396 
February 21, 1920 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Henyard 
Turkey Talk by a Turkey Woman 
In St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., when farm 
women meet they do not talk about their 
neighbors; they talk- about their turkeys 
—at least from about the middle of March 
until the last shipments are heard from in 
December. 
“Have your turkeys begun to lay yet?” 
is heard over the telephone, in the church 
vestibule, on the streets in the nearby 
village, and during the early morning call. 
Then follow many tales of trouble. The 
turkey slips away so slyly it is nearly im¬ 
possible to follow her. Before we know 
it she has laid several eggs; a cold snap 
comes and the eggs are frozen. The nest 
may be behind the haystack, at the foot 
of a tree in the woods, in almost any 
fence corner or under any brush pile. 
After the frost troubles are over it. is 
found that crows have also been watching 
that hen turkey and each day after her 
egg is laid the crow has a feast. Three 
or four turkeys decide to lay in the same 
nest; fights result, eggs are broken and 
•this time the turkey has the feast. 
In the course of time a few or a good 
many eggs are collected. The hens change 
their minds several times—a feminine 
characteristic—but finally decide to sit. 
Once started they vacillate no more, stick¬ 
ing closely to their job until it is finished. 
Rats or some other enemy may steal part 
of the eggs. The mother hen may step 
on a few and crush them, but when 28 
days are up there are nearly always some 
poults to begin their struggle for exis¬ 
tence. 
The inexperienced turkey raiser now 
tries many schemes. The turkeys are 
cooped, yarded, tied by the leg. or housed. 
A dewy morning brings disaster. Turkey 
palates are temped with a variety of 
foods. The greedly ones die from indiges¬ 
tion, the weak ones die from a weariness 
of life. A few will survive. 
After experience has brought wisdom, 
the old turkey mother is given her free¬ 
dom and the poults are allowed to hustle 
for their daily bread. Of course the 
mother will abuse the freedom given her 
by going as far away as possible. She 
has no faith in either friend or foe—but 
entire confidence in her own ability to 
care for her family. 
Many and long are the tramps to be 
taken. Exasperation mildly describes the 
feeling when the old turk yells “quit” just 
as you have the little family started for 
home. Every last one of those little tur¬ 
keys disappear as if by magic. The most 
painstaking search will not bring them 
to light. You can only wait until the 
mother gets ready to call them, when they 
will instantly reappear, jxt your very feet, 
perhaps. That may occur several times 
on the trip home, but come home they 
must every night until the habit is formed 
and then they come by themselves. 
Through the months that follow, crows, 
hawks and foxes take toll from the flock. 
When market day draws near there may 
be five or there may be 50 Bronze or Hol¬ 
land or Bourbon Red birds strutting in 
'your yard. Now the question arises 
whether to ship the turkeys to Boston 
(New York market gets few St. Lawrence 
'County turkeys), or sell them at the local 
market. Some try one plan, some the 
other. On market days the little villages 
of Madrid, Lisbon and Heuvelton are 
crowded to their limits. Many tons of 
turkeys are disposed of, but troubles are 
still with the turkey raiser. Commission 
houses fail, commission merchants cheat 
on weights and misquote prices, local buy¬ 
ers drop the price a few cents; once in a 
while one cheats on weights. But finally 
they are gone, all these splendid St. Law¬ 
rence County turkeys, finest in the coun¬ 
try, and Boston and her neighboring cities 
have Thanksgiving dinners the rest of the 
world may well envy. Whatever the re¬ 
sults, the turkey raiser is an optimist. 
This year may be bad, but next year will 
be better. Better breeding stock is ob¬ 
tained, and the new year is started with 
more enthusiasm than the last. 
NETTIE C. BOYCE. 
Ration for Laying 
What is the best balanced ration for 
laying, using corn for basis? L. 8. 
Corn should be mixed with other grains, 
such as wheat, oats, barley and buck¬ 
wheat, for scratch grain, and a ground 
grain mash should be fed in addition. The 
latter may vary widely in composition, ac¬ 
cording to the feeds available and their 
relative cost. One frequently mentioned 
in these columns is as follows: Corn- 
meal. ground oats, wheat bran, wheat 
middlings, gluten feed and meat scrap. 
This was known as a “war ration,” rec¬ 
ommended by several State agricultural 
colleges during the war as economical and 
efficient. It is equally good now. M. b. d. 
Building a Cement Henhouse 
We want to build a chicken bouse 20 ft. 
wide by 120 ft. long. Our intentions are 
to make a foundation wall about 1 ft. 
above the ground, and cement floors. Is 
it safe to do this without excavating? 
The cement would practically be one 
solid mass, flow thick should the walls 
be made for a two-story building, and 
how thick should floors be to prevent 
them from crackling? Do you think 
cement work can be done now? This 
is the only time we have to do it. Can 
it be protected from frost with straw and 
tar paper? or. M. N. 
Whether excavation is needed or not 
depends upon the nature of the soil. A 
concrete floor may be safely laid directly 
upon an open, sandy soil that does not 
heave with the Winter frosts, but should 
have a sub-base of from 0 to 12 in. of field 
stones, if in a location not well under- 
drained naturally. A poultry-house wall 
need not be higher than necessary to 
keep the sills from the ground, and should 
be slightly wider than these rf not con¬ 
tinuous with the floor. As there is little 
weight upon such a floor, it need not be 
more than 2 or 3 in. thick over the sub¬ 
structure. If laid directly upon the 
ground, a depth of 0 in. would he safer 
and cement might be saved by using 
larger stones as filler when placing the 
concrete. A stone surrounded and covered 
by concrete here answers the purpose of 
the latter and costs nothing. 
Concrete should not freeze before the 
first setting, particularly it should not 
alternately freeze and thaw at short in¬ 
tervals. If the weather is not too cold, 
it can be protected by covering until the 
first hardening has taken place, a matter 
of a few days. There has been no time 
as yet in my own locality when concrete 
work could not be safely undertaken and 
it looks now as though this time would 
be considerably extended. It is safer, 
however, to do this work before freezing 
temperature may naturally be expected. 
M. B. i>. 
y/y\ y&'fyy 
i . v-:: - 
II. G. Hunzicker, of Foster, I,'ash., 
pulling a 2.' r inch fir stump with 
deep tap roots out of hard ground, 
\ SAW v ASK A 
This man made #35 Land 
Worth §200 an acre 
Pulling Big stumps'4> hand 
C LEAR your stump land- cheaply—no digging, no 
expense for teams or powder. Your own right 
arm on the lever of the “K” Stump Puller can 
rip out any stump that can he pulled with the best inch 
steel cable. I guarantee it. I refer you to U. S. Gov¬ 
ernment officials. I give highest banking references. 
HAND POWER. 
Showing 
easy lever 
Operation 
umpPulJer 
Ohe man with a “K” can outpull 16 horses. Works 
by leverage—same principle as a jack. 100 lbs. pull 
,\ on the lever gives a 48-ton pull on the stump. 
Made of best steel—guaranteed against break¬ 
age. Has two speeds—CO ft. per minute for 
hauling in cable or for small stumps—■slow 
speed for heavy pulls. Works equally well 
on hillsides or marshes where horses 
r x cannot go. 
^ ' Write me today for special offer and 
free booklet on Land Clearing. 
The Fitzpatrick Products Corp. 
Box 34 
99 John St., New York 
Pacific Coast Office 
182 Fifth Street 
’&> San Francisco, 
Pi. Calif. 
No Stumploo Bi& For The O 
Last Big Block of the Canadian Pacific 
Reserved Farm Lands 
T HIS announces the offering of the last big 
block of the Canadian Pacific Reserved Farm 
Lands. Until this block is disposed of you can secure at low 
cost a farm home in Western Canada that will make you rich and 
independent. The country is ideal for mixed farming as well as grain 
growing. Later, the same lands can be bought only from private 
owners—and naturally, prices will be higher. Never again on the 
North American Continent will farm lands be offered at prices so low. 
Your Last Big No ^ axes on 
Opportunity (if 'jj jKj ff W\ Improvements 
This block contains Thereis a smalltax on 
i , [ •, / the land—seldom more than 
both fertile open prairie 20c an acre f° r a *l purposes 
and rich park lands in -^ but there are no taxes on your 
the Lloydminster and „ . livestock,buildings.improve. 
Battleford Districts of Centra! 
Alberta and Saskatchewan. \ oil churches, amusements, make farm life 
can buy farm lands on the rich desirable and attractive. Here you can 
prairies of Manitoba, Saskatche- ach,eve ‘"dependence. 
wan and Alberta at prices aver- JJ 0 Sale WitllOUt IUVCS- 
aging about $i8.00 an acre. Or . . 
land in Southern Alberta under tlg&tlOll 
an iri igation sy stem of unfailing •phe c ana< jj an pacific will not sell you 
water from $50 an acre and up. a farm until you have inspected it. You 
ip « V * a C must be satisfied — and every question 
iwcntv I ears to Laril answered before taking up your home. 
• _ _ Investigation is invited and made easy, 
on ft f-n Pair Don't delay your investigation. This 
announcement calls attention to the 
The Canadian Pacific offers you this J? 31 great block of Canadian Pacific 
land under a plan of long term, easy Reserved Farm Lands, 
payments that is remarkable in the q • in , f wj 
history of farm investments. You pay DpeCial KateS lOrilOme- 
down 10%. Then you have no pay- r 
mem on the principal until the end of seekers and i* ull Information 
the fourth vear, then fifteen annual . , 
P ayments. Interest is 6%. In central Special railway rates for nomeseektrs 
askatchewan. Seagar Wheeler grew make inspection easy. Send now for 
the world’s prize wheat. World’s prize free illustrated pamphlets answering 
oats were grown at Lloydminster. all questions and setting forth figures 
_ • •• | • , . about land values, acreage yields, cli- 
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In Southern Alberta, the Canadian Pa- — — —-. _ —- —( 
cific Railway has developed the largest I m. E. THORNTON. tu,t. .r Csltsiittiia i 
individual irrigation undertaking on . CANADIAN PACIFIC ItY.. Q 
the American Continent. Thi9 district I 944 First St.. E., Calvary. Alberta I 
contains some of the best lands in , i would be interested in learning more | 
Canada. An unfailing supply of water I ... * 
is administered under the Canadian | □ Imgat.on farming in Sunny Alberu. . 
Government. Prices raRge from $50 . □ ’ S “' * 
an acre up on the same easy payment I n Sp ^i r aUw,*r.t“ for homeseeker. 
terms. $2,000 Loan in improvements. ■ Q Business and industrial opportunities 
Twenty years to pay back. I in Western Canada. 
_ ___,_ ■ □ Town lots ingrowing Western town,. . 
M. E. THORNTON I My , ime .| 
Supt. of Colonization | 
Canadian Pacific Railway i Address... 
944 First Street, E. f Calgary, Alberta 
For all information about Canada, ask the C. P. R. 
