66K 
and 20 inches from the floor, leaves the heat in the 
room, but carries the fumes from the flame out 
through a pipe. The deflector over the radiator, 
and six feet square, throws the heat back to the 
floor where wanted. The muslin curtains attached 
to all four sides of this deflector can be dropped to 
the floor, or not, as the age of the chicks and the 
weather conditions require. 
I got 605 chicks from my first hatch, counting a 
lot that had to be helped from the shell. Of these 
63 have been lost from all causes, and the remaining 
542 are now nearly five weeks old and growing 
nicely. 1 have heard none of them crow yet, but the 
roosters’ combs are developing nicely and many of 
them already perch at night. Best of all, there has 
been no appearance of my old enemy, white diar¬ 
rhoea, so called. We had to “hustle” to get the 
second house built in time for the second hatch, 
but succeeded in doing so by omitting the cement 
floor. I got 650 chicks this time, all of which were 
placed in one flock around the 75-cent oil stove. 
These are now over a week old and are the ones 
shown at Fig. 273. They will doubtless be a revela¬ 
tion to those who have believed that 50 in the regu¬ 
lation brooder and 35 in the newer fireless brooders 
is the maximum of safety. 
In my next house, 24x36 feet, the brooding com¬ 
partment will be amply large for a thousand chicks. 
I feel confident of its success even in zero weather. 
1 shall make the experiment of a thousand in one 
flock as soon as convenient. In our interest in the 
cheap housing problem, and the larger flocks in 
brooders, let us not lose sight of the chief import¬ 
ance of these experiments. It will be remembered 
that I started out on the theory that at least some of 
the diseases of chicks which cause such fearful 
mortality and are generally called white diarrhoea, 
are germ diseases. I reasoned that such being the 
case, I could avoid the disease by abandoning my 
old grounds and brooders, and locating on fresh 
ground. Results so far fully justify the correctness 
of that theory. Its full proof will be of far-reaching 
importance to the poultry industry. The white diar- 
rhtea of my acquaintance has always appeared by 
the time the chicks are two weeks old. My first 
lot of 605 have evidently escaped, and the second 
lot of 650 are doing even better as yet than the 
others, only 19 having been lost so far. The floor 
was waxed before the chicks were introduced with 
the hen-lice wax, in order to guard against mites, 
and ground Alfalfa used for bedding. After they 
are about a week old they are given the freedom of 
the open-end portion of the house. Here they get 
plenty of fresh air and sunshine, with no fear of 
cats, crows, hawks, etc. The door was thrown open 
and one of the muslin curtains carefully raised in 
order that the photographer might snap his camera. 
The fresh air flue which shows in the center of the 
ring of chicks, is so arranged that the fresh cold air 
is forced against the hot stove before it can touch 
the chicks. 
I should like to ask Mr. Mapes liow he would build an 
incubator cellar on level ground, said cellar to be about 
12x20. E. T. E. 
Michigan. 
I know of no arrangement that at all compares 
with this brooding compartment for use as an incu¬ 
bator cellar on level ground. It is not easily af¬ 
fected by changes in outside temperature, and the 
ventilation is under complete control. By sanding 
and sprinkling the floor any desired degree of humid¬ 
ity can be maintained. Where it is not expected to 
carry on operations extensively only one building 
will be needed. When the chicks are hatched the in¬ 
cubators can be stored elsewhere and the brooding 
heater installed in the same room. When chicks are 
of suitable age the heater and the young roosters 
can be removed, perches installed, and the pullets 
allowed to spend the whole of their lives right where 
they were hatched. Whenever an incubator is oper¬ 
ated, the vent from the lamp should be under an 
inverted funnel that will collect the iamp fumes and 
carry them out of the room through a tube. The 
ventilator shaft which shows in Fig. 272 will not be 
needed unless the brooding compartment is used. 
o. w. MAPES. 
POTATO PRICES AND SEED POTATOES. 
I am much surprised at the prices old potatoes are 
and have been selling by the grocers. We here had to 
pay $2 per bushel for our seed potatoes (Bliss Tri¬ 
umph), $1.50 for Early Rose. Eating potatoes have 
been selling all Winter at the rate of two cents per 
pound, $1.20 per bushel, and they are not such pota¬ 
toes in quality as grown in such States as Michigan. 
How much does the grower here get of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar? Many and many carloads of seed 
potatoes are needed in Texas every year; now why 
cannot some reliable men who have good seed for 
sale advertise in a paper like The R. N.-Y. and thus 
bring the tillers of the soil together and save the 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
enormous profits of the middlemen? Would such a 
deal as this not be practical ? When we get ready to 
dig our new crop in a week or two, we are perhaps 
offered by our opulent generous middleman 50 or 60 
cents per bushel. With a short crop, owing to drought, 
this will mean a good profit for the other fellow, as 
usual. J. W. STEUBENRAUCH. 
Texas. 
R. N. Y.—We know of a case where a northern 
far unit has contractdtl.lo grow several thousand bush- 
efs*of seed potatoes for a truckers’ organization at the 
South. This grower lives in a section where there is 
little if ant tflight. The seed potatoes were soaked 
to prevent scab and the vines will be thoroughly 
sprayed. This will mean healthy seed, costing extra 
to produce, and worth more to plant. 
PLANTING A PECAN ORCHARD. 
1. Is Charlton County, Georgia (adjoining the Florida 
lino), a good locality for pecans? 2. In setting out a 
large commercial orchard of pecans, please give your 
choice of distance apart; varieties, in order of choice; 
time to plant; size of trees to plant. 3, On average up¬ 
land there, in how many years could one expect 10 pounds 
per tree, 20 pounds, 50 pounds, 100 pounds, of course, 
with good care? j. s. j. 
South Carolina. 
1. Pecans will do very well in any part of Georgia 
where the land is rich, but in poor soil the trees must 
be heavily fertilized or they will not grow well, nor 
will the nuts fill out their kernels and be salable or 
good to eat. 2. The distance apart for the trees 
should not be less than 50 feet and farther is better, for 
even at that distance they will crowd in due time if 
the trees flourish as they should. My plan is to set 
50 feet apart with the purpose of thinning out the trees 
as they need more room. This will not become nec¬ 
essary until they are 30 years old. Then the diagonal 
rows should be cut out, leaving half the trees stand¬ 
ing and they will not crowd again for 10 to 20 years. 
FIRST LOOK AT THE R. N.-Y. Fig. 273. 
After that they will require another thinning, leaving 
them 100 feet a art. In any region and soil where 
the pecan flourishes properly the trees will attain a 
spread and height of 100 feet or nearly so, and there 
are trees larger than that in many sections that were 
planted less than 100 years ago. Their age is so 
great and their vigor such that they live for centuries. 
I know many trees standing in Louisiana that were 
planted by the Spaniards and French more than a 
century ago, and they are in full vigor yet. One of 
these has borne 14 barrels of pecans in one year, ac¬ 
cording to a very reliable man who told me he once 
owned an interest in the property and saw the nuts. 
The varieties worthy of planting are not very numer¬ 
ous but there are several that have been well tested 
and found to be dependable bearers of good nuts. 
Among these are Stuart, Van Deman, Schley, Pabst, 
Moneymaker and Success. There are other good 
kinds but the temptation is to plant too many vari- 
ties. Large nursery-grown trees one year old from 
the graft or bud are the right kind to plant, never 
the small grades, and they can be planted any time 
from December to March. 
3. As to the bearing, it is unreasonable to expect 
much return from pecan trees under 10 years from 
planting, but there are many that begin to bear at six 
and seven years. With good care and in good soil 
it is reasonable to expect 10 pounds per tree at eight 
years from planting, 50 pounds at 12 years, 100 pounds 
at 15 years and a constant increase for at least 50 to 
100 years. These figures are often far exceeded by 
actual test and in many cases, where bad judgment 
and care are used, they are not nearly realized. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
CO-OPERATIVE BUYING AMONG FARMERS. 
In theory co-operation is the way out of many farm 
troubles. There will he little chance of getting more of 
the consumer’s dollar unless we can work together at both 
buying and selling. Most people are ready to co-operate’’ 
so long as the advantage comes all to them. When it 
comes to giving up something there is a different story. 
Yet it ought to be clear that no one can receive help in 
such a plan unless be is willing to give something in re¬ 
turn. The following statement of actual experience in co¬ 
operative buying is worth flunking over. 
We are trying cooperative buying with some degree 
.Tune 18 , 
of success, and that success is due in no small meas¬ 
ure to the efforts of one man who does a lot of pack- 
horse work for less money than he could earn by de¬ 
voting all his time to his own business. Last Fall 
this man bought a car of corn at the lowest point the 
market reached. He was offered a profit of $125 if 
he would turn the car over to the grain company, 
but he made just about enough profit to pay him for 
his time, and gave the farmers the benefit of his bar¬ 
gain. This Spring he happened to buy at the wrong 
time, and when his car of grain was placed the feed 
store was selling 50 cents per ton less than this man 
paid. In the first case people flocked from far and 
near after the corn, but how was it in the last case? 
That 50 cents a ton was stronger than gratitude or 
friendship. That 50 cents was held so close to the eye 
that they could not see the dollars they had saved 
before. 
Here is another. We have bought this Spring over 
$3,000 worth of chemicals. Our agent gets 75 cents 
per ton for doing the work and the business. In the 
Winter it was impossible to get in the orders, so we 
had to buy by guess. Later everybody wanted some. 
Quite a little of the later orders came in less than 
car lots, making freight 60 cents per ton more, leaving 
agent 15 cents per ton for handling 224-pound bags 
of potash, tankage, etc. But this is not the end. Few 
feel the responsibility of hunting up this agent and 
paying when the 30 days are up. He must hunt up 
each man. And most want credit, but they don't 
want to walk into the bank and sign a note. Now it 
looks to me as if the success of cooperative buying 
required that some public-spirited man work for about 
$1.50 per day at pack-horse work, keep books and 
make collections for nothing, that he must be respon¬ 
sible for outstanding bills of $3,000 to $4,000 all the 
time; that he be a careful buyer, else the cooperators 
will desert him for the grain store. And will this 
man be regarded as a public benefactor? Not on 
your life! Ninety per cent of his neighbors will be 
suspicious of him. 
A PLEA FOR THE HORSE WEEDER. 
I think the makers of spring-tooth weeders are, 
strange to say, too modest in their claims. We are 
very rightly advised to raise more corn, and yet we 
hesitate to plant more than we do, for it is ail we 
can attend to with cultivator and hoe. The conse¬ 
quence is that we buy from a region where the crop, 
acre for acre, is not as large as ours. I write this to 
make a statement of the way in which I have used 
the horse weeder to solve the labor problem in the 
corn field. After the corn was planted and before it 
was up I began to run the weeder over the field, tak¬ 
ing some care to keep the horse between the marker 
furrows. When the corn came up it was cultivated in 
the ordinary way until it was over the house’s back. 
Between the cultivations the weeder was run length¬ 
wise of the rows, and without taking out any of the 
weeder teeth from the time the corn was sown until it 
was at least a foot and a half high. The patch was 
gone over six or eight times and especially when a 
crust had been formed by rain. By this seemingly 
rough treatment only a very few stalks were broken 
or pulled out, not more than would be injured by 
many men in hoeing. It is to be remembered that the 
corn is planted deep, and by the time it shows above 
ground is very strongly rooted. By using the weeder 
at once and often, the weeds are dried out as soon as 
germinated, and do not have a chance to become fixed 
in the ground. The teeth of the weeder push the dirt 
up against the corn enough to force the stalks away 
from the teeth, which seem to pick their way between 
the stalks without often touching them, and dislodge 
the little weeds from among them. A few weeds 
started, but not as many as would be apt to escape the 
hoe. The soil mulch was much better than that left 
bv hoeing, and served to keep the moisture for the 
use of the crop. 
In a field which is suitable for the level culture of 
potatoes, this same method can be used. The weeder 
is set going as soon as the *Hd is planted, and kept 
going until the vines nearly cover the ground. The 
vines are combed over in the direction in which the 
horse is going, but the teeth do not pull them out, 
and they soon take their ordinary position. By alter¬ 
nating the cultivation between the rows with the run¬ 
ning of the weeder over the rows a very thorough 
culture and clean field can be secured. My field was 
remarkably clean, and the vines very strong, and keot 
green longer than those in other near-by fields. Un¬ 
fortunately the season was a bad one on account of 
late blight, and the crop was not worth mentioning, but 
I shall try it again. The weeder works rapidly as it 
covers two rows, and since the work is light the horse 
can walk at a good pace. It is a good plan to make a 
loop for the hand in the end of each rein. Then the 
weeder can be steadied by its handles and at the same 
time the horse can be guided or turned by slipping the 
hands along on the handles. The weeder is a great 
aid in other places on the farm, and in the garden, but 
I have not tried it right over the crops except with 
corn and potatoes. I raise the query whether it would 
not be useful in a dry time to run it lightly even over 
grain. . h. w. h. 
Connecticut. 
