326 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Henyard 
Geese a Help on the Farm 
At the present high prices of grain and 
all the other items that go to make up 
the hen's bill of fare, many poultry-keep¬ 
ers are turning their attention to geese as 
money-makers, and well they may, for a 
flock of pure-bred geese are close rivals to 
the fabled gooee that laid the golden egg. 
They eat large quantities of grass and 
will fill that long neck clear to the bill 
with grass, then sit down and in a short 
time it has disappeared and they are ready 
to begin foraging again. As a means of 
reducing the H. C. of L. in poultrydom 
the goose certainly is the solution. They 
eat some grain, but can be raised largely 
on pasture. They prefer tender, young 
grass,.but will also eat that which is not 
very tender. In feeding during (he Win¬ 
ter clover chaff added to their mash feed 
or sweepings from the barn floor are good. 
Alfalfa is excellent for them also. Any 
waste vegetables or fruits are greedily 
eaten by them. 
It is not necessary to have a pond 01 * 
lake for them to swim in. although they 
will keep much whiter if they can have 
water in which to swim. They must al¬ 
ways have plenty of drinking water, and 
it should be deep enough so they can dip 
the head in and wash the eyes. 
The Chinese geese are the Leghorns of 
the goose family, and are heavy layers of 
large white eggs. The first year we had 
them our yearling geese laid an average 
of 50 eggs each. One Fall, just after 
Thanksgiving, one of 'the Spring-hatched 
geese b^gan laying and laid every other 
day until the last of June, making about 
300 eggs; she -then stopped without be¬ 
coming broody. They are beautiful birds, 
with long, slender necks and snowy plum¬ 
age. We are aften asked if they are 
swans, and when on the water or sitting 
they look like swans. 
The flesh of the White Chinese is 
very fine flavored and has not the objec¬ 
tionable greasy taste of some of the larger 
breeds of geese. They are a nice size for 
an ordinary family, weighing from eight 
to 14 pounds each. They are a very de¬ 
sirable adjunct to the poultry yard. 
MRS. CLAUDIA BETTS. 
Hillsdale Co., Mich. 
Buttermilk for Hens 
Is semi-solid buttermilk a good feed 
for laying liens and chicks? In making 
up a dry mash, how many pounds semi¬ 
solid buttermilk and how many pounds 
meat scrap (50 to 55 per cent protein) 
would you advise using? In making up 
a dry mash, how many pounds per cwt. 
all semi-solid buttermilk? j. e. m, 
Pennsylvania. 
Semi-solid buttermilk is too soft and 
sticky to use in a dry mash for laying 
hens. The dry mash in use at the Mas¬ 
sachusetts Agricultural College plant at 
present is 100 lbs. corn meal, 100 lbs. 
ground oats, 100 lbs. middlings, 100 lbs. 
gluten feed, 100 lbs. beef scrap and 100 
lbs. bran. Semi-solid buttermilk is di¬ 
luted with water one to six and fed as 
drink, same as ordinary skim-milk or 
buttermilk. The scratch feed is S00 
lbs. cracked corn. 200 lbs. wheat and 100 
lbs. barley or oats. 
A wet mash is sometimes used for fat¬ 
tening birds when both beef scrap and 
semi-solid buttermilk are used. It is as 
follows: 3 lbs. cornmeal, 2 lbs. sifted 
ground oats. 1 lb. red dog middlings. % lb. 
beef scrap and 14 lbs. diluted semi-solid 
buttermilk. The dilution is made one to 
six, as above stated. H. f. j. 
A Farm Flock of White Chinese Qeese 
February 14, 1920 
Brooder-house for 500 Chicks 
I intend to build a brooder-house, big 
enough to raise 400 to 500 hens every 
year. Could you give me any advice as 
to size required? Which is the best type 
of building for this purpose? What is the 
floor space necessary per chick? Could 
you give me some kind of plan? I favor 
concrete foundation and cement floor to 
keep rats out. It< there a bulletin on rais¬ 
ing chicks? e. F. 
New Jersey. 
If necessary, because of limited amount 
of land available, to build a fixed brooder- 
house for from 400 to 500 chicks, it should 
be at least 12 ft. square. Smaller flocks 
of chicks, say from 250 to 300. do better, 
however, and flocks of this size are easily 
reared in brooder-houses 8x12 ft. in size. 
Such brooder-houses may be built upon 
skids so that a team can draw them 
about and change their location each year, 
a most desirable thing to do. The simple 
shed roof type of house, 7 ft. high in front 
and 444 ft. high In the rear, is economical 
to construct, and convenient. A single 
coal-burning brooder heater may be in¬ 
stalled to care for the flock, and. when 
heat is no longer needed, this may be re¬ 
moved and perches substituted to hold the 
pullets until time for them to go into 
Winter quarters. 
Concrete floors are suitable for perma¬ 
nent buildings, having the disadvantage 
only of being immovable. One heater 
woidd also care for from 400 to 500 chicks 
if that many are to be kept together. Yes, 
there are many bulletins upon raising 
chickens published. You will be able to 
get some valuable ones by addressing your 
State Agricultural College at New Bruns¬ 
wick and asking for their bulletins upon 
poultry buildings and chick rearing. 
M. B. D. 
“Now children.” the professor remarked 
to his offspring on Saturday morning, “I 
wish you to attend my lecture this after¬ 
noon. If you fail to do so, as you have 
in the past, I will be compelled to chastise 
you.” For some moments the young folks 
exchanged consulting glances, then Tom¬ 
my remarked, resignedly: “Well, we’ve 
been licked before and got over it.”—New 
York Evening Post. 
Test by A. J. Dewey, Madison, Ohio. 
Right, top-dressed with 113 lbs. 
Sulphate of Ammonia—4840 lbs. per A 
Left, not top-dressed —2340 “ “ 
Increase 2500 lbs. per A 
TOP DRESSING TALKS, No. 5 
Better Opportunities for Profit 
Even in times of low prices, top-dressing Timothy meadows 
with Sulphate of Ammonia has been quite profitable. 
Since the price of hay has advanced much more rapidly than 
has the price of Sulphate of Ammonia, the margin of profit 
is now greater than it has ever been before. 
An average increased yield per acre of 1646 pounds of 
Timothy was obtained by ten Ohio farmers from an average 
top-dressing of 110 pounds of Sulphate of Ammonia per acre. 
Using 1912 prices, the average net profit was $7.65 per acre. 
Figuring this on present prices shows that the opportunities 
for profit from top-dressing are now considerably greater, 
free bulletin “How to Increase the Yield of Timothy.” 
Top-dress your meadows early in spring with 100 pounds of Arcadian 
Sulphate of Ammonia per acre. Use your grain drill or fertilizer dis¬ 
tributor. 
FOR SALE BY 
CONNECTICUT: Bridgeport; The Berkshire 
Fertilizer Co. 
INDIANA: New Albany; Hopkins Fertilizer 
Co. 
KENTUCKY: Louisville ; Louisville Fertilizer 
Co. 
MARYLAND: Baltimore; American Agricul¬ 
tural Chemical Co., Armour Fertilizer Works, 
Bowker Fertilizer Co., Home Fertilizer & 
Chemical Co., Listers Agricultural Chemical 
Works, Pollock Fertilizer Co., Patapsco Guano 
Co., F. S. Royster Guano Co., Swift S' Co., R. 
A. Wooldridge Co., Rasin-Monumental Co. Ha¬ 
gerstown; Central Chemical Co. 
MASSACHUSETTS: Boston; The American 
Agricultural Chemical Co., Bowker Fertilizer 
Co., The National Fertilizer Co. 
NEW JERSEY: Chrome; Armour Fertilizer 
Works (Address Baltimore, Md.). Newark; 
Listers Agricultural Chemical Works. Tren¬ 
ton; Trenton Bone Fertilizer Co. 
NEW YORK: New York; The Coe-Mortimer 
Co., The American Agricultural Chemical Co., 
Nassau Fertilizer Co., W. E. Whann Co., Pa¬ 
tapsco Guano Co., The National Fertilizer Co., 
Bowker Fertilizer Co., Frederick Ludlam Co. 
Syracuse ; F. S. Royster Guano Co. 
PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia-, I. P. Thom¬ 
as & Son Co., S. M. Hess & Bro., Inc., J. E. 
Tygert Co. York; York Chemical Co. 
VERMONT: Rutland; M. E. Wheeler Co. 
VIRGINIA: Norfolk; Pocomoke Guano Co., 
Norfolk Fertilizer Co., Inc., Imperial Co., 
Hampton Guano Co., Berkley Chemical Co., 
Robertson Fertilizer Co., Inc., Tidewater Guano 
Co., Carolina Union Fertilizer C’o., F. S. Roy¬ 
ster Guano Co. Richmond ; F. S. Royster Guano 
Co. Alexandria ; Alexandria Fertilizer & Chem¬ 
ical Co. Lynchburg; F. S. Royster Guano Co. 
Ta'pX™ The ^ Company 
ion, write Medina, O. 
AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT 
Write today for full details. No obligation. 
The Buckeye Traction 
Ditcher Co. 
464 Crystal Ave., Findlay, 0. 
TX7E HAVE started hundreds of 
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v </ . * 
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Hundreds of Letters Like^ This 
"/ excavated a trench 16,000 feet 
long, average depth 25 inches. I re¬ 
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JOHN C. OPFER, SANDUSKY, 0. 
