© CORNELL UNIVERSITY THE Sflomer Hctennarij IGibrary FOUNDED BY ROSWELL P. FLOWER for the use of the N. Y State Veterinary College 1897 Pocket-money poultry ... 3 1924 000 924 401 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000924401 00 O X o w w H Brocket* /Bbone? iC^oultr^,.,, MYRA V. NORYS. THE FEATHER EIBRARY, PUBI,ISHED 0UARTEKI,Y AT WASHINGTON, D. C, GEORGE E. HOWARD & CO. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE 52-00 A YEAR. \'Or,. I, NO. 4, OCTOIiKK, 1H')'\ Enlered at tlic Po.st Office at Wash inirlon, D. C, a.s becuiK]-i:la.s,s mail matter. COPYRIGHT EI> AND PKINTEU BV GEORGE E. HOWARD & CO., Washintrton, D. C. CONTKNTS. Women — Fowls— Muuev . . .11 Jiow Much Capital ? , . . 19 Choosing' a L,ine of Work . 26 The Breed Tluit Wins ... 32 Artificial and Natural Incubation . . .40 Satisfactory Coops and Brooders , M Motherint,'' Chicks ..... 56 The First Season's Work - . . 62 The First Season With Fancy Poultry . . .69 Confinement or Freedom . : . . 78 The First Poultry-House . ... 87 Feeding for Eggs . . 98 The Embryo Chick at Testing Time . . 107 Ducks and Geese . ... 117 Turkeys for Pocket-Money ..... 128 Squabs for Pocket-Money . 138 Pocket-Motiey Possibilities ... 147 Pocket-Money Pointers ..... 152 Supplementary Food Supplies . 159 The Possible ^^alue of Caponizing . 167 I^IST OF ILLUvSTRATIONS. White Leg-horiib . . Fko.ntispi Barred Plymouth Kock Male . . White W^'andots Ivig-ht Brahraas . . • ». . Brown L,e- — yes, e\-en i)aying — ])ossi- 1)1_\' it may ]iro\-e all these; in numerous cases it has done so, liut the fact remains that invalidism is a handicap that nnist recei\'e more or less allowance according to its hc:)ld upon the ])liysique of the worker. I know one i)erson who is looking to poultry as a means of livelihood, whose sight is very much im- paired. Work with poultry has many jioints of ad- vantage for such an one, but the lack of an eagle eye is none the less a serious handicap, and must stand in the way of highest success. Dislike of detail is also a serious hindrance to sue- s«^" BAKRKI) PLYM(jrTH KoCK MALE. 15 cess in a work made up entirely, as this is, of detail upon detail. One may command the natural bent by practising strict attention to detail, and succeed; but this, also, is a handicap, and nuist receive attention. L/Uckily, women usually revel in detail, and are thus especially' fitted for poultry raisers. Conversely, knowledge of the work to l)e undertaken, good health, jierfect sight, and a natural habit of at- tention to small matters are good qualifications for the worker among fowls of ever}' sort. Marked ability in an}- direction tells strongly here, and with such as have this ability it ])ecomes merely a question as to whether the}' can make more monej' by joining their forces with the hens, or investing them in some other line of work. It rests, always, upon " nie and the hens " to secure the income by a union of forces; and be you sure the hens will do their part, every time. A deep interest in the work to 1je attempted is a very necessary qualification. This interest rnaj- be in making money, or in the fowls themselves, or in both. But, other things l)eing equal, a deep interest in living things may be considered one of the most helpful qualifications of the would-be jioultr}' raiser. This interest women are more likely to possess than are men. Franklin Dye, of New Jersey, is fond of saying, "Weak life demands patient care." This is his idea as to the real reason for the supreme success of women in work which is full of detail, and which includes as a frequent feature the rearing of new-l)orn life. Is he not pretty nearly right? Still another (lualification for entry upon this special work, lies in the ability to command the situation of the poultry plant, which, be it large or small, may bear the U-aine of " Chickenville." (Indeed, the ])oul - 16 try dc'i)artmeiit at one of our State Experiment Sta- tions is known thus.) If this little hamlet of Chick - enville is already located, so that its situation can not be changed, or improved upon, let this one point be a decisive one. If it is not suital^le to the purpose, if hopelessly low and wet, don't try to enlarge it into a big village, or a city. Let poultry' alone, before j'ou get to the point where you will wish you had ne^•cr heard of a chicken. All the money in the poultry business under such circumstances is likely to be the money that is put into it; little, or none will come out, in the long run. If the one worst enemy of poul- try, under artificial conditions, be not dampness, I do not know what it is. You can get almost everj' dis- ease into }-our flocks by keeping them in damp, ill- ventilated quarters, and with disease well settled among them, life becomes one long misery, both for you and them. The question of markets is an important one. With- out a market within such distance as not to eat up the profits in reaching it, the question as to poultry paj^- ing is not an open one; it does not pa}' in such case. No matter how many poultry writers and poultry editors may asseverate that there is a mine of wealth in poultry, do not you take it as "cash" till you know the markets open to you. If >'ou can select your loca- tion, poultry' will pay, no matter what branch you take up, when you do your fair share of the work. Your business is to furnish brains, knowledge, market, what- ever is needed to make the combination between j'ou and the fowls complete. The good. Summer markets along our eastern coast are a thing to look at. They furnish a fine, paying demand just when eggs arc usu- ally- cheap, and when they are most plentiful. But. 17 consider, too, that this demand drops to nuich 1)L'1ow average as soon as tlie " Summer people" flit away to their homes. If also near a jjood city market which will take the Winter eggs, the jilace near by a Summer town is almost ideal. Mining towns, manufacturing towns, fancy groceries in the largest cities furnish most of the other high-price demands of the country. Con- sider that the best market for your wares will be open to them only when you can furnish that which others can not, of quality' which others can not reach, or at a time when others can not furnish them. Brains are the important factor at every turn. When we look at the marriages which women make, we are ready to believe that they do, as is often said, take their risks first, and consider afterward. But in so important a matter as poultry rearing for profit, this will not do. Perhaps women do not marry "for profit," but pocket-money poultry must he kept at a profit, or let alone. Will j'ou take the risks? They are many, and as the business enlarges, they are great. Dare you take them? or have you special means of re- ducing them to a minimum? or will you keep 3'our in- vestments within such bounds that the possible loss of the greater part of your fiock will not bankrupt you? There is disease, which may take all; there are biped thieves, who may take the choicest; there are "var- mints," which will show no favor, even to a $50 speci- men ; there is fire, which may swallow, not only your flock, but your fold, and 3'our factory, if you have a " factory " in which chicks are manufactured from eggs supplied. Granted that you have all the qualifications before stipulated for, there may not be too great risks here for you? because you will have forstalled the major part of them. But while you are human, you will 18 sometimes l)e careless, and there will be risk. And, while you are a women, i-ou will take a little more risk than a man would in your place. Not big, money risks, possibly, but careless risks. If the big money in poultry has tempted 3'ou to plan money -making schemes in this connection, let one who knows the road urge you to go no further on in it till you have definitely decided, according to the best light given you, whether you handicaps, your qualifications, your chances for paying markets, and your attitude to- ward risks warrant you in advancing. Under mani^ circumstances, you can save more money at this point than at any future time. In other words, you may get more money out of ]K5ultry by putting none in, than in any other way. By no means, however, think of me as running down the poultr3' business, whether con- ducted on a large, or a small scale. I believe in it most thoroughly, because I know that it paj's. It pays in ordinarily careful hands, in a small way — pa3-s ex- cellent returns ; it pays better with those who are well posted, careful, shrewd; it ])a>'s almost like a bonanza mine, the few who ha\-e sifted its oi)en secrets to tlie bottom, and who have pitted themselves and their birds together against all comj^etition. But, because the human factor is so large, the best payment does not come to the one who enlarges much beyond the bounds of his (her) own ca])acity. If you ha\'e not too great handicaps, if you have the right qualifications, good markets, not too great a disposition to take risks, poul- try will pay you. Go ahead, and earn that much- desired pocket-money. HOW MUCH CAPITAL? MKf^ UCH oftener with women than with men, ^■B^k the question as to capital will Ije : " What 1^ 11%/ is the very least I can get along with?" or " How can I get a start without any capi- tal ?" Now, even one old hen on hand is, in one sense, capital. It is possible, according to an old storj-, to start without anj^ capital except " cheek," ])y borrow- ing an old hen of one neighl)or, a setting of eggs from a second, and keeping the hen long enough to pay back the eggs borrowed, out of those which she may lay! It is a question, however, whether this is not too slow a start, even were it wholly admirable in other ways. If there really is mone}- in poultry, why waste un- necessary time in getting it out? If one has a fair flock of hens to start with, they may be made to pro- duce their own cash capital for future enlargement. If the start must be made, as we say, " from the ground floor," it is far more desirable and satisfactory to have a small capital. Indeed, this is true in any case. The necessities of the first season will l)e eggs and sitters to produce chicks, (unless the chicks are bought) coops or Ijrooders, one good building for Winter, and a small stock of wire netting, if the birds are to l)e kept in confinement. It is difficult to know which to consider first, the (luestion of capital, or that of the special line of work to be followed. They really be- 20 long together, as neither can he fully settled without considering the other. We will try to look at capital first, however. Having considered your handicaps, 3'onr (|ualifica- tions, your markets and your risks, and having de- cided that you and the poultry business can and will do well together, consider, now, whether j-ou will start very small with no capital, or almost none, or vi'ith a fair amount. If you know nothing at all about poul- try raising, the smallest start will be the safest. If you have some experience, the amount of capital needed may depend on wdiether j'ou aim high, or only modestly so, and upon the special line decided upon. Fancy stock will take more cajiital for a good start than if the work were based strictly on the production of eggs. Eggs, alone, may take a Httle more than working for general products, because it is likely to cost a little more than average money to get the best strains of laying fowls ; while a fairly good general - purpose fowl may be picked up anywhere, if one is shrewd. One woman, whose work I knew, began with a nominal capital of $35; $15 of this went for a brooder, $6 for a few common hens, $7 more for seventy -five baby chicks, and the rest for wire netting. I have called the $35 a " nominal " cariital, because these supplies ate up the whole amount, leaving no- thing wherewith to purchase feed for the flock. She was fortunate enough to have some one back of her to pay for necessary feed when the few hens on hand did not furnish eggs enough for this iniriiose; and at the end of thirteen months her flock had repaid all capital and paid all exjK-nses, and numbered over fifty laying fowls. There is considerable choice in the method of mak 21 ing a start with about the same expense at the first. For instance, one may buj' 100 chicks, newly hatched, and pure -bred, for about $15; or having a few hens for sitters, one may l)uy 150 eggs, of a very good qual - ity of pure-l)rcd stock for tire same mone^', and these eggs may produce more than 100 chicks. They may produce less, 1)Ut the qual it}' is likely to be a little better than when the ba1iy chicks are bought outright. Again, one may pay $15 for six excellent birds, scor- ing well up, and b}^ setting all their eggs up to the end of May, may produce a choice, and Cjuite a large flock the first season. But in this case, manj' of the chicks will not be quite so earlj' as one would like. Coming down to common stock, one may purchase fifteen fowls for half the price first named, or $7.50. Or one may purchase 100 common chicks for $10. Perhaps a larger flock can be obtained for the smaller amount of money by buying the common fowls verj' early, say in Janu- ary or February, and letting them hatch their own eggs, each raising two clutches. If nine of these should hatch two clutches each, say eighteen chickens, and 140 of these were raised, the flock would be likelj' to num1)er somewhere about se\-cnty -five pullets in the Fall. Some of these would l)e so late as to be of little value for laying before the following February or March, but the exjjenditure would have been limited to the cost of the original hens, and $1 for coops, plus the feed for the whole flock. As quite a large propor- tion of the eggs laid would have l)een used for hatch- ing, most of the feed would have to be paid for out of reser\-e capital, or i)ought on credit. By the end of eight months, however, the cockerels raised would have sold for about $40, if of a large breed, or per- haps $20 if of one of the sjiecial laying breeds. The 22 flock tlien would still be in debt to capital, or to the feed dealer, from $9 to $29 according to breed, with a Winter shelter still to be provided for. With a flock of this size, a good house for Winter should cost $50 at least, if new luml)er is used and the carpentry must be hired. By this time, perhaps, the would-be poultrj^ raiser, finding herself in so much theoretical debt, is greatly discouraged. There is no necessity for this, however, even though I believe this is as good a waj' as there is to begin with common poultry. Doubtless, it would be far better for the majority of women not to attempt to raise more than half so many chickens the first j'ear, as expenses will not count u]i so, and prove such s discouragement b}' staring the worker in the face con- tinually. With capital, however, or with pluck, faith in one's self, and faith in the hens, the balance sheet will be all right in a short time. The eggs laid dur- ing the Winter season, under the best conditions, will go a long way toward wiping out this debt. The fact is, we have no right to call it a debt, and this is just where our trouble comes in. Other lines of business are not expected to pay back the capital put into them, unless they are sold out. All they are expected to do is to pay a small rate of interest on the capital invest- ed. The hens will pay a royal interest on the capital. Don't ask them to pay Ijack the capital, and that the very first year. It is unreasonal^le ; a man would saj', Just like a woman ! ' ' The above somewhat theoretical estimate of the cost of beginning in the poultry business, while very care- ful, and based on facts, may be valuable, or may be worth absolutely nothing to you who read, except as a guide for your own figuring. A\-erage prices are 15 25 often given by poultrj^ writers, but an average price would certainly be equally valueless as a basis of figures, especially as there is no way of getting at really fair averages. The only sure way is to take figures which prevail in markets open to you, even as I have taken figures which prevail in markets easily accessible to me; and then, to do 3'our own figuring. Common chicks, at ten cents apiece, pure -bred chicks at fifteen cents and upwards, common hens at fifty cents as a lowest price, and market chicks at twelve cents a pound are familiar as priced to me in our own markets, and these prices I have used. If you are desirous of working into fancy poultry', the necessity of beginning small is even more urgent than in other lines. The first cost must be far greater, proportionately, and one must learn the intricacies of breeding, and of special marketing at a high price products which, under common conditions, sell every - w^here at a lower price. Fancy stock, though it must be paid for in very real, hard cash, has a selling value which is, in one sense, fictitious; a value which the hoped-for bu5-er may not see at all ; a value which the merest accident or the fraud of a conscienceless rival, or judge, may partly or wholly destroy. These are reasons enough for going slowly with the work, unless you have, as modern speech has it, "money to l)urn." Being a woman in quest of pocket-money, of course you haven't. CHOOSING A LINE OF WORK. ME speak often in these days about the poultry business, but there are those who have handled from fifty to a hundred fowls for years, who have never thought of speaking of the work as a "business." I think it is quite fair, however, to call it a business as soon as we go at it in a business-like way, keep its accounts with accuracjs and make it pay a business-like per- centage above investment. It especially behooves the woman who would enlarge her poultry operations to go at it in a "strictly business" way. The ^'er3' fact that she is a woman will invite more general criticism, more sarcastic discussion of her failures, more inter- ested attention if she succeeds. Success for her may be a trifle more difficult early in the race, too ; for she will not receive so many concessions from dealers, and a woman is always considered easy game by those who would impose upon their customers. You must, then, if a woman, use especial shrewdness and far- sightedness at the beginning. These, thej' say, are n(jt natural to women; therefore, you must cultivate them. Your handicaps, qualifications, and markets must n()w Ije studied more specifically, as affecting each special line of work. It may be that your choice mu^t depend entirely u])on these. But there are many other 27 things in each line of work to study faithfully, in order to avoid loss or failure. To work for eggs alone requires less strain, less expense to start with, less work every way. Only a definite amount of stock need ever be raised. Usuallj', a numljer equal to the flock on hand is considered right (unless one is en- larging operations) ; in this case twice as many chicks must be raised as one desires for laying stock (less the number of old birds to be retained) ; because, on the average, one -half will be males. Since there is less stock to be raised than with the general -purpose busi- ness, less room will be needed, and the risk will be much less. A large proportion of the risk lies, always, in rearing the young chicks. There is much waste in supplying eggs, hatchers, and feed for young chicks for several weeks, only to lose these chicks. If work- ing specially for eggs, you will be likely to use one of the special non -sitting, laying breeds. In this cas« an incubator, or some extra hens for sitters will l)e necessary. Where but few chickens are raised, onh^ a ^ew sitters are needed ; and thus, at almost every ]3oint, there is less expense than if one is doing a general - purpose business. Comparing a simple egg trade with a fancy trade, we may easily see that the last is likely tc give immeasurably more uneasiness about a market. Often scores of extra birds must be kept and fed for months, waiting for customers; until the work, the feed, the possible loss from disease, anil the ad\-ertis- ing have eaten nyj the value of the birds, even though the price received is a large one. Besides this, where many extra cockerels are kei)t over till Sjiring, they are pretty sure to prove an unmitigated nuisance and annoyance; while often they will fight to the death, unless penned alone. Looked at from every ])oint of 28 view, it is very plain that a simple trade in eggs is the safest and surest, and that it necessitates the least work and expense proportionately. Therefore, other things being equal, it is likely to be the best line of work for a woman, and especially for one without capital, or with l)ut little read^- money. On the other hand, if one has pluck and capital, with experience, there are several points in favor of a busi- ness which shall look for the production both of eggs and of carcasses for market. If we could for a moment imagine ourselves as turning the twelve dozen possible eggs which each hen might lay into a hundred plum]) chickens, worth half a dollar apiece when five months old, we should obtain a striking glimpse of the great possil)ilities of this line of work. $5U gross income from one hen! But if the returns are big, so are the invest- ments and risks. To raise large flocks of chicks means a great deal of work, a verj^ large amount of risk, a greatl}' multiplied expense for feed, appliances, and buildings. Yet, if you chance to live on a farm, it is this l^r-anch that you will have grown into more likelj' than into any other. The right kind of care is, there- fore, more likely to l)e assured; and with such care, a big business with big ])rofits is perhaps more certain than ill aii}' other direction. Comparing the general -purpose line of work with that which looks exclusively to raising fancj- stock, we may say that both involve large expense, for a large amount of business. The general -purpose work, possiljly, involves more risk, but fancy stock brings many more temptations to fritter away money without certainty of returns. Its advertising, which is a neces - sity, where one's market is the whole country, unless judiciously done nia>- show no return whate\-er for 29 money invested; while Ijuildings, appliances, etc., which have been devoted to general purpose work, are a tangible thing, and can always be sold for some amount, if the business itself fails. L,et it not Ijc thought, however, that there is little or nothing to be said in favor of " the fanc3-." It is just here that one's qualifications come in strongly; and a woman, with her nice discernment, and her constant familiarit>' i.\'ith the birds, may pro\'e the winner in the field against any man. I have sometimes thought that it is onl}- the men who are strongly possessed of some of the best feminine characteristics who make great and substantial successes with fancy poultry'. Fancy stock takes fewer buildings and less feed in proportion to returns than either of the other lines if highly successful. It is well to remember, too, that the better the stock the more this fact holds true. That is, the greater the ratio of returns to expenses; but there are manj' minor ex- penses, such as egg-carriers, and ship])ing and ex- hibition coops, that belong entirely to a fanc\' trade. These even up this proportion to a large extent. Kisks are both less and greater with fancy ])(uiltry than with either of the other lines. Every egg, every chick, every fowl lost counts much heavier than with common stock. There is less general risk in the hatching and rearing season, l)ecause o])erations are smaller. Yet the total amount of loss may represent more money value, even though the losses were l)y no means so numerous. Thieves are ahvaj's more or less a weight upon the mind of the poultry raiser. The\' are a heavier weight according as the- stock increases in value. The better the stock, the more temptation there is to outsiders to have some of it, whether 1)y fair means or foul. 30 A point which shows fancj' poultry as especially- adapted to women is that this branch of the work de- mands the least physical effort and labor after the birds reach maturity. The owner of fancj' stock seldom cares to push the birds for heavj' laying, out of the regular season, and there is no need to spend time and strength mixing mashes and providing tidbits. Be- sides the fact of there l)eing less actual work, there is, also, much more money received in proportion to the work. Especially is this true, and more true, as one gets nearer the top of the ladder. This is a strong point in favor of keejiing only the best stock, and it is as true with reference to each expense, as it is with reference to work. Tlie better the stock, as breeders, the fewer chickens need to l)e raised, l)ecause there will be fewer culls. Even with the best of stock one must raise several times as many birds as can be sold at the highest prices. Culls maj' Ije looked upon, or ]ierha]is are looked upon almost as an expense to the fancy breeder, for they necessitate fixtures, feed, and work unnecessary with smaller numbers. Get good stock, therefore; ])reed carefully, and keep the proportion of culls low. The fancier will tell j'ou that only in this line of the work can be found the true delights of ]>oultr\- raising. But ever J' fancier is a crank, in so far as that he can see but one side of the question. " The fanc^- " has no mortgage on all the ])leasnres of poultry raising. To be sure, here one's delight in the beautiful can be sat- isfied in the highest degree ; to be sure, it is an infinite satisfaction to know that the birds are being reared for the pleasure of keeping them, rather than for the pain of killing them; to be sure, the inherent, keen delight in competition, which all human beings feel,mavbe 31 here satisfied to the full, and in the most public man- ner ; to be sure, the joys of success are greater here than in the mere raising of general -pur]50se, or ordinary egg-laying fowls. But a measure of the joy of success belongs to every one who does good work. And she who raises large numbers of chickens successfully, or she who succeeds in running her yearly egg record to twelve and fifteen dozens or even higher, will have little cause to envy her with the blue ribbons on lier coops ; for each will have won the highest success in her chosen line of work, and it is this that gives the highest s]iicetolife. In the one case it is prettier work, and pleas - anter work, and more people know about it, that is all. The woman who is fond of raising little chicks gets almost as much pleasure out of handling the wee, downj' bird- lings that have no pedigree behind them, as though they were descended from the most artistocratic fami - lies; and, for that matter, she maj- raise only blue- blooded birds, and handsome birds, for mere egg lay- ing, or even in general -purpose work, if she desires to do so. It sometimes costs a little more for stock to breed from, but the extra expense would not be much felt, unless in a very small business. It is a fact you must remember, that a small business feels a small ex- oense more than a large Ijusiness feels a large expense. THE BREED THAT WINS. ^^ /^Bb^HE winner" is the bird that attracts tuii- / 1 versal attention at the shows. But there ^^i^ maj^ be a winning l)reed in each of the three lines of work which we are con- sidering. The breed which wins the highest enconium as layers, would be useless as a general -purpose fowl; the best general -purpose fowl is often found to be a cross, and not a distinct breed at all ; the win- ning breed of fancy fowls it is hardly safe to name, lest raisers of all other breeds flj' into a passion about the matter. For our present purpose, the breed that wins may Ije considered as the one which will be best adapted to your circumstances and intentions. That the great winning breed of to-daj', in the egg-laying field, is the White Leghorn, appears in every jioultry publication one may chance to take up, even though the fact be not expressly affirmed at all. It appears in the comparison of every breed with the Leghorn, when- ever productiveness is named. " Kqual to the Leg- horn " means the best that the world has seen, up to date. The very word Leghorn is a S3'nonym for the highest possible egg production. There are a few who wish to disptite this, but they are the few exceptions which prove the rule. What does " Equal to the Leg- horn " actualli' mean in detail? It means earlj- lay- ing; it means large eggs; it means small eating; it X 35 means non -sitting capacitj' ; it means a bird of small size, of which more in number can be housed in pro- portionate space that in tlie case of a large l:)reed. Let us look at the Minorca, now claimed by some to be the equal, if not the superior, of the Leghorn. The Minorca lias the true egg-laying and non-sitting ca- pacity, with added size of egg and of 1)ody. The added size of body is only a detriment if one wishes to hold strictly to an egg-producing Ijusiness. Increase in the size of a Mediterranean fowl is, at the best, only an effort to put her into the general -purpose class. The greater size of eggs would be an advantage with a family, or a fancy market trade, but would count for nothing in the general market, now. The future, pos- sibly the near future, may tell a different story. As a matter of fact, all the strictly egg -laying breeds will prove highly profitable, and almost equally so, with the best of treatment. It is more a matter of color than anything else. That is to say, there is little differ- ence between any of the Mediterraneans and the White Leghorn, as to fact; the main difference lies in the reputation, the popular notion that the Leghorn is Ijet- ter than all the others. Still, as long as this idea holds, as long as "White Leghorn eggs" have the inside track of the New York market, and as long as hand- some, white fowls capture the beholder sooner than any other, it will not be a mistake to choose the White Leghorn before all others, as an egg layer. For the place of leading general -purpose fowl, the contest between Plymouth Rock and Light Brahma was hot and long. The one thing that quieted it to me extent, was the instant leap of the White Wyan- 1 ^ ;„t ^ '1 viace above both with the l)roiler men. dot inL-'j '^ i T^ ^ . ►,vnert with whom I have talked, and almost Every ex^j^-- 36 without exception all who write, put the White Wj'- andot in the winning place, as a broiler. It has about every g-ood quality of either of the aljove -named rivals, except weight, and the fact that it is plump at everj^ stage of growth counts very strongly in its favor. This is a point to l)e well considered. Nearl}' every breed has a lank and leggy period somewhere about midwaj' on its path toward maturity. If the broiler has not attained its size and weight as early as was expected, or if there is anything in the market which necessitates carr3'ing it on two or three weeks longer than was in- tended, so that it runs into this leggy ])eriod, it has lost its chief value. As a ydump, juicy market broiler it doesn't count, and never will. With th- Wyandot there is less of this diflicultj' than with any other breed. This is universal testimony. If the broilers are to be sold very 3'oung, the pure Whit^ Leghorn is sometimes crossed on the jiure White WN'andot to get the earlier- maturing, quicker growth. It might be said for the Light Brahma that no other breed known produces such hard}' chicks, and if the market is sure, so that the chicks can be used before they come to the lean stage, it makes an excellent l)roiler. iSIany ])refer crosses of the Leghorn with one of these favorite large Ijreeds. A Plymouth Rock is always good wherever j'ou find it, but those who have raised broilers are almost uniform in putting the Wyandot first. If there is not much thought of selling young broilers the Wyandot has very few points of excellence, if any, over the Plymouth Rock and Light Brahma. The Brahma has the extra hardiness, but even its advocates admit that the modern Brahma is not so good a la3'er as was the older type of the breed. The Pljuiiouth Rock has the darker pin -feathers, as a slight offset to 37 its good points ; the White Wyandot has a little less size. All are good enough layers, with proper care, and all are good Winter layers. The question may arise as to wh^^ the White Plymouth Rock is not chosen, to avoid the one mentioned defect of the Plymouth Rock. The answer is that the White Plymouth Rock is hardly, as yet, a fair exponent of the breed; and as we do not hear it praised to any great extent, the quick inference is that it does not deserve that which it does not receive. To be sure, it is yet quite new, not breeding wholly true, perhaps; perhaps, also, not well tried, and a little behind in the race, because of the White Wyandot, In connection with fancy poultrjs a different line of argument settles every question, and a different method of work is to be adopted at nearly ever}' ]ioint. One may start in a very small way, and the amount of housing and feed is small in ];)ro])ortion to the returns. That is, this is true if the owner prove a good salesman, who does not have to carry an undue amount of surplus stock through the cold season. Before liegiuning with fancy ])oultry at all, it will be well to see if some practical, working principles can not Ije laid down and studied which shall save the worker from blunders. One of these may be stated thus : Choose the popular breed, rather than the scarce breed. You will be likely to argue with what seems to 3'ou shrewdness, that there will he more chance to sell a breed which is new, or which few peoj^le raise. The fact is just the contrary ; the breed which few people raise is, as a rule, the breed which almost nobod}' wants. A second principle is : Select a breed you like, and the one you know the most about, if possiljle. A third ]iriuci])le, the consideration of which maj' save taking the back track sometimes, is this ; The easy 38 Avay, and the safe way to work into fancy poultry is to clioose a variety that is easj' to breed, easy to raise, and easy to sell . Fanciers have a wa}' of sneerin;^ at those who raise fancy poultry' for the mere money that there is in it. They affirm that the true fancier thinks onl}- of the delights of rearing handsome birds, and of the beautj^ of those birds when reared to maturity. But the de- lights of this sort are apt to remain sadlj^ in the back- ground for a number of seasons, in the case of those who do not work according to the rule just laid down. It is well to remember, too, if you want to make sales, that utility points count much, unless the market is whoUj' among those who are fanciers pure and simple. If, therefore, a breed add many points of utilitj' to its beauty points, there will be a much wider range of buyers for it. The parti -colored birds are alwaj-s more difficult to breed, and the Ijeginner will strike a good many more snags in trying to breed the Brown Leghorn, or the Barred Plymouth Rock to fancy points, than would be the case if choosing a solid -colored breed . The most important thing is, really, to do a lot of preliminary thinking and studying; to pi}- experts with questions, even at the risk of appearing to be a know -little; and once the breed is decided on, to learn its standard bj' heart, l:)efore making a single move in the direction of breeding it. I believe the majority of fanciers, l)Oth men and w(jman, make one of their first and biggest blunders here. Most of them work with a Ijreed three or four seasons before they get to the point where they think they can afford the Standard of Perfection. Phnally acquiring possession of it, tlu'y find that a large per cent, of the information thev have 39 been laboriousl}' and expensively gainin'^j by experi- ence, might have been had from the Standard, before beginning at all. A knowledge of scoring is an essen- tial part of the fitting out of a fancier, and it pa\'s to learn to score the breed you would handle at a very early stage of the work. ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL INCUBA- TION. m WOMAN nearly' seventy' -five j'ears old once wrote to ask if I would advise her atiout the purchase of an incubator; to which I promptly replied, "Don't, unless you want to try it merely for the fun there is in it." Really, the rage for incubators is getting to be almost equal to the rage for bicycles, and, I had almost said, worse, among women. When incubator makers, and the itch- ing for experiment, together, tempt the child of tender years, and the woman of seventy-five, into raising machine-made chicks, it is time for some one to call a halt. I have no quarrel with the incubator. It is a marvelous help to the poultry business in its ])roper place; but that place is not the nursery of the child, the sitting-room of a woman past the allotted three score and ten, nor the spare bed -room of the farmer's wife. It may sound funny, but this is no laughing matter. That same bed -room is just the place where I have seen the largest proportion of the incubators which I know to have been purchased for the use of some enthusiastic farmers' wives. And the worst of it is, every one of these which was purchased with so much hope, is now disused and for sale ; and this, even though it may have been successfully handled. The simple fact is, the incubator is not needed on the farm. 41 unless there is to be a specialty made of l)roiler raising, or extra early chicks for some market. The incubator is a fine thing, and it has points of value against which no hen can successfully compete. If you want to raise broilers by all means have an in- cubator. In no other way can you successfully handle large numbers of early chicks. Even if you had the sitters, hatching takes too many of them from active dutj' at a time when you want them laying high-priced eggs. The advantages of compact handling which the incubator has over sitting hens, as usuallj' managed, are invaluable. Moreover, it is ready at all times, and just when you want it, and may be placed near at hand where there is no exposure from storm in running back and forth to attend it. This means much more to a woman than a man, for a woman's petticoats are one of her greatest hindrances in the poultry business. It may be said that the sitting hen as well as the inculja- tor might occupy the cellar of the dwelling-house. Indeed, she often does so. But there is an argument in favor of the incubator which must appeal strongly to everj' feminine heart. Never, in its most cranky moments, will the incubator get off the nest and in- dulge in a vociferous quarrel with its nearest neighbor, just when your most aristocratic callers are in the room above! The sitting hen has been known to do this, without any after -manifestation of penitence. Perhaps as strong a point as can be urged in favor of the incubator is that the chicks, when hatched, are free from lice ; though I have known even this fact to be calml3r disputed. On the other hand, the incul)ator has some serious disadvantages. In the case of fire, it is almost impossible to get any insurance on the buildings if there is an incubator anywhere on the 42 place. All one's hopes, whether connected with the chickens or otherwise, may go up in smoke any hour of the da}- or night. And if, through accident, there is a loss of the hatch, the loss is heav}', instead of a paltrj' dozen or so, which the sitting hen might have left to the mercies of an unfeeling world. The num- ber of failures chargeable to the incubator in its first stages of individual trial is tremendous. These are mostly unpublished, because people like to keep quiet about their failures. Thej' may succeed later; and it is only the success which is talked about. I think this is particularly true of women, who always stand in awe of the jeers of their menfolk, be they hus1)ands or sons, be they brutes or angels. Perhaps it can not be called exactl}' a disadvantage that the incubator hatches no better than the hen ; it is rather a lack of the advantage which is often claimed for the machine. Notwithstanding the frequent claims of seventy -five ]3er cent to ninety -five per cent and over, the testimony of those who have done the most practical work with incubators is almost unanimous to the effect that a hatch of fifty jier cent of the eggs put in is an excellent sample of the average work of all incubators. Now, fifty per cent of thirteen is six and one-half. When two of your sitters bring off, to - gether, but thirteen chicks, you berate them; yet this is fully equal to the average work of the average incu- bator. More than this, if your incubator proves a failure your money is gone, and your chances of sale small, while your natural incubator is alwavs salable. This might be a puerile thing to consider if the incu- bator had all the advantages claimed for it. In the light of facts, it counts. It would not 1)e fair to leave out of the account the disad\'autages of the sitters, of BROWN LEGHORN MALE. 45 which transmitting to the cliicks their liereditary lice is the worst. Leaving the nest at the most critical point of the hatch, and calmly trampling to death the most promising ones already out, are blemishes against their character not to be denied. I think a woman is capable of as hot wrath, I think she can get just as mad clear through, over a sitting hen and her small misdemeanors, as over an incnl>ator with its hundreds. But let her cool herself off by considering that, in the long run, the cantankerous sitters will do their fifty per cent easily. The troulile with the incubator is that it and the woman who harnesses herself with it do not, as a rule, under ordinarj' conditions, make so valuable a team as the woman expected. But the woman and the sitting hen can generally be expected to make a good team. Perhaps in lioth cases, the "smarter" the woman, the better the team; but I think there is no doubt that in a majority of cases extra care increases the percent- age of chicks from the sitters considerably more than from the incubators. Proper care l:)rings early chicks, too, in sufficient proportion, from the natural mothers. Sitting hens enough to hatch an equal numlier of eggs can be placed in a space equal to that oecujiied by the incubator, if we choose to do it that wa\-. There is no risk from fire, and, taken all around, the ([uantity of anxiety on hand certainly exists in smaller chunks, if it be not less in bulk. There are those who argue that the sitting her. hatches chicks at less expense than tne inculjator. Allowing that they shall hatch about the same percent- age pro]iortionatel3', I think this jioint is decidedly in fa\'or of the incvd)ator. We count a sitting hen's time to be worth as much as the eggs which she would have 46 been likely to lay during that ]5eriod. In the twenty - one days — as the hatching season is also the laying season — she might be fairly counted on for a dozen eggs. If we average these at sixteen cents, it will cost $1.12 to incubate lUO eggs by the use of the hen. The cost of oil, and the interest on investment for the machine should not l)e more than sixty cents for the same number. I once visited a plant where 2,200 lay- ing hens are kept. The business is one for utility only, laying hens being the first item. The owner of the plant is an unusually shrewd business man, and very successful. It is evidently his deliberate judg- ment that the incubator does not pay, for he hatches all the eggs which are to furnish his many hundreds of young pullets with hens alone! If there are those who still think it would be to their advantage under their special circumstances to use incubators (as indeed it may be) let them heed a word of caution. If you are a woman, unless very strong, do not let an}' one beguile you into buying a large incubator. The trays are too heavy when filled with eggs. The 100-egg machine is decidedly the best for average ordinary use. 47 SATISFACTORY COOPS AND BROODERS. <^ *i^'^| HATE\'ER variance of opinion there may ■ Ml be as regards incubators, the testimony ^ir^r^ of poultry raisers, everj'where, is virtu- ally unanimous as to the jrreat value of brooders. And they are as valuable in degree to the small, trial i)lant, managed l)j' one overworked woman, as they are to the most extensive business, with scores of paid emplo3'ees. As ])Ocket -money poultry is pretty likely to Ije a thing of small begin- nings, and as the small beginning, if there be lack of experience, is the only reasonaljly safe beginning, our points on this subject will be confined almost entirely to articles of home manufacture. One ma}' l)uy brood - er.s — good ones; but the good brooders, when pur- chased, necessitate capital. The indoor brooders can not be run without a shed in which to place them, while the outdoor sort, generally having a shed as a part of their makeup, and commonly priced at $10 to $20, seem expensive to start with. Whether the brooder is bought from the manufac- turer, or bnilded in the home shop, there are certain things we must ask of it. If it does not meet our re- quirements it will be a source of loss, rather than of ])rofit. The satisfactory brooder must have sufficient warmth in connection with sufficient fresh air, e\-en 48 CHEAP AND SUCCESSFUL HOME-MADE BROODER. Fif^. 1. — Sho'tt'S front part of Brooder, with lower door open witli lamp inside. Fi^. 2. — Sliows completed lirooder open ; a ' nailing tlie 1)oards ujion strips at top and Ijottom. The roof was made in the same way. The whole structure hooks together, so that it can lie stored after the cliick season. Tw(j boards only are nailed on. These are placed vertically one at each side, on the front. To them is hooked a screen which occupies the rest of the front. This may be made of inch-mesh netting on a frame, or of laths. Its remox'al allows easy access to the brooder during the day, while at night the chicks are not onh' abso- lutelj' secure, but ha\-e the iresli air wliich is so essen- tial to their thrift. The roof iu-(jjects a few inches at both front and rear, and the whole structure is liatten- ed. The expense was $2 for stuff, in a ])lace where 52 A GOOD COOP. Made from Iwo OuakiT Oats boxes. lumber is high, and fifty-five ceiit.s for the boys work. Sheds, somewhat smaller than the above, can now be bought ready made for about $5. Thej' furnish the best of roosting coops for the young stock after it is past the brooder stage, and, indeed, for the remainder of the season. But care must be taken that the chicks are not crowded in these little houses as the}' increase in size. This crowding is a fruitful source of loss in growth and thrift. The temptation to crowding, which brooders and such sheds engender, is the worst, and, perhaps, almost the only olijection to the brooder S5\stem. Fancy coops and fanc_\- l.)roo(lers are mere ex- cuses for investing nione>-, without corresponding re- turns. The cheajie.-it coops are, as a rule, the best. And all we need ask of a coop is that it shall l)e suf- ficienth' roonu-, that it shall be rain -proof but airy, ^VHITE LAXi;SHAX MALE. 55 and that it shall have a hoard floor, at least in part. The despised old harrel, with a little lath run in front of it, makes a really excellent coop, if raised a little at the rear so that the chicks shall crowd forward in- stead of liackward, and covered with felt paper, or any other material that shall render it rain-proof. Shoe- hoxes, hattened, and furnished with a screen or slatted front, make thoroughly effecti\'e coops at small ex- pense. To use a coop with less than four to eight sqrare feet of floor space is cruelt\- itself, unless the hen has access to a run. If one wants to do a little more work for the sake of having a sloping roof, Quaker Oats Ijoxes may be so managed as to form a rather neat, though not roomy ^^coop. With a covered run in front, to wdiich hen as well as chicks have access, these will do very good work. Three boxes will make twj coops. The odd box is sawed diagonally into halves. Each half, be- ing placed upon one of the other boxes, forms a slop ing roof thereto. The front of each main box may be entirely replaced with a slatted front, or may have merely a slatted door in the center. In order to be convenient this door must be so arranged as to slide up and down, and it should l^e of good size in order to admit a fair amount of air. Perhaps, to the wide- reaching masculine mind, all this work to provide cheap coops may seem like small and fussy business. But unless time is particular!}- valuable the small sav- ings wdiich the use of time can make are no small part of the profit. Besides, few men know what it is to be absolutely lacking in pocket-money, and can not, there- fore, appreciate these small sa\-ings at theii crue worth. To a woman, the time-worn saying, "A penny saved is two -pence earned" comes with ten -fold more force ♦han it can possibly have to any man. 56 MOTHERING CHICKS. (^^fc^HERE are two chief methods of "mothering i \ chicks," tlie more common including tlie aid ^^1^ of the natural mother, the other the tender mercies of the wooden box known as a brooder. The hen has instinct and warmth to com - mend her ; the brooder lacks instinct, but also lacks many of the annoying, cranky waj's of the hen, and it also furnishes tlie heat required for the Ijroods at all times, which no solicitation or shrewdness on the part of the owner can induce the hen to do ; as the chicks are so verj^ dependent on warmth, this is a strong point in favor of the mechanical ''mother." The woman in the case is the real mother, after all, and it is for her to choose which will be the lietter partner of or conducer to her jo5\s and sorrows, the live hen or the wooden hen. In either case, hers is the love which must needs patiently care for all weak and tender living creatures ; hers the solicitude ; liers the l>rain that must foresee and avoid difficulties; hers (alas for sentiment!) the interest in the inflow of pocket-money. The three great points in mothering chicks are to provide proper shelter, sufficient warmth, and the best food in the riglit quantities for best growth and thrift. The principles of the work are the same, whichever ally is chosen. But if the woman who is intent on chick 57 rearing has time enough at her command, I think there is no doubt that the mechanical brooder will prove the better partner all around. In any case, she must furnish artificial shelter, feed, and much of the care. Why not have the heat, also, under control, and thus be more largely mistress of circumstances? Brooders and coops have been fairly well discussed in another chapter, but a further word on slatted fronts for coops may be advisable. It is true that the majority consider them all right, and both these and netted fronts have been mentioned as allowable; but the woman who writes is growing daily less in favor of them, especially when the coops are open only in front. In cool weather, they are all right ; in Summer heat with stifling nights, they are far from allowing entrance to sufficient fresh air. Wire netting makes a much better front to all shelters, at this time. Even our patent, high-priced brooders have been fitted with wire -net doors, so that the wooden doors may stand wide at night, when suffocating Summer heat is at hand. Onlj^ thus can the chicks be made to thrive. In mothering chicks, the word "care" is most comprehensive; for it means that during the brooding season the "mother" in the case must literally give herself to the work. Her ej'es must be open to every change in expression in every chick ; her ears must be open to every change of note in the continual speech of the broodlings; her mind must be all the time on the chicks, and, unless they count first with her, there is sure to be loss. This is not saying that it will take all her time to care for 100 or 200 baby chicks, but it does mean that she must never be out of sight and hearing of them if she would have all run smoothly and without loss. It is true that 58 many women mother chicks artificially, and do full work in the house, and careful duty to the children of the home besides; but I think that, in these circum- stances, there can never be fullest measure of success. There will always be losses that might have been avoided with more care. For "care" means the oversight of the entire life, and, in one sense, includes both the other points; namely, feed and housing. Care means watchfulness of every detail. It means foresight with regard to every storm, every marauder, every disease; every accident, too, I had almost said. But while many accidents can be avoided by fore- sight, some will occur in spite of everything., For instance, chicks may be lost through sunstroke, while furnished with every means of comfort in the way of water, shade, etc. Or, a tiny youngling may get injured by netting or drinking fount, so that blood starts, and in the few minutes while the owner's at- tention was elsewhere, the little fellow may have been picked to death. Every drooping wing, every dull eye, every tendency to looseness of bowels must he noted, or some scourge may grip the whole brood while careless eyes were unnoting the signs of trouble at hand. If warmth has been sufficient, and food not excessive, the best medicine to try first is generally' grit; for indigestion is at the bottom of a very large proportion of chick ills, and even the watchful mis- tress sometimes overlooks the empty grit dish. Gapes is a trouble much feared, which watchful care may render harmless, except for a little extra work. Fresh ground for runs, and dry grains for feed will save the chicks from most of its ravages. If it appears, safety lies in fumigating the whole brood with car- bolic acid, dropped on a hissing hot griddle, or brick. 59 From one-half minute to two minutes' exposure is sufficient,. according to the density of the fumes. In a small, close box, one teaspoonful of acid will create fumes dense enough for one -minute exposures, if the griddle is very hot. A hag will do for cover. While the author of these practical notes believes most thoroughly that principles are better than minute instructions in detail, yet, for the help of some who are new to the work, some feed rations will be noted. No one need ask for better feeds, to rear chicks from start to finish, than millet, wheat, and cracked corn, pro- vided that the birds have plenty of range and green food, with the attendant bugs and worms, and it is difficult to raise the best chicks without these. Brooder chicks may be kept close to their foster- mothers by yarding for two or three weeks, or until they know where they belong, and will come at call in case of sudden showers. But " the wider the range, the better the chick," is a good maxim to lielieve and to practice. Soft feeds push for quick growth and fat broilers, and are sometimes cheaper to use than the whole grains. Oats from which the hulls have been removed make excellent chick feed, since none other of the de- sirable grains for chicks is so rich in the muscle - making protein. But, as the chicks soon learn to prefer most other foods to oats, it seems best to use this grain chiefly for the morning feed, when the ap - petite is keen, and not to feed to cloying excess. A good growing ration may consist of rolled oats for a rather light breakfast, a soft feed of hard-boiled egg, bran, and corn-meal, (preferably mixed with milk after the bran is scalded) not too long thereafter, a third feed of millet, and a supper of cracked corn; the 60 supper being always liberal, but not to the extent of packing the crops too hard. A second good feed may include hulled oats for breakfast; curd, scalded bran and corn -meal in equal parts for the next meal; wheat for the third feeding, and cracked corn for supper, as before. In all cases, green food should form one -fifth, at least, of the en- tire ration; F.nd, if range is limited, or bare, this must be a part of the regularly furnished ration. In this case, it is not a 1jad plan to alternate the green and the grain feed. The two rations given above may be alternated, if desired, or curd and egg may be replaced by a ver^' little animal meal and bone after the first three weeks; but I would advise all to be careful how they feed meat to very young birds. A ration that can be used right along may consist of oats for Ijreakfast, with a mash made of scalded bran, middlings, horse feed, sifted, and corn -meal or cracked corn in equal parts, for all the other meals. A little meat -meal niaj' be added to this once a day. This maj' be cheaper than the others. For myself, I prefer grain at night, in- variably. For one thing, drj' foods render the brooders incredibly easier to clean and care for regu- larly. The periods between cleanings maj' also be longer. Clover meal can be added to any soft mix - ture, but it is a little constipating, and must be oiifset by green foods and bran. Young chicks can easily be taught to eat chopped onion or potato, lettuce, grass, plantain, cabbage, and purslane ("pusley") if they do not seem to like them at the first. Thej' will pick at whatever is left before them so long as it is fresh, and they are not over-fed. Mothering chicks, while exacting and risky work, 61 is work that pays exceedingh' well in pocket-money, in any fair location. Early chicks are incomparably the best; and, usually, easiest to raise, provided they do not come from eggs laid during the prevailing Mid -winter infertility. The risk is reduced to a minimum after a few j^ears of studj' and practice in the fascinating work. Or — to repeat — knowledge and experience are power, and they command pocket- money. ^9 THE FIRST SEASON'S WORK. ^gW" ^. AVING decided which of the three lines of 1»^^ work is best to follow, it still remains for 11^^ you to consider a point suggested in the chapter entitled, "How Much Capital?" This is, whether it is best, at the outset, to buy eggs, to buy newly -hatched chicks, or to bu}' a small stock of mature fowls. In connection with this, it must be decided whether common stock or stock of some good pure -bred strain is to be used. The pure -bred stock will cost a trifle more at the Ije- ginning, and only at the beginning. At first it may seem something of a puzzle whether it is best to 1)uy fifteen common hens for $7.5u, and bother with the hatching ; or to buj^ 100 common chicks already stand- ing on good, strong legs, for $10 ; or with better stock, whether to buy ten birds of good qualit}- for $15, fif- teen settings of eggs for the same money, or 100 pure- bred chicks, for the same figure, or $15. But it must be remembered that if you buy eggs, j-ou must have something to hatch them, and if you buy either eggs, or chicks, you must have something to brood them. In the long run, then, if j-ou have absolutely no fowls or fixtures to start with, it is likely to be better policy to buy the hens outright, verj- early in the season, and letjthem hatch out a fair number of chicks. You will thus be getting experience in all the various lii;es of I'.IIFF COCHIN FEMALE. 65 work, for the one investment, and there will jirobably be some small income from the hens, as there will be a few surplus egg-s. Having chicks on hand, tiy some one of the above means, brooding then becomes the urgent question of the hour. If you have bought the hens, this question will not seem so serious as it will if you have mother- less chicks on your mind. If the l:)rooder is a neces- sity, it may be the Iiome-made box affair, at $1 for each twent}' -five chicks, or the $20 palace with sup- posed room for 100. But it must be provided in ad- vance, and long enough in advance to be sure that it will be in first-rate running order, as soon as the chicks are ready for it. Your first duty to the chicks will be to see that they are freed from lice (unless in- cubator hatclied) by thoroughly dusting with insect powder, or powdered tobacco. Impress the thought firmly upon your mind that warmth, and warmth alone, is the only absolute necessity for these weaklings, for the first twenty -four or thirty hours, and that you will do more harm than good by aiming to do anything more than to keep them warm and dry for this period. From this time on, until the chicks are nearly grown, or half -grown, perhaps, your problem will be to add to this warmth and drjniess proper food and water, and sufficient exercise. This is the whole of chicken rear- ing — warmth, dryness, food, water, exercise. It is in the effort to balance these things properly^ that diffi- culty arises. For instance, the beginner, in watering the chicks will allow them to get themselves, and their brooding floors saturated with water. One of the five essentials, dryness, is at once lacking, and trouble be- gins. Water they must have, but it must be furnished in small and shallow vessels ; and for the first few days 66 it is better to suppl3' it after each feeding, and remove it as soon as the little fellows are satisfied. Feeding- formulas maj' be picked up e\'erywhere. Thej' differ much, though doubtless all are good, if judiciously used. A feeding principle will do you more good than one, or a hundred feeding formulas. Feed only sound, sweet food, taking care that grit is provided for its digestion; see that at least one -fourth of its bulk is green stuff, and never over -feed to sucli an extent that the crops are packed tight and hard. They may appear full at the close of the feeding, but should alway.s give a little to the touch, more like a hollow ruljber ball than a solid one. As to the ma- terial for the feed, one of the most prominent poultry - men in the country recommends oatmeal, which may be the pin -head, or the rolled flakes, as the best foun- dation feed for the first few months. I find that the flakes are a little apt to pack in the crop, and cause indigestion, and must, therefore, Ije fed lightly. I have known a woman, a novice in chicken growing, to have remarkable success while feeding cracked corn, and cracked corn onh', from the very first. I have known people to have good success with almost every variation of feeding formula, provided the soft food was swelled, and not soured before feeding. I have known a woman to raise good ducks on nothing but bran and grass, which would seem a dangerously laxa- ti\'e feed. I knew of one man who thought nothing of raising 1,.^00 chicks in a season, yet who fed them out of the same mess which was prepared for his la>-ing hens, of which the foundation was dried cut clover, scalded; and the seasoning, meat meal. I think his average proportion of loss was twenty per cent. There are many who would think thej- had the whole busi- 67 ness at their finger's end, could they place their losses at this low figure. I do not believe in confining young chicks, unless it is absolutely necessary. Chicks raised in confinement, if at all close, do not show such thrift and vigor as those raised upon range. But as soon as the maturing cockerels begin to be obtrusive, it is essential that they be separated from the pullets, even though, as is some- times the case with the Leghorns, this occurs at six weeks old. A roll of wire netting, or better still, mov- able hurdles, or panels of the same, are among the most useful adjuncts to the chicken grower's work. Above all things, avoid crowding. It is during growth that fowls feel the effects of this most. If they are baclljr crowded as chicks, they are ruined for life, some- times constitutionally, sometimes through stunting, often by deformity. The commonest and easiest way of getting room, from Mid-summer on, is by selling off the males. If they reach the size the market de- mands by July, they are never likely to bring more money in proportion to cost than at this period; and, as their room is decidedly better than their company, it is best to get rid of them at this time. Mediterranean males are pretty apt to be behind the market, and not salable at all, until they are full grown. When they reach this stage, prices have fallen so low that the}^ pay a very small profit on the cost of raising them. It is for this reason that some believe it to be better to kill the cockerels as soon as they can be distinguished. To many, this plan may seem a wicked waste, but many shrewd raisers find themselves justified in following it, believing that the room is more valuable to the pullets, than the cockerels are valuable in themselves. Where there are not too man}-, they pay very well for family use, when about twelve weeks old. 68 Culling, and especially culling the females, is the most difficult work — that is, the most difficult to do as it should be done — that falls to the lot of the poultry woman. She who culls is sure to give many a speci men the benefit of the doubt, and this is fatal to the high - est profit. If you would make money from the layers, cull severely; cull out the stunted, the deformed, those that are under age, those that show lack of vigor in any way, those that are poor eaters, those that are cranky and full of whims, those that will submit to being crowded without crowding back again! But 3'ou will say, " Thej' majf lay towards Spring." Yes : but the others will la\' enough better without them to make it all up, and your feed bill will be, perhai)S, not over two -thirds as large. I think this is about the proportion that should be culled from nearly e^•er\' ex- isting liock. 7t' THE FIRST SEASON WITH FANCY POULTRY. <^|*y^C^ HIIvE giving- an Institute lecture on poul - III try last Winter, I said : " The best way ^IT^W^ I see to account for the better luck (?) which women have in poultrj' rais- ing, is to charge it to that old-fashioned word 'obey' in the marriage service. Women have gotten into so confirmed a habit of obedience that they can follow in- structions implicitly. The masculine temperament leans away from this ; the masculine mind hates the day of small things ; the masculine mind is more prone to distrust." I hope 3'ou who read and who are look- ing forward to fancy poultry, will have proven my words before this, by following instructions as to pre- liminary study of breeds, standard, and principles of work, or that j'ou surely will do so before beginning. The Winter previous to the first season may well have had its spare time devoted to this preliminary study. Having decided upon the Ijreed best suited to 3'our pleasure and your circumstances, it remains for 3'ou to decide whether to start with birds, or with eggs which two or three common hens may hatch. Octave Thanet, the famous fiction writer, in her humorous storj' of "The Blazing Hencoop," saj-s "We are onl_\' sure that whichever you try, j'OU will wish j-ou had tried the other. If we are trving eggs, we are 70 sure that it is better to pay $1U for a health>', well- behaved trio of fowls, than to take one's chances on eg"gs at $3 a dozen, and possibly have only three or four out of a setting strong enough to break the shell. While, if we are trying fowls, we do not see the use of paying such prodigious sums for a White Plymouth Rock cock that has his spirit beaten out of him by a half-way Game cockerel the first day of his arri\-al, and dies of a broken heart the following Summer." I suspect that this close hitting of the mark resulted quite as much from the author's knowledge of human nature, as from her knowledge of the fowls. But it is the humannature,andespecially the woman nature — daring, nay, almost delightingto take risks, that insures the difii - culties mentioned in both directions. For it is lack of care in finding a breeder whose eggs are known to be good, and to hatch well, and whose mature stock is known to be vigorous, that causes the failures, and vexation of spirit, so common at tlie end of the first season. Do not bu3' birds of a distant breeder, and pay heavy cliarges on them, unless you know that his stock will be good. Uo not buj'eggs, unless you have good reason to believe that they are hatchalile. The business habits of the owner of the Ijirds, as evidenced by his adx'ertisements and circulars, will give vou a verjr good clue to go by, if neither you nor your friends have ])ositive knowledge. A frequent mistake made is in buying exhibition birds. The chief \'alue of exhibition birds outside the show room, is for advertising ])urposes. As members of your l)reeding yards, they may not prove worth as many cents as you will he tempted to ])ay dolb-irs for them. Most breeders do not mate for breeding as they mate for exhibition; and if they did, they would not 71 use the inbred, and show -debilitated liirds that are mated up for exliil itiou. Havin;,^ lour.d a Ijreeder n])on whose stock you can rely, it is best to liave him mate for j'ou a trio, or breeding" yard for best results. The.-^e birds will not cost j'ou so much as the show pen would have done, while the progeny is likely to be infinitely better. One of the first points to fix firmh' in your mind is this ; All operations in hatching and rearing fancy stock must be based upon small numbers. The incubator and the big brooder are a menace to your work from the start to the finish. If you have bought eggs to start with it is luit the part of wistlom to risk the whole of tlrem in one large lot ; neither after tliey are hatched will it ever I)e to the advantage of the chicks to place large numbers together. So long as a wry tail or a white feather disqualifies, so long must accidents be provided against. So long as the corner of a coop, or a lack of condition may cause the loss of a prize, so long must crowding be guarded against; and so long as the annoying attentions of a six -weeks -old roosterkin, or a "scrap" between two half -grown cockerels may destroy the value of your show biids, so long must you watch with eagle eye for every sign of difficulty in every direction. You must have care about accidents ; you must have no crowding and fighting; you must be absolutely cer- tain as to the safety of the flocks at night ; j'ou must separate the sexes earl 3-; you must give the best coop- ing, with the utmost care every way; and with all this care and this artificial straining after the survival of the fittest according to feather, there must be, also, care to keep as near natural conditions as possible, in order that you ma}^ have only the fittest in vigor. In feeding your waj' is easj'. The best feed for the com- 72 monest chick that ever grew, when 3'ou want it to do its level best, is not far from being the best feed for the most aristocratic daughter or son of a $200 imported pair. If you have learned the secrets of care and painstaking in feeding common chicks, you have only to apply them to your would-be prize winners. If not, you have only to studj' the formulas and directions for success with the commonest birds, and you have the knowledge, what to do for your high-priced stock. There are those who will tell you that an incubator - hatched chick can be told from one hatched in the natural way as long as it lives. Others will dispute this; but none will dispute the statement that the ut- most thrift ana vigor which j^ou can assure your chicks by free range, and proper feed, will do more for them in the show room than aught else. Your birds must be well grown and vigorous that they ma}' be grown up to standard weight, else here alone is enough dis- count to lose you every prize in every hotly -contested show. And you must keep each generation up to weight, or, soon, you will have small chance of getting any of your birds up to weight. After your first lot of birds is carefully raised, your pride in them will cause you to be beset with the worst temptation of your poultry-raising career. You will want to show those birds ; and worse than that, you will want to be- gin to make big money by selling eggs from such beau- ties! Let me beg of you to do neither during your second season. You may have birds that are quite well worth ex- hibiting, but you do not know enough aljout them j^et ; and knowledge gained in the show room, while good, is expensive. Why should you waste money and time, and bring, criticism upon yourself in studying things r 75 pul)licly which you might study privately at less ex- pense ? During the Winter following your first season of raising chicks you will have abundant time to study advertising, if you want a wide market, or to study systematic sales near home, if your market is to be there. If you are to make your business as wide as possible, you must study exhibiting, and preparing for exhibition. Poultry literature will tell you something about all these, and will give you a good foundation on which to build a fabric of common sense. You can begin to study advertising by taking up any paper, and noting which advertisements attract the eye quick- est, and when you have found this out, note how the wording of the matter attracts you. See whether words are wasted in saying things that do not affect you either way when you pose as a buyer. Ask some man his opinion of these advertisements ; this will help you to find out whether it is the attitude of the womanly mind, or the way the facts are put which makes them catch your attention. Study the adver- tisements of women who are in the business, and see whether they are hurting themselves and their trade by asking sympathy because they are women, rather than seeking sales because they have good stock. There is too much of this posing for sympathy ; though not so much, I am glad to say, in the poultry business as in some other lines of work which women have lately taken up. Your neighbors must be studied, you know; because, even if you make sales abroad, you will want to sell all you can near bjr. You must first impress upon them firmly that you are not in the ex- change business ; and you must learn not to sell fertile eggs to the grocery, lest the woman two doors away 76 outwit j'ou, and become a rival, at a cost of only fif- teen cents a dozen. Yet, if you have plenty of stock, j'ou must learn to make concessions to your home trade, selling to near customers, perhaps, at half-price. You can generally afford to do this, for advertising, shipping baskets, packing, and time necessary to man- age the distant trade, have all a distinct money value. This refers, however, more to coming seasons, for you must remember that you have not yet bred anything. Before your second season, you must become pretty familiar with the science of breeding, as far as Jjooks and experts may give it to you. You will learn that while inbreeding is considered a necessity to fine feather, it is a dangerous one, and new blood is even a greater necessity to the best vigor. It is Scylla and Charybdis ; the rock of inbreeding, on one hand, the rock of losing family characteristics on the other. You will learn that those who have the best success, inbreed all they dare, and when they must change, try to get blood from the same family line, but which has been changed by climate or conditions sufficiently to answer for fresh blood. You will learn that some consider fresh blood a necessity everj' year, and you must learn that vigor is the one thing aliove all others essential to success. Fine feathers never appear on sickly Ijirds, and condition, alone, counts enough to win the prize many times. And, alas, that it nuist be said! among the hardest part of your work will be learning to keep the gates shut; learning to make the fences high enough, and secure enough that the care of weeks and months shall not l")e thrown away in five minutes! If a man goes near your poultry plant, lie nuist be taught to shut the gates! If the children help you, as so often tllc^' nuist. 77 it must be impressed upon them with care, a^ain and again and again, that they are never to leave the gates open! The first few months of fancy poultry keeping, though holding many pleasures, are, likewise, some- what harassing; and, small as it is, this matter of the gates is one of the chief reasons why you would better not attempt to advertise eggs during the first year or two. Surely j^ou need to get the run of the business before hampering j^ourself too much with other peoples' ideas and expectations, and with their just demands after they have paid you hard cash, and their unjust demands if they think you are to be easilj' cheated. It is not a wa}^ wholly strewn with posies, this road to the beautiful land of fancy poultrydom. ^V fir CONFINEMENT, OR FREEDOM. <^fc^HU first, and the continuous thought of those / 1 who would make a success of poultry rearing ^^i^ and keeping, must be for the vigor of the birds. It is such a common thing for those who discuss poultry to speak of vigor as necessary, that I think readers have come to consider it mereh' a stock assertion for effect. No greater mistake could be made. You will find that the person who has been longest in the poultry business is the one who will urge this point most strongl}-. If j-ou do not believe it now, the work itself will force you to believe it. Nothing could Ije more foolish than for those who are extremeh' limited as to room to try to make that room count for more than it is worth by enlarging operations to any extent. For a regular business, a reasonable amount of room is a necessity; sufficient, at least, for the proper rearing of the young- stock. I believe it to be utterly impossible to rear chicks to vigorous maturity in large numbers, through- out successive seasons, and in close confinement. Please note the three points, and that I do not say to keep fowls, but "to rear chicks." And I mean chicks of vigorous constitution. Almost any woman who lives on a farm knows that the question of confinement or freedom is a seriqus one, even there, where there is abundance of room. Neither 79 the chicks in the garden, nor the garden in the chicks, seems to be thoroughly satisf actor}'. It may be argued that small chicks are a benefit to the garden, on ac- count of the insects which thej' destroy. That is true as far as it goes; but, unfortunately, the chick goes farther, and with a little age, becomes a destructive terror, beside which insects are nowhere ! The amount of stuff which even a small flock of chickens will de- stroy by mere daily trampling, if they do not scratch at all, is almost incredible. There is always friction, too, concerning the grain fields; and whatever the woman may think about it, on the general farm, scarcely a man lives who will not insist that the chicks and fowls destroy more than they eat, and eat more than they are worth. Suppose, instead of confinement or freedom, we say confinement 7t_'ith freedom. A large enclosure, a grassy orchard, if possible, where fowls can range to a distance which satisfies them, may be enclosed, 3'et the birds will still have virtual freedom. One portion of this may be for the fowls, another for the j'oungchicks. The greatest mistake which a novice friend of my own, has made — a man who has been ex- tremely careful to follow the best instruction — was in placing his young chicks in the same enclosure with his fowls, and that in a limited space. I went to take him an order for some of his chicks, (which were from verj' fine, fancy stock) and found that they had been so stunted in rearing as to be virtuallj' ruined, so that I did not even hint that I had an order for him. If questions of space call for serious consideration on the farm, what is the case where room is limited? Simply that difficulties increase, not oidy in inverse ratio to the space, but in very much greater ratio. It is much more difficult to keep clean, more difficult to 80 provide ihe absolutely necessary room, more difficult to furnish the green food equally necessary. Indeed, we might well say that it is impossible to furnish growing green food in very close confinement, except for the 5'oungest stock. By having a S3^stem of double yards, or a few mo\'able netting hurdles, a certain amount of green food can be had growing, but it is an endless, and apparently thankless task to provide it; for the fowls swarm upon it like locusts, and leave a bare expanse in about as short a time. Once more, let me say' that it is not wise to try to raise large flocks in small spaces. Even if there be a fair measure of suc- cess for two or three years, while the ground is com- paratively fresh, disease and disaster are almost sure to fall u])on the flocks later. Confinement is so abso- lutely distasteful to almost all fowls that they will fret even at a bit of wire netting above them, though they could have the widest range under it. H\-en if they have seemed comfortable and hap])y in confinement, their almost wild glee, their jumping and flirting and stretching upon regaining liberty show clearly that they have felt the confinement, and that it must tell on them. Not a few, nowadays, are urging that fowls often do better — that is, that they lay more eggs — with moder- ate range than with free range. Confinement is a nec- essity, too, for the breeding stock during the breeding season, unless one be quite distant from neighbors, keeping but one breed. I ha\-e known fowls to mix and migrate from one farm to another, when the build- ings were nearly a cpiarter of a mile apart. I'nless the poultry have things all their own way, each breed on a place bj- itself, and without limitations as to range, a stock of wire netting Ijecomes one of the most treas- 81 ured necessities of the poultry keeper. Wire netting- is now almost as cheap as laths, while it is often much more convenient. Wherever there are marauders, like cats or hawks, covered runs of netting for the tiny chicks render them absoluteli' safe. Fifty feet of wire net, inch meshed, and two feet wide, at roll prices, will cost one dollar. Nineteen feet of two -inch mesh net, six feet wide, to be used overhead will cost about fortj^ -seven cents, at roll prices. This will make a run sufficient for forty or fifty chicks for the first three weeks, at least, or for two smaller flocks. It may be asked, " Why not use the one-foot width for the sides? or the three -inch mesh for the cover, because it is cheaper? " The answer is — Because the chicks are less happy with the cover so low and close, until they have freed themselves by jumping through the meshes, which they will surely learn to do in a week or ten days' time. The woman does not live who can help falling in love with her wire netting, just as she loves her other "things," that is, utensils, conveniences, etc. But I am afraid the majority of women, being short of pocket money and capital till they get well started in the poul - try business, will buy onl}- a few feet at a time. I^et me urge you to buy bj" the roll, or half roll, if you possiblj' can ; it comes so much cheaper in the long run; especiallj^ if "the long run" is made with the wire netting. The woman who buj-s wire netting needs to take her best stock of judgment with her when she goes to the store. Inch mesh makes a beautiful and desirable net- ting, but it costs more than twice as much as the two- inch mesh, and nearly three times as much as the ordinary style of three -inch mesh. The kind ofteuest used, and usuall\- most satisfactory, is that with two- inch mesh, and dealers who offer you specially cheap prices may foist upon you a wire lighter than that which is considered standard. Such netting gets limp and out of shape almost at once, and the same is true of that with a very large mesh. If good judgment is necessary in buying wire netting, a full stock of good temper is more than equally' necessari^ in putting it up. For such innocent stuff it is far more than usually ex- asperating. And if, being a woman, it becomes nec- essary for you to put up that netting with j-our own fair hands, let me warn you to expect that those same hands will be less fair when you get through. Also, that any man you may ask, who has been there, will tell you that it is impossible for one person, working alone, to put up wire netting. While not impossible, it is certainly' exasperating to the highest degree, and you would better secure help, if there is any to be had within several miles. A six -inch board at the bottom of the yard, is, by men, considered a necessity; but let me tell you a womanly secret — 3'ou can make "hair-pins" by doubling heavy wire, using, say twentj'-inch lengths, which will pin the netting to the ground very satisfac- torily. I know this, for I invented them and have used them for several years. This is much cheajier than to use the boards at the bottom ; it also takes less work, and if you do not need the extra width which the boards give, you can get along without them, though, with a large system of yards, and capital enough, I would have them. The boards at the top are a snare, for they furnish just the place an out- going fowl wants to light upon. Beware of trying to cut down expenses by setting the posts too far aijart. The netting does not stretch so easily as it would ap- LICHT RRAHWA MAI.R. 85 pear to do, while, witli the depravity of inanimate things, it sags with peculiar ease and delight. In building a six-foot fence, some have thought it better, and that a firmer fence was to be secured l)y using two three -foot widths, giving the two extra bound edges at the center. This is not the fact, unless the widths are lapped, in which case j'ou lose some height in the fence. The two narrow rolls will cost more than the wide one, and without lapping you will find it virtu- ally impossible to stretch them so as to make a fowl - tight fence, without wiring the edges together; and when all is done, it will not look so well as the fence made from the wider net. The wide net is cheaper, but it is more difficult to handle, and proltabl}' it is this fact which makes people lean to the Ijelief that the two narrow widths would 1.)e better, until they have tried it. Stretching the net ])roperl3' is one of the tricks of the trade, which you will do well to learn earl}-. It is a common Ijelief that a woman can handle the whole world, animate and inanimate, with the aid of a Ijrooin stick. Wire netting is no exception to the general rule, and you will find the broom handle of greatest aid. By thrusting it through a mesh, and using the post as a sort of fulcrum to brace against, }"ou can draw the netting into very good shape with compara- tively small expenditure of strength. Small mesh re- quires a smaller stick, but it must be strong, and not too small. Altogether, the exercise with these sticks, and the satisfaction gained will be about equal to that inspired by the " glame sticks " of the most advanced Ralstonite. A few hurdles, or panels, to use for temporar)- yard- ing, are of the greatest convenience. If you ])refer to 86 lia\'e the nelting in shape to roll for storage, these can be gotten up by stapling the netting to a series of sharpened stakes, two inches by one inch, and perhaps ten inches longer than the netting is wide. The}^ need to be rather close together, as they give tire only sta- bility which your fencing will have; liut when they are driven into the ground frrnil^', j-ou will have a fairly good and satisfactory fence for all temporary- uses; and wherever 3^our fencing does not fit closely to the ground at an',- time, use the woman's privilege of putting in a " hair pin." ^^'v ^f v"' THE FIRST POULTRY-HOUSE. iV'l^/i^l HATEVER make -shifts have been made AMI to answer, and whatever plan you have ^Ir^r^ followed, to get alone during the first hatching season, the maturing flocks, as Autumn approaches, demand a suitable place of shelter. If you will keep poultr}-, you must have a house for it. What will you ask of this house? Three things, at least, you will, or should demand of such a building; and instead of weakening in these demands, through pressure of circumstances, you must so bend circumstances that these demands shall be met. For all ordinary work, I insist that the house shall be cheap. But the almost universal method is to ask first that it be cheap, and afterward that it shall be con- venient and serve its purpose well. I would reverse this order, and insist first, that it shall well serve the purpose for which it was built; that it shall also be convenient, and afterward that it shall be cheap. Cheapness, as commonly understood, is not always economy. That which saves a few dollars at the out- set, at the cost of spending a half hour in labor daily, is absolute extravagance. This is especially the case where the labor has to be hired. The outgo of strength caused by inconveniences is also an expensive thing ; for if the care of poultry is to be added to the regular work of an already burdened woman, it may mean doctor's bills in the near future, in spite of the often asserted^yes, and the real heathfulness of poultry keeping. I am afraid that many women have liecome so accustomed to inconveniences indoors, that they will feel it almost necessary to have things inconveni- ent outside. I belie\-e it is possible to do almost any work in about one -third of the average time taken, if a sharp ej'e is had to making things perfectly con^'eni- ent to do such work. Now, how shall one build? While there are still a few who believe in the high house, with plentj- of breathing space, the almost universal leaning, now, is toward a long, low house, preferably with a scratch - ing-shed. A long and narrow house ahvaA's costs more to enclose than a square one, other things being equal. But a square house, with small pens, seems to- necessitate that some of the pens shall l)e u])on the side that is awaj- from the best sunshine, and chiefly for this reason the long, low house seems to be con- tinually growing in popular favor. Houses built on the scratching-shed ]ilan may follow this popular idea by alternating the rocjsting -rooms and scratching- sheds. Or, if the builder is opposed to having many fowls under one roof, double houses may be built, having the two roosting-rooms at the ends, the two scratching -sheds together in the center, or ivVr z'crsn. The latter plan makes the roosting-rooms a little warmer, but the expense of building a little greater. There is a plan of building, not much in use, which has, it seems to me, manj' points in its favor. It calls for a building wide enough for two rows of pens, and a wide alley through the center. This central alley is made wide to partially serve the purpose of storage- room and work -shop, and the extra sunshine needed 89 in what may be called the back row of pens, is gained by the use of a modification of the "Monitor top" building. In the rear row the pens extend higher than the front ones, at the ridge, and at this point windows are inserted to throw light and sunshine into the rear pens. Poultry -house partitions are a cause of great vexa- tion of spirit to the average owner. Not long ago I saw them in one house — a very large one — made solid- ly of lath : that is, without the usual spacings between the lath. This was considered a cheap form of parti- tion, and a good one, l^ecause it cut off chances for draughts. The partition most favored consists of solid, light boarding for two or three feet at the bottom, with lath, or w:re netting above. One shrewd poultry keeper has evolved a novel plan for doing away with the l)oards, which have been considered necessary in order to hin Aer the fighting of neighboring, yet rival cocks. This new plan was, merely to use a double partition of netting at the bottom, the space between the two widths of netting being perhaps two inches. Through this double meshing, the birds can not injure each other; while it has some advantages, from the fact that the fowls being able to see one another are all acquainted, and may thus be changed when neces- sary from one pen to another without fear of their "scrapping," and inflicting mutual injuries. The two widths of meshing, at roll prices, are scarcely more exjiensive than boarding; possibly not so costly, in some localities. Ventilation is a question on which, perhaps, there is more differing than upon any other one point connect- ed with practical poultry work. On the one hand it is ar'i-ued, I'V successful experts, that in cold climates 90 sufficient air will get into any building for ventilation, no matter how tightly it has been constructed. How air can enter a building from which man has made his utmost effort to exclude it, they do not explain. It is my impression that they mistake cold for " air;" and the morning visit to one of these low and close -shut houses, unless the owner is suffering from a modified form of roup, known to human beings as "cold in the head," so that she can not detect odors at all, will dis- close the fact that such "air" as there is, is most cer- tainly very foul air, heavy with foul (fowl) exhala- tions. Those who argue for ventilation assert that fresh air — air that is really fresh — is the most urgent need of the fowl kind; and they are right, though they may not know that the reason for this is that fowls breathe a great deal more air during a given period than do human beings. And, indeed, their opponents do not disagree with them as to the necessity of fresh air, but as to how much from outside is necessarj' to constitute it fresh enough. A ph3'sician standing high in his profession, and holding State offices in addition, told me that it was not floor space the fowls needed, as is the common idea, so much as breathing space and fresh air. He stated that he had kept 600 fowls tlirough an entire Winter, in a building having scarce!}' more than floor space enough to give them standing room, and in perfect health, simply by using a tlK.irough and ])erfect system of ventilation. The principle is, to admit plenty of air at a point near the bottom of the house, and give it egress above; but in suth a way that there shall be no draught, but con- stant diffusion and motion of the confined air. It is partly because the subject of ventilation is such a diffi - 91 cult one, that the scratching -shed has been such a help to poultry raisers ; for here they are certain of fresh air, at least half the time. Not long ago, an addition to the poultry literature of the day described what was supposed to be a "woman's poultry-house." The idea underlying it was, that a woman's long skirts unfitted her to enter a Fi_y.l. FIG. 1.— NESTS. FIG, -ROOSTING L.\Dr)EF, 92 buildiii;^ where there was necessarily more or less filth, and the Ijuilding descriljed was to he made so tliat she shonld not need to enter it. It was small enough to be cleaned from the outside through a drop door, the floor being raised, not to necessitate too much back- breaking work. Possibly this might do for verj;- small work with a ver3' few fowls; but the poultry mistress who did not enter the houses could hardly have suffi- cient grasp of her business to insure success. It is absolutely necessary to have acquaintance with one's fowls, and to know what is going on among them. Perhaps the best way to adapt a poultry' -house to a woman's needs is to make certain of absolute simplicitj' and convenience in its inside fittings. The necessities are roosts and their platforms, nest-boxes, drinking- vessels and feed-troughs, grit and shell containers, and dust -baths. Whatever is on the floor soon comes to be a nuisance, for it is disturbed and fouled by the birds, besides being in the way. Nest -boxes are better at a little height than if placed upon the floor. A feed trough, which the fowls can not overturn, or roost ujjon, or make foul in any other way, may con- sist of a single board, with a furring of lath about the edge. This may be hinged to the side of the building, aljuut eight inches from the floor. Eight inches above it may be stapled a wire frame, a little wider than the board, and made like one leaf of a wire gridiron with- out the handle. When the hens are feeding, the board is at right angles to the wall, the wire frame dropped at an angle over it. After the fowls have finished, both trough and frame are raised and hooked to the wall. Such a trough needs very little cleaning, for the average hen does this part of the work very well ! A somewhat similar frame and shelf against the wall may 'T3 > X Pi X 3 S x 5 »s- 3->.cs;"-- - 95 THE POULTRY-HOUSE ONE WOMAN FINDS GOOD, WITH SCRATCHINO SHED ATTACHED. hold the drinking -vessels ; though it is a matter of economy of time, where there is a series of houses, to manage so that one large vessel serves for two pens. These wall shelves, as described, may need a little support below, which maj^ be furnished l)y attached legs, or by a small box under them, if this does not disturb the owner. A modified ladder is the best form of roost with which I am familiar. I do not mean the old style of ladder roost, one portion of which is higher than the other, but something like a ladder laid horizontally. On this the hens can roost compactly, yet without crowding, especially if the " rounds", which are flat, are a little wider than the sides of the ladder, rising above the sides, and seeming to divide them into spaces. If the roosting platform, when in position, is 95 set so that it is slightly sloping toward the front, it is far more easily cleaned. Both the roosting frame and its platform may be arranged so as to be put up out of the way during the da}^ With this last arrangement, however, the roosting platforms do not serve as a hid- ing place for the nest -boxes; but an advantage is gained in having these boxes farther from the lice, so liable to infest a roost. A series of boxes maj- be placed on a level against the side of the house, with sufficient space to allow the hens to enter at the back. A single drop -door at the front gives the care-taker easy access to all the eggs. The dust -bath box is the one thing that occupies the floor, and in the sunniest spot. It should be moder- ately large and deep, so that the hens can reallj' wallow in it; and tobacco, or some disinfectant may be mixed with the dust to make it more effective. With these fittings, it takes but little time to care for the houses, a large proportion of the vexations of poultry keeping are avoided, cleanliness is insured, and all the work made comparatively easy. A style of house which I know to be giving good results in one woman's hands embodies the favorite, modern scratching -shed idea. The figures show several views of it. The roosting-room is smaller than the scratching -shed, and the door serves to close the shed during the day, while, by swinging inward, it closes the roosting-room at night. At night, also, a curtain drops in front of the roosts, and another pro- tects the shed from incoming storm. The large venti- lator at the front is placed above the height of the fowls' heads when they are on the floor, and is covered, on the inside, by a drop -board twice as wide as and eighteen inches longer than the opening. Opened and 97 hooked at any angle except a right angle, this board deflects all air more or less strongly toward the roof, whence it diffuses. The roosting-room has a board floor. A modified form of the scratching-shed idea is shown in another figure. The peaked -roof structure stands gable end to the sun, which end is partly boarded, partly covered with netting. This end forms the " shed " which is partitioned off from the rear of the A HOUSE WHICH GIVES GOOD RESULTS. house, the latter being the roosting-room. A door 1)etween stands wide during the day, to be closed at the owner's option at night. The house is floored through - out, loosely ceiled overhead, and filled in with straw, which those who use say keeps the house both dry and warm. It does good work. FEEDING FOR EGGS. /^■■^HAT anybody can feed a hen, may be true; / 1 but that anybody can feed her so as to make ^^i^ her produce a maximum number of eggs at a minimum expense, is far from being true. To do this needs study and common sense. These, combined, will ensure what is known as scientific feed- ing, that is, common sense feeding for best results. In order to be led to do a thing properly, it is necessarj^ for most minds to know wh}' it is to be done as directed. In turning over the pages of the agricultural papers, in search of the corner known as the Woman's Depart- ment, your ej'e has been caught by such expressions as "Wide ration", "Narrow ration", "Feeding formula", "Percentage of waste matter", etc., and you have thought them ver}- dry stuff. Politics and percentage are utterly at variance with woman's mind, say the men ; but the woman who is to raise poultry at a profit must learn to make percentage a part of her daily life. The percentage of loss or of profit, the per- centage of cheap food to dear food in the rations, the per- centage of fat to lean, which her birds lay on at different periods, the percentage of hustling layers to lazy dead- heads in her flock, will be matters of vital importance to her ; matters which will determine whether her purse is to bulge out with fatness, or to be as flat as though a whole freight train had run over it. 99 As a hit of encouragement, let me say at once that the woman in the poultry business has an inherent advantage when it comes to the question of feeding. To provide food for somebody, or something, is her natural business. A business, too, in which she has practiced all her life. If she has studied the matter of feeding her family for best results (as no woman can be excused for not doing) the matter of wide and nar- row rations need be but as a b c to her. That which makes it easy from the first, is the fact that the feeding ration for eggs is very nearly the same in proportion as the food which she must set before her family for best nutritive results. Wheat is the one grain that is nearly perfect, and it contains the muscle makers, phosphates, etc., in about one-fourth the quantity of its fat formers. The term "Wide ration", as com- monly used, has reference merely to the proportion of muscle makers and fat formers in any ration under consideration. If there is eight times as much fat- forming material as of muscle-making material, the ration is wide. If there is four times as much of the fat formers as of the muscle makers, the ration is nar- row. The division line must, of course, come some- where between, and any smaller proportion than that of one to six may, perhaps, come under the term " Narrow ration." The proportions of these two important elements in whole corn runs somewhere about one to seven. Hens are more fond of whole corn, as a rule, than of any other available food. Why then shall we not feed them very largely of this and save ourselves the brain wear- ing, and the work necessary to formulate and feed scientific rations? Because we must never forget that the hen is to be a 100 A MODIFIED SCRATCHING-SHED HOUSE. money maker for us. We shall require of her three things. Perhaps it will he fair to say that she will require of us three things ; that we furnish her food enough for life, that is to say, simply for running around; also food for growth, up to maturity; also food for egg making, as soon as she is sufficiently matured. If we do not provide food for eggs, that is, egg-producing food, the hen will not, can not return us eggs for the food which we have given her. A mere running-arouud ration may be wide; and corn, which produces the fat whicli running around uses up, ma}' answer the requirements very well. Food for growth requires to be rich in muscle makers. And as eggs are also rich in these same ele- ments, whicli are technically known as proteins or 101 proteids, food for growth and food for eggs will need to be reasonably alike. Let us fix firmly in our minds the fact that the onlj- source of proteins, ( muscle - makers — egg-makers) in the l)ody, or its products, is proteins in the food. Then we shall not commit the l)lunder of expecting the hen to return to us that for which she has never received the material. It is worth infinitely more to a woman — leaving the men out of the question — to learn for herself the prin- ciples of formulating rations than merely to press into use rations given by others, no matter how good these may be. One strong reason for this lies in the fact that a large percentage of the profit will depend upon using the foods easily available which are cheapest, that is, which are lowest in price, in proportion to the amount of protein they contain. This is the real test of cheapness in an egg-producing food. If you happen to live on the sea shore, where certain kinds of fresh clams, or fish, can be had by the bushel for nothing, your greatest expense for food is at once nul- lified, and every cent of this is to be added to your profit, because in any case you must feed to sustain life. The proportion of proteins to fat producers is not, however, the sole thing to be considered. Cheapness has been referred to, and we must consider, also, pala- tability and digestibility. For instance, beans are very unpalatable to hens; hence, although they are nearly one -fourth muscle makers, they are available only in degree, because the hens will not eat them, ex- cept under compulsion, or through stratagem. The beans must either be cooked, or else ground and used in such quantity that more pleasing food will cover their flavor; and thus, they may be made a part of the ration. It is fortunate that we do not need to use, 102 or are prohibited from using a very large quantity ot a food so concentrated as beans. Our chief sources of protein, easy available, are wheat and its products, oats, fish, beans and peas, milk and curd, and the various beef scraps and animal meals, be- sides clover haj' and grasses. Of these, clover, oats, and wheat, contain less than the others. It is because curd is about one -fifth protein, that it forms so good a food for domestic poultry. There are two other ideas which I desire to get very firmly fixed in your mind, and the words which may represent them are "Balance", and "Digestive co- efficient " " Balance ' ' refers partly to the proper pro - portion of muscle makers and fat formers before noticed , and also to a proper proportion of concentrated food, to food containing waste. Water is in one sense waste, and most foods contain this. But there must, also, be bulk5' waste, in order that the digestive functions may go on properly. As a rough rule, it may be said that grains and meats are concentrated, vegetables and fod- ders are bulky. The " Digestive CO -efficient " may sound like a hard thing to tackle. But the woman who is properly grounded in percentage will find it simple enough. Nearly all foods have a certain proportion of indigest- ible substance. The digestible CO -efficient is nothing more nor less that the percentage of digestibility. For instance, suppose that a food is twentjf per cent pro- tein, and the digesLive co -efficient of the proteins in that food is eighty per cent. This means that eighty per cent of the twenty per cent of proteins is digestible. That is, sixteen per cent of the whole amount of the food under consideration is digestible protein. It is found simply by multiplying the whole amount of pro - ,.^J^- BLACK MINiiRCA MALE. 105 tein by the digestive co -efficient. The composition of foods, and the various digestive co -efficients are found in tables, based on experiments already made. Gov- ernment hand-books supply these. If it happens that no tables of co -efficients are at hand, one may subtract about ten per cent from the grains as indigestible, this being a rough average. I^et us suppose that corn has Ijeen almost the sole food given by some one who wonders, with some sense of irritation, why her hens have not laid at all. Tables vary somewhat (as does corn, also) and the novice may be puzzled thereby. The chief cause, perhaps, lies in the fact that some tables are reckoned on stuffs in ordi- nary condition, or " air -dry ", as it is called; others are calculated on the composition after the water has been extracted; that is, on " water free " substances. Corn has a ratio of from one to seven, or eight. This is far too wide for best results, when feeding for eggs. A ratio of one to four, or even narrower, is contended to be the best when all points are considered. The egg itself has a ratio, shell and all, of nearly one to two. But, considering that only a part of the food eaten goes to form the egg, a food with this ratio would not answer all the requirements. To bring the corn ration down to one to four, we might add cut clover, so popular as an egg food. But, to one pound of corn, we would need five or six pounds of clover, and this would be both unpalatable, and too bulky. We must look for somelliing richer in protein and more concentrated. Here is where the meat-meals come in. If we took our pound of corn, another pound of the cut clover, and one pound ot a meat -meal high in protein, we could bring the ratio at once below the 106 desired one to four. This, too, is injudicious, because one-third meat -meal is too heavy a ration. We must never forget that we are to use food stuffs that, while giving the required proportions and palata- bility, are the cheapest available to us. We must, then, make up our own rations. A young chemist near Boston, F. L. Marion by name, figured out a ration from stuffs cheapest to him, and which gave excellent results. Circumstances may have led him to change it before this is written, even, but it may do as a sample. It is for 220 hens. Cut clover, 2 '^^ pounds ; meat -meal, 8 pounds; Chicago Gluten Meal, 4 pounds ; corn meal, 3% pounds. This was for the mash. The night feed was: Wheat, 6 pounds; corn, 1 pound; barley, I74 pounds; buckwheat, 1^ pounds. I think the ratio of the mash is about one to two, or a little less ; that of the grain feed, one to seven ; the average, nearly one to four, calculated air-dry. This is rather heavy feeding of meat, when given every day. Per- sonally, I should not venture to feed so heavily, with my present experience ; but it brings the eggs. lyinseed meal is another source of much protein, and often takes the place of meat. A German laying ration, calculated for 100 hens, looks to cheapness, and leaves out both meat and linseed, getting its protein from malt sprouts and bran. It is composed of : Malt sprouts, 5 pounds; bran, lu pounds; potatoes, 10 pounds. Simple enough, easy to get, and correct in ratio. I do not know the source of this and can not give due credit, but it is vouched for by a State Experiment Station. 107 THE EMBRYO CHICK AT TESTING TIME. (^fc^HE practice of testing eggs is gaining very / 1 rapidly in this country. But there are still ^^1^ many to whom it is unknown, or who look upon it as an intricate matter, quite be- yond them. As a matter of fact, however, with a simple pasteboard tube, and a study of eggs under incubation, any one can learn to test them, even without instruction. But unquestionably, a little help from those who have gone before smoothes the way, and hastens the worker's acquisition of the desired knowledge and experience. Concerning the testing tube, two points are essential : It must be opaque, and it must be of such size at the end farthest from the eye that the egg, laid sidewise against the opening, completely shuts out the light. In making such a tube, by rolling paper over a cylinder, it is best to fit the opening with an average -sized egg before the tube dries. The learner should begin with white - shelled eggs, if possible. The deep brown -shelled ones are much more difficult to test, and the work must be done at a later stage. With white -shelled eggs, after a little experience, one can tell pretty accurately on the lifth day, although the seventh or eighth shows the changes that have gone on in the egg much more distinctlj'. lOS I know one worker who often tests eggs by holding them up to a knot-hole in one of the barn boards, when the sun is striking full upon it. One needs no better way, but as knot-holes are not always handy, a lamp is commonly used. If it has a reflector, so much the better. The stronger the light, the earlier and the more A STKO.NG FERTILE EGG. A WEAK OK IMPERFECTLY FERTILIZED EGG. A STALE EGG. THE AIK SPACE ON Tt IbTU DAY. 109 easily can the work be done. One may test in fair lis:ht on an ordinary sunny day without a lamp, mak- ing sure only that the tube with its egg is between the eye and the light, the latter striking squarely on the egg. Two things will greatly aid the learner in his study : one of these is to compare the eggs to he tested with a perfectly fresh egg whenever there is any doubt. The other is, to break out incubated eggs, at various stages, to find out how they look inside, noticing the position of the chick in the egg, etc. For instance, in the very early stages, the part which is the head is downward; later, the chick turns on its side, and lies crosswise of the egg, through a comparatively long period; while, toward the last, it again turns, so that its head is toward the broad end of the egg. On breaking out an egg about five days incubated, it will be noticed that the chick, so far as it is developed, spreads over one side of the yolk, chiefly a network of veins. If we are looking at this chick while within the shell, the position in which we hold the egg will make considerable difference as to our apprehension of its actual state. The general rule to be laid down is, that an infertile egg is absolutely clear, while a fertile one is opaque. But this opacity varies greatly, both as to degree, and as to the portion of the egg which it covers. lyOoking at the egg five days incubated, the learner may think it clear, and lay it aside with a sigh, A second look, however, at the other side of the egg might show it quite decidedly clouded. Thus, it is impossible to be sure that an egg at this stage is infer- tile without looking at it from all sides. The reason for this is quicklj' seen when we remember that in the broken egg, the developing chick, at this stage, covered but one side of the yolk. But of this much one may no always be certain ; Whenever the egg shows any change from a perfectly clear condition, it has been fer- tile, and the fertile germ has begun to develop. It may have died, but life has certainly been there. There must be in connection with this period quite a little study of fresh eggs of the various shades of color; otherwise, the difference made by the brown shell may be taken for the opacity caused by life within. The fresh egg, however, or the infertile egg early in the period of incubation, is exactly alike throughout. Even the air -space at the large end does not show. Very soon after the chick Ijegins to develop this air- space, then always clearer than the rest of the egg, can be detected by a sharp eye. It shows more and more plainly as the embryo solidifies and the opacitj' be- comes more dense. When it comes to pricing fancy stock, it is essential to know the Standard. The woman who breeds fancy stock, in order to work intelligently^ must either hire a judge to score her birds each year, or else must learn to be a poultry " judge " herself, so far as the breeds she raises are concerned. The cheapest way, perhaps, is to engage a good judge to spend some time in her yards, both scoring birds, and teaching her how to score. One can not be an independent breeder without this knowledge. "Points" add to price every time; and when almost at the top, even half-points add dol- lars to the selling value of the specimen. The Standard says that birds must score ninety points in order to receive a first prize; eighty -five points to receive any prize at all. There are a dozen or more sections in the common method of scoring, and a bird that happens to be defective one point in each of these sections will scarcely be able to much more than reach the eighty- Ill five points necessary to be entitled to even the lowest prize. Kxhibition value, as a rule, determines selling value. Where competition is hot, the difference in values between the three winners is often covered by a point, or a point and a half. Hence these small variations in value must add largely to the price. The prices for males are always higher than those for females of the same breed, being often nearly double. The Mediter- raneans have the lowest values, the medium -sized birds next, the heavy breeds being rated the highest. This is a general reference to the best -known breeds, and is not intended to apply to freaks, nor to varieties not popular. The Plymouth Rock, too, may be con- sidered as a slight exception to the general rule, as the difficulty of breeding it to the choicest barrings renders the price of phenomenal sjiecimens exceptionally high. Knowing the number of points which a specimen will score, any woman is in a position to put prices upon her birds in a way that shall be satisfactory to all who understand the proper values of fancy fowls. A 91 -point Brahma male, may be worth $5, say, and a 94-point bird $15 ; a half point added may shove this value up to $25; another half may double even this, while phenomenal specimens may be worth $100 to the buyer who really wants them. Looking at the Medi- terraneans, we shall find that 91 and 92 -point birds are worth from $3 to $5, if males. They may reach $10 at 94 points, $15 at 95, and phenomenal cases may push the price up to $50. The range for determination of value between the lowest and highest prices here given, is only six points, all told, and the value of a specimen may, in certain cases, be doubled by increasing his weight, improving his condition, or properly preparing' him for exhibition. 112 But it must not he forgotten that all these values named depend upon the state of the market. If there are bu^-ers within your reacli who are willing to allow standard values to the hirds they buj', the figures given are all right. If buyers near you can not con- ceive of a setting of eggs being worth over fifty cents, or the best of fowls worth more than $1 or $1.50, the first-named values are whoUj- imaginary. That is, if buyers near 5'ou have no conception of exhiljition values, you can not sell them stock at prices which exhibition values alone make. You must sell at prices within their conception, or seek aliroad for buyers who understand exhibition values. And this is usuall_v done by advertising. Proper preparation of the fowls for exhiljition may mean the capture of the best prize, when without this preparation the specimen might have not even a chance for the lowest prize. Certainly no one is so well qualified to do this preparatory work as are women who know all the general details of washing, of feed- ing, etc. The best condition and the best weight are points more apt to be overlooked 1)y those unused to detail, and hence it may occur that the winning of the prize depends upon these. Snowy plumage in a white fowl, and clear yellow color in the legs make a material difference in the score, and often depend solely on preparation. That is, the specimen may be all right, in reality, }-et appear far behind its rival, because of soiled plumage, and dull legs. In washing fowls for exhibition, three tuljs of water are usually used, the first two being warm, the third rather cold. Soap without rosin must be used. The bird to be washed is soaped, lathered, and left in this condition long enough for the soap to cut all gum, or PAIK lil'FF ()KPIN(;T(JNS. 115 ndhering substance. The washing' is to he done by Housin<^, and by gentle rubbing iu the direction of the feathers, thoroughl3'. The soap is removed from the plumage in the second tub, while in the third, the phimage is blued very slightly, as one would Ijlue clothing in the wash. A little too much bluing will bring the whole operation to naught. A room with sanded floor, or with clean straw, the temperature at 100 degrees, is best for drying the birds. The^' must ha\e room to shake and flirt, and get the featliers in good fluff 3^ condition. The legs, as well as the feaMiers, must receive con- siderable care. If afflicted with scaly leg, specimens maj' be doctored some weeks before the exhiliition. Crude petroleum will cure the affliction without in- juring the color of the legs, as does kerosene. Later, if the legs are soiled, the}' must be lathered and brushed, and the waj^ a j-ellow leg may be evolved from a dull one, by this process, and by cleaning the scales, as one would clean one's finger-nails, is a revelation, when seen for the first time. When the men who win are not ashamed to gi^•e close attention to these points, it surely behooves the woman who would gain prizes on fancy stock, to bring to bear upon the process of preparation, all her care of detail, her patience, her judgment, and her ingenuity. They will be needed. With feather -legged specimens, different care must l)e exercised. Much closer watch must be kept upon them constantly, as they are far more easily attacked by scaly leg. Preventive, or curative treatment must be more careful, as drastic treatment with kerosene and the like may remove the f 'itlicrs, and ruin, at least temporarily, the exhil)ition ^.,,;j,e of the bird. 116 It is the part of wisdom, always, to remove broken plumao;e, except when nearing show time. If pin- feathers areljroken, or crushed to bleeding, the feathers will come in discolored, and spoil the specimen. Such feathers may be removed, and nature will replace them with the true plumage. \\"omanly ingenuity may devise manj^ methods of manipulating combs, to bring them to perfection, as the)' are very easily trained. Such work is to lie done in the growing season, of course. Near the exhibition time, gloss may be added to such plumage as requires it by wide gra3s range, and free use of grit, and by feeding some .sun -flower seed, and whole corn enough to induce la3'ing on of fat. DUCKS AND GEESE. So MUCH has been said about the money in ducks and geese, that the public at large has been led to believe them much more profitable than hens. Possibly it is to the interest of duck breeders on a large scale to foster this belief, and there is no sort of doubt that there is money in ducks. Still one is far safer in figuring on averages, than on highest prices named. Ducks will consume a large amount of cheap feed, making use of vege- tables quite largely, instead of grains. But it is also true that a duck will eat about twice as much as a hen during the year. Thus it is quite likely that, except in certain neighborhoods, where feed especiallj' adapt- ed to ducks is very cheap, the feed bill for the ducks will be higher in the end than that for the same num- ber of hens. Admitting, however, that extra cheapness will bal- ance extra quantity, so that feed bills are about the same, what is the truth as regards the value of the products? It is frequently asserted that ducks will lay equally well with the hens. But if 3'ou can get an expert duck raiser to give you the facts in an aside talk, he is quite likely to tell j'ou that he does not get as many eggs per year as the generally claimed aver- age. The earliest eggs are quite sure to be infertile, and useless for hatching purposes, while the Mid -sum- lis mer ones, also of little value for hatching, have no de- mand as market eggs. On the other hand, it maj' be said in favor of ducks, that they may be kejit in inex- pensive shelters, and that the product of young market stock, reaching salable age at so early a period as ten or twelve weeks, allows of money l)eing turned over very quickly. This is a business man's idea of successful, profitable handling of anj^ article of sale. Diseases, too, so trying, and so fatal to the hopes of manjr a chicken raiser, are almost unknown among ducks. Occasionall}' we hear of some peculiar fatalitj' attacking flocks of ducklings and sweeping them from the face of the earth with lightning-like rapidity. In- vestigation would probaldy show tha-t in a majoritj- of such cases no provision had been made for shade, the ducklings being attacked by something like sunstroke, this occurring especially after lack of water for drink- ing. Shelters for adult ducks are of the plainest and sim- plest kind, the roof being the most important part. Thejr need to be well windowed, for admission of air; and well bedded, for the convenient removal of excre- ment. Ducks are very dirty, and difficult to clean after; and the woman who had to take care of her own fowls would probably find this one argument of suffi- cient force to keep her out of the duck business. If she went into it largely, so that this work could be given to men, it might not be so objectionable. Some duck -houses are made with cement floors, which can be cleaned with hose. Duck -yards are largely ranged on steep slo])es, running down to streams, where the natural fall and flushings of rains will keep them more or less cleanly. It is quite customary to make the houses in the long, shed style, with wide pens, because thus, PEKIN DUCKS. 121 the 3-ards may be wider. Rather wide yards are al - most a necessity; ducklings and ducks are so easily- frightened that unless there is plenty of room, a sud- den alarm may cause the whole flock to dash itself blindly against the yard divisions, often with great in- jury. I^arge raisers make it a practice to keep the duck -houses and yards well lighted during the night, to avoid injuries from alarms. Concerning the rearing of ducks without water ex- cept to drink, I talked with one of the largest and most successful duck raisers of the country. The re- ply to my direct inquiry was this: " While they can ,i^cl along- without water for bathing purposes, I be- lieve it is as necessar}' for a duck to swim, as for a hen to scratch, and an ill sight to see is a flock of wholly land-kept ducks." If one have land consisting of dry knolls or slopes, running down to a good water front, and have access to cheap food stuffs, and a good market, there certainly must be good pocket-money in raising ducks, — that is, the best ducks — either on a large, or a small scale. The feathers are no small item, and the almost certaintj' of raising the flock, (barring accidents and thieves) leaves the mind much more free from anxiety than is the case with most other lines of domestic poultry raising. But without a really desirable place to rear them, I consider it fool- ishness, especially for a woman, to attempt it. The foods gi\-en ducks are almost entirely soft, and the ex- crementitous matter is far more disagreeable in ever)' way , than that from fowls. There is no use to mince matters, and talk only of the delights of poultry rais- ing. Tlie woman who is raising poultry for pocket- money is not likely to have many men at her com- mand, at least until she has made pocket-money 122 enough to pay for their services ; and the natural habits of fowls, and the disagreealdeness of vermin and dis- ease may as well be looked at in a practical light, at the beginning. They will certainly have to be met. On one of the most successful duck ranches in this country, one whose name appears in every poultry paper, the regular feed consists of equal parts of bran and meal, with five per cent of feed ffour, ("Red Dog"), mixed with cut clover, so that the latter shall form one -fifth to one -third of the whole. This is sim- ply mixed with hot water, and is fed twice a da}^ to the old stock. Whole grain is never given. For the first week, this mixed food is kept before the young all the time, and afterward is given four times a day. At a week old, five per cent of beef scrap is added, and this is gradually worked up to twelve or fifteen per cent. More than this does not prove to be an advantage. Some have said that there has been more improve- ment in Pekin Ducks — the sort mainly used — in the last five j'ears, than in anything else except the White Wyandot. Formerly, more than half the meat was back of a line drawn up and down just in front of the legs. This meant much offal, and little breast meat. Breeders are working to reverse this; to get three - filths of the meat ui front of the line, so that there shall be less waste. The great amlntion of breeders of all sorts of live stock, is to produce the largest ciuantity of the best quality of product, with the least waste, and the largest net profit. It would be the part of wisdom for the fowl raiser to set this maxim well in mind, before beginning actual work. Breeders do actually set themselves at work scientific • ally to increase those parts of the frame which pro- duce the best meat, and to breed off those which are too largely waste. The great trouble with the duck in the past, has been that there was so much waste that house -keepers could scarcely afford to use it. The duck with a "keel" in front, is the modern, popular duck. The goose, considered as a money maker, is far in advance of most poultrj-, provided onlj' that one have sufficient range and water privilege for health and food purposes. The geese may simply be put out on waste pasture land, like cattle; but unlike cattle, they will utilize places that are swampy, and literallj' of no value for other purposes if they have also some high ground. The price of geese has kept up better than that of ducks, and when one has once learned the simple art of raising them, and of fattening them, she is mistress of a continual feeder to a slim pocket- book. Probably less capital is required for goose rais- ing than for any other branch of poultry work. There need be no buildings, and, in proper locations, few division fences ; and the fact that the same breeders can be used for ten or twelve j^ears, insures that there shall be no outgo for new stock, unless the business is to be enlarged. The geese must, however, be coloniz - ed, each colony consisting of about four specimens, and these can be taught where their homes are ; but these homes need be nothing more than boxes, two or three feet square. The birds will eat boiled cabbage, turnips, or potatoes, mixed with corn -meal, and may be fed corn once a day, but are very light eaters where they have plenty of pasture. Rape may be sowed to furnish pasture for them, %vhere this is lacking. Considerable difference of opinion has existed as to the best variety to raise for market. The Black 124 Africans, and the China Geese have their advocates. One of the most successful geese farmers saj'S that the African has always brought as much money per pound, while producing more pounds of flesh. The balance of favor, however, probably belongs to the IJmbden. Fattening geese for market is almost a business by itself. Indeed, in New England, lioth men and women are carrying on this business in a money -making way. Large numbers of geese are bought, and taken to a central point to fatten. Bare and dr}' orchard ground is considered the best place for them. They are al- lowed water and all the food they will eat, but no green stuff while fattening, as this changes the charac- ter and appearance of the flesh, making it yellow, and spoiling the sales. They are fed on a mixture of scraps and meal, stirred up with boiling water, with sharp sand added. They must be fattened before twelve weeks old, for green geese, as after this period they begin to shed, and will scarcely fatten till the end of the season. Stories are told of $75 to $80 income from one pair of breeders. Expert geese Ijreeders say that with care one need as soon think of losing a colt as of losing a gosling. A colony of four should give, with careful treatment, ninety goslings averaging nine pounds each, prices of which run from twenty -five to eighteen cents, usually. The number mentioned will bring in Over $35 to each goose, at the lowest price. But it should l)e re- membered that this is expert work. Good goslings have been raised on nothing but good clover rowen, soaked, and mixed with the mash. The eggs can be hatched in incubators, but they are really too large for the ordinary incubator, as they are brought too PAIR EMBDKN GEESE. 127 near the heat. It will not do to tr^r to hatch them in the same drawer with hens' egt;s, on account of the difference in size. The knack of the expert picker is a thing to view with admiration, but to strive after rather hopelessly. Years ago, when there was a general round-up of the whole family on the day for duck killing, sixty ducks was thought a good day's picking for a family of five. Now, expert pickers average from fortj' to sixty a day, each, and stories are told of occasional phenomenons who can pick 100 green geese or more in a day. At these latter stories, the knowing ones lift their brows. Mr. Pollard, of duck fame, told me that he had never yet seen a man who could pick sixtj' ducks in ten hours and do it well. This picking is an art, but it is an art practiced very differently from that of olden times. The birds are killed by sticking in the mouth, and stun - ning with a blow on the head, when the picker begins work at once. At his right is a box for the feathers, and near him, a bucket of water, into which his swift - flying fingers are freciuentl}- dipped. With the head of the bird held between his knee and the picking box, while its legs are held strongly with the left hand, his right hand slips up and down the carcass, back and forth, back and fourth, feathers and down apparently sticking to his fingers as they move. As your eyes follow along, you see the clear white flesh appearing, and before j'ou think he has begun, fairly, the specimen is picked clean! It looks easj', but after 3'ou have tried it, your admiration for the expert picker will grow apace. Sometimes, if there are many pin- feathers, the carcass is shaved with a sharp knife. TURKEYS FOR POCKET-MONEY. .^^■■•'HE story of many a woman's attempt at poul- / \ try raising is a story of disease, loss, and ^^i^ failure. It goes without saying that no pocket-money can accrue from these. Yet turke}- raising is a most tempting field for the woman who lacks pocket-money but has the run of broad acres, because it can be entered upon with almost no capital. One may raise turkeys with no buildings at all, and thus the chief call — for capital — is unheard in this line of the work It has been said that there is absolutely more money in turkey raising than in anj^ other legitimate business. This extreme statement certain] J' means that it is a money -making art. Yet it must be said that almost no other branch is so diffi- cult to those not wise in turke}' lore. The essentials to success, so far as the worker is concerned, are three : close observation, study of difficulties, and good judg- ment- Contrarjf to the general idea, good judgment is not so much a birthright as an acquirement. It is based directly, in a majoritj' of cases, ujion close observation and large experience. The stud}' of i^oultry raising, like that of most other tilings, consists in a study of cause and effects. The successful turkey raiser is the one who has studied the causes of fatalit}-, and learned how to avoid them. The losses in turkey raising are chiefly among the vtrx young poults. The causes of these losses ma\- be 129 roup, gapes, lice, dampness, close confinement, or bowel trouble. This last may come either from de- bility, or from injudicious feeding. "Debility" is a very indefinite term. Debility may be caused by inbreeding, by lice, by dampness, or by close confine- ment. Hence, in one sense, we might say that bowel trouble may be caused by any one of these. On the other hand, debility may be regarded as the cause, indirectly, of nearly all these fatalities, from the fact that it renders the bird an easier prey to whatever may attack it. Gapes and lice are among the worst enemies of young turkeys, but these maj^ be largelj- avoided by keeping the young stock wholly aloof from the rest of the poultry. This will apply partly, also, to roup. But roup may l)e a matter of contagion, or it may be merely a matter of quarters, and of condi- tions. Strong winds, following exposure to soaking rains, are the chief producing causes of roup, when the yards themselves are not low and wet. High and dry quarters, proper wind -breaks, and shelters from the long rains will usually keep the flocks free from this scourge. Suppose we put it that the requisites for success with turkeys are, first, good stock, second, good cooping and care, and third, correct feeding. Correct feeding is really of more im]3ortance than shelter, for turkeys, but it is placed third, because in the natural order of things, we look first to the stock, afterward to its shelter, and still later to its feed. What is good breeding stock, among turkeys? Only birds that have full vigor, sufficient age, and non -re- lationship between male and female, can be regarded as first-class breeding stock, if we consider merely how we can raise the most youngsters. Were we considering fancy points, also, the non -relationship 130 clause might l)e somewhat modified. The drift of circumstance far too often decides the character of the breeding stock. At earlj^ holiday time the early turkeys are salable at a fair price, the late ones un - salable at an}- price. The temptation is to sell the good ones, and let the later ones furnish the breeding stock for the following year. This stock will not have one of the three points named as requisites! It will not have age, maturity, nor vigor, and it will al- most certainly be related stock. The breeders should be certainly one year old, while if two or three years old> they will be l)etter layers, more vigorous, and more easily handled, if the owner has previously done her part. L,argest size is not important, though small birds should always be avoided. Medium to good size for hens, and medium size, with extreme vigor for the male, is the best choice. Turkey rearing is so universally the business of the women members of the family, that turkey hens are likely to be more or less tame. But this depends largely on how long they and their young are fed. It is quite important that the hens should be tame, as thej' are neither so likely to range so far, nor to nest in out-of-the-way places. I should prefer, for breeders, birds that had been raised with common hens, with a near-by range of their own, just a little aloof from that of the general stock of poultry. Such hens will lay in any barrels which j^ou may provide in near-by but sheltered places, and will endure handling, as the bird raised with wider range may never come to do. The lajdng and hatching seasons will fully test j'our previous care in many directions. If a turkej- hen has stolen her nest, she can usualli' be moved, with proper care, to an enclosed nest, to which she must be closelj' confined for two or three days. Fifteen eggs 131 are a fair average number for her to cover. She ni\ist be fed regularly, and furnished with a good dust-hath, which is to be kept dry. The practice of raising two clutches a season, one ^-ery early in Spring, tlie other hatched at Mid -summer, or later, may be greatl}' im- proved upon. It is far better to confine the hen for a few days when she first wants to sit. She will then begin laying again at once, and hatch her second clutch of eggs, the first ones being given to hens. Ail the birds thus brought off will be large enough for sale at holiday time, and they are likely to be more in number, than with Mid -summer hatching. Among those who succeed, there is much diver- sity of opinion as to cooping. Somehow, the young poults must be kept dry, as much dampness during the first few weeks means sure death to them. All agree that close confinement is almost as sure to be fatal as the dampness closely connected with free range. It remains, therefore, to follow some plan of compromise. Some care-takers confine the }'oung merelj' in a triangle of boards, for a week or two, leaving the mother free. Others confine the mother in a roomy, airy coop, letting the poults range freely whenever it is drJ^ By this latter plan, one has weather conditions under better control. But fresh air must be insisted upon. If a coop is to be used, only the roof and the side next the prevailing wind and rain should be solid. The others may be of lath, or of wire net. Absolute cleanliness is the price of success, and the coops must be moved often. The remaining factor of success, and a very impor- tant one, is judgment in proper balancing of foods. This is a point upon which, so far as I know, no writer has 3'et touched definitely, as regards their effects 132 upon the bowels. If the effects of conditions and foods upon the bowels are important things to study in connection with the care of the common hen, much more is this the case when we consider young turkeys. For the young turkey is, perhaps, the most delicate, and the most susceptible to bowel derangement, on slight provocation, of all birds commonly raised. It is almost universal for those who give directions for raising young turkeys, to recommend feeding hard- boiled eggs. Yet I have not the shadow of a doubt that the hard-boiled egg is responsible for half the failures in rearing very j-oung poultry, especially turkeys. Hard-boiled egg is an excellent thing, if properly used. We always use eggs, if we have them to spare. But egg, alone, is both too concentrated, and too constipating (constipating because concentrated, doubtless,) to be used as a steady diet, for any length of time. Balance it properly with foods of opposite characteristics, that is, foods bulk}' and laxative, and it is both safe and good. Look at the three foods verj' common]}- used for young turkeys — sour milk curds, hard-boiled eggs, and white bread ! Every one of them is constipating, not one of them has bulk. Is it any wonder that the young poults die if they do not have absolutelj' free range? The free range and the bulky green stuff which it affords them are their only salvation from the ignorant and untender mercies of their feeder. Do not consider this as in any sense an objection to the food mention- ed. It is by no means intended to be such. But it is a plea that judgment be used in balancing these foods with such laxatives as scalded bran, or any available green stuff, so that they shall forma common -sense dietary for the young stock. The same Ijroad rule of 133 feeding applies to the human family, and to the birds and animals under our care. Concentrated foods, usually highly nutritive, are also, usually, con - stipating. They must be balanced with bulky and laxative foods. It is a simple, general principle, easy to apply, and by it any woman may become a success- ful feeder of 3'oung stock, even in a line of work new and untried. There is some objection to the free use of bran, for delicate stock, on account of its being too coar.^e and hard, too decidedly laxative. There is also some force in this objection; but its force is mainh- lost if the bran be always scalded. Better than bran alone, however, is a mixture of part bran and part shorts. This shorts is from the laj^er of the wheat kernel next the bran. In characteristics and qualitjs it stands between bran and fine flour. Used in connection with bran, and other ground grains, it is almost a price- less food for young stock of every sort. If, for any reason, turkey poults must be raised is semi -confine- ment, this judgment as to the proper balancing of foods becomes an invalua1)le aid in their rearing. In the lack of other available material, green food will always suffice for this purpose. Lawn clippings and fresh young clover are best among these. One woman tells me that she raised a brood of young turkeys without loss, and by hand, up to six weeks of age, in an upstairs room, where they never saw the ground. The point upou which her success turned was a free and continuous supply of finely-cutfresli grass. This formed, really, the greater part of their food. Doubtless it will seem almost iconoclasm to mention anything out of the regular order as being good for young turkeys. It is a fact, however, that fine bone. or g-ranulated bone, makes an excellent addition to their feed. It adds to the size of the frame, and to vigor; therefore, to weight, and selling value. There are those, also, who contend that it is a good balance to the too laxative effect of bran and too much green food. Experienced turkey raisers are careful not to feed new corn in the Fall, claiming that it causes bowel trouble. Possil)!}' this is because it is still somewhat milky, and rather in the nature of a green food. This view is borne out by the fact that the use of half new corn and half old, together, has been found perfectly safe, even by those who could not use the new alone. Rhode Island growers use white northern flint corn, to give the 6ne flavor for which their fattened turkeys are famous. While there is an occasional period when the market takes large birds, it is a fact that medium - sized and well-fattened specimens sell most easily, and bring the best prices^ on the whole- This is a chief reason for the selection of moderate -sized birds as breeding stock. The fattening period in the Fall is sometimes found to be a critical one, especially by those who try to bring them through it in confine- ment. This they will not bear, even for a period of three weeks. It is much better to feed them liberally while on range for the last six weeks or two months. During late Summer, when insects are plentiful, a feed at night to l>ring them home and send them to roost with well -filled crops, is all that is needed. When the insect supply fails, and the sharpening weather brings sharpening appetites, increase the food supply up to a liberal ration, and toward the last let it be all the wliole corn they will eat. If they have attained proper maturity, by reason of early hatching, BKdNZE Tl'KKKYS. 137 they will fatten easily and well. This lieing the case, j'ou can afford to send them by cvprcss, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, to a commission man whom you know to be relial)le. Then, if there is anything to be made out of their extra plumpness, extra quality, and extra assorting as to size in iiackages, it will come to you, and not to the middle -man. Only make sure that your commission man is reliable, and just this extra money may be enough to pay the season's ex- penses ! SQUABS FOR POCKET-MONEY. _^^^ ROBAI^jLY there is not in the world to-day ■ ■^^ an industry more interesting to women and 11/^/ children than the rearing of pigeons. This, ^^ with reference to the birds themselves. If we add to this the affirmation that squab rearing is as remunerative as any legitimate business known, and that, compared with poultry, the ]n-ofit is greater while the work is less, it will be plain that here is something demanding the attention and study of the woman in search of jiocket-mone}'. Here, too, in- telligence, quick observation, and close attention to detail count so largely toward profits that the firight woman can out -strip all competitors. Little things make up the entire sum of the profits on ])igeons; j'et the littles count up so fast that little losses are fatally' cumulative; little feed Ijills startling in aggregates, but little profits also almost incredible when rolled u]) into the totals of a carefulh'-scanned, well-conducted business. A squab costs six cents to raise; if of third grade, its gross return niaj- lie f)ut ten cents. On the other hand, with the same cost, the gross returns may be twenty-five cents or more, if the squab grades as first class. These are ordinary market figures. Of some of the ]iossi1jilities, I will say a W(.)rd later. The unintelligent, the unobservant, and the careless 139 PEEPER, ONE DAY OLD. might about as well throw money into the street, as to invest it in pigeons with a view to squab raising. The statements here made are not true for them, but rather the rankest un- truth. The shrewd will jump at once to ques- tions as to housing, feed, and intelligent care. The pigeonry must be the first thought, as the birds must not only be confined usually, but confined under such conditions as to keep them in perfect health and thrift. It is safest, of course, to practice on a small number; yet, if shelters must be built, the propor- tionate cost will be so large at first, as to seem to preclude all thought of profit. The average person not used to business will persist in considering capital invested as a part of the running expenses, and insist on the flocks paying for it at once. This is not good business shrewdness. However, an old barn, if available, may furnish fair shelter for a begin- ning, and I consider that the parents who do not give their children a chance to squeakers, ten D.i^^ tLD. learn this fascinating and profitable occupation have done less than their duty. That is, of course, where the conditions are favorable; and where are they not favorable, on the farm or in the village suburb? It may be objected that the markets are not in these 140 SQUEALERS, THREE WEEKS OLD. places. Possibly not, but what of that ? Home markets can be made ; and the main point at this time is not profit, but education in a line of work that can be made profitable as soon as the learner has to hustle for himself. The "know-how" of profit- able lines of work is better than a fortune in hand to any boy or girl. The shelters for squab breeders should not be too cold, although the experienced can raise them in al- most any old shell of a building, as far north as New York City. The fittings are only nests, perches, and drinking and bathing fountains, a space of two square feet of floor being counted to each bird, with never less than twice as much room in the flight yards, in the open air. The flight spaces are best enclosed by 141 inch -mesh wire net, as this excludes sparrows, which are arrant thieves and fighters. The netting usually runs overhead, to the highest point of the roof. By far the neatest fashion in nest building, is the tier upon tier of veritable pigeon-holes, which remind us of our desks first, and may give us, a minute later, the first notion we ever had of the derivation of the word " pigeon-holes " as applied to such divisions. A movable bottom, something like the snow end of a snow -shovel, is slij^i'ied into the bottom of each di- vision, the strip across the front confining the nesting material, and preventing eggs from rolling out; these can be slipped out for cleaning or white -washing. Other nests consist of mere hollows in the bottom of the divisions. Still others, more expensive, and con- sidered the best, are earthen pans, four inches deep and nine inches wide. The largest pigeonry I have seen, carrying thousands of breeders, (and a most successful one) has detached nests, cubes in form, about twelve inches each wa^', open at the back, and also in front except for a four-inch strip at the bot- tom. These nests were hung against the wall, and could be instantly removed and immersed in a tub of whitewash, at any convenient tiiue. Two nests are necessary for each pair, as the birds lay again Ijefore the j'oung are ready for market. The nesting material is preferably tobacco stems in Summer, while salt hay is much used in cold weather. Straw furnishes a breeding place for lice, and is not used by the ex- perienced. Tl;e birds build for themselves when material is accessible. Some handlers of pigeons provide no nesting material. City markets n..'ver cease demanding- better products in every line. Will you provide what the majority 142 offer, or shall your pigeonry give the market birds twice and thrice as good as the ordinary, at a corre- sponding increase in selling value? As you answer this, j'ou answer the main question as to what your profits shall be. It will cost you more for your first instalment of breeders, but from these you can en- large, raising your own to increase your workers. The squabs which the general market now gets, will run, possibly, from half a pound to three-quarters each. The right kind of a bird may double these weights. The Runts are large, fine birds, but poor mothers. The Homers are good breeders and mothers. I think most of the commercial raisers use the Homer for half of the blood, but they despise the Runt. Per- haps she is despicable, but she can give of her best qualities to a cross. The Runt -Homer cross, using the Homer for the mother, gives a good squab; a cross of the progeny with Homer is a still further improvement. Then more Runt blood can be intro- duced. Squabs of this breeding are snapped up so quick that the general market never sees them at all. The Ijath is a necessity to the adults, and maj' be given twice a week in Winter, and every da}' in Sum- mer. A quiet manner is a great help in one's work among the birds, and it is well to let one person do the work regularly. Birds mu.'-t be mated properly, as when the mating is made, it holds for life. One person can care for enough l)irds to bring in an income of $l,5iJ(J. The feeding can not but be an important item, as upon this may depend the health of the Ijreeders, the grade of the squabs, and, therefore, the profits. Proper feeding is not all, but it is much. Still, there are many grains which can be used, a chief point being that they must not l>e new. Wheat, 143 cracked corn, hulled oats, millet, and kaffir corn, hemp, and peas are among the much -used feeds. Millet is excellent, wheat not an unmixed blessing, hemp mostly an appetizer to be used sparingly. If only one grain were available, perhaps cracked corn would come nearest to the requirements. The old birds are fed on a clean, sanded floor, and they feed the squabs as nature dictates. Hence, as is the mother, (as breeder and feeder) so we get nianj' or few, good or poor squabs, as a rule. Salt is con- sidered a necessary condiment, some using salt cod- fish in the pens. One hundred pairs may eat a whole one in three or four days. Prices vary at different seasons. The last time I inquired. No. 1 squabs were bringing twenty-four cents; No. 2, nineteen cents; No. 3, ten cents. The color and plumpness are chief factors in determining grading, and grading has a tremendous effect on the profits. Wheat, it is said, tends to make dark squabs, and is, therefore, looked upon with susjiicion, at least. The color will mostly depend, however, on the care with Vv'hich breeders are selected. Light -colored squabs are demanded. To get these, select birds with light bills and feet. Dark -legged birds are likelj' to produce dark squabs, but dark feathers need not throw out a breeder, if feet and bill are all right. For best prices, most markets ask that these fascinat- ing birds be killed, which is done in much the same way as with poultry. Besides the loss in weight which the squabs suffer in transit, which is large, the market offers five cents less per pair for the live birds. In a business of littles, this counts strongly. I think the Boston market is a little better than others for live 144 squabs. Add to this necessity for killing that the work is ver3' dirty, and you have the worst that can he said aliout squab raising. The great difficulties, and particular!}' so to the be- ginner, are invasions of lice and rats, diarrhea: as well as over-abundance of unmated birds, which must alwaj-s be carried at a loss. If a bird dies, the unobservant care-taker may feed its mate at a loss for months. The live, observant worker will notice the unmated bird, and strive to provide ic with a new mate. Every loss counts double, in the absence of one l)ird and the uselessness of the other of the pair. Lice are not a great burden if sufficient care is taken. Rats are a constant menace, and diarrhea is controlled largely by care as to feeding. Pigeon possibilities and pigeon averages are as far apart as those of any known business, possibly. The usual prices and weights have been noticed, l)ut there are breeders who are rearing squabs to weigh three and occasionally three and one -half pounds to the pair. Such birds have brought $6 and $7 per dozen. One man whom I know made, last year, clear, over thirty -five per cent on the cost, including interest on ])lant. This, too, a man whose business is not squab raising. This is but his recreation. One woman was making at the rate of $400 a j-ear within a j-ear of first taking up the work. I know one breeder of squabs, of exceptional quickness and grasp of work, who cares for over 2,00o pairs of birds and carries on a large regular business in another line throughout the Summer months, or ])rol3ably for eight months of the j-ear. HOMING PIGEONS. POCKET-MONEY POSSIBILITIES. SINCE these notes were begun, I have received many letters from women anxious to go into the poultry l)usiness. Three or four might lie regarded as typical of the whole. One was from a widow, with six small children, and un- able to make a living for them. She had $200 in money, and absolutely nothing else but her own ef- forts to depend upon. A second was from a woman with an aged father to support, who, according to her own story, had reached a point where she did not know where to turn, and who was so poor that she apologized for not enclosing a stamp, saying that she really had to take care of every penny. A third was from an office girl, barelj^ aide to keep up under some chronic trouble. A fourth, from a woman owning large premises, which she wished to turn to account in some way. Apparently, not one of these knew anything about poultry raising. It will be noticed that only oue of these four was in search of what, by any fairness, might be called pocket-money. What they wanted was actual liveli- hood. They had nothing to invest, but themselves, and unfortunately, this investment was needed else- where, in order to put bread in their mouths. I l)e- lieve it to be possible for a Ijright and intelligent 148 woman, who is able to work reasonably hard, to borrow money enough to start with, and if need be, to live on for a year, and still come out ahead. But I would certainly not dare advise any one of whom I know nothing to do this, and I would most earnestly commend all such to stud}' most faithfully the first two chapters of these notes. There is no doubt that the rosy ideas about poultry raising which are spread broadcast, and which represent the business as re- quiring no capital, or almost none, are responsible for this often pathetic rush toward poultry raising. But it must lie remembered that where there is no money capital, the worker is, herself, the real capital, and the same capital can not be invested in two places at the same time. It is more especially to people having small pieces of laud, or those on the farm, that pocket-money pos- sibilities open. We hear a great deal about the pov- erty of the poor, but after many years of experience among farming people, I am led to Ijelieve that there is more povertj' in the line of deprivation on everj' side on a very large proportion of our farms, than there is among the actual poor. These last have times of starvation and nakedness, it is true, but when they have work they usually have money, and this money is never saved for possible future times of dis- tress, but goes for clothes and finery, pleasant foods, and low theatres. " The poor " seldom know of the week by week, month by month, year by year deprivations of thou- sands of women on the farm. To go without postage stam]is, without finery, without books, without extra niceties of food which must be purchased, without 149 pretty furniture, without the great luxury of con- veniences, without the uplifting change and broaden- ing which travel affords, is a matter of course to an incredible proportion among farmers' wives. It is to these that I commend especially, the pocket-money possibilities of poultry. Their investments will he less, their successes greater, than those of any other class. Thejr have already a beginning for a hold upon the business, in the fact that the poultry-money is usually considered theirs, and that the}^ know some- thing of the work ; and I affirm that a thorough study of poultry in all its aspects, and a careful branching out may, in manj' Iiundreds of instances, open to them the possibilit}' of gratifying all their hitherto unfulfilled longings, of gaining the things desired in- stead of believing themselves forever destined to be deprived of them. Perhaps the one thing most desired by mothers, the world over, in these modern days, is a good education for the children. This education may settle, while yet in their teens, the question whether these children are to be day laborers and servant maids, or are to tread the stately homes of cabinet officers in our capi- tal city. With the single exception of health, educa- tion is the one thing that counts above all else in fitting out any worker. It opens all doors ; and this' education for the children, so earnestly desired, is one of the possibilities of pocket-money poultry. The means of travel are sometimes sighed for, but seldom expected, scarcely, even in the beautiful future " when our ship comes in," But it is easily within pocket-money possibilities, for with a little moneys one may travel a little, and with much money to 150 spare, one may travel far. This travel but adds to pocket-money possibilities in poultry, for she who is intelligent enough to raise poultry is intelligent enough to learn wherever she goes, and she may make her travel count for increase, rather than depletion of pocket-money, by visiting successful poultry plants, and city commission houses on her way to the relative to be visited, to the great library she would see, or to the mountains or shore. It may be objected, with some apparent force, that the woman on the farm has already invested herself in the work of the home, and that she will have no time to push the poultry business. This is largely true. But she will always find time to neglect some of the things that can be neglected for the sake of earning a little money all her own. Better than this, however, if she study the question well, and study to interest her children, and to teach them all that she learns about it, they will help earn their larger educa- tion while gaining an education just at home, which will not only fit them for money making, Init will make them much better all-around people, when they have reached maturity. The right kind of a mother, unless her handicaps be too great, has things right in her own hands, if she will but realize it. While it is a well-known fact that farmers are better read, as a whole, than any other class of peo- ple — that is, their wives and daughters are — I think it is also true that nowhere is the lack of books, and more books, so felt as on the farm. There is more time for reading, and less chance to buj' the cheap books now so plentiful in the large cities. But books, too, books in plenty, books that will aid mightily in 151 the family education, are a part of the possibilities of pocket-money poultry. And books are now so much cheaper than formerly, that it will take only a few dollars of profit on the poultry to supply this crying need in many homes. In the great cities at holiday time, scores of titles of standard books, cloth bound, can he bought at prices ranging from eleven to thirty cents. '^ POCKET-MONEY POINTERS. ^gW'N ORDER to be fully effective, perhaps the II assertions of the preceding cha]iter concern- II ing pocket -money possibilities, demand a few "pointers," as to ways of realizing those possibilities. I find that the women of the country are taking a very large interest in the poultry schools so lately established here. For those who are free to leave home, and who, not knowing much about poul- try, wish to try their hand at it, there is prol)ably no better investment of the first $50 than a course in a poultry school. A few weeks' time will cover it, and it is pretty sure to save the loss of many times $5''i, through blunders. The Winter season, when there is not much doing, is usuallj' selected for these brief courses, and they are crowded full of practical teach- ing and practical work. There may be more, too, in this study, than ajipears on the surface. More than the mere learning how to take care of the fowls. There are scores of able women in farm homes and small towns, who need only a filliii, as it were, to set them doing good work, and earning money in manj' a practical line. Perhajis the}' haven't sufficient confidence in themselves, and, noi having been trained, they do not know just how- to take hold of anything. The poultry' schools offer an opening for them. There is likely to be good de - 153 mand for the first graduates from these schools in may different directions. Teachers, working part- ners, and lecturers will be wanted. All women can talk, and those who can learn to talk acceptably to the public, and who have practical experience behind them, can find frequent openings as lecturers on ])oul- try, before Farmers' Institutes. Perhaps it would be feasible, also, for the woman who delights in cookery, to work up, and ]nish a lecture on cooking poultry, to use before granges and Farmers Institutes. But these broad and inviting paths are not for the average woman, nor even for the average among the most able of women. For most women are busied in making homes, and in those homes they must stay. But all who have some time at command may, perhaps, try the correspondence schools, toward which initiatory steps have lately been taken. The Pennsylvania Experiment Station, through its careful professor, George C. Watson, has opened a Poultrj- Corre- spondence Class, covering a line of thorough, ]iracti - cal work. One who studies this course, and takes its examinations, should have an excellent foundation for beginning in the poultry business, especially where pocket-money is the only object. Full chapters have been devoted to the more com - mon divisions of the work, such as ordinary fowls, ducks and geese, and turkeys. The business in squabs is assuming such proportions, and is so promising, that it, also, has been thought worthy of a chajiter to itself. Under certain special conditions, a line of work just coming to the front promises very good results. There is almost no literature on the subject; but with the demand for it, such literature will soon be furnished. The line of work referred to is the 154 rearing of pheasants. With the rapid increase of rich men among us, there is a corresponding increase in the demand for stock which is distincti\'ely "fancy." It lias become a fad for rich men to own large tracts of land, and to stock them with every- thing rare and beautiful among animals and birds. Almost no one in this countrj' knows anything about pheasant rearing, except a few men who act as mana- gers on such places. Yet there is a pretty good de- mand for birds to stock still other such places, and also to use for gunning purposes, for aristocratic clubs. I am told by one who rears pheasants bj' the thousand, that $36 a dozen is au average price for birds to supply this demand. I would not, by any means, urge anj' woman who may think she would like to trj' to raise these pecu - liarlj- taking little birds, to rush into pheasant rear- ing. The young are admittedly difficult to raise, and I do not think any one who did not fully understand how to raise common poultry would be successful in rearing 3'oung pheasants. But one who is thus grounded in the work, and who has either an ac- quaintance or a location among many men of means, might work up a very good business along this line. There are a good man}' ^•arieties of pheasants, most of which are extremely' beautiful. Moreover, the handsomer sorts are not always the most difficult to rear, as is so apt to be the case. The fact that the Silvers and the Japanese mate in pairs, and that most of the others take Init four or five females to each male, renders the market for the males proportionately better than is the case with almost any other stock. Add to this the fact that the male is the one that al - wavs wears the 1>eautiful garment, and it will be seen §4 iii*' AIR AFKK'AX CEESE. PAIR 157 that there will be no such difficulty in disposing of these males as one often meets in the case of domestic poultry, no matter how well bred. Perhaps the Silver and Golden Pheasants are the most common. Ring- necks are also comparatively plentiful, and are con- sidered among the most hardy. It might be thought impossible to raise birds so wild by nature, in anything like domestication, and with narrow range. But, strange to say, it is done right along, and some of them, in time, become al- most as tame as barnyard fowls. They must have covered runs, of fair size, but they are inured to all weathers, and need very little shelter. In one place, where pheasants are reared for the money there is in them, the shelters were nothing more than a few boards, so placed as to shed rain and storm a little. In the natural state, pheasants lay but few eggs. But if properly fed and managed, and the eggs taken away as laid, they will lay forty to fifty eggs each, occasionally getting as high even as sixty. The great difficulty lies in rearing the young up to twelve weeks of age. Bantam hens, or the lightest-weight Teg- horns or Games, are used for hatching the eggs, the bantams being jireferred. They will cover about nine eggs. A chief difficultj' seems to lie in the feeding. One who had often lost sixty per cent of the young, says that with the use of a patent cooked food for the first few weeks, the loss drop])ed to ten ]ier cent. With proper feed, I do not think they are so much more difficult to raise than turkeys. They need the same watchful care and good judgment. In the Winter the}' may be fed mostly on cracked corn ; toward Spring, some soft feed is used, mixed with potatoes, liarley meal, and a very little meat. 15S While Belgian Hares do not properly come under the head of poultry, they are so apt to be considered with it, and to meet the needs of the same class of people in search of pocket-money occupations, that a few words may not be out of place here. If one has, or can make a market for them, and possesses or can learn the secret of their rearing, there is no doubt that there is good pocket-money in them. It costs very little to start with them, and a pair or two, bought for the children's delight, may he th-e means of laying the foundation for pockets full of money later. I would urge that all who wish to trj' their hand at raising hares, should learn as much as possi- ble about them, before investing much. If for no other reason, in thus studying the subject, one often finds that which seemed an attraction, to be really a very repulsive thing; while sometimes the reverse is the case. Study of any subject we would take up, is always the best initial investment; for, always, and everywhere, knowledge is power. Advance kno'w 1 - edge saves one from foolish investment, from errors of working innumerable, from losses uncounted, and often, — a very important point to most folks, — from becoming a laughing-stock for the whole neighbor- hood. ^,-,, -6^ SUPPLEMENTARY FOOD SUPPLIES. <^ ^^f^ HII^E the grains, whole and gronnd, form A fl H the basis of food supply for all varieties ^Hr^Br ▼ of domestic fowl, it is scarcely possible to keep the birds in thrift without what I have termed " supplementaries" Indispensable among these are grit, charcoal, meat of some sort, and green food or its dry substitute. Fowls at large ma>', however, get along without the charcoal, and range will relieve the care-taker from the laborious supply- ing of green food. In the Summer, too, the Ijirds may secure their own supplies of meat, or an approximation toward their needs in that line. In Winter all the supplementaries named are truh' indispensable, and this is true during the whole year for j'arded stock. There is also another set of what, for want of a lietter term, may come under the head of " sujjplementary foods ' ' These are the various prepared , cooked , or con - dimented foods, and I might include also, stale bread, crackers, and popcorn. I mention these because some may have opportunitj- to secure them at a very low rate, j'et not realize that they might take the ]ilace of other foods. One of the most frequent questions that cotnes to an Institute lecturer is, " What do you feed?" This is a much harder question for a shrewd worker to answer, than for one less expert. This is because the sails are alwavs trimmed to the breeze then blowing. 160 In other words, the feed is seldom the same two seasons in succession. Summer and Winter feeds differ be- cause of season, and the rations may vary with the prices of farm products and manufacturers' supplies. The grains which are "cheapest" in money paid out are not always chosen ; but rather those cheapest when the amount of the precious protein which they contain is considered. If N. P. linseed meal is com- paratively' low in price, it will be used as freely as is safe, because it is about one -third protein, and will make up for the lack of it in corn, and also save part of the meat bill. If milk is very cheap, or a waste product, large quantities of curd will be used, for this, also, is rich in protein. And, while the shrewd poultry feeder will study continuously to keep down the feed bills, there will never be niggardliness when the good of the birds demands expenditure. First among supplementary supplies I place grit. You may argue that this is not a food supply at all; but it certainly accompanies the food as far as the gizzard, and plays a most important part in the assimi- lation of food, without which no bird can thrive. Those places where grit is not needed (not merelj' de- sirable but a necessity to the best thrift of the fiocks) are very few. And I am full}' convinced that the lack of a good sharp grit in abundant supply is the cause of much of the loss of young chicks on our farms, espe- cially where fowls have been raised for many j-ears. This is a part of the reason why the birds do better on fresh ground; such " grit " as is natural to the place being found on the newer range. Seldom, indeed, does it get any of the credit for improved thrift, how- ever . 161 For yarded fowls I am inclined to i)lace green food, or its dry snl)Stitute, next to grit in importance among supplementary foods. Cabbage is excellent, indeed scarcely excelled by anything except fresh clipped grass or clover, so far as the birds are concerned. But it has a few disadvantages ; it is not so readily kept through all seasons as is clover, and finickj' customers sometimes complain that the eggs are ill -flavored, when cabbage is used. Customers — buj-ers of our products — must be humored. One poultry raiser found a whole set of customers nauseated (in imagination) because it came out that horse meat was fed to the birds. Though cheap and good, this meat had to be discarded. Customers are monarchs, so long as they pay promptly and well; let us not forget this axiom. Cut clovers and clover meals come next to cabbage a,s important elements of the daily rations, and mangel wurzels are good for thrift, but have little influence on the egg yield. Mangels and the dry clovers (steamed) may be used in conjunction with excellent results. As a digestive and absorbent of unhealthful gases, charcoal ranks high. I believe it is lietter to let the birds use it as appetite dictates than to mix it with the food. Usually they eat it greedily, especiallj^ when young. But, as charcoal doesn't agree with all stomachs in the human family, it maj' also be that some birds are better without it. ISIeat meals and cut bone, while so necessary to egg production and so helpful to the growth of the chicks when properh' and carefullj' fed, are placed after those supplies already named for this reason, all those pre- ceding it have a distinct value as corrective, and aids to health. The meats, on the contrary, though verj- valuable, must be carefully used or they become a det- 162 riment to health. It does not take a very lon.2: course of over -feeding with meat to ruin the digestive appara- tus of any fowl. Slight indigestion first appears, in- creasing later in frequency and severitj' of attack. After a few weeks, the birds die, and the livers are found enlarged, or vari -colored. The best corrective to super-abundant meat in the diet, is abundance o green bulky food also. In the earl}' stages of indi- gestion, a few days' run on full range will ajiparently cure a j'arded bird. But the difficulty is only too apt to return upon the resuming of old conditions. There are "concentrated meals" which consist of grains, or meats, or both, with condiments to force still further the lagging es;'2; supplies, when meat used alone seems to be failing its end. There is everj' variety of cooked and compounded ration of grain products. There are biscuits and cookies and corn cakes. There are " teeth " for the growing chicks ; made, doubtless, of l)one, shells, etc. They may all be good enough in tlieir place, but are not always a wise dependence, and the}' are always a source of unneces- sary expense. The various n]ixed and cooked grains are mainly good, but j'ou can save considerable money by learning to do this compounding yourself. Some of these prepared foods come as high as six cents a pound, a jirice no poultry raiser can afford to pay for foods. Thej' are certainly a help (some of them, at least) in rearing chicks, for those who do not under- stand preparing food; but they liave little place in the rations of those who would rear " pocket-monej- poultry ", because they swell the feed bills undulv. For those who are in poultry for mere ])leasure, or for the fancier who has a sure market at high rates, they are a good reliance. 163 A good general rule to follow is to use no food of which you do not know the components. This will make you work and trouble sometimes, but will save you much money in the end. Why should j^ou pay more (for instance) for oats and corn in a dealer's mixture than you paj- in open market? Get the components, pay fair prices, and mi.x; them yourself if you want mixtures. Stale bread, crackers, and popcorn are ex- cellent foods to use in connection with ordinarj' grains, when they can be had at a low rate. But it is wise to make close calculations as to how far a barrel of bread will go, before deciding that it is cheap. Cooked foods of an^^ sort will help increase the percentage of chicks brought to maturit}^ ; but it is always to be remem- bered that free use of them will decrease the digestive capacitj' of the birds, rendering them less capaljle of digesting the hard grains uncooked. I have known of stale bread being sold at thirty-five cents a barrel. At a rough guess I should say that a Itarrel might con- tain 100 pounds; this would certainly be cheap feed. But bread is uncertain stuff to store, unless one knows how to handle it. If kept for any length of time in a damp place, it moulds; if in a dry place, it becomes almost as hard as stone. When very dry, it should be ground, as it is difficult to soak it sufficiently without getting it pastJ^ As good chicks as we ever grew were raised almost exclusively on crackers and wheat, but they had full range, and could supph' themselves with the dainties of the season. Referring once more to clover, let me urge all who rear chicks or keep poultry for eggs to study and ex- periment till they are familiar with all that clover maj' do for their flocks. It is always a cheap feed, always a wholesome feed, alwaj'S quite near the best ratio in its 164 solid constituents. More than that, by the addition of a little meat, clover, and the oft-despised Init allur- ingljr cheap corn, will form a g"Ood eg'g' ration. This one fact alone would be a very strong argument for a trial of its merits. On the farms, clover can be used without cutting, though at considerable waste. Or, if the size of the flocks warrants it, a clover mill can be bought, and the whole plant turned to account, in- stead of mereh' the fine leaves and heads. vSecond- growth clo\-er, fine of stalk, cuts and uses to better advantage than other, and green -cured is as much better than weather-browned or over-ripe hay for poultrj^ as for all other stock. Second -crop clover is said t(j be affected at times with a fungus which maj^ salivate, but I have not known of any case in which it made trouble with poultry. So strongly do I favor the use of clover for poultry' that I feel that I owe it an apology for classing it with supplementaries. PAIR WHITE WYANDOTS. THE POSSIBLE VALUE OF CAPON- IZING. (^^^^HE heading to this chapter implies a (|uestion £ I as to the acual value of cajionizing, which is ^^■r snre to raise an immediate connter-finesticm in the mind of the reader. What! Is not the enormous value of cai)onizing fuUj- admitted everywhere? If we stop to run over in our minds the sources of the information heretofore given to the public concerning capons, we shall realize that the'-e have been almost whollj' the dealers in caponizing tools. Such can hardly be expected, under ordinary conditions of human nature, to speak without Ijias. In considering our subject, we shall be brought face to free with two questions ; First, Will capons pay ? When this is settled, e^'en though it be in the affirmati^•e, we shall still ha^-e to ask, Does caponizing pay? And this may, under certain circumstances, find a negative answer. Some careful experiments have shown that the increase in weight of capons is by no means so great as the public generally has been lead to believe. Lot after lot, a portion of each of which were capon - ized, and brought on beside the rest in the natural state, have shown that it takes the capons several months to sufficiently recover from the operation to catch up with their former mates in size, and that they seldom reach more than from half a pound to a pound 168 greater weight than uiicaponized l)irds, of the same lots and breeds. The gaiti iti price over uiicaponized birds of the same age is a verj' tangible thing. The price of the capon is often double that of the other, and at times trel)le, while the uncaponized bird is at times barel}' salable, even at the lowest price. This sounds like a strong enough argument for the capon, l)Ut there are a good many things to be said which strengthen the other side of the (question. To lie sure, it is an advantage to place on the market tweh'e liounds of juicy, tender flesh, in the place of per- haps eleven pounds of dry and tasteless meat. But selling price is not the only thing to be considered. The cost of production is one of the essential factors in the study of the (juestion of ])rofit and loss. Capons have to be kept ten months. It will cost as much to produce one eleven -pound capon, as to produce two or three young chicks of the same combined weight, per- haps more. It is a (luestion whether the flesh of the ca])on is really lietter than the flesh of these younger chicks. My own experience and tastes would lead me to saj' that it is not so good. The younger chicks, if produced at the right time of the year, will l)ring as much per jiound as the cai)on, to say the least. It is a (|uestion, therefore, which nui\- 1>e fairly put, whether the ad\'antage of caponizing is a real, so much as an imaginary, one. It is because women are likely to be led oft' into side tracks and sjiecialties like this, that this chapter is given ]ilace. Women are, as a rule, familiar with the anatomy of the fowl ; they know themselves to 1)e deft-fingered: and if they have seen the price lists of capon sales, they are (|uite likeh' to think that here is a chance to make some money rather easily, if they can Init overcome their natural shrink- ing at giving ])ain . 169 It is not often necessary to do the actual work of caponizing- for one's self. In districts near the best markets, it is generally possiljle to find professional caponizers who go about the country doing this work rapidly and safely, at a cost of, perhaps, three cents a head. Three cents a head is certainly not enough to ]3ay any women for doing violence to her finer feelings by such work. Nor will it ever pay, in all senses of the word, to go deliberately into a branch of the poul- try business which necessitates the infliction of the maximum amount of pain upon living subjects. There are other lines of poultry work, which, if carefully- worked up, will pay as well, and be far more pleasant. vStill, as there may be some who will still believe that caponizing is a most profitable line of work; and as on farms, where feed is chea]:), vSumraer chicks ma>- be brought on in this way to a good degree of mone\- profit, we may gi^'e the subject a little further special consideration. There is a best time to make ca])ons, a best size of Inrd to operate on, a best set of tools to use There is, also, a difference in breeds. The Indian Game, a ^'ery close -feathered and hard -fleshed fowl, is difficult to operate u])on. The softer, looser-1>uilt 1)irds make the easiest subjects. The usual size to operate u])on is from one -and -a -half to two -and -a -half pounds. But, inasmuch as the larger birds do not seem to feel the operation so much, unless the combs have devel- oped, it is desirable to take them at not less than two pounds' weight. The best tools (at least we may snp- ])0se the}- are the best, as tliej- are generally preferred b\- professional operators) are known as the old Chinese tools. For the loops b_\- which the final operation is performed, nothing has yet been found preferalile to 170 horse hair. Perhaps the most profitable time to make capons is that which will bring them into the market in February, or later, as prices rise about this time, and continue rising until capons are out of the market for tlie season. Instances are on record of capons bringing thirty and forty cents a pound in Julj'. The large liirds are the desirable ones, but they should not be kept lieyond the age.'of ten or eleven months, as the flesh changes after this period. The fowls need to be prepared for caponizing in a way somewhat similar to that in vogue when they are to lie killed. But in the case of the bird to be capon - i/.ed, both food and water are withheld for twenty - four to thirty-six hours; or for forty-eight hours, if the work is all to be done from one side. This fasting empties the bowels, and relieves the volume of blood in the veins and arteries. This is an important point, for though the o])eration is a simple one, when deft- ness and skill have been attained, the slightest punct- ure of the artery which lies in immediate proximity to the testicle means the sudden and sure death of the subject. The appearance of the capon in market is certainh' not attractive. ( )nly the breast and back, a portion of the vvnigs nearest the liody. and the upper thighs are freed from feathers. The neck and saddle -feathers being large and fine, the tail small, the comlj unde- veloped, and the bead small, pointed, and somewhat feminine looking — these are marks whereby- the intelli - gent purchaser may know that the 'lirds offered are really cajjons. The ca]ions are dry-]iicked, and the mouth, legs, and feet washed before shipment. Thev are sent undrawn' t(j New York, and to some Boston dealers. 171 There is ahvaj's question in considering the matter of learning capon izing, as to the possible ra])idity with which one can work. While the novice might, and probalily would, spend a half hour upon the first bird, and then ])ossibly produce a slip, experts will do scores each hour during the whole day. One very sure and rapid worker caponized one Ijird per minute for three hours in succession ; his day's work being 450, of which not one per cent died. It is absolutely necessary to have good light, and for dark days, trials have been made of the head mirror, with reflecting light, such as physicians often use for examinations. Its use was found verj- satisfactory. Any one who is deft can learn to do this work by following the very clear instructions given in 1)ooks of directions, to I)e variously procured. It is nnicli better all around to use freshly-killed birds for tlie trial operation. Makers of caponizing tools furni.bh books with clear directions, and agricultural stations of some States .gi\'e free demonstration lessons io anv one within the State. The Rhode Island College gives lessons in ca]ionizing, in connection with its ]ioultry course, and also sends out, free, a book of instructions. The instruction at the scliool is given by one of the best experts in the country. Though it is said that the birds suffer little and recover very ciuickl^- it is safe to assert that the first statement will not be true of the woman who attempts to learn the work. At the end of the first lesson she will be sick from head to foot — sick of the work, sick of her bargain, sick of the whole chicken business. And it will be several da\-s liefore her stomach recovers its normal tone. Dollars and cents do not pa)- for these things, even when jiocket- mone}- seems a desjierate necessity.