you cultivate 
proper amount of 
We say a proper amount, mind you—not 
too much. A great many people haven’t 
half enough “ cheek.” The consequence is 
that they don’t stand up for their rights, 
and are thus deprived of their honest share 
of wealth, power and place. But don’t let 
your cheek grow too hard. Cultivate jus¬ 
tice and common sense, and learn to under¬ 
stand where your rights end and where the 
interests of your neighbors come in. If 
you permit yourself to be cheated simply 
because you will not stand up for your 
rights, who is to blame for it ? 
Wednesday Lookout for scoundrels who 
o play what we may call “the 
dear-old -horse ” game. Some 
kind-hearted farmer who has an old horse 
that he has owned for years and which is 
now past its usefulness, is visited by a 
benevolent stranger who tells a pathetic 
story of how in years gone by this old horse 
used to be in his father’s family. The ani¬ 
mal, when younger, must have performed 
wonderful feats of strength and endurance. 
It ran through the night to save the life of 
a sainted sister, etc., etc. Poverty at last 
compelled the family to dispose of the 
horse, but the stranger vowed that he 
would buy it back and keep it for the sake 
of old times. He offers to buy the horse 
and keep it as long as it lives. The farmer 
is glad to dispose of the animal on these 
terms as he doesn’t want to kill it and at 
the same time has no use for it. The 
stranger pays a small sum and the farmer 
gives a receipt. That receipt turns up in 
the form of a note. 
* 
* * 
Thursday Yll is * s N.-Y. Day. There are 
1 several articles in the issue that 
you ought to read. That one 
on the District School ought to hit you 
hard. How is the school in your district 
anyway ? What do you think about 10- 
cent butter and 16 cent cheese ? You should 
hear how loudly consumers call for small 
cheeses. That “ milk on the square ” busi¬ 
ness promises great results. How Stanley 
and his party must have suffered from 
lack of proper food 1 Suppose they could 
have carried quantities of this powdered 
casein and lactoserine ! Read about that 
plucky German girl in New Jersey. 
Pridav Shall we look out for parties who 
J desire to sell “diseased plants” of 
that well-known and despised 
weed *• liveforever ?” Quite a number of 
people ask this question. The facts in the 
case are as follows : Some farmers in New 
York State were greatly troubled with this 
weed in their fields. They discovered—at 
least so they claim—that the weeds were 
beginning to die off ; but let one of them 
tell about it in his own language; “ About 
10 years ago, a farmer in Texas Valley 
(now dead), had about two acres of ground 
completely covered with liveforever, so that 
he could not raise any kind of crop on it, 
not even grass. He dug the pest up and 
drew it away, but could not kill it out. He 
finally sent, 1 think, to Chautauqua County 
and got a plant of diseased liveforever and 
set it out in the plot, and ere long the pest 
was all dead. It will take about three 
years to do the work completely, although 
in two years the greater part of the livefor¬ 
ever will be destroyed. By whom the vir¬ 
tue of the diseased plant was discovered I 
cannot tell ; but I know that a specimen of 
diseased liveforever set out in a patch 
of healthy liveforever will destroy the vile 
stuff, root and branch. I sent a plant to 
Prof. B. D. Halstead of the New Jersey 
Agricultural Experiment Station, and he 
says he thinks the thing that does the 
work is a low form of mold or mildew. 
The diseased liveforever is nothing more or 
less than the common liveforever after the 
blight has struck it. In two or three 
mouths after the Infected plant has been 
planted among the healthy ones, the latter 
will begin to wither away, the stalks will 
begin to die just above the ground, while 
the tops are green. The disease will keep 
spreading and the plants dying.” It is pro¬ 
posed to sell the “diseased plants” to par¬ 
ties who have healthy plants to kill. 
* * * 
Saturday Tlie N - Y - wrote to Dr. Hal- 
^ _ stead to learn what he had to 
say about it. Here we have his 
answer: “ The liveforever disease has 
been under consideration all winter, and 
this spring some diseased specimens were 
obtained and planted beneath healthy 
plants. As yet no report of value can be 
given. There is a fungus back of it all, 
and how soon it will kill off the livefor¬ 
ever must be decided after more time has 
been given the experiment. Therefore 
nothing as yet is ready to be said upon the 
subject, so far as the trials here are con¬ 
cerned.” 
Poultry Yard. 
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION AND ITS 
DIFFICULTIES. 
In noticing complaints about incubators 
I find some very unfair criticisms. No 
faults are ascribed to the hen, and no 
merits are given to the incubators. If the 
hen breaks her eggs or tramples her chicks 
in the nest, the “accident” is only 
“ naturalbut should the incubator fail 
to hatch a majority of the eggs, no ex¬ 
cuses are in order, for it is intended to 
hatch, was purchased for that purpose, aud 
must not fail. Now, among hens there 
are good sitters aud inferior sitters. There 
are superior machines for all purposes and 
others not so good. There are plows 
adapted to some lands, and not suitable 
for other locations, aud there are mauy 
worthless implements of all kinds and 
makes and for ail purposes. I have been 
placed for years in a position in which I 
have received as many complaints of incu¬ 
bators as one would wish to handle. I 
have always noticed that nearly all who 
buy the machines procure the cheapest 
(that is, the lowest-priced) to be found, and 
when a failure results, instead of condemn¬ 
ing that particular incubator, the buyers 
condemn all. Some of the $10 saw dust 
boxes are sold extensively, simply on ac¬ 
count of the price, purchasers forgetting 
that if they added to the cost the price of 
50 chicks hatched and marketed, they could 
get a better incubator. That chicks cannot 
be raised in brooders is another claim made 
by those who use clap trap affairs. Bear 
in mind that brooders are intended for 
raising the chicks in vrlntcr. Those who 
kuow will indorse my opinion that if a hen 
can hatch ten chicks and can raise 
five of them to a marketable age, in 
January or any other winter mouth, she 
is doing well, and to do this is more 
difficult for 100 hens; yet the loss in such 
a case is 50 per cent. To give the hen 
credit for her work is proper; but hens do 
not perform much in the way of hatching 
aud raisiug chicks in mid-winter, aud al¬ 
though the hen may lay at that season, her 
eggs do not hatch as well as when she lays 
in spring or summer—the “ naturAl ” 
period. 1 can point to brooder houses that 
send from 1,000 to 4,000 chicks to market. 
There is some loss of young chicks, and 
hard work must be done to insure success, 
but it would take about 800 hens to raise 
4,000 chicks in winter, and if any one will 
calculate the work that would be necessary 
to care for the 800 hens and their broods, in 
the “ natural way,” he will not be long in 
finding out that, so far as the winter season 
is concerned, the artificial system is su¬ 
perior. I do not object to any of the draw¬ 
backs of the artificial method being pointed 
out. There is in it enough to contend 
with, and it can be improved, but the hen 
meets with no better success. She does 
not always bring off a full brood, or raise 
her chicks, and she demands care and at¬ 
tention also. She has no better friend than 
I, and I am as eager to praise her as 
others; but the incubator and brooder are 
worthy of places on the poultry farm, and 
should not be condemned by those who 
procure the incubator and brooder that 
sells for the least money irrespective of 
efficiency. p. h. Jacobs. 
Hammonton, N. J. 
NOTES. 
Best Breed for Mothers.— Out of the 
five different breeds we have tried this 
year, the Langshans have proved most 
successful. They are quiet and intelligent, 
and attend strictly to business. They step 
about among the chickens with the great¬ 
est care. They are not “fussy,” jumping 
and flapping about when a stranger comes 
near, and while they do not peck other 
chickens when they run in with their own 
broods they will fight a rat or other enemy 
to the death, I prefer Wyandottes for 
other purposes ; but for hatching, give me 
Langshans. c. D. L. 
A QUESTION that we frequently notice in 
the poultry publications is: “If one hen 
will net the owner $1 per year, why won’t 
2,000 net $2,000 ?” To which I reply: “ If 
one man can make a success of the grocery 
business, why do so many fail ?” Can it 
be that both require experience, economy 
and good, careful management ? A great 
many are of the opinion that “experience ” 
is not necessary in the poultry business, 
but some have been known to change their 
minds when they have tried it for a year. 
When you meet a farmer who says: 
“ Oh, I don’t bother any with the hens ; the 
wimmen folks tends to ’em,” keep an eye 
on that man every Saturday morning, for 
you are liable to find him at the country 
store with a basket of eggs, which he wants 
to trade. 
Are not ducks more profitable than 
chickens ? Yes, considerably. Why? They 
are less liable to disease, are tougher, more 
tenacious of life, and are ravenous feeders. 
They can digest almost anything, so they 
grow fast and fatten easily. At eight to 10 
weeks old they should be sold, and weigh 
10 pounds each. 
For the best breed of fowls for mothers 
I prefer Plymouth Rocks. They are good 
sitters, and take good care of their little 
ones. They are not so slow and clumsy as 
the Asiatics, nor do they tire the chicks 
out with much wandering. 
I HAVE raised 100 chicks from the shell to 
broiler age for $18. That is, I started out 
with 100 chicks, aud sold 94 when six weeks 
old. 
Don’t feed rice pop corn to hens. The 
points are too sharp and will irritate the 
throats of poultry. 
Doctoring Poultry. Does It Pay ? 
Well, so much depends on what is the mat¬ 
ter. There is a cure, quick and sure, for 
all poultry ills, and generally it pays best 
to use the hatchet; it never fails, is always 
handy, but not always cheap, for some 
poultry is of blue blood, and then, maybe, a 
little fuss and attention may pay. Why 
not keep the poultry in good, clean quart¬ 
ers, give them good, seasonable feed, and 
plenty of fresh water daily, and not have 
any doctoring to do. Often neglecting to kill 
a sick hen at once has cost the owner his 
whole flock, and as few kuow what is really 
the matter with the “sick hen,” it is econ¬ 
omy to be sure, aud a dead hen buried, 
ceases to be a source of danger. f. h. c. 
A gentleman who resides in Texas, and 
who was receiving a salary of $125 per 
month from a corporation, wrote me last 
year as to his chances of success if he put 
$1,000 in the poultry business, and devoted 
his entire time and attention to it. He 
stated that he owned 160 acres of land, and 
that there was a house aud good barn on 
the place, but that he had no experience in 
the business; that is,aside from the fact that 
he had once purchased a car-load of poul¬ 
try in Colorado, shipping it to Texas, aud 
losing $600 by the operation. I gave him 
my advice as to his chances of success; he 
finally thanked me for it, and is now draw¬ 
ing his salary instead of a six-shooter. I 
consider that I saved that man from a bad 
attack of the hen-fever, but it took more 
than one letter to do it. j. d. h. 
I NEVER doctor a sick fowl. I have tried 
to do it several times; but came to the con¬ 
clusion that it was simply a loss of time. I 
regard all kinds of “poultry medicines” 
and “condition powders ” as worthless, and 
sold only for the purpose of swindling those 
who know no better than to spend money 
for them. I generally keep all sick fowls 
in one house by themselves, giving them 
plenty of food and water, and if they don’t 
get well there, I doubt if the “ poultry 
medicines would help them any.” j. H. d 
Dying Fowls.-G. W. C., Alberta, 
Canada. —What is the matter with some 
of my fowls ? They are troubled with 
looseness of bowels and then loss of appe¬ 
tite. Some recover, while some drop off 
their feed and die. Green, young and old 
are affected alike. Their feed is principally 
whole wheat with scraps from the house. 
They have a warm roost, free range and 
plenty of fresh, clear running water, and 
plenty of grit in the range. The combs of 
the dying hens are bright, and to all ap¬ 
pearances indicate good health. 
Ans.—T he trouble is probably caused by 
over-feeding, especially of grain, inducing- 
indigestion. The svmptoms are those of 
cholera (except the red combs). Cease giv¬ 
ing any grain food and allow nothing ex¬ 
cept such as the fowls can pick up. If the * 
disease is cholera, confine the sick birds 
and add one tea-spoonful of liquid carbolic 
acid to three pints of water, allowing no 
other drink. Cholera is usually attended 
by excessive thirst. Remove the males 
from the hens. 
IpUiwcUattMUiS gulmtisinfl. 
Please mention R. N.-Y. to our adver¬ 
tisers. 
^ahk Tit*]-AW] 
Tlie soft, velvety coloring effect so desirable for 
house exteriors can only be produced and perma¬ 
nently held by the use of 
CABOT’S CREOSOTE SHINGLE STAINS. 
For Samples on "Wood, with Circulars and full 
Information, apply to 
SAMUEL CABOT, 
70 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. 
Mention Rural New-Yorker. 
HOW DOLLARS ARE MADE! 
Fortunes are made every day In the booming towns 
along THE QUEEN & CRESCENT ROUTE. 
Cheap Lands and Homes in Kentucky 
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi 
and Louisiana. 
2 000,000 acres splendid bottom upland timber and 
stock lands. Also the finest fruit and mineral lands 
on the continent for sale on favornblo terms. 
FARMERS! with all thy getting get a home in 
the sunny South where blizzards and lee clad plains 
are unknown. THE QUEEN A CRESCENT ROUTE IS 
mnd CINCINNATI to NEW ORLEANS 
fist un<l (Quickest Cincinnati to Jacksonville, Fla. 
For Correct County Maps, Lowest Rates and full par¬ 
ticulars, address D u.E dwards, Gen.Pass.&Tkt.Agt., 
Queen A Crescent Route Cincinnati, O. 
RARE BARGAINS 
USEFUL ARTICLES. 
I 11 the course of trade we have obtained the follow¬ 
ing named articles which we will sell at a big discount 
from manufacturers' prices. We have no use for 
them and the prices named ought to tuke them off 
our hands In short order: 
A Weed Sewing Machine, Boudoir Cabinet of 
Black Walnut. Manufacturer's price $;5. We will 
sell ioNew York for rare bargain for some 
one. 
A Wheel Hoe and Cultivator; totalis for $ti. 
Our price 
Several Curtiss's Improved Needle lluy 
Knives, chisel edge teeth. Retail price $1.2S each. 
Our price only T5c. each. Order at.once. Address 
K. K, FELLOWS, Box i, Tenntly, N. J. 
