544 
THE RURAL NKW'-VORKER 
April 0, 11)15. 
Temperatures and Baby Chicks 
(Concluded from page 536.) 
way to avoid this bad habit is to supply 
high enough temperatures to prevent this 
desire. There is another result of low 
temperatures and that is slow growth and 
development. This means much in the 
way of dollars and cents, for everyone 
raising chickens realizes that in order to 
make profits the products must he forced 
through in as little time as possible. 
Measuring Temperatures. —For the 
novice the thermometer is indispensable, 
for his judgment is not accurate enough 
to warrant depending upon it alone. The 
1 est of thermometers should be used, and 
all should be thoroughly tested before 
risking a lot of chicks under a hover that 
is governed by that thermometer. The 
thermometer should be substantially 
made, so that the chicks in rubbing 
against it will not easily break it. Most 
brooder thermometers on the market to¬ 
day are so constructed. It should also be 
easy to handle and read, and be placed in 
a placV that will accurately measure the 
tejuperature to which the majority of the 
chicks are subjected. The experienced 
pou 11 ry man will become enabled to meas¬ 
ure temperature by another method, 
which is a combination of two things. In 
the first place he will watch the chicks 
and govern his stove or lamps according¬ 
ly. If they are happily spread out under 
the hover he will know that they are com¬ 
fortable. If they are panting or shrink¬ 
ing away from the hover he may guess 
that it is too hot, or if they begin to hud¬ 
dle ho will realize that they are too cold. 
Observation and close watchfulness is the 
best thermometer that many men have. 
In the second place he measures the tem¬ 
perature by putting his hand under the 
hover. After having done this many 
times when the thermometers registered 
perfect conditions he will become accus¬ 
tomed to the required temperature when 
he feels it. This all comes with experi¬ 
ence in the care of baby chicks. 
WILLARD C. THOMPSON. 
Sheep Poisoned With Laurel. 
Y father had about 50 sheep that 
were pastured in a field next the 
woods, in the latter part of November. 
There came a fall of a foot of snow in 
ilu' night, and in the morning I went to 
tlie field to bring the sheep to the barn 
to be fed. I could not find them. They 
were not in the field. We were not sure 
they had been in the field the day pre¬ 
vious, as no one remembered seeing them. 
After breakfast three of us started to 
hunt in the woods, which we scoured thor¬ 
oughly for a mile in every direction un.- 
til nearly noon, without finding any 
sheep, or tracks. We started home for 
dinner intending to renew the hunt again 
in the afternoon. When we returned to 
the bars, at the -edge of the woods, we 
found the sheep up, and travelling about. 
They had lain in a thick bunch of laurels 
not more than five rods north of the bars. 
Their backs being covered with snow, and 
snow on the bushes, we had not observed 
them. It was a pity, for sheep when 
hungry, are not at all particular what 
they eat, and nine of them had eaten so 
much laurel they were badly poisoned. 
Six of them could not walk, and throe 
only staggered along with difficulty. 
A team was brought, the six loaded on 
the sled and hauled to the barn, the others 
driven. Laurel poisoning was not a new 
thing in our locality, and sheep raisers 
had found an antidote. We were directed 
to get some dried clay mortar from an 
old chimney, pound it up fine, mix it 
with warm skim-milk and molasses. We 
did so, and gave each sick sheep about 
half a pint of the mixture, pouring it 
down their throats. They were all well 
in a day or two. Pounded white chalk, 
would have answered the same purpose 
as the clay. If it he said that the sheep 
would have recovered without the medi¬ 
cine I think not. The consensus of opin¬ 
ion at that time was that the medicine 
was needed, and the danger of death im¬ 
minent Without it. J. W. INGIIAM. 
Pennsylvania. 
R. X.-Y.—The broad-leaf laurel, Kalmia 
latifolia, and the narrow-leaved, K. an- 
gustifolia, lambkill, are both extremely 
dangerous to sheep and cattle. Bulletin 
No. 20, Division of Botany (U. S. De¬ 
partment of Agriculture) “Principal 
Poisonous Plants of the United States,” 
says that oil, melted lard, or fat from 
bacon may be administered to animals 
with hope of saving life, especially if 
given when the symptoms are first noted. 
Deer are believed to be immune to the 
poison. 
Keeping Summer-Killed Pork. 
I notice that on page 448 a Southc v n 
reader asks if pork can be killed and 
cured in Summer. It can be done. It 
should be hung in a cool cellar away 
from flies till the animal heat is out. then 
cut in small pieces and packed in plenty 
of salt. Don’t he afraid to use salt, as 
pork will not take up any more salt than 
it needs. Be sure to hang hog in a cool 
place (cellar or refrigerator preferred) 
and keep flies away from it. After pork 
is packed pour on cold water and keep 
covered with brine. s. w. GREENE. 
New York. 
Tt. N.-Y.—Most Southern houses have 
lio cellar! 
T have had a hit of experience in the 
care of cutting up and curing sound hogs 
at all seasons of the year, with no loss to 
speak of. This is my way of doing it. 
After the hog is dressed split the hack- 
bom* the whole length and let hang 
through the night with fly screen to keep 
out all fly trouble, and a stick to keep 
tin* split bone open; in the morning cut 
out leans and cut up sides to salt, and 
lot it lie skin side down in a cool room 
24 hours. Then put a layer of (coarse- 
fine) salt on bottom of barrel, then a 
layer of the pork stood on edge, but do 
not crowd it so that the salt will work in 
between a little, then another layer of 
salt, thick enough so layers of pork will 
not hit together. When pork is all in in 
this way, put a hoard cover down tight 
to the last layer of salt and fasten so it 
will not float, and tun; in cold water 
until it is two or three inches over the 
pork and you will have nioe sweet meat. 
To cure the hams in hot weather it would 
be a risk unless one had a pump to force 
the brine in next the bone, as the bone in 
a ham holds the heat so long it will be 
apt to taint the meat, but the bacon strips 
cut to seven inches wide and cooled the 
same as salting pork will cure all right. 
Connecticut. c. F. Blanchard. 
When I was a young man T lived sev¬ 
eral years in southwestern Texas, where 
they have very little cold weather. The 
ranchers and farmers had a way of cur¬ 
ing bacon that seemed to work very well. 
They cut up the pig as soon as killed and 
sprinkled it with salt, first cutting all the 
hones out; then after sunset it was taken 
out and spread on the roof of the house 
or on a platform high up from the ground, 
and left there all night, taken in just be¬ 
fore sunrise, and packed in a box in as 
cool a place as they could find, and this 
was repeated two or three nights in suc¬ 
cession, or until the meat was well cooled 
and salted. Then it was hung up and 
smoked. This method worked very well. 
I never saw it tried in the hottest part of 
the season, but I believe it can be done 
by being careful, to keep it as cool as pos¬ 
sible during the day. AV. F. B. 
In answering the question of a South¬ 
ern reader, who Avould like to know how 
to cool hogs in warm Aveather, after kill¬ 
ing; will tell you a Avay my husband’s 
mother cooled a hog Avoighing 200 pounds. 
She cut the pork into pieces and had 
Avater pumped into two barrels; as fast 
as the water became warm in one barrel, 
put tin* pork into the other one, and so 
on until the meat was cooled. Then it 
Avas salted and put away for future use. 
New Jersey. mks. hall. 
Poland-China Litters. 
There has been some criticism of Pol¬ 
and-! ’hina swine, because “the litters are 
small.” The following facts are given by 
the Poland-China Association: 
“The Poland-China breed has been un¬ 
necessarily accused of a deficiency in pro¬ 
lificacy. Upon inquiry to nearly KM) 
breeders of this breed, asking for the av¬ 
erage number of pigs farrowed per sow, 
in their herd, for a term of three years, 
the average was 0% pigs per sow. One 
herd had an average of 9% for a term of 
five years, from 40 head. Another had an 
average of 10 pigs from 25 sows for a 
term of 5 years. Others for terms of 
three and four years, gave averages of 
to 10, with high litters of 15 to 18 pigs. 
This is a good performance, when it is 
considered that many of the sows making 
the above averages Avcre just gilts Avith 
their first litters. From seven to nine 
pigs per litter is large enough for any 
soaa’. and they are usually strong and ro¬ 
bust. If the sow farrows at season when 
nature will provide some of the warmth, 
she can bo depended upon to rear the en¬ 
tire litter. Breeders can expect a heavy 
loss in the raising of pigs, as long as they 
insist on caring for them Avith the oil 
stove and lantern.” 
Breeding Silver Foxes. 
W F have had something to say about 
the business of.breeding black foxes 
on Prince Edward Island. It. appears 
that this industry has reached the point 
where it has its own paper or magazine, a 
monthly devoted to the silver black fox. 
This magazine gives some interesting 
facts about handling these foxes, but 
seems to be entirely devoted to the busi¬ 
ness of either selling foxes for breeding 
purposes or booming the stock of the 
various companies organized on the basis 
of fox breeding. There are apparently 
many of these companies. Some of the 
inducements they offer are remarkable, 
and seem to us too good to bo true. Even 
in these war times when the price of 
furs has gone far below the limit, these 
fox breeders put up a brave face and 
are as optimistic as ever. To show the 
value of these breeding foxes, tve are told 
in this magazine of a case, where a breed¬ 
ing female had her leg broken. She was 
of such value that the owners could not 
bear to have her killed, so a doctor was 
summoned and the broken leg was am¬ 
putated. It was reported that in a simi¬ 
lar case chloroform killed the fox, so. no 
drugs were given during the operation, 
hut the leg was removed and the fox 
received far better care than many a 
human who has met with a like misfor¬ 
tune. This fox finally recovered and will 
still be used for breeding purposes. When 
Ave consider that superior foxes of this 
breed are sold at from $2,000 to $5,000 
apiece, you can understand all this care 
and expense. The business is certainly 
a remarkable one. Prince Edward Island 
seems to be headquarters for it. and great 
fortunes have been invested in it. The 
shares are said to be very attractive to 
plungers and speculators, but our steady 
advice is, especially to farmers, to invest 
their mouev in good laying hens or in tile 
drains for the wet spots, if they have any 
to invest at all. The more we learn about 
this business the less we are inclined to 
advise our readers to touch it. 
Buffalo Markets. 
B UTTER is not quoted above 32 cents 
wholesale, and much of it. is re¬ 
tailed at 30 cents. Poultry is a bit 
higher, dressed turkey being 25 cents for 
fancy. Avith fowl 10 to IS cents; ducks, 
17 to 20 cents, and geese, 13 to 18 cents, 
wholesale. Live poultry is three cents 
lower than dressed. Eggs are down to 
22 cents or lower for Avhite fancy, whole¬ 
sale. Potatoes are dull at 32 to 40 cents 
wholesale or 50 cents retail. Apples are 
all prices. Retailers sell the lower grades 
at 40 cents a bushel or less, though they 
have some fancy at $1.25. The whole¬ 
sale barrel price ranges from $1.50 to 
$3. 
Strawberries are plenty at 3o cents a 
quart, retail. DfoW Bermuda potatoes are 
10 cents a quart, retail or $7 to $8 a 
barrel, wholesale. Winter squash is stilj 
two cents a pound, retail or $1 to 1-25 
per 100 Avliolesale. Old cabbage is five 
cents a head or 65 to 90 cents per 100. 
Onions vary greatly, being 60 to 80 cents 
a bushel for home grown yellow, $1 for 
red, and $1.40 for small crates of Span¬ 
ish. Green onions retail at three bunches 
at 10 cents. Beans are quoted at $3.35 
to $4 for all sorts per bushel and string 
beans $5 to $6 per hamper. New beets 
are arriving and selling at 50 to 60 cents 
per dozen bunches. (Mery is plenty at 
25 to 80 cents per dozen. There is still 
home-grown lettuce at 50 to 75 cents 
per two dozen box or 75 cents to $1.50 
per hamper. J. W. C. 
Dog Tax. 
I have two dogs, now 15 months old, 
which were assessed Fall of 1914, but I 
did not have them at time of 1913 assess¬ 
ment. The 1914 assessment covers 1915 
taxes, and it is now payable, but in ad¬ 
dition I have been compelled to pay 
taxes on those dogs for 1914, although 
they were not assessed, in fact were not 
whelped at the time of 1913 assessment. 
Please advise me if this collection is not 
in error. J. d. m. 
Pennsylvania. 
If you are quite sure that the 1914 
assessment covers the 1915 taxes, the pre¬ 
vious collection seems to have been in er¬ 
ror, doubly so if no assessment was made. 
Dogs can only be taxed after four months 
of age. You should make application for 
refund of taxes so jiaid. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
I t. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply aiul a 
“square deal." .See guarantee editorial page. 
Learn 
Trap- 
Shooting 
/ T V HE sport for farmers, 
A their wives, sons, and 
daughters. Every farmer 
has a shotgun, but feAv are 
good shots. Every woman 
should know how to use a 
gun for the protection of 
herself and her home. 
Trapshooting at clay tar¬ 
gets solves both problems 
and provides no end 
of outdoor sport. 
All you 
need is a barrel 
of clay targets and a 
HAND TRAP 
Price $ 4.00 at your dealers 
or sent prepaid by us. 
Write for Hand Trap 
Booklet No. S-480 “Diana 
of the Traps” and “The 
Sport Alluring.” All Free. 
DU PONT POWDER CO. 
Established 1802 Wilmington, Del. 
Wf A fl'T* DON ' T BUY a Gasoline Engine of any 
» W /II & make, kind or price until you first get 
my now low price and 1915 price-reducing schedule, 
in which the more we sell the more we reduce the 
price, and the buyer gets the benefit. It will pay 
you to investigate NOW. 
Wo give you more pow er for less money because quality 
is our WATCHWORD and volume our motto. Wo arc tne larg¬ 
est manufacturers in the world making gasoline engines sell¬ 
ing direct to the consumer. All we charge you for is ACTUAL 
COST of material, actual cost of labor and one very small 
B rofit based on the most tremendous output. The Galloway 
lasterpiece big six and other sizes are made In our own fac¬ 
tory in enormous quantities. All parts standardized and alike, 
made by the thousands on automatic machinery. 
Sold to you direct for less money than engines no better, 
and in many cases not nearly as good, can be bought by deal¬ 
ers in carload lota for spot cash. 
Orders are pouring in for the New Masterpiece Six In a per¬ 
fect stream. WHY? Because we give 
More Power For Less Money 
than anybody in the engine business today. Remember our 
engines are not overrated nor high speeded, which means 
short life, but are rated by time-tried experts, not imprac¬ 
tical college professors; have long stroke, large bore; heavy, 
and built for neavy, continuous, hard, satisfactory service. 
When you buy a horse you don't want u Shetland 
pony. You want power and plenty of it so that it 
won’t lay down on the job. 
Don't Get Fooled 
By the kind of talk intended to sell you a light 
weight, small bore and short stroke,high speeded 
engine that will not stand up under the power 
strain demanded. 
WILLIAM GALLOWAY CO. 
275Galloway Sta.,Waterloo,Iowa 
The 
Empire Way 
is the economical Avay. One 
double or two-cow unit takes care 
of 20 to 30 cows per hour. No 
elaborate and costly installation 
necessary. ^ 
Empire 
Cream Separator 
Gain Two Hours a Day 
That’s Avhat one man with a few cows 
says of his Empire Milker. It enables you 
to make more money by keeping more 
cows with less work. 
The Empire Teat Cup massages the teats by 
natural air pressure. No compressed air used. 
Cannot cause sore, inflamed teats and udders. In 
many cases it increases the milk yield. 
The Empire 
Mechanical Milker 
Is the simplest milking machine on 
the. market. Easiest to install— 
easiest to operate—requires but one 
tank and one pipe line. 
Its quiet, light-running 
i En ' ~ 
„ qualities 
have made the Empire Separator fa¬ 
mous among the most successful dai¬ 
rymen everywhere. Let us send you 
descriptions and pictures, showing the 
Empire Milker and Empire Separators 
in use. We will also send you our 
offer on Empire Sta-Rite Engines and 
Empire Star Feed Mills. 
Write for Catalog No. 4 
Empire Cream Separator Co. 
Bloomfield, N. J. 
Chicago, III., Denver, Col., Portland, 
Ore., Toronto and Winnipeg, Can. 
Dairy of 
Ben Perkins, 
Marengo, 111. 
