926 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 30, 
wife handles the fire at night in the same way in our 
steel kitchen range with excellent results, and no 
escaping gas. If there is not already a good bed of live 
coals at bedtime, she sees to it that one is procured, then 
applies fresh coal and immediately partly removes both 
lids directly over the fire-pot. Those coals are inva¬ 
riably still black in the morning. I shove the lids to 
their place the first thing in the morning after arising, 
and turn all drafts on. It takes but a few minutes to 
set the fire to roaring, so that I have to close some of 
the drafts by the time 1 am ready to start for the barn. 
A BROILER FACTORY.—No sooner does one 
establishment for producing broilers on a mammoth 
scale succumb for differing causes, than another is ready 
to start up. The latest is the Mammakating Poultry 
Institution, located just over the line in Sullivan 
County, but a short distance from my place. The 
plant is being equipped to turn out 2,000 finished 
broilers a day, and the buildings arc well under way. 
What a contract they have on hand! From the fact 
that John C. Sanders, of the Baker Chocolate Com¬ 
pany, is at the head of it, and that their prospectus 
states that all broilers arc to be “cocoa-fed” until 
10 weeks of age, it is supposed that they calculate to 
give the old reliable “dunghill” rooster a knockout blow. 
There is an air of secrecy about their plans which is 
unusual to such ventures. The system of feeding is so 
closely guarded that “every bird marketed is to be 
butchered in such a manner that there will be no danger 
of a chemical analysis of the digestive tract revealing 
it.” This, I presume, is a neat way of saying that all 
birds will be drawn as soon as butchered, which cer¬ 
tainly is a step in the right direction. An affidavit is to 
accompany each bird, showing that it is a product of 
the institution, “and has been fed only food such as is 
daily consumed by human beings, etc.” No green bone 
if you please there, and the “grit” is all needed by tile 
humans who are putting $25,000 in the plant. Each 
affidavit is to be numbered, and a silver disk with the 
corresponding number is to be attached to the leg of 
the bird. When served in restaurants, etc., both the 
affidavit and the silver disk will be served with the 
dinner, to be retained as souvenirs. The whole scheme 
sounds grand on paper. 
WILL THEY SUCCEED?—If they succeed in find¬ 
ing 2,000 customers a day who arc willing to pay the 
price for such birds, which is advertised to be $1.25 
each for 10-weeks-old broilers, up to $5 each for 
roasters weighing five to six pounds, no doubt it will 
be a grand success. It is so close to me that I shall 
watch it with much interest. “There is many a slip 
’twixt the cup and lip.” Ordinary chickens arc gen¬ 
erally quoted at about 12 to 15 cents per pound, while 
fancy roasters weighing five pounds or more are quoted 
at 20 to 25 cents. 1 have often thought that there is a 
good chance there to buy up good, thrifty birds at the 
lower price, feed and fatten them till they come up 
lo the standard of weight and condition of the latter, 
and pocket the profit. When delivering some old fowls 
to a butcher in our home market recently I saw some 
exceptionally fine White Wyandotte cockerels in his 
pens. Thinking this would be a fine opportunity to ex¬ 
periment, I bantered him to let me have a dozen of 
them. This he consented to do for 13 cents per pound. 
The 12 birds I selected weighed 57 pounds. They ate 
greedily and grew rapidly for a short time, when all at 
once their appetites nearly failed, and I,noticed that 
peculiar sneezing and watery eyes and nostrils, which 
foreruns an attack of roup. Six of the lot were fat and 
ready for market, so we shipped at once, getting top 
quotations for them, and making a satisfactory profit 
on them, as they dressed six to Cd/z pounds each. The 
other six, however, bid fair to rival “Pharaoh’s lean 
kine.” None of them died, but all lost flesh rapidly, 
and are now in far from prime condition. Their appe¬ 
tites are again good and nearly all of them have quit 
sneezing and discharging at the nose. They will prob¬ 
ably make good roasters later, but the chance for big 
profits is very slim. It is hopeful that the sanitary 
chicken farm will -not experience any such “slips.” 
There was a peculiarity about the appetites of these 
sick Wyandottcs which I have never noticed before. 
I had been cramming them three times a day with all 
the wet mash I could get nature’s cramming machine 
to put into their crops. While they were sick they 
refused to cat the mash, but would cat whole grain 
in limited quantities. I have generally found fowls of 
all kinds to relish the mash made from balanced ration 
much better than whole grain. These six birds have 
again found their appetites and the handle to nature’s 
cramming machine is being put down to the last notch. 
_ o. w. MAPES. 
A SPRAY OF BALDWINS.—Fig. 423, first page, 
shows a branch of Baldwin apples taken from the or¬ 
chards of Foster Udell & Sons, Monroe County, N. Y. 
Mr. Udell has 70 acres of orchards, 50 per cent in bear¬ 
ing, and since 1898 has received about $75,000 for tlie 
fruit. The orchards are thoroughly sprayed and culti¬ 
vated. The branch in the picture represents six perfect 
apples on a stem not larger than a lead pencil, each 
apple dark red and fully three inches in diameter. 
A HORSE AND A PROBLEM. 
Readers will remember how, last Fall, Geo. A. Cos¬ 
grove, of Connecticut, wrote the story of his horse 
“Ben.” This horse was stolen, but telephone and tele¬ 
graph were too much for the thief. Mr. Cosgrove sends 
a picture of “Ben” (Fig. 424, this page), and also states 
the following problem, which has arisen in connection 
with the thief: 
“I enclose a picture of Ben, the horse that was stolen 
from me a year ago this month. Ben is looking at the 
MIL COSGROVE'S HORSE BEN. Fl(J. 424. 
camera and wondering what they are going to do with 
that thing. It will be remembered by R. N.-Y. readers 
that I recovered the horse five days after lie was stolen, 
finding him on Blandford Mountain, 12 miles from 
Westfield, Mass. The thief escaped at the time, but was 
afterward captured for another offense and is now serv¬ 
ing a 15 months’ sentence in Fitchburg jail. He has 
written me acknowledging the theft, promising reforma¬ 
tion and begging me not to press the charge against 
him; also writing that he will repay all the expense his 
taking the horse cost me. This young man—he is only 
18—was born and raised on a farm that adjoins mine, 
went to the same school that my grandchildren did, and 
of course we all know him. As the family was quite 
poor we have helped them with food and clothing ever 
since we came here until, two years ago, the .old house 
burned down, and they moved out of town. 
“Now what o’ught I to do? The thought of sending 
that young man to State prison for five to ten years is 
almost unbearable. Is it my duty to do it? He was 
put in the Reform School when 14 years old for stealing 
from a neighbor, but escaped after being there a year 
or two. If he gets off easy, or is not punished at all 
for this horse stealing, will he be more likely to continue 
in a criminal course than if he is punished severely? 
What do the readers of The R. N.-Y. think? I confess 
I am in a quandary. 'I he reimbursing me the $30 ex¬ 
pense I was at is a small matter; the only thing to be 
considered is the reformation of the boy.” 
A MONTANA MAN ON BALKY HORSES. 
I am handling a 1,300-acre irrigated farm. We have 
in constant use six teams, and at times more. As a 
rule the horses needed which we do not raise we buy 
JERSEY BEAUTY EGG PLANT. MUCH REDUCED. 
Fiu. 425. See RurallsinB, Pago 930. 
unbroken, for the simple reason that if we are positive 
they have never been handled we can succeed in mak¬ 
ing valuable work animals of them by gentle and in¬ 
telligent treatment. These animals when first taken 
up are as wild as any animal can possibly be, and it 
would be hardly possible for eastern farmers who are 
accustomed to their gentle, farm-raised colts to realize 
what a vicious wild animal a horse can be when per¬ 
mitted to run upon an immense public range, wholly 
unacquainted with man, only to learn early in life to 
fear him. Our own colts are farm-raised, and are simi¬ 
lar in every respect to the ordinary eastern farm colt. 
The colts purchased outside, however, when first 
“roped,” the only means of securing them, will fight 
viciously at first, entirely through fear, for they have 
not learned to try to get the better of man, which will 
come later, when better acquainted with his habits. Our 
plan is first to rope them, and gently control them; this 
may necessitate the choking down of the animal, as 
they will continue to struggle to get free, but when 
their wind is shut off and the animal actually falls, 
through loss of it, the men quickly jump on their neck 
and hold their nose up; this prevents their rising, 'flic 
rope around the neck is quickly loosened, the horse is 
petted, and shown that no harm is intended. As soon 
as they quit fighting they are permitted to rise, and it 
is seldom necessary to choke them down a second time. 
The next lesson given at the same time is to attempt to 
teach them to lead. I should have said that the roping 
is done in a round corral, in the center of which is 
a firmly-set round stout post, around which the rope 
is quickly wound twice, and enables the man or men 
to hold the struggling horse until finally downed. Prop¬ 
erly to lead requires several lessons while still tied to 
the round post, and two or three days, during which 
time wc feed and water the animal by hand. As soon 
as it will lead it is stabled, and when it has mastered 
these lessons the harness will be gently put on to it, 
and it is left in the barn, 'flic next day it will be 
hitched up to a heavy wagon alongside of a gentle, well- 
broken animal, and driven around for an hour or two; 
this is repeated daily until it goes freely, when light 
loads will be hauled and the animal is gradually put 
into full work. The breaking of range horses is ex¬ 
tremely dangerous, requiring fine judgment; the whip 
is very seldom used on a young horse. I have horses on 
our place which were handled in this manner that to¬ 
day are worth $300 to $350 per span, and weigh 1,400 
or more per head; they arc as gentle as could be wished 
and will continue to pull until told to stop. 
We arc obliged to depend upon the drifting class of 
farm help, employing several all the time; many 
of these men know nothing about horses, and 
would spoil any team in a very short time un¬ 
less corrected. My observation in dealing with men 
and horses is that there arc many more balky drivers 
than teams; that a confirmed balky horse can be re¬ 
deemed if the right man gets hold of him; that very 
f«w true teams but can be spoilt by a balky driver. I 
have handled horses all my life, first in Indiana, Illi¬ 
nois and Ohio many years ago, and for the past 21 years 
in Montana; have taken confirmed balkers and absolute 
outlaws that were considered past redemption, and by 
gentle and proper treatment have caused them to become 
among the best work animals on our farm, but would 
not prefer to buy a balky horse; in fact, when we 
need any more horses and are obliged to buy, prefer to 
purchase animals that have never been touched by hu¬ 
mans, for the reason that we believe any horse can 
be made into a useful animal. It is amusing, if it were 
not annoying, to read the many theories advanced for 
subduing balky horses, and western men would not tol¬ 
erate any of the methods advocated; for instance, to il¬ 
lustrate a very prominent trait in the horse make-up, 
when wild horses arc taken up and broken, no difficulty 
of any serious nature is experienced in teaching them 
to pull, and so long as they arc not overloaded and arc 
continued at work there will be no trouble, yet these 
same animals, when permitted to rest for a week or 
more, when put to work the second time, will almost 
invariably refuse to go. They have been taught what 
is expected, and if the animal be a high-strung, nervous 
one would be very easily spoilt at this period of their 
education, but by gentle but firm treatment can be 
corrected. 
We now have two large 1,400-pound animals, pur¬ 
chased after they were broken several years ago; these 
were represented to use to be perfectly true. 'They are 
members of two different teams, and developed the 
balky trait after having been at rest several months. 
Both are of a very high nervous temperament. One 
when aroused has a most vicious disposition; with 
him what seemed harsh treatment was found neces¬ 
sary, yet both these animals are members of our most 
valuable teams, and usually work together in a four- 
horse team, doing the very heaviest work on the farm. 
I can only compare a horse to the human being; they 
differ as widely in temperament and disposition as do 
the human family. I have found that horses refusing to 
start do so usually after a period of rest; if they 
arc humored a little and loaded lightly they can be 
got out of the habit. It is absolute folly to hitch 
two such horses together. We usually work such a 
horse with one known to be absolutely true, and we 
have not a whip on the farm. Once in a great while 
we might use the end of the lines oir a horse, nor is 
any yelling permitted. Our work is almost entirely in 
four to eight-horse teams; we take good care of our 
animals and feed them well, and find that it pays. The 
greater number of balky horses are caused not only 
by poor handling in the start but continued poor han¬ 
dling, and there is absolutely no reason for it. It is 
sheer nonsense to advocate some of the remedies that 
I have seen in Tiie R. N.-Y. w. m. wooldkidge. 
Montana. 
