410 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
March 15, 
The Henyard. 
A CITY MAN’S CHICKENS. 
I enclose a few facts and figures regard 
ing our small flock of chickens, kept in the 
city limits of New Rochelle. These birds 
are confined in wire runs and do not have 
free range. Their houses I built myself; 
they are constructed on the colony house 
plan. I am not a carpenter by any means, 
but the buildings shed water, hold chick¬ 
ens, are free from drafts, but are well ven¬ 
tilated. In looking over my figures you 
might criticize the cost of keeping these 
fowls and also the prices which I received. 
My answer is this: I live in a city and a 
very expensive city to live in at that. 
Every ounce of food has to be purchased 
at the very highest prices, and 1 do not 
exaggerate when I state that the English 
sparrows help themselves to at least 15 per 
cent of this grain. I admit that I received 
good prices for eggs. Why shouldn’t I 
when you take into consideration my loca¬ 
tion? Our neighbors could get eggs the 
same day that they were laid, and surely 
such eggs were worth a good price. 1 do 
not consider this any wonderful showing. 
As far as I know I haven’t any prize birds 
that is when it comes to shape and feath¬ 
ers, but I consider them fairly good lay¬ 
ers. Right here I would like to say that 
the sooner the chicken men of this country 
get away from the fancy feathers, and such 
and such a shape, this or that kind of a 
comb, and raise chickens that can lay eggs 
the better off we will be. Those are the 
kind of birds that will reduce the cost of 
living and put money in the farmer’s pock¬ 
et. What matters the shape or the color of 
the hen? If she was green with a yellow 
comb and laid 300 eggs per year, that is 
the hen for me. We are learning a good 
lesson in this respect from our English 
brothers at the Connecticut egg-laying con¬ 
test. I do not wish to mislead any one in 
the figures in my statement of 85 chicks 
hatched and raised. I probably hatched 
nearer 100, but 85 lived. I submit these 
figures for what they are worth. They were 
kept very carefully by Mrs. E. and nearly 
all the credit is due her. We find it a 
healthful and interesting occupation and 
in our case one of the ways to reduce the 
high cost of living. 
The breed is Single Comb Buff Orping¬ 
ton. 
ply brings me back to the question that 
any commercial egg farmer should ask him¬ 
self before putting much money into certi¬ 
fied laying stock and that is: Are they 
really doing such great laying, conditions 
considered, that it will pay me to intro¬ 
duce their blood in my flock at the price 
asked by competitors in the first contest? 
Pennsylvania. james c. wells. 
It. N.-Y.—Mr. Wells must remember that 
he has the advantage in feeding his hens 
just as he likes or changing his system at 
any time. In the hen contest all birds 
have the same treatment. Naturally such 
hens do not have as fair a chance as 
where the owner's eye is constantly upon 
them. Let Mr. Wells put half a dozen of 
his best hens in a house by themselves and 
have them fed just as these contest hens 
are, and then make the comparison. 
The Cost of Pullets. 
Some months ago I sent The R. N.-Y. the 
following question: “With eggs at 85 per 
hundred what does it cost to incubate and 
raise 100 pullets up to the age where they 
will pay their way?” The editor reported 
that he had much trouble in getting any 
satisfactory figures on the subject, and so 
the matter was dropped. Recently it has 
been my good fortune to find some accurate¬ 
ly kept data bearing on this question. The 
poultry department of the St. Lawrence 
School of Agriculture has been keeping rec¬ 
ords of the cost of chickens, where a 
variety of breeds have been kept, and where 
the incubating season covered a period of 
two months or more. The cost is computed 
to the first of December, and my own ex¬ 
perience has shown that the Mediterranean 
or American breeds, if the pullets are weil 
grown, will pay their way by or before 
December 1, if hatched between the first 
of April and the middle of May. The fol¬ 
lowing are the actual figures of cost and 
the sales of stocks before December 1: 
Cost. 
2587 eggs incubated .$124.75 
30 gallons of kerosene for incuba¬ 
tors and brooders . 2.70 
3478 lbs. of cracked corn at $1.70.. 59.14 
3344 lbs. wheat at $2.15. 71.90 
422 lbs. corn meal at $1.65. 6.96 
454 lbs. bran at $1.58. 7.21 
448 lbs. middlings at $1.65. 7.39 
46 lbs. oil meal at $2.10. .96 
416 lbs. beef scrap at $3. 12.48 
279 lbs. gluten at $1.70. 4.74 
66 lbs. white middlings at $1.63.. 1.07 
243 lbs. milk albumin at $2.35.... 5.71 
91 lbs. grit at 75 cents. .61 
4 lbs. oyster shell at 75 cents. .03 
January 1, 1912, fowls on hand. 51 
Hatched and raised . 85 
Sold 7, killed for home use 58. 65 
January 1, 1913, fowls on hand. 67 
Eggs laid 1912, 7368. 
58 fowls killed, weighed 256 pounds. 
7368 eggs, 614 dozen, average price 
per dozen, 45 cents. $276.30 
58 fowls killed, 256 pounds, 
average price per lb., 25 
cents . 04.00 
Sold 1 rooster $5, 6 hens $1 each 11.00 
16 fowls more on January 1, 1913 
than January 1, 1912. at 
$1 each . 16.00 
$305.65 
Income. 
Sales of chicks, cockerels and eggs 
before December 1. 103.07 
$202.58 
2S9 chickens on hand December 1 at cost 
of $202.58 equals 70 cents each. This rep¬ 
resents cost of food and other materials 
used. No attempt was made to keep ac¬ 
count of the labor. c. s. phelps. 
Freemartins. 
Cost of feed 
for 
1912.... 
$367.30 
147.29 
January .... 
494 
48 
$.60 
$20.01 
$10.87 
February ... 
792 
46 
.50 
12.60 
March . 
954 
46 
.38 
8.50 
April . 
913 
44 
.35 
12.00 
May . 
782 
40 
.35 
17.25 
June . 
636 
40 
.35 
10.22 
July . 
30 
.35 
12.95 
August . 
380 
28 
.40 
11.20 
September . . 
400 
27 
.45 
15.85 
October . 
430 
.50 
8.70 
November ... 
475 
.55 
14.25 
December ... 
602 
.60 
12.90 
7368 
average 
$.45 
per doz. 
For the first six months 1912, 4571 eggs. 
For the first six months average 44 hens 
per month. 
Average 102 eggs per hen for six months. 
Cannot give average for the year as pul¬ 
lets were put in with hens in September. 
New Rochelle, N. Y. h. m. e. 
That Egg-Laying Contest.; 
The notes by Mr. Cosgrove on the egg- 
laying contest are very interesting, and 
if one will take the trouble to do a 
little figuring on the results obtained for 
the first 12 weeks of the second contest at 
Storrs, he will have some trouble in dis¬ 
covering any great laying stunts. Take the 
Single Comb White Leghorns for example. 
According to Mr. Cosgrove’s figures these 
supposedly heavy layers, the cream of this 
country and some from England, have pro¬ 
duced only 731 eggs per pen of five birds 
in 11 weeks, or a percentage of about 20 
per cent. Now when you consider that 
there are 215 Single Comb White Leghorns 
divided into 43 pens of five birds each, and 
that the work of feeding and caring for 
these 43 pens is something of a job, where 
would the commercial egg farmer get his 
profit if he used the system as followed 
at Storrs, and got only a 20 per cent 
yield during the two months in which eggs 
reallv bring a good price. 
I do not claim years of experience in the 
poultry business, and my stock was not 
purchased at $5, or $10, per head, and I 
doubt if I have a bird on my place that 
could win the blue at a county fair, but 
they certainly have delivered the eggs this 
Winter, and one pen of 100 pullets in par¬ 
ticular are far ahead of the S. C. White 
Leghorns in the contest at Storrs as to 
average per bird. These pullets were 
hatched April 4 and 11, 1912, and the first 
eggs were laid September 22. They were 
confined to their Winter quarters (a modi¬ 
fied Tolman house 14x22 open front;, on 
October 1, and for the 12 weeks beginning 
November 1, and continuing until January 
23, they gave me a total of 2126 eggs, or 
an average of 21 *4 eggs from each pullet. 
During the same period the 215 S. C. White 
Leghorns in 43 separate pens laid a total 
of 3326 eggs, or an average of about 15% 
eggs per bird. 
In two of the 12 weeks, namely the first 
and ninth, my 100 pullets actually laid 
more eggs than the 215 at Storrs. These 
facts are open to investigation by you or 
anyone you may send to the farm, and sim- 
Would a twin heifer (whose mate was a 
male), be worthless to keep, thinking to 
make a cow of her? They tell me such ani¬ 
mals will never breed. a. d. t. 
Brier, Mass. 
Such heifers are known as "freemartins.” 
They rarely if ever breed and are better put 
into beef. 
Send 
mo your name 
and I will tell you 
about the Six World's 
Championships won by my fa¬ 
mous Itelle City Incubator—will tell 
you about the folks who won the prizes, 
how they did it and how you can get champion¬ 
ship hatches right from the start. My 140-egg 
Six-Time World's Champion 
Belle City Incubator 
has Oakes double disc self-regulator, correct hot 
water heating system, copper tank and boiler, 
safety lamp, double walls and double door, with 
dead air space all over, roomy nursery and strong 
egg tray, Tycos thermometer. I also supply egg- 
tester, Edw. Miller .sun hinge burner, funnel, 
everything you need, including valuable Instruc¬ 
tion book. 
My 140-Chick Belle City Brooder is as perfect 
as my Incubator. It is double-walled, hot water 
top-heated, metal safety lamp and burner, wire 
runway yard with platform. Guaranteed to raise 
the largest percentage of chicks every timet 
1,2 or 3 Month’s Home Test 
10 Year Money-Back Guarantee 
Freight Prepaid East of Rockies 
If you want your machine quick order direct 
from this advertisement. I guarantee everything 
to be satisfactory or your money back. Any bank 
or express company will tell you that I do exactly 
as I say. I ask you to send only $7.66 for my 140- 
Egg Incubator—the best you can Vi,„ ci.in niilrU 
buy at any price, or $4.85 for my , e „ 1 , 
140-chick Itelle City Brooder, *rom at. raul. 
You can save more money at my Buflalo, Kansas 
unheard of low combination City or Racine, 
price—send only $11.60 whe" — 
both are ordered together. 
Drop Me A Postal 
Today! 
Just say “Send World’s 
Championship Hatching 
Facts, or order now, direct 
from my factory, and save 
delays. I’ll ship 
your machine 
day I get 
order, 
faction 
anteed. 
Address 
Jim Rohan, 
President 
Box 
Racine, Wis. 
Usual price 2Sc each 
but we offer two for 25c as a 
special inducement to get 
you acquainted with 
PURINA 
CHICKEN CHOWDER 
—a dry masli composed of al¬ 
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granulated meat,linseed meal and 
charcoal, the great egg mash and 
GROWING FEED 
for baby chicks. Purina Chicken 
Chowder produces tender and 
plump-broilers atan early age and 
advances the egg 
laying period 
from 2 to 5 weeks. 
ClipCol.Purina’s 
head from a bag 
of Purina Chick¬ 
en Chowder and 
send it to us.with 
25c, and we’ll 
ship you the two 
metal drinking 
fountains, de¬ 
livered free. 
Purina Poultry Feeds are sold by the 
leading dealers and grocers. If your 
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Chowder from his jobber. 
Poultry book free! 
For your dealer’s name 
I will send you this 48- 
page Poultry Book, con¬ 
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breeding and feeding 
charts, space for daily 
egg records, cures of 
diseases, etc., and full 
instructions on how to 
successfully raise baby 
chicks. Write today. 
Col. Purina, Purina Mills, 
827 South Eighth St., St. Louis 
CORNELL @11 
GASOLINE 
BROODER HEATER 
Equal to five Kerosene Heaters 
Cares for 250 Chicks. 
Needs little attention. 
No lamps to trim. 
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Perfect ventilation. 
PRICE COMPLETE 
* 10.92 
CAPACITY 
250 
CHICKS 
Recommended by the New York 
State College of Agriculture 
Send for Free Catalog 
TREMAN, KING & COMPANY 
DEPT. 201 
ITHACA, N. Y. 
Manufacturers of Poultry House 
Appliances 
WRITE YOUR MM 
ON A POSTAL 
and get this big book on Poultry 
Raising, free, post-paid. It tells 
how successful poultrymen feed, 
breed, rear, hatch and house. 
Full of valuablo hints and helps 
you’ll be pleasod to know, 
120 PAGES 
Practical Experiences 
Secrets 
of oth¬ 
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c e 8 s . 
Plans for Poultry Houses— 
how to make a first-class 
brooder out of a piano box. 
Describes the 1913 Sand Tray 
Prairie State Incubators. 
Prairia State Incubator Co. 
406 Y&ln St., Homer City, 
140 EGG INCUBATOR 
>ndi4o CHICK BROODER 
Tho incubator is Qoth 
California Rod- 
For 
Fraight Paid 
East of 
“the Rockies 
to use. 30 
I if not O. K. 
li™ 
$10 
wood, covered 
with asbestos and galvanized 
iron; has triple walls, copper tank; 
M nursery; egg tester, thermo meter, ready 
Days* Trial — money back 
Write for Free Catalog today. 
Ironclad Incubator Co., Dept. 90 Racine,WIs. 
THE CORNING FEES MIXER 
thoroughly mixes the feed 
so poultry cannot sepa¬ 
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it. Hand and power sizes. 
Also Bono Cutters. 8ond 
for catalog. Manufact¬ 
ured and sold by 
WILSON BROS. 
Easton, Penna. 
Cut down living expenses—raieo poultry for 
your own um and for ealo to neighbors. Thou¬ 
sands make money this way with 
S uccessful incubators 
UCCESSFUL BROODERS 
Life Producers—Life Preservers 
Why don’t you do tbo tame? Learn how eaey It !fl to etart. Booklet “How to 
Raise 48 out of 60 Chicks”—10c. Catalogue FREE. Write today. Address 
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Hatch by Rule 
Mandy Fee, the incubator of cer¬ 
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Send for book explaining great new Lee features. 
Sizes up to 600 eggs. Try Germozone for chick health and poultry 
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GEO. II. FEE COMPANY, 
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and Brooder B F oa H " 
If ordered together. 
Freight paid east of 
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them. Send for it 
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Made of highest quality ingredients, carefully 
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1! not, write to Taylor Bros., Camden, N. J., for catalog. 
Ask Your Dealer for Keystone Foods 
Brooder for $10. 
Strong, fireproof, metal case, 
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Cold-rolled copper watertank, 
Has mademanytOO^v hatches 
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Order direct from this advertisement. Wo guarantee satisfaction or you get 
all your money buck quick. Brand new Poultry Book free. Order Now. _ 
NATIONAL INCUBATOR COMPANY. 1338 19th St.. Racine, Wis 
FREIGHT PREPAID 
East of Rockies. 
Very sensitive thermometer, 
Wide dead air space. 
Spacious egg chamber, 
165 Chick Brooder 
Alone $4.00 
More and Better 
Is what the dairymen want. More milk Is secured when tho 
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the Introduction of sanitary methods. The combination Is a 
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Animal Regulator 
Is the best conditioner for dairy cows on earth. 
25c, 50c, $1. 25-lb Pail, $3.50 
the stables 
:k if it fails" 
Disinfectant 
* sweet, clean, sanitary, “v™- ™ 
makes 
‘Your money ba 
1913 Almanac and Pratts Profit-sharing Booklet FREE at 
dealers, or write us 
Our products are sold by dealers everywhere, or 
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