160 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 5, 
“ WHITE DIARRHOEA ” IN CHICKS. 
By “white diarrhoea'' is meant a group 
of diseases afifecting the intestinal canal 
of little chicks. It has become the 
scourge of the poultry yard, killing more 
birds than any other disease. We have 
had considerable discussion of it in The 
R. N.-Y., but until recently little was 
actually known about it. Bulletin 60 of 
the Connecticut Experiment Station 
(Storrs P. O.) gives the result of some 
interesting investigations by Prof. L. F. 
Rettger and Prof. F. 11/ Stoneburn. 
They have found that true “white diar¬ 
rhoea'’ is caused by an organism known 
as Bacterium pullorum. It seems to be 
demonstrated that the mother hen is the 
original source of infection. A certain 
per cent of all chicks on infected farms 
have the disease when hatched. Most of 
them die. Some recover, but are usually 
stunted and feeble and seldom amount 
to much. The germ is often imported in 
CHICKS IN GOOD HEALTH. Fig. 53. 
purchased eggs, and incubator chicks 
seem worse than those hen-hatched. The 
disease can be spread through the food 
and drink. A large proportion of the in¬ 
fected chicks die under four weeks of 
age, and the mode and time of infection 
vary with the vitality of the chick. These 
facts have been demonstrated, but the 
average reader will still want to be 
shown. We shall, therefore, give some 
facts from the bulletin. 
Professor Stoneburn savs that the 
symptoms of the disease may vary 
greatly, but the following statement is 
considered fair. 
As in many other diseases, the symptoms 
may vary within certain limits in the in¬ 
dividuals affected. We do not wish it to 
be understood that all of the following 
symptoms will be observed in every chick 
suffering from bacillary white diarrhoea: 
but almost all of them will be apparent in 
the epidemics of any considerable size. The 
earliest deaths may occur within a very short 
time after hatching, without any prominent 
symptoms, excepting, perhaps, weakness and 
lack of vitality. The characteristic whitish 
discharge from the vent soon makes its ap¬ 
pearance in the flock, the time depending, 
without doubt, upon the virulence of the 
organism and the mode of infection. The 
discharge may be slight or profuse, in color 
white or creamy, sometimes mixed with 
brown. The voided matter has a more or 
less sticky or glairy character. It may 
simply streak down below the vent or may 
cling to the down in sufficient quantity to 
seal up the vent. This is the condition 
that poultrymen designate as “pasting up 
behind.” 
.The chicks soon become listless and 
sleepy, inclined to huddle together and re¬ 
main under the hover much of the time. 
They seem to lose appetite and do not eat 
much. Frequently, when they attempt to 
take food, their action is more or less me¬ 
chanical. The wings begin to droop or 
project slightly from the body, with feath¬ 
ers ruffled. In acute cases the eyes are 
closed and the chicks become indifferent to 
everything that goes on about them. Many 
of the chicks peep or chirp constantly, the 
sound being shrill or weak, acording to the 
strength of the individual. Frequently, 
when endeavoring to void the excreta, the 
chicks utter a shrill twitter, apparently a 
cry of pain. The breathing may be labored, 
the abdomen heaving with each breath. 
Occasionally one may note a certain amount 
of gasping or gaping. During the progress 
of the disease the chicks may die suddenly 
CHICKS WITH WHITE DIAREIICEA. 
Fig. 64. 
while still fairly strong. When the dis¬ 
ease is prolonged the chicks gradually waste 
away, becoming weaker and weaker until 
they are scarcely able to support their own 
weight. In this stage they will often be 
seen to rest against foreign objects for sup¬ 
port. standing with legs braced apart, 
squatting or lying utterly helpless. 
Frequently the chicks take on the appear¬ 
ance which poultrymen call "short-backed.” 
The back seems to shorten and the abdomen 
to protrude out of proportion, causing the 
chick to look “stilty,” as compared with one 
of normal development. This condition 
Woods accurately describes as follows: 
“The weakling is almost always big- 
bellied. the abdomen protruding to the rear 
so that it bunches out behind, well out of 
line with the vent, with the result that the 
chick looks as if tin' tail-piece and back¬ 
bone had been pushed forward and in just 
above the vent.” 
With few exceptions, deaths from typical 
bacillary white diarrhoea occur while the 
chicks are under one month of age. After 
this a few straggling deaths may be ex¬ 
pected, and if complications set in, high 
mortality may be observed. The chicks 
which have had bacillary white diarrhoea 
seem to be greatly weakened in constitution 
and fall an easy prey'to disorders which 
would be easily resisted by normal chicks. 
Those which survive remain more or less 
stunted in their development. Frequently 
they are misshapen, with long beaks anil 
“crow heads,” and with imperfect feather¬ 
ing. In every way they impress one as 
being weak and lacking in vitality. This 
condition may persist indefinitely’ or the 
bird may slowly regain vigor and vitality 
and finally make fairly satisfactory develop¬ 
ment. 
At Figs. 53 and 54 are shown chicks 
with symptoms of white diarrhoea and 
others from the same hatch free from 
the disease. We presume nine-tenths of 
those who raise chickens have had ex¬ 
perience with the disease and many have 
evolved theories of their own. Not 
many probably have charged the trouble 
to the good old hen, yet Professor Stone- 
burn’s investigations show that she is re¬ 
sponsible. We shall give a review of this 
proof next week. 
THE COST OF MILK. 
I will try to give you the cost of pro¬ 
ducing milk as near as I can. You know 
that it was a hard season to produce milk 
last year. This is my account for 1909: 
Average price of cow, $65. I have 11 
cows but give just one. Milk produced 
in one year, 2,500 quarts; sold at four 
cents in Summer and five cents in Win¬ 
ter, $112.50. Cost of feed, hay, two tons, 
at $18, $36; seven tons silage at $4, $28; 
cost of grain, $36 ; pasture and bedding, 
$ 8 ; depreciation in value and interest, 
insurance, taxes. $14; total, $ 122 . This 
leaves me in debit, $8.50. Two hours 
every day carting milk to city, wear and 
tear on horse and wagon; we must white¬ 
wash our barns and keep clean, we must 
have brushes and clean towels, vaseline 
and medicine when wanted, salt, etc. For 
all this we get a calf worth $2 and $8 
worth of manure. I know that I am not 
producing as much milk per cow as some 
do, but I know that lots of others pro¬ 
duce less. I have been trying to weed 
out, but it is very hard to buy good cows, 
for it seems that everybody is in the 
■same business. Nobody wants to sell a 
good cow. I am not in a position to 
raise my own cows. Every farmer who 
wholesales milk at less than five cents 
per quart is in a losing game. If I had 
sold my milk at five cents all the year 
round it would be $125. That would 
make me come out even. You under¬ 
stand that I have been selling my feed 
to my cows at less than market price. 
The only way for a man who produces 
milk is to retail it himself or get out 
of the business. d. e. 
Connecticut. 
The farmer’s real Friend. 
Is it Samuel L. Allen who makes those won¬ 
derful farm and garden implements that save 
so much time and labor? 
You don’t say so! Why, he used to be my 
neighbor out there in the country. I remember 
well when he worked the adjoining farm to 
mine—and a thrifty farmer he was, too. I’m 
not really surprised to hear he has gotten on 
so well, for he deserves it, I know. 
But you say he makes implements for over 
two million farmers and gardeners, and has a 
big manufactory in Philadelphia working to 
its full capacity? That is fine. 
Why bless you, I’ve used these Planet Jr. 
labor saving tools, as they are called, for years. 
In fact you couldn’t get me to use 
anything else. But I never 
dreamed they were the invention 
of my old neighbor, Samuel Allen. 
I might have known it, though, if 
I had only stopped to think. 
I remember liow lie used to be always mak- 
ing experiments with his own inventions in 
garden. He never seemed satisfied to 
plod along with the crude, hard-work¬ 
ing implements that we had in 
those days. That accounts 
for his success. 
He had an idea, 
I and stuck to it 
I till he produced 
something of 
lasting benefit to 
farmers and gardeners 
everywhere. And they 
evidently know a good thing 
when they see it. I’ve used that No. 25 Planet Jr. Hill and 
Drill Seeder, Double-Wheel Hoe Cultivator and Plow for some 
time and couldn’t get along without it. It combines almost 
every useful garden tool in one strong, light, easy-running, 
simply adjusted implement. It opens the furrow, sows the 
seed in drills or hills 4, 6, 8, 12 or 24 inches apart, covers, rolls 
down, and marks out the next row. And it works to perlcction 
as a wheel-hoe, cultivator, and plow. This is only one of the 
many labor-saving implements that are the product of Samuel 
Allen’s thought, is it? We owe him a debt of gratitude for revolu¬ 
tionizing farming methods and taking away the drudgery. 
I wouldn’t like to call any farmer or gardener a back num¬ 
ber who hasn't at least one of these implements on his farm, 
but I certainly think he is neglecting his own interests if he 
isn’t progressive enough to send for the illustrated 56-page cat¬ 
alogue of 1910 Planet Jr. implements issued by S. L. Allen & 
Co., Box 1107V. Philadelphia, which they send free upon 
request. WILLIAM BATES. y 
AGRICULTURE 
Sold 
Our Tile 
Last Forever 
Are thoroughly 
hard burnt. Made 
of best Ohio Clay, 
manufacturers of 
in car-load lots. Also 
HOLLOW BUILDING BLOCK AND SEWER PIPE 
Place orders now for early spring delivery and avoid delay. 
H. B. CAMP COMPANY, 
FULTON BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA. 
When yon write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee page 16. 
iBook 
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r ' 
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I F interested in farming, get our FREE 
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It tells all about—• 
Alfalfa 
Dairying 
Seed Wheat 
Corn Crops 
Stock Feeding 
Art of Plowing 
Boll Weevil 
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Making Hay 
Fighting Frost 
Silos 
Cultivation 
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Soil Fertility 
Gasolene Engines 
Adjusting Plows 
i 
Hired Help 
Costs Big Money 
Your land is high priced and hired help expensive. 
There is only on* way to make big money—use im» 
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it true that when you break something on a plow it 
is nearly always a cast part? Wherever strain comes 
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steel. Take any plow that has had hard work for 
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You can take pride in owning a John Deere— j 
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Mr- f 
We will send you the 80-page, illus¬ 
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Package No. 33 
Mention the package number sure, then 
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DEERE & COMPANY. MOLINE. ILL 
Johnston Hay Rake. 
All steel construction—strongly and rigid¬ 
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give trouble. The wheels are light, high 
and very strong; the frame is angle steel 
//..trussed. The teeth are long, flat-pointed, 
4 oil tempered and interchangeable, x 
i 
Johnston Hay Tedder 
is also of entire steel construction. This 
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bearing. Very rigid. More tedders are 
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—and the reason is, that they make good 
hay quickly—you should have one. Let 
, us give you full detailed information. 
jf Write today for 1910 catalog covering the 
'fill cqmplete Johnston line. 
JOHNSTON HARVESTER CO. 
Box 100-T. BATAVIA, N. Y.fJ\ 
1 
PERFECT POTATO 
PLANTING 
Every farmer knows the importance 
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w 
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BATEMAN MF6. CO.. Box 
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Know Your Weights—Don’t Guess 
The successful farmer of to-day KNOWS the exact 
weight of the supplies ho purchases; ho KNOWS to a 
certainty how much the products weigh that he sells 
Accurate weights are a big, vital feature in profit 
able farming. Public scales are expensive, tinrelia- 
able and often situated at a distance, but every far¬ 
mer can bo sure of perfect accuracy if ho owns an 
OSGOOD 
PITLESS SCALE 
These scales are absolutely reliable— 
warranted so; every farmer can now 
afiord one. Prices range from $45 to 
$80. Catalogue illustrates many 
styles of scales and 
contains valuable 
scale imormation. 
Write for it. 
OSGOOD SCALE CO. 
Box 1ST, Binghamton, N. Y. 
J&TONf. BgftT^RONT^ 
HUSSEY PLOW CO. N.BERWICK ME. 
3 
GREENIMOUNTAIN 
SILiOS 
Have heaviest hoops and 
staves. Patent air-tight 
door front, and other ex¬ 
clusive features. 
Write now for Booklet and 
Special Offer for Early Orders 
CREAMERY PACKAGE MFG. CO. 
888 WEST ST.. RUTLAND, VT. 
tTHE 
RO 
CO 
</> 
</> 
L0 
JOHNSTON m 
HAY TOOLS’ 
Yff enable you to make hay in a day—and 
’Mi good hay at the same time. i 
There is only one kind of hay and that' 
is GOOD HAY. 
The only thoroughly manufactured 
Silo on the market. Full length stave. 
Continuous door frame complete with 
ladder. Triple beveled ailo door with 
hinges. Equipped with extra heavy 
hoops at bottom. 
AIR TIGHT 
Hakes winter feed equal to June 
grass. THE ROSS will more than pay 
for itsolf in one season. Write to¬ 
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will save you money. Agents wanted. 
The E. W. Koss Co.(Est.l850) 
Box 13 SPRINGFIELD. OHIO 
BEFORE YOU BUY WRITE FOR 
NEW CATALOG DESCRIBING THE 
GUARANTEED MONEY-SAVING 
INTERNATIONAL 
SILOS 
strongest built, simplest to put up and easiest operated 
on the market. Adjustable automatic take-up hoop— 
continuous open-door front—air-tight door and per¬ 
manent ladder are some of the unusual features. The 
International Silo Co., Box 13 , Linesville, I’a. 
ECONOMY SILO 
Our simple yet perfect-fitting'doors, 
forming air-tight silo, entirely pre¬ 
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Quick, easy adjustment without 
hammer or wrench. Free access. 
Every silo easy to erect. Seasoned 
white pine or cypress staves. Refined 
iron hoops form easy ladder. 
Write for free catalogue with proof 
of our claims from delighted users. 
ECONOMY SILO A MFG. CO., 
Box 38.J Frederick, Md. 
V/*' \ \ ’v 
