1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 735 
is east, as quite often with us. There is a shutter 
for the window, opening' downward, to be raised on 
very cold n ; ghts, for the purpose of preventing heat 
radiation. The door will stand open throughout the 
day, all winter, unless we see very good reasons for 
changing our belief in fresh air for poultry. The 
house was placed 12 feet from the barn, so that both 
should help to form the shed, lumber being needed 
only for back and roof thereof. 
“But, alas for the calculations of woman! Even 
with every care to make the dimensions to fit the 
common lengths of lumber, 12, 14 and 10 feet, there 
was some waste in cutting the stuff for the sloping 
sides, and the steep pitch made the roof take so much 
more than the 0x8 floor, that the lumber figured on 
as enough gave out, and the second supply brought 
the bill up to $7.80. The work was 2]<£ days instead 
of the 1% day which seemed ample to allow for build¬ 
ing so small a house, and the labor bill swelled to $4, 
a total of $11 80. Thus, with all new stuff, and all 
work hired, we have a house for 25 fowls, with a board 
floor, new roosting platforms, etc , for about $12. It 
is nearly ideal, according to our present light, and 
has cost just about half what is generally conceded 
to be the average cost for a good house. It is not 
double walled, but the intention is to cover the 
matched sheathing with roofing 
paper, which will add, perhaps, $2 
to the cost as above given. 
The house is made up, not on 
studding, but on shingle lath (1 x 2- 
inch), and is in sections, to allow of 
removal if the case demand this. 
Only a small and low house could 
be built so light, but this promises 
to be quite strong enough for all 
the demands upon it. The rcostiDg 
platform is removable, it being laid 
upon low horses ; the roosts will be 
swung from the roof, for trial, at 
least. The platform does not touch 
the wall at any point. The sheath¬ 
ing, %-inch thick, is dressed on one 
side, and this, placed inside, makes 
a smooth wall, more easily kept free 
from vermin. 
At first sight, this hardly seems 
to touch those wonderful $5 poultry 
houses described last winter ; but 
when we consider the amount of 
room, the greater warmth of the 
roosting and laying room, and the 
fact that the materials form only 
two-thirds of the cost, as given, it 
will be apparent that a house may 
be built of new, clean stuff reason¬ 
ably cheap, if one has but another 
building to abut against, and can do 
his own work. A strong woman 
could build this house for herself. 
MYKA V. NOBYS. 
SOME POULTRY NOTES. 
Cankeii in Fowls — During an 
illness, last winter, when I could 
not give my hens the usual amount 
of attention, they contracted a dis¬ 
ease which, I suppose, was canker. 
A black spot appeared on comb or 
wattles, or both, and when it spread 
no further, the fowl usually got over it; but in 
too many cases, it extended to the eyes or mouth, 
and then it was usually fatal. We could not get 
medicines at a moment’s notice, even had I known 
what to order. But a bottle of liniment had been 
prepared for a lame horse, consisting of one part oil 
of amber, one part oil of spike and two parts of hens’ 
oil ; this was dropped on the sore places on the fowls’ 
heads, and if the application was made soon enough, 
the cure was rapid and certain. Some cases were cured 
where the disease had become somewhat advanced, 
but the recovery was slow and tedious, and, unless 
the birds were very valuable, they were not worth 
the trouble. The disease seemed very contagious, 
and, I think, came home with a pen of birds from 
a poultry show, as they were the first to show its pres¬ 
ence in the flock. 
Two First Crossks. —I have raised a considerable 
number of crossbred birds this year, and am much 
pleased with the Leghorn-Plymouth-Rock crosses. 
The cross between Barred Rocks and Brown Leghorns 
has produced a lot of pullets of great beauty. They 
are very uniform in color, looking like very dark 
Plymouth Rocks. They are larger than the Leg¬ 
horns, but not quite so large, perhaps, as purebred 
Rocks. The cross between Leghorns and White 
P. Rocks, produced a trifle larger birds, which were 
quite light in color, reddish-brown and white being 
the predominating colors, though a few have some 
gray with faint bar^. The pullets from hot.}) crosses 
are a little in advance of the purebred Leghorn pul¬ 
lets, which surprises me. There was not a black 
chick in the flock. 
White: Against Barred P. Rocks. —My White P. 
Rocks were hatched only three days earlier than the 
Barred, but they weigh from three-quarters of a 
pound to a pound more. All were hatched and 
reared with hens. The Barred birds suffered a little 
from gapes, and this may have retarded their growth. 
The White P. Rocks are such beauties—yellow legs 
and beaks, snow white plumage and red combs, 
wattles and ear lobes. One can almost see them 
grow. They are great ramblers, rarely waiting to be 
fed, but up and off in search of the great variety of 
food which Nature provides so generously in summer. 
The hens are good layers of fine, large eggs, and the 
young stock are very easily prepared for market, as 
the pin feathers are large and white, and leave no 
disfiguring black marks. 
The Leghorns. —“ Going back on the Brownies ?” 
do you ask ? Not by any means. They were my 
“first love”, and I can’t help thinking that a pair of 
high-scoring Rose Comb Brown Leghorns are about 
the prettiest sight which the feathered tribe can 
offer. The pullets look so dainty, and peer here and 
there for food in such a coquettish fashion ! The 
young cockerels, too, are such dudes. Every feather 
exactly where it should be, rich in color and faultless 
in shape, and if they do have black pin feathers in 
broiler time, so do many breeds which do not develop 
half so rapidly for, at six weeks old, they weigh more 
than a Brahma of the same age, which is little more 
than an unshapely bundle of bones at that period. 
Pekin Bantams. —I raised a lot of these little birds 
this year, and they are the most fun of all. They 
took all the premiums at the county fair, not to men¬ 
tion taking captive the hearts of all who have visited 
them on “ their native heath ”. One flock of seven 
late chicks occupy a box in the house nights and on 
rainy days. It took two of them to weigh i\i ounce 
when nearly a week old. They are the dearest little 
pets, as tame as kittens, and almost as playful. If 
there was absolutely no profit in the poultry business, 
I believe that it would pay for the pleasure of noting 
the peculiarities of different breeds, especially for 
women and all persons who spend the greater part of 
their time indoors._ s. A. little. 
Improved Stock, —Our dairy stock has been im¬ 
proved 15 per cent the past 10 years. Farmers, quite 
generally, are crossing with the Jersey. One hun¬ 
dred pounds of butter from the old-time cow were 
considered a fair yield; now we have cows that 
make 300 to 350 pounds per cow. The improvement 
is due both to improved blood and improved feeding. 
Adrian, N. Y. o. B. 
THE NEW JERSEY EXPERIMENT STATION. 
TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTIVE COWS. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Part II. 
As was stated last week, there is a good herd of 
milch cows at the station farm. The greater part of 
them are strong, hearty grades with Ayrshire, Jersey, 
Short horn and Holstein blood showing. There is 
now at the head of the herd a fine Guernsey bull, and 
several Guernsey cows from the herd of the late Silas 
Betts have been recently added. A number of grade 
Guernsey heifers are growing up, and I understand 
that Prof. Voorhees expects to develop a good work¬ 
ing dairy by breediug the Guernsey bull to the best 
grade cows in the herd. 
The first testing for tuberculosis was done in 1893. 
In the summer of 1895, it was found that seven cows 
in the herd responded to the tuberculin test. Ordin¬ 
arily, these cows would have been killed at once, but 
it was thought best to keep them, in the hope of 
learning something about this terrible disease that 
would be useful to dairymen. Accordingly, these 
seven cows, with one that did not react, and, there¬ 
fore, was presumed to be healthy, were put by them¬ 
selves in a “ cow hospital”, removed from the rest of 
the herd, in order that the following 
questions might fairly be asked : 
1. What is the effect of repeat¬ 
ing the tuberculin test upon con¬ 
sumptive cows ? Will it increase 
the disease or diminish it ? 
2. What is the effect of repeating 
it upon a healthy animal ? 
3. What are the chances of in¬ 
fection ? Will a healthy cow con¬ 
tract the disease by being in con¬ 
tact with cows that have responded 
to the test ? 
4. What is the influence of food, 
air, temperature, etc., upon the de¬ 
gree with which they respond to 
the test ? 
I saw the cows in the “ hospital ” 
—which is a small barn or shed— 
light, airy and dry, with a yard 
around it giving ample room for 
exercise. The cows have now been 
in this place about 16 months. They 
were large animals of Ayrshire and 
Holstein grades, apparently, and 
seemed as sound,rugged and healthy 
as any animals on the place. I 
doubt if any veterinarians could 
have found anything the matter 
with them from any external ex¬ 
amination, yet all but one re¬ 
sponded to the tuberculin test last 
year. They are all in sound health 
and vigor, and their milk produc¬ 
tion is normal, both in quantity and 
quality. 
Since they were put into this 
hospital, tuberculin has been freely 
used on all. One of the cows gave 
a marked reaction when first put in, 
but after repeated injections, she 
failed to respond. She was killed 
October 24, 1895, and her lungs were 
carefully examined. It was found 
that part of the tubercles had been covered by a 
connective tissue. The cow was, evidently, in better 
health than before. 
Another cow which responded to the repeated tests, 
finally grew sick, and was killed in August of this 
year. Her lungs gave no evidence of any rapid spread 
of the disease, though there was no such tendency to 
heal as was observed in the other cow. It was thought 
that this cow’s sickness was due to some trouble aside 
from the disease of the lungs. At this time, after 16 
months in the “ hospital,” three of the cows do not 
now respond to the test at all. One of these is the 
originally healthy cow. She has been all this time 
with the other “consumptives,” has been repeatedly 
tested, and is still sound. The other two cows origi¬ 
nally responded to the test, but after repeated injec¬ 
tions, have ceased to do so. 
These are the facts about the cows. Prof. Voorhees 
is conservative, and says that it is premature to speak 
yet about any “cure” or of the curative effects of 
frequent injections of tuberculin. At the same time, 
here are the cows, fat and hearty, and giving good 
yields of rich milk. There has, certainly, been no 
particular development of the disease since they were 
separated from the rest of the herd. Prof. Voorhees 
says that he does not know of any medicine or special 
food that could be given these cows in the hope of 
curing them. They have had the same food that is 
given the other cattle, with clean quarters and plenty 
of pure air and sunlight. 
THE BEDBUG FROM ALL POINTS OF VIEW. Fig. 239. 
See Woman and the Home, Paoe 742. 
