664 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKEB 
A LANTERN-HEATED BROODER. 
1 have read Mr. Mapes’ description of his 
poultry house heating equipment, and it is 
doubtful if it can be improved upon. For 
a person raising a quantity of poultry, it 
is cheap and efficient, but is beyond the 
needs and expense allowable for the small 
operator or farmer raising a small lot. I 
tried the high-priced hovers, and found 
them .uncertain, then a hunch of rags artis¬ 
tically draped, then this and that, and 
finally stuck to an arrangement accidentally 
run across. One cold night while a freezing 
wind howled in from the north and the rain 
came in almost solid sheets, I had an incu¬ 
bator off and the chicks housed with the 
patent heater supposedly working. Going 
out late to see if the working was actually 
a fact or an advertising fallacy, the latter 
was the case. I crawled in the brooder 
with a lantern and messed with the heater. 
It did everything but raise the temperature, 
unless mine be considered. I took out the 
thermometer and hung it on the wall, pulled 
out the heat pipes, drum and all the rest 
of the delusion and slammed it out in the 
chilly night, and sat down on the floor to 
think what I should do to care for the 
baby chicks. I looked at the chicks and 
at the lantern, and noted the thermometer 
had gone up; after a little time I began 
to leak at the pores, and between my car¬ 
cass and the lantern we enjoyed Summer 
heat. The next thing that happened was 
to unwind myself and ooze out of the 
brooder door, go to the house and get some 
dry sacks and fix them in the brooder to 
keep the chicks warm. This done, it oc¬ 
curred to me the chicks might wander out 
and get crowded around the lantern and 
get burned; this difficulty was solved by 
knocking the bottom out of a tin bucket 
and setting it on the floor and putting The 
lantern inside it, keeping the chicks at a 
safe distance and cutting out the light. The 
next morning it was good and cold, but the 
chicks were all right, and that hatch whs 
raised with the lantern and tin can. 
Several heat-supplying stunts have since 
been tried, but none gave as satisfactory 
results, and one after the other were dis¬ 
carded, recourse to the trusty lantern al¬ 
ways being necessary in the end. My 
brooders are made for use in the yard, not 
housed, and are consequently made to use 
either to open for warm weather or dlose 
tight for cold, and prevent drafts, the end 
the chicks sleep in being covered with paper 
or roofing felt inside, and some little loose¬ 
ness at the other end is allowed for ventila¬ 
tion ; around the top, at each end and the 
back several one-inch holes are bored and 
covered with screen wire, to allow any 
fumes to escape from the lantern. I have 
used the lantern arrangement for several 
years; find it cheap to install, the price of 
a common lantern and a tin bucket large 
enough to let it fit inside after the bottom 
is removed. The consumption of oil is 
small, but no heat is wasted, and with 
proper ventilation and attention to keeping 
the lantern trimmed and clean the loss of 
oxygen has never seemed to be enough to 
injure the chicks. There is apparently no 
fire risk with the lantern, and I have never 
had the slightest trouble with it. My 
brooders are mostly made of dry goods 
boxes, no two exactly alike, and can be 
used either inside or outside, one being 
used under cover now, owing to abnormal 
wet spell so as to give chicks a dry run. 
A lamp would hardly do, the heat from 
the chimney being liable to set the roof 
of the brooder on fire, and the chimney 
might crack and the oil base get overheated 
and catch fire or explode. If a brooder is 
covered with cut hay, I would suggest put¬ 
ting in a box of sand to set the lantern in, 
to prevent any possibility of straw coming 
too close to the flame, or putting sand in 
a metal bucket and setting the lantern in 
it. If it is extremely cold, use two lanterns 
at night, and one by day. m. a. p. 
Alabama. 
THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A NUISANCE. 
I noticed an article in The Rural New- 
Yorker, on page 382, about “The English 
Sparrow; Is lie a Nuisance,” written by 
Sterling Callisen, New Jersey. I have 
studied the ways of these sparrows for 
many years, and have come to but one 
conclusion, and that is that they are a 
nuisance. I have seen them start to nest¬ 
ing early in February and nest till late in 
the Fall. Sterling Callisten says three 
broods of sparrows will eat 47,775 insects 
in one season, and the parent birds ate 
about 20 cents worth of rye. Why not do 
away with this noisy foreigner, and take 
one of our native birds to fill his place? 
For example, the bluebird, purple martin 
or house wren? None of these three birds 
eats grain, and they are the chief ones that 
are bothered by the sparrows. The sparrow 
begins to nest so early that when our 
native birds come to nest all of the nesting 
places are occupied by the sparrows. Put 
the bluebird in the English sparrow’s place; 
its young will eat the 47,775 insects eaten 
by the young sparrows and the parent birds 
will take no wheat or rye for pay, but will 
live on insects also. The bluebird’s song 
and dress are both prettier than the spar¬ 
row’s. If the sparrows are shot bluebirds 
will occupy nesting boxes put up for the 
purpose. 
It isn’t the bird that builds its nest in 
the open, like the robin, that is bothered, 
but the hole dwellers, some of which are 
downy woodpeckers, martins, wrens, bliie- 
birds and the many others. I have shot 
several sparrows this Spring in their at¬ 
tempts to drive away the bluebirds. Last 
Spring I saw two sparrows drive away 
eight martins from a martin box. I shot 
the sparrows, and one pair of the martins 
came back to nest in peace. While visiting 
a friend last May I found a newly dug 
downy woodpecker’s nest in a dead limb fn 
a pear tree. On returning to the nest a 
few weeks later I found the front of the 
nest broken and on investigating I found 
it was occupied by a pair of sparrows. If 
this sparrow is not dealt with severely it 
will not be a question of many years until 
the bluebirds will be gone. I protected 
them last year from the sparrow and nro- 
vided nesting places for them. I was re¬ 
warded with 10 broods of birds raised with¬ 
in a half mile of the house. 1 think it 
may be more interesting to bird-lovers to 
know that where the English sparrow was 
shot I observed 115 species, and where they 
were allowed to breed on 55 species were 
seeen. c. o. handley. 
West Virginia. 
Don’t Get Back- 
Weary Planting} 
Use an Acme Planter 
Acme Planter 
Corn Plantar balance — like a 
good gun—plant accu¬ 
rately, at even depth, 
without lost motion. 
Acme Rotary 
ACME 
Corn and Potato Planters 
$i 
Acme Hand Potato 
Planter 
NOTES ON PARCEL POST. 
Parcel post is meeting with great success. 
Of course, we all know there are needed 
reforms, but these will doubtless come, all 
in good time. It is a step in the right 
direction of procuring a little more of The 
producers dollar. lake the good roads bill 
recently passed in Ohio, a great many peo¬ 
ple do not understand its great possibilities 
and future benefits. Parcel post and good 
roads would mean more to the farmer than 
anything else, and we appreciate the good 
work of The R. N.-Y in constantly advo¬ 
cating these meaures. The old adage, “All 
things come to he who waits,” was for past 
generation. At present we might better 
say, “If you want anything, get out and 
hustle until you get it.” We recently filled 
an order for maple syrup by parcel post. 
A man wished to present each of his rela¬ 
tives with a quart tin can of syrup. They 
went to several States, hut made, I imagine, 
a pleasant Easter surprise. One cold day 
last Winter a postmaster near here received 
a package, which was laid over the hot 
water pipes and left there while he went 
to dinner. On returning he was greeted 
by a frightful and unmistakable odor. The 
package on the pipes went via the back 
door. It had contained the fur of the 
farmer’s friend, the skunk. 
MRS. JAMES I.AMPMAN. 
As to our use of the parcel post I can 
vouch for the following: Very nearly. all 
of the parcels we send out or are received 
by us are delivered in a way that causes 
us to lose our customers. Every week we 
ship roasting chickens, one apiece, to New 
York City customers. They are first 
packed in good wax paper, then in a strong 
cardboard box, and lastly with wrapping 
paper and strong cord. They arrive with 
half the wax paper half removed, the box 
smashed and thin cotton thread instead of 
our good cord to tie the remains with. 
They have been received with the bird’s body 
partly exposed, and we receive 25 cents a 
pound for them. We are absolutely dis¬ 
gusted, and have been forced to give up this 
profitable trade. Without a doubt, the 
packages are wilfully maltreated and a 
complaint results in an absolute denial 
from the postoffiee authorities. We once 
thought tlie express companies were had 
enough, but the parcel post is the worst 
we have ever been up against. We cannot 
ship eggs via this route, as it is too ex¬ 
pensive. The express companies are ex¬ 
pensive to ship by, hut are satisfactory to 
us in every other way, whereas the people’s 
servants as portrayed in the parcel post 
have put us out of a very profitable branch 
of our business. I hope that this will 
reach some official's eyes, as direct com¬ 
plaints are practically laughed at. J. z. 
Montgomery, N. Y. 
You ask for experience with parcel post. 
I have had considerable, and was a strong 
advocate for its adoption. I had the first 
package out of Iloosick Falls, N. Y., Jan¬ 
uary 1 marked to me at Old Mystic, 
Conn. It consisted of choice grape fruit 
and oranges, sent me on special order. 
The tag and part of the box came here 
January 2, contents entirely destroyed in 
transit." The party sending goods paid 40 
cents postage and 10 cents insurance, and 
sent me a bill for goods and post office 
charges, which I promptly remitted. I 
made a sworn claim out against the Post 
Office Department for 81.50, value of goods, 
and 46 cents postage, total ,$1.06. After 
considerable delay they informed me that 
claim for loss or destruction of package 
No. 1 out of Iloosick Falls had been ad¬ 
justed in the amount of 81.50 and an order 
would soon be sent to the shipper at 
Iloosick Falls. Of course, he had never 
made a claim. I replied the claim would 
never be settled by payment to the shipper, 
as the goods were sent on an order for 
which bill had been rendered, and paid and 
a receipt from the party was held by me; 
further that 81-50 would not settle the 
claim, as the claim was for 81.00, and the 
postage would take the same position as 
freight or express money when the goods 
were entirely destroyed : that I could see no 
reason why the United States should take 
40 cents of my money and give me nothing 
for it. The premium for insurance was not 
made a part of my claim, hut the transpor¬ 
tation charges, and loss of goods I felt 
entitled to. I have not yet got my money, 
neither 81-50 or 81.00. They can send me 
letters without postage. I have to pay. 
and they may wear me out for tills reason : 
but if life lasts, and the sun continues to 
rise in the East, the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment in Washington will receive mall from 
Old Mystic for quite a while yet. I sfill 
believe in the parcel post, hut many 
changes in carrying it on are necessary 
for its best work. 
Old Mystic, Conn. chas. q. eldridge. 
Acme Rotary Corn Planter has the 
seed box centered and is worked by 
one hand, right or left. Thumb nut 
regulates number of kernels dropped. 
Strong double-coil spring automatically 
drops seed and fills for next hill. 
The Acme Potato Planter saves fur¬ 
rowing and covering, stooping and 
two-thirds of the work. Operates in 
any soil. Low priced—lasts for years. 
300,000 Acme Planters in use. Over 
10,000 new users every year. Write 
for free book “The Acme of Potato 
Profit” and name of nearest dealer. 
Any dealer should supply you. Insist 
on planters with this trade 
mark. Write us if your 
trade mark ^ dealer can not supply you. 
POTATO IMPLEMENT CO. 
301 Front Stmt, Traverse City, Mich. 
Acme 
lants-Sows 
Fertilizer—Covers 
Rows It's a pleasure to walk be¬ 
hind and watch it. Regu- 
lar as a clock. Plants corn, beans, peas, 
or beet seeds in hills or drills; at same 
time will drop wet or dry fertilizer in ac¬ 
curate amounts per acre In hill or drill. 
This is the original — the only genuino 
Eclipse 
CORN PLANTER 
is a great time and temper saver. No stopping to fuss 
and adjust it. Once set—you’re ready for the day with¬ 
out loss of time. Dealers sell it. If none near you 
write us. 
Free Catalog—Send tor our 64-pago catalog, has a 
tool for each of your needs. .Send for it today. 
BELCHER & TAYLOR 
AGRICULTURAL TOOL CO. 
Bos 
Using a 
Novo Englno 
Will Add Hours 
to Your Day 
Use the extra timo 
for more work and 
greater profits. Tho 
all-year-round 
engine - guaranteed 
against freezing 
damage. The light¬ 
est for power de¬ 
veloped — making 
i t easy to move. 
Simple, economical 
and reliable. Eight 
“TheEngine for Every Purposi” sizes: 1 to 15 h. p. 
Send tor Movo Catalog 
and read all about this engine and what it can 
do for you. 
NOVO ENGINE CO. 
CLARENCE E. BEMENT, Bec'v and Uen'l Mgr. 
211 Willow Street 
April 12, 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
T 
STANDARDIZED. 
EASY AND SAFETO USE 
INEXPENSIVE 
KILLS LICE 
ON ALL LIVE STOCK 
DISINFECTS. 
CLEANSES. 
PURIFIES. 
It has so many uses that It Is 
a necessity on every farm. 
CURES MANGE, SCAB, 
RINGWORM, SCRATCHES 
Destroys All Disease Germs 
DRIVES AWAY FLIES 
Write for Free Booklets 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO. 
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY 
DETROIT, - - MICHIGAN 
Jack of All Trades 
Kerosene Engines 
More Power Half the Coat 
Develop more than rated power on 
either Kerosene or Gasoline. Adapted 
to all power work on tho farm. Our im¬ 
mense factory facilities enable us to 
sell these 
High Grade Engines 
At Remarkably Low Prices 
Jack of All Trades are strongly built of 
best materials. Largo bearings. Ample 
Lubrication. All parts accessible—you can 
get at every nut with a simple 8 wrench. 
2, 4 and 6 h. p. Horizontal. Also 2, 4 and 
6 b. p. Vertical. Other types up to 500 h. p. 
Write for Catalog No. HU 598 
State size and type preferred. 
Fairbanks, Morse & Co. 
Chicago, NewYerk, Cleveland, Cincinnati 
Oil and Gasoline Engines, Oil Tractors, Pumps, Wsler 
Systems,Electric Light Plants,Windmills, Feed Grinders y 
Two thousand gallons of water 
pumped for one cent—that 
shows the efficiency of this 
little 2 H. P. engine. Runs a 
whole day on a gallon of gaso¬ 
line. Although designed as a 
pumper, this 
Sturdy Jack 
docs all tho little jobs arouml tho 
farm. Saves work for ineii ami 
women. Mounted on wheel trucks. 
Does not have to be propped up. 
Write for some more fuels 
about this 2 11. P. 
Sturdy Jack. 
Jacobson Machim I 
Mrc. Co. 
Dipt. U 
Wahnih, 
