1036 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 5, 
COUNTING THE POULTRY COST. 
After reading so much about the 
money received from keeping poultry it 
seems as if a little on the cost side 
would help to balance. I have read Mr. 
W. J. Dougan’s hen report, Mr. Cor- 
ning’s “Egg Book” and Mr. E. W. 
Philo’s book. I have no quarrel with 
their figures as far as they go, but they 
do not go far enough. They all leave 
numberless holes for the novice to fall 
into. First, it should be remembered 
that no one of them is keeping fowls 
and accounts in the least resembling 
real farm poultry conditions. The Philo 
figures are the worst, because he figures 
day-old chicks at $1 each, while the 
average man is glad to get that for 10 
day-olds. The prices received by the 
others are not so unreasonable, but 
they claim to average about what most 
of us are glad to get for a few weeks 
just before Christmas. 
On the other hand, none of them 
tells the whole story as to cost of plant 
to do the work with. I made a fresh 
start in the poultry line two years ago 
last Spring, and will give my figures for. 
income and cost since. I have kept 
hens all my days, excepting about two 
years previous to my making this start, 
so I knew what to buy and what to 
skip, and as I look over the mess of 
needless trash purchased by various ac¬ 
quaintances who have gone into poultry 
without knowing their real needs, I am 
led to believe that this saved me many 
dollars. Again, I have done all the 
work myself, and have made no charge 
for same; if I had hired a carpenter to 
build my coops and houses it would 
have added at least $25, probably more, 
to the cost. I have one brooder house 
fitted with gasoline brooder as used and 
advocated by the New York Experiment 
Station, two houses built on the same 
plan, but 10 x 8^2 feet in size, and enough 
email coops and fireless brooders to 
handle 200 chickens till grown. Fire¬ 
less brooders, all homemade, the best 
ones from butter tubs that cost me five 
cents each. With fairly good weather 
and good care for the first week I can 
do very much better with these than 
any heated brooder I ever used. All 
houses and coops are made of five- 
eighths box boards that cost from $11 
to $13 per thousand delivered; house 
frames of 2x4 and 1x3 stuff. Both 
coops and houses are made of a size 
that uses either full or half length of 
the boards, so not a bit of lumber has 
been wasted. They are covered with a 
roofing paper and made to use that 
without any waste. I can keep 40 hens 
fairly comfortable, and can also use the 
brooder house for culls and cockerels 
to eat, up to hatching time. I work 
away all of the time, and excepting the 
first week after hatching, my wife 
never touches or goes near the chickens 
or hens ; yet I have cockerels that 
weigh six pounds at four months of age 
and the pullets do equally as well. 
The figures for everything are as fol¬ 
lows : 
Year 1910. Bought 
16 hens . $15.00 
1 cock . 1.00 
1 cockerel . 2.00 
G sittings eggs. 5.00 
$23.00 
Feed . 37.44 
Lumber, nails, roofing, dishes, etc. 16.04 
Total . $76.48 
Sold. 
Chickens and eggs. 28.39 
• 1910 balance invested. $48.09 
Year 1911. Bought. 
360-egg incubator . $36.00 
Insurance permit . 3.00 
Lumber, etc. 48.72 
Feed, oil, etc., used up. 153.07 
Cockerel . 2.00 
Sold. 
$242.79 
Hens, chickens, eggs and hatching 
chicks . 241.35 
1911, balance invested. $1.44 
Year 1912, to September 1. Bought. 
Feed, eggs, etc., also brooder heater $165.00 
Sold. 
Eggs and chickens, custom hatching 85.25 
1912, balance invested. $79.75 
1911, balance invested.•. 1.44 
1910, balance invested. 48.09 
Total 
$129.28 
I have on hand birds enough to just 
about pay for capital invested, so the 
three years work will pay for the houses 
and equipment—next year I hope to 
make a profit. I have had good success 
in hatching and raising my chicks, and 
my hens lay well, so I think these fig¬ 
ures show that it takes some money to 
start with even a few hens. My eggs 
are sold to the retailer and some of 
the chickens are sold at retail, so I get 
as much for them as the average poultry 
man could hope to. E. t. wood. 
Massachusetts. 
FEEDING PROBLEMS. 
I have oats, buckwheat and rye for 
grain, oat, rye and wheat straw and Tim¬ 
othy hay and silage for rough feed. Please 
state how to feed the above to a herd of 
30 grade Ayrshire cows to get the best 
results in milk. I am making milk now 
at a loss three cents for six months, four 
cents for six months, here on the farm; 
very little pasture. I am feeding hay, $20 
per ton in barn; gluten, $32; dried brew¬ 
ers’ grains, $28; middlings, $31; wages, 
$22 per month and board, or $35, house 
and milk. a. e. s. 
Pennsylvania. 
To produce milk profitably at three and 
four cents per quart on the farm requires 
extra good cows to start with -and the 
closest kind of figuring to keep the cost of 
production from exceeding the selling price. 
It is rather early in the season to predict 
the prices of grain for any length of time, 
but the chances are that they will undergo 
considerable change during the next few 
months, so the most economical ration for 
you to use at the present time may not 
apply when the prices of certain feeding 
stuffs have been increased or reduced. For 
the production of milk, oat, rye and wheat 
straw are not very valuable, and if fed at 
all should be fed in such a manner as not 
to interfere with the regular rations. For 
this purpose a feeding rack in the yard 
where the cows may help themselves to 
straw while out for exercise is the only 
method of feeding that I can recommend. 
You can feed a little Timothy hay at noon 
when there is no pasturage, but at $20 
per ton it is too expensive to feed more 
than three or four pounds to each cow per 
day. If you can sell your buckwheat for 
a reasonable price it would certainly pay 
you better to do so and buy gluten or cot¬ 
ton-seed meal with the proceeds. You should 
grind your oats and rye either separately or 
together and make a mixture as follows: 
150 pounds ground oats, 150 pounds ground 
rye, 500 pounds dried brewers’ grains or 
400 pounds dried distillers’ grains, 200 
pounds gluten feed or cotton-seed meal. 
This feed should be mixed together dry 
and then moistened several hours before 
feeding. By feeding one pound of this 
grain mixture to each three or 3% pounds 
of milk a cow gives, with all the silage she 
will eat up clean twice a day, she should 
pay a fair profit over her cost of main¬ 
tenance. C. s. G. 
Puffs. 
I have a horse five years old, about 1000 
pounds; hock joints have always been 
rather thick and fleshy. As a colt a round 
puffy swelling or watery deposit, size of 
pigeon egg, appeared from time to time in 
one leg only, then apparently was absorbed. 
This continues. He is used for riding, does 
not carry over 130 pounds, not over six or 
seven miles, and home, and not over 25 
miles a day. Would you advise treatment 
of special shoeing? He is not lame; used 
two or three days a week. t. h. 
Virginia. 
Treatment will do little permanent good 
and persistent hand rubbing is as effective 
as more expensive treatment. Twice a week, 
however, we would follow the hand rub- 
ging with a thorough application of 10 per 
cent iodine petrogen. a. s. a. 
Acorns in Your Stables 
25% More Milk 
Self-regulating; no leveling 
tank. Each cow controls own 
supply. Agents wanted. Write 
for catalogue and prices. 
METAL SHINGLE COMPANY, 
351 Bellevue Ave. Detroit, Mich. 
Patented U. S. and Canada. 
Martmsburg, W. Va. 
James B. Porterfield, 
Martinsburg, W. Va. 
T. H. Porterfield, 
Hedgesviile, W. Va. 
7 Brothers-7 Farms 
7 SHARPLES 
Tubular Cream Separators 
You know the six Porterfield brothers. 
Each operates his own high class dairy farm 
and is making money. You know of their 
brother-in-law. Hon. Jno. W. Sperow, retired 
dairyman, member of legislature, whose wife 
was formerly Miss Porterfield. Like the most 
successful dairymen everywhere, these 
shrewd men selected and enthusiastically 
endorse 
CUARPI PC TUBULAR 
wnnur Cream Separators 
They will use no other make. It is all be¬ 
cause Dairy Tubulars contain no disks, have 
twice the skimming force of other separators, 
skim faster and twice as clean, and pay apro- 
fitno other can pay. 
Read this letter from South Africa: 
“Glen Let. Tarkastad. United South Africa, 
July 12. 1912. 
1 have used the Tubular for year*. Six Tubu¬ 
lars are in use in my family, and all are highly 
pleased with them. OSWALD HARRIS." 
Bunkerhill, W. Va. 
W. S. Porterfield, 
Bedington, W. Va. 
Geo. A. Porterfield, 
Hedgesviile, W. Va. 
When whole families cast their solid vote for Tubulars, you will wisely do the same. 
Want a free trial7 Want to exchange your THE SHARPLES SEPARATOR CO. 
present separator in part payment for one WEST CHESTER, PA. Branches: Chicago, III. 
that pay* you better ? Then ask for Catalog San Francisco, Cal.; Portland, Ore.; Dallas, Tex, 
No. 153 and get quick, courteous attention. Toronto.Can.; Winnipeg,Can. Agencies Everywhere 
Run on gasoline, kerosene, distillate, 
any cheap fuel oil. Cost less to run— 
develop more power. Patent throttle 
gives three engines in one. Many other 
exclusive features — guaranteed 10 
years—we pay freight—30 days’ free 
trial. Send for catalogue today. 
Ellis Englns Co., 5fMull#t St., DolroltjMlilb 
DELIVERED ANY 
STATION EAST OF 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
Lucky Low Down” Dump 
Cart. Strong, substantial. 
Steel wheels, wide tires, steel 
axle. Bm)}Tx4x5 ft. Anyhorse> 
any harness. Capacity 1,400 
lbs. Farmers,gardeners,fruit 
growers and everybody with 
a horse. Saves its cost every 
year. IXOBSON COMPANY 
WORKS, llox 45, Easton, Pa. 
Get Fall and Winter Eggs 
They are in great demand and bring highest prices. Bring your P'dlets to 
early maturity and your, liens through quick, complete moult. Alien 
eggs will come! 
0 r!) m> Poultry Regulator 
* strengthens the digestive system, tones up and 
gently stimulates the egg-producing organs, i he cost is low. 
25c, 50c, SI; 25-lb. pail, $2.50. 
Roup, colds and catarrh are common now. 
Roup Cure 
# ^ 25c, 50c, $1 
prevents and cures these troubles. “Your money back If 
it fails.” Pratts 160-page poultry book, 4c by mail. 
Get Pratts Profit-sharing Booklet 
Our products are sold by dealers everywhere, or 
PRATT FOOD COMPANY, Philadelphia, Chicago 
l 
« - * n 4*i.i t rft i f, 
i i « i i < ( 
Vv 
Thanksgiving Poultry 
i i 
Dr. Hess Poultry Pan- 
a-ce-a contains: 
Potassium Nitrate. An 
Eliminant. 
Nux Vomica. A Nerve 
Tonic and Stimulant. 
Quassia. A Bitter Sto¬ 
machic and Appetizer. 
Hyposulphite of Soda 
An Internal Antiseptic. 
Iron (Sulphate). ABlood 
Builder. 
Iron (Red Oxide). A 
Blood Builder. 
Carbonate of Lime. An 
Antacid and shell 
forming. 
Sodium Chloride. An Ap¬ 
petizer and Cleanser. 
Under the supervision of 
Dr. Hess (M.D.. D.V.8.) the 
above is oarefully com. 
/ tounded and blended, with 
ust enough cereal meal to 
make a perfect mixture. 
Now Is the particular season when every poultryman is preparing his 
surplus stock for market. The old hens, roosters and young cockerels will 
be headed for the Thanksgiving market, where good prices prevail. 
The uppermost thought in every poultryman’s mind is how to make them 
weigh the very last ounce. 
Keep them well and singing. 
There it just one natural way for this, and that is by feeding Dr. Hess 
Poultry Pan-a-ce-a. It tones every organ; it drives out every disease germ. 
Dr* Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a 
It starts the young pullets to laying, gets the old hens ready for winter duty. 
Pan-a-ce-a reminds Miss Hen that growing feathers and getting fat 
and lazy Is not her only business. It compels every hen to put her 
share of eggs in the market basket, by toning up the dormant egg <£i 
organs. The panel tells just what Pan-a-ce-a consists of and what _ 
the U. S. dispensatory says every ingredient is for. 
Our proposition. You buy Dr. Hess Poultry Pan-a-ce-a of 6 ' sa 1 
your dealer. If it fails to make your hens lay more eggs right now, when eggs 
are high, and to keep your poultry healthy; also to start the pullets to early laying, 
he is authorized by us to refund your money. IK lbs. 25c (mail or express 40c); 
5 lbs. 60c; 12 lbs. $1.25; 25-lb. pail $2.50 (except in Canada and extreme 
West). If your dealer cannot supply you, we will. Send 2c for Dr. Hess 48-page 
Poultry Book, free. 
Dr. HESS & CLARK 
Ashland, Ohio 
.J. 
y,i» 
Dr. Hess Stock Tonic saves feed by increasing the process of digestion. Hogs can fatten on the 
grain that passes through steers and other stock undigested—that’s reason enough for feeding tonics. Improve diges¬ 
tion and save high-priced feed. Dr. Hess Stock Tonic also supplies iron for the blood, regulates the bowels. In fact, it keeps 
stock healthy or you get your money back. 100 lbs. $5.00; 25-lb. pail $1.60 (except in Canada and extreme West and 
South). Send 2c for Dr. Hess Stock Book free. Dr. Hess (M. D., D. V. S.) will at any time prescribe for 
your ailing animals free of charge if you will send him full details. Mention this 
paper and send 2c stamp. 96-page Veterinary Book also free. 
INSTANT LOUSE KILLER KILLS LICE 
