18 J 
that Virginia hen man. 
Since Mr. James E. Walter, Jr., told us 
on page 1211 about lijs hen business and 
the great' “business ben,” “Queen Lil,” 
there have been a number of questions. 
The first is regarding this ben and her 
record. Did she run at large, or was she 
kept up with a small flock. Mr. Walters 
now says regarding this: 
You ask if * “Queen Lil” was trap- 
nested, was in a pen alone or with 
others. She was on free range with 
about 65 other hens until February 1, 
when her flock was reduced to about 
45 hells and penned for breeding pur¬ 
poses. -We were trap-nesting at that 
time about 230 pullets, No. 144 (Queen 
Lil), leading with 234 eggs; No. 130, 
second, 212.; No. 197, third, 199. We 
never saw more than two or three in¬ 
fertile eggs from “Queen Lil,” while we 
set probably 50 from No. 197, not one 
of which was fertile. In contrast to the 
above egg record, let us give the egg 
record of four others for four months: 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February n t 
No. 274 . r. 
No. 279 . . . 
No. 310 . . . 
No. 311 
Dec. 
G 
2 
1 
1 
Jan. 
4 
1 
G 
1 
Feb. Mar. 
4 G 
0 0 
0 0 
1 10 
These pullets were all fed, bred and 
handled alike in every way. 
In an article by James E. Walter, Jr., 
on page 1211, be says: “Our most satis¬ 
factory bouses are 174x24 feet, 7% feet 
high in front and 5% feet high in back, 
facing south ; each house has two windows, 
12 lights, 10x12 glass.” A house 24 feet 
deep from front to back would need more 
than two-foot pitch to the roof, and two 
window's about 3x4 feet iu a house 174 
feet long would make rather a dark house. 
I am intfereSttd in Mr. Walters’ article be¬ 
cause we have recently come to Virginia, 
and expect to raise chickens in an orchard 
as be is doing. Wo are undecided as to 
the best plan of poultry house to use in 
this section, and so would like to know 
what the dimensions of his poultry houses 
really are, mbs. g. b. m. 
The article should have read 14x24 
feet and not 174 x 24 as printed. Mrs. 
G. E. M. says she expects to raise chick¬ 
ens in an orchard as I am doing, so a 
word of warning in regard to hawks 
may not be out of place. The orchard 
furnishes an ideal place for raising 
chickens; it also furnishes ideal stalk¬ 
ing ground for the Blue-tailed hawk. 
In the Blue Ridge section of Virginia 
the hawks are quite numerous and we 
lost last year not less .than 800 chickens 
from this cause alone. 
Virginia. james e. Walter, jr. 
STOCK FOOD IN FLORIDA. 
TSince the Hope Farm man began talking 
about cattle raising in Florida, numerous 
people have written about what can be 
grown in that State for stock food. Some 
of them seem to think Florida is a sort of 
desert incapable of producing anything with¬ 
out a load of fertilizer. The fact is there 
are few places where fodder crops can be 
grown to better advantage. The following 
statement by 1’rof. I*. II. Rolfs, of the 
Florida Experiment Station, shows what can 
be done.] 
For forage to be used in the near future, 
I might suggest the sowing of a mixture of 
rye, oats and barley, using the seed iu about 
equal proportions, and applying about a 
bushel to a bushel and a half of the seed 
to the acre. Of course, this would be prac- 
1 ce!'.y wobblers. for grain purposes, but 
good for green forage. For grazing pur¬ 
poses even as high as two bushels per 
acre would not he too much. With this 
mixture would be more or less of a succes¬ 
sion of feeds. Dwarf Essex rape might 
also be sown in drills, if put in immediately, 
though the chances are somewhat against 
this making a good crop, since it is probable 
that the warm weather would come on be¬ 
fore much grazing could be expected from it. 
Late in February it would pay you to put 
out a half acre or an acre of Japanese cane. 
This would make Winter forage for next 
year. Under favorable circumstances, you 
would have 12 to 15 tons of green matter 
per acre, if the land is fertile. Along in 
xuarch sorghum might be sown in drills, 
especially the early ripening varieties. This 
would come in rather quickly and give some 
grazing by about the last of May or first 
of June. Corn might be sown iu the same 
way. Then turn the stock in on them when 
it got- to be about knee high. For this 
purpose the corn should be sown thickly in 
the drills. 
. During August Velvet beans could be 
planted, to provide a crop for next Winter. 
The early part of April cow peas could also 
be sown for early grazing. This would come 
Into use in about eight weeks, or a little 
longer. Cow peas and sorghum could be 
sown during this month, broadcast, for 
pasture purposes. This could be pastured 
in about six to eight weeks from the time 
of sowing. During this same month sow 
beggarweed seed in the rough. It should 
be sown in all the fields that are to be 
planted to any kind of crop in which clean 
culture is practiced duriug the early part 
of the season. For quick germination, 
beggarweed seed needs to be clean. This 
can oe sown as late as in May with a fair 
prospect of getting a crop. About the first 
of July cow peas are sown for hay pur¬ 
poses. If they are sown in the cornfield, 
they may be put in a little earlier, but in 
the open they make the best crop, as a 
rule, when sown between the first week 
of July and last week of July. This will 
mature soon after the rainy season has 
closed. The beggarweed that lias been kept 
back by late cultivation will also mature a 
good crop of leguminous hay by the time 
that the rainy season has closed. For mak¬ 
ing a permanent pasture in Florida, nothing 
is better than Bermuda grass as a basis. 
The seed does uot take readily, but it is 
worth while to try it repeatedly if you 
fail at first. The seed should be sown in 
the Spring, some time after the middle of 
April and before the middle of May. A 
field sown to Bermuda needs to be mown 
frequently, in the early part of the Sum¬ 
mer at least, to keep the rank weeds and 
crabgrass from smothering out the delicate 
Bermuda seedlings. After it had once gotten 
a hold, it is likely to maintain itself. By 
repeated mowings, the tall and rank weeds 
are kept down and the more nutritious and 
succulent native grasses, known locally as 
the Paspalums, come in and make good 
forage. Some of the Fall I'aspalums are 
especially well adapted to make a perma¬ 
nent pasture. Seed of these native Paspalums 
is not on the market, consequently one has 
to depend upon a more or less “ hit and 
.miss” plan to get these distributed through 
the Bermuda pasture. 
In the last 10 years I have seen a number 
of first-class, good pastures in Florida, a 
tiling that we formerly thought was not 
possible. In every one of these the Ber¬ 
muda grass was the foundation. Then i 
native grasses came in and gave grazing for 
a considerable portion of the year. There 
is usually uo difficulty in getting an abun¬ 
dance of" feed up to about the first of De¬ 
cember. From the first of December to 
about the middle of March we need to pro¬ 
vide come cultivated crop for forage. Of 
course, cattle will live' through, but they 
are about as nearly worthless as anything 
one could well imagine. This year cattle 
on the range have had good grazing up to 
the present, and we still have some very 
fair looking cattle on the open range, but 
from this on it will he pretty severe on 
them. The Velvet bean is the one crop 
that has done more for beef-raising in 
Florida than any other. It now stands 
about sixth or seventh among our cultivated 
farm crops. r. h. roi.FS. 
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To prevent and cure sore shoulders. No hames, pads or straps; stronger, 
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horse or mule. Used by City Fire Departments and U. S. Government. Sold 
direct where dealer does not handle them. Good agents wanted. Address 
JOHNSTON-Sl.OCUM CO., 708 State Street, CARO, MICHIGAN 
This Rope Tackle Locks and Stays Looked! 
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vn< 
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Write us and we will tell you the name of the dealer in your 
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THE PLANT FOOD PROBLEM SOLVED 
BY USERS OF 
Bradley’s Fertilizers 
“The World’s Best By Every Test” 
Sometimes farmers say they cannot afford to use as much 
as 1000 lbs. of fertilizer per acre, yet many farmers have 
proved that as much or more is very profitable to them. 
How much to use is a problem every one must work out 
for himself. Our most successful customers say they find 
as they have increased from year to year the amount of 
fertilizer used, the easier it has been to pay for it. This is 
the way they express the greater profit derived from using 
1500 to 2000 lbs. per acre instead of a smaller quantity on 
their market crops. 
Many of them use a ton to the acre of Bradley’s High Grade 
Fertilizer and find that it pays in the crop marketed and in the up¬ 
keep or improvement of the land for succeeding crops. You cannot 
tell without experimenting how much fertilizer will pay you best. If 
you have not already solved this problem, begin next season and use 
«• 
Bradley’s Fertilizers 
Our local agents have a new descriptive booklet and 
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-—*• * «■ 
write us today- for our agency proposition. Address Depart¬ 
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BRADLEY FERTILIZER WORKS 
OF THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL CO. 
92 State St., 
Boston. 
2 Rector St., 
New York. 
P. 0. Drawer 970, 
Buffalo. 
Rose Building, 
Cleveland. 
Cincinnati Office, 1204 Second National Bank Building. 
