326 
March 27, 
treated as a young orchard. Practical work had 
shown that of those cut back many would fail to 
grow, but that when grafts had been inserted the 
percentage of growth was greatly increased. This for 
western Oregon. Other districts must work out these 
problems for themselves. s. t. walker, 
Sec. Forest Grove, Ore., Horticultural Society. 
R. N. Y.—The apples came safely and in fair con¬ 
dition. Fair specimens of the four varieties are 
shown on the first page. The pictures are exact size. 
We had specimens baked and also sampled raw— 
the latter eaten by a number of persons. The gen¬ 
eral opinion is given as follows: Spy—very poor as 
compared with fruit of this variety from the Hudson 
Valley and Vermont. This refers to the larger speci¬ 
men sent—the smaller one was baked and was voted 
good. Baldwin—good—better than we had supposed 
the variety would be as grown on the Pacific coast. 
Esopus very good, but of a somewhat different shape 
from the variety grown here. Yellow Newtown in¬ 
ferior in texture and not high flavor. Not as good 
as other Yellow Newtowns from the Pacific coast 
which we have had. These specimens were certainly 
inferior to the Pippins from the Hudson Valley and 
from Virginia. Probably Oregon will in time de¬ 
velop its own type of these varieties. 
PLANTING APPLE TREES ON ROADSIDES. 
I am very much in favor of the plan, and know of 
no particular disadvantage. Trees set along the high¬ 
way occupy ground which would otherwise be of no 
value, and really add so much to the workable land 
of the farm. The ground along the highway is usually 
fertile and rich, from the fact that most of the 
growth has died down upon it for years, and it has 
also been enriched from the road. Now that it seems 
to be pretty well established that good growth and 
fruit can be obtained by the mulch system, and the 
mulch can be grown beneath, I see no reason why 
it is not an ideal spot for an orchard. It is some¬ 
times urged that there will be considerable stealing 
by travelers along the road, but if you are too miserly 
to give a few apples that might be taken, you can 
plant all Winter varieties to obviate any temptation. 
1 would not advise setting the trees inside of the 
fence in the field, as I find that a row of tree shades 
the ground, and unless trimmed quite high interferes 
in the growing of the crops, while if on the outside 
they do not bother. 
I do not see any reason why it would not be a good 
place along the railroad, provided the company would 
give permission for the same. The only disadvantage 
T could think of would be, if the trees were set too 
thick they might prevent the road from drying out in 
rainy weather and in some places cause a drifting 
of the snow. In all such cases I would advise set¬ 
ting trees quite a distance from each other. In my 
long experience, and my father’s before me, of over 
50 years, I know that it is possible to grow many 
thousands of dollars worth of apples with practically 
no expense. I think my father was the first one to 
set trees along the roadside in central New York, but 
will say that the number has extended in this vicinity 
until there are a large number of them in bearing. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. c. e. chapman. 
POULTRY RAISING FOR THE CHILDREN. 
Simple Fixtures Which Make Work Easy. 
On almost every farm the children are expected to 
do more or less of the work incidental to the raising 
and care of the poultry, and on almost every farm 
where there are intelligent and willing children the 
number of fowls kept could be very profitably in¬ 
creased, if a sufficient number of simple, cheap, and 
convenient coops and fixtures were provided to en¬ 
able the children to employ their time and labor to 
advantage. Our family, through parts of two gen¬ 
erations, has kept nothing but Barred Plymouth Rock 
fowls, and though the flock is now 32 years old, we 
have never been so situated as to make it desirable 
to keep large numbers. Last season we determined 
to begin the development of the flock to the limit of 
profit on a farm of 95 acres, of which one half is 
woodland, and on which the available force con¬ 
sists of four girls from six to 12 years of age, a 
boy of five, and a baby girl of three. There is one 
colored man hired by the year, who can be called 
upon for help upon special occasions, and the writer 
gives some morning and evening assistance. 
We had on March 1 a stock on hand of about 40 
hens. We did not think it wise to entrust incubators 
to the care of children, nor would we add to the 
cares of the mother of such a family by placing 
chicken machinery under her charge. So we kept 
our hens laying and bought sitters from the neigh¬ 
bors, purchasing all told between 40 and 50 broody 
hens. Our first hatch was on April 18, and 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the last on September 9. During this long season, 
continuing through all the most trying Summer 
weather, we set a total of 1,670 eggs, and took from 
the nests a total of 1,110 chicks which actually went 
into the coops with the hens. The losses of eggs due to 
infertility, breakage, desertion of nests, spoiling, and 
inability of chicks to throw off the shell, as well as 
of chicks killed in the nests by restless hens, or 
smothered when hatching with the thermometer at 
99° in the shade, are all included in the difference of 
560 between eggs set and chicks in the coops. Of 
these chicks we could account on November 1 for 
about 70 per cent of all which were taken from the 
nests. These have reached the age of usefulness, or 
are still with the hens and thriving. This is a better 
hatching record than most large commercial estab¬ 
lishments make with the best incubating appliances 
when run through a long season, being a hatch of 
6G.4 per cent of all eggs set, while the percentage 
raised is equalled in very few cases where artificial 
brooding is depended upon. Our losses include a con¬ 
siderable toll taken by hawks, some killed by rats in 
broad daylight as chicks ventured too far under barn 
or manger, some injured by horses in stall, etc., be¬ 
sides normal death rate from natural or usual ail¬ 
ments. The secret lies chiefly in the coops and fixtures 
provided, and especially in the arrangements for sit¬ 
ting hens, which it is the chief purpose of this article 
to describe. 
Fig. 133 shows a “trinester” sitting coop, which we 
regard as the cornerstone of our success. This coop 
is four feet long by 18 or 20 inches wide, with front 
elevation of 18 to 24 inches, and rear about four 
inches lower. It is divided by solid partitions into 
three nests each 16 inches wide. Each nest has a 
separate cover fastened with leather strap hinge at 
the front, the three covers making a solid top for the 
wdiole coop when closed. The bottom is of the cheap¬ 
est rough inch lumber cut four feet long. The front, 
as shown in the cut, is of one board six or eight 
inches wide at the bottom, above which is a narrow 
board projecting at each end to form handles. The 
back is similarly boarded up to the top with corre¬ 
sponding projections. The doors are made of two 
pieces of board on lath cleats, which slide down into 
slots, also made of common plastering lath. The top, 
doors and partitions are preferably made of half-inch 
lumber to save weight. In Fig. 132 helper No. 3 is 
lifting an end door and the middle cover to show 
construction. To the left we have an incidental side 
view of a single-brood coop, tipped forward to show 
separate, inside bottom, described more in detail under 
Fig. 132. In the background is a corner view of 
rough board and strip henhouse, 14 feet square and 
14 feet high, w r ith open front of 2x4 feet, end windows 
of glass, not shown, earth floor, and housing 100 
earliest pullets below, and the coops and “trinesters” 
above, till next hatching season. 
Fig. 130 shows the “trinester yard,’’ four feet square, 
divided into three runs of 16 inches by four feet 
each. We use these dimensions because lath are 
handy and light and cheaper usually than wire. These 
yards are entirely open at one end which is set close 
against the sitting coop, while the other end has doors 
held in by cleats, the detail of which mother is show- 
ing in the picture. One lath over each run, or com¬ 
partment, of the yard is hinged or held down by 
leather catch so that it can be opened from the top if 
desired. We put four inches of soft, moist earth in 
each nest, shape it nicely and tramp down firm and 
smooth, then put in a small quantity of soft nesting 
material also shaped and tramped into place. Then 
place the eggs near the stove before supper and tal e 
off the chill. After dark place the slightly warme l 
eggs in the nest, and bring the hen quietly, put her o 
them gently, close the door and leave till morning 
She cannot leave them, and by daylight will have little 
inclination to do so, provided she has been on her 
own nest for two nights previous and has developed 
a proper temperature. Early in the morning we lift 
out the trinester doors, as in Fig. 133, and the hens 
have the freedom of the yards thereafter, in which 
food and water are supplied. The whole affair can be 
moved bodily on to fresh grass as often as desired. 
This is the best arrangement for sitting hens which 
we have ever had, and I have not seen a better else¬ 
where. 
In Fig. 132 helper No. 2 is showing our favorite 
style of coop for hen and chicks. The exact dimen¬ 
sions are immaterial, and we have a number of 
different sizes, all on the same general pattern. The 
separate bottom is a special feature. This is shown 
leaning against the coop. The two heavy cleats rest 
on the ground, holding the boards up an inch above 
it. The bottom just fits inside the coop, which has 
cleats or strips around the inside one inch above 
the lower edge of the sides, which cleats rest upon 
the bottom, holding the sides of the coop an inch 
above the ground, yet shedding all water off below 
the bottom, which is thus always perfectly dry no 
matter what the weather. The coop floor is kept 
covered with dry earth and the cleaning is the easiest 
work possible. Simply tip the coop off from the 
bottom, as at the left of Fig. 132, clean into a wheel¬ 
barrow, and when the round has been made return 
with a load of clean earth, giving each coop a 
shovelful. The cover is entirely loose and sep¬ 
arate, and enough larger than the coop so 
that all cleats can be outside the lines of 
the coop. We provide one door of wire screen of 
half-inch mesh or closer which is rigid enough to 
stay in place when simply dropped behind the cleats 
which hold the wooden door. The wire door is in 
the coop in the picture. This is the usual night 
arrangement for warm weather. The wooden door, 
when put in as shown, with narrow end dowm, is the 
usual daytime provision for keeping the hen in and 
giving the chicks freedom. If reversed, the ventila¬ 
tion must be obtained by putting a chip under one 
edge of cover, and in very cold or windy weather 
this is the plan for night. It will be noted that all 
these fixtures are rat-proof, yet they cost us almost 
nothing but the labor, as they are built of scrap, de¬ 
fective pieces, and left-overs incident to the building 
of the new house, one corner of which is seen in the 
background of Fig. 130. 
Fig. 129 shows a yard four feet long by two feet 
wide and two feet high. This is very convenient for 
two broods of chicks of the same age, whose mothers 
can be given alternate use of the yard, or it is an ideal 
arrangement for hen and single brood when chicks 
are too young to follow the mother all day through 
w'oods and fields. This also makes fairly good pro¬ 
vision for two sitting hens if needed, for the bottoms 
of coops can be removed and nests made on the 
ground, the hens having alternate use of the yard, 
but in this case they cannot be moved as in the 
“trinesters,” and the yard will be dirty before the 
hatch comes off. The lath on the sides of these 
yards can be spaced to suit the sizes of the chicks and 
we find them very useful in giving the little fellows 
needed privacy at feeding time. The trinester yard 
makes one of the very best provisions for two hens 
with chicks. A single coop is placed at the open end 
of each of the outer runs, leaving the middle com¬ 
partment to hold feed and water dishes, where chicks 
can eat and drink in safety, and the mothers cannot 
overturn or soil either food or water. The yard 
shown in Fig. 130 is actually so used at this time. 
There is one other coop of which I have no picture, 
but which is essential to economy of labor and 
safety and health of the weaned chicks, and that is 
the Summer roosting-coop. This is four feet long by 
20 to 22 inches wide. Bottom and top are just like 
those of the single-brood coop, but we have a door at 
each end of the front, and the rest of the face of the 
coop is covered with wire as far as possible. In some 
we have made three openings, each three by six inches 
in the back or lower side, close up under the cover, 
and screened with wire. A coop of this size will 
serve for 75 chicks up to broiler size, or 50 chicks 
up to two-pound frying size, provided they have 
free range by day. 
Our usual plan was to hatch as many chicks to¬ 
gether as possible and group them in broods of 20 to 
each hen. All of the same age were close together, 
so as to own mothers indiscriminately. As weaning 
time came near the small coops were grouped around 
a larger one. Finally all the small coops would be 
taken away and all but one hen, and she would 
straightway, take the whole flock into the large coop. 
If the coop is too large, and especially if the chicks 
are weaned young, they will pile up and crowd to¬ 
gether in the corners on cool nights, so that many 
may be smothered. From the roosting coop the 
chicks go directly to market, to the colony houses, or 
to permanent Winter quarters. Labor-saving devices 
in the care of older fowls may be described in an¬ 
other article. w. a. sherman. 
Fairfax Co., Va. 
We have received the following note from a sub¬ 
scriber in Melbourne, Australia: 
I fee! myself to he under great obligation to Tite R. 
N.-Y. for many helps personally received. Among hundreds 
of papers I receive none is more welcome than the Rural. 
I am just as much alive to the matters which you deal 
with and feel as much keen interest as if we were next- 
door neighbors. We have, as a community, lately endeav¬ 
ored to tell your people how we feel towards them when 
your fleet visited us. Of that probably you know all par¬ 
ticulars, and the good folks of the United States will now 
know more of their little brother across the water than 
heretofore. 
The R. N.-Y. has readers in practically every county 
of the United States, and also in every civilized coun¬ 
try on the globe. It would seem as if all real farm 
homes, no matter where they are located, have cer¬ 
tain things in common. Our ambition is to have The 
R. N.-Y. stand for those things. 
