1002 
cow was $53.75, giving an average profit per cow of 
$68.05. 
My hens consisted of four pens of purebred White 
Wyandotte pullets, each pen containing a cock, value 
$5, and 10 pullets at $2 each, total value per pen $25. 
My birds produced 6080 eggs, which were sold as 
market or hatching eggs; 4270 of these eggs were 
sold as market eggs at an average price of three 
cents each. Total $128.10; 1810 of these eggs were 
sold for hatching at an average price of eight cents 
each. Total $144.80. Total received for eggs $272.90. 
Total cost of feed for the 44 birds averaged up at 
the rate of $1.37 per bird, or $60.28. This leaves the 
hens credited with a profit per year, from $100 worth 
of stock, of $212.62, as against $68.05 profit per $100 
worth of cow. In other words, the $100 worth of 
hens made as much as $100 worth of cow and then 
$144.57 in addition. 
The only thing the writer can say is that he keeps 
both when he is in position to do so. As soon as I 
get my own farm I shall keep first of all hens, then 
I shall keep a certain number of A1 cows to produce 
butter, and the skim-milk will be used to raise my 
young chicks on. In this way I firmly believe that I 
can make my cows pay me better than by selling 
the milk. Following is the monthly average egg yield 
per hen. In each case where the average had a frac¬ 
tion, it was carried over to the following months 
to avoid figures: 
Av. No. 
Total 
No. of Eggs 
No. of Eggs 
of Eggs 
No. 
Sold for 
Sold for 
Month. 
Per 
of 
Market, at 
Hatching, 
lien. 
Eggs. 
at 3c. 
at 8c. 
January . 
8 
320 
320 
$9.60 
February 
... 13 
520 
260 
' 7.80 
260 $20.80 
March 
. .. 25 
1,000 
880 
360 
10.80 
11.10 
640 51.20 
510 40.80 
April .. . 
.... 22 
370 
May . 
. .. 20 
800 
400 
12.00 
400 32.00 
June . ... 
... 17 
680 
680 
20.40 
July . 
... 11 
440 
440 
13.20 
August . . 
0 
360 
360 
10.80 
September 
6 
240 
240 
7.20 
October .. 
4 
160 
160 
4.80 
November 
7 
280 
280 
8.40 
December 
. . . 10 
400 
400 
12.00 
Totals 
. . . . 152 
6,080 
4.270 
$128.10 
1,810 $144.80 
128.10 
Cash received . 
. $272.90 
Feed cost 
. 60.28 
Total 1 
credit .... 
New Jersey. b. f. small, jr. 
R. N.-Y.—It is true that no one came forward in 
the proposed $100 contest. We shall soon state it 
again in a little different form, and try to organize 
it for the Winter. According to the figures given 
above the 40 hens gave returns above their food of 
$212.62, or $5.31 per hen. As the cow gave similar 
earnings, of $68.05, it seems that 13 hens would about 
equal one cow! _ 
A TREE DOPE. 
As I am very much interested in your Publisher’s Desk 
1 decided to take advantage of it before I take hold of 
anything new. A few of my friends are experimenting with 
something to vaccinate fruit trees, and they think it does 
the work that it is intended for. It is to kill the scale 
and build up the trees. I saw a few trees that were 
treated, about five weeks ago, and they seem to be coming 
out all right. One was a peach tree; the leaves were all 
yellow; now the outside of the tree is nice and green, and 
the other tree was an apple that had the blight. The out¬ 
side of it was full of dry leaves all around the tree, on the 
end of the limbs, and that looks as if it would come all 
right. The preparation is put up by the Kleckners Fer¬ 
tilizing Scale Co. Do you know anything of it, and what 
do you think of it? W. R. B. 
Pennsylvania. 
If you take our advice you will have nothing to 
do with this “dope.” We have explained again and 
again what is known about the action of such chem¬ 
icals in the tree. There is no evidence to show that 
such treatment will kill scale, while there is evidence 
that it may seriously injure the trees. Dr. H. A. 
Surface, State Zoologist of Pennsylvania, says: 
Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent for this 
stuff, which is chiefly cyanide of potassium. It is merely 
to be put in a hole beneath the bark of the tree. The 
management has found some persons who are willing to 
say that it has helped their trees, and. consequently, the 
battle goes on. We have examined trees where it has been 
applied, and have found that it is actually damaging them 
by killing the bark where it was inserted; but the agents 
are busy, and are selling it in very small capsules, at the 
rate of several dollars per pound. 
We can easily see bow people can be found to 
give credit to this treatment. The tree might be 
affected by a dozen things which gave it a new 
start, while the treatment might even be an injury; 
yet a man who wanted to prove its value would 
give it all the credit for the tree’s improvement. In 
one young orchard we have several Baldwin trees 
which are this year loaded with fruit, while most of 
that variety carry hardly an apple. This early bear¬ 
ing seems to be largely due to a partial girdling of 
the tree by borers and injury from cultivators, but 
if that “treatment” had been used it would have re¬ 
ceived full credit. As Dr. Surface says, this powerful 
chemical is likely to kill the bark. We would by all 
means let this stuff alone. 
THR RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE MERITS OF ANGORA GOATS. 
While the discussion of poison ivy was on, Mr. J. 
H. Clark of New Jersey, wrote that Angora goats 
will eat the ivy plants with relish. This was a new 
one for the goats, and we wrote Mr. Clark for 
further reasons why these goats arc to be preferred 
to sheep. His answer follows, and a picture of some 
of his goats may be seen at Fig. 398. 
“As I wrote you. Angora goats will thoroughly 
clean out poison ivy, and like the job. Sheep will 
not, as I tried them for three years. I have never 
had a goat killed by dogs, but dogs might kill an. 
old goat, but never a kid when the mother was with 
it. I have seen a goat toss a dog 20 feet. I could 
not keep sheep because of dogs. Some of my neigh¬ 
bors’ dogs that killed my sheep are still alive, but 
A GROUP OF ANGORA GOATS. Fig. 398. 
they never bother the goats. The protection a goat 
would give to lambs would be this: Goats and sheep 
would get along in the same field very nicely, as the 
goats eat brush and weeds, while the sheep eat grass. 
In the Spring, when the goats kid, they will go after 
any dog that comes in the field and drive it out; 
thus the sheep are protected. In the Fall after frost, 
I turn the goats into the garden to eat up all weeds 
and old asparagus, etc., which they turn into the best 
of fertilizer. Sheep would not do this; I tried them.” 
A BICYCLE GRINDER. 
The grinder shown in Fig. 399 is made from an 
old bicycle. It grinds much faster than the ordinary 
grindstone. The mandrel is the only thing about it 
that need bother anyone handy with tools, who has 
a drill, hacksaw and some wood-working tools. Cut 
the upper tube of the bicycle off about five inches 
ahead of the seat post, and split it three inches hori¬ 
zontally. Heat this and bend it down, then take a 
short piece of the tube for a ferrule to hold the ends 
and the end of the leg. Cut the lower tube 15 inches 
long and split it in the opposite direction and flatten 
the ends and wrap them around the leg and nail it. 
The leg is 30 inches long and a little larger than the 
tubing. Now turn the seat post so that the seat will 
be wrong end to. The table is 10x14 inches and the 
A BICYCLE GRINDER. Fig. 399 
legs are three feet six inches long. The rear end of 
the bicycle is held by a piece of 1 ^-inch strap iron 
56 inches long. Drill a screw hole in the middle, 
and one 11 inches each way from it and one in each 
end. Eighteen inches from the middle make holes 
large enough to admit the rear axle, and about an 
inch long to admit of adjustment. I used an old 
rake tire and bent it cold. The braces which hold 
the legs and table to the frame are of the same ma¬ 
terial and are held to the frame by the bolt that 
clamps the seat. A round belt is used, but a flat 
one might be better, as it could be heavier and 
drive a larger wheel. Mine is 1 x 6 , and it would 
easily run a much larger one. The mandrel is made 
from ^ 4 -inch shafting, turned to j 4 -inch hole, and is 
seven inches long, running in babbitt boxes. 
October 14, 
I have been using the grinder for 10 years and 
seldom use a grindstone, except, perhaps, to smooth 
up something that the emery wheel leaves too rough. 
I grind axes, scythes, knives and, in fact, do all of 
my grinding with it. When grinding machine knives 
I sometimes have some one hold the end of them, 
or they have a hook where I can reach it hung at 
the proper height to hold the end of the bar, as it 
is difficult to hold it and do the grinding too. 
Barker, N. Y. H. c. b. 
THE NEW YORK FIREARMS LAW. 
Wliat do you know of this new law of New York State 
whereby a man is forbidden to keep a gun or firearm of 
any kind in his house, without a license, under penalty of 
severe punishment? Now is it a fact that such a law has 
been passed? If it has, will it not be found unconsti¬ 
tutional as soon as a test case is tried? It seems to me 
that I remember a clause in the United States Constitu¬ 
tion that reads this way: “And there shall be guaranteed 
to every citizen of these United States the right forever to 
hear arms.” Am I right? Our forefathers were exceedingly 
anxious to preserve the liberty of the mass of the people, 
and the right to keep and to bear arms was a very essen¬ 
tial part of that liberty, as the common people were not 
allowed to have any arms at all in countries where they 
were all peasants or serfs. w. M. G. 
Ohio. 
Several farmers have also asked about this law. 
It is entitled “An act to amend the penal law in rela¬ 
tion to the sale and carrying of dangerous weapons.” 
The law states first that the manufacture, or sale of 
certain specified weapons (guns and pistols included) 
to any person under 16 3 'ears old is a misdemeanor. 
Any person who uses a dangerous weapon upon 
another or carries such with intent to use it is guilty 
of a felony. A person under 16 who carries such 
dangerous weapon is guilty of misdemeanor. The 
heart of the law is as follows: 
Any person over the age of 16 years who shall have or 
carry concealed upon his person in any city, village or 
town of this State, any pistol, revolver or other firearm 
without a written license therefor theretofore issued to 
him by a police magistrate of such city or village, or by a 
justice of the peace of such town or in such manner as 
may be prescribed by ordinance of such town or in such 
manner as may be prescribed by ordinance of such city, 
village or town, shall be guilty of a felony. 
Any person not a citizen of the United States who shall 
have or carry firearms or any dangerous or deadly weapons 
in any public place at any time shall be guilty of a felony. 
This section shall not apply to the regular and ordinary 
transportation of firearms as merchandise, nor to sheriff*, 
policemen or to other duly appointed peace officers nor to 
duly authorized military or civil organizations when 
parading, nor to the members thereof when going to and 
from the places of meeting of their respective organiza¬ 
tions. 
Provision is made for the destruction of danger¬ 
ous weapons when found. The sale of firearms is to 
be regulated and a careful record kept of such sales 
and transfers. If any person sell, give or transfer 
such firearms without first notifying the police au¬ 
thorities he is guilty of misdemeanor. 
The object of this law was to enable the authori¬ 
ties to disarm the thousands of foreigners and lawless 
characters who make life a terror in parts of the 
large cities. These characters carry pistols or knives 
continuously, and are responsible for much bloodshed. 
The law appears to apply to firearms which may be 
concealed upon the person, except in the case of 
foreigners, who are debarred from carrying any kind 
of dangerous weapons. As we understand it, the 
law does not apply to farmers, or to people who live 
outside of towns and villages, nor does it apply ap¬ 
parently to carrying guns or larger firearms except 
when these are taken into towns or villages. We 
should judge that a farmer can keep a gun or pistol 
in open view at home with which to protect his prem¬ 
ises, but should he carry the pistol concealed about 
his person into town or city he would be obliged to 
take out a license, as prescribed by this law. We 
applied to the Attorney-General of New York for an 
opinion on this matter, but he merely states that no 
such opinion has been given. We understand that 
the law will soon be tested in the courts. As for the 
constitutional right to carry arms referred to by our 
correspondent, the second amendment of the United 
States Constitution reads as follows: “A well-regu¬ 
lated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms 
shall not be infringed.” Lawyers tell us that in vari¬ 
ous parts of the country the right of the State or 
community to regulate the carrying of concealed 
weapons has been tested with the result that such 
right is granted under certain conditions. 
The head fish hatcher of Oregon is getting ready to 
“set” 10,000,000 salmon eggs. 
According to the license bureaus there are about 500,- 
000 automobiles in use in the United States. 
In baseball when a player cannot hit the ball he “fans 
out.” That is what should happen to the weed seed and 
stuff in the seed grain. 
