1482 
Pie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
fere'nt, and therefore they do not resemble each 
other. A hen must have a loose conformation to be 
a good layer. She should have plenty of width and 
depth of body to make room for her vital organs of 
respiration, digestion and reproduction. She must 
also be well balanced, which means that she should 
have a wide abdomen, with plenty of room between 
the ends of the pelvic bones, and a wide span be¬ 
tween the ends of the pelvic bones and the end of the 
breastbone. The pelvic bones should be thin and 
flexible, rather narrow and not inclined to beefiness. 
All bones, especially noticeable in the wings and legs, 
should be small and prominent, rather than large 
and covered with thick flesh. 
TEMPERAMENT AND INTELLIGENCE.—The 
shape of the head and expression of the eyes are also 
very large factors in determining the qualifications 
of our breeders, both male and female, yet they are 
qualities which are too often overlooked. The ex¬ 
pression of the eyes denotes temperament or dis¬ 
position in a laying hen or male bird just as truly as 
it does in a horse or one of the human family. The 
eyes should be clean cut. full, bulging and expressive, 
denoting health, strength and intelligence. They 
also denote a quick, active, nervous disposition, with¬ 
out the ugly traits mixed in. I do not mean by this 
that our male birds do not fight, but I do mean that 
from my observation and experience my best males 
are those which protect themselves easily from others 
which are inclined to fight, yet they; seldom start a 
fight themselves. I have often heard the advice 
given to breed from the “scrappiest” males. Person¬ 
ally I believe this is absolutely wrong. It is just as 
reasonable to advise breeding from an ugly horse. 
OTHER POINTS.—The head should be broad, 
with good length from the eyes to the back part of 
the skull. From the eyes to the point of the beak 
the distance should be relatively short, and the beak 
should be short and stout. The comb should be of 
smooth texture and stand erect in males, but on a 
hen it should lop to one side with a graceful curve. 
Personally I prefer rather a long neck if of strong 
build and well set. The crop should be rather prom¬ 
inent. The body should be strong and muscular and 
stand quite erect in males, while with hens the line 
of the back should be nearly horizontal. In taking 
a side view of a male bird he should not present the 
appearance of “all neck, head and tail,” as we often 
see pictured in the poultry press, but he should show 
a long, deep body, which should stand erect, as illus¬ 
trated in the accompanying picture. Fig. 474. of 
“White Eagle,” which is the nearest ideal of any 
male bird that 1 have ever seen. This bird is the 
sire of Pen 54 at the Vineland international egg-lay¬ 
ing contest, which has the second highest record of 
any pen in the three Eastern egg-laying contests up 
to the present time. This photograph was taken 
early in September, and the tail feathers were some¬ 
what broken. The tail is carried rather high, which 
is not objectionable, as it does uot approach the 
squirrel type. The high carriage of tail seems to 
denote strength and vigor, and I would certainly 
never breed from a male bird that lacks sufficient 
strength to carry his tail well up in the air. The 
legs should be of good medium length, as either too 
short or too long legs are not desirable. Too much 
stress cannot be laid on width and depth of body. 
The usual way of judging this is to hold the bird in 
the left hand, and placing the right hand under the 
breast first and then reaching with the thumb up 
under the wing to the back with fingers along the 
point or lower edge of the breastbone. In this 
position it is very easy to see the difference between 
a deep and shallow-bodied bird. A good bird will 
have well-sprung ribs, heavy, deep breast, and gen¬ 
eral appearance of quality. 
IMPROVING DEFECTS.—In breeding we try to 
select males that will overcome the defects in the 
females. Also all male birds must be bred from very 
high producers, as this quality is transmitted through 
the male birds to the daughters. I also go further 
than this, and require that every male bird be 
hatched from a pure white egg of good size and 
shape, as one hatched from a small egg. or from an 
egg that is oft' color, may do harm in a flock of 
breeders where the product must be of high quality 
to command the highest price. It is in this field of 
breeding for high egg production and quality of 
product that we can hope for the greatest advance¬ 
ment in the science of poultry farming in the future, 
and there is every reason to believe that we will 
soon see the time when $100 will be as common a 
price for a good registered hen or cockerel of the 
proper breeding as is a $10 bird at the present time. 
This, however, will all be done by official records and 
not the homemade kind. c. 8 . greene. 
IIow many farmers in your neighborhood have a full 
fruit supply? IIow many could have it if they cared to? 
The Alcohol in “ Silo Juce ” 
I am sending you, as you request, a bottle of corn 
juice just as I caught it leaking from a silo. The corn 
had been two days in the silo. It was just between 
roasting and boiling stage, not quite mature enough to 
make the best of silage. I shall appreciate a report 
upon the analysis you make. J. R. p. 
Earlville, N. Y. 
When the sample reached me it was actively ferment¬ 
ing with yeast cells in abundance and plenty of bacteria, 
probably mostly those which form lactic acid. The ac¬ 
tual alcohol present was slightly less than 1 per cent by 
weight, but. from the acetic acid which was there also, 
there had probably been at least twice that at some 
time, and there was more to come, as the yeast cells 
were busy. 
Whether anyone would have become “intoxicated,” 
which is merely Greek for “poisoned,” on the sample is 
an open question. For one thing, the taste was not 
particularly attractive. On the other hand, it had con¬ 
tained more alcohol, though just how much it might 
have at any one time would be determined by the speed 
of the yeast in making it and the speed of the bacteria 
and similar organisms, such as “mother of vinegar.” in 
eating it up as it was made. That is. these latter crea¬ 
tures might be so close on the heels of the yeast that 
there would not be much actual alcohol at any given 
time, and, on the other hand, the yeast might get well 
ahead of them. Then too. some corn is more sugary 
than other sorts, which would give the yeast an advan¬ 
tage. Take it all in all. it appears that some silo juice 
may be “poisonous” to soqie people at some time, but it 
by no means follows that all silo juice is. and it. is un¬ 
likely that any could be distilled to give a stronger 
alcohol. 
There is. however, another far more probable source 
of intoxicating effects, and that is the unknown sub¬ 
stance derived from weeds and from various leguminous 
plants cut in with the corn. We know little about these 
aromatic bodies found in weeds, but some certainly have 
an action on the human body. We do know that many 
of the pea and bean family carry substance's of the gen¬ 
eral type of “glucosides” which have a decidedly poison¬ 
ous action. These would break down while the silage 
was being stored, and would perhaps be harmless to cat¬ 
tle anyway, but they would be present and active in the 
fresh juice, and a very little would go a long way toward 
“poisoning” anyone whose sense of taste was so dulled 
that he could manage to drink it. f. d. crane. 
The Result of Analysis 
One of our readers sent us a newspaper clipping 
which stated that Prof. L. B. Allyn of Massachusetts 
had found four per cent of alcohol in silo juice. Being 
somewhat familiar with newspaper clippings, we wrote 
Prof. Allyn for confirmation. Ilis reply follows: 
N company with one of my assistants we collected 
from a freshly-filled silo five gallons of the juice, 
which was gushing in a stream from a crack near 
the base of the silo. It took less than 10 minutes 
to collect the five gallons, and of course some was 
Avasted in the collection. An immediate analysis at 
this laboratory shows an alcohol content of .34 of 
one per cent by volume, or .27 of one per cent by 
weight. The juice was divided into two parts. One 
was allowed to ferment spontaneously, and the other 
was yeasted at the rate of one-fourth of a yeast 
cake to each two quarts of juice. The following is 
an analysis of the fresh juice: 
Total solids . S.94 per cent 
Ash .6S per cent 
Protein (N x (5.25). 59 per cent 
Acidity as lactic.45 per cent 
And about .02 of acetic was recovered. 
Specific gravity . 1.0334 
Invert sugars. 5.50 per cent 
Sucrose .75 <>f 1 per cent 
Total sugars . 5.SO per cent 
In this you will note that it will be impossible to 
secure more than 2.9 per cent of alcohol based on 
the theory that a given weight of sugar will produce 
half its weight of alcohol. Our experiments so far 
seem to bear out tlie‘fact that the silage liquor is a 
product low in alcohol, due of course to its com¬ 
paratively small quantity of fermentable sugar. 
Referring to the yeasted fraction after 16 hours, 
we find 
Alcohol by volume. 2.72 per cent 
Alcohol by weight. 2.17 per cent 
After 72 hours there was no further increase in 
the alcohol content. At the present time the silage 
juice spontaneously fermented shows an alcohol con¬ 
tent of 2.07 by volume, 1.65 by weight. 
It would seem to me that in order to become 
intoxicated with silage juice considerable quantities 
of it must be drank. You will note it is comparable 
with war beer, and in its first stage even with the 
so-called near beers. I have heard personally many 
tales of the orgies of intoxication following the 
drinking of silage juice, Hut these, 1 believe, existed 
mainly in the minds of the narrators. One man told 
me he had been drunk for a week, “mighty drunk, 
too,” so he said, by drinking the fresh silage juice. 
I suspect, however, there may have been other con¬ 
tributing causes to bis spree, if in fact he experi¬ 
enced one. 
I am ready to admit, of course, that silage liquor 
October 11, 1919 
contains a possibility of intoxicating, provided one 
can consume large enough quantities within a com¬ 
paratively short period of time. The juice does not 
appear to be of a particularly appetizing flavor, 
although Ave must all admit that tastes vary greatly. 
Westfield. Mass. l. b. allyn. 
“That Retail Potato Deal” 
I N regard to the retail potato deal described by 
Helen S. K. Willcox, I think she could exactly as 
well liaA-e gotten $2.50 per bushel as $2. In my 
experience it. pays best to cut the retail price 10 to 
25 per cent, depending on whether the goods are 
delivered or sold at the place. F. l>. R.’s plea for 
the grocer is rather humorous. I have sold lots of 
potatoes to groceries at about 40 to 50 ceuts per 
bushel, which Avere resold at 10 to 15 cents profit. 
If they could do that a fcAV years ago. Avhy cannot 
they get along uoav Avith a profit of 30 to 50 cents 
instead of $1.50? It seems as if the whole country 
has gone crazy on the marketing proposition. The 
wholesalers and retailers want 30 to 50 per cent 
apiece, and the consumers seem determined that 
they should have it. 
I have marketed my potatoes in various ways in 
previous years, and my nearest large market is a 
town of 35,000 inhabitants. I liaA-e peddled potatoes, 
and had my men peddle them in this town, and some 
of the people are almost insulting in the Avay that 
they tell you they do not want any of your potatoes 
(at a reduction of. say 15 per cent over the retail 
price, be it understood). They s1ioa\ t a distinct 
preference for being robbed. When they do buy. 
they Avant pecks and half pecks, and give one the 
impression that they would like best to buy potatoes 
in strawberry boxes. 
The class that I find the worst in this regard are 
the middle-class people, Avho think they are upper 
class. Another town of perhaps 2,000 inhabitants 
nearby has several paper mills, and the population 
consists of ex-farmers and foreigners, the latter 
largely Hungarians. This town is all that the other 
is not. The people are exceedingly friendly, and buy 
freely, mostly in bushel lots, until Fall, when they 
put in their Winter’s supply. My experience in the 
two towns is not unique, for a neighboring trucker 
and several fruit growers have had the same 
experience. 
The larger town is full of stores, and every store¬ 
keeper is out for business. I suppose the competition 
is so fierce they have to be. If two loads of potatoes 
or a couple of beeves get into the town tlie same 
week the market is all shot for another week. When 
Southern potatoes sell at $7 a barrel about the best 
that one can get for home-grown ones is $4. I have 
cut the town out of my calculations, but I think that 
the same spirit is the cause of a great deal of tlie 
gouging of tlie poor downtrodden consumer else¬ 
where. I lniA-e found the best customers to be 
farmers, then the working people, then the Avell-to-do 
class, then a long, long pause, and then the snobs 
of Avhom I spoke. 
As an example of the profit made on produce, a 
wholesaler in this town to Avhom I have often sold 
potatoes bought several carloads of cabbage at $9 
per ton, plus freight of about $2 a ton. He sold these 
wholesale at $25 in ton lots at the cars. $35 delivered 
to stores, and $40 in smaller lots, this for staple, 
non-perishable, or rather semi-perishable vegetables. 
What the retailers soaked the consumers I am un¬ 
able to say. A. H. DE GRAFF. 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. 
“King Drag” for Fitting Wheat Land 
T he time for wheat seeding is drawing near; you 
may be surprised to learn that for preparing 
the land for Avheat, after hoed crops, I am making 
use of our old friend, the King road drag, with ex¬ 
tremely good results, and getting a far better seed 
bed with about half the labor usually necessary. Of 
course I ought to explain that the drag Ave use dif¬ 
fers from the original split log drag in that it is shod 
with iruii (a plate of half-inch wrought iron along 
the lower edge of the front, placed vertically), and 
the way it tears out cornstalks and tobacco stalks 
and levels off the ridges, filling up between them Avith 
loose ground, is a pleasure to see. We use it first 
the long way of the rows, , and if the ground is in 
mellow condition, it is ready for a disk drill Avith 
once going over. We weight the drag heavily with 
stone, put in four horses, and set the chain to pull 
nearly straight; the work accomplished must be seen 
to be appreciated. I am also using the drag after 
plowing, instead of the roller, going the long way of 
the furrow; it Avorks both as a leveler and clod- 
crusher, tearing the clods in such a fashion as to 
(Continued on page 1513) 
