RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1371 
Poultry and Rabbits 
Getting a Private Egr 
How would one go r' ' 
pi-ivate egg trade in : ii’ictly first-ciai.-- 
fresh eggs? Can you recommend or pu'.’ 
us in touch Atith a responsible linn cr per¬ 
son? I could fiu-nish 40 dozen per w'cek. 
New York. n. g. t. 
The getting of a first-class private egg 
trade is a slow process, and, like all other 
good things, is worth working and waiting 
for. I do not believe it can be secured 
in a single season. 
The season when fresh eggs are scarce 
is the best time for anyone to secure new 
customers. One can always get a trial 
at this time, and then it is up to himself 
to keep up the supply and the quality. 
If one is a natural salesman he should 
go and see his parties personally, and this 
is the best way, because you must know 
each other if the arrangements are to be 
permanent; get them to visit your farm 
and show the pains you are taking to 
make the product as near perfection as it 
can be made. 
But if one has not a ready tongue, then 
he will have to advertise in the papers, 
and should get into correspondence with 
some good parties that way. Remember 
the chain is only as strong as the weakest 
link, and your regular trade can only 
amount to the quantity you can give them 
in October and November. For a fancy 
egg trade every egg must be tested for 
blood spots or other imperfection. Ab¬ 
solutely no chances must be taken, for it 
is so hard to get the best customers that 
it pays to keep them, floyd b. white. 
Eggs by Parcel Post 
The Government has issued a new bul¬ 
letin on marketing eggs by parcel post. 
This one is Farmers’ Bulletin 830, and is 
written by Lewis B. Flohr. This bulle- 
Package for Parcel Post Egg Shipment Fig. 644 
tin states that 0,131 eggs were sent 
through the mail in 40G shipments. These 
shipments ran from one to 10 dozen each. 
The total breakage was 327 eggs, and 118 
of these were slightly broken or cracked. 
There were 209 so badly smashed that 
they were beyond use; 91 eggs were 
broken because the parcels were not prop¬ 
erly handled. The losses occurring un¬ 
der bad handling of mail packages 
amounted to 1.3 of all the eggs. The 
pamphlet states in order to make this 
shipment a success the hens should of 
course be fed and cared for so as to give a 
strong and tough' eggshell. All thin- 
shelled and irregular eggs should be left 
out of the packages. Each egg should 
be wrapped in paper so as to hold it 
snugly ill the container, and the bulletin 
suggests a package like the one shown 
in the picture, as most suitable for this 
method. There has been a good deal of 
discussion about this parcel post ship¬ 
ment of eggs. Many farmers have tried 
it and given it up, but the department 
still insists that it is possible fo get good 
service. 
Rabbits as a Side Line 
There is a steady and increasing de¬ 
mand for rabbits as food. There are 
several firms in New York City which 
are handling them at prices ranging from 
39 to 25 cents per pound, live weight. 
There is also a market for rabbits for 
pets and e.xperimental purposes. A large 
number are used at Saranac Lake by the 
tuberculosis hospitals for experimental 
purposes, the prevailing price being 75 
cents for rabbits weighing four pounds 
or more. Medical colleges also require 
rabbits and guinea pigs, although I be¬ 
lieve the latter are more frequently used 
in these institutions than the former. I 
have never known such a demand for 
rabbits as has existed for the past six 
months or more, particularly for breed¬ 
ing stock. 
Whether or not one could make money 
on rabbits as a side issue depends con¬ 
siderably on circumstances, but much 
ore on the pereon. I have knowm people 
■'Vbo have made good money on them as 
a side issue, and I have known others 
who made a flat failure of the venture. 
Personally, I know of no industry or 
business in which everybody can succeed, 
and the raising of rabbits is no exception. 
I should by all means recommend Belgian 
hares rather than ordinary rabbits, for. 
the former possess all of the advantages 
of the latter and have many which the 
latter do not possess. Rablr't breeders 
ordinarily advertise in the poultry jour¬ 
nals and the pet stock magazines, and by 
consulting this class of periodical one 
may obtain the names and addresses of 
breeders in almost any locality. 
Rabbits eat and thrive upon the same 
kind of food as sheep. Their staple diet 
is clover or Alfalfa hay and oats, though 
mangels and carrots as well as other 
roots and apples can be fed to good ad¬ 
vantage in limited quantities. This is 
also true of almost any grain and non- 
poisonous weed or vegetable. F. G. n. 
Experience with Belgian Hares 
Y'ou ask for experience with hares. I 
started wnth a bred doe, being suspicious 
of the proposition, but interested if it 
should prove as claimed. Results were 
good for over a year, and I decided it 
must be all right, and I would enlarge. 
I built good hutches, bought some pedi¬ 
greed stock, soon had 65 young ones. 
When about six weeks old they began 
dying; I could find nothing the matter 
with them; just flopped over and died. 
Several State experiment stations and 
U. S. Department of Agriculture could not 
help. All died but one. We fed some 
bran. Breeder from whom we bought 
stock said this was the trouble. We bred 
the does again, and gave the young change 
of feed he recommended. As soon as they 
got to same age they died off as before. 
Several old ones have also died. Hutches 
are kept clean. We have heard of several 
others who have had the same experience. 
It seems that a few for home use can 
be kept profitably, but as soon as a bunch 
is gotten together things go wrong. 
New Mexico. c. E. locke. 
Experience With Houdans 
•lust a few lines in regards to “R. J. 
W’s” question on page 1098 about 
“Houdans for Eggs.” I have never kept 
any in large flocks, but learned to my 
satisfaction from those I did keep that 
they would not be the fowl to choose for 
commercial purposes for these reasons. 
Their topknot does act somewhat like a 
sponge on their heads and I have also 
noticed that in the Winter when they 
drink they will, as all fowls do. shake 
their heads a little and, of course, the 
water which spatters goes mostly around 
their heads and Mrs. nnd Mr. iloudan'e 
topknot becomes pretty well saturated 
with water, and when the weather is 
real cold', it freezes and keeps their heads 
damp as it thaws out, which anyone 
knows is not desirable for the health of 
the fowl. Have also noticed that in the 
young, as soon as their topknots grow 
out, there is Avhere you will find they 
become mostly infested -with lice. I also 
found mine were good layers, but for the 
above reasons gave them up. 
New Jersey. WH. j. k^vab. 
Having read the inquiry of “R. J. W.,” 
on page 1098, in regard to Iloiulan fowls, 
I will answer from my experience. I 
have been experimentijig for several years 
and have come to the conclusion that the 
Houdan is well named “the pride of 
France.” I have found them to be ad¬ 
mirably adapted for utility birds. They 
are tame and easy to keep in confinement. 
Mine began laying at 5^^ months. They 
are prolific layers of large. Avhite eggs, 
six to the pound. I find that mine aver¬ 
age about 60 per cent per year, and that 
they are unusually small feeders. Al¬ 
though the Houdans do not make good 
broilers on account of their early feather¬ 
ing, yet they are unexcelled for table use. 
The bones are very small and seven- 
eighths of the weight is fine “gamy”- 
flavored meat. Birds hatched early in 
September will be well covered with 
feathers before the cold weather and will 
lay all the next Summer. 
I wish to emphasize the fact that al¬ 
though the Houdan is such a handsome 
and unusual looking bird, it is a strictly 
utility fowl. I raise mine in open-front 
coops, and, as I do not allow them to 
wander about in the mud. I have never 
found that “the topknot acts like a 
sponge.” If the topknot gets long enough 
to get into the drink'ng water I clip it a 
little. In the coldest Winter weather I 
have never had a single case of frozen 
comb or roup. c. L. 
Long Island. 
Pictures from Home 
/^VER there, with thousands of miles of sea and land between 
them and home, are Our Boys, smiling and fighting— 
fighting with bullets, against a dogged foe; with smiles, fighting 
homesickness and dread monotony. 
It’s a part of the nation’s job to-day to keep those boys 
cheerful, to hold fast the bonds between camp and home, to 
make light hearts and smiling faces—and these things pictures 
can help to do—pictures of the home folks and the home doings, 
pictures of the neighbors, pictures that will enliven their 
memories of the days before the war—simple Kodak pictures, 
such as you can make. These can help. 
Kodak catalogue, free at your dealer’s or by mail. 
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY 
387 State Street Rochester, N. Y. 
9 CORDS IN lO HOURS 
BT ONR MAN, It’s KING OP THE WOODS, Save# money an<] 
baekache. Send for FKEK catalog; No. showing low priCQ 
and latest improvements. First order gets agency. 
raiding Sawing Machina Co., 161 West Harrison St, Chicago, III 
Delivered prices quoted on 
request. 
THE E. BIGLOW CO., New London, 0. 
‘Lamps 
When the Day’s Work 
Is Done 
Whether reading, sewing, amusing your¬ 
self—using your eyes in any way—you 
appreciate the soft steady light of the 
Rayo lamp. 
RAYO LAMPS are the best oil lamps made. 
They radiate a flood of light and are of simple 
artistic design, •without embossing or cheap orna¬ 
mentation-easy to keep clean. Elasy to light — 
you don t have to remove either chimney or shade. 
For best results use So-CO-ny Kerosene. 
STANDARD OIL CO. of NEW YORK 
Principal Offices 
Albany 
New Vork 
Buffalo 
KEROSENE 
. OiL 
STANDARD OlLllaE NY 
