1229 
'l' i iiC K IJ KA L, N ii VY-VUKKiiK 
Why Pay So Much 
for Lumber & Mill work? 
Write for FREE Catalog 
and Save Big Money! 
A postal card will bring the groat Gordon-Van Tino Co. 
Free Catalog, which oilers the finest quality of MiIIwork 
and Bunding Material at one-half retail dealer’s prices, 
riipora 77c and up. Windows 57c and up. Complete Stairs 
S23.93 and up. Porch Columns $1.50. Window FramesSl.lS 
up. Over 5,000 items at corresponding* reductions! 
Save $500 to $1,000 or More on a New House 
Our Mill-to-User prices save you $500 to $1,000 and up on a 
fine house, cottage or bungalow. We sell everything 
needed to build, remodel or repair; guarantee quality, 
satisfaction and safe delivery or money back. Highest 
banking references. Thousands of customers in every 
state in the Union—all boosters for Gordon-Van Tine Co. 
Beautiful Book of Plans 
This famous book contains over 70 designs for splendid 
modern homes. Our plans keep cost within original 
estimate and savo you $*25 to $150 architect’s fees. 
Tflll2IV * or t* 10 8 rf *at Free Millwork 
• ; and Lumber Catalog. In writ¬ 
ing for Book of Plans, enclose 10c for postage* and 
mailing. * Don’t build until you have Free Book and 
Free Estimate. We will send them promptly. 
GORDON-VAN TINE CO. 
5225 Case St., Davenport, la. 
5374 *'"V9 all the lumber, millwork. hnrd- 
mire, paint and tinwork for this 
haadsomu eight-room hou.se. Plan No. 145. 
Si 910 hn - va “1* the lumber, millwork 
. V • *■ • V hardware, paint and tinwork to 
this beautiful bungalow. Plan No. 10S. 
LIGHT-STRONG-BIG CAPACITY 
USE QF FIRELESS BROODER. 
On page 925 there is a letter signed 
by A. M. requesting information about 
’arge flocks of chicks raised in tireless 
brooders. The answer signed by M. B. 
D. states that the writer of that answer 
has raised chicks in numbers of 200 to 
250 together in a fireless brooder and 
lias been successful. lie states even that 
he could raise 500 together, but would 
not try it. How does M. B. I). operate 
his fireless brooder, as I have never 
raised more than 50 together? g. c. 
I‘aide Ridge, N. J. 
My method of raising chicks in fireless 
brooders, of which I have several times 
written in these columns, is as follows: 
When taken from the incubator, about 
• 16 hours from hatching, they are placed 
n large drygoods boxes mounted upon 
legs and having their bottoms covered 
with barn chaff. A box two foot square 
will hold 100 chicks. These boxes are 
kept in a warm room of the house, usu¬ 
ally the kitchen—my wife is pretty good- 
natured—until they are from two to three 
weeks old. They are fed and watered 
here as I think young chicks should be— 
my wife does this, and it is a large part 
of the secret of my success—and when 
something less than three weeks of age 
ihey are removed to colony house brood¬ 
ers of the Cornell type. These brooders 
are very warmly built and a few minutes’ 
sunshine through the windows make them 
perfectly comfortable even on a cold day; 
if colder than the average living room, 
however, a lantern or two is lighted and 
placed in the building as long as needed. 
Lanterns are not often used after the 
brooder corners, as they are apt to if 
they have no hover to gather around. 
We have raised from 1,000 to 1,500 
chicks each year for several years with 
these, and even more simple, devices. We 
know how. however, and anyone else who 
does it will have to learn how—and pay 
the price. Far be it from me to urge this 
method upon anyone else. Our hatching 
season is from the last week in March to 
the first of June. m. b. d. 
Standard Weight of Poultry. 
I see the standard weight for cocks is 
about one pound more than for cockerels, 
also the same between hens and pullets. 
Can you give me the information when 
tlie change takes place, as a cockerel or 
pullet when young enough will not weigh 
one-quarter as much as a full grown. 
F. II. 
A cock is a male bird over one year 
of age, and a hen, likewise, a female aged 
12 months or more. The change takes 
place from a technical standpoint when 
the fowls reach the age of one year and 
emerge from adolescence to maturity, or 
from cockerel and pullethood to become 
roosters and hens. So far as the change 
in weight is concerned, it is, of course, 
gradual, but a fowl that has passed one 
year in age and reached its maximum 
development should exceed in weight by 
about one pound its maximum previous 
to that time. j£. b. d. 
Molting Pullets. 
I have about 500 White Leghorn pul¬ 
lets that I have put in their new quarters. 
BUFF WYANDOTTE—FATHER OF THE PEARSON 
NAPA. CALIFORNIA, CONTEST. 
middle of April. Here the chicks romp 
and play upon the chaff-covered floor 
throughout the day, needing no hovers. 
As night approaches and the chicks begin 
to peep for bed. their tireless hovers are 
put in place, and for a few nights, until 
the chicks have learned to enter them 
themselves, the chicks are driven into 
their hovers. Some flocks need to be put 
into their hovers hut once or twice, while 
others, more stupid, need attention for a 
week. After being put to bed the chicks 
have no artificial heat, no matter how 
cold the night. We like to have about 
two hundred in a flock, but frequently 
have more. They must all be of very 
nearly the same age, however. I know 
of no reason why 500 would not do as 
well, though they would require more 
care. 
The latest hovers are made of a strip 
of sheet iron about one foot wide and 
long enough to make a three foot circle 
when the ends are brought together and 
riveted. A large opening is cut in one 
sale of this circle for an entrance, and a 
loose hoop slipping over the top holds 
the covers in place. These covers are 
made from bran sacks, ripped and spread 
out flat. As many of them are used upon 
each hover as the temperature outside 
requires, from one to three. As the 
chicks grow older and the weather be¬ 
comes warmer, less cover is used and 
finally the entrance of the hover is left 
open, permitting the chicks when they 
become too warm to spread out fan- 
shaped upon the floor. They soon learn 
to do this and when it becomes warm 
enough will stay outside of the hover 
entirely, but the hover is put into place 
'ong after the chicks cease to use it; this 
prevents their huddling together into the 
and every one has and is still going 
through a regular molt, exactly like tin 
old hens. Cun you tell me if this shouh: 
them all the time and they have all tin 
corn, wheat and rye they want. I havt 
also been giving them a wet mash in tin 
morning and they have the run of tin 
whole range. Will it be possible for thesi 
pullets to lay soon? m. e e 
Three Bridges, N. J. 
T nless your pullets were hatched be¬ 
fore tin* latter part of March, I do not 
believe that they are going through any 
other molt than the loss of their baby 
chick feathers, and as they have not vet 
begun to lay. they will probably com¬ 
mence as soon as sufficiently well devel¬ 
oped. With your generous feeding, this 
should he at from five to six months of 
age. I have White Leghorn pullets that 
have been laying since August—March 
hatched—perhaps they will molt and stop 
laying later, hut in 10 years of exper¬ 
ience with pullets I have never yet known 
them to do so. I should prefer that my 
pullets would not commence laying until 
the latter part of September, 'but some 
of them seem to develop very rapidly and 
I get a good many eggs from the late 
March hatched pullets early in that 
month. M . b. i). 
.Tames, walking across the fields wit 
Ins father, saw a cow for the first tinn 
.‘What is that, father?” lie asked. “Thu 
is only a cow.” “And what are tlios 
things on his head?” “Horns,” answere 
the father. The two walked on. I*ref 
ently the cow mooed. James was sin 
prised. "\\ liich horn did she blow, fath 
er?” he asked.—Credit Lost. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply 
and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
It will soon pay for itself, Mr. Thresherman. It will serve you faithfully. 
Don’t invest in one of the bridge-breakets, the kind that cost so much to haul and 
operate. Figure on a Gray and compare the big saving in first cost. You’ll get 
the same capacity and durability in a lighter machine if you buy one of our 
Gray Threshers 
Gray Horse Powers 
Gray Saw Machines 
Gray Ensilage Cutters 
Gray Gasoline Engines 
A. W. G WAY’S 
THRESHERS 
73 years of experience stand back of them, We 
are known from coast to coast. Gray Thresh¬ 
ers are famous for durability, simplicity, accessi- 
bility, few parts, unifotm threshing, low repair 
cost, easy transportation, great strength, and low first cost. 
We make many sizes for the fatmer’s private use or for con¬ 
tracting 1 hresliermen. Send postal now for our brand new 
recently rewritten Catalog with new pictures. It’s free. 
SOINS, 14 South Street, Middletown Springs, Vermont 
A Price Easy 
Ideal for 
Hilly Country— 
Simple—Few Parts 
— Medium Power 
arid you will have no more trouble with a shaky, leaky 
entrance into your cellar. Any damp cellar is dangerous. 
Concrete cures the evil. Concrete steps, unlike other kinds, 
become stronger with age, and are safe under heaviest loads. 
Proof against rats, mice and vermin. You require only good 
cement, sand and gravel. But be sure to build right. Use 
ALPHA 
THE GUARANTEED 
PORTLAND 
Refuse “just as good” cements. Cheap 
substitutes may spoil the job. ALPHA 
was used in the Galveston Sea Wall, the 
Barge Canal, the New York Aqueduct 
(over a million barrels) and in other famous 
jobs where the tests were most exacting. 
CEMENT 
Bought by U. S. Gov’t. Always uniform, 
exactly burned, finely ground, thoroughly 
aged. You are sure of satisfaction when 
you use ALPHA. Remember “Portland” 
is merely a class of cement. Specify 
ALPHA Portland Cement and be sure. 
112-Page Concrete Book Sent FREE 
Our free book “Concrete In the Country.** tells how to build steps, bins, 
tanks, floors, walks, posts, etc. Regular price 25 cents. Mail the coupon and 
get it free, or write, mentioning this publication. 
ALPHA PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY oS 1 Easton, Pa. 
■ Alpha Portland Cement Co., Easton, Pa. 
J I am interested in concrete construction and Name 
■ want your book about ALPHA, the Guaranteed 
■ Cement. I may build a________ Address 
RNY-N15. 
