554 
AUG. 23 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
‘Rough on Rogues .” 
LOOKOUT 
ALMANAC 
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. 
AUGUST. 
Look out for milk containing 
chemicals. One consequence of 
25. the ice famine is that milkmen 
are trying to keep the milk from souring 
by adding to it substances like borax or 
salicylic acid. Various parties have taken 
advantage of the trouble farmers are in to 
put substances on the market which they 
guarantee will keep the milk sweet. So 
they will, but at what an expense 1 The 
State Dairy Commissioner is advised by 
Deputy Attorney-General Maynard, that 
those who use these chemicals in milk are 
guilty of a crime, punishable by fine and 
imprisonment. The commissioner may 
also bring suit to recover $100 for each 
violation of the law. Chemists tell us that 
at least 20 per cent, of the milk that comes 
here contains these “ preservatives.” Look 
out that you put yourself on the right side 
of the law. Somebody is going to be ar¬ 
rested before this thing is done with. 
When the writer was a small boy, he opened 
a lemonade stand on a circus ground. Sales 
were good until the opposition stand offered 
“ strawberry ” lemonade of a dark red color. 
That caught the crowd. Not to be outdone 
our “ company ” hurried to a drug store 
and called for “ something to make lemon¬ 
ade red.” The boy in the drug store gave 
us some substance which we put in our 
lemonade pail. The result was a rich- 
colored mixture that sold faster than the 
traditional'* hot cakes.” Before we reached 
the bottom of the pail at least a score of 
people on the grounds were so sick that 
they were glad to lie down on the grass. 
Nothing but our “ size and youth ” saved 
us from an indignant public. We still re¬ 
call the manifestation of private indigna¬ 
tion. Now the people who are using 
these “preservatives” are big enough and 
old enough to know better. If they are 
caught at it they will be soundly punished— 
rightly too. 
♦ 
» * 
TllfiSdlV This ^ picture day. Look out 
s * that you do not become too much 
20. j n ] ove w ith a 
A chair is all very well to sit in while we 
do certain kinds of hard work. There are 
people, however, as you know, who are al¬ 
ways looking about for a comfortable seat. 
Sitting down and "resting” has become a 
habit with such folks. They usually growl 
about “bad luck” and “hard times.” 
Come, look alive, wake up—to use a terse 
expression, “ get a move on 1” Do not let 
your love for a chair dwarf your ambition 
or sap your energy. Work, move, be alive, 
get there! Earn the right to sit in a chair 
by doing your full duty to yourself and the 
world. 
* 
• * 
have before remarked, invest your money 
at home! By the way, four more rich old 
farmers have been swindled by that old- 
time card game. 
W 
4 * 
ThurSdllV Look out > J ou young people,that 
_ • you do not make yourselves 
2o. ridiculous during the very in¬ 
teresting and pleasant period just immed¬ 
iately before your marriage. Two young 
people were standing on a busy corner in 
this city last week. He was holding her 
hand and gazing at her in a way that was 
calculated to draw a crowd. Suddenly a 
shrill voice smote the sunny atmosphere 
that enveloped them and cried, “ Say, Mis¬ 
ter, you’ve forgot something.” He turned 
and looked the question which he did not 
speak. “ You’ve forgot to put a kiss on her 
head,” was shouted derisively. It is need¬ 
less to say that this public announcement 
of a private desire was not at all comfort¬ 
able for the young folks. Take the moral 
young man. Be sensible and dignified. 
Friday 
Look out for your false teeth if 
you are unfortunate enough to be 
29. compelled to use them. A Mr. 
Cory, of this city, went to sleep in an ele¬ 
vated car near an open window. Mr. C. is 
absent-minded at times, and has an unfor¬ 
tunate habit of coughing in his sleep. He 
thinks he coughed his teeth out of his 
mouth; at any rate when he awoke his 
teeth were gone. He feels greatly grieved 
because $1.20 spent in advertising has 
failed to bring them back. We may learn 
two lessons from this. The first is that if 
any of us are obliged to go through life 
with such makeshifts as glass eyes, false 
teeth, wax ears or putty noses, we have 
to take care of them, or they will only sub¬ 
ject us to trouble or ridicule. Another 
lesson is that if we are going to advertise 
at all we must go in heavily or lose what 
little we invest. There is no virtue in 
homoeopathic advertising. 
* 
* * 
Saturday Look out that you do not burn 
* any corn for fuel this year. It 
30. was reported that Kansas farm¬ 
ers did this last year, though The Rural 
has never been able to locate one man that 
really did burn good corn. There is to be 
a scarcity of the grain this year and coal 
will be about 500 per cent, cheaper than 
corn for fuel. Look out that you make all 
you can out of your grain. The markets 
are now crowded with inferior grades of 
cattle, hogs and sheep which are sent be¬ 
cause their owners fear there is not corn 
enough in the country to properly fatten 
them. Wait for your chance, you corn 
farmers. It is coming as sure as you live. 
Don’t burn your corn but feed it to the best 
animals you can find. Let the “ animal 
heat ” consume it. 
WPflnP'ida.V ^ook out * or tramps who meet 
* you in lonely places and ask 
27. for a ride. A farmer in Mich¬ 
igan on his way home with the money re¬ 
ceived for a load of grain, accommodated 
two men with a ride. When his team got 
home he was found lying in the wagon box 
“dazed, and with a broken jaw.” The 
men knocked him down and robbed him. 
Look out for fraudulent failures. Some 
small merchants ha%e a trick of getting 
what money they can together and then 
“ failing” so that their friends and confed¬ 
erates will be “ well taken care of.” Don’t 
invest your money with men that you do 
not Know are thoroughly honest. As we 
old hen or her young chicks will conform 
themselves to the theories evolved out of 
the chemical analysis of foods, figured on 
the black board, or formulated on the 
balance ; and at present the science and 
arts best adapted to the poultry breeder, 
for pleasure or profit, are those of careful 
observation and cultivated judgment. His 
aim should be to assist natural instincts, 
not to thwart them—to remove the in¬ 
herited obstructions of long domestication 
and give Nature freedom £ r self-adjust¬ 
ment and development, not to violently 
twist or force her into new channels. 
Perhaps if some of our poultry breeders 
would review their methods in the light of 
the Ottawa or similar reports, and follow 
the suggestions of common sense, we 
should hear of more such chicks as that 
which Mr. Jacobs has pronounced “ mar¬ 
velous” and tried to prove impossible. But 
I have no expectation that the future 
champion will be the result of dieting on 
hard-boiled eggs or the deprivation of 
water. C. H. w. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
AT REDUCED PRICES! 
Poultry Yard. 
“ STARTLING FIGURES ON CHICKS.” 
Mr. Jacobs has replied, under this head¬ 
ing, on page 514, to my question, “ why, in 
his estimate of the food consumed by young 
chicks, reared in what are supposed to be 
the most favorable circumstances, did he 
entirely ignore that enormous mass of 
grasses, seeds, grubs and insects so vora¬ 
ciously and incessantly devoured by them 
during the first weeks of their existence,” 
and his reply is not less surprising to me 
than was the omission which prompted the 
question. His figures were given to prove 
that chicks could not possibly eat enough 
food to attain the weight recorded in the 
Ottawa report; and “ I gave the Canadian 
chick,” he says, “the advantage of the sup¬ 
position that he was given the most con¬ 
centrated foods,” because “if a chick does 
not gain rapidly on dry food, he cannot do 
it on the more watery and succulent kind.” 
This is to me a most surprising statement. 
1. Because I had supposed that there was 
no more clearly ascertained fact than that 
green and “ succulent” grasses, and animal 
and insect foods were the essentials of 
healthy and rapid growth. 2. Because the 
theory of concentrated foods was long ago 
tried on man and beast, proved fallacious 
and abandoned, and I had never heard of 
its being successful with fowls. 8. It is 
not the system of feeding followed by Mr. 
Jacobs on his own farm; and, 4, because 
there is nothing in the report which he was 
reviewing, for the declared purpose of dis¬ 
crediting the Canadian chick’s record, to 
warrant the assumption that it was reared 
on concentrated or dry food, and there is a 
great deal there to render it wholly unten¬ 
able. 
It will be, I believe, a long time before the 
Valuable Books! 
ONE ONLY OF EACH. 
SPEAK QUICK IF WANTED. 
NOTES. 
“AsS illy as a Goose.”— We often hear 
the expression: “ As silly as a goose.” How 
this ever originated I cannot imagine, as 
geese often possess more common sense 
than a great many people. Give a flock of 
geese some hard crusts of bread and they 
will go to the nearest drinking vessel to 
moisten them, so that they may be more 
easily eaten. I know of no other bird which 
has sense enough to do this. As this has hap¬ 
pened repeatedly I do not regard it as ex¬ 
ceptional. Hatch goslings under hens and 
keep them, if you please, several weeks 
from the sight of the geese, then take them 
to the yard where the old geese are, and 
there are at once such demonstrations of 
joy as one will not be likely to forget. The 
pair which rules has adopted them, and 
they will be as tenderly cared for and as 
jealously guarded as though the old goose 
had hatched them. In this respect the 
parent birds set a good example for some 
people we might mentiou. They are 
peculiar in their care for their young. No 
doubt many of the readers of this paper 
have had experience with a strange gander 
during the breeding season. An Embden 
will frequently attack a large dog if he 
comes too near his loved goslings. An¬ 
other marked peculiarity is the fact that 
the young, both ganders and geese, if 
allowed to remain with the old pair until 
fully matured will not be molested by the 
old gander, so great is his love for them. In 
this respect the old birds differ from nearly 
all other species of fowl and animals. Don’t 
you believe it; a goose is not so “ silly ” 
after all. T- 
A. C. Hawjiins says that there are hun¬ 
dreds of abandoned poultry houses in New 
England, not because there is no profit in 
poultry, but because the owners lacked 
brains and backbone. He knows of many 
who make a net annual profit of $2 to $3 
per hen. These persons study the natures 
and desires of their fowls and supply them 
with suitable food and conditions. Fowls 
will not stand neglect and be profitable, 
but they respond quickly to good care. If 
one has all the business he can attend to 
personally, it is not wise to take up poultry 
as a side issue, to be placed in charge of hired 
men. A farmer’s son or wife or daughter 
with a desire for the work can succeed in it. 
Many successful poultry breeders are 
women. They are jn less of a hurry than 
men and attend more closely to little de¬ 
tails necessary for success. A lady in his 
vicinity cleared $350 on 150 hens in 1889, and 
only gave a few hours per day to the work. 
A gravelly, well-drained soil is best for a 
poultry house, that dampness may be 
avoided. A southeast slope makes a desir¬ 
able location. 
In packing eggs for keeping be careful 
not to get any cracked ones mixed in. They 
will surely spoil, and also tend to injure 
the others with which they may come in 
contact. 
Why should not eggs be sold by weight ? 
Six of some eggs weigh a pound, while of 
others eight, nine, or even 10 are required. 
IN nothing about the farm does success 
depend so much upon attention to details 
as iu poultry raising. This explains nine- 
tenths of the failures in this business. 
Plenty of pure water is as necessary for 
fowls as for any other stock. 
At a certain grocery store in this city, a 
short time since, “ guaranteed fresh eggs ” 
were offered for 30 cents per dozen, while 
“ fresh eggs ” were sold for 18 cents. 
Wherein consisted the difference ? 
Our supply of second-hand boohs is 
getting low, though we have added 
some valuable specimens to our pre¬ 
vious lists. The prices quoted are 
extremely low when it is considered 
that many of the volumes are rare 
and have been out of print for many 
years. Trices na med are for the boohs 
by mail postpaid, unless otlierwis 
noted. _ 
Ensilage of Green Forage Crops in 
Silos. Stevens.$0.50 
Vegetable and Animal Physiology. 
Goad by.75 
Practical Shepherd. Randall.1.00 
Small Fruit Culturist. Fuller. Ed. 
1867.50 
Forest Trees : Culture and Propaga¬ 
tion. Bryant. 1871.75 
Sorghum, Its Culture and Manufac¬ 
ture. Collier.1.00 
Open Air Grape Culture. John Phin. .75 
The American Home Garden. Watson. .75 
Window Gardening. Williams.85 
Gardener’s Assistant. Bridgman. 1863. .90 
Gardener’s Assistant. Bridgman. 1837. 
(Quaint).75 
Profitable and Economical Poultry 
Keeping. James.75 
Ornamental and Domestic Poultry, 
Dixon and Kerr. 1851, fine portraits, 
480 p., half morocco. 1.25 
Elliotts Fruit Book. Illustrated, 506 
p. 1855.60 
Agricultural Chemistry. Johnston. 
1851. 700 p. 1-40 
Miss Teller’s Vegetable Garden. 
(paper).40 
Every Man His Own Gardener. Mawes. 
1776 (rare).2.00 
Cattle Raising on the Plains. 1885.75 
Samuel Warren, or the Lily and the 
Bee. 1851.50 
Florists Guide. Bridgman. 1847. Board .50 
American Gardener. 1848. 271 p. (rarr) 1.15 
Fulton’s Peach Culture.70 
Genten’s Stable Manual. 528 p. 1.50 
British Agriculture. Hutt 1837. Half 
morocco. 1-00 
Farmer’s and Mechanic’s Manual. 
Waring. 1878. 1.40 
Pen and Plow. Vol. 3. Complete.... 1.00 
Johnson on Manure. 1859.80 
British Agriculture. Vols. 3 and 5. 
Yellow edges. 1.50 
Farm Drainage. French. 1864. 384 p.. .90 
Pacific Rural Hand Book. Shinn.35 
Gardening by Myself. Warner.50 
Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen Garden. 
1851. 427 p. 1.05 
Garden, Vine, Hot-house, etc. 346 p.. .70 
Gardening for Pleasure. Henderson. 
1883. Reg. $2 00 . 1.00 
Winter’s Husbandry. 359 p. 1.10 
American Shepherd. Morrell. 1845... .90 
Downing’s-Lindley’s Horticulture. 
364 p.1.00 
Synopsis of Husbandry. Bannistors. 
1799. 475 p. 1.60 
Fruit Trees. Forsyth. Rare. 1802. 259 p. 1.80 
Johnson and Brown’s Agriculture. 
New York. 1836.85 
Saxton’s Rural Hand Books. Series 1, 
2, 3, each. 1.00 
Cranberry and its culture. Eastwood. 
1836.50 
Family Kitchen Gardener. Buist. 1852. .70 
McMahon’s American Gardener for all 
Seasons and Climates. 1857. Royal 
8vo. 637 p. Valuable index. Rare.. 1.35 
Mysteries of Bee Keeping. Quinby. 
348 p.75 
Manual of the Apiary. Cook. Paper. .60 
Bee Keepers’ Text Book. King.75 
Q3*T'Any of the above books will be sent 
post-paid, on receipt of price named, 
unless otherwise noted. 
RURAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
Times Building, New York. 
