426 
71*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  17,  ID!!. I 
have  to  figure  about  $1  per  bird  for  interest  and 
depreciation  before  he  could  determine  his  labor 
income. 
Mr.  Johnstone’s  feed  cost  was  approximately  $2.39 
per  bird,  as  the  item  ‘’Inc.  Expenses”  was  miscel¬ 
laneous  feed,  such  as  semi-solid  buttermilk,  oyster 
shells  and  green  feed.  The  average  feed  cost  per 
bird  in  New  Jersey  last  year  was  $1.98  per  bird, 
which  corresponds  with  the  cost  in  Connecticut. 
In  regard  to  the  record  printed,  this  record  sheet 
is  the  same  as  we  used  last  year  in  keeping  records 
with  all  our  poultrymen  in  New  Jersey.  Over  100 
poultrymen  kept  similar  records.  The  $5.64  seen  in 
the  record  is  not  profit  by  any  means,  but  just  what 
is  stated  at  the  top  of  the  column.  “Returns  above 
feed  costs.” 
The  decrease  in  size  of  Mr.  .Johnstone’s  flock  from 
mouth  to  month  was  very  small.  This  decrease  dur¬ 
ing  the  Winter  is  mostly  from  colds  and  roup  and 
oviduct  trouble.  It  averaged  less  than  one  per  cent. 
The  decrease  which  shows  up  under  “Number  birds 
for  month”  for  the  Summertime  is  due  to  culling. 
Considering  the  average  decrease  on  most  poultry 
farms  during  these  months,  Mr.  Johnstone’s  flock 
decrease  was  moderate. 
I 
Are  the  flocks  reported  on  all  pullets?  Have  they 
been  forced  any  other  way  than  the  heavy  feeding  of 
wet  mash?  Have  they  been  under  lights  at  any  time, 
or  had  a  late  feeding  under  light?  If  none  of  these, 
the  returns  are  remarkable.  ‘Would  Mr.  Johnstone 
breed  from  these  birds — I  mean  year  after  year?  Last, 
but  not  least,  are  his  results  due  to  breeding  from 
high-production  stock,  or  to  his  management  and  forc¬ 
ing.  or  both?  MRS.  E.  SOHMER. 
New  York. 
Mr.  Johnstone’s  birds  were  all  pullets.  The  feed¬ 
ing  was  a  wet  mash,  which  was  before  the  birds 
most  of  the  day.  Lights  were  used  from  November 
1  to  April  1,  and  during  the  Fall  months.  We  have 
already  heard  from  poultrymen  who  have  been 
hatching  eggs  from  Mr.  Johnstone’s  flock,  and  they 
are  giving  excellent  results.  His  results  are  due 
entirely  to  first,  his  strain,  and,  second,  his  good 
management.  I  feel  that  there  was  no  forcing  dur¬ 
ing  the  entire  period.  A  40  per  cent  record,  as  Mrs. 
Sohmer  made,  without  lights,  is  just  as  good  as  a 
50  per  cent  record  under  Mr.  Johnstone’s  method  of 
management. 
At  first  we  marveled  at  the  profit  per  ben.  Then  we 
decided  that  they  were  a  flock  of  selected  pullets  only. 
Then  we  examined  the  figures  closely,  and  have  con¬ 
cluded  that  someone  must  have  kindly  donated  the  semi- 
solid  buttermilk  to  Mr.  Johnstone,  as  there  isn’t  pos¬ 
sibly  room  in  his  expense  for  5  lbs.  per  100  hens  per 
day.  The  best  price  we  have  ever  been  able  to  get  on 
this  stuff  is  514  cents  per  pound  in  500-lb.  barrels. 
Take  his  November  flock ;  that  would  mean  about  40 
lbs.  per  day,  or  $2.10  times  30  would  give  $63  for  milk 
alone.  It  cannot  possibly  be  concealed  in  his  incidental 
expense,  because  that  amounted  to  only  $54.11.  His 
incidental  expense  certainly  was  very  low.  We  never 
saw  the  day  that  we  could  feed  a  flock  of  700  hens  at 
so  little  cost  as  does  Mr.  Johnstone,  and  we  are 
very  curious  to  know  how  he  did  it.  We  never  got  a 
flock  average  of  190  eggs.  Our  average  is  nearer  150 
on  hens  and  pullets.  The  hens  must  be  carried  to 
renew  the  pullet  flock  each  year.  The  “old  ones”  sure 
do  drag  down  the  average,  too.  it.  n.  wever. 
New  York. 
Mr.  Wever  lias  no  reason  to  marvel  at  the  profit 
per  lien,  as  we  have  a  great  number  of  poultrymen 
in  this  State  who  made  a  great  deal  more  per  bird 
than  Mr.  Johnstone  did.  Most  of  the  poultrymen 
of  Bergen  and  Passaic  counties  made  better  records 
from  a  profit  standpoint  than  did  Mr.  Johnstone. 
Mr.  Wever  seems  to  have  paid  more  for  semi-solid 
buttermilk  during  last  year  than  did  the  poultrymen 
of  South  Jersey.  Most  of  the  poultrymen  bought 
their  semi-solid  buttermilk  for  4  cents  or  less  a 
pound  in  barrel  lots.  Differing  from  Mr.  Wever’s 
criticism  as  to  the  incidental  expenses  being  low, 
we  feel  that  they  were  rather  high,  as  it  cost  approx¬ 
imately  17  cents  to  feed  a  bird  a  month  on  the 
average  Jersey  poultry  farm  last  year.  Mr.  John¬ 
stone  ran  up  to  20  to  25  cents. 
The  Fall  before  the  record  was  made  Mr.  John¬ 
stone  and  I  made  a  prophecy  as  to  what  the  flock 
would  average  for  the  year.  Mr.  Johnstone  thought 
it  would  average  170  eggs  per  bird.  I  thought  200 
eggs  per  bird  if  Mr.  Johnstone  was  callable  of  feed¬ 
ing  them  so  that  they  would  not  lose  their  weight. 
This  lie  was  able  to  do,  and  as  a  result  the  record 
was  made.  In  other  words,  from  the  looks  of  his 
birds  before  they  started  on  their  record  I  could  see 
that  they  had  the  possibilities  of  a  200-egg  flock. 
Mr.  Wever  makes  a  true  statement  when  he  states 
that  the  old  birds  drag  down  the  average  of  most 
commercial  poultry  flocks.  This  is  what  we  find 
here  in  New  Jersey,  and  are  making  a  rather  active 
campaign  to  see  that  the  commercial  poultrymen  do 
not  carry  over  more  hens  than  they  need,  but  rather 
keep  more  pullets. 
Will  you  inform  me  what  the  average  amount  ol 
feed  per  hen  per  year  is  in  the  Storrs,  Connecticut, 
contest  and  Vineland,  N.  .T..  contest?  On  page  _222 
William  Johnstone’s  record  shows  an  average  of  78.3 
lbs.  per  ken,  Is  this  the  usual  amount  of  feed  per  hen 
when  the  pen  averages  197.8.  eggs  per  year? 
New  York.  Holland  h.  smith. 
The  feeding  record  kept  by  Mr.  Johnstone  does  not 
give  a  complete  record  of  all  the  feed  that  his  birds 
consumed.  Under  “Incidentals”  you  will  notice  that 
this  item  ran  very  high,  as  semi-solid  buttermilk 
was  fed  to  the  birds  in  rather  large  quantities.  Mr. 
Johnstone  and  I  figured  out  that  he  was  feeding 
approximately  28  lbs.  of  feed  a  day  per  100  birds. 
Kitchenette  Squash  to  Left;  Hubbard  to  Right 
Fit).  158 
In  my  work  around  the  State  I  always  set  the 
standard  at  25  lbs.  of  feed  per  100  birds  per  day. 
Some  feeders  are  able  to  get  this  into  their  birds, 
others  are  not,  but  it  is  the  secret  of  Winter  eggs 
and  good  health  in  the  poultry  flock.  The  average 
amount  of  feed  consumed  per  bird  at  the  Storrs 
contest  and  at  the  Vineland  contest  was  approxi¬ 
mately  76  lbs.  per  bird. 
I  have  about  1.150  birds,  so  1  was  very  much  inter¬ 
ested  in  your  Jerseyinan’s  hens  and  figures.  Would 
William  Johnstone  be  willing  to  tell  11s  if  he  figured 
how  much  it  cost  him  to  raise  his  700  birds,  and  what 
liis  return  was  when  he  disposed  of  said  birds?  Did 
lie  also  figure  interest  on  capital  invested,  depreciation 
of  buildings  and  material?  a.  hardy. 
Long  Island. 
Mr.  Johnstone  kept  a  very  accurate  record  on  the 
cost  of  rearing  his  pullets  and  found  that  it  cost 
less  than  $1  to  produce  them.  In  regard  to  the 
cost  of  interests  and  depreciation  on  the  investment, 
Mr.  Johnstone  kept  this  as  well  on  his  own*  books, 
and  found  that  it  cost  approximately  $1  per  bird 
more  than  the  amount  figured  in  the  records  kept 
in  co-operation  with  the*poultry  department  of  New 
Jersey  State  College. 
A  Crate  for  Fattening  Chickens. 
WE  are  often  asked  for  a  good  device  for  fat¬ 
tening  chickens  in  crates.  The  Ohio  Experi¬ 
ment  Station  prints  a  picture  of  such  a  crate,  shown 
below,  with  the  following  description: 
A  fattening  crate  enables  one  conveniently  to  feed 
Fattening  Grate 
and  manage  a  Targe  number  of  chickens,  especially 
broilers,  in  a  small  space.  The  bottom  of  crate  be¬ 
ing  %-inch  mesh  wire  netting  or  hardware  cloth,  is 
self-cleaning.  A  galvanized  iron  tray  catches  the 
droppings,  so  the  matter  of  cleaning  and  sanitation 
is  easily  accomplished.  The  crates  are  made  in  sec¬ 
tions  and  are  placed  three  tiers  high.  Each  section 
is  2x3  ft.,  and  will  accommodate  20  broilers. 
Crate  feeding  greatly  simplifies  the  problem  of 
managing  the  small  cockerels.  It  enables  one  to  get 
them  off  of  the  range  and  away  from  the  pulleis 
two  or  three  weeks  sooner  than  otherwise.  This 
permits  the  pullets  to  have  more  room  and  take  full 
advantage  of  the  range,  which  is  so  important  as  to 
justify  the  crate  feeding  of  broilers  until  they  are 
large  enough  for  the  market  without  any  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  profit  to  be  derived. 
The  cockerels  are  usually  placed  in  the  crate  when 
1  to  1%  lbs.  in  weight  and  fed  for  two  to  three 
weeks.  They  should  gain  30  to  50  per  cent  in  weight, 
which  brings  them  up  to  marketable  size  at  the  end 
of  the  feeding  period.  The  birds  are  fed  sparingly 
the  first  three  days,  then  they  are  permitted  to  have 
all  they  will  clean  up  in  20  or  30  minutes,  morning 
and  evening.  A  good  ration  is  composed  of  ground 
corn,  30,  and  standard  middlings,  10,  to  which  is 
added  60  parts,  by  weight,  of  skim-milk  or  butter¬ 
milk.  This  is  mixed  to  form  a  batter  and  poured 
into  the  feed  trough.  No  additional  water,  grit  or 
green  feed  is  provided. 
Thawing  Out  Frozen  Pipe 
HE  troubles  of  V.  L.  and  his  100  ft.  of  frozen 
pipe,  mentioned  on  page  159,  appeal  to  me;  the 
f  i  <  ■ 
remedy  is  so  simple  and  sure.  I  have  many  times 
thawed  200  ft.  in  10  minutes.  1  made  several  thou¬ 
sand  dollars  in  a  week  thawing  a  Western  town 
which  was  frozen.  Plumbers  charged  $100  to  dig 
and  thaw  20  ft.  of  pipe.  They  earned  it,  too.  We 
got  a  monopoly  of  the  thawing,  as  we  completed  the 
process  in  a  half  hour,  while  they  took  a  week.  We 
got  the  same  price,  but  the  writer  was  a  journeyman 
and  got  only  smiles  and  his  regular  wages,  while  his 
employers  got  fat  bank  accounts.  Here  is  the  simple 
secret  which  V.  L.  may  use  free  of  cost  and  royal¬ 
ties  : 
Take  any  vessel  that  will  hold  water  and  transmit 
heat  (we  used  a  five-gallon  oil  can).  Solder  on  its 
top  a  %-in.  waste  tube,  which  any  plumber  can  sup¬ 
ply  for  about  one  cent.  Partly  fill  the  can  with 
water.  Start  a  tire  under  it.  We  used  a  plumber’s 
gasoline  torch  for  heating  the  water.  At  once  low 
pressure  steam  is  generated.  Now  attach  one-eighth 
rubber  hose,  which  drug  stores  carry,  I  think  for 
drainage  tubes.  Slip  one  end  of  the  hose  on  the 
brass  tube  you  soldered  on  top  of  the  can.  Have  the 
hose  as  long  as  the  frozen  pipe.  Now  turn  the  other 
end  of  the  hose  back  on  itself,  like  a  collar.  This 
turn  back  on  the  hose  is  essential.  Soon  as  stca^- 
shows  through  the  hose,  insert  the  turned-back  end 
of.  the  hose  into  the  frozen  pipe.  Keep  the  hose 
pushed  against  the  ice  and  feed  it  in  as  the  ice  thaws. 
Soon  it  will  pull  itself  in,  because  of  the  violent 
agitation  of  the  steam  acting  on  the  ice  and  re¬ 
acting  on  the  collar  or  turned-back  end  of  the  hose. 
It  will  be  a  matter  of  feeding  the  hose  in  quick 
enough  after  that,  for  it  travels  through  surpris¬ 
ingly  fast.  If  there  is  a  grade,  I  prefer  to  thaw  from 
the  high  end,  because  the  water  stays  in  as  the  ice 
melts, and  vibrating  water  pulls  the  hose  in.  If  you 
thaw  from  the  lower  end  the  water  would  run  out 
and  you  might  have  to  attach  a  wire  to  the  hose  to 
push  it  in.  The  hose  used  is  smaller  than  a  lead 
pencil,  usually  a  red  color.  I  have  frequently 
thawed  from  a  cellar  out  through  the  cellar  stop¬ 
cock,  the  curb  stop-cock  and  the  street  ferrule  stop¬ 
cock  to  the  street  main.  I  never  tried  it  on  very 
rusty  pipe,  but  it  might  work  even  there. 
Pennsylvania. 
Brevities 
The  men  who  g>>  to  the  woods  to  work  this  Winter 
deserve  a  hot  dinner.  Many  women  have  devised  a 
dinner  pail  on  the  principle  of  a  tireless  cooker.  It 
keeps  the  dinner  hot. 
The;  South  Dakota  State  College  sends  out  this 
rhyme.  Not  scientific-  literature, *but  good  sense: 
“Coughs  and  sneezes  spread  diseases, 
And  O.  that  spit !  Beware  of  it !” 
Thousands  of  Northern  people  have  gone 'South  this 
Winter  in  their  cars.  Few  of  us  realize  what  a  string 
of  them  have  passed  along.  We  have  figures  from  a 
party  of  two  who  put  up  at  good  hotels.  The  cost  was 
about  $200.  Another  party  of  five  who  camped  each 
night  spent  $1QQ  on  the  trip. 
