lht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
25 
The  Henyard 
Profits  from  a  Small  Flock 
Last  January  I  commenced  the  year 
with  40  hens  and  two  cocks.  Three  hens 
died  and  three  birds  have  been  killed  for 
food,  but  my  stock  values,  November  14, 
show  a  small  amount  over  January  1, 
and  during  the  year  we  have,  in  addition 
to  the  two  old  hens  and  cock,  eaten  plenty 
of  fried  chicken.  Our  35  layers  produced 
370  dozen  eggs,  which  would  average 
about  12  dozen  eggs  per  year  each  hen. 
This  is  a  little  better  than  the  140  eggs 
for  each  hen  mentioned  in  The  R.  N.-Y. 
My  cost  for  feed  has  advanced  15c  per 
month  for  each  fowl.  On  this  basis  I 
figure  C.  A.  N.’s  business  (page  1365) 
should  have  netted  him  more  than  $900 
to  $1,300.  If  his  500  hens  had  averaged 
12  dozen  eggs  last  year,  6,000  dozen  at 
50c  equals  $3,000.  Cost  of  feed,  15c  per 
hen.  $900;  interest  on  $2,000  investment, 
$120;  incidentals,  say  $200,  or  $1,220; 
not  outside  cost  of  labor,  $1,7S0.  He 
does  not  charge  labor.  If  he  had  help  at 
$50  per  month,  $600 ;  net,  $1,180.  This 
net,  $1,180,  with  other  products  of  his 
farm,  should  have  given  him  a  good  living 
for  self  and  family.  Can  you  beat  it  for 
real  solid  comfort  in  a  smoky  city? 
Do  you  think  that  on  the  basis  of  the 
yield  of  the. 35  hens  which  I  show  above, 
I  can  sustain  that  basis  by  increasing  my 
stock  to  500  hens?  D.  H.  B. 
Bedford  Hills,  N.  Y. 
It  is  a  fortunate  thing  that  hens  do  not 
pay  as  large  profits  in  flocks  of  500  as 
they  do  in  those  of  35;  otherwise  the 
householder  could  not  compete  with  the 
professional  poultrymau  and  show  him  a 
1  hing  or  two  in  figures.  What  is  called 
the  law  of  diminishing  returns  operates 
in  poultry  keeping,  as  it  does  in  other 
branches  of  agriculture, _  only  it  begins 
earlier  and  stays  on  the  job  longer. 
No.  it  won’t  do  to  multiply  35  by  14.3 
and  call  it  500,  not  in  the  poultry  busi¬ 
ness.  As  pure  mathematics,  probably 
nothing  can  be  said  against  these  figures; 
I'll  take  your  word  without  using  pencil 
and  paper,  but  when  you  go  from  the 
realm  of  mathematics  to  that  of  feathers 
you  have  to  adopt  different  rules  of  figur¬ 
ing.  Perhaps,  in  a  biological  sense,  you 
can  multiply  hens  by  eggs,  or,  at  least, 
bv  means  of  eggs,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to 
assume  that,  because  you  find  13  eggs  in 
one  nest,  10  nests  would  yield  130  eggs; 
probably  hens  will  be  sitting  on  pieces  of 
brick  in  four  of  the  others.  And  then, 
too.  you  have  figured  profits  on  the  10 
months  of  the  year  when  hens  are  lay¬ 
ing;  what  about  the  other  two  months 
when  you  are  feeding  them  high-priced 
grain  and  getting  only  discarded  feathers 
in  return,  and  what  about  the  heavy 
cost  of  raising  pullets  each  year  to  re¬ 
place  old  stock?  Oh,  there  is  a  lot  to 
Fhte  M.  B.  D. 
Colds  or  Roup 
What  is  the  trouble  with  my  poultry? 
I  have  over  100  hatched  i  i  May ;  have 
been  healthy  until  just  a  few  days  ago. 
They  have  a  terrible  rattle  in  then- 
throats  and  hold  their  mouths  open.  It 
sounds  like  croup.  Is  it  a  disease  or 
just  a  cold,  and  what  can  I  do?  I  have 
tried  castor  oil,  also  turpentine  and  sweet 
oil  mixed,  but  do  not  seem  to  help. 
Bridgehampton,  N.  Y.  MBS.  c.  M. 
This  is  a  sympton  of  colds  and,  unfor¬ 
tunately  also  of  beginning  roup.  The 
majority  of  cases,  however,  are  of  Fall 
and  Winter  colds,  very  like  those  suffered 
by  humans.  Strong,  vigorous  pullets  will 
recover  from  colds  without  special  treat¬ 
ment  if  kept  in  dry,  well  ventilated  and 
comfortable  quarters  and  guarded  from 
drafts  while  on  their  perches  at  night. 
This  does  not  mean  that  they  should  be 
closely  shut  up,  for  they  need  as  much 
fresh  air.  or  more,  when  they  have  colds 
as  thev  need  at  any  other  time,  but  they 
shouldn’t  get  this  on  their  backs  at  night 
in  the  shape  of  drafts  coming  through 
loose  windows,  doors  and  cracks  in  the 
walls,  or  even  as  a  draft  through  the  open 
front  striking  the  perches. 
Give  the  pullets  clean,  fresh  litter,  clean 
their  drinking  fountains  with  hailing 
water,  see  that  the  poultry-house  gets  all 
the  sunlight  that  the  season  affords  and 
remove  any  that  are  very  sick  from  the 
Hock.  If  there  is  a  suspicion  of  roup, 
remove  all  that  show  any  signs  of  begin¬ 
ning  sickness  promptly.  The  symptoms 
of  roup  are  those  of  a  very  hard  cold, 
with  running  and.  perhaps,  closed  eyes, 
running  nostrils,  disagreeable  odor  to  dis¬ 
charges.  droopiness,  bedraggled  plumage, 
increasing  weakness,  and,  finally,  in  many 
cases,  death.  There  is  no  satisfactory 
treatment  for  true  roup.  Individual  eases 
may  be  cured,  but  at  an  outlay  in  time 
and  labor  that  few  can  give,  and  the 
probability  of  carrying  partly  cured  cases 
over  to  continue  the  infection  is  great. 
M.  B.  D. 
Composition  of  Mash 
I  have  for  some  time  believed  that  the 
excessive  amount  of  beef  scrip  in  dry 
mash  has  been  largely  responsible  for  the 
sometimes  large  losses  of  baby  chicks,  and 
the  poor  results  in  hatching.  I  have  paid 
on  several  occasions  from  $7.50  to  $10 
per  setting  for  eggs,  and  in  practically 
every  case  had  poor  results.  Sometimes 
it  would  be  few  chicks,  and  sometimes 
chicks  that  seemed  to  lack  stamina.  Last 
Spring  my  own  eggs  hatched  poorly,  and 
I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  some,  at 
least,  of  the  trouble  was  due  to  too  con¬ 
centrated  feeding  of  the  breeders.  For 
some  years  I  have  made  my  mashes  from 
bran,  meal,  stock  feed,  red  dog  flour  and 
45  to  55  per  cent  meat  scrap,  100  lbs.  of 
each ;  10  lbs.  pulverized  charcoal,  5  lbs. 
fine  salt,  and  my  costs  have  been  around 
$2.30  per  100  lbs.  Just  at  present  the 
cost  is  $2.27.  During  the  past  three 
months  I  have  added  to  the  above  20  lbs. 
of  dry  skim-milk.  When  I  mixed  my  last 
I  only  put  in  75  lbs.  of  meat  scrap  and 
50  lbs.  of  the  milk,  and  as  the  latter  costs 
me  8  2/5c  per  lb.  by  the  barrel,  that  in¬ 
creases  the  cost  of  the  mash  to  $2.77  per 
100  lbs..  50c  per  bag  increase.  Would  it 
pay  to  continue  this  mixture,  or  would  it 
be  best  to  go  back  to  the  old  one? 
Kennebunk,  Me.  f.  e.  h. 
There  is  no  doubt,  that  concentrated 
feeding,  plus  close  confinement,  dimin¬ 
ishes  the  vitality  of  breeding  stock,  and 
is  responsible  for  a  large  number  of  poor 
hatches  and  weak  chicks.  The  ideal  care 
of  breeding  fowls  would  be  giving  them 
Noticing  your  alarm  clock  arrange¬ 
ments  on  page  1439,  I  am  sending  you 
my  plan,  which  is  the  simplest  that  I 
have  found,  and  costs  nothing  to  make. 
Fasten  two  metal  pieces  to  your  shelf, 
and  to  each  underneath  the  plate  fasten 
the  electric  current  wire.  Take  a  piece 
of  old  clock  spring  %-inc-h  wide,  drill  a 
hole  in  one  end  and  fasten  with  a  small 
screw  to  the  plate.  Then  take  a  small 
ring  which  will  slip  off  the  alarm  winder 
easily ;  attach  to  this  a  fine  wire  fas¬ 
tened  to  the  old  clock  spring  by  a  loop. 
Place  the  ring  over  the  winder  so  as  to 
hold  the  loose  end  of  the  spring  off  the 
plate.  When  the  alarm  goes  off  the 
entire  freedom  and  making  them  find  a 
considerable  part  of  their  own  living.  Of 
course,  eggs  would  be  obtained  only  in 
Spring  and  Summer,  but  those  that  were 
obtained  would  hatch  and  the  chicks 
would  live.  It  is  not  practicable,  how¬ 
ever,  to  keep  the  breeding  flock  in  this 
way.  and  we  shall  have  to  continue  to 
hatch  from  flocks  kept  for  egg  production. 
•I  do  not  think  that  lack  of  fertility  or 
vigor  can  be  ascribed  to  meat  feeding  in 
any  reasonable  quantity,  but  it  is  unnec¬ 
essary  to  add  dried  milk  to  a  ration  al¬ 
ready  containing  sufficient  animal  protein 
in  the  form  of  beef  scrap.  If  dried  skim- 
milk  or  buttermilk  is  used,  the  meat  scrap 
should  be  cut  down  proportionately;  one 
will  replace  the  other.  if.  b.  d. 
Requirements  for  Pigeons 
I  wish  to  build  a  house  to  accommodate 
about  100  pigeons,  and  would  like  to 
know  what  size  to  make  it.  Should  it 
be  built  off  the  ground?  IIow  many  nests 
are  needed,  and  is  a  flight  or  enclosed 
runway  necessary  when  breeding  squabs? 
What  is  a  good  mixture  of  grain  for 
pigeons?  Wbat  breeds  make  the  best 
squabs  and  breed  rapidly?  P.  c.  K. 
Pompton  Lakes,  N.  J. 
A  house  12x12  ft.  would  accommodate 
100  pigeons  very  nicely,  and  could  be 
built  directly  on  the  ground,  or  with  an 
air  space  underneath,  whichever  would 
be  most  suitable  to  your  location.  There 
should  be  one  nest  for  each  pair  of  breed¬ 
ers,  as  they  lay,  sit  and  rear  their  young 
in  the  nest.  It  is  quite  necessary  to  have 
an  enclosed  flight  to  keep  the  birds  from 
straying  away.  About  20x30  ft.  and  6 
ft.  high  would  be  a  good  size  for  the  fly¬ 
ing  pen.  The  house  should  be  light,  dry 
and  well  ventilated. 
We  like  the  White  Homer,  which  is 
one  of  the  best  and  most  prolific  breeders 
for  squab  raising,  but  the  Red  Carneaux 
make  larger  and  better  squabs. 
A  good  grain  mixture  is  200  lbs.  kaffir 
corn,  100  lbs.  red  wheat,  100  lbs.  Canada 
peas,  15  lbs.  golden  millet  and  10  lbs. 
hemp.  Also  mix  a  tablespoon  of  salt 
with  a  peck  of  grit,  and  keep  before  the 
birds  with  fine  oyster  shells  and  charcoal 
in  separate  hoppers.  c.  s.  gbeene. 
Preventing  Water  .  from  Freezing; 
Leaves  for  Litter 
1.  I  am  keeping  100  White  Leghorns 
this  Winter,  50  in  each  house.  iWhat  is 
the  best  way  to  keep  the  drinking  water 
from  freezing?  2.  I  have  to  buy  litter, 
but  could  get  lots  of  leaves.  Would  you 
advise  using  them  ?  I  live  close  to  the 
woods,  and  can  get  nice  fresh  ones. 
Blandburg,  Pa.  w.  w.  's. 
1.  There  is  no  way  of  keeping  drinking 
water  from  freezing,  except  by  the  use  of 
artificial  heat.  Where  electricity  is  avail- 
winder  will  turn  to  the  left  and  the  free 
end  of  the  spring  will  come  in  contact 
with  the  plate  and  connect  the  circuit, 
which  of  course  turns  on  the  lights.  ,  I 
use  two  pieces  of  the  clock  spring  to 
make  a  stiffer  spring.  For  a  ring  over 
the  post  I  use  a  key-ring  style  leg  band, 
the  size  used  on  Plymouth  Rock  hens. 
When  you  go  into  the  house  to  turn  off 
your  lights  just  place  the  ring  over  the 
post  and  wind  enough  to  lift  the  spring 
from  the  plate.  I  have  used  this  arrange¬ 
ment  two  seasons,  and  it.  has  not  failed 
one  morning.  w.  C.  D. 
New  York. 
able,  a  25  e.p.  carbon  filament  electric 
light  bulb  may  be  suspended -by  means 
of  a  hole  bored  through  a  wooden  float 
so  that  the  bulb  will  be  immersed  in  the 
water  of  a  pail  or  other  water  container. 
The  bulb  hangs  below  the  float,  which 
latter  rides  upon  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  follows  it  down  as  the  fowls  drink 
it.  It.  is  best  to  use  a  waterproof  socket 
for  this  purpose.  A  small  lamp  for  this 
purpose  is  advertised  in  these  columns, 
and  is  very  practical.  This  burns  kero¬ 
sene,  and  a  water  pail  may  be  set  upon 
it.  It  uses  a  very  small  wick  and  con¬ 
sumes  but  little  oil. 
2.  Dry  leaves  may  be  used  as  litter, 
though  they  are  inferior  to  straw  or 
other  coarser  material.  They  break  up 
into  a  powder  in  a  very  short  time,  but 
in  the  absence  of  better  litter  I  should 
use  them.  m.  b.  d. 
Catarrhal  Colds 
I  have  a  flock  of  White  Leghorn  pul¬ 
lets  which  seem  to  have  colds,  as  there 
is  a  continuous  sneezing  among  them  ;  in 
some  cases  their  eyes  close  and  swell  up. 
also  have  something  like  warts  around 
their  eyes  and  on  their  combs.  I  have 
the  Cornell  mash  before  them  at  all 
times,  and  feed  scratch  feed  at  night. 
They  also  have  cabbage  and  turnips  and 
some  stale  bread.  What  is  the  cause, 
and  a  remedy?  k.  r. 
East  River.  Conn. 
This  is  the  season  for  Fall  colds. 
Young  stock  is  taken  from  the  Summer 
range  and  placed  in  WSnter  quarters, 
they  may  be  subject  to  drafts  through 
cracks  in  poultry-house  walls  or  be¬ 
cause  of  open  windows  so  placed  as  to 
permit  of  the  wind  blowing  across  the 
perches.  These  colds  are  probably  con¬ 
tagious  and  sweep  through  the-  flock, 
sparing  only  the  most  robust  of  the 
fowls.  The  remedy  is  not  medication, 
for  there  is  probably  nothing  that  can  be 
administered  to  the  flock  in  food  or  drink 
that  will  cure  or  prevent  colds,  but  better 
care.  This  latter  involves  cleanliness  of 
quarters  and  utensils  used  by  the  flock, 
a  dry,  comfortable  house  that  is  thor¬ 
oughly  well  ventilated,  ivithout  deleter¬ 
ious  drafts,  and  this  ventilation  can  be 
brought  about  by  tight  walls  and  open 
fronts  and  the  removal  of  any  evidently 
sick  birds  as  soon  as  they  are  discovered. 
Simple  colds,  under  these  conditions,  will 
be  recovered  from  as  humans  would  re¬ 
cover  from  them.  If  roup  is  grafted 
upon  the  catarrhal  cold,  however,  there 
is  a  different  story  to  tell.  Eyes  swell, 
run  foul-smelling  matter,  the  bird  be¬ 
comes  weak  and  droopy,  smears  its 
plumage  with  the  discharge  from  eyes 
and  beak  and,  in  severe  cases,  dies  within 
a  few  days.  Here,  too,  the  remedy  is 
prompt  isolation  of  all  affected  birds  and 
disinfection  as  well  ps  cleanliness  of 
quarters  and  eating  and  drinking  uten¬ 
sils.  Even  if  apparently  recovered  from 
roup  is  likely  to  hang  over  in  partially 
cured  cases  and  give  trouble  in  succeed¬ 
ing  years.  m.  b.  ». 
Treatment  for  Worms 
My  little  girl,  three  years  old,  has 
worms  that  have  come  from  her  7  to  8  in. 
long,  and  at  times  it  makes  her  sick,  hot 
and  feverish.  We  have  given  her  differ¬ 
ent.  things  to  take,  but  it  doese  not  effect 
a  cure.  e.  f.  s. 
Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 
There  are  several  kinds  of  worms  that 
infest  the  human  body — round  worms, 
pin  worms,  tapeworms,  etc. — and,  strange 
to  say,  not  all  varieties  yield  to  the  same 
treatment.  Remedies  that  will  expel  one 
kind  will  have  no  effect  upon  another. 
Fortunately,  most  worms  are  compara¬ 
tively  easily  gotten  rid  of  if  intelligent 
treatment  is  instituted.  The  first  thing 
lo  do  is  to  ascertain  the  variety  of  worms 
that  is  present.  To  do  this,  show  some 
of  them  to  your  physician.  The  second 
is  to  follow  the  treatment  laid  down  by 
your  physician  ;  he  will  know  what  kind 
of  medicine  to  give,  and  in  what  way. 
You  may  be  able  to  rid  your  child  of 
worms  by  following  the  advice  of  friends 
and  neighbors,  but  such  advice  is  neces¬ 
sarily  based  upon  incomplete  knowledge, 
and  it  is  better  to  seek  expert  advice. 
M.  B.  D. 
Hope  Farm  Notes 
(Continued  from  Page  16) 
hold  fast  to  something  of  them. 
“Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men  !” 
I  can  tell  you  that  the  Englishman's 
song  seemed  close  to  me  as  I  walked  on 
through  the  storm.  “Peace*  on  earth !” 
Whom  did  I  want  most  to  injure?  I  de¬ 
cided  it  was  Grandpa  Leonard.  I’d  like 
to  punch  him  for  accusing  my  father  of  a 
terrible  crime.  So  I  figured  it  out  as  I 
trudged  on.  And  yet,  what  about  this 
“Good  will  to  men!”  If  I  believed  in  that 
song  I  must  certainly  show  good!  will  to 
Grandpa  Leonard.  But  how?  I  looked 
up,  and  there  I  was  right  at  the  Leonard 
house.  It  has  always  been  my  fortune, 
good  or  ill,  to  do  impulsive  things — often 
just  when  cold-blooded  reasoning  was 
most  needed.  That  is  what  I  did  that 
day.  I  turned  right  into  Leonard’s  yard 
and  knocked  at  the  back  door. 
“Well,  if  here  ain’t  that  boy  from 
Deacon  Reed’s  again.  Let  me  broom  you 
off  before  you  come  in  !” 
So  Mrs.  Leonard  swept  me  clear  of 
snow  and  I  walked  in.  Grandpa  had 
forgotten  his  outbreak,  and  he  turned  to 
me. 
“Well,  what  you  want?  You  ain’t 
Santa  Claus,  be  ye?  What  I  want  most 
of  all  is  a  little  cooling  fruit.  Our  ap¬ 
ples  aint.  kept !” 
Led  by  some  impulse  which  I  cannot 
explain  I  pulled  Susie’s  orange  out  of 
my  pocket  and  gave  it  to  the  old  man. 
“Darned  if  it  ain’t  'Santa  Claus,  .T *•  !” 
burst  out  Peleg  Leonard.  “I  didn’t 
think  Jim  Lincoln  had  it  in  him  to  send 
father  an  orange.  I’ll  be.t  he’ll  have 
heartache  over  it.  Father,  better  eat  it 
right  off,  before  Jim  repents  and  sends 
after  i*.  Much  obliged  to  the  boy  for 
bringing  it !” 
And  that  was  all  the  credit  Santa 
Claus,  Jr.  ever  had.  But  as  he  trudged 
on  home  there  was  a  peace  in  his  heart  — 
far  better  than  any  taste  of  orange  on 
his  tongue. 
And  that  was  well,  because  there  was 
no  more  substantial  reward.  I  reached 
Cap’n  Hoxie’s  house  and  delivered  my 
basket.  The  captain  went  through  the 
contents  carefully,  cheeking  them  off.  and 
took  a  good  bite  from  a  plug  of  tobacco. 
Then  he  opened  the  package  of  candy  and 
grunted  approval.  These  little  pieces  of 
rock-like  substance  would  last  about  as 
long  as  the  soil. 
“Keep  the  women  a-suckin’  for  some 
time,”  he  said,  and  then,  moved  by  some 
generous  impulse,  he  took  two  of  the 
buckshot  in  his  hand  and  held  them  cut 
to  me. 
“You  done  the  job  well,  an’  I  feel  like 
makin’  ye  a  nice  present.  Take  yer  choice 
right  now.  Which’]]  ye  have,  a  red  one  or 
a  white  one?” 
And  I  forget  which  I  took  !  h.  w.  c. 
Another  Clock  Lighting  System 
