1238 
the number of students were so few that some kind 
of work could he found for all. Unquestionably the 
States will have to meet this problem sooner or later 
by providing means of training before the students 
are ready to enter college. This is a period, anyway, 
when the work can best be done, so that a student 
could come to the college with at least some con¬ 
ception of the real meaning of the problems con¬ 
nected with life in the open country. 
FARM WORK.—The State College of Agriculture 
is endeavoring to meet the farm practice problem 
through organized effort in the matter of placing 
students on farms where they can get the neces¬ 
sary experience and the proper point of view. To 
accomplish the best results in this direction it was 
recognized that work would have to be systematic¬ 
ally handled and followed up. To this end the De¬ 
partment of Farm Practice has made an inventory 
of desirable farms, and has made plans for placing 
men on such farms, with the understanding that 
they will be expected to make good. Promiscuous 
and undirected work on farms will not prove satis¬ 
factory. The best we can do at present is to bring 
the boy and the job together, and then make sure 
that the boy has a fair chance and the employer 
gets a square deal. All this is done not so much 
with the thought of making farmers of these boys, 
as it is of making men of them, flood strong virile 
men who with broadened knowledge and faces coun¬ 
try ward can meet the problems of life without fear 
or favor. The problem here outlined is one largely 
having to do with administration. There are broad¬ 
er problems which the college must meet and help 
to solve if it is to attain the position of real 
leadersnip. 
VITAL WORK.—Real helpfulness from an insti¬ 
tution or an individual comes not so much from 
the number and kind of things done as from the 
vital forces organized, set in motion and directed to 
the end of bringing home to the man or woman the 
realization that the greatest help is self help; that 
the finest and best growth is growth from within. 
So that, as we look about over the State of New 
York and see the many forces that are now at work 
P is borne in upon us that it is one of our prob¬ 
lems to aid in every way to bring all these forces 
into harmonious action. It will be far better for 
these agencies to meet of their own accord in mu¬ 
tual helpfulness and a spirit of cooperation with 
the object of facing and solving some of our rural 
problems, than to be herded into some artificial 
bureaucratic scheme, as has been done in other 
States. So in the matter of acquiring new facts, in 
classroom teaching, and in the extension of knowl¬ 
edge out and away from the college, we are seeking 
the aid and cooperation of all these agencies and out 
of the State that have the welfare of the man on the 
land at heart. And by welfare we mean all those 
things that will make the man self-dependent, self- 
reliant and self-supporting. With the almost frenzied 
rush to do things for the farmer and, I might say, to 
the farmer, it will be no easy task to guide the 
work so as to clear the shoals of paternalism and 
the rocks of stereotyped bureaucratic over central¬ 
ized directive activity. 
THE SMITH-LEVER ACT.—The country is just 
now embarking upon one of the most important and 
far-reaching educational projects yet undertaken. 
The Smith-Lever Extension Act has been in force 
about a year, and the work is now fairly well or¬ 
ganized in all the States. There will be nearly five 
million dollars spent in the 4S States for the work 
during the coming year. The primary object of the 
work is to teach those who cannot come to the col¬ 
lege the best we have in matters affecting the farm 
and the farm home. Rut it must be done by show¬ 
ing, rather than by talking. The work is to be ac¬ 
complished by means of instruction and practical 
demonstrations in agriculture and home economics. 
There is a great responsibility placed upon the col¬ 
leges in seeing that this work is properly done, and 
that men and women are adequately trained to 
carry it on. The people are demanding something 
more than a lecture system in carrying out this 
work. The lecture system has served its day in the 
college class room as well as in the extension field. 
It is coming to be recognized more in the nature of 
a narcotic than a stimulant. To get the men and 
women from whom may be developed this new corps 
of workers is one problem, and properly to train 
them is another. I look for some of our best men to 
come from the cities, where they have lived in an 
atmosphere of quickened business interests and in¬ 
stincts. 
DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING.—If I were 
asked to name the most far-reaching and complex 
problem confronting our rural population today, I 
should say that it was that having to do with the dis¬ 
tribution and marketing of crops, and the organized 
THE RURAL H EW-YORKER 
efforts that will have to be made to bring about the 
desired results. Out of a more efficient and profitable 
agriculture will surely come a more comfortable and 
attractive rural life. The College of Agriculture is 
endeavoring to face these problems, and it wants 
its work to speak for the manner in which they are 
being met. b. t. galloway. 
N. Y. College of Agriculture. 
Laying Out a Poultry Farm. 
H OW many poultry farms are arranged system¬ 
atically from the beginning, so as to be con¬ 
venient, economical of time and material, and at the 
same time using the available space to the best 
possible advantage? It is a fact that there are 
very few in the country with which even their own¬ 
ers are entirely satisfied, so that no changes would 
be made if the farm were to be laid out again. 
The importance of having everything well ar¬ 
ranged, so that all work may be accomplished in 
the shortest space of time, cannot easily be over¬ 
estimated, as the easier and more simple and con¬ 
silient the labor of caring for a flock of poultry 
is made the better it is possible to perform the labor, 
and usually the chances of its being properly per¬ 
formed are greatly enhanced. This is especially 
true when it is necessary to depend upon hired 
labor, as their efficiency is doubly increased when 
they are required to perform work which has been 
so skillfully arranged as to make its proper per¬ 
formance a pleasure instead of a drudge. 
By the proper arrangement of our buildings, fields 
and fences, and by the adoption of common sense 
methods, one man can do the work of two if the 
conditions were reversed. The accompanying draw¬ 
ing, Fig. 466, shows how the buildings can be ar¬ 
ranged on a 12-acre poultry farm, so that all the 
work can be done in a short space of time. In the 
diagram, A is incubator cellar with laying house 
above; B colony houses for 3.000 chicks; C laying 
houses; D garage; E storage for litter; F dwelling; 
G yards, dotted line shows fence; H vegetable gar¬ 
den; I flower garden and small fruits; J driveway; 
K highway. 
The dwelling is located in a central position about 
50 feet from the highway. The incubator cellar, 
which is 20x60 feet, is placed directly back of the 
dwelling, a distance of about 35 feet intervening for 
a driveway around the dwelling. An incubator cel¬ 
lar of this size holds two 6000-egg machines, which 
are all that is usually required. Over the incubator 
cellar there is a laying house 20x45 feet, leaving 15 
feet at one end for feed. Over the laying house 
and feed-room there is a gambrel roof which allows 
good storage room on the second floor. 
The two long laying houses are 100 feet from the 
incubator cellar and feed-room, which makes them 
easily accessible. They may be made any length 
required to hold the stock. Half way between the 
long laying houses a storage barn for litter is con¬ 
structed in such a manner that fresh litter can be 
placed in both houses at any time without the trou¬ 
ble of hauling it. 
The colony system of raising the chicks is used 
on this farm, and the colony houses are placed 
from 50 to 75 feet apart, so that one trip around 
from the feed room will easily take them all in 
without any waste travel. 
The water system on this farm is a great labor- 
saver, as the pressure tank is placed in the house 
cellar, from which it is piped to the incubator cellar, 
where it branches off, one branch leading to the 
garage and long laying houses, while the other 
passes through the cellar and extends into the col- 
October 16, 1915. 
ony field. Another line runs to the bath-room 
on the second floor of the dwelling, and also to the 
kitchen sink. The water is pumped with a gasoline 
engine from a well near the dwelling. By the use 
of this system all labor involved in carrying water 
is eliminated, and a fresh supply is accessible to 
the flock at all times, which is a great factor in its 
favor. 
The fence is arranged so that no birds can get 
near the dwelling or in the gardens, yet all the stock 
have ample range as far as they need to roam. 
This is done with a very small amount of fencing, 
as a cheap four-foot wire fence is all that is re¬ 
quired on the north and west sides, while a good 
quality of six-foot fence is used where the birds 
come closely in contact with it. 
The feed room is large enough to permit the pur¬ 
chase of feed in carload lots, thereby saving the 
local feed dealer's profit, which amounts to a large 
item in the course of a year. Of course all buildings 
face the south and all are entered from the east, 
which is much preferred over a western entrance, 
especially during the Winter months. 
With this arrangement, which may be modified to 
suit different conditions and locations, one man can 
easily do all the work necessary to care for a flock 
of 1,500 layers and market the product during about 
six months of the year, while two or more men will 
be required during the hatching and brooding sea¬ 
son, the number depending upon the amount of 
hatching done and the number of chicks to be 
raised. 
The products from this farm consist of eggs for 
hatching, market eggs, broilers, baby chicks, two 
to four-months-old pullets and breeding stock, while 
custom hatching is the source of considerable in¬ 
come during the Spring season. With this combin¬ 
ation properly managed on a good farm, located 
near markets which may be expected to return fair 
prices for the products, the profits should amount 
to not only a living, but good interest on the in¬ 
vestment alSO. C. S. GREENE. 
Storage of Winter Squash. 
ATHERING.—Many truck farmers or home 
gardeners have more squash than they can sell 
or use during early Fall. Therefore they are con¬ 
fronted with a question how they can best be stored 
for later use. The first thing to remember is that 
any kind of a frost injures the keeping qualities 
and will invariably cause them to rot too quickly 
if stored. Therefore before frost comes the squash 
should be cut from the vines with as long a stem as 
possible. The fleshy stems will continue to furnish 
nourishment to the fruit until it shrivels up. 
Furthermore, these large stems improve the appear¬ 
ance of the squash when they eventually go to mar¬ 
ket. It is a common practice among farmers to 
gather their crop together in heaps around the field 
when frost suddenly threatens, and cover them tem¬ 
porarily with hay. When this is done all the squash 
should be laid singly close together in piles about 
four feet wide and as long as the yield of the crop 
will require. Never pile the squash one on top of 
the other, for that furnishes a hiding place for rats 
and field mice, prevents the squash next to the moist 
soil from drying off or from getting sunshine and 
makes it possible for one squash to fall against 
another, causing slight, invisible bruises which will 
ultimately prove destructive. These piles should be 
covered only during the nights when frost threatens, 
being careful to remove the covering the next morn¬ 
ing. To exclude the air and sunshine causes a wet 
and musty condition. When the heaps are about 
four feet wide, the hay can be easily placed on or 
removed from the piles without undue reaching. 
The covering should never be put on or taken off 
with a fork, because no matter how careful the 
operator may try to be he will surely scratch a few 
of the squashes. 
SQUASH-BUG DAMAGE.—Under any consider¬ 
ation the squashes should be removed to their per¬ 
manent storage as soon as convenient to do so. Al¬ 
lowing them to remain in the field exposes them to 
dampness, changing temperatures and worst of all, 
perhaps the stings of the squash-bug. This insect 
attacks cucurbit vines of all kinds, and sometimes 
does notable injury. The insect is dull grayish- 
brown in color. It is between one-half and three- 
fourths of an inch in length. It is frequently called 
the “stink-bug” because of a peculiarly offensive 
musky odor, which is quite lasting and noticeable 
even after stained hands have been thoroughly 
washed. These destructive and offensive insects 
live upon the leaves and stems until the vines 
are killed by frost; then they turn their attention 
to the squash itself. They sting one squash after 
another as they feed, and these punctures seem to 
have a peculiarly poisonous effect upon the squash 
