64 
January 28, 
POULTRY AT THE SOUTH. 
The remark in Hope Farm Notes, page 
7, regarding profits on poultry in the South, 
reminds me of a little experience of my 
own with hens in the South, though not 
the “South” as you probably had it in 
mind when you wrote. I was in north¬ 
western Georgia, about 125 miles south of 
Chattanooga. The last of October and first 
of November, 1897, I bought from the 
neighbors about two dozen young bens 
and pullets, and two roosters at a cost of 
$8 or a little more (I do not remember tbe 
exact figures). These all had more or 
less Brown Leghorn blood, and a few had 
a little Game blood. I put them into a 
new house eight feet square, soon giving 
them free range of an acre of rye and 
several acres of woods, with a slope to the 
south and a good carpet of leaves. '1 hey 
soon begun laying, and gave us all tbe 
eggs we could use, and enough to sell to 
pay for the feed they consumed. They 
begun sitting in February, and hatched up 
to June about 150 chickens. Owing to my 
absence most of each day, and my wife’s 
ill health, they got little care, and over 
half were lost in one way and another, but 
in July, when I was obliged to break up 
and bring my wife back North, 1 sold be¬ 
tween $19 and $20 worth, besides a half- 
dozen that got away. They were not sold 
to the best advantage either. Your men¬ 
tion of apples prompts me to write of an 
old “Cracker” woman in Florida at whose 
house I got dinner several times. After 
getting on the good side of her by prais¬ 
ing her biscuits (they were fine) she 
talked very freely and very interestingly. 
Among other things, she said: “Well, they 
can talk all they want to about oranges, 
but there is no fruit in the world equal to 
a good apple.” I think she was about 
right. B - 
Pana, Ill. ___ 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
IIow do you prevent your hens from crowd¬ 
ing too many in a house, as you do not feed 
in separate pens in Summer? Is it not diffi¬ 
cult to distribute equally a limited quantity of 
corn after the hens leave the houses in the 
morning? I have wondered what you do with 
broody hens in Spring; you must have a great 
many. What is the best way to prepare meat 
scraps for feeding? Do you know where I can 
get a mill that will grind them and the bones 
that come imbedded in the hard cakes? I 
have kept hens for their eggs since 1890, and 
during most of that time have depended upon 
buying pullets to keep up my stock. They 
have been mostly mongrels, but now 1 wish to 
raise some pure Brown Leghorns. IIow many 
hens and roosters can I safely keep for breed¬ 
ing in a 9 x 18 house with a 50 x 50 foot 
yard in front? How long a. time must they 
be isolated to insure pure breeding? 
Nimmo, Vt. L - A - n - 
Feeding in Colonies— This correspond¬ 
ent refers to what 1 consider the greatest 
objection to the colony plan, the difficulty 
of feeding uniformly. The hens are fed 
inside the house at all times. I he morn¬ 
ing feed is given before the door is opened 
for hens to go out. This obviates any dif¬ 
ficulty about this meal, since the same 
hens always go to roost at night in each 
house. If I count 40 hens in a particular 
house one morning, I always count on 
there being the same number there the 
next morning, and subsequently until some 
die or are removed. When starting out 
to give the noon or night feed, with all 
at liberty, another problem is before me. 
If the hens are quite hungry they are in¬ 
clined to run to meet the feeder from 
several colonies in advance of him and 
several hundred may soon be on hand in 
one place. There is a bin of whole _ or 
mixed grain in each house. By stepping 
inside and closing the door, leaving only 
the small opening for the hens to use, 
which only allows one hen to enter at 
once, not much difficulty is encountered in 
gauging the amount of grain to scatter in 
each house. Most of the visitors will re¬ 
main outside and follow the feeder along 
to the next house until they come to their 
own house. A little experience enables 
one to estimate fairly well the number of 
birds before him by glancing the eye over 
the floor space. Still it is rather an un¬ 
satisfactory way to feed, and was what 
has led me at different times to try the 
plan of keeping feed always, before them, 
allowing them to balance their own ration, 
etc. This has given extremely good re¬ 
sults in Summer for limited periods, but 
the health and thrift of the hens is preMy 
sure to suffer by a long continued system 
of this kind of treatment. I am inclined 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
to recommend much larger colonies, with 
some fences to subdivide the ground over 
which they are to roam. I believe 250 
hens can be fed in one flock as success¬ 
fully as in flocks of 50. Four buildings 
large enough to accommodate 250 each 
could be located in the center of a large 
pasture. By running a fence out from this 
center as far as the hens would be likely 
to roam towards the four points of the 
compass, the field could be divided into 
four portions so arranged that each 250 
hens could have a separate portion of the 
field, with free range as far as they would 
care to go. This would enable one to 
care for 1,000 hens and have all his work 
at one central point. If more than 1,000 
were wanted at one center, the buildings 
and fences could be arranged in sexagonal 
or octagonal form. 
A Hen Jail. —For broody hens we use 
an elevated coop (or jail) made entirely of 
slats. This, like the table under the 
perches for droppings, economizes floor 
space. Our nests are all on the floor, and 
if a broody hen is taken from these low 
nests and placed up in this slat-bottomed 
jail as soon as the broody symptoms an- 
pear, three days’ confinement usually suf¬ 
fices. 
Bones and Meat. —Wilson Bros., Eas¬ 
ton, Pa., manufacture a mill. The expense 
will probably be more than to buy the 
•ground scraps. I know of no better way 
to prepare them than to mix enough 
ground grain with them to make them pal¬ 
atable. Most of the meat scraps I am 
able to find are steamed under high pres¬ 
sure until they are so dry and lifeless that 
hens do not relish them like they did the 
old-fashioned scraps cooked in open ket¬ 
tles. 
Numdf.r in Pen. —Forty or 50 hens can 
safely be kept in quarters of the size 
named with two or three roosters. Un¬ 
less the roosters have been raised together 
there will be too much fighting for good 
results. By alternating and only allowing 
one with the hens at a time, better results 
might be expected. I have had very good 
hatches when I only kept one Leghorn 
rooster for each flock of 50 hens, but I 
hardly recommend such a practice as a 
general thing. For absolutely pure breed¬ 
ing it is probably safer to mate before pul¬ 
lets ever lay an egg, but in general prac¬ 
tice two weeks ought to be sufficient 
time. 
Water-Glass Eggs. —We had fried eggs 
for supper to-night (January 11) that 
were laid May 1, and they were decidedly 
good. A few crates were put in crocks 
in a 10-per-cent solution of water glass as 
an experiment. Our cellar is not an ideal 
place in which to store them, as the tem¬ 
perature gets up to 70 on hot days, but 
they have kept well. Our local grocers 
have willingly paid us 25 cents per dozen 
for them. They were only paying 18 cents 
when the eggs were put down. The water 
glass has a decidedly bitter taste, and T 
have found a few of the eggs having ex¬ 
ceptionally thin or porous shells that have 
evidently been tainted with the bitter 
pickle. Aside from this we think it a 
decided success. Great care should lie ex¬ 
ercised in selecting eggs for preserving 
not to use any with defective shells. 
White-shelled eggs as a rule have poorer 
keeping qualities in cold storage than 
those with brown shells. I am told that 
this is generally conceded by egg packers. 
o. w. MAPES. 
$100 REWARD 
for any case of colic, curb, 
splints, contracted or knotted 
cords, recent shoe boils, splints 
or callous that cannot be per¬ 
manently and positively cured, 
if directions are followed, by 
TUTTLE’S 
ELIXIR. 
It relieves and cures Spavins, Ring Bone. Cockle Joints, 
Scratches, Crease Heel, Founder, Sore Backs and 
Shoulders, Bruises, Wire Cuts, Collar and Saddle Calls, 
Pneumonia, Distemper, Chafed Places, etc. Used and 
endorsed by Adams Express Co., Chicago Fire Department 
and others. Tuttle's American Worm Powders never fail. 
Tuttle’s Family Elixir stops the pains and aches of mankind 
instantly. Our 100-page book, “Veterinary Experience'* free. 
Tuttle's Elixir Co.. 30 Beverly St., Boston. Mass. 
Beware of a!/other Elixirs. Tuttle's is the only genuine 
Avoid all blisters; they are only temporary relief. 
GLOBE INCUBATORS. 
Hatch chickens. No experience necessary. 
Our large 200 page Illustrated Catalogue of 
Incubators and Brooders and Poultry Iufor- 
. mation mailed free. Address, 
§ C. C. SHOEMAKER. 
Box 1020, Freeport, Ills, 
TEN DAYS’ _ 
FREE TRIAL 
of Mann’s Latest Model 
Bone Cutter.. No pay un¬ 
til you’re satisfied that it 
cuts easier and faster than 
any other. Catalog free, jy B 
F.W. Mann Co.,Box15,Milford. Mast. 
2* ORMAS 
Incubators 
& Brooders 
Low In price. Fully guaranteed. 
Send for free catalogue. 
BANTA MFG. CO., LIGONIER, INDIANA. FreeCatalog 
United States Cream Separator 
does not get all of the orders but it gets an 
overwhelming majority where it is known 
and used. It makes friends everywhere in 
spite of competitors—all parties vote for the 
United States Separator. 
THE, VERMONT FA RM MACHINE CO. 
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. 
385 Send for Handsome Booklet in Colors Illustrating “ The If. S. ICay." 
3943 HennvSt.BUrrALO.N.Y. 
Send for Descriptive Catalogue. 
/ Will Teach You the 
Chicken 
Business 
WITHOUT CHARGE 
and guarantee you 
success if you use 
MODEL 
Incubators and Brooders 
1 
fUOLD TRUSTY 
Guaranteed for Five Years. 40 DAYS I 
It’slncubator Johnson’spride* 
He’s been through the mill. 
Made 50,000 incubators and 
then put out “Old Trusty.” It 
took first rank first year. New 
patents, great improvements. 
He has things coming fast. 
Johnson’s say is all in his big 
Catalogue and Advice Book. 
Send for a copy, it’s FREE. 
M. M. Johnson Co., Clay Center, Neb. 
AutomaticC 
Incubators by a practical man. 
Simple and easy to operate. 
THE IDEAL 
in a way that makes 
Kay hry 30DAYS TRDkL 
™ Results guaranteed. Send for 
I free book on Incubators. Brooders, Poultry and Supplies. 
J.YV. Miller Co., Box »t, Freeport. Ill. 
Ra c in e 
Incubator 
The simple, sure, dependable kind. Used by 
:housands of successful poultrymen and women. 
Our free Incubator —--- 
Book tells about them 
—tells how to make 
poultry pay. 23 years 
experience. Don’t buy 
until you read it. Ware¬ 
houses: Buffalo, Kansas I We pay. 
City, St. Paul. Address L the freight . 
Racine Hatcher Co., Box 87 , Racine, Wls| 
tel 1 m howto make money 
—How to raise young chicks 
for early springmarkets when 
prices are high. How to make 
a profit on ducks. C How to 
feed for heavy fowls. How 
to make hens lay. Why not 
get an adequate return from 
poultry? Why not try modern 
methods this year? 
Why not learn about incuba¬ 
tors and brooders from a firm 
who have been in business since 
1867 ,and who know how to make 
satisfactory machines? Write us 
for the book today. It is free* 
GEO. ERTEL CO. # 
Quincy, Ill. 
ImLEARN POULTRYCULTURE 
We can teach yon thoroughly, successfully. Our 
original personal correspondence course of In¬ 
struction is interesting, practical, costs but 
little. A Sakk guide to bkginnkbb, Invaluable 
to old poultry raisers. We teach you how to 
make any plot of ground, large or small, pay a 
MURK DIVIDKND OK FROM 25 to 50 1*. C. ON INVEST¬ 
MENT. Individual attention given each student. Write for 
free booklet. Many Lucrative Positions Open to Graduates. 
Columbia Sc hool of Poultry Culture, Box 858,Watervllle, N.Y 
SHOEMAKER’S BOOK 
n POULTRY 
I and almanac, for 1905. contain. HU-1 
Dagea.wltli many flne colored platesof 
fowls true to life. It tells all about chickens, 
their care, diseases and remedies. All about 
INCUBATORS and howto operate them. 
Ail about poultry houses and how to build 
them. It’s really an encyclopedia of chicken- 
dom. You need it. Price only 1 5c. 
. C. SHOEMAKER, Box 8 1 3, FREEPORT, ILL. 
l£ 
poultry book free to yearly subscribers. 
Book alone 10 cents. Catalogue of poultry 
books!roo. poultry A.dvocate a Syracuse* 
Successfuls 
Automatic in everything. Acci¬ 
dents impossi¬ 
ble. The most 
chicks hatched, . 
brooded the/ 
best, least care.' 
Get the stand¬ 
ard of years. Incubator, poultry and poultry 
supply catalog FREE. Poultry paper 1 year 10c. 
DES MOINES INCUBATOR CO. 
Dept. 90 Dos Moines la. 
!00%HATCH GUARANTEED 
30 DAYS’ TRIAL To prove It. 
so 3:4.50 ioo 3-8.50 2003 - 13.75 
Egg 4*5.00 Egg 4*9.50 'Egg *P I 5.00 
Self regulating; Automatic moisture. Brooders, 
all sizes and kinds, 83 up. 50,000 in use. Send 3c. for catalog. 
Buckeye Incubator Co. f Box - 23, Springfield, O. 
12 
.80 For 
200 Egg 
INCUBATOR 
Perfect in construction and 
action. Hatches every fertile 
egg. Write for catalog to-day. 
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy, 111. 
DOIII TDV 00000 ^ 
r UULI n Lkfc&si 
jPOULTRY LINE-Fencing, Feed, Incu-i 
jbators, Live Stock, Brooders—anything—3 
)it’s our business. Call or let us send you) 
jour Illustrated Catalogue—it’s free for thej 
jasking—it's worth having. ( 
(Excelsior Wire & Poultry Supply Co.,< 
I Dept. H.G. 26 & 28 Vesey Street. New York City. ( 
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCi 
It will pay you to use 
“SUCCESS” POULTRY FOOD 
We have given it 5 years’ trial, and guarantee 
every sack satisfactory. This FuodcontainsClover, 
Meat and Linseed Meal, thoroughly mixed with 
Corn, Wheat and Oats ground; put in 1UU lb. sacks 
at 81.75; 5 sacks, $8; 10 sacks, 815. Special offer for 
two weeks: 100 lbs. Food and 100 lbs. Oyster Shells, 
$2. Send us a trial order to-day. 
CASE BROS. Colchester, Conn. 
STRICTLY 
"AUTOMATIC 
■THROUGHOUT 
Standard Cyphers Incubators 
are guaranteed to hatch more and healthier chicks with less oil and 
less attention In your hand* than any other, or your money back. Ab¬ 
solutely automatic and Bell-regulating. Used and endorsed by 42 Gov¬ 
ernment Experiment Stations and by America’s foremost poultrymen. 
Complete Catalogue and Poultry Guide, 212 pages (8x11,) more than 500 
'illustrations. FREE, if you send addresses of two neighbors who keep 
good poultry and mention this paper. Address nearest office. 
Buffalo, Boston, Chicago, Now York, 
.,Kansas City or San Francisco. 
CYPHERS INCUBATOR CO. 
