HOUSE AND GARDEN 
3 66 
May, 1914 
The item of food is small, as we raised all the hay on the place. 
Farmers, I believe, usually aim to raise chickens of one breed of 
whatever variety they consider the 
most productive. I, however, had 
no reason for choosing Rhode 
Island Reds except for their au¬ 
burn coloring, which had a peculiar 
fascination for me. Our man in 
spare moments built a coop for 
them 9 by 12 feet, and extended the 
wire enclosure into the woods, 
thereby supplying shade in summer. 
The lumber and wire netting cost 
us about $40, and this was the only 
expense attached to the poultry 
quarters. I never succeeded in in¬ 
teresting myself in chickens suffi¬ 
ciently to superintend their diet, but 
I do know they had plenty of water 
and green stuff, having their heavy 
meal in the middle of the day. In 
winter we gave them hot bran in the morning; and in summer, 
cracked wheat. We also sprinkled charcoal and oyster shells 
When we look back at the building of the house, we recall the first 
thrill of completed endeavor 
Fortunately, on entering the new house, we were possessed of little furniture, so we 
were able to furnish it fittingly 
about the yard. They seemed to 
thrive on this simple method of feed¬ 
ing, as the statistics show: 
We bought 22 chickens for...$11.00 
Feed cost for six months. 14.50 
$25.50 
The amount of eggs were val¬ 
ued at .$22.00 
The amount of chickens for 
table use at. 15.00 
The amount of chickens mar¬ 
keted at . 10.00 
Total receipts.$47.00 
Total expenses. 25.50 
Profit .$21.50 
Orchards of dwarf trees are be¬ 
coming more and more popular, and I acknowledge in every way 
their superiority save one, for the delights of childhood. 
What can be more practical than 
the old-fashioned apple tree whose 
twisted limbs bend themselves so 
ideally for housekeeping purposes? 
We have four trees of the russet 
variety. The first year they bore 
the most wretched, miniature ap¬ 
ples, and I attributed this entirely 
to their age. I happened to men¬ 
tion the subject to our agricultural 
expert, and he told me we would 
have surprising results if we put 
the trees through a rejuvenating 
process. The trees were fairly 
loaded with dead wood. This we 
entirely cut out, and pruned some 
of the cross branches and those that 
filled up the top. There were huge 
cavities in the trunks, filled with 
leaves, worms and decayed wood. I reserved this last piece of 
work to do myself. With various tools I pulled and dug, always 
keeping in mind the nuggets of gold concealed in their depths. 
I may well say that my search was rewarded in the results 
the trees showed. When all cleared out we sprayed into the 
cavities sulphate of copper, 1 pound, dissolved in two gal- 
lonslons of water to disinfect them. We then mixed 1 pound 
of cement with 4 pounds of coarse sand, and filled all the 
cavities. We used No. 1,188 fruit-all sprayer, mounted on a 
barrel, which has given great satisfaction. Quantities of 
rocks and stones surrounding the trees were dragged off and 
the earth ploughed and harrowed. The trees were then 
sprayed for San Jose scale with a mixture of Scalicide, 1 gal¬ 
lon in 12 gallons of water. After the blossoms fell we 
sprayed the trees with 1 quart of Sulfocide in 50 gallons of 
water, to which we added 4 ounces of Paris green. That 
fall we gathered up six barrels of russets, most of which were 
a splendid size and delicious flavor. Part way down the hill 
we started a small dwarf orchard, and set the trees from 10 
to 12 feet apart, as they only grow 8 to 9 feet high. This is 
a list of our orchard trees: Williams favorite Sweet Bough, 
yellow transparent, Chenango strawberry, McIntosh Fed Fall 
Pippin, Wealthy Green Golden. For other fruit we ordered 
the Anjon Pear, Clapp’s dwarf pear, Duchess Dangonlane, 
Old Mixon peach, 
Lawrence pear, Bart¬ 
lett pear, Bradshaw 
plum, German prune 
plum, Sheldon pear, 
Sickle pear, Lombard 
pear, Abundance 
plum; $175 covers 
the entire cost of 
trees, shrubs, fruit 
trees and flowers, ex¬ 
cepting the maples. 
It may seen unrea¬ 
sonable, but I believe 
the person is to be 
congratulated who, on 
entering a new house, 
is possessed of very 
little furniture. Flow 
often we see crowded 
into a house furniture 
A sturdy furniture of no exact period fitted well with the Colonial sideboard and 
incidental pieces 
