1 1120 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 11, 
The Henyard. 
Ventilation for Henhouse. 
I have been much impressed with the 
practicability of O. W. Mapes’ Orange 
County henhouse, as described by him in 
your columns, but it has seemed to me 
that it may possibly have one fault, and 
that is a lack of sufficient ventilation 
in very warm weather. With a cross 
partition in the house cutting off the 
ready change of air, the roosting quar¬ 
ters in • the back compartment must be 
suffocatingly warm during July and Au¬ 
gust. Will Mr. Mapes inform us 
whether he finds his plan of construction 
a good one for the hot months of the 
year, and what his provisions are for 
proper ventilation during that period? 
Brooklyn, N. Y. G. w. K. 
The above calls attention to an impor¬ 
tant point in poultry-house construction. 
Instead of this being the “one fault'' of 
the Orange County poultry house, I find 
the reverse to be true in practical use. It 
is one of its very strong points. The 
rearing of young chicks and the produc¬ 
tion of eggs is largely a question of com¬ 
fort and diet. This house was designed 
primarily for the comfort of the birds, 
secondly, for the convenience of the at¬ 
tendant, and thirdly, for cheapness of 
construction and durability. It would 
fail to perform its prime mission should 
the roosting quarters become “suffocat¬ 
ingly hot” at this time of year. Al¬ 
though there is a cross partition dividing 
(he house into two rooms there is a wide 
door and two good-sized windows in the 
partition, besides a small opening 
through which the birds can pass back 
and forth. The sashes are all removed 
from these windows when not in use as a 
brooder, and the door kept open or else 
removed entirely from its hinges. This 
does away largely with the cross parti¬ 
tion. The lower sash of the rear win¬ 
dow is kept raised during the entire 
Summer when used as a laying house, 
so that, there is always a free circulation 
of fresh air. 
In addition to this it must be remem¬ 
bered that the roosting room is built with 
double walls on all four sides and packed 
with insulating material (shavings) like 
an ice box, with a layer of insulating ma¬ 
terial overhead between the roof and the 
roosting room. This protects it from 
the heat of the sun’s rays surprisingly. 
It must be borne in mind that any ar¬ 
rangement that will retard the loss of 
animal heat from the hens on cold Win¬ 
ter nights, will also retard the entrance 
of heat from the sun’s rays on hot Sum¬ 
mer days. I usually keep the rear win¬ 
dow sash raised and the door and win¬ 
dows of cross partition open, and on a 
hot afternoon it is noticeably cooler to 
the face the moment one steps into the 
room. It is a favorite resort of the hens 
on hot days, just as they like to con¬ 
gregate under a house that is raised a 
foot or two above ground. 
By opening door and windows at early 
evening, and closing all except the small 
door through which the hens pass again 
in the early morning, it would be much 
cooler. I so closed one house this morn¬ 
ing (August 20) and at one P. M. I 
found the temperature 78 degrees out of 
doors in the shade, while it was 70 de¬ 
grees inside. On an extremely hot day 
the difference w r ould be much more 
marked. 
We learned years ago that the way to 
keep a house cellar cool and sweet is to 
open up all windows at evening time, 
and close them again in the early morn¬ 
ing. We have a large front i*oom on 
the ground floor of our home that is well 
protected from the sun’s rays by shade 
trees. My wife always in hot weather 
opens up this room during the night and 
closes it again in the early morning. In 
this w T ay she has a cool retreat for hot 
afternoons after her dinner work is done, 
and I notice that the rest of the family 
are prone to joint her there whenever pos¬ 
sible. It makes a dandy place for yours 
truly to take his after-dinner nap. 
O. W. MAPES. 
English and American Leghorns. 
The indifferent opinion of birds as pro¬ 
ducers has become enormous in the close 
past; although some poultrymen still 
have a little faith in type, it does not 
seem very difficult to prove this opinion 
false, which -was accomplished in Aus¬ 
tralia about 15 years ago, in England 
about eight years ago, and in this country 
to a large extent during the past two 
years by the egg-laying competitions. The 
believers in type for producers might say, 
after seeing the picture of Tom Barron’s 
wonderful producer on -page 1077, “It 
is the very one we are looking for.” An¬ 
other picture of Tom Barron’s stock 
might be shown of another bird with an 
unlimited amount of variation in type, 
and still produce nearly as well as the 
one shown. 
The record of Mr. Barron’s best bird in 
the International egg-laying competition 
at the end of the forty-fifth week is 248 
eggs. The leading bird of the first com¬ 
petition, a S. C. Rhode Island Red, laid 
254 eggs during the year, and laid until 
the close of the competition. The leading 
bird this year has all the opportunity in 
the world to pass that record, as she is 
in excellent health and laid 28 eggs in 31 
days during August, which is about 60 
cents net profit, that is 60 cents 
for the work by the attendants 
above the cost of feed during the month. 
This bird might produce 30 more eggs, 
although it is not safe to make a rash 
guess, especially at this season of the 
year. edw t ard l. newmarker. 
R.N.-Y".—For comparison we showed by 
the side of Mr. Barron’s bird a picture of 
the American-bred Leghorn which has the 
best egg record thus far in the contest. 
This bird had laid 229 eggs, while the 
English bird laid 248. As will be seen, 
these hens are of quite distinct shape and 
type. The American would, we think, 
score much higher at a poultry show. In 
fact, the English bird would probably be 
discarded in a “scale of points” as* not 
worth competition. 
Hawks and Poultry. 
How about hawks? We have lost a 
large part of our chickens by hawks, and 
they take them even now when half 
grown. My husband believes in free 
range, but we begin to think we shall 
have to give it up, or give up trying to 
raise chickens. We have a fine orchard 
of several acres fenced in, but back of it 
are woods, the haunt of hawks; it is im¬ 
possible to abolish the woods. I have 
decided to try keeping the chicks in small 
flocks in wired-in coops next year, and 
move the coops. Can I do any better? 
We hatched many hundreds and have only 
a comparative few left. MRS. A. H. p. 
Chelmsford, Mass. 
Where hawks are numerous they con¬ 
stitute one of the most serious of poultry 
pests. It is neither the large red-shoul¬ 
dered or red-tailed hawks, commonly 
known as hen hawks, that do the damage 
in poultry yards, as their food is chiefly 
frogs, toads, snakes, insects, snails, liz¬ 
ards, field mice and other destructive ro¬ 
dents up to the size of woodchucks. They 
are slow-moving birds soaring aloft in 
wide circles, and uttering the call note 
“Kee-you, kee-you,” several times repeat¬ 
ed as they sail on fixed pinions. They 
seldom molest poultry, prefering other 
game, but their smaller relatives, the 
sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper’s hawk, 
are the true chicken hawks. These be¬ 
come very bold when they once learn to 
visit the poultry yard, and they are such 
quick-moving birds that only a good 
marksman can hope to stop them with a 
gun. It is necessary in some places to 
build wire-covered runs for small chicks 
to protect them until they become large 
enough to be comparatively safe. A steel 
trap mounted on a high post and baited 
with a live chicken of small size will 
sometimes ctacli them, and a good marks¬ 
man with a shotgun is a great protection 
when he is on hand, as he seldom is when 
needed. Some dogs may be trained to 
chase hawks, and Guinea fowls have the 
reputation of protecting other poultry by 
their sharp cries, but how efficient they 
are I cannot say. m. b. d. 
A Real Poultry Dog, 
I read the article on page 930 regard¬ 
ing the wants of A. W. Littlefield for a 
poultry dog. I have just such a dog (he 
is not for sale). This dog is a cross be¬ 
tween a collie and a terrier, a good rat¬ 
ter, and a good chicken dog; no crow or 
hawk can get anywhere near the hens. 
If a pigeon flies over the chickens, and 
the dog hears them cackle, he is on the 
job at once, but he is also quick to see 
the birds in the air. We have had him 
now about three years, raised him from 
a pup, and we have not lost a chicken 
from crows or hawks. He will also 
keep the chickens out of the garden, but 
it was some time before we had him so 
as not to take a mouthful of feathers 
from each hen he would run out. Now 
he just rounds them up and runs them 
out without any desire to bite. lie is 
good to the youngsters, never biting and 
does stand for lots of abuse from the 
baby. We would not feel homelike if he 
were gone, as he is a member of the fam¬ 
ily in good standing, but he does not like 
autos or motorcycles. Where he got 
these traits from I do not know. He 
was given to us when hardly able to be 
away from the old dog, and we had to 
feed him with a spoon. He is a real 
poultry dog. I. s. S. 
Calverton, L. I. 
Destroying Poultry Foes. —I think 
your reader who wishes to destroy poul¬ 
try foes will find the following satisfac¬ 
tory : Take eggs, pick a small hole in 
the egg, place small quantity of strych¬ 
nine in the egg, place court plaster over 
the hole. Place under box with small 
holes in it to prevent dogs or cats or 
valuable animals from getting it. An¬ 
other plan is to place small chicken size 
of quail in a wire rat trap; place trap 
where vermin runs. Place small steel 
traps on all sides of the trap. You will 
get the rascal every time. R. I. leary. 
Sherwin-Williams 
Paints & Varnishes 
Fight depreciation with good paint. Depreciation 
is the certain follower of neglect. You know 
what sun and storm, unchecked, will do to your 
buildings. Fight them with the paint of proven 
merit for all outside work. 
SWP 
(Sherwin-Williams Paints, Prepared) 
Every ingredient is the best for its purpose. We mine our own lead and zinc; we 
make our own linseed oil. Our perfect machinery does the grinding and mixing 
with uniform precision. SWP cover* readily—it lasts. 
There is a specially made Sherwin-Williams product for every surface about your 
farm buildings, and your house. Whether it’s to brighten up a chair or table or to ward 
off rust and decay from your machinery or tools, our booklet, “Paints and Varnishes 
for the Farm,” tells you the right product and the right way to use it. We mail it free. 
The Sherwin-Williams Company 
635 Canal Road, Cleveland, O. 
Don’t confuse this with ordi¬ 
nary “make-shift” roofings. We 
guarantee it 15 years and inside 
each roll furnish modern ideas for 
laying it artistically and permanently. 
Certai n-teed 
Rolls Roofing Shingles 
You can’t tell how long a roofing will 
wear by looking at it—so for your own 
protection, accept no 
substitutes—be sure that 
the Certain-teed Quality 
V Label is on each roll. Sold 
by dealers everywhere at 
a reasonable price. 
General Roofing Mfg. Co. 
E. St. Louis, III. York Pa. 
Marseilles, Ill. 
Fix Your Roof 
You can make the old worn-out tin, Iron, 
steel, felt or gravel roof give you as much 
service as a new roof and you can double 
the life of that old shingle roof. 
DAAt 1 ¥7 , T'V Cures Roof 
KUUl ‘1 Troubles 
and keeps them cured. Cost slight. One coat 
•does the work. In black and red. Ready for 
use. Absolutely guaranteed to do the work. 
Write at once for the free Roof Book. Address 
G. E. CONKEY CO., 3345 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. 
GUARANTEED FOR 30 YEARS. 
INGOT IRON ROOFING 
Money back or n new roof if it de¬ 
teriorates or rusts out. No painting 
or repairs required. Our Indemnity Bond pro¬ 
tects you. Costs no more than ordinary roof¬ 
ing. Write Tor big illustrated book FREE. 
The An.ericun Iron Roofing Co. 
Station 1> ELYRIA, OHIO. 
SCIENTIFIC SWEEP MILL 
This No. 6 triple geared, doublo act- 
i ing sweep milThas more capacity and 
1 will do better work than any other 
two-horse mill; it 
TURNS CORN 
TO DOLLARS 
Avoid waste, and make 
big proiits by grind¬ 
ing your feed with 
one of our mills. Wo 
make power mills also 
for engines of any size. 
Send for free catalog, 
THE BAUER BROS. CO., Box 513 Springfield. Ohio 
Grinds Wet Grain Without 
At nanis speed as dry. Oat 
hulls too. No other grinder ICJ281l8.fi 
docs this. Self aligning OO O 
buhrs grind 1000 to 3000 bushels per set and 
are easily replaced. Big results 
on KttJo gasoline. 
Lets 5 *ent h 8 unr nln ® 
Feed HOI 
Write ns giving H. P. of 
your engine and we’ll tell 
how to get one on your farm 
£or 10 Days Free Trial. 
LETZ MFG. CO. 
213 E. Road, Crown Point, Ind. 
I Ask Only $122 
Send for Froo Book on Clean in? and 
Grading Grain. Then ask for the size ’ 
machino you want, send $1.00 and I’ll^ 
ship 1914 Model Chatham, freight pro- 1 
paid, with special screens and riddles for \ 
all Grains, Grasses and Weed Seed where 
you live. Give it a month’s hard test. If 
not satisfied, send it back and get your $1. 
If satisfied, pay mo any time before 1914. 
CHATHAM Grain 
Handles all grains and 
grass seeds; takes out 
weed seed; separates mixed grains 
leaves big, pure scod. Over 300/- 
000 Chathams in uso, and every 
owner satisfied! Write a postal 
now for my FREE copyrighted 
book, “The Chatham System of 
Breeding Big Crops;*/- descrip¬ 
tion, price, terms, etc Address 
nearest office. Dept. *43i 
MANSON CAMPBELL CO. 
Detroit, Kansas City, Minneapolis^ 
MANSON 
CAMPBELL 
nro guaranteed to do thorough 
id qnick work. Strongly built 
Fand easy running. Swoop and power 
mills in many sizes and stylos. 
Illustrated Booklet about feeding 
and grinding Free. Write today. 
The Star Manufacturing Company 
13 Depot St., New Lexington, Ohio 
l=lri«H:lffll 
(Sold with or without Elevator.) 
Fop Every Variety of Work. 
Hare conical shaped grinders. Different 
from all others. Handiest to operate »nd 
LIGHTEST RUNNINC. 
7 Sizes— 2 to 25 horse power. One style for 
wlndwheel use. (Also make Swoop Crind* 
,rs—Co.—d — -H pi.in. 
P. R. B0WSHER CO., South Bend, Ind. 
Save Work, 
Time, Money 
Bv using our low down 
steel wheel 
wagon___ 
■•*®^^lave^iiKl> lifting, lighten 
draft, don’t rut roads. Spokes 
w- don’t loosen wheels don’t dry out or rot 
Wrlto for froo book on Wagons and Wheels. 
"Electric Wheel Co.. 48 Elm Street. Quincy. III. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick 
reply and a “square deal.” See guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : • '• 
