T'HIL RURAL NRW-VORKER 
1495 
Business 
Surgery in the Poultry Business 
Some one has wisely said: “It is al¬ 
ways the unexpected that happens,” and 
so I found it, when I reached home from 
a few days’ visit to the city and discov¬ 
ered a young cock, which I highly valued, 
sick and dumpy, with a crop that stuck 
out as large as a teacup. Now this bird 
I had raised from an egg, and he was of 
trap-nested pedigree, and I was counting 
on a long, flourishing family tree of 
which he was to be the chief founder. As 
I looked at him my heart sank, for I saw 
my next Summer’s profits vanishing. Al¬ 
ready I had received orders for a num¬ 
ber of his progeny, and in my desk 
drawer lay an advertisement waiting only 
to be mailed, announcing his young stock 
for sale. I brought him into the house 
and found his crop quite hard. I poured 
sweet oil into the bird’s mouth and forced 
him to swallow. Then grasping the legs 
in one hand, and with the other, begin¬ 
ning at the top of the crop. I gently mas¬ 
saged the contents, and tried with a ro¬ 
tary motion to loosen it. I supplied oil 
freely and kept the contents of the crop 
as moist as possible. This treatment was 
kept up at intervals during the day. But 
the next day the bird was much worse. 
Ilis comb was pale and a bad-smelling 
liquid ran from his mouth and nostrils. 
The beak was slightly open as the pres¬ 
sure on the trachea made it hard for him 
to breathe. Ilis feathers were ruffled, 
eyes closed and his general appearance 
denoted utter dejection. It was as if he 
was trying to say, “Yes, I know I am not 
long for this world.” I felt sure that he 
would die, and it was then I decided 
heroic measures were necessary and so I 
made up my mind to operate. 
I pulled the kitchen table near the win¬ 
dow where the light would be good and 
got ready the things that would be needed. 
I had a pan of boiling hot water, a car¬ 
bolic acid solution—five drops of acid to 
one ounce of water—carbolated vaseline, 
scissors, sharp knife, needle and white 
silk thread and a roll of absorbent cot¬ 
ton. I then boiled the scissors, knife and 
needle, sterilizing them very thoroughly. 
It was necessary to hold the bird down, 
so my hands would be free. This puzzled 
me at first, but presently I had thought 
of a way. Filling the tea kettle with 
water I put it on one corner of the table. 
Taking a soft heavy cord, and wrapping 
it twice around the bird’s neck, I tied the 
cord to the legs of the table nearest the 
bird’s head. The feet were then tied to¬ 
gether, and the cord fastened to the tea 
kettle. Spreading out the wings I put a 
flat iron on the tip of each and then tak¬ 
ing away my hands the bird lay quite 
still. Perhaps he would have laid still 
any way, but I did not propose to take a 
chance, and perhaps have him walk off in 
the middle of the operation. Putting on 
a clean cap and apron, and washing my 
hands in the carbolic water, the doctor 
was ready for business. P»tit under the 
clean apron the doctor’s heart was beat¬ 
ing fast, I must confess. 
After picking away some of the feath¬ 
ers and clipping others with the scissors, 
until the skin was quite bare, beginning 
near the top of the crop I made an in¬ 
cision about one inch long, lengthwise of 
the neck and took a sharp cut through the 
outer skin. Then gently pushing the skin 
to one side, so that when it was released, 
the next cut would not be directly under 
it, I made a second cut just a little higher 
up in the crop. This was done so the 
food would not press the wound open, 
while healing. I found the mass inside 
very hard, so I loosened it with a tooth¬ 
pick, taking it out a little at a time. 
Afterwards I used my little finger, first 
dipping it in the carbolic acid solution. 
After everything was out I inserted my 
finger to see that the passage to the giz¬ 
zard was not obstructed. Then the 
wound was thoroughly washed with the 
solution, using the absorbent cotton for a 
sponge. Both cuts were sewed wPh white 
silk thread, the needle and thread first 
being dipped in the solution. I took two 
stitches in the cut in the crop and left 
the ends long enough to hang out. In 
the cut in the outside skin three stitches 
were taken and the ends left hanging. 
The patient was then released and after 
carefully wrapping the neck in a soft 
cloth to keep dirt out of the wound and 
to prevent the bird from pecking and 
scratching it, the rooster was put in a 
box in the basement near the furnace. It 
was very cold weather, and I was afraid 
of the bird becoming chilled. All food 
was kept from him that day, but he had 
water in which I had put a little potas¬ 
sium permanganate. The second day a 
little milk was fed, and for the next few 
days bread and milk. This soft food 
didn’t strain the crop. 
The second day there was a big im¬ 
provement, and the third day he was 
quite cheerful, even taking an interest in 
my shoe buttons. The sixth day the 
stitches were cut and that afternoon he 
crowed lustily. After keeping lain in the 
house for about 10 days he was taken back 
to his regular quarters. The bird steadily 
improved and seemed no worse for his trip 
to the hospital. When the contents of 
the crop were examined, they were found 
to contain a solid mass, just at the open¬ 
ing into the gizzard, of long tough fibres 
closely matted together. After puzzling 
for some time I decided that these were 
from a new hemp rope, which had been 
used to tie back a window, and the dang¬ 
ling ends had evidently been very tempt¬ 
ing. While this is not an operation to be 
desired, it is one that can be performed by 
any woman in an emergency. The two 
most important things to remember. I 
should say, are to have every instrument 
and your hands thoroughly clean, and do 
not hurry, but do a thorough job. 
EDITII FISHER. 
An Advertising Parade 
Some months ago we were on lower 
Broadway, New York. It was the noon 
hour, and thousands of people were hur¬ 
rying to and fro. Suddenly they all stood 
still to watch a parade. There were just 
two travel-stained autos. Hundreds, of 
cars of the same make hurried on without 
attracting attention, but these carried a 
banner: 
IPe are from Winona , Minnesota. 
Two families of neighbors were spend¬ 
ing their vacation in these cars. They 
had travelled as far as New York, and be¬ 
fore they went home they just thought 
they would ride down Broadway. That 
was all there was to it, and yet half a 
million people who never before gave a 
thought to Winona, stopped to watch 
these cars, and in fancy went back to 
that city. They will always remember 
Winona, and anything stamped with the 
name of that town will receive their at¬ 
tention. That is what you may call 
cheap and effective advertising, because it 
is an appeal to the imagination. 
Why not use this method for other 
things? One year .T. II. Hale had a great 
crop of peaches to dispose of in Hart¬ 
ford. lie hired a trolley car, decorated it 
with flags and fruit, got a load of “prom¬ 
inent citizens” to go along, and had the 
car pulled all over town. Of course it 
attracted attention—and sold peaches. 
Now farmers in all the Hudson River 
counties are well supplied with cars. 
They could string out a procession a mile 
or more long. In a season of over abun¬ 
dant. peaches or apples a great string of 
these cars rolling down Broadway, well 
loaded with fruit, would make a sensa¬ 
tion and create a big market. There 
might be 2,500 cars, each bringing its 
human freight and a barrel or more of 
fruit besides. This fruit could be sold to 
more than pay the cost of the trip and 
then there could be a big parade with ap¬ 
propriate banners. Or the milk producers 
of Orange County might show themselves 
in this way, and let New York people see 
who are responsible for the milk supply. 
As it is.now the average New Yorker does 
not know the men who furnish fruit and 
milk. They ought to become acquainted 
and some day this advertising parade will 
be developed. Try it in Newburgh, 
Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Albany and other 
places, and'get in practice. 
“ The White Egg Fad” 
The white egg fad certainly is strong¬ 
ly built into the New Yorker’s system, 
as you will see by the enclosed bill of 
sale. Those brown eggs my hens laid, 
while the white ones belong to my two 
sisters. Well what is your kick? I am 
not kicking, but these eggs are fresh, it 
took my 55 Red hens lu da vs less to lay 
the 11 dozen than it took <>00 Whites to 
lay the 19 dozen. “Why don’t you sell 
your old Reds and get White Leghorns?” 
Well, my Reds have a history and some 
meat on their bones when I want to eat 
one or sell one. Don’t you think you 
could call for a brown soft-boiled egg 
to go with that baked apple? My Reds 
will eat all the Baldwin apples I can give 
them (which isn’t any—this, because we 
have none) ; 17 cents is quite a differ¬ 
ence. though. I guess I’ll think a while. 
AUNT JANE. 
R. N.-Y.—According to the grocer’s re¬ 
turns 11 dozen brown eggs sold at 43 
cents and 19 dozen white eggs at 60 
cents! Thus 55 Reds earned -$4.73 in 10 
days less than 600 Leghorns took to earn 
$11.40. This means an income of 8.6 
cents for each Red and 1.9 cent for each 
Leghorn and the food consumed was 
probably about the same ! No doubt the 
“white egg fad” is as much a part of 
the system of some people as their eyes. 
Such people use their eyes to eat with. 
In every respect except color the brown 
eggs are just as good—and there are more 
of them at this season. We think the 
“white egg fad” will die out in time. 
“Did the play have a happy ending?” 
“You bet it did! Some one in the gal¬ 
lery hit the villain square in the face 
with a tomato.”—Houston Post. 
The Well-bred Rooster Under the Knife 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply aiul a 
"square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Men in Business Centers 
who know values are now demand¬ 
ing these good fitting, long-wear¬ 
ing, fadeless 
HAumarK 
SHIRTS 
These conservative fashionable 
patterns and styles are just the 
kind you yourself will prefer and 
—at the price you like to pay. 
$1.00, $1.50 and up. Ask or write. 
HALL, HARTWELL & CO. 
TROY, N. Y. 
Makers of SLIDEWELL Collars. 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIDE. 
Cattle or Horse hide. Calf, Dog. Deer 
or any kind of skin with hair or lur on. 
We tan and finish thorn right ; make 
them into coats (.for men and women), 
robes,rugs or gloves when ordered. 
Your fur goods will cost you less than 
to buy them, and bo worth more. Our 
Illustrated catalog gives a lot of in 
formation which every stock raiser 
should have, but we never send out this 
valuable book exeept upon request. 
It tells how to take olf and care for 
hides; how and when wo pay tho frolght 
both ways ; about our safe dyeing pro¬ 
cess which is a tremendous advantage 
to the customer, especially on horso 
hides and calt skins ; about the fur 
goods and game trophies we sell, taxi¬ 
dermy, etc. If you want a copy send us 
your correct address. 
The Crosby Frisian Fur Company, 
571 Lyell Ave., Rochester. N. Y. 
Keep a Record 
of What You 
Write 
B usiness men recognize 
the importance of keeping 
carbon copies of every letter, 
contract and transaction. It is a 
protection against forgetfulness, 
errors and dishonesty. One of the 
reasons why farmers should use 
typewriters is that it enables them 
to keep on file complete records 
of correspondence, crop reports 
and whatever is necessary to put 
farming on a business basis. 
FILL OUT THIS COUPON AND MAIL 
. .TODAY ---------- 
L.C. SMITH & BROS. 
Typewriter Co. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Please send me information as checked: 
( ) Send me free catalogue. 
( ) How can I get a Factory Rebuilt L, C. 
Smith & Bros, machine ? 
( ) What about trading in old machines? 
Name... 
P. O. 
State . 
