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MAKING 
 HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 BY 
 
 KATE V. SAINT-MAUR 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE EARTH'S BOUNTY," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 STURGIS & WALTON 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 1912 
 
Copyright 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 
 By THE CROWELL PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 Copyright 191a 
 By STURGIS & WALTON CO. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1912 
 
 nO 
 
 £n a:-!142!>3 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Profitable Home :...,... 3 
 
 Poultry 13 
 
 The Sitting Hen and the Incubator 29 
 
 Raising Early Broilers 39 
 
 The Poultry Yard in Mid-Season 47 
 
 July in the Poultry Yard 53 
 
 A Flock of Turkeys 63 
 
 Ducks and Geese 71 
 
 Pigeons and Squabs 79 
 
 Poultry Ailments 87 
 
 The Vegetable Garden 95 
 
 The Hotbed 105 
 
 How to Grow Asparagus m 
 
 How to Grow Mushrooms 121 
 
 Six Good Vegetables to Grow 129 
 
 How to Plant and Cultivate Strawberries I35 
 
 How to Grow Small Fruits i43 
 
 How to Raise Perennial Plants 151 
 
 June Roses i57 
 
 Lavender and Herbs 165 
 
 Growing Watercress ^73 
 
 My Experience with Bees i79 
 
 Storing Fruit and Vegetables 187 
 
 Forcing Rhubarb and Asparagus I93 
 
 Raising Pigs i99 
 
 Caring for House Pets 207 
 
 Raising Canaries for Market . 217 
 
 The Business Side 223 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A Border of Hardy Perennials Frontispiece ^ 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 The Poultry Yard 48 / 
 
 A Flock of Turkeys 641 
 
 Ducks and Geese 72 
 
 A Corner of the Vegetable Garden 96 
 
 Mushrooms 122 '^' 
 
 June Roses 156 
 
 A Cellar Store-Room . . . :. . • :.,.,. . . .186 
 
MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 A PROFITABLE HOME 
 
 IT is just sixteen years since misfortune brought 
 about our emancipation. A disastrous business 
 venture made it necessary to curtail expenses. 
 Rent being an especially heavy item, the hunt for a 
 cheaper habitation commenced. Toiling up and down 
 innumerable stuffy staircases in tow of slatternly jani- 
 tors revealed the fact that cheap flats were either over- 
 crowded barracks redolent of dirty soapsuds and stale 
 cooking, or overdecorated cubbyholes where children 
 were tabooed. Evening after evening for two weeks 
 I returned home weary and discouraged. 
 
 Then chance, in the shape of a poultry show, came 
 to my relief. Instead of a cheap flat and semi-dark 
 rooms, why not a house and garden, where we could 
 have chickens, eggs and vegetables of our own? 
 Friends scoffed; and even my husband, who had al- 
 ways joined me in planning the ideal home of our old 
 age, as a place far from the noise and rush of the city, 
 where we could indulge our love of flowers and ani- 
 mals, demurred at first, though he eventually became 
 imbued with my enthusiasm, and told me to go ahead 
 
 3 
 
4 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 if I felt equal to shouldering the responsibilities whicH 
 city duties would obviously prevent his sharing. 
 
 He stipulated also that transportation to and from 
 his business in the city, and all other expenses, should 
 come within the newly necessary curtailment of ex- 
 penses, which limited rent to twenty-five dollars a 
 month and the housekeeping allowance to twelve dol- 
 lars a week; that none of our very limited capital 
 should be risked, excepting one hundred dollars to 
 cover expense of moving, etc., and that even this sum 
 should be considered as a loan. To satisfy the dear 
 man's cautious, masculine ideas of fairness, I took 
 twenty- four hours to consider the conditions, and then, 
 with solemn, businesslike gravity, accepted. 
 
 A painstaking advertisement in a Sunday paper, stat- 
 ing plainly that we wanted a small farm near the city 
 and a railway station, the rent not to exceed fifteen 
 dollars a month, brought dozens of letters offering all 
 sorts of places at all sorts of distances and prices, but 
 only six real answers. With the writers of these six 
 letters I corresponded; studied innumerable railway 
 guides ; took several fruitless journeys ; hesitated about 
 two or three places, then just stumbled upon the right 
 place. 
 
 It is like choosing a new hat or garment. You like 
 that one, but this one is more becoming. You sud- 
 denly see something else quite different — hesitancy is 
 over; the unconscious Ideal is found. 
 
 The house was long and low and white, standing at 
 the end of the road, facing a somewhat neglected, old- 
 
A PROFITABLE HOME 15 
 
 fashioned flower garden, which verged into five acres 
 of orchard bounded by a river. The man who was 
 driving me didn't know to whom the place belonged. 
 I got out, looked in at the windows, made out that 
 there was a wide hall through the centre and two big 
 old-fashioned fireplaces and a lot of odd cupboards. 
 
 Outside there was a wood-shed, summer kitchen, 
 small smoke-house, barn, cow shed, corn-crib and 
 chicken house. My original destination was forgot- 
 ten. I was driven back to the station ; found out who 
 the owner was, and where he lived ; drove over there, 
 and ascertained that the house contained four large 
 rooms and one small one, kitchen, pantry and two cel- 
 lars downstairs, and five rooms and an attic upstairs. 
 
 There are one hundred and eighty acres of land or 
 more, but the landlord would divide it to suit good 
 tenants, which he evidently thought we would, be, for 
 subsequently we arranged to take the house, buildings, 
 orchard, twelve acres of farm land and four acres of 
 woodland on a three years' lease, at a rental of fifteen 
 dollars a month, with the privilege of taking the re- 
 mainder of the land at any time during our tenancy 
 for an extra five dollars a month, and an option of 
 purchase. 
 
 Really, it seemed too good to be true, for it was 
 within the prescribed distance from the city and depot, 
 the price of commutation being only six dollars a 
 month. The river, the old-fashioned garden with its 
 two great catalpa trees shading the house, and the 
 beauty of the surrounding scenery, made it almost a 
 
5 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 realization of bur ideal home. Thankful joy filled 
 Dur hearts even before we had experienced the glori- 
 ous invigoration of an industrious outdoor life on the 
 farm, where each day brings some new interest. 
 
 All our goods and chattels, including two cats and a 
 canary, were packed in two vans, which took them the 
 entire twenty-eight miles for thirty dollars. A kitchen 
 stove cost thirty-five dollars; three wash tubs, four 
 lamps and a few necessary tools absorbed another 
 twenty-five dollars; and the last ten of the hundred 
 dollars was spent in straw matting, which we divided 
 between two bedrooms. 
 
 Of course, I had to start at the very bottom of the 
 ladder, buying only with the money that I could save 
 from week to week from my housekeeping allowance. 
 A few hens, a few ducks, gradually through the poul- 
 try family, then an incubator and brooder, to the dig- 
 nity of a horse and cow; after whose acquisition, the 
 home became self-supporting, the third year showing 
 a surplus profit. 
 
 Of course, there were difficulties and troubles to be 
 overcome, but they were all the direct result of my 
 own ignorance. A friend well posted in country- 
 home making, from whom I could have acquired vi- 
 carious experience, would have prevented most of 
 them. Hence my desire to pass on to practical lessons, 
 learned during the last sixteen years, for the benefit of 
 other women. 
 
 Our old-fashioned white house and shady garden 
 
A PROFITABLE HOME 7 
 
 might not appeal to every one, but no matter what 
 individual taste may demand in architecture and en- 
 vironment, there are certain points which must be 
 observed to insure the health and happiness which we 
 all desire. The house must be on high ground, with 
 good subdrainage. How to be sure of the latter point 
 puzzled me, until an old real-estate man, in answer to 
 my praise of a place we were passing, said : 
 
 " Handsome ? Yes, but it is a death trap. Dig a 
 hole six feet deep anywhere around the house, and in 
 twelve hours there will be water at the bottom of it." 
 
 Needless to say, this place was not on his list, but 
 the hint was a good one and has been remembered. 
 iWet meadows and spring ponds may give no anxiety, 
 but stagnant water is dangerous, for it breeds mosqui- 
 toes and malaria. Fortunately, it is generally easily 
 abolished ; an able-bodied man with a shovel can usually 
 dig a gutter to some near-by fall in the natural grade 
 of the land that will drain it. Mosquitoes were one 
 of our troubles for two years; then three hours* work 
 banished their breeding-ground. 
 
 As it is a permanent home, and not a summer camp, 
 which is being selected, shelter from cold winds is 
 important. The woodland on our place protected 
 barns, house and orchard. If there is no natural wind- 
 break, and the place is satisfactory enough otherwise 
 to make you contemplate buying it in future, it will 
 be wise to plant out quick-growing trees, which usually 
 can be bought for little or nothing in the country, and 
 
8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 transplanted when quite a good size. Inexpensive 
 country houses do not have furnaces, and like us, you 
 may not be able to afford one for a year or two. 
 
 We found that two large stoves, with the pipes ar- 
 ranged to pass through the ceiling and into radiators 
 in the rooms above, and thence into the chimney, would 
 heat four rooms. The pipe of the kitchen range can 
 be utilized in the same way. Stoves with cracks and 
 poor fire bricks waste fuel and warmth, so don't try 
 to economise on stoves. 
 
 iWe have always used an open hearth in the living- 
 room, because it looks so cheerily comfortable, and a 
 door at the opposite end of the room opens into the 
 dining-room, allowing the air from there to come in, 
 and so preventing the cold backs which are the usual 
 drawback of a picturesque open fire. 
 
 One of the joys of depending on stoves is being able 
 to regulate the heat in each room to meet all conditions. 
 Our apartment in town was of the better class, yet just 
 as surely as an extra cold snap arrived, so surely did 
 the heating apparatus get out of order. Another 
 horror was the " kling-kling " of the pipes in the dark, 
 uncanny hours of the morning, when every well-regu- 
 lated human being ought to be allowed to sleep in 
 peace. 
 
 Having plenty of wood, we used what are called 
 " air-tight chunk stoves " instead of coal, excepting 
 in the kitchen. And truly we have never experienced 
 any trouble in keeping the entire house hot in the bitter- 
 est weather. But we took precautions, such as keeping 
 
A PROFITABLE HOME 9 
 
 the putty around the window panes in good order. 
 We used sandbags on the ledges, mats at the doors, 
 and red building paper (which has no odor) or several 
 thicknesses of newspaper under the floor covering. 
 Then we opened most of the windows for a few min- 
 utes every morning, and let in fresh air. 
 
 People rave about the pleasures of the country in 
 summer, but I think city folks more thoroughly realise 
 the joys of a country home in winter. We found 
 something delightfully restful about the crackling log 
 fire on the open hearth, around which the whole family 
 could gather. There is a " hominess " about it that 
 can't be found by the side of a steam radiator. And 
 could any specialist prescribe a better panacea for a 
 business man's overwrought nerves ? There, I am let- 
 ting my enthusiasm for country pleasure interfere with 
 the practical help I set out to give. And even now the 
 joys of skating, sleighing and tobogganing have not 
 been cited. 
 
 Making the home comfortable in hot weather is a 
 very simple matter. A house has four sides — one for 
 each point of the compass — so open windows and 
 doors, and catch whatever breeze there is. Wire 
 screens are cheap; besides, care in not allowing gar- 
 bage and water to stand around the premises will 
 mitigate flies and mosquitoes. 
 
 If fate or your fancy has settled you in a new place 
 minus old trees to shade the lawn and porch, wire net- 
 ting and wild cucumber vines, which grow very rap- 
 idly, will furnish a substitute. For keeping provisions 
 
lo MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 I found a well-ventilated cellar better than the best 
 refrigerator. We take out the windows and replace 
 them with two thicknesses of flannel, which are thor- 
 oughly saturated with water. At noon time on a hot 
 day evaporation lowers the temperature several de- 
 grees, yet the current of fresh air is not obstructed, as 
 it would be with closed windows. 
 
 Well or spring water is usually refreshingly cool, so 
 an ice house is really not imperative, though I recom- 
 mend building a small one if the farm provides good 
 ice, for it is an inexpensive building to construct, rough 
 boards, sawdust and the ordinary handy man's labor 
 being the only requirements. We did not have one 
 for several years, but then we had a spring-house with 
 a stone floor and shelves, and a wide gutter running 
 all around, through which the water from the spring 
 was conducted, keeping the place almost icy. 
 
 Modern improvements are never to be found in in- 
 expensive country houses, so we found that a bath- 
 room or some means of taking an all-over scrub would 
 have to be constructed immediately. We bought a 
 full-sized tin bath tub with a wooden bottom for about 
 seven dollars, and placed it in the little room off the 
 kitchen. A piece of rubber hose was bound tightly to 
 the escape pipe of the bath tub, and carried through 
 the wall out into a box drain, thence to a barrel ten 
 feet from the house, which had no bottom, and was 
 sunk into the ground. From there, of course, the 
 water seeped into the subsoil and disappeared. 
 
 We thought it was very fine indeed at first, but later, 
 
A PROFITABLE HOME ii 
 
 when our ideas and finances broadened, we replaced it 
 with a porcelain enameled tub and wash bowl, with 
 properly soldered waste pipes into a tile-drain sink 
 three feet deep, to prevent freezing. 
 
 A pump over the kitchen sink had been the only- 
 water supply, but as that was drawn from a splendid 
 spring several feet above the level of the house, we 
 determined, when investing in a new bathroom out- 
 fit, to stretch the purse strings a little further, and 
 put in hot and cold water. A waterback was attached 
 to the kitchen stove, and a sixty-three-gallon boiler 
 attached. It cost twenty-two dollars and seventy-five 
 cents. The bath and basin cost thirty-eight dollars. 
 Fifty feet of one-and-one-half-inch pipe, seven dollars 
 and fifty cents. One hundred feet of half-inch pipe, 
 six dollars. Waste pipe, two dollars. Labor, twenty- 
 two dollars. 
 
 When a spring is not conveniently situated, an iauto- 
 matic ram and a cistern will have to be used, and I am 
 told that they would cost about seventy dollars more. 
 Even with the new arrangement of the bathroom, we 
 retain the earth closet, which had been bought some 
 time before, at a cost of twenty- five dollars. It stands 
 with its back to the outer wall, through which a trap- 
 door was cut, to permit the removal and replacing of 
 pans and earth. This is undoubtedly the most inex- 
 pensive and sanitary contrivance with which a country 
 house can be furnished. 
 
 The next comfort was a telephone, which cost only 
 eighteen dollars a year, including local calls, long-dis- 
 
12 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 tance calls, of course, being extra charges. That, with 
 the rural delivery and daily paper, brings us stay-at- 
 homes in touch with the great doings of the world 
 and the little interests of our friends. 
 
 We deserted the city in March, but experience has 
 taught me that the fall is the best time of the year in 
 which to migrate. There are not so many people look- 
 ing for country places; the days are bright and cool, 
 the roads in good condition, and there is much that 
 can be done in the garden and orchard to facilitate 
 next spring's work. By starting poultry in the fall, 
 one can have broilers ready to catch the early spring 
 prices. Moreover, it is the early chick that will make 
 a good layer the following winter. 
 
 In the following chapter we will carry the house- 
 keeping into the poultry yard, for that is the best start- 
 ing point for a self-supporting home. 
 
POULTRY 
 
 AS poultry was the stepping stone whicH enabled 
 me to reach the haven of a self -supporting 
 home, I naturally consider it the best founda- 
 tion on which a city woman can build her expectations 
 of rural prosperity. I suppose — and I certainly hope 
 — that every woman won't have to begin with just 
 two or three birds, as I did; but those who may have 
 to, should find my first six months' experience com- 
 forting. 
 
 Twenty-one mongrel hens were bought in three de- 
 tachments, costing fifty to seventy-five cents each. 
 They were nearly all old ladies with strongly de- 
 veloped maternal instincts, who delighted in sitting on 
 eggs and brooding chickens, so we managed to rear 
 one hundred and forty-eight chickens. We had from 
 three to four eggs a day for the table, because we 
 desired to keep only White Wyandotte hens in the 
 future, and eggs for hatching were bought from a 
 near-by farm, and cost altogether six dollars, feed for 
 six months cost four dollars, making a total outlay of 
 twenty dollars and fifty cents. Ninety chickens were 
 sold as broilers, realising twenty-two dollars, so the 
 actual cash profit was only two dollars. 
 
 But there was an increase in stock to fifty-eight 
 
 13 
 
14 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 pullets, all worth at least one dollar and fifty cents by 
 the end of the sixth month. By November 226. they 
 were all laying, the average number of eggs being 
 twenty-five a day, when strictly new-laid eggs were 
 bringing from thirty-five to fifty cents a dozen, a 
 record which I think truly justifies me in recommend- 
 ing Biddy as the pioneer factor in economical home 
 making. Even well-bred, industrious hens must have 
 good conditions and care to be profitable. 
 
 There are innumerable breeds and varieties of 
 breeds, the most popular at present being Plymouth 
 Rocks, Barred, Buff, and White Wyandottes, Silver- 
 Laced, White, Buff, Golden, Partridge, and Black; 
 Rhode Island Reds, which have a plumage somewhat 
 similar to the old-fashioned game bird, and vary only 
 in having both rose and single combs ; Minorcas, Black 
 and White; Andalusians, about the shade of a Maltese 
 cat, single combs; Leghorns, Black, Brown, Buff, 
 Duck-Winged, Silver, and White. 
 
 Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds are very 
 good birds and probably the latter would be my selec- 
 tion, if anything could persuade me to desert White 
 Wyandottes. The chicks of the three foregoing are 
 all strong and easily reared, but the Wyandottes make 
 plump broilers at a slightly earlier age, maturing per- 
 haps a week or two earlier than the others, which are 
 equally good roasters. I do not know that there is 
 any material difference in their egg-producing capaci- 
 ties. 
 
 Leghorns, Minorcas and Andalusians are much 
 
POULTRY IS; 
 
 smaller birds and are considered to be the egg ma- 
 chines of the hen family; but observation has con- 
 vinced me that they fall far behind the three heavier 
 breeds quoted during severely cold weather, when egg^ 
 are most valuable. Hence I always recommend 
 Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks 
 for general utility in the vicinity of New York or 
 further north, and the Leghorns, Minorcas and Anda- 
 lusians for the Southern states, especially when eggs 
 are the only consideration, and the birds can have free 
 range. One of the great drawbacks to the latter birds 
 is their ability to fly or climb over fences of almost 
 any height, while the 'Dottes, Rocks and Reds are 
 easily controlled in yards that are not over four feet 
 in height. 
 
 Whichever individual fancy or environment decide 
 you in keeping, be advised by one who has bought her 
 experience: Don't attempt more than one breed at 
 a time, and shun a mixed flock of nondescripts, for it 
 would tax the perspicacity of a Solomon to feed cor- 
 rectly a tribe of mongrels. 
 
 Of course, by pure-bred birds I don't necessarily 
 mean expensive prize winners. That would be foolish 
 extravagance. But all large poultry plants have what 
 are termed " market stock " for sale in the fall — the 
 progeny of aristocrats, but lacking some necessary 
 point for show-room honours. Such birds can be 
 bought for about a dollar and a quarter each, and will 
 answer every practical purpose. 
 
 Male birds need not be bought until about three 
 
i6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 weeks before the eggs are wanted for incubation. 
 Then, if your choice should have been Wyandottes, 
 Plymouth Rocks or Rhode Island Reds, each flock of 
 seven hens should be headed by a cockerel. Leg- 
 horns, Minorcas and Andalusians can run fifteen hens 
 to a flock. The male bird should be as good as you 
 can afford, for by such means you can gradually im- 
 prove your stock, until it reaches perfection. It is 
 safer to buy the cockerels from breeders far distant 
 from the original home of the hens, to avoid any dan- 
 ger of relationship. 
 
 Whenever new birds are bought, segregate them for 
 a few days in some small house and yard, tO' assure 
 yourself that they are healthy and fit associates for 
 your birds. Catch the birds, one by one, each night, 
 while in quarantine. Hold by the feet, the head 
 down, and saturate the feathers with some good insect 
 powder from an ordinary 'flour dredger. 
 
 The poultry house should be whitewashed about 
 every six weeks in hot weather, and as late and early 
 in the fall and spring as the weather will permit. 
 Scatter dry earth or sand on the platform; clean and 
 renew every day. Once a week paint the comers of 
 nests, roosts and any other fixtures or roughly spliced 
 joints in the building with kerosene oil and crude 
 carbolic acid, mixed in the proportion of one pint of 
 oil to half an ounce of carbolic. Leaves or what- 
 ever scratching material may be used on the floor 
 should be raked out once a week in hot weather. All 
 cleanings should be put into a heap under shelter, or 
 
POULTRY 17 
 
 into barrels, for poultry droppings are invaluable fer- 
 tilizer for the vegetable garden. 
 
 Dry, cold weather doesn't hurt the hens at all, but 
 after winter rains or heavy snow they should be con- 
 fined to the house, and unless the weather is excep- 
 tionally inclement, all the windows thrown open 
 between 9 a. m. and 2 130 p. m. Very stormy days 
 we keep them open only while the hens are busy 
 scratching for the noon supply of com. 
 
 It is the industrious, busy hen that produces the 
 most eggs, so the first consideration is to keep the flock 
 busy. We promote exercise by having the small yards 
 at the back of the houses repeatedly dug up during the 
 spring and summer. In the autumn the dry, falling 
 leaves are collected, and used on the floors of the 
 houses during bad weather. Fresh, cold water is 
 kept constantly before them in stone vessels in sum- 
 mer, and in a padded-box arrangement in winter. 
 
 Boxes of clean, dry soil are placed in sunny spots in 
 the house, to encourage the birds to take the dust baths 
 in which they delight. Hens, having no teeth with 
 which to chew their food, are dependent on grit to 
 perform the ofiice of mastication after the food has 
 passed into the bird's gizzard, where a sort of grind- 
 ing process takes place, which reduces hard com to a 
 digestible compound. Being near a stone crusher, we 
 buy the fine gravel by the load. Those not so fortu- 
 nately situated will find a specially prepared mixture 
 at any poultry-supply store, or the small flock can be 
 supplied by smashing broken crockery and glass into 
 
i8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 pieces about the size of hemp seed. Oyster shell is a 
 very poor substitute for grit, its value being the lime 
 it supplies for the formation of shell. 
 
 Fowls are better off kept in yards; in fact, they 
 must be so restrained if the highest egg records are to 
 be reached. In way back times, it was considered a 
 great detriment to yard fowls, but for some years past 
 professional poultry-keepers have yarded their fowls, 
 because they found it was the only way to reach the 
 top notch. Even now the general farmers still adhere 
 to the free range idea, and I am convinced that it is 
 not purely because they think it necessary, but it saves 
 feed and other bother. It has been estimated that a 
 flock of common dunghill hens, such as are seen in the 
 average farm, lay in a year less than a hundred eggs 
 each. The figures are eighty to ninety. Farmers 
 who have become breeders, and who thus give the hen 
 decidedly more consideration, and still adhere to the 
 free range system, have increased this yield to one 
 hundred and fifty and better. Breeders who have fol- 
 lowed the strictly up-to-date methods, and have 
 yarded their layers, have obtained an average of one 
 hundred and seventy-five eggs, and some have even 
 reached the two hundred mark. 
 
 Please note that I say fowls or hens, and I do not 
 mean this to include growing chicks. The line must 
 be distinctly drawn between the two. The range can- 
 not be too extended for growing stock. What we 
 strive for in growing chicks is frame, on which later 
 we intend to put flesh. This frame can only be built 
 
POULTRY 19 
 
 by food, and plenty of it, converted into bone and 
 muscle by exercise. After the chick has made the 
 frame, we can safely yard her and put on the flesh, 
 and thus convert her into a money-earning machine. 
 
 The advantages gained by yarding stock are mani- 
 fold. First of all, by confining stock to a certain 
 space, we are sure they eat the food provided and in 
 the quantity we mean them to have. Feeding layers 
 to produce eggs is becoming every year a more deli- 
 cate operation. Formula after formula is tried by 
 different breeders, as an experiment, with the hope of 
 increasing the tgg yield. If we can force each hen to 
 lay ten a year more, it means a considerable increase 
 of the total of the flock, and a better return in dollars 
 and cents to the breeder. Yarding stock is a means 
 toward this end. The food fed is converted, as we 
 mean it to be, into eggs, and not into muscle. It is 
 decidedly more troublesome to care for stock in this 
 way, and necessitates additional labour and expense, 
 but we are looking for the increase all the time, and 
 are thus continually hoping to be compensated for the 
 extra trouble. 
 
 Fowls in yards must be supplied with everything 
 they require, which means, all they would naturally 
 seek if running at large. This includes, besides the 
 grain we feed by formula, green food, meat, a scratch- 
 ing place and dusting spot, and grit and water. Of 
 all these I consider green food the most necessary, 
 and the one thing to be impressed upon the mind, be- 
 cause it is the one thing too often forgotten. Green 
 
20 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 food of any variety is acceptable. The ideal yarding 
 of fowls is what is known as double yarding — a 
 house in the middle and a yard on each side. These 
 yards can be sown with rye or oats, and alternated so 
 that the fowls will have a constant green run as long 
 as the rye or oats will grow, which is until frost. 
 Failing the double yard system, green food may be 
 supplied by lawn clippings, whole cabbage, clover hay 
 or sprouted oats, fed in a variety of ways. Turning 
 up the ground of the yards with a cultivator or by 
 shallow ploughing, will bring the worms and bugs 
 within reach, or sheep heads cut open and fed raw can 
 be thrown in, and this is an ideal meat food. Ground 
 beef scraps may be mixed in mash — and last, and 
 probably the best, cut green bone. 
 
 Yarded fowls need exercise. It must not be under- 
 stood that because they are confined they do not get 
 exercise, or as much as if let run at large. The yards 
 should be at least one hundred and fifty feet long, if 
 they are the width of the average coop, which is ten 
 to twelve feet. Some breeds are decidedly more 
 active by nature than others; for instance, the Leg- 
 horns as compared to the Cochins or Brahmas. This 
 does not afifect the health of the fowls particularly. 
 A Leghorn is no healthier because of her activity than 
 a Cochin is. It is simply the difference in their 
 natures, but because of this excess of activity of one 
 breed over another, the one must have more room 
 than the other. The Leghorn stands the confinement 
 of a coop ten by twelve feet in winter, provided she 
 
POULTRY 21 
 
 can be kept actively hunting for her food; but the 
 same bird would mope and become out of condition 
 if confined too long in an exhibition coop in a show 
 room. On the other hand, a Cochin, being of a lazier 
 nature, forages slowly, and wanders quietly over her 
 yard, takes things easy in the winter coop, and stands 
 the confinement of the exhibition coop excellently. 
 
 The foraging nature of any breed can be killed by 
 excessive feeding. Even birds with free range, if 
 overfed at special meal hours, will take but limited ex- 
 ercise, exactly as those treated the same way and 
 yarded. Exercise is induced by short feeding. In 
 other words, no laying strain should be fed all they 
 can eat except at night. Hunger induces exercise, 
 whether a fowl be let run or yarded. Therefore, 
 fowls fed short and induced to hunt for more, will lay 
 eggs, while those overfed, in the morning especially, 
 will sit around moping in the sun, and convert the 
 food into flesh instead of eggs. 
 
 Another advantage of yarded fowls is the certainty 
 of finding all the eggs laid every day, and then being 
 able to guarantee them as strictly fresh. This is a 
 point of great importance, and constitutes the differ- 
 ence between eggs produced by an up-to-date breeder 
 with yarded fowls, and those sold by the " honest '' 
 farmer who collects them wherever found, and cannot 
 swear that they were laid to-day, not two weeks ago. 
 
 The wise poultry keeper will not delay getting 
 things in order for the breeding season. New blood 
 is necessary to keep up the vigour of the flock. Buy 
 
22 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 the best male bird you can afford. The rooster is 
 more than half the flock. A good bird will grade up 
 young stock next spring. Remember even if you 
 have pretty good birds of your own rearing, there is 
 danger in inbreeding for more than one season. 
 
 Select only the largest, brightest hens for the breed- 
 ing pens. Reject any which have shown signs of ill- 
 ness at any time of their lives. The eggs are the main 
 point; only the best layers should be selected. From 
 seven to twelve birds are enough for one flock. If 
 you haven't the coops, or a long house divided into 
 compartments with accompanying yards, and can't 
 divide your birds into small flocks, adopt the alter- 
 nating plan. Keep several male birds in a house and 
 yard separated from the hens, and let only one run 
 with the hens at a time, alternating them every day or 
 every week, according to the number of hens. For 
 example, if I were compelled to keep fifty hens in one 
 flock, I would keep seven male birds, and let each one 
 in turn run one day with the flock, rather than allow 
 three or four birds to remain with the flock all the 
 time. 
 
 Now is the time to overhaul things. There is no 
 opportunity when spring comes, for then there is al- 
 ways a rush, and you will bring trouble on yourself 
 by using coops which haven't been properly cleaned, 
 or which have no fastenings, or have broken hinges or 
 leaks in the roof. The boys want something to amuse 
 them during the winter evenings; get them interested 
 in showing off their mechanical skill by making feed- 
 
POULTRY 23 
 
 hoppers and drinking- fountains. Self-feeding hop- 
 pers save a great deal of food, especially round brood 
 coops. They prevent the grain being spilled or tram- 
 pled into the ground or spoiled by thunder showers. 
 
 The brand of tea which we use in the house comes 
 in square pound tins, and these we convert into self- 
 feeders by cutting out two inches of the front an inch 
 from the bottom, and fitting a sloping false bottom 
 inside. Any handy boy can look at the picture of a 
 self-feeder in a catalogue, and make one that will be 
 just as serviceable. Pound baking powder cans can 
 have a hole the size of a pea cut about an inch from 
 the top, and when filled with water and turned upside 
 down in a two-inch tin pan make capital little drink- 
 ing-fountains for brood coops, and cost only five 
 cents for the dish, so there is no excuse for not having 
 plenty of them, and they save chicks getting drowned 
 or the water getting defiled, which is usually the case 
 when open dishes are used. Having all the little 
 things ready and in order counts for a lot in the spring, 
 when everyone has more work than he can comfort- 
 ably do. 
 
 At least two-thirds of the letters I receive are about 
 " mysterious " cases, nearly all of which are due to 
 the presence of vermin in the houses. Most of the 
 women who write seem to be horrified when they find 
 their hens infested by such pests, but my experience 
 has been that it is the nicely-kept, presumably clean, 
 house and flock which is apt to be the worst. Why, 
 is a puzzle, unless it is that women are apt to keep 
 
24 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 their fowls' home so tidily clean that one never thinks 
 of hidden troubles, and for that reason the house and 
 flock are never drastically attacked, as they should be, 
 with eradicators and preventives. And, naturally, 
 the hidden pests multiply undisturbed, and infest the 
 whole place before their presence is suspected. 
 
 Few people know that there are any number and 
 variety of pests which are difficult to discover because 
 of other secretive habits. For instance, there is the 
 depluming scab mite, which is a very minute, vicious 
 pest, that often causes hens to be accused of feather- 
 pulling, when in reality the poor things are only trying 
 to rid themselves of intruders who cause them positive 
 torture. When a bird is noticed to have bare places 
 on neck or back or body it is well to catch it and pull 
 out one of its feathers near the bare spot. Ten to 
 one you will find a scaly collection near a quill. Rub 
 it off on to a sheet of paper, and examine it under a 
 magnifying glass, and you wall discover that every 
 grain that looked like dandruff is a living mite. An- 
 other tiny atom, which buries itself under the skin of 
 fowls' legs, causes itself to be known as " scaly legs." 
 Many of the mysterious deaths can be traced to an- 
 other variety of the same family which attacks the 
 air-passages of the bird's throat, and occasionally 
 reaches the lungs. The affected bird gets drowsy, 
 mopes about for a few days, and at last dies from 
 suffocation, and people wonder what has been the 
 trouble. Then there are three varieties of fleas, so 
 dark in colour that they look almost black, which live 
 
POULTRY 25 
 
 in the soil, or in cracks and crevices of the poultry- 
 houses, and sally forth when hungry to feed on the 
 poor defenceless hen. One species of these crawls, 
 instead of hopping like the ordinary flea, so people 
 frequently make the mistake of thinking that it is a 
 plant insect which will not molest poultry. It is all 
 these unsuspected visitors which attack poultry at 
 night, rob them of their vitality, and the poultryman 
 of much of his profits. 
 
 Long ago, when I first started my poultry plant, I 
 found a recipe for liquid louse exterminator and a 
 worm powder published in some magazine recom- 
 mended by Dr. P. T. L. Woods, the great poultry 
 expert. The liquid is easily made, and very cheap. 
 Dissolve crude naphtha flakes in kerosene oil. Moth- 
 aline and naphtha camphor are two preparations put 
 up in packages, which can be bought at any drug 
 store, and would do as well as the flakes, if you have 
 any difficulty in getting them. A Boston firm puts 
 up a preparation with aromatic naphthalens and cam- 
 phor, in packages which cost twenty-five cents, and 
 is very good. One package dissolved in two gallons 
 of kerosene makes a good mixture to spray house, 
 nests and roosts. For the birds themselves, paint the 
 inside of a box with the liquid, and keep a bird in 
 it for from fifteen to twenty minutes. I had a box 
 made with a compartment one foot square, so that we 
 could treat six birds at one time. Near the top of 
 each compartment there is a hole large enough for the 
 bird to put his head through, and outside we put a 
 
26 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 trough which is shghtly raised from the ground, so 
 that the birds can just reach the contents. Fill it with 
 small grain, and they keep busy most of the time, 
 wdiich insures their not being smothered, and their 
 necks passing through the hole prevents the fume of 
 the wash escaping too rapidly. Of course, someone 
 must remain and watch the birds all the time; other- 
 wise there is the danger of the bird pulling its head 
 in and being suffocated. To be sure that the bird is 
 perfectly clean, fumigation should be repeated three 
 times, with an interval of three days after each. If 
 houses are kept clean and all new birds are thoroughly 
 fumigated before they are turned into the flock, it will 
 not be necessary to attack the whole flock more than 
 once or twice a year. Nests for setting hens are al- 
 ways swabbed out with the mixture, and brood coops 
 get a dose once a week. As soon as any hen shows 
 signs of, getting broody, she is dredged with powder, 
 which is well rubbed down into the " fluff " of the 
 "feathers; then on the tenth and nineteenth days she is 
 again well powdered, and from the time the chicks are 
 a week old she receives a dose of powder once a week 
 as long as she broods them. The recipe for the insect 
 powder is as follows: 
 
 To one peck of freshly slaked lime add half an 
 ounce of carbolic acid. Mix very thoroughly, and 
 add same quantity, in bulk, of tobacco dust. Another 
 powder recommended by Dr. Woods in the same arti- 
 cle, and which I have used very frequently, is made 
 by mixing equal parts of finely-sifted coal ashes and 
 
POULTRY 2^ 
 
 tobacco dust, then moisten the whole with the liquid 
 louse exterminator. Allow it to dry and it is ready for 
 use. When purchasing carbolic acid, ask for ninety 
 per cent, strength, otherwise they are very likely to give 
 you a much weaker preparation, fit only for medical 
 use. 
 
THE SITTING HEN AND THE INCUBATOR 
 
 LOOKING back over the memories of my farm 
 initiation, it seems as if I had not fully real- 
 ised the possibilities of my new undertaking 
 until the first incubator was inaugurated. As I have 
 already told you, I did all the first year's hatch under 
 hens, and still set every hen that evinces any desire to 
 assume the cares of motherhood, because it seems Na- 
 ture's plan to keep the egg machine in good working 
 order. If a broody hen is not allowed to sit, it takes 
 several days of incarceration to break up her desire, 
 then several days more after she is freed before she 
 commences to lay, and invariably the sitting fever will 
 attack her again within a few weeks. Now, incuba- 
 tion takes only three weeks; brooding of chicks, an- 
 other four or six weeks, and Mrs. Biddy has had a 
 complete rest, followed by vigorous exercise while 
 scratching for her babies. So when she is returned to 
 the yard she is in perfect condition to produce eggs. 
 Let Biddy sit whenever she wants to, but don't wait her 
 pleasure in the early spring, for you might have no 
 young chickens to sell when they bring good prices. 
 
 THE SELECTION OF THE INCUBATOR 
 
 There are a great many Incubators on the market, 
 some heated by hot air, others by hot water. If you 
 
 29 
 
30 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 select any one of the standard makes advertised you 
 will get a good, practical hatcher. Printed instruc- 
 tions for setting up and running are sent out with every 
 machine, but they don't emphasise all the important 
 points quite strongly enough for amateurs. Lots of 
 people can't drive a screw home accurately, and fail 
 to realise that if the head is slightly to the right or left 
 it throws the fixture which is being attached to the ma- 
 chine out of plumb, and a hair's breadth makes a dif- 
 ference when such delicate appliances as thermostatic 
 rods (the power which controls the heat), are con- 
 cerned. A blunder supplies much knowledge. I 
 should never have realised the necessity for absolute 
 exactness if one of the screws used in attaching the 
 lamp support to our second incubator had not gone 
 slightly awry. It caused the chimney almost to touch 
 one side of the socket into which it fits. That, in turn, 
 drew the flame to one side, and caused it to smoke 
 at night when turned up for extra heat. It was a very 
 little blunder, apparently, but it almost spoiled the in- 
 cubator, and quite spoiled the hatch. 
 
 To be sure that the incubator fixtures are plumb, 
 use a spirit level, the only safe guide. After starting 
 the machine, practise running it for a few days before 
 putting in the eggs. When the heat reaches one hun- 
 dred and two and one-half degrees, with the escape dial 
 hanging the width of a match from the opening, put in 
 the trays, which, being cold, will lower the heat, and 
 should close the dial until the trays become wann, and 
 the thermometer in the machine again registers one 
 
SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 31 
 
 hundred and two and one-half, when the dial should 
 once more be dangling the match width above the open- 
 ing. Should the closing and opening not take place 
 as the heat varies, the machine is not properly ad- 
 justed, and you must practise until it will bear the test 
 before putting in the eggs. 
 
 The thermometers are supposed to have been tested 
 before they are shipped, but it is well to buy an extra 
 one and compare them; or get your doctor, who is 
 sure to have an accurate thermometer, to do it for you. 
 The egg tester comes with the incubator. It is a tin, 
 funnel-like chimney that fits over the lamp, and has a 
 projecting opening, bordered with black, before which 
 to hold the eggs. The first test should be made on the 
 seventh day; the second on the fifteenth day. Hold 
 the tgg, large end uppermost, in front of the opening. 
 If it looks perfectly clear it is infertile and can be used 
 to feed young chicks. If it shows a dark-red spot 
 with spidery legs it is fertile, and must be returned to 
 the incubator. Dead germs are rarely discernible at 
 the first testing, except to the expert eye. By the fif- 
 teenth, the veriest amateur will be able to detect them. 
 
 Successful incubation depends principally on being 
 able to maintain the amount of heat and moisture nec- 
 essary at the different stages of development. A ther- 
 mometer is furnished with most incubators, but as yet 
 hygrometers are not, so it is advisable to buy one. 
 For as they only cost $1.50 each, it would be penny wise 
 and pound-foolish to do without one. Having these 
 two little instruments to tell exactly the amount of heat 
 
32 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 and moisture present in the machine, simpUfies the 
 work wonderfully. 
 
 Personally, I like to have the thermometer register 
 102 degrees, and the hygrometer 75, when I first put 
 the eggs in the incubator. The second week, the heat 
 is increased to 102^, and the moisture lowered to 70 
 degrees. The third week, heat from I02j^ to 103; 
 moisture not over 45 until the nineteenth day, when 
 the moisture is again increased to 55 or 60 degrees. 
 
 The reason for such fluctuation in the moisture may 
 need some explanation. During the first stages of in- 
 cubation it is necessary to prevent the escape of the 
 water which is part of the egg, as it is needed to keep 
 the albumen in the right condition for the development 
 of the germ. After the tenth day, when the embryo 
 is formed, the water should be gradually allowed to 
 evaporate, so that the amount of air inside the shell 
 increases, as it is needed to aid the circulation of the 
 blood and permit the growth of the chick. Increasing 
 the moisture again on the nineteenth day is simply 
 done to soften the inside skin of the egg and make it 
 easy for the chick to break through. 
 
 When extra moisture is to be supplied, place a pan 
 of wet sand or a damp sponge in the bottom of the 
 incubator. If the machine is standing in a very damp 
 cellar, the difficulty is often to keep down the moisture 
 rather than to increase it. 
 
 In this case, keep the trays out of the machine for 
 a greater length of time when you turn the eggs each 
 day, and open the ventilators. Probably the safest 
 
SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 33 
 
 and simplest way to learn how to gauge this im- 
 portant point of moisture, is to set a hen at the same 
 time that you start the incubator, and then compare 
 the development of the air-cell in the egg every few 
 days. If the development is too slow, open the venti- 
 lators at the side of the incubator wider, and air the 
 eggs a little longer each day when you have the trays 
 out to turn the eggs. Reverse affairs if the develop- 
 ment is too quick. It is better to run the machine a 
 degree or two above the given temperature than be- 
 low it, especially during the last few days. 
 
 After the morning of the twentieth day don't open 
 the incubator until the hatch is over, or until late on the 
 twenty-second day, and don't get nervous if the tem- 
 perature runs to one hundred and four or even to one 
 hundred and five; it is caused by the animal heat of 
 the chicks, and will do them no harm. Turning down 
 the lamp slightly will of course reduce the heat; but be 
 very careful not to let it run below one hundred and 
 three during the last twenty-four hours. Low tem- 
 perature prolongs the hatch, weakens the chickens and 
 makes them susceptible to all sorts of ailments. 
 
 Individual outdoor brooders I think are the best, for 
 in very cold weather they can stand in a light outhouse. 
 I used to monopolise the summer kitchen from Feb- 
 ruary to April, and then have them placed out in the 
 orchard. Placing an outdoor brooder under cover is 
 really only for the convenience of the attendant, for 
 they are storm proof. If you commence with an in- 
 cubator that holds one hundred and twenty to one hun- 
 
34 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 dred and sixty eggs you will require two brooders, and 
 if in a cold or Northern locality, some small house 
 which can be warmed during very cold weather, if you 
 propose commencing to incubate in January. A 
 brooder supposed to hold one hundred chickens will ac- 
 commodate that number comfortably for about nine 
 days, after which not more than fifty should be kept 
 in it. Hence the necessity for two brooders. When 
 the chicks are six weeks old in cold weather, and four 
 weeks old in moderate weather, they can be removed 
 to the small house (the temperature of which should 
 be kept at sixty degrees during the night). Remem- 
 ber, incubation takes only twenty-one days, so you must 
 allow at least three weeks to elapse before starting 
 the incubator a second time. 
 
 Give the brooder a good coat of whitwash inside 
 before using it. Cover the drum which furnishes the 
 heat under the hover with two or three thicknesses of 
 flannel, to make it soft for the little bodies to cuddle up 
 against. Cover the floor of the hover compartment 
 with a piece of old carpet or felt, and the outside com- 
 partment with sweepings from the haymow. Have 
 the heat running steadily at ninety-five degrees for sev- 
 eral hours before the chicks are to be put into it, and 
 keep it at that heat the first seven or eight days. Then 
 gradually let it fall to seventy-five degrees. Of course, 
 I mean the heat under the hover. The rest of the 
 brooder will be — and should be — several degrees 
 lower. 
 
SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 35 
 
 THE CARE OF THE CHICKS IN THE BROODER 
 
 Keep fresh water in vessels into whicH the chicks 
 can get only their bills in the outer compartment. 
 Never neglect seeing that they are all safely cuddled 
 up to the heat at dusk. 
 
 During the bright, sunny hours in the middle of the 
 day let the chicks have plenty of fresh air in the play- 
 room; at feeding time, when they are all busy, give 
 the hover compartment a thorough airing. 
 
 AVhen Biddy is doing the brooding, remember she is 
 pretty sure to need dusting with some good insect 
 powder. The nest box she sat in should have been 
 cleaned, and a handful of camphor balls scattered under 
 the hay of the nest. Moreover, each hen should be 
 dusted before setting, twice during the twenty-one 
 days, three days after the hatch is out, and each week 
 so long as she broods the chicks. 
 
 Fresh air, warmth and good food prevent many 
 troubles almost impossible to cure if once contracted; 
 so look to the little things. 
 
 Thirty hours must be allowed for the proper diges- 
 tion and assimilation of the yolk, which is absorbed 
 into the abdomen immediately before the chick breaks 
 through the shell. When Biddy has done the hatch- 
 ing do not move her to the brood coop for twenty- 
 four hours, unless she is flighty and keeps getting off 
 the nest, in which case it is better to keep the chicks 
 in a covered box by the kitchen stove until some more 
 motherly hen can be persuaded to adopt them. Al- 
 
36 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 ways try to set two or three hens at the same time. 
 Good hens that are well fed and have not been 
 bothered with vermin seldom give an}^ trouble about 
 the last twenty- four hours. 
 
 HOW TO DIVERSIFY THE DAILY RATION 
 
 Now about the all-important question of feeding: 
 For the first two or three days get ten pounds of rape 
 and millet seed, pin-head oatmeal and cracked corn, 
 charcoal, and fine, sharp grit. Mix all together. If 
 you cannot get pin-head oatmeal, buy hulled oats and 
 break them up fine. The grain must also be cracked 
 quite fine ; in fact, it is safer to put the mixture through 
 a sieve which will allow nothing larger than millet to 
 go through. Then there is no danger of chicks be- 
 ing choked. Feed the mixture by scattering among the 
 sweepings, to encourage the chicks to scratch and take 
 exercise. 
 
 Morning and evening make a mash by chopping a 
 hard-boiled cggy shell and all, green onion tops or 
 sprouts. Mix with stale bread crumbs, and feed on a 
 flat pie plate or strip of wood. After the chicks are 
 two weeks old the oats and corn need not be quite so 
 fine — more the size of hemp seed, which can be 
 added to the mixture; so can cracked wheat or barley, 
 and the mash can be made of ground corn and oats, 
 with onions and scalded liver, chopped, three times a 
 week (about a small cupful to a quart of mash)'. 
 
 What I mean by scalded liver is liver dropped into 
 a kettle of boiling water and let boil up once. Leave 
 
SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 37 
 
 to cool in the water. Quite raw it is too strong for 
 little chicks. For a change I mix the grain with scald- 
 ing milk two or three times a week. Never make more 
 at a time than will be fed within the next few hours, 
 as it sours. 
 
 Pot cheese is a favourite dish with all poultry, and 
 very wholesome. If there is any tendency to bowel 
 trouble, give them rice water in place of the drinking 
 water. 
 
 Keep brooders and brood coops clean and dry. The 
 grass around the coops should be kept cut loose, so 
 that the chicks can run about easily. See that every 
 coop is closed at night, and do not let the chicks out 
 while the grass is dewy. Don't give the hens too many 
 chicks to brood in winter, for if she cannot keep them 
 close to her they will die of chill. 
 
RAISING EARLY BROILERS 
 
 A DISTINCT branch of the poultry business, 
 and one that is extremely profitable for those 
 who can run it successfully, is raising young 
 chicks in the winter for early broilers. To commence 
 on a large scale requires as large capital, but there are 
 hundreds of men and women who have accommoda- 
 tions on their premises that would enable them to start 
 in a small way, and by investing the profits from the 
 first year they could obtain a really good equipment 
 for the business. 
 
 Of course, the real starting-point should be a good 
 flock of healthy hens, all of one breed, preferably 
 Wyandottes or Rocks, for really the hen who lays the 
 egg has as much to do with the success in broiler- 
 making as the care one may bestow on the business. 
 
 Next in importance is a well-constructed new incu- 
 bator. Don't be tempted to buy a second-hand ma- 
 chine, which has usually been allowed to stand in a 
 damp cellar or in some outside shed while not in use, 
 for it will in all probability warp or go to pieces when 
 put in commission again. 
 
 Brooders come third on the list, but are quite as 
 important as the two foregoing, for there is no use 
 hatching a chick unless it can be reared, and the heat 
 
 39 
 
4Q MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 and ventilation of the artificial mother is more than 
 half the battle. 
 
 The up-to-date broiler plant consists of an incuba- 
 tor-cellar, a nursery, or brooder-house, as it is usually 
 called, and a broiler-house. Both the latter are 
 divided into small pens, about two feet wide and five 
 feet long. In the nursery-house, the top ends of the 
 pens are inclosed like boxes to the depth of about a 
 foot and a half, and have hot-water pipes running 
 through them to furnish heat for the chicks to brood 
 under. A flannel curtain cut into strips falls from the 
 top of the inclosed part to divide it from the rest of 
 the pen, which runs down to the outer wall of the 
 house, where a large window lets in light and sun. 
 The pens should have board floors slightly elevated 
 above the main floor, to avoid dampness, and the divi- 
 sions are made with a foot board about nine inches 
 high, and one inch netting two feet high above that. 
 The brooder-house is divided in the same way, but the 
 hot-water pipes only run around the walls of the 
 house, as the birds don't need the immediate heat to 
 brood under, after they leave the nursery, when they 
 are five or six weeks old. 
 
 But, until you can afford the proper equipment, one 
 or two incubators can be run in the cellar of the house 
 or an unused room where there is no other heat. In- 
 dividual brooders can be used in place of the nursery 
 and brooder-house, if you have any light outbuilding 
 to stand them in. In fact, I like the individual 
 
RAISING EARLY BROILERS 41 
 
 brooders better for the nursery period than the pipe- 
 house system, because it is only necessary to heat as 
 many as are needed, and with the pipe system the en- 
 tire house has to be heated, even if you are only going 
 to use one section. 
 
 Most of the different makes of brooders on the 
 market are made with two compartments: A cham- 
 ber with a round hover, which is heated with a lamp, 
 and an outer compartment for exercise and feeding. 
 The average price is nine dollars, and the machines 
 are supposed to hold one hundred chickens, but 
 seventy- five are quite enough; and even that number 
 should be decreased to fifty the second week, and 
 twenty-five the fourth week — that is, if the chicks 
 are to be confined entirely to the brooder. But if it 
 stands in a warm room, where a small outer inclosure 
 can be made on the floor of the house for a playroom, 
 fifty chicks can be carried through to the squab- 
 broiler age in one brooder. 
 
 Chicks hatched specially for the broiler trade have 
 to be steadily pushed along; plump, juicy meat being 
 the main object. The first requisite is warmth. 
 Have the compartment in which the hover is situated 
 heated up to ninety-eight degrees before the chicks 
 are put in and keep it so for the first three days and 
 nights. Keep the door in the outer compartment shut 
 for the same length of time. On the fourth day it 
 can be opened and the chicks allowed to run into it, 
 but the room in which the brooder stands should be 
 
42 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 warm, and the little ones should be watched toward 
 bedtime, for they are apt to remain in the outer com- 
 partment and become chilled. 
 
 Being chilled even for a short time is fatal to young 
 chicks, for if it does not kill outright, it causes bowel 
 trouble and gives them a bad setback which will surely 
 delay the day of marketing, if nothing worse. After 
 they are three weeks old, the door in the outer com- 
 partment can be opened, so that they can run out on 
 to the floor of the room. Let them have plenty of 
 scratching material. If the weather is fine and mild, 
 it will do them good to let them have an outside run 
 for an hour or two in tlie middle of the day, but don't 
 be in a hurry to harden them before they are five 
 weeks old, for it is a risky experiment. 
 
 Wyandotte chickens when hatched will weigh two 
 ounces. If all goes well they should gain two ounces 
 during the first ten days; four ounces for the third 
 week; another two ounces in the fourth week, and at 
 the end of the eighth week they should weigh two 
 pounds. 
 
 The entire life of a chicken intended for a broiler 
 is so artificial that few if any of the rules for raising 
 ordinary chicks can be applied to them. The great 
 aim is to develop them as quickly as possible, for, to 
 get the best price, a broiler must grow quickly and be 
 plump. 
 
 Like all newly-hatched birds, they must have noth- 
 ing to eat for the first thirty-six hours. After that 
 commercial chick- feed (which is a mixture of all sorts 
 
RAISING EARLY BROILERS 43 
 
 of small seeds and cracked grains)' should be their 
 sole diet for ten days. 
 
 When there are only small quantities of chicks to 
 feed, and cash is of more value than time, it will be 
 cheaper to mix the feed at home. Take one quart 
 each of finely-cracked corn, bran and hulled oats; mix 
 iwith the same quantity of golden millet, rape, Kafir- 
 corn and very sharp, fine gravel, crushed charcoal 
 and finely-chopped clover-hay. Mix thoroughly, then 
 pass through a fine sieve, to insure there being no 
 large pieces of the corn or oats for the babies to choke 
 themselves with. For the three days they are confined 
 to the hover department, put a small pan filled with 
 the mixture in each corner and, instead of water, fill 
 a small drinking- fountain with milk which has been 
 scalded and allowed to cool. Leave it with them for 
 ten or fifteen minutes, at morning, noon and again at 
 about 3 :oo p. m. It must not be allowed to remain 
 all the time, because tlie heat from the hover will turn 
 it sour. 
 
 After they are allowed access to the outer compart- 
 ment, mixed grain should be scattered on the cut hay 
 (or whatever is used to cover the floor)' so that the 
 chicks will have to scratch which compels them to take 
 enough exercise for healthy growth. The plan is to 
 feed little and often. The milk can be allowed to 
 stand in the outer compartment, but the fountain must 
 be thoroughly cleansed and scalded every day. 
 
 After the tenth day, the door of the outer compart- 
 ment can be opened and the chicks given further lib- 
 
44 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 erty, if there is a stove in the building to warm the 
 atmosphere; but if there is not, don't let them out of 
 the brooder until they are four weeks old. In either 
 case their diet must be slightly changed after the tenth 
 day. Steam some of the chopped clover-hay — about 
 a quart — and add one pint of coarse corn-meal, one 
 pint of ground oats and half a small cupful of chopped 
 liver which has been boiled for five minutes (raw 
 liver is too strong for such young birds, but it should 
 not be boiled more than the five minutes). Feed once 
 a day at noon. Put the mash into two or three dishes, 
 so they can all get a chance to eat at once. Remove 
 any that is left at the end of ten minutes. If it is not 
 possible to get fresh liver, use one teaspoon ful of 
 beef-meal or any of the commercial meat preparations 
 which are ground fine. Continue to scatter the dry 
 grains three times a day. 
 
 When they are four weeks old, give mash twice a 
 day about 9 :oo A. M. and 2 :oo p. m., increasing the 
 allowance of meat slightly; and if you have plenty of 
 skim-milk, make cottage cheese and give it to them 
 as an extra once or twice a week. From the fourth 
 week keep a pan containing grit and charcoal always 
 before them. After they are six weeks old increase 
 the quantity of corn-meal in the mash, and corre- 
 spondingly decrease the ground oats, until all corn-meal 
 and no oats are being used. Also, stop steaming the 
 clover and mix it dry with the other ingredients ; then 
 moisten the mash in scalded milk in which suet has 
 been boiled (one pound of chopped suet to four quarts 
 
RAISING EARLY BROILERS 45 
 
 of milk). Boil for fifteen minutes. Feed it three 
 times a day — 9:00^ a.m., 12:00 m. and 3:00 p.m. 
 The last two weeks before killing, omit all the dry 
 grain ; feed nothing but mash, made as before, only as 
 soft as possible without being sloppy. Feed four 
 times a day all they will eat in ten minutes, but on no 
 account leave food before them longer than that, or 
 they will become satiated. Birds pushed along should 
 be in fine condition for market when from ten to 
 twelve weeks old. 
 
 Our broilers are never given water to drink, but 
 always scalded milk. Scalded milk invariably checks 
 any tendency toward bowel trouble and is also a strong 
 factor in making the flesh tender and juicy. 
 
THE POULTRY- YARD IN MID-SEASON 
 
 BABY chicks are so pretty, and appeal so strongly 
 to the sentimental feeling most people have 
 for infant things, that they are invariably 
 well cared for until they are deposed by new ar- 
 rivals, or reach the half -fledged, long-legged period 
 of gawky ugliness. Then they are almost surely neg- 
 lected, especially by the amateur, who does not realise 
 that the intermediate stages are of paramount impor- 
 tance. It is a waste of time and money to hatch 
 chicks and feed hens heavily in the winter, if they are 
 allowed to reach a standstill period during growth. 
 
 When chicks are eight weeks old, they should be 
 separated from their mothers, and the families di- 
 vided; the young pullets being relegated to colony 
 coops, in an orchard or partly shaded meadow, where 
 they will have extensive free range; the cockerels be- 
 ing placed in the semi-confinement of yards, as their 
 ultimate fate is the frying-pan, which necessitates 
 plump bodies, while free range would only develop 
 frame and muscle. 
 
 Our colony houses are six feet long, three feet 
 wide, thirty-six inches high in front, and twenty-four 
 inches at the back. They are made of light scantling; 
 the ends, back and roof being covered with roofing- 
 
 47 
 
48 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE, 
 
 paper, and the front, to within eight inches of the 
 ground, with unbleached musHn, which insures perfect 
 ventilation and prevents rain beating in upon the birds 
 when they are on the roosts, which are fixed a foot 
 from the bottom and nine inches from the back of the 
 coop. Two holes are made, nine inches apart, in the 
 middle of each end of the coop, and a heavy rope 
 knotted through them, to form handles. 
 
 The coops having no flooring, and the whole con- 
 struction being light, they are easily moved to fresh 
 ground each week, and so kept clean with little trou- 
 ble, an important item when there is a large quantity 
 being used. Having a large orchard, we placed the 
 coops in rows thirty feet apart, as two sides of the 
 orchard adjoin woodland, through which a never- fail- 
 ing spring-stream runs, so the birds have a splendid 
 range. 
 
 Twenty birds are placed in each coop. The first 
 week a portable yard, five feet long, is placed in front 
 of each coop so that the young chicks cannot wander 
 off and get lost, as they surely would in strange quar- 
 ters. During that time a self-feeding hopper and a 
 drinking- fountain are placed inside of the coop. 
 When the yard is removed, the individual vessels are 
 dispensed with, large drinking-tubs and feed-hoppers 
 being stationed midway between every four coops, to 
 reduce time and labour in caring for the birds. 
 
 The large hoppers are nothing more than boxes, five 
 feet long, two feet wide and six inches deep, over 
 which is placed an A-shaped cover, made of slats, one 
 
POULTRY- YARD IN MID-SEASON 49 
 
 inch apart, to prevent the birds getting into the box 
 and scratching the grain onto the ground, where it 
 twill be wasted. For water, five-gallon kegs are used, 
 with an automatic escape, which keeps a small pan 
 continually full. Both feed and water are placed un- 
 der a rough shelter, to protect them from sun and 
 rain. Using such large receptacles, it is only neces- 
 sary to fill them every other day. 
 
 Feed consists of a dry mash, composed of ten 
 pounds of wheat bran, ten pounds of ground oats, one 
 pound of white middlings, one pound of old-process 
 oil-meal and ten pounds of beef scraps, all well mixed. 
 In addition to that, they receive at night a feed of 
 wheat and cracked corn — two parts of the former to 
 one of the latter. About half a pint is scattered in 
 front of each coop, at about four p. M. 
 
 Grit is supplied in large quantities. Being near a 
 stone-crusher, we buy the screenings by the cart-load 
 and dump it in heaps on the outskirts of the orchard, 
 where it does not show, but is quite accessible to the 
 chicks. 
 
 On these rations, without any variation, the pullets 
 are kept until September, when they are transferred 
 to their winter quarters — houses twelve feet wide, 
 ten feet high in front, sloping to eight feet at the back. 
 Each house is divided by wire netting into twelve-foot 
 compartments, in each of which forty birds are kept. 
 
 Winter feeding commences as soon as the birds are 
 settled in their houses, and consists of the same mash 
 as when on range, except that ten pounds of com- 
 
so MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 meal is added, and, instead of the ten pounds of com- 
 mercial beef scraps, sixteen pounds of freshly cracked 
 green bone is used, and, in place of being before them 
 all the time, it is fed once a day, just what they will 
 eat up clean in fifteen minutes. 
 
 Until three years ago, we used to moisten the masH 
 and feed at eight o'clock in the morning. Now we 
 feed it dry, at 2 p. M. ; at night, wheat, cracked and 
 whole corn, scattered over cut straw, which covers 
 the floor of the house. The proportions are three 
 pounds of whole corn, one pound of wheat and two 
 pounds of cracked corn. The birds are always eager 
 for the whole corn, and, as they run about to pick it 
 up, the cracked corn and wheat get shaken down into 
 the litter, so they rarely get any but the whole corn at 
 night, which fills up their crops and keeps them warm 
 until morning, when the fine grain induces them to 
 scratch — vigorous exercise, which sets their blood 
 circulating and keeps them busy until 8 A. m., when 
 the drinking-fountains are filled up with hot water. 
 
 For green food we use Swiss chard, cabbage and 
 rape until frost destroys the supply, after which we 
 resort to clover hay, chopped and steamed. It is fed 
 at about ii a. m., a large panful to each compartment, 
 and at the same time a pint of wheat and cracked oats 
 is scattered on the floor. Sharp grit and oyster-shells 
 are always before them, and in very cold weather the 
 drinking-fountains are filled up again with hot water 
 at eleven and three o'clock. 
 
 If you have no orchard, or other partly shady place 
 
POULTRY- YARD IN MID-SEASON 51 
 
 for coops, it will be necessary to erect some sort of 
 shelters for the birds to rest under during the heat of 
 the day. Any sort of material or shape will do, so 
 long as protection from the sun is afforded. If free 
 range is quite impossible (as it often is for suburban 
 poultry-keepers), the birds must be given as large 
 yards as possible and supplied with lots of scratching 
 material, over which small grain must be scattered two 
 or three times a day. Fresh green bone will be better 
 than the beef scraps. Vegetable food is most impera- 
 tive under such circumstances. Sow a large patch of 
 Swiss chard; it is a true cut-and-come-again crop. 
 Oats and rape are also useful crops for poultry-keep- 
 ers who can give their birds free range through the 
 summer. 
 
 A word of warning: If you are reduced to cutting 
 grass, or use lawn-clippings, be careful to have them 
 cut into short lengths of not more than an inch, other- 
 wise the birds may become crop-bound. 
 
 The cockerels which go into the market-pen are 
 fattened and sold as quickly as possible, except the 
 few we keep for stock, and these are given large yards 
 and fed in the same manner as pullets on range. 
 
 For fattening birds, use ground corn and oats in 
 equal parts, add half a part of charcoal and moisten 
 with skim-milk. Give plenty of green food and sharp 
 grit. Feed little and often. All expedition must be 
 used in the matter of marketing, for every day's delay 
 after they reach the desired weight is a dead loss. 
 
 Constant culling and marketing is one of the great 
 
52 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 secrets of success. Culling must be observed just as 
 rigidly when selecting winter stock. Discard any 
 faulty birds. There are always some in every flock, 
 even if the parent birds have been blue-ribbon speci- 
 mens: Crooked tails or feet, ear-lobes which are red 
 instead of white, or white instead of red, according to 
 the variety you may be keeping. Wyandottes, Or- 
 pingtons, Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas or Cochins 
 should all have bright-red ear-lobes. Leghorns, Mi- 
 norcas and Andalusians should be pure white. It is a 
 bright, energetic-looking pullet which makes the best 
 layer, and it is not profitable to keep any but the best 
 layers, so put them into small pens and fatten. The 
 young roosters bring good prices in the fall, and their 
 absence from the farm reduces feed-bills and prevents 
 crowding in the house, which is always disastrous. 
 
 Do not delay, after September first, in getting the 
 pullets into their winter quarters, for it is most im- 
 portant that they become accustomed to their new sur- 
 roundings and reconciled to the change from free 
 range to semi-inactivity. It often takes five or six 
 weeks for them to become accustomed to the new con- 
 ditions, and, unless they have time to adjust them- 
 selves, they won't start laying until cold weather sets 
 in, which means that the egg-crop is likely to be un- 
 profitably delayed. 
 
JULY IN THE POULTRY- YARD 
 
 IT is strange that few people except the real poul- 
 try-farmers realise that July is one of the most 
 important months in the year. The desire to 
 have eggs in zero weather invariably compels good 
 attention to the hens during the winter. Baby chicks 
 arouse interest in the spring, but as the weather gets 
 warmer, eggs are plentiful, and the pretty, fluffy babies 
 developed into long, lanky creatures, who seem noth- 
 ing but a nuisance specially ordained to destroy the 
 garden, so the poor things are shut up in small quar- 
 ters and wo fully neglected. During the fall and 
 winter I am repeatedly asked how to make pullets and 
 hens lay, but I can rarely suggest a remedy, because 
 nine times out of ten it is the result of blunders made 
 during the preceding summer. 
 
 I don't believe in sacrificing the garden to the chick- 
 ens, but I do think they should be properly controlled. 
 A roll of two-inch-mesh wire netting five feet high 
 costs only about four dollars. At the price of eggs 
 nowadays a few dozen will pay for it. Posts can be 
 cut in the wood-lot on most farms, so a yard for a 
 good-sized flock can easily be made for less than five 
 dollars. The best plan is to run a division fence down 
 the centre, so the birds can be confined in one half 
 
 53 
 
54 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 alternately, for by such means a supply of green food 
 can be kept growing until frost. The ground should 
 be ploughed, and seeded to rye or oats, before the wire 
 is put up. If poultry is to be profitable, the old and 
 young stock must be kept apart, because it is impos- 
 sible to feed correctly when they are all together. 
 Young birds need plenty of nutritious food to push 
 them along quickly, and laying hens must be put on 
 special rations to bring about early molting, which is 
 the foundation of a good winter supply of eggs. 
 
 About July 5th commence to cut down the feed 
 gradually, until at the end of two weeks forty hens 
 are having only a pint of oats and a pint of wheat 
 mixed, night and morning. Scatter it amongst cut 
 straw or some litter, so they will have to scratch for 
 every grain. The first of August commence to in- 
 crease the rations, and keep it up for a week, so that 
 by the fifteenth they are getting two quarts of mash 
 in the morning, a quart of meat scraps and a pint of 
 cracked corn at noon and wheat and oats or barley at 
 night. Give them just about all they will eat up clean 
 in fifteen minutes. The morning mash should be 
 composed of two parts ground feed (corn and oats), 
 one part white middlings and one part oil-meal, mixed 
 with scalding milk or water. The semi-starvation 
 followed by the heavy feed forces the moulting season 
 and allows plenty of time to feather out and get into 
 condition before October, when their rations should 
 be made up of the essentials for egg-production, which 
 are clover hay, bran, wheat, corn and animal food. 
 
JULY IN THE POULTRY- YARD 55 
 
 You see, it takes about three months for hens to get 
 rid of their old feathers and put on a new coat, and if 
 the process is not forced in some way, they will not 
 commence before August, which would make it Octo- 
 ber be lore they finished. Of course that would be 
 time enough if it happened to be a warm, late fall, 
 but if cold winter weather sets in, as it often does in 
 November, hens would not lay before spring, as 
 moulting leaves them in a more or less debilitated con- 
 dition. 
 
 Lots of people make the mistake of selling off hens 
 as soon as they cease laying at this season, which 
 means that they are usually parting with the birds that 
 would make the real winter layers. Hens that lay 
 through the summer, and do not cease until the fall, 
 will be idle and unprofitable in the winter. It is the 
 general disregard of the moulting period which causes 
 so many failures in the winter supply of eggs. The 
 rule should be to sell off all the hens that have been 
 laying steadily through the summer and commenced 
 to shed feathers in September. Growing feathers is 
 a trying ordeal, and the consequence is that when the 
 hen begins to moult she ceases to lay, for she cannot 
 produce eggs and feathers at the same time. 
 
 Feathers are composed largely of nitrogen and min- 
 eral matter. That is why the food at moulting time 
 has to be so very nutritious. To feed nothing but 
 corn at such a time is simply waste, as the hen cannot 
 produce new feathers from such a diet. If she is on 
 free range she would have a better chance of gather- 
 
56 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 ing the necessary material, but even then, if the 
 feathering process is delayed too long, the hen becones 
 exhausted, and is susceptible to cold and all sorts of 
 diseases. This is the real reason why roup and 
 swelled head are so prevalent in the fall. 
 
 Young birds hatched out in April or thereabouts 
 usually commence to lay in November, because they 
 have not been subject to the drain upon the constitu- 
 tion caused by moulting. But chickens that have been 
 hatched in February or early March are very liable to 
 moult late in the fall, just when they should be com- 
 mencing to lay. For this reason it is as well to 
 market all the first-hatched chickens, and hold over 
 those hatched late in March or through April, to in- 
 crease the laying flock. 
 
 Cull all young stock down closely. Don't keep a 
 lot of young cockerels to eat up the profits during the 
 winter. Even pullets which are at all backward should 
 be marketed, for they won't develop after cold 
 weather sets in, and it does not pay to keep them 
 through for summer layers. Most of the failures 
 made in the poultry business are due to people not 
 having the courage to clean out non-productive birds. 
 Just calculate how many quarts of feed ten growing 
 birds will eat in seven months, and I think you will be 
 convinced that it is unfair to expect the flock to sup- 
 port them and still show a profit. The trouble is that 
 people don't realise that young stock stand still as soon 
 as cold weather starts, remaining almost stationary 
 until spring. Another evil of keeping undeveloped 
 
JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD 57 
 
 stock is that they occupy house-room and crowd the 
 older birds. 
 
 Now is the time to wage war on vermin, while the 
 bright days last; turn the hens out and have a good 
 housecleaning. Use plenty of hot limewash to which 
 kerosene and crude carbolic acid have been added. If 
 you have two houses, crowd all the birds into one for 
 a few days, and when the empty house has been thor- 
 oughly cleaned, commence to catch the birds at night, 
 and powder thoroughly. Use Dalmatian or the home 
 made powder in an ordinary tin flour-dredger, and 
 after shaking a good supply into the feathers, use your 
 hands to rub it well into the fluffy parts near the skin. 
 It is well to repeat the dose about three days after. 
 In thus doing house and birds at the same time, you 
 may be reasonably sure of having exterminated the 
 pests for a few months, at least. Remember to rake 
 up all the falling leaves, to be used for scratching ma- 
 terial. A bagful scattered on the floor of the chicken- 
 house once or twice a week will increase the egg-yield 
 and keep the birds healthy during enforced confine- 
 ment. 
 
 Before I forget it, let me remind you not to feed 
 new corn to the fowls. Every year, about this sea- 
 son, I get quantities of letters telling of good, fat hens, 
 the picture of health, which have been found dead. 
 Acute indigestion, brought on by eating unseasoned 
 corn, is the cause. So be careful. If your last year's 
 supply has run out, it is better to buy a few bags than 
 lose hens on whom you depend for winter eggs. 
 
S8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 Store all the cabbage or other green vegetables you can 
 before it is too late. Look the house over and stop up 
 all cracks and crevices. A draft from a small hole 
 may give one bird a cold which may develop into roup 
 and infect the whole flock, though an open- front house 
 with only muslin screens may be healthy. 
 
 About open-front houses, I don't believe in them 
 for laying stock. If I were going to carry a lot of 
 young birds or hens which will not lay until April, I 
 might adopt the open- front house as a matter of 
 economy, but not otherwise. I can't see what is 
 gained by them — that is, in cold latitudes. In the 
 South they are probably all right. We all know that 
 the great precentage of food supplied during cold 
 weather goes to keep up bodily warmth, and that if we 
 expect eggs in zero weather we must supply the hens 
 with sufficient provisions to nourish the body, gen- 
 erate heat and allow a surplus to be converted into 
 eggs. By providing tight, warm sleeping-quarters, 
 we save some of the food which would be used for 
 warmth in a cold house. Plenty of fresh air I do be- 
 lieve in, but everything likes to be warm during the 
 still, dark hours. 
 
 I have often seen the argument used that wild birds, 
 which have no houses at all, are always healthy. But 
 how often do we hear about numbers of birds being 
 found dead after a severe storm. What is more, wild 
 birds only lay during the spring of the year. When 
 man upsets Nature's laws to supply human wants, he 
 
JULY IN THE POULTRY- YARD 59 
 
 should stop quoting Nature's ways. Our present-day 
 hen, which lays, or is expected to lay, one hundred 
 and eighty to two hundred eggs a year, is a very differ- 
 ent creature from the wild hen, and she must be pro- 
 vided with better food, housing and care. 
 
 As of course you know, different food materials 
 contain different qualities. Some give us the fat nec- 
 essary for warmth; others, nitrogenous qualities, 
 which form flesh; still others, minerals, such as lime, 
 soda, etc., etc., needed for bone and muscle. All 
 kinds of animals, birds, and even human beings, re- 
 quire some quantity of these ingredients, otherwise 
 one part of the body or nervous system will be starved, 
 while another will be overfed. With the hen it is of 
 great importance that she have all these different in- 
 gredients well blended in her food, as she requires 
 them not only to sustain her in health, but also for the 
 formation of eggs. 
 
 We will start with the foods that give the greatest 
 quantity of lime, because it is needed for shell, and 
 some fractional part in the white and yolk, most essen- 
 tial, for it is turned during incubation into bone, the 
 very foundation of the chicken. Clover hay, linseed- 
 meal and wheat bran contain about six pounds of lime 
 in every hundred, and turnip-tops, carrots and all 
 grasses have a goodly percentage. Flesh comes from 
 nitrogenous or albumenal foods, first of which are 
 beef, linseed-meal, middlings, bran, clover hay, wheat 
 and skimmed milk. Fat and heat we get from car- 
 
6o MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 bonaceous provenders, among which corn and buck- 
 wheat lead, closely followed by oats, wheat, rye, clover 
 hay, linseed-meal and unskimmed milk. 
 
 Mineral matter ■ — lime, soda, potash, magnesia and 
 sulphur — is principally formed by the action of di- 
 gestion reducing the matter containing these ingredi- 
 ents to ash. The usual troubles assailing poultry on 
 most farms come from the feeding of only one of 
 these elements. Poor Biddy has all flesh and no 
 warmth, or all fat and no flesh. 
 
 Kill a bird that has- been fed on corn only, and it 
 will be heavy with layers of internal fat, but showing 
 a very poor depth of breast-meat. Balancing rations, 
 trying to equalise flesh, fat (warmth) and mineral, 
 is not a very hard proposition when the values of even 
 a few grains and plants are realised. 
 
 Having read so far, you will now realise that clover 
 hay, linseed-meal, bran, wheat, oats, beef scraps and 
 unskimmed milk contain practically all the equivalents 
 of summer foods; the addition, therefore, of corn, 
 buckwheat or rye in cold weather is safe and simple if 
 given only as warmth-makers. Never allow the pro- 
 portion to exceed what is needed for that purpose, or 
 fat will be made and stored, neutralising all your care. 
 In other words, the hen fed on corn only, in order to 
 accumulate the ten parts of flesh and twenty parts of 
 fat needed for the tgg, will be compelled to acquire 
 fifty parts more fat than she requires. 
 
 Green bone and water now alone remain for con- 
 sideration. The former is beyond doubt the best of 
 
JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD 6i 
 
 egg foods, qualifying as it does in nearly all the needed 
 elements. Many farmers scoff at the idea of having 
 to pay for a mill to cut up bone for chickens, yet the 
 same men will not grudge a hay-cutter for the horse 
 and cow. Green bone means fresh bone from the 
 butcher, which can be bought for about two cents a 
 pound. The mill to grind it ranges from eight to 
 fifteen dollars. 
 
 Green bone contains the natural meat, juices, blood, 
 gristle, oil and mineral matter in soluble condition, 
 which renders it easy of digestion, especially for birds 
 — almost all the components for eggs (white, yolk 
 and shell), in the most concentrated form possible. 
 So, if eggs are to become profitable, the bone-mill must 
 be kept going. When it is impossible to obtain the 
 green or fresh bone, the ground bone sold especially 
 for poultry can be used, though it is not half so satis- 
 factory, because the drying process it has to submit to 
 before grinding leaves little but the phosphate of lime 
 and earthy matter, which clover and bran furnish in 
 better form. At least half the egg is composed of 
 water, surely a sufificient reason for impressing the 
 importance of a generous supply accessible at all times, 
 in clean dishes, of a proper temperature, cool in sum- 
 mer and the chill off in winter. 
 
A FLOCK OF TURKEYS 
 
 THERE are six varieties of turkeys : Bronze, 
 White Holland, Bourbon Reds, black, buff, 
 slate and Narragansett. But the three first 
 are the ones most worth raising specially for market, 
 as they are large birds and the most popular varieties. 
 So it is easy to get good stock, to start with, which is 
 of paramount importance. 
 
 A trio of any one of the three varieties will cost 
 from fifteen to twenty dollars, and if only twenty 
 birds are reared the first year for market, they will 
 bring at least sixty dollars. That is placing the aver- 
 age weight at twelve pounds and price twenty-five 
 cents a pound. This is, however, absurd, when you 
 consider that young toms weigh twenty pounds and 
 pullets fifteen, feed could not possibly cost more than 
 ten dollars, which would leave thirty dollars' profit the 
 first year. 
 
 A successful turkey-raiser told me he had kept his 
 birds in yards for twelve years, so I felt safe in adopt- 
 ing the plan. I suppose I ought to have said in- 
 closures, for they covered about half an acre each. 
 The land was shaly, with a rocky background, but 
 there were plenty of clumps of scrub brush and ferns, 
 from the rocks to the top of the two acres they used. 
 
 63 
 
64 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 The ground sloped to the south; a spot of no earthly- 
 good for any other purpose, but perfectly ideal for 
 turkeys. 
 
 However, as our farm had no such place, I utilised 
 a strip of poor brush land which had good natural 
 drainage and made three inclosures, each one one hun- 
 dred feet wide and three hundred feet long. An 
 open-front shed twelve feet long and ten feet wide 
 was built in each. They were just rough shelters 
 built out of slabs and the only fittings were perches 
 made out of sassafras poles, none of them less than 
 nine inches in circumference. This is one of the im- 
 portant items in fixing a place for turkeys. Being 
 heavy, large-footed birds, they are uncomfortable and 
 positively suffer if condemned to balance themselves 
 on slight perches such as chickens use. 
 
 It took four loads of slabs to make the three sheds, 
 and they cost seventy-five cents a load at the sawmill. 
 Wire netting cost forty-eight dollars, perches and 
 posts were cut in our own woods, and the home help 
 did the work. 
 
 I got ten female birds from the Massachusetts farm 
 for fifty dollars and two toms from Long Island for 
 twenty dollars. We sent for the birds early in 
 December so that they should have time to get thor- 
 oughly at home in their new quarters before the laying 
 season. Before they arrived, the front of the sheds 
 was covered with wire netting, so that we could keep 
 them shut up at first, but after two or three weeks it 
 was removed and they were allowed the range of the 
 
A FLOCK OF TURKEYS 65 
 
 yards. The wire around the inclosure was only four 
 feet high and one wing of each bird was cut to prevent 
 them flying over it. 
 
 Early in March a half-barrel was secreted among 
 the brush, in both the occupied yards, so that the hens 
 would be accustomed to their appearance and, we 
 hoped, consider safe hiding-places for their eggs. 
 The plan answered splendidly. About the middle of 
 the month we commenced to keep a lookout for eggs 
 in the half -barrel and for stolen nests. When an egg 
 was found, it was purloined, and a china one put in 
 its place; ditto when the second egg was taken, but 
 after that, no more china eggs were dropped, for two 
 always seemed to satisfy Mrs. Turkey. 
 
 Unlike common hens, turkeys are not attracted to 
 a nest by an egg. In fact, they retain so much of 
 the wild bird that they will not adopt a nest that has 
 been used by any other bird, so never distribute nest- 
 eggs as decoys, but only as substitutes for those 
 abstracted. 
 
 The matter of feeding the old birds is of great im- 
 portance and is the rock most farmers founder on. 
 Too often the birds are left to forage for themselves 
 or, at the best, are given uncertain quantities of corn, 
 which means that they are miserably thin and dilapi- 
 dated or outrageously fat. In either case they lack 
 the components which the egg for hatching should 
 possess. Result, weak youngsters which are doomed 
 to die, no matter how much care is lavished on them. 
 
 I once heard an old poultryman say that the care 
 
66 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 of the chick must commence when its mother is 
 hatched. This may seem ambiguous to the amateur, 
 but it is literally a fact and one which my Massa- 
 chusetts friend had made me imderstand was most 
 potent when applied to turkeys. So our turkeys are 
 fed with special reference to supplying the ingredients 
 to be converted into bone and vigour in the birds to 
 be. Breakfast: Chopped clover-hay, steamed over- 
 night, two quarts ; corn and oats ground together, one 
 quart; beef-scraps, half a pint. At noon, one quart 
 of oats, Kafir-corn or barley scattered broadcast in the 
 yards. At night, whole corn when the weather is 
 very cold, but as it moderates in the spring the amount 
 is decreased and wheat is used in its place. 
 
 These are their regular rations from December to 
 April, when the beef -scraps and corn are entirely 
 omitted. Water and grit is before them all the time. 
 We buy screenings from the stone-crusher and, as it 
 is cheap, dump a lot into each yard twice a year. 
 
 I generally steal the first ten eggs from each nest 
 and set them under the hens. However many a 
 turkey lays after that, she is allowed to keep and hatch 
 them. It takes them twenty-nine days to hatch, and 
 large, motherly old hens should be chosen from the 
 chicken-house to do the incubating. It is not safe to 
 put more than five such eggs under an ordinary hen. 
 
 When the hatch is over, put the hen into a brood- 
 coop and, in front of it, put a box about nine inches 
 deep and large enough to form a yard for the babies 
 to exercise in. It is, of course, necessary to remove 
 
A FLOCK OF TURKEYS (>^ 
 
 part or the whole of the end of the box which joins 
 the front of the coop, so that the little ones can run 
 in and out. Cover the bottom of the box with coarse 
 sand and put a small drinking-fountain in one corner. 
 ■Thus the babies will have a safe place to play in the 
 first few days of infancy, when they must be kept dry. 
 After that the box can be removed and the coop moved 
 a few feet every day for the sake of cleanliness. 
 
 When Mrs. Turkey's brood hatches, we treat them 
 in the same way, only the brood-coop is specially made 
 and is much larger than the ordinary hen-coop. The 
 first feed the babies have is stale home-made bread 
 soaked in scalded milk, which is squeezed out of it be- 
 fore it is fed. Like little chicks, they must have 
 nothing for twenty- four hours, then little and often 
 must be the rule. 
 
 Never leave food in front of little turkeys, for they 
 are very apt to overeat. After two weeks they need 
 only be fed four times a day; after the fourth week 
 three times a day. After the first two days add a 
 little hard-boiled ^gg which has been chopped fine, 
 without removing the shell, and a few days later, 
 pin-head oatmeal and ground charcoal; about a tea- 
 spoonful of the latter to a cupful of bread and oat- 
 meal. 
 
 By the end of two weeks gradually reduce the bread 
 and increase the oatmeal, which should be cooked 
 about half an hour and allowed to dry out, so it is 
 easily crumbled when cool. 
 
 After the fourth week, ordinary ground oats, just 
 
6S MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 moistened with scalding milk, may be used. Half- 
 boiled liver, chopped fine, is the best animal food to 
 give. When that is not practicable, use the best 
 brand of commercial ground beef, one teaspoonful to 
 a quart of meal, because it is very strong and liable 
 to produce diarrhea, a disease which attacks young 
 turkeys almost sooner than any other young bird. 
 Watch carefully and at the first evidence of any loose- 
 ness of the bowels give boiled rice to eat and rice- 
 water or cold tea to drink. 
 
 Watch newly-hatched babies for a few days at feed- 
 time, for there is often one or more that needs to be 
 taught how to eat. This is especially so when they 
 are with common hens. But a little patience in crum- 
 bling close in front of them and coaxing them to pick 
 it up will overcome the difficulty. After they are 
 eight weeks old we take them from the hens and put 
 them into the thir^ yard, which is kept exclusively for 
 young stock. 
 
 At night they are driven into the shed, the front of 
 which is always kept covered with wire netting, so 
 that they can be closed in until they get accustomed to 
 roosting. Of course, the perches in this shed are put 
 nearer the ground and are much smaller than those 
 intended for grown birds. About October ist they 
 are allowed the free range of the farm and are fed on 
 corn at night and given all the milk they will drink, 
 to get them into good killing condition before Thanks- 
 giving, when they are all sold off, except perhaps a 
 few extra good ones, which we may keep for stock. 
 
A FLOCK OF TURKEYS 69 
 
 The old birds are also allowed free range from Octo- 
 ber until February, but they are fed in the yards at 
 night and are shut in so that they don't form any bad 
 wandering habits. 
 
 In buying stock, be generous and get the very best, 
 from some well-known turkey-raiser. Ordinary farm 
 stock is so apt to be inbred that, although the birds 
 may look all right, it is not safe to buy them for breed- 
 ing purposes, as a want of stamina will surely show 
 in the youngsters. 
 
 For the same reason it is best to get the hen-birds 
 from one place and the toms from another. If you 
 are going to keep Bourbon Reds or bronze, it is ad" 
 visable to buy half-wild toms. These are the result 
 of crossing wild gobblers with domestic hens, which 
 is done by large breeders to infuse new blood and keep 
 up the vigour of their stock. Personally, I like the 
 White Holland turkey best, as they are domesticated 
 and bear confinement well. 
 
 If you are only going to keep a few birds, say a trio 
 or five hens and a gobbler, large yards are not neces- 
 sary, but a shed over which netting can be put, should 
 always be set apart for their use, so that they can be 
 fed and shut up at night. Never, under any circum- 
 stances, keep any of the pullets you raise, unless you 
 change your gobbler. Don't let two gobblers run with 
 the flock at the same time. If you want to increase 
 your number of birds, you must either put up in- 
 closures or alternate the gobblers every two days. 
 
DUCKS AND GEESE 
 
 DUCKS are so profitable that I cannot under- 
 stand why so few keep them, unless it is the 
 mistaken idea that they must have a stream 
 or pond in which to swim. It is true that the old- 
 fashioned puddle duck did seem a miserable creature 
 out of water, but the improved strains are almost as 
 much land birds as chickens are. My stock started 
 with two ducks and a drake which had cost me seven 
 dollars. The first season I raised fifty-eight, sold 
 forty-six, and kept twelve to stock. They were ready 
 for market when eleven weeks old, and the lowest price 
 was eighteen cents a pound. 
 
 Ducks must have dry, comfortable quarters, but a 
 splendid house for twenty ducks can be made on any 
 farm for a dollar, or even less. One man who keeps 
 large flocks makes duck houses with hurdles of green 
 boughs for walls and roof, the outside padded with 
 leaves, straw, corn stalks or cedar boughs. Each 
 house is six feet by four feet and two and one half 
 feet high, and. accommodates seven ducks and a drake. 
 
 Dry-goods boxes, costing ten cents at any village 
 store, can be made comfortable for a small flock. 
 The main point is to keep them dry, which depends 
 almost more on the care given to the covering of the 
 
 7^ 
 
72 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 floor than the wall of the house. Good, dry bedding, 
 changed at least twice a week, will keep them warm 
 and happy through the coldest weather. 
 
 Ducks' eggs bring good prices during February and 
 March. You can easily get them to laying by then, 
 as it depends principally on feeding. Ducks, like geese 
 or cattle, must have a good percentage of bulk material 
 and green stuff, as well as concentrated grain feed. 
 Clover hay, or even mixed hay, chopped and steamed, 
 about half a pailful with a pint of coarsely ground corn- 
 meal and the same of bran mixed through it, is about 
 right. If hay is short, chop corn stalks small, and 
 steam. Chopped vegetables of all kinds are good, but 
 pumpkins, potatoes and beets are fattening; so, unless 
 the weather is very cold, omit the corn when they are 
 fed, using more bran or screenings in its place. 
 
 In the summer have the children gather plantain, 
 dock, groundsel or any other non-poisonous weeds. 
 Have sugar barrels ready, and pack in the weeds while 
 fresh. Get a heavy, solid board rounded off to fit in- 
 side the barrel, put on top of the green stuff, and 
 weight down with heavy stones. Pad up tight with 
 paper, sawdust, straw or any loose material, and re- 
 place the head of the barrel. When snow covers the 
 ground, such food will increase the eggs from both 
 ducks and chickens. 
 
 Oak leaves, acorns and pig hickories do not take 
 long to gather in the fall, and will tone up the appetites 
 of pigs, chickens and ducks late in January, when they 
 are getting tired of grain feed. 
 
DUCKS AND GEESE 
 
DUCKS AND GEESE 73 
 
 Imperial Pekin, Rouen and Indian Runners have 
 been the best market breeds of ducks for some years 
 past, and are still splendid fellows, both for eggs and 
 table, and their new rivals, the Buff Orpington ducks, 
 quite equal them as utility birds. 
 
 Ducks make such bad mothers that it is better to 
 hatch their eggs under hens or in incubators. The 
 first few eggs a duck lays each season are seldom 
 fertile. Eleven are a full sitting, and it requires 
 twenty-eight days for their hatching. Examine the 
 nest every two or three days after setting the hen, for 
 bad eggs. A weak germ that dies causes the egg to 
 decompose, and the odour once smelled can never be 
 forgotten. 
 
 Examine the nest when the hen comes off to feed, 
 and take away the eggs that are dark and mottled. If 
 you fancy an egg looks wrong, pick it up and smell it ; 
 that and its sticky touch assure you, for the egg is 
 porous. If you have been using an incubator to hatch 
 chicks you can test with a proper tester, and this must 
 be done all the time from the fourth to the fifteenth 
 day. 
 
 When the hatch is over at the end of the twenty- 
 eighth day, have ready a box about a foot deep and 
 three feet long, the top out and one end taken off. 
 Place the open end against the coop door, so making 
 a little run, with a board floor covered with an inch 
 of dry sand or earth. Baby ducks need even more 
 protection from damp than chicks; therefore, if the 
 weather is bad, keep the coop and run under cover, 
 
74 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 and if .fine, the shade of a tree is necessary, for the 
 little fellows can't stand the full sun. After a week 
 the hen can be removed, but keep them within bounds 
 on short grass, not letting them out until the dew is 
 gone. 
 
 For twenty- four hours feed nothing. First week: 
 Half a pint of rolled oats, some cracker or stale bread 
 crumbs, two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, half a 
 cupful of coarse sand just moistened with milk. Feed 
 four times a day just what they will eat in ten minutes. 
 
 Second and third weeks : Half a pound of ground 
 oats, the same of wheat bran, one-fourth of a pint of 
 corn-meal, the same of coarse sand, two tablespoonfuls 
 of beef meal, a pint of finely cut green clover, rye or 
 cabbage moistened with scalded milk. They must be 
 fed four times a day. 
 
 Fourth to sixth week : Boil a quart of hulled oats 
 for an hour, add a pint of corn-meal, wheat bran, half 
 a pint of fine grit, the same of beef scraps and a quart 
 of clover or any kind of green food. Feed four times 
 a day. 
 
 Sixth to tenth week: One quart of corn-meal, a 
 pint of wheat bran, a pint of boiled oats, a pint of 
 beef scraps, half a pint of grit, a tablespoonful of char- 
 coal and a pint of clover. Feed three times a day. 
 
 They should be ready to kill the eleventh week. 
 
 Do not let the ducks, young or old, get frightened 
 if you can possibly help it. They are nervous things. 
 No matter what you feed, if they are frightened or 
 made to run daily, they will not fatten. If you go 
 
DUCKS AND GEESE 7g 
 
 about tHem gently they are the easiest things to drive \ 
 
 any distance, for where one goes, all follow; hurry : 
 
 them and they will scatter, and it is good-bye to them \ 
 for hours. 
 
 The feed for those to be kept for stock is the same j 
 
 up to three weeks old, but from that on one quart of j 
 
 ground feed, one quart of bran, half a pint of grit and | 
 half a pint of beef scraps. Mix moist with milk, 
 
 water, sour milk or buttermilk, and feed night and ! 
 morning. If on a free range this is all they want. 
 
 If not, you must add clover or vegetables, and feed j 
 
 three times a day. Remember always to have fresh, I 
 
 clean water before them. 1 
 
 When ducks are ten or eleven weeks old they should \ 
 
 be in condition for market. Early green ducks should ; 
 
 weigh not more than four and one-half pounds, while \ 
 
 later ducks cannot be too heavy. As a rule early ' 
 
 ducks mature very unevenly, making it necessary to i 
 
 sort them over often. i 
 
 Ducks are fit to dress for only a short time. They j 
 
 " go back," as it is termed, for they shed and grow a j 
 
 new lot of feathers, which takes all the fat and all your | 
 
 profit. Hence the importance of turning them into J 
 
 money as soon as possible. I 
 
 In dressing it is most desirable to dry pick. Al- i 
 
 though some still scald, dry-picked stock sells better | 
 
 than scalded, especially when the market is dull, for it j 
 can be frozen, while scalded stock cannot. For dry 
 picking have a box for the feathers. It may be of 
 
 any size you wish on the ground, and should be of j 
 
76 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 such depth that the top edge is one or two inches 
 lower than your knee when in a sitting position. To 
 use for cooling the ducks, saw a coal-oil barrel in two ; 
 use one-half for cooling, the other half for clear water 
 to put them in after washing. 
 
 To kill, catch the feet in the left hand, and the neck 
 near the breast with the right hand, then with a swing-^ 
 ing motion (the same as in using an axe), strike the 
 back of the head against a post with sufficient force to 
 start the blood from the ears. Now with a quick mo- 
 tion place the body under your left arm, catching the 
 back of the head and the top of the bill in the left 
 hand. Using a knife with a five-inch blade, make a 
 cut crosswise at the base of the brain, then turn the 
 edge to the roof of the mouth, and slash outward, be- 
 ing careful not to split the bill. Let the blood run for 
 two seconds. 
 
 Sit down. Place your knees against the neck just 
 tight enough to keep it in place. If too much pressure 
 is put on, it will stop the flow of blood and give the 
 flesh a red appearance. Hold the feet and wings in 
 the left hand. Commence picking at the vent, then the 
 breast and neck. The feathers are left on half the 
 neck, and on the wings from the first joint out. Pick 
 clean as you go, for once the duck gets cold, it will be 
 hard to pick. Experts use a shoemaker's knife ground 
 thin, and strop it the same as a razor, to shave the pin 
 and small feathers off. 
 
 After picking, put them into ice water or cold spring 
 water until the animal heat is gone; then wash the 
 
DUCKS AND GEESE ^^ 
 
 feet, and wash all clots of blood from the mouth and 
 throat; then put into another vessel of water, which 
 takes all the stains off and gives a nice clean appear- 
 ance. After they are clean you can put them into a 
 barrel or box with crushed ice, and if left for twelve 
 to twenty- four hours in this condition they can be 
 shipped a long distance with but little ice. To make 
 dressed ducks show up good it is necessary to take 
 them out of clean water at the finish. The second 
 vessel should have clean water put in as soon as it gets 
 cloudy. 
 
 When packing for shipment, use flour or sugar 
 barrels. Pack with back down, putting the head un- 
 der the wing. Pack close, and leave a space on top 
 for ice. Raise the top hoop, place burlap on top, drive 
 the hoop on again, with the burlap under, and nail 
 firmly. Before using, the barrel should be thoroughly 
 washed. Bore two three-fourths-inch holes in the 
 bottom, to drain. 
 
 A goose will lay from ten to twenty eggs and then 
 want to sit ; but if you coop her in sight of her com- 
 panions, four or five days will sufifice to break her up. 
 If she lays a third clutch of eggs, let her keep them 
 and sit. 
 
 When the weather is mild, set five eggs under a hen ; 
 or, if she is very large, seven might be risked. It 
 takes from twenty-eight to thirty days for goose eggs 
 to hatch. As the skin is very tough, it is well to 
 sprinkle a little water around the nest, and even on 
 the eggs themselves, during the last two weeks, espe- 
 
78 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 cially if the weather is dry and hens are doing the 
 incubating. 
 
 The youngsters need nothing for the first thirty-six 
 hours. Then feed scalded corn-meal — the coarsest 
 kind — and wheat bran, chopped green clover or 
 young green oats cut fine, tops of green onions, lettuce 
 leaves or any tender young greens. 
 
 If the weather is fine, put the coop containing Biddy 
 and her family out on the grass, making a small yard 
 in front for the first few days, to prevent their wan- 
 dering too far away. Move the coop and yard to a; 
 new place as they eat the grass. Like young ducks, 
 their drinking water must be in a vessel that permits 
 them to put the whole beak into the water, or they are 
 apt tO' gQt the air passages clogged up with soft food, 
 causing the gosling to smother; but on no account 
 must they be permitted to get their bodies into the 
 water, as they chill and cramp so easily. 
 
 It is much better to buy two- or three-year-old birds 
 from a reliable dealer for stock than obtain eggs for 
 setting and wait for them to develop. After the 
 breeding season is over, geese and goslings need little 
 grain if on grass land. Late in the fall geese do well 
 if turned into the com stubble or the orchard, where 
 they will clean up all the windfalls — which does 
 much to stamp out grubs and insects. 
 
PIGEONS AND; SQUABS 
 
 WHEN pigeons are kept for squab-raising it is 
 one of the most profitable ventures in which 
 suburbanites or real country folks can em- 
 bark. The young are ready for market when four 
 weeks old ; the average wholesale price is three dollars 
 a dozen. Private customers will pay forty cents a pair 
 all through the winter months, and a good pair of 
 mature birds will raise two squabs every four weeks 
 for nine months in the year, which means that each 
 old pair of birds should provide one and one-half 
 dozen squabs, which will market for four dollars and 
 fifty cents. The cost of keep is supposed to be fifty 
 cents a year, but ever allowing one dollar a year, there 
 should be three dollars and fifty cents clear profit. 
 
 These estimates are made on good homer pigeons, 
 iwell housed and cared for, not common nondescript 
 birds, leading a half -wild existence, with only old- 
 fashioned shelter behind a row of holes high up in the 
 barn, where the nests are exposed to every storm ; be- 
 sides which, the young of mongrel pigeons only weigh 
 five or six ounces when four weeks old, and are so 
 scrawny and unappetising that they are difficult to 
 market at any price, whilst homers at the same age 
 3^eig;h from twelve to twenty ounces, and are white- 
 
 79 
 
8o MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 skinned and plump. The mature homers will cost 
 about two dollars a pair from any of the recognised 
 lofts, but it is no use buying elsewhere, for unless birds 
 are mated pairs, you may have another season wasted. 
 Pigeons are faithful creatures and remain in pairs for 
 years, and if an accident happens to one of them will 
 frequently refuse to mate a second time the same sea- 
 son. Young birds which are only paired at the time 
 of sale are likely to object to the mates chosen for 
 them, and proceed to exercise personal choice when 
 liberated amid a flock of strange birds. So be wise 
 and buy only from reliable experienced breeders. 
 
 The most convenient house for squab-raising is 
 built like a chicken-coop, about twelve feet wide, eight 
 feet high in front, sloping to six feet at the back, and 
 any length, according to the number of birds kept. 
 Have plenty of windows in front of the house, and 
 openings six inches square, three feet apart, all along 
 the back of the house about a foot from the roof. 
 Run a nine-inch board the entire length of the house 
 as a platform for the birds to alight on as they go in 
 and out, and it is just as well to have a similar board 
 just under the holes on the inside of the house. Put 
 up three or four perches near the front windows, so 
 that the birds can fly from side to side of the house on 
 wet days for exercise. 
 
 The number of birds which can be kept in each 
 house can be easiest estimated by the nests. Each 
 pair of brooders must be provided with nest-boxes 
 divided into two compartments twelve inches square. 
 
PIGEONS AND SQUABS 8i 
 
 They can be arranged In tiers all along the side, back 
 and front walls, and from floor to ceiling. Put the 
 first tier about eighteen inches above the floor, as the 
 birds don't seem to like the lower nests. Fasten small 
 perches about a foot long to the partition on each box, 
 for the convenience of the birds as they fly back and 
 forth, and when feeding their young. 
 
 Before the house is occupied, it should be thor- 
 oughly whitewashed, the floor covered with sand or 
 ground plaster, and earthenware dishes known as 
 " nappies," which cost one dollar a dozen, must be put 
 in, one into each compartment. Suspend a bundle of 
 cut hay in one corner of the house, as some birds like 
 to make their own nests, though others seem to think 
 that a handful of tobacco-stems, which it is well to 
 place in each nappy as a check to vermin, is quite nest 
 enough. 
 
 Drinking-fountains and feeding-boxes into which 
 the birds can only get their beaks are imperative for 
 pigeons, for they are most particular and w^ill not take 
 defiled food or drink unless positively starved into it. 
 Yet if they have open feed and water boxes, they will 
 scatter the contents all over the floor. There is a 
 galvanised-iron feeding-box costing one dollar on the 
 market which has seven openings, so that many birds 
 can feed at the same time. Water- fountains of the 
 same material are virtually indestructible, and cost only 
 fifty cents. 
 
 The yard and fly must of course be entirely closed 
 for pigeons, and should be four feet higher than the 
 
82 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 front of the house, so that the birds can use the roof 
 for a sun-parlour. We use four-by-four joists, cut 
 into twelve- foot lengths, for the front of the house, 
 as they can be nailed to the house and need not be 
 sunk into the ground, as those at the side and far end 
 must be. The joists for the sides and end are cut 
 into thirteen-and-one-half-foot lengths, which allows 
 a foot and a half to go into the ground. These meas- 
 urements allow the use of four- foot netting without 
 any waste. For a house twelve feet long, I think the 
 yard should be at least fifty feet. Erect several 
 perches at the far end of the yard, a platform about 
 two feet wide and four feet long on legs three feet 
 high in the centre of the yard for the bath-tubs to 
 stand on. Pigeons must have a bath, for cleanliness 
 is a necessity; a pan about two feet square and four 
 inches deep is the best size, and they can be bought 
 in galvanised iron for one dollar each. 
 
 Red-wheat, Kafir-corn, cracked corn, Canadian 
 field-peas, German millet and hemp-seed are all appro- 
 priate for pigeons. They should be alternated, or one 
 or two mixed together. Of course, sometimes one 
 grain is cheaper than another, or easier to get in cer- 
 tain districts, but don't use any one grain exclusively. 
 Pigeons must have variety. 
 
 We follow the rations recommended by W. E. Rice, 
 a very experienced pigeon-raiser. Morning: Equal 
 parts of cracked corn, Kafir-corn and wheat. Even- 
 ing: Cracked corn and Canadian peas. These regu- 
 lar meals are put into the feed-boxes in quantity 
 
PIGEONS AND SQUABS 83 
 
 sufficient to insure the birds having a constant supply. 
 Treats which we feed at odd times, such as millet, 
 hemp and rice, are thrown on the ground, for, as they 
 are only fed in comparatively small quantities, they 
 are eaten up at once, and so there is no danger of their 
 being soiled. Remember always to buy red, not white, 
 wheat, for the latter is very apt to cause diarrhea. 
 
 Once a week we give them a meal of stale bread 
 which has been steeped in skim-milk and squeezed al- 
 most dry again, for we have lots of skim-milk, and the 
 bread we get from a baker in the town for twenty- 
 five cents a barrel. Freight costs another twenty- 
 five cents, but even at fifty cents a barrel we find it 
 an economical feed when there are a lot of squabs to 
 be fattened for the market. 
 
 The parent birds take all the trouble and respon- 
 sibility of feeding and raising the young right up to 
 the time they are ready for market. The hen-bird 
 lays two eggs, with one day intervening, which take 
 eighteen days to incubate. After the eggs are 
 hatched, both birds devote their entire energies to feed- 
 ing the youngsters for about two weeks, for both 
 have the power to secrete the predigested substance 
 often called pigeon's milk, on which nestlings are ex- 
 clusively fed for the first few days. At the end of 
 two weeks the hen has usually laid two more eggs in 
 the second nest, so that by the time the squabs in the 
 first nest are ready for market, the second eggs are 
 ready to hatch. It is this double family which neces- 
 sitates two nests for each pair of birds. 
 
84 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 Cleanliness is even more imperative in the pigeon- 
 house than in the hen-house. Never neglect to scald 
 out the earthenware nest, and whitewash the compart- 
 ment it stands in, every time squabs are removed for 
 market, for it is only by such rigid system that the 
 place can be kept in a sanitary condition. Pigeons 
 must have shell, salt and charcoal to be healthy, so 
 there should be a self-feeder with three compartments 
 in each house. When ordering, specify that the 
 oyster-shell is for pigeons, as it is to be broken up 
 smaller than for the hens. The rock salt and charcoal 
 should be ground to about the size of rice. During 
 the heavy breeding season we crush most of the grain, 
 and always peas, for when the parent birds are rushed 
 for time between their two nests they are very liable to 
 pick up whole grain and feed to the young birds before 
 they are able to digest it. Until we discovered this 
 carelessness, we often had a dead squab in the nest. 
 The feed-boxes can be kept filled up, as pigeons never 
 overeat, and must have access to food at all times 
 when they have young ones to feed. 
 
 If you start with a few pairs of birds, the best way 
 to increase the number is to sell the squabs, and use 
 the money to buy mature birds, for it takes pigeons 
 six months to reach maturity, and it is necessary to 
 have two extra houses in which to keep the growing 
 birds, as they should not be allowed to remain in the 
 regular brood-pen. If, however, you have specially- 
 mated birds and desire to raise their progeny, you 
 must watch the nests, and as soon as the young ones 
 
PIGEONS AND SQUABS 85 
 
 get out on the floor (the old ones generally push them 
 out when the eggs in the second nest hatch), they can 
 fend for themselves, and should be removed to a 
 nursery-house, where all feed must be cracked to the 
 size of rice for several weeks. When one desires to 
 build up size and good points, it is necessary to have 
 two nursery-houses, and so be in a position to select 
 the best birds from different parentage to mate. 
 
 To illustrate: The nestlings from one side of the 
 house should go into Nursery No. i, nestlings from 
 the other side into Nursery No. 2. Our nurseries 
 are only seven by ten feet, so we never have more than 
 twenty birds in each, and they can be taken within 
 a few days of each other, in this way making very 
 little difference in age when it comes to mating-time. 
 When the younger ones in the nurseries are between 
 six and seven months old, we take a bird from each 
 and put them into a mating-cage, which is really a 
 coop, four feet long, two and one-half feet deep and 
 two feet high, which is fastened up in a corner of the 
 feed-house. The coop is divided into two compart- 
 ments by a wire-netting door. A bird is put into 
 each compartment. If they are male and female, they 
 will commence within a week or two to coo and talk 
 to each other through the wire, at which time the com- 
 partment is fastened up to the top of the cage, and 
 they are allowed to have the run of the coop for three 
 or four days, after which they are put into a regular 
 breeding-house, where they will soon take possession 
 of the nest. If, however, the birds chosen simply 
 
S6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 ignore each other after they are put into the mating- 
 cage, one of them is removed to another cage, and two 
 more birds are taken from the nursery-house and put 
 into the two compartments. In this way we go 
 through the nests until we have them all paired. 
 
POULTRY AILMENTS 
 
 ONLY in rare instances does poultry require 
 doctoring, yet it is well to be prepared with 
 sufficient knowledge to recognise the symp- 
 toms of approaching trouble. A few small coops 
 should be kept in some dry, sheltered outhouse, to be 
 used as quarantine quarters. Empty dry-goods boxes 
 turned on their sides, with half the front boarded 
 across and a door of wire netting to close the other 
 half, make good coops for individual patients. They 
 should be covered all around, sides and top and bot- 
 tom, with roofing-paper, to insure freedom from draft. 
 The boxes may be any size, but I like them about 
 eighteen inches wide and high, and about two and a 
 half feet long. To avoid dampness, and for con- 
 venience in attending to the birds, it is well to elevate 
 them on legs or stand them on a shelf or bench. Be- 
 fore using, or whenever they are vacated, they should 
 be disinfected and the inside thoroughly painted with 
 whitewash. The enamelled cups without handles can 
 be attached to the side of the coop by wire loops. 
 
 The most dreaded visitor on a poultry- farm is roup, 
 for it not only affects the bird during the period of 
 immediate illness, but it leaves behind it all sorts of 
 constitutional weaknesses to the bird's progeny. 
 
 87 
 
88 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 Every poultry-keeper should cultivate the habit of 
 scrutinising his or her flock at feed-times. A suspi- 
 cious-looking bird should be caught and removed to 
 quarantine quarters immediately. The symptoms of 
 cold, influenza, canker, diphtheria and roup are in the 
 earlier stages almost identical — watery eyes, sneez- 
 ing, discharge from the nostrils or the nostrils being 
 stuffed up (the nostrils are the two small holes at the 
 base of the bill). When the bird is noticed to have 
 any one of these symptoms, open the bill and look 
 down the throat. Should there be no signs of trou- 
 ble, you may be sure that there is nothing but an 
 ordinary cold to fight, which a few days in hospital 
 will cure. 
 
 Give light and easily digested food, such as stale 
 bread soaked in scalded milk and squeezed almost dry 
 or corn-meal which has been well steamed. Put ten 
 drops of spirits of camphor on a lump of sugar, then 
 dissolve the sugar in a half-pint of water and use in 
 the drinking-cup. If, however, examination reveals 
 yellow spots on the mouth or in the throat, or a thick 
 slimy discharge from the eyes and nostrils, it is a seri- 
 ous case of catarrh or roupy cold, which may, if neg- 
 lected, develop into malignant roup. Throughout the 
 entire range of cold and roupy diseases there is no 
 special odour until malignant roup is positively de- 
 veloped. Then there is a most offensive and unmis- 
 takable odour. 
 
 Treat all diseases which overstep a common cold as 
 roup, and you will err on the side of safety. In the 
 
POULTRY AILMENTS 89 
 
 last and most malignant stages of roup, tHe face and 
 eyes or head are very likely to be severely swollen, 
 and if things have progressed to such a condition, be- 
 fore the bird has been removed from the flock, it is 
 well to take the precaution of disinfecting the drink- 
 ing and feeding dishes and generally clean up the 
 poultry-house, and add a disinfectant to the drinking- 
 water for a few days. Permanganate of potassium 
 is what I generally use, because it is cheap and most 
 effective as a germ-killer. Dissolve one teaspoon ful 
 in a quart of warm water, and you will have such a 
 strong solution that for all ordinary uses can be diluted 
 again at the rate of one teaspoonful to five of water. 
 
 Treatment for roup : First wash off any discharge 
 which may have accumulated around the eyes and bill 
 with warm water and permanganate; then fill an 
 atomiser with diluted permanganate solution and thor- 
 oughly spray the throat and nostrils. Repeat night 
 and morning, as long as there seems any necessity. 
 Keep the light diet as recommended for common cold. 
 
 Indigestion ' and intermediate stages up to acute 
 gastritis and liver complaint, all spring from the same 
 causes, and will succumb to the same remedies, so we 
 will consider them connectedly. They are caused by 
 indiscreet or excessive feeding; mash which has been 
 allowed to become sour; an excess of bread, potatoes 
 or fat in table-scraps fed to the birds; lack of corn, 
 vegetables or sharp grit; condition powders, egg- 
 foods, and such condiments, if given frequently, will 
 affect the digestive organs and bring on indigestion. 
 
90 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 At first the sufferer looks mopey and stupid ; the comb 
 is pale. At this stage a few days in hospital and a 
 dose of magnesia and reformation in diet will work 
 a cure. Put about a third of a teaspoon ful of sul- 
 phate of magnesia in a cup of drinking-water. Feed 
 a mash composed of three parts finely-cut clover-hay, 
 which has been thoroughly steamed, and one part each 
 of coarsely-ground corn and oats. If you haven't 
 clover-hay, use M^heat-bran instead; chopped apple, 
 lettuce or any greens should be the mid-day meal. 
 Put a small pan of sharp grit into the coop. Advance 
 symptoms are watery, yellowish droppings and thirst, 
 and the comb becoming fiery red, which may gradually 
 darken to crimson as the bird's condition becomes 
 worse. Administer a teaspoonful of castor-oil; feed 
 sparingly on mash, which at this stage should consist 
 of boiled rice, scalded bread and milk or cottage- 
 cheese. If the dysentery is very severe, fill up a 
 drinking-vessel with the water in which the rice was 
 boiled. After eight hours of such diet, add twenty- 
 five drops of tincture of nux vomica to half a pint of 
 rice-water. Continue with light, nourishing food for 
 about a week. 
 
 In the fall fowls are frequently given free range, 
 before the corn and other crops are harvested, and 
 with the result that they gorge themselves with new 
 corn, which is very liable to heat and swell. In the 
 summer people are very likely to cut grass and throw 
 it in to yarded hens, who will eat it greedily, but it 
 invariably causes trouble, being in long lengths. 
 
POULTRY AILMENTS 91 
 
 Lawn-clippings, which are not over an inch in length, 
 are quite safe and, of course, supply the required green 
 food which they specially crave in hot weather. 
 When the bird is seen to have an unusually large crop 
 and shows signs of distress, catch it and hold by the 
 feet, head downward, then gently work the crop so 
 as to push a little of the contents into the throat and 
 out through the beak. Even if only a few grains can 
 be ejected in this way, it will help the strained con- 
 dition of the crop and ease the bird's sufferings. Ad- 
 minister a dose of castor or sweet oil. 
 
 Occasionally an obstinate case can't be helped by 
 simple means, and then surgery has to be resorted to. 
 Tie the feet together and the wings close to the body 
 with a broad strip of muslin, place the bird on its side 
 on the table, calling in assistance to hold it still, and 
 with a sharp pocket-knife make a small slit, first in 
 the outer skin, pulling one side slightly outward, then 
 making an insertion in the crop itself. Carefully re- 
 move the contents. You need not be at all nervous 
 about the operation, which is quite painless. After 
 the crop is emptied, take a moderately fine needle 
 threaded with a fine sewing-silk. Take two or three 
 stitches in the crop and cut off the thread, pull the 
 edges of the outer skin together and fasten with two 
 or three stitches. Of course, under no circumstances 
 must the crop and the outer skin be fastened together 
 in stitching. Keep the bird on very meagre rations 
 for a week or ten days. 
 
 The most common ailment of infant chickenhood is 
 
92 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 bowel trouble, and one should be on the watch for the 
 the first signs, all through the hatching season, as a 
 few hours means much to frail baby life. A chill, 
 dampness, improper food or dirty drinking-water are 
 the usual causes. Should any laxity be noticed in the 
 droppings, remove the drinking-water and substitute 
 either milk which has been scalded and allowed to cool 
 or rice-water, according to the symptoms. Feed 
 boiled rice at least once a day. If the chicks are in 
 a brooder, set the temperature a little higher than un- 
 der ordinary circumstances. If they are with a hen, 
 keep her confined to the brood-coop, to insure the 
 chicks being able to nestle to her. 
 
 Gapes is the second scourge of chick-life. Gapes is 
 not truly a disease, but the effect of a parasite worm, 
 which is supposed only to materialise on ground in 
 which poultry-droppings have been deposited for sev- 
 eral seasons. A gapeworm is only about five six- 
 teenths of an inch in length and no thicker than a fine 
 thread. Once introduced into the bird's throat it 
 fastens there and sucks the blood of its victim, and, 
 of course, a little chick has not the strength to eject 
 it, no matter how much it may cough or gape. They 
 multiply very quickly. Some of the remedies are as 
 follows: Dip the end of a small wing feather in 
 turpentine, push it down the bird's throat, turn two or 
 three times quickly and pull out. The worm may 
 come with it. Another is to mix salt and water or 
 steep tobacco in water for ten minutes; pour a table- 
 spoonful down the bird's throat, keeping the head up, 
 
POULTRY AILMENTS 93 
 
 and the two holes at the base of the bill covered with 
 your thumb and forefinger whilst you count five. Re- 
 lease and suddenly turn the bird upside down, holding 
 by the feet. It will gasp, splutter and usually eject 
 the worm. To exterminate the pests, have the 
 ground, on which the birds have been cooped and 
 yarded, sprinkled with quicklime (keeping the birds 
 safely cooped, so that they cannot get into or eat the 
 lime). Let it lie overnight and then plough under. 
 If such treatment is impossible, remove all the young 
 stock to some other part of the farm. Mature birds 
 have the strength to eject the worms. 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 
 
 IT is advisable to plan the garden on paper and 
 make out seed lists early in the spring, to save 
 time later. Every family will, of course, have 
 specially preferred vegetables to take precedence over 
 others, so individual taste alone can determine the 
 allotted space for each variety. Our selection and 
 plan was made with due regard for table pickles and 
 preserves, all of which were bountifully supplied. 
 Therefore, if your discrimination on such subjects is 
 too undeveloped as yet to be trusted, accept our experi- 
 ence this year, and then you will know how to recon- 
 struct it for your personal needs. When planning out . 
 on paper, the second crop should be considered as well 
 as the spring sowings. 
 
 One of the advantages of sending for seeds early is 
 that you are sure to get the varieties selected, whereas 
 later in the season " the best " is frequently sold out. 
 
 When choosing a site, remember that a slight slope 
 to the south or southeast is desirable. Size must de- 
 pend very much on whether you intend having a 
 separate berry patch or not. A hundred feet by 
 seventy-five feet will supply an average small family 
 with vegetables for the table, excepting winter pota- 
 toes, which should be a field crop. 
 
 95 
 
9.6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 Protection from the northeast storms should be pro- 
 vided. Cedar or privet is the ideal hedge for such 
 purposes, but it takes money and time; so, while it is 
 developing, resort to the serviceable hurdle fence made 
 of brush. 
 
 If the weather is fine, the last two weeks of March 
 should see the patch of ground intended for the vege- 
 table garden ploughed and harrowed. 
 
 Have well-rotted stable manure scattered over the 
 surface before ploughing, which should be deep at 
 first. After two or three days' airing, plough again, 
 running the furrows crosswise; then harrow and roll 
 and harrow again, until every clod is broken up. 
 Thorough preparation of the soil should never be 
 shirked, for it is more than half the battle. Let me 
 caution you not to have the ploughing done if the 
 ground be wet. Much of the disappointment which 
 city people experience arises from the natural desire 
 of the amateur to get to work. Earth ploughed, dug 
 or hoed when wet or soggy will bake and crust all 
 summer. The right consistency can be ascertained by 
 picking up a handful and squeezing it. If it remains 
 a solid lump it is too wet, but when it presses to- 
 gether easily, and as readily falls apart when released, 
 it is in just the right condition to work, will turn a 
 clean furrow and will readily crumble under the har- 
 row. Sod ground is desirable for potatoes, so if there 
 is a strip of grass land which needs renewal, have it 
 well ploughed, harrowed, and marked off in rows 
 eighteen inches apart, for the winter crop. 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 97 
 
 Almost every old farmer has a theory about the 
 way and size to cut potatoes for planting. After 
 listening to and trying several methods, we have come 
 to the conclusion that cutting large tubers in four, and 
 small ones through the centre lengthwise, is much bet- 
 ter than dissecting carefully to separate every eye, and 
 then using two pieces when planting, especially as the 
 innumerable experiments made at the agricultural sta- 
 tions have revealed the fact that eyes gather nutriment 
 for sustenance and growth from the potato itself, until 
 the sprouts develop stems that form joints, at which 
 point rootlets start, proving beyond doubt that, unless 
 the piece of potato planted is large enough adequately 
 to feed the eye or eyes it may contain, the root growth, 
 which is required to furnish the subsequent tubers 
 with food, must be weakened. We plant one quarter 
 potato to every foot in the row, and cover from four 
 to five inches deep, selecting ground which has been 
 heavily manured the year before, and scattering wood 
 ashes on the surface after the seeds have been covered. 
 
 Failing this source, commerical fertiliser specially 
 prepared for potatoes must be bought. Thorough 
 cultivation is necessary to insure a good crop. Soon 
 — say seven or eight days after planting — run the 
 harrow over the field, to kill the embryo weeds and 
 level the surface. As soon as the plants show, cul- 
 tivate again, but of course only between the rows, 
 and with an ordinary cultivator. Repeat at frequent 
 intervals. 
 
 It is estimated that it takes fifteen bushels of po- 
 
98 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 tatoes after they have been cut into quarters, to plant 
 an acre, which should return one hundred and thirty 
 bushels of salable potatoes, by which is meant large 
 and medium sized potatoes, small ones not entering 
 into the calculation. There will be in all probability 
 about thirty bushels of these dwarfs, which are excel- 
 lent fattening food for poultry and pigs when cooked 
 and mashed up. 
 
 The space intended for carrots requires extremely 
 good cultivation, for the soil must be thoroughly pul- 
 verised. Tie the seeds in a piece of cheese cloth, steep 
 in water for twelve hours, then hang up in a warm 
 room to drip and dry sufficiently to prevent their stick- 
 ing together when being planted. Another aid we 
 furnish these delicate seedlings is to drop a radish 
 seed every six inches, because they germinate quickly 
 and throw a strong seed leaf, which breaks the crust 
 over the row and allows the fragile carrot sprout free 
 access. 
 
 Allow two feet from the last row of potatoes, 
 stretch the line, and with a pointed stick draw a 
 shallow drill in which to scatter the carrot seed. 
 Covering must not be more than a fourth of an inch; 
 press down firmly. Between each two rows of car- 
 rots allow one foot. Steep and use only half the seed 
 at first, planting the remainder twenty days later. 
 With good ground and cultivation you should have 
 carrots late in June. 
 
 A thirty-inch space must divide the carrots from 
 the beets. Prepare the ground as before, but make 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 99 
 
 the drill a full inch deep, dropping the seed half an 
 inch apart, the rows two feet apart. These should be 
 ready for use the first week in June. Keep half the 
 seed for late planting. 
 
 Early turnips can start another two feet along. 
 Drill half an inch deep, the rows one foot apart. 
 
 *' First of All " peas are semi-dwarf, but yield mucH 
 better if given some support. We plant every two 
 rows seven inches apart, in a drill one inch deep, and 
 when the peas are two inches high we stick brush be- 
 tween the rows, so making a hedge of vine when de- 
 veloped. Twin rows should be two feet apart. 
 
 For onion sets, make drills an inch and a half deep, 
 placing the sets upright and from four to six inches 
 apart. Firm the earth all around, and the fourth of 
 an inch over them. These will furnish early onions 
 for cooking. For onion seed the soil cannot be too 
 carefully prepared, for, like carrots, they are long in 
 germinating and extremely fragile. A few radish 
 seeds can again be used as pioneers. Instead of com- 
 mercial fertiliser, the poultry droppings are used for 
 onions, being reduced to a powder by grinding in an 
 old chopping machine. Sprinkle freely, within one 
 inch of the centre of the row, and from three to four 
 inches each side of it. Unless rain falls within a few 
 days, water very thoroughly with a sprinkler. Hen 
 droppings seem especially desirable for all bulbs and 
 tubers. 
 
 Lettuce seed requires well-enriched soil; drill one- 
 fourth of an inch deep, the rows one foot apart. 
 
loo MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 From the time seeds are put into the ground, culti- 
 vation must be continual, raking between rows being 
 frequent enough to destroy embryo weeds. Ten 
 minutes' light work with a rake before weeds develop 
 iwill save hours of hard labour with a hoe. Cultiva- 
 tion is required, not only to destroy weeds, but to 
 supply air, and encourage all the moisture from the 
 subsoil to travel upward, so nourishing the plant roots 
 as they develop, and preventing the soil from baking. 
 Not cultivating the ground around plants is as injuri- 
 ous to their health as shutting a child in an unventi- 
 lated room. 
 
 Lettuce, cabbage and cauliflower plants should now 
 be planted out. Prepare the rows as for seed, and 
 with the pointed stick used for marking the rows, 
 make holes directly under the line — nine inches apart 
 for lettuce, one foot for cabbage and cauliflower. 
 Put a little water into 'the hole, pack the earth around 
 the root and stem, water copiously, then draw dry 
 earth up over the wet surface, to prevent the moisture 
 from evaporating or a crust forming. To promote 
 root growth, cut off half the length of the outer leaves 
 with a pair of sharp scissors. If possible, provide 
 some protection until the plants are established. 
 
 Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants should be bedded 
 out about the twentieth of May. Tomatoes and egg- 
 plants stand two and one-half feet apart, each one in 
 ground very heavily enriched to a depth of three feet 
 and a circumference of two feet. Pursue the same 
 method of planting as for cabbage, except that in- 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN loi 
 
 stead of cutting the leaves across, nip out the two 
 heart leaves of each plant. Checking top growth 
 makes the plant branch and form a stocky bush in- 
 stead of a spindly top growth that will break under 
 the weight of fruit when it forms. 
 
 If the "home" is to be an ideal haven of rest it 
 must be pretty. Economy may prohibit buying plants 
 for the flower garden, but the exercise of a little fore- 
 thought will enable you to have a lovely display of 
 flowers all through the summer at a nominal cost. 
 Procure some shallow boxes from your grocer. They 
 should not be more than three inches deep, and about 
 eighteen inches long and one foot wide. If it is not 
 possible to get what you want, saw a six or seven inch 
 box in half, using the lid as a bottom for the second 
 box. 
 
 Have the mould thoroughly pulverised before sow- 
 ing, and prepare an extra quantity to use for covering 
 the seeds. This I do by half filling a rather fine 
 colander and shaking it over the box until there is an 
 even layer over the seeds. The average small flower 
 seed should not have more than the fourth of an inch 
 over it. A board that will fit inside the box should 
 be pressed down hard, to insure the seeds being firmly 
 embedded in the mould. Otherwise the air gets 
 around them and dries up and kills the first frail germs 
 of life. After planting and patting down, sprinkle 
 lightly, and stand the boxes in a south or southwest 
 window in a living room where the temperature 
 averages sixty degrees. The boxes must be watched 
 
I02 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 for what is called '' damping off." It can easily be de- 
 tected by the sickly appearance of the seedlings, fol- 
 lowed by a shrivelling or burning of the stem close to 
 the earth. The moment the danger signal is noticed, 
 prick out into fresh boxes of corresponding size or a 
 trifle deeper. The seedlings need not be planted more 
 than half an inch apart. Prepare the mould in the 
 boxes the same as you did for the seeds, pat down, 
 and with a toothpick make the holes in which the baby 
 plants are to be put, firming the earth around them 
 gently with the forefinger of each hand. Should no 
 suggestion of debility appear among the seedlings, still 
 prick out into fresh boxes when the second leaves un- 
 fold. 
 
 "Bovee" potatoes, for early garden crop i peck, $0.75 
 
 Carrots, " Oxheart " i ounce, .10 
 
 Cauliflower, "Early Snowball" i packet, .25 
 
 Celery i packet, .10 
 
 Beets 2 ounces, .20 
 
 Brussels sprouts i packet, .10 
 
 Cabbage, "Jersey Wakefield" i packet, .15 
 
 Cabbage, " Autumn King " I packet, .15 
 
 Kale, "Dwarf Green" i ounce, .10 
 
 Lettuce, " Boston Market " i ounce, .15 
 
 Peas, "First of AH" i pint, .15 
 
 Peas, " Petit Paris " Yz pint, .10 
 
 Peas, "Champion o'f England" i quart, .30 
 
 Turnips, " Early Flat Dutch " i packet, .05 
 
 Turnips, "Purple Top Aberdeen" I packet, .05 
 
 Turnips, " Rutabaga " i packet, .10 
 
 White onion sets I quart, .25 
 
 Red onion sets i quart, .25 
 
 Onion seed, " Prizetaker " i ounce, .20 
 
 Cucumber, " White Spine " i packet, .10 
 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 103 
 
 Eggplant, " New York Spineless " I packet, .10 
 
 Tomato, "Crimson Cushion" i packet, .10 
 
 Pepper, " Ruby King " i packet, .10 
 
 Muskmelon, " Delmonico " I packet, .10 
 
 Squash, " Long Island " (summer) i packet, .10 
 
 Squash, " Gregory " (winter) I packet, .10 
 
 Green bush bean, "The Longfellow" i packet, .10 
 
 Pole lima bean, "Leviathan" I packet, .10 
 
 Okra, " Long Green " i. packet, .05 
 
 Radish, "Scarlet Turnip" i ounce, .10 
 
 Corn, " Country Gentleman " i packet, .15 
 
 Herbs — parsley, sage, summer savory, th3nne, marjoram, 
 
 aniseed, wormwood, saffron, tansy i packet each, .40 
 
 Total cost $4-95 
 
THE HOTBED 
 
 THE outer shells of hotbed and cold-frame are 
 identical, and can be made by any handy man. 
 As all sashes are made in one size — namely, 
 six by three — the boxes must correspond; to insure 
 water running off and all the power of the sun being 
 utilised, they must slope lengthways, the top end of a 
 box being three or four inches higher than the bottom. 
 The ordinary box or bed frame is made six feet long, 
 three feet wide and fifteen inches high at the top end, 
 sloping to twelve at the foot, and stands on the surface 
 of the ground, but the plan we have adopted after 
 several years' experience is to dig a pit three feet 
 deep, six feet two inches long and three feet two 
 inches wide, and build the box twenty inches high at 
 the top end, sloping to seventeen inches at the foot, 
 and of course six feet long and three feet wide, which 
 allows it to stand inside the dugout and five inches 
 below the surface of the surrounding ground, so 
 effectually preventing any cold air creeping in around 
 the bottom. We use sound boards two inches thick 
 for sides and ends and two-by-two studding for cor- 
 ner stays. 
 
 Very well-made boxes and sashes, which fit exactly^ 
 are sold by several of the greenhouse builders for 
 
 Ttos 
 
io6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 about eight dollars. They are shipped knock-down 
 to save express charges, but they are ready to bolt 
 together. They come in the ordinary six-by-three 
 size, for single beds, or in groups of from three to 
 five, with light partitions for the sashes to rest upon. 
 The five-section bed costs about twelve dollars, but 
 will need five sashes, amounting to fifteen dollars, and 
 the partitions, which I think are about one dollar 
 a piece. 
 
 For convenience in bad weather, it is well to have 
 the beds near the house, and, when possible, sheltered 
 from the north and facing the south. Fresh horse 
 manure constitutes the heating power in a hotbed. 
 We use solid droppings and dry leaves, about half 
 and half. It is ripened in the manure-shed by being 
 made into a heap about three feet high and three feet 
 wide, thoroughly sprinkled with liquid manure. It 
 is allowed to stand some weeks after mixing, then 
 twice forked over, two weeks intervening. All the 
 droppings should be well broken up and mixed with 
 the leaves, and the entire mass replied between each 
 forking. 
 
 After the ripening process has been accomplished, 
 it must be packed into the bottom of the hotbed to 
 the depth of two and a half feet. It should be 
 smoothly laid and well tramped into place. Put in the 
 sash, and within a few days the heat will rise to a 
 hundred degrees or over. Lift the sash slightly at 
 one end, and wait until the temperature falls to 
 about eighty-five degrees, then place about six inches 
 
THE HOTBED 107 
 
 of rich, fibrous soil over the top. We manufacture 
 our potting-mould several months before it is required, 
 by taking the old heating material from spent beds 
 and mixing it with an equal amount of soil from sod 
 land and about one-third the quantity of clean, sharp 
 sand. After thorough mixing, it is piled in a large 
 heap and left exposed to the weather until required, 
 or until late in the fall, when it is put into a shed and 
 kept dry to prevent freezing, as potting-mould and 
 covering for fresh hotbeds is often needed in the 
 early spring. Just before using, it is passed through 
 a sieve to remove all lumps. 
 
 The first year, when there is no old bed to empty, 
 good top-dressing or potting-mould can be made 
 by cutting deep sods, shaking the earth from the roots 
 and mixing it with an equal amount of old, well-rotted 
 cow manure and about one quarter the amount of 
 clean sand. It is imperative to prepare all such things 
 in the fall. The outside of a hotbed should be banked 
 up with rough stable manure and the sash covered at 
 night with mats and shutters in extreme cold weather. 
 Old carpet or bags made of burlap and filled with cut 
 hay will cost nothing except time and answer quite 
 well. We use pads, for which all sorts of old clothes 
 are utilised. Then unbleached sheets large enough to 
 cover the sash, side and ends, and reach well onto the 
 ground, are used. The sheets are given two coats of 
 oil, and so are impervdous to rain or snow, and we 
 think better than wooden shutters. 
 
 Suppose you want to make your first venture with 
 
io8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 winter salads, the first gsthering for Tiianksgivmgj, 
 and frcMn then on until spring. Start one bed the 
 first wedc in October, sow three rows of lettuce seed 
 five inches apart, sowing three differait varieties, 
 Tennis-Ball, Boston Market and Big Boston; two 
 rows of curly cress (peiq)ergras5) the sanae distance 
 apart, and five davs later, two rows of white nrustanL 
 Eight or ten davs later, prepare a second bed, so that 
 the heat may hi' e risen and decreased to about 
 seventy-five by :' z :: t lettuce is large enough to 
 transplant — 2:: : : rt frran the sowing of 
 
 the serf. Set out the Szt_ rs eight inches apart 
 e': ly m the nev^' :t1 . 1 r: r. -:-:i ^cc_ --. cen 
 
 I_-r r . "VS. 
 
 If you have e:::v^ \ :-:.::' t~ 7''-:: :he iliree ::~7-Tr: 
 varieties of '.t:::- :: -tt : tie "->; __ 
 mafxu^ in ihe r: : :. : : i _t tr. ::.e ro'^s cf 
 the Boston ZI^: r: ^^ t Z r If: :: stir 
 
 may be sown. When se' ; ,: : :r :: :: 5; 1;:. 
 dioose ±e s:r:nr St: Z ^5 i::i :::.: : firrT :\: Jirts 
 of the rows, so thai w. t:: :::e f.r;!.5 z'.i:.'- sre 
 thinned out, the rest will be left to grow ur : : : - ^ 
 
 The mustard and cress will be ready to cut in : : : : : 
 seven to ten days after "Jhe rmistard is sown. C v t 
 cress with a pair of sdss::^ ! "'e -^rve the sc 
 it will spring aga'"" '" : Vustard mur: _^ 
 
 sowed after each g^ ^ : •': only take? --'" 
 
 the time to dcvdop. 1: ben the Sz-i.- 
 
 crop of cress :?. .-u?: . ^ re allowed to grow 
 
 more than an .:.:'.'. i:-.L - i.: 1: . .rjund- One 
 
THE HOTBED 109 
 
 important thing to remember in running a succession 
 of hotbed crops, is that the heating power of manure 
 only lasts about seven weeks. Beans, beets and 
 Swiss chard, and such hardy things, which require 
 two months or more to mature, do not suffer through 
 the decrease of heat, in fact, will do just as well, or 
 better, in a spent hotbed or cold-frame, which is just 
 a hotbed without any heating material. But if very 
 cold weather sets in, bank up heavily around the sides 
 and ends with fresh manure, to keep the cold from 
 penetrating the bed-box, and using extra heavy mats 
 over the sash at night. 
 
 Eggplant, tomatoes and peppers should be started 
 the last week in February, and celery, cabbage, cauli- 
 flower and Brussels sprouts about the first of March. 
 One bed should be devoted to onion seed (sown at 
 the end of February)', and seedlings can be pricked 
 out into another bed or cold-frame when about two 
 inches high, and w^ill be strong bulbs to plant out in the 
 garden in April. Cucumbers, muskmelons and squasH 
 can all be started on sods in a hotbed, early in April, 
 and will be sturdy plants by May 20th. 
 
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 
 
 WHY every garden has not an asparagus-bed is 
 an unfathomable mystery to me. It is uni- 
 versally liked; even epicures consider it a 
 delicacy. It is ready for table use in very early 
 spring, when everyone craves fresh vegetables, and 
 it is as easy to grow as any other vegetable after it 
 is once established. 
 
 Probably the last word explains the mystery. It 
 takes three years to establish, or, rather, to bring it to 
 the profitable stage. A light crop can be gathered the 
 second season, so the home table profits almost as 
 quickly as in the case of artichokes or straw^berries. 
 Whatever the cause, the fact remains that an aspara- 
 gus-bed is rarely found on a farm. Yet the pecuniary 
 advantages to be reaped from asparagus-growing are 
 sufficient to satisfy the most ambitious gardener. 
 
 Three years after our first bed from seed was 
 started we sold three hundred and fifty-four bunches 
 at an average of forty cents a bunch. Early in the 
 season we got fifty cents, toward the end of the 
 season some were sold for thirty-five cents. Since 
 then the annual returns have never dropped below two 
 hundred and eighty-six dollars. Manuring and cul- 
 tivating cost approximately twelve dollars a year. 
 
 Ill 
 
112 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 The bed occupied about a quarter of an acre of 
 ground. Having a number of egg customers, we sell 
 direct and so get the full price, but even v^holesale 
 prices range from fifteen to twelve cents. 
 
 There are two ways of starting beds, sowing seed 
 or setting out plants. One-year-old plants will cost 
 from sixty cents to a dollar a hundred. Planted in 
 April and well cared for, they will provide several 
 dishes for the home table the following spring and 
 nearly a full crop the second spring. Seed sowed at 
 the same time will take a year longer, but after that 
 will give a larger yield than the transplanted plants 
 and, as asparagus-beds are productive for fifteen or 
 twenty years, the one-year loss in the beginning is an 
 economy. But it is well to set out a few plants, sim- 
 ply because in the country one cannot get Southern 
 vegetables, which come into the city early in the spring, 
 and, therefore, should try to have a home supply as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 In selecting ground for an asparagus-bed, it must 
 be remembered that it is a permanent crop, and can- 
 not be transplanted after it is established. It will 
 grow on any ordinary garden soil which is well 
 drained, but, when possible, heavy subsoil with light 
 sand or loam above it should be selected, as it will 
 invariably produce an earlier crop each year than 
 heavy ground. The soil should slope to the south or 
 southwest, and a shelter from the northeast is also 
 desirable. For our large market bed we used land 
 that had been under cultivation for two years. The 
 
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 113 
 
 preceding crops had been corn, oats and potatoes, so it 
 had been thoroughly worked. 
 
 After the potatoes were harvested in the fall, the 
 field was ploughed, and barn-yard manure scattered 
 broadcast over it. Early the following spring the 
 ground was again ploughed, to turn in the manure, 
 and harrowed each way to thoroughly break up and 
 pulverise the soil. Should you be compelled to use 
 ground that has not been worked previously, and is 
 of a heavy, damp character, it would be well to plough 
 as early as possible in summer, if necessary, using a 
 subsoil plough, to break the ground to a depth of 
 fifteen or sixteen inches, 
 
 Harrow to smooth the surface, and repeat the 
 harrowing about every three weeks until October, 
 when it should be ploughed again to the depth of six 
 or seven inches, manured and left until spring. After 
 the spring harrowing the rows must be marked out 
 five feet apart and running from north to south. 
 Use the plough back and forth in the same furrow 
 to make a wide trench, which should be six or seven 
 inches deep and about a foot wide. If much of the 
 soil falls back into the trench, remove it with a spade 
 or broad hoe, then plant seed about three inches apart. 
 Keep the rows free from weeds all through the season 
 and the ground loose around the plants. 
 
 It is desirable to utilise the space between the rows, 
 as it insures the ground being well cultivated. Each 
 space will accommodate two rows of carrots, onions 
 or lettuce, or one row of cabbage. In the fall, when 
 
114 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 the tops of the asparagus begin to die, they must be 
 cut off and burned. 
 
 The following spring the ground between the rows 
 should be manured and ploughed, or spaded if the 
 place is an inclosed garden and a plough cannot be 
 used. Strong roots may throw very good-sized 
 sprouts, but don't be tempted to gather them, for their 
 removal will stimulate the plant to throw up more 
 stalks than its age warrants, and the result will be 
 either death or a weakly, unprofitable existence for 
 several seasons. Not more than one row of carrots 
 or onions should be grown between the rows the sec- 
 ond season, and, unless space is of great value, it is 
 as well not to use it at all. 
 
 Cultivation must be kept up all through the growing 
 season, to destroy weeds and keep the ground in con- 
 dition. Many amateurs have an idea that hoeing or 
 cultivating of any sort is solely to destroy weeds, 
 which is a great mistake. Stirring the surface soil 
 breaks the crust, and the powdered earth forms a 
 mulch which keeps the lower soil moist, a condition 
 which liberates the mineral qualities which constitute 
 plant-food. 
 
 The second spring after sowing seed a light crop of 
 stalks may be gathered, say two or three from each 
 hill, but not more. Then allow the stalks to grow and 
 feather out until they assume their full fern-like form. 
 In June apply a moderate quantity of barn-yard 
 manure between the rows if the ground is not being 
 used. If it is occupied by a crop, use commercial 
 
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 115 
 
 fertiliser composed of equal parts of nitrate of soda, 
 sulphate of potash and wood-ashes. Scatter each side 
 of whatever vegetable occupies the space between the 
 rows and work the fertiliser well into the soil. 
 
 In August, when the crop is harvested, apply a 
 moderately heavy dressing of well-rotted barn-yard 
 manure. Late in October cut down stalks and burn, 
 as the year before; then plough or spade between the 
 rows. The third spring will bring the bed to a profit- 
 able state, though it will not reach its full yearly ca- 
 pacity for another year. Use the one-horse cultivator 
 or hoe between the rows as early as the ground can 
 be worked. Draw the earth slightly from the roots 
 at first, to permit the sun to warm the ground around 
 the roots and awaken the plant to life. 
 
 A w^eek or so later, if white asparagus is desired, 
 the soil must be again drawn up over the plants and 
 each row hilled up so as to bleach the sprouts. The 
 operation will need repeating about once a week all 
 through the cutting season, which should not last 
 more than three weeks on so young a bed, though 
 in future years it may be kept up six or even eight 
 weeks. 
 
 After the cutting season throw down the ridges 
 made by the hilling-up and apply either barn-yard 
 manure or commercial fertiliser, repeating the applica- 
 tion about July ist. If green asparagus is desired, 
 the only difference in treatment consists in omitting 
 the hilling-up. 
 
 After the third year care of the bed consists of 
 
ii6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 manuring and cultivating. We have found it best to 
 use barn-yard manure and commercial fertiliser al- 
 ternately. Sowing the seed in trenches or deep 
 furrows is done to insure the crowns being three or 
 four inches below the surface when they have de- 
 veloped considerable growth, which would not be the 
 case if they were sown on the level ground to com- 
 mence with. Like its cousin, the lily of the valley, 
 asparagus sends out roots and stalks from a heart or 
 crown, which must be underground where it is moist 
 and dark. • 
 
 Asparagus may be canned like any other vegetable 
 for winter use; pack, cut ends down, in glass jars, fill 
 jars with cold water, put the lids on loosely, stand in 
 hot water, boil three hours, fill the jars to the brim 
 with boiling water and screw lids down tight. 
 
 If you consider that raising from seed is beyond 
 your patience, buy plants from a reliable grower. 
 Most nurserymen's catalogues quote one and two year 
 plants, but the experienced are unanimous in prefer- 
 ring strong one-year-old plants, affirming that they 
 stand being transplanted better than the older ones. 
 The ground must be prepared as for seed. When 
 the plants arrive, put them into water for twelve or 
 twenty-four hours to soften. Set the plants two feet 
 apart in trenches, being careful to have the crowns 
 right side up. If you hold up a plant in your hand 
 you will notice that the thick fleshy roots all proceed 
 from the heart, or crown, as it is called, and droop 
 downward, and that on the other side of the crown 
 
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 117 
 
 there are what look like small rootlets. These are 
 really the dry stalks from the preceding season and 
 buds of the coming season, and are often mistaken 
 for roots and placed downward in the trenches instead 
 of upward, which of course they should be. 
 
 The proper way to plant is to make a small mound 
 at the bottom of the trench — about two handfuls of 
 soil — and spread out the roots, and place the crown 
 on the mound of earth in such a way that the roots 
 envelope it. Press them firmly into place, and cover 
 until the crown is about two inches below the soil. 
 If it happens to be a dry season, water regularly until 
 growth is well established. 
 
 Asparagus must be cut very carefully, otherwise the 
 embryo shoot may be destroyed or the crown itself 
 killed. When only small quantities are being removed 
 each day, the best plan is to pass the thumb and fore- 
 finger down the spur an inch or two into the ground, 
 then bend outward, and it will snap below the surface 
 of the earth without injuring the plant in any way. 
 When large beds are being cut for market, a knife will 
 have to be used, as it does the work so much more 
 quickly. Asparagus-knives are of special shape. 
 There are several on the market, and they will be 
 found advertised in all seedmen's catalogues. The 
 average price is fifty cents. 
 
 Rust, a fungus disease, has become very prevalent 
 during the last few years, attacking both young and 
 old beds. As the name implies, it looks like rust on 
 the stalks and spoils the appearance for market, be- 
 
ii8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 sides injuring the plant and materially affecting the 
 crop. 
 
 It has been suggested by many who have studied 
 the subject that rust originates on decaying stalks. 
 For that reason it is advisable to burn the dead stalks 
 as soon as they are cut away in the fall, instead of 
 allowing them to decay on a compost-heap, as one 
 does with other garden trimmings. Spraying with 
 Bordeaux mixture after the cutting season each year 
 has been recommended as a preventive. Once estab- 
 lished, there seems no remedy. We have a neighbour 
 whose beds were seriously affected seven or eight years 
 ago. He tried a number of ordinary washes and 
 powders, but they seemed useless. Six years ago he 
 started new beds and adopted our plan of alternating 
 commercial fertiliser with barn-yard manure as we 
 had never had any sign of rust, and he attributed it 
 to the ashes in the mixture we used, thinking that they 
 purified the ground. 
 
 Another enemy is the asparagus-beetle — an attract- 
 ive-looking insect, jet black, with red, yellow and blue 
 markings. It remains hidden in brush or rubbish 
 through the winter and comes out in the first warm 
 days of spring to lay its eggs, always choosing the 
 young, tender sprouts for their resting-place. In a 
 few days the young grubs hatch and feed on the 
 asparagus, boring small holes, entirely ruining the 
 appearance of the stalks, and occasionally descend to 
 the crown of the plant itself. It only takes the grubs 
 a month to pass through the several stages which 
 
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 119 
 
 bring them to maturity, so that if only one or two 
 beetles sunave the winter, there may be an army by 
 the time the beds are bearing fully. Allowing poul- 
 try to run on the beds in the fall and winter is about 
 the safest and easiest way of scotching the pests, 
 though dusting with air-slaked lime in the early spring 
 is recommended, and some authorities suggest the 
 cutting of the beds as soon as shoots develop in the 
 early spring, hoping in that way to destroy the eggs. 
 This is rather an expensive remedy, as it means burn- 
 ing up the early market crop, which brings the best 
 prices. 
 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 
 
 ANYONE who has a good cellar where an even 
 temperature can be maintained can grow 
 mushrooms for home use, but if they are to 
 be raised in large quantities for market, an appropri- 
 ate building must be given over to their exclusive use. 
 We have been successful for several seasons in grow- 
 ing mushrooms in an amateurish way, but it was not 
 until a large root-cellar was left vacant that we 
 thought of the feasibility of adding them to our 
 market products. 
 
 The farm we were lucky enough to acquire was one 
 of the old-fashioned, practical places, with a full 
 equipment of buildings. Under the cow-barn there 
 was a stone basement, used for the winter storing 
 of root crops. After our dairy herd developed, it 
 seemed wise to use ensilage instead of roots during 
 the winter. So we built a silo, and this left the store- 
 house vacant. It was eighty feet long and fifteen feet 
 wide, so, after we conceived the mushroom idea, we 
 partitioned off thirty feet to retain as a storing-place 
 for household vegetables and fitted up the other fifty 
 feet with mushroom-beds. 
 
 We put in a brooder-house stove and pipe system, 
 which cost one hundred and twenty dollars. The 
 
 121 
 
122 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 lumber for the beds cost an additional thirty dollars, 
 extra manure twenty-two dollars and spawn fifty dol- 
 lars — two hundred and twenty-two dollars in all. 
 Four months later we had received four hundred and 
 forty-five dollars. Since then the returns have fluctu- 
 ated between four and five hundred dollars, and we 
 estimate that it costs one hundred and twenty-five dol- 
 lars per season to produce the crop. So I think that 
 mushrooms can be considered profitable when run in 
 connection with poultry or general farming, especially 
 as they come in at a season of the year when there is 
 very little else to be attended to, and, what is more, 
 the only heavy work is preparing manure and compost 
 for the beds, and that any ordinary farm man can 
 accomplish. The rest is all so light and easy that a 
 young girl or a delicate woman can attend to it with- 
 out fatigue. 
 
 It is not necessary to have an expensive stone or 
 brick building. We have a neighbour who uses part 
 of an old cow-stable, and a man in the suburbs of New 
 York, who grows a quantity each season, has simply 
 a dugout with rough board walls, two feet above the 
 ground, and an A-shaped roof — all covered with tar- 
 paper, a place that could not have cost more than 
 seventy-five dollars at the very most. A shed or out- 
 building of any kind will answer if it is weather-proof 
 and can be kept at a temperature of fifty-five or sixty 
 in zero weather without much expense. 
 
 Don't be tempted to start on any elaborate scale in 
 the house-cellar, for the odour from the beds whilst 
 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 123 
 
 the manure is heating prior to planting-time will per- 
 meate the entire house and cling to carpets and drap- 
 eries in a most horrible way. Of course, this does 
 not obtain when only a few are to be raised for the 
 home table, because shallow boxes can be used and 
 need not be carried into the cellar until the objection- 
 able period is past. 
 
 When a special house is used, the beds may be made 
 on the floor, a great depth of manure used and artifi- 
 cial heat dispensed with. But it is not a good or 
 economical plan, for the necessary amount of stable 
 manure would cost as much as fuel, necessitate close 
 watching and the result would not be as satisfactory, 
 so we will only consider the approved method of 
 benches and artificial heat, which is generally adopted 
 by the modern market grower. 
 
 The benches in our house run on each side, leaving 
 walks three feet wide through the centre of the house, 
 two feet along the side walls. Having the three walks 
 enables us to gather from each side of the beds, which 
 is almost a necessity when the beds are four feet wide. 
 With a narrower house and beds, a centre path would 
 be sufficient, but it should not be less than three feet 
 wide for convenience when filling and emptying 
 beds. 
 
 The benches are made of two-by-two studding and 
 rough hemlock boards, the studding being used for 
 the upright supports which go from floor to ceiling, 
 every five feet of the entire length and on each side 
 of the house. Supports are run diagonally between 
 
124 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 each four uprights on each side of the house, to make 
 a foundation for the floor of the beds, as well as to 
 strengthen the entire structure. The hemlock boards 
 are used for the sides and bottoms of the beds, which 
 are two feet above the ground. Beds should be six- 
 teen inches deep, but we used one row of boards nine 
 inches wide and another row six inches wide, as the 
 boards happened to be cut in those sizes. 
 
 The second tier of beds, which were added a year 
 later, were a foot and a half above the top of the first 
 tier and only twelve inches deep, but have proved 
 quite as satisfactory in every way, and as the shallow 
 beds take less manure, I think it is safe to advise be- 
 ginners to adopt the latter depth for beds in a house 
 where artificial heat is used. 
 
 The bottoms and sides of the beds should be fixed 
 so that they can be easily removed, as it facilitates 
 the work of emptying beds, which has to be done 
 every spring. Any heating apparatus which can be 
 easily arranged and depended upon can, of course, be 
 used, but I think the stove and pipes which are spe- 
 cially made for poultry plants are the most convenient, 
 as their construction is so simple that any handy man 
 can fix them without the aid of a plumber — a great 
 consideration on the farm. 
 
 Narrow cellar windows were inserted in the sides 
 of the house, to furnish light and air in the spring 
 and fall, when the heavy work was being done, and 
 also while gathering each day during the season. It 
 is so much pleasanter to work by daylight, and it does 
 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 125 
 
 not injure the crop in any way, if shutters are used to 
 keep out the cold. 
 
 The main factor in mushroom-growing is beds.. 
 First, the material of which they are composed; sec- 
 ondly, the way they are made. Fresh manure, with 
 a fair percentage of short bedding (straw or leaves 
 preferably), must be collected each day when the sta- 
 bles are cleaned. We use two parts horse and one 
 part cow manure, sometimes substituting sheep-drop- 
 pings for horse. The daily collection must be stored 
 in a shed and made into a pile about three feet high 
 and two and a half feet wide. 
 
 As soon as sufficient manure is collected to fill the 
 beds, the curing process should be commenced. This 
 consists of packing manure closely together, and if 
 at all dry, slightly moistening it with water or drain- 
 age from the stables to start fermentation. Within a 
 few hours the heat will commence to create steam and 
 it must be forked over and made into a fresh pile. 
 
 To check the heat, which would, if left to run its 
 course, quickly burn out the value of the manure and 
 render it worthless, forking and repiling will probably 
 have to be repeated three or four times, with from 
 two to three days intervening, according to the 
 strength of the manure and the temperature. It usu- 
 ally takes from two to three weeks to cure manure 
 properly. When it shows a temperature of one hun- 
 dred degrees Fahrenheit after being undisturbed for 
 thirty-six hours, it may be considered all right. 
 
 We half fill beds with the rough material, then mix 
 
126 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 soil from sod ground with the remainder to fill up the 
 top of the beds. The proportion is about one-third 
 soil to two-thirds prepared manure. When filling the 
 beds, the manure, and also the mixture of soil and 
 manure, should be strewed in thin layers, say about 
 two inches at a time, and stamped down thoroughly 
 before the next layer is added. When the beds are 
 filled, cover the surface with straw or mats to prevent 
 the beds becoming dry. 
 
 The manure will heat considerably after being 
 packed in the beds, so thermometers should be inserted 
 every few feet, as planting must not be done until the 
 temperature falls to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, at 
 which stage the straw or mat can be removed and the 
 spawn inserted. The propagation of mushrooms is 
 entirely different from that of any other vegetable, 
 neither seed, bulb, nor cutting holding any place in 
 the process. From the gill-like lining of a full-grown 
 mushroom fall innumerable spores, so minute that if 
 caught on a sheet of paper they would look like dust. 
 If the spores fall upon earth that is in just the right 
 condition, mould-like filaments develop, spread and 
 become what we call spawn. 
 
 Spawn culture is a complicated process, which con- 
 cerns the grower of mushrooms not at all, as he buys 
 spawn as he would any other seed, except that it is 
 sold in compressed brick-like cakes, which weigh 
 about a pound apiece, or in rough shreds; the latter 
 variety being known as flake or French spawn. 
 
 Bricks, known as English spawn, seem to give the 
 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 127 
 
 best results in this country and are what we have 
 •always used. They should be broken into pieces 
 about the. size of a walnut, planted in rows a foot 
 apart, the pieces being six inches apart in the rows. 
 The spawn should be inserted about three inches. 
 The best plan is to lift a small part of the manure 
 with a hand fork, press down the spawn, replace the 
 manure and press firmly in place. The close packing 
 is one of the principal points of success, so it is well 
 to go over the entire bed with the back of a wooden 
 shovel or a small mallet. 
 
 After planting replace the straw or mats if the 
 temperature of the house is at all dry. Eight days 
 later remove the mats and cover the beds with a layer 
 two inches thick of good garden soil. 
 
 Until the mushrooms begin to appear the tempera- 
 ture of the house may be sixty-five to sixty-eight 
 degrees Fahrenheit, but from the moment they com- 
 mence to appear keep it as nearly fifty-five as possible. 
 Moisture must be carefully watched. If the beds ap- 
 pear at all dry, even after the soil has been placed over 
 them, cover with mats for a few days or even sprin- 
 kle the beds very lightly, but they must not be made 
 at all wet. Perhaps the safest plain for the inex- 
 perienced is to sprinkle the walks, as then there can 
 be no danger of an overdose. 
 
 It takes about five weeks for spawn to spread 
 through the beds and about another two weeks before 
 the crop makes its appearance. W^ell-made beds, in 
 a house kept at fifty-five degrees, will yield for ten 
 
128 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 or twelve weeks, but during the last two or three 
 weeks the quantity will decrease rapidly. 
 
 Gathering must be done every day, and in the height 
 of the yield it is wise to go through the beds twice a 
 day to avoid the loss which occurs within a few hours 
 from overripening. When the mushroom first breaks 
 through the ground, it is apparently a solid, white 
 ball, balanced on a miniature column. A few hours, 
 and the under part of the ball breaks from the stock 
 and the mushroom gradually spreads like an umbrella 
 being opened and shows a line of pale pink, or flesh- 
 coloured, gills, which become darker every hour until 
 almost black, at which stage the mushroom becomes 
 thin and rapidly decays. 
 
 If mushrooms are gathered just after the veil (as 
 the skin which attaches the edge of the cap to the 
 stock is technically termed) breaks, they can be held 
 over for twenty-four hours without deteriorating, if 
 kept in a cool place away from the air. If, by chance, 
 some open ones escape the picker's notice, remove 
 them as soon as seen. 
 
SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW 
 
 IT is strange that many of the most useful vege- 
 tables are neglected in the majority of home 
 gardens. Okra, Swiss chard, leeks, Brussels 
 sprouts and Scotch kale are really little known, yet 
 they are all appetizing health additions to the table, 
 and require no special conditions or culture. 
 
 Okra, or gumbo, as it is invariably called in the 
 South, figures very largely in Creole cooking, but here 
 in the East is only just appearing in the markets. 
 The demand is sure to grow rapidly, because it is 
 one of those insidious articles which seem indispensa- 
 ble when once used. Soups, stews, gravies and in- 
 numerable made dishes are all improved by a little 
 okra, and it is the basis of many special dishes. My 
 household is fond of gumbo soup, so for that alone 
 okra had to have a place in the garden, and now we 
 use it in a dozen different ways. Cut into slices and 
 spread alternately with rice and tomatoes in a cas- 
 serole, with butter, in which curry-powder and salt has 
 been mixed, dotted all over the top and baked for 
 three hours, it is a deliciously savoury luncheon dish. 
 
 But it is the growing, not the cooking, of this neg- 
 lected vegetable that I have to do with just now. The 
 ground for okra should be thoroughly enriched and 
 
 129 
 
130 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 well cultivated. Make a furrow about an inch deep, 
 and if only a home supply is wanted, about thirty feet 
 long. Sow the seeds two inches apart in rows and 
 cover. Thin to eighteen inches apart when the seed- 
 lings are about two inches high. If more than one! 
 row is to be grown, make them two and a half feet 
 apart. 
 
 Okra is a semi-tropical plant, so is better not sown 
 until the second week in May. Once started, it grows 
 very rapidly, yields and continues a supply of pods 
 throughout the season. The flowers are large and 
 rather pretty, but only last a few hours; after they 
 fall it takes about twelve hours for a pod to develop 
 sufficiently for gathering. To be in perfect condition 
 for cooking they should not be much more than an 
 inch long. Any surplus quantity can be dried or 
 canned for winter use. Sliced, they are a splendid 
 addition to mixed pickles. 
 
 Swiss chard is such a true cut-and-come-again that 
 for home or market it is invaluable, and a poultry- 
 keeper can find no better or cheaper green food for 
 fowls that are yarded. The leaves and stalks are the 
 edible part, and can be boiled like spinach or the stalks 
 alone used. They are white and run the full length 
 of the leaf. Cut them out and tie loosely; cook and 
 serve just as you would asparagus. The new variety 
 called " Lucullus " is, I think, the best. Make the 
 ground very rich; sow in rows three feet apart, about 
 the end of April or the first week in May. Thin the 
 plants when they are about two inches high to stand 
 
SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW 131 
 
 eighteen inches apart. When used as spinach cut the 
 leaves when they are ten inches high, but when the 
 stalks are to simulate asparagus gathering should be 
 delayed until they are about fourteen inches high. 
 Then cut off the green part of the leaf, which can still 
 be used as greens. No matter how the leaves are to 
 be used or at what height the crop is cut, be very care- 
 ful never to injure the heart of the plant, for if you 
 do successive crops will be spoiled. 
 
 Brussels sprouts have been gaining favour in the 
 market during the last few years and should certainly 
 be in every garden, for they possess all the healthful 
 qualities of cabbage, and the flavour is much more 
 delicate. 
 
 When small, the plants look exactly like cabbage, 
 but instead of firm, solid heads, the stalks run up to 
 twelve or fourteen inches in height, and baby cabbages 
 spring out all around the stalk for the entire length. 
 One plant often yields thirty-five or forty of these 
 diminutive cabbages. 
 
 One great advantage of Brussels sprouts is that the 
 seed need not be sown until June and the plants are 
 not ready for transplanting until July, so can succeed 
 early peas in the same ground. Like all members of 
 the cabbage family, Brussels sprouts are gluttons and 
 positively must have heavy and rich ground. Sow 
 seed in shallow drills; transplant when seedlings are 
 about three inches high, two feet apart in rows three 
 feet apart. For early spring harvest, sow seeds in 
 hotbed during February or March. Mature plants are 
 
132 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 quite hardy, but must be dug up before severe frost. 
 The best way to keep the home supply is to hang the 
 whole plant up by the roots in a frost-proof cellar. 
 
 Leeks and winter onions are members of the onion 
 family which are usually overlooked, and it is a great 
 pity, because they are both most desirable. Leeks 
 should be sown on very fine, rich soil. A heavy 
 dressing of poultry manure, applied the fall before 
 planting, is an ideal fertiliser. Scatter the seed thick 
 in rows two feet apart and thin out the plants so that 
 they stand nine inches apart. Cultivate the ground 
 constantly and hill up as the plants grow. This is a 
 part of the work which must not be neglected, as it 
 encourages the growth and bleaches the stalks. A 
 slight frost won't hurt them, but they must be heavily 
 banked up and covered with litter if they are to stay 
 out in the ground until spring. 
 
 The winter supply of these vegetables should be dug 
 in December and stored in the house for convenience. 
 Pack them, standing up as they grow, in boxes ; scat- 
 ter earth between them, and keep them in a dark cellar. 
 For soups they are much superior to ordinary onions. 
 Boiled and served with white sauce, they are a most 
 enjoyable vegetable. 
 
 Winter bunch onions, as they are termed, are really 
 the earliest of all spring onions. Sow the seed in 
 shallow drills, a foot apart, in May or June. Culti- 
 vate until fall, then cover with litter. Early in the 
 following spring rake off and cultivate lightly between 
 
SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW 133 
 
 the rows, and you will have delicious green onions for 
 table or market when other people are thinking about 
 sowing the seed. 
 
 Kale should be considered indispensable in every 
 garden, for it comes into season late in the fall, when 
 frost has demolished all other greens. Even in the 
 vicinity of New York it can be relied upon to furnish 
 early spring greens almost before the snow is off the 
 ground. In fact, I have gathered it from under deep 
 snow in midwinter and found it in good condition. 
 Seeds should be sown about the middle of June, and 
 the seedlings transplanted into rows two feet and a 
 half apart. The leaves are curly and of a dark green, 
 and should not be used until there has been some frost, 
 for until frozen they are as tough as they are tender 
 after Jack Frost has visited them. 
 
 As soon as the weather becomes colder, bank straw 
 or leaves on each side of the rows up to the top of the 
 kale and then put cedar branches or brush of some 
 sort along each side to keep the covering in place. 
 
 Kohlrabi is another valuable vegetable, which comes 
 in when other things have faded. It really belongs 
 to the cabbage family, but it is more like the turnip. 
 The edible part is the bulb which develops above 
 ground. When cooked it looks and tastes like a most 
 delicately flavoured turnip. As they must be cooked 
 while young and tender, it is best to make several sow- 
 ings; one in the hotbed in February, and two others 
 in the open ground; the first in May, the second in 
 
134 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 August. They can stand quite a heavy frost and so 
 are usable until December or January, according to 
 the season. 
 
 Sow in rows placed about two feet apart, and after 
 the young plants have attained sufficient strength to 
 withstand attacks from beetles and such insects, thin 
 them to two feet apart. 
 
 Perhaps it is as well to add a few hints about the 
 general cultivation of these vegetables — hints which 
 will be useful for all gardening. Cultivation must 
 be constant and thorough, especially when the soil is 
 light and sandy. Of course, no good gardener will 
 permit weeds to get a foothold in his territory, but the 
 constant use of the rake is much more important, for it 
 keeps up the supply of moisture in the soil around the 
 roots of the plants, and so insures their being well fed 
 and making rapid growth. 
 
 This is a point which always seems to puzzle inex- 
 perienced gardeners, so it needs explanation. Stir- 
 ring the surface soil with a fine rake as soon as it is 
 partly dry after a rain, furnishes a mulch of dust 
 which prevents the moisture in the lower earth escap- 
 ing, because it checks the capillary process by which 
 moisture travels to the surface and is carried into the 
 air. The soil may be rich in the mineral and animal 
 components which constitute plant-food, but unless 
 moisture is present in sufficient quantities these are not 
 available as sustenance for plants. 
 
HOW TO PLANT AND CULTIVATE STRAW- 
 BERRIES 
 
 JUST why growing one's own strawberries should 
 create a sense of superiority is difficult to say, but 
 it does. City friends, who accept really difficult 
 agricultural accomplishments with matter-of-fact in- 
 difference, tender a sort of wondering respect to the 
 strawberry-grower, and what is more extraordinary, 
 the grower invariably accepts the laudation with the 
 condescending pride of a victor. At least, I must own 
 to some such feeling, even though I know how absurd 
 it is, for the small wild berry is indigenous to this 
 country and was adopted by the thrifty colonial house- 
 wives as a garden-plant long before the horticulturists 
 dreamed of taking it under their scientific manage- 
 ment. 
 
 The cultivated strawberries are somewhat like 
 exotics, having been created in Europe from the native 
 wild berry and a somewhat similar wild plant brought 
 from Chili in 1750. Varieties resulting from that 
 cross were subsequently brought to this country and 
 furnished the stock from which has gradually been 
 developed the large, luscious fruit of to-day. But it 
 still likes American soil and so will thrive in a wider 
 range of latitude than any other cultivated plant. 
 
 135 
 
i36 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 There are several strawberry farms in our vicinity 
 and, according to the owners, they bear most profit- 
 able crops. One grower tells me that he averages six 
 thousand quarts to the acre, and gets an average price 
 of eight cents a quart. Another neighbour says he 
 calculates to clear three hundred dollars an acre from 
 his berries. Personally, I can't quote figures, because 
 we have never gone in for market berries. Being 
 very fond of them, and wanting the very best we could 
 possibly grow, we have always confined our efforts to 
 garden culture, just for home consumption, and the 
 reward has been such epicurean feasts that we have 
 been satisfied. 
 
 Like asparagus, strawberry beds should be estab- 
 lished as soon as the family has settled in a country 
 home, because it takes a year to get a full crop. 
 There are a great many varieties to choose from, but 
 I think it is best to restrict selection to the old estab- 
 lished kinds. The Marshall for first early, the Glen 
 Mary for mid-season and the Gandy for late gather- 
 ing. And truly I don't believe there can be a better 
 selection for the home garden in the vicinity of New 
 York. 
 
 But, as some varieties do better than others in a 
 certain locality, it is advisable to consult old residents 
 in the neighbourhood and the nurserymen from whom 
 plants are ordered. 
 
 Light sandy soil, sloping slightly to the south, will 
 produce the earliest berries, but we are convinced 
 
STRAWBERRIES 137 
 
 from experience that slightly heavier soil and a more 
 northerly exposure produces a better fruit in mid- 
 season. Our beds all slope to the south, but the late 
 varieties are so situated that they are slightly shaded 
 by a row of young pear trees, which protects them 
 from the direct rays of the sun. The soil is — or 
 rather was — of ordinary quality, neither very sandy 
 nor very heavy, so for several seasons we scattered 
 fine coal ashes between the rows of the early plants, 
 which materially lightened the soil, and for several 
 years we have had berries from five to ten days earlier 
 than our neighbours. 
 
 New beds may be started in the fall or spring, 
 whichever is the most convenient. If the plants are 
 set out in the early fall, they will bear the following 
 season, but if planting is delayed until spring, it will 
 be a full year before any fruit can be expected. So 
 I recommend August planting of all plants to the be- 
 ginner, and spring planting when there are established 
 beds to take other plants from. 
 
 To explain: Strawberries are propagated from 
 the runners, which, under natural conditions, shoot 
 out from the parent plants and, taking root, develop 
 individual crowns. But the up-to-date nurseryman 
 has of late years taken to sinking small pots filled with 
 rich earth in the beds, then by lifting the ends of the 
 runners on to the pots the roots of the young plants 
 develop within the pot instead of on the ground and 
 can later in the season be removed without any check 
 
138 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 to growth, which, of course, greatly facihtates the 
 growth of the crown after it is set out in its permanent 
 position. 
 
 Pot plants, as they are called, are slightly more ex- 
 pensive than layer plants, but they are well worth it 
 when time is an object. 
 
 Before the plants arrive the ground should be thor- 
 oughly prepared by digging and raking until it is 
 in a fine fibrous condition. Mark off rows four feet 
 apart. When the plants are received, unpack and 
 water copiously, and leave in a shady place for twenty- 
 four hours before setting out, at which time make a 
 hole with a trowel a little larger than the pot in which 
 the plant has been growing, fill it about half-full of 
 water, and if the plants have been delivered in the 
 pots, remove carefully by loosening the soil, which is 
 done by pushing a small stick through the drain-hole 
 and turning the pot upside down. Then slip out the 
 ball of earth, and put it into the hole which you made 
 with the trowel. Fill in with the loose earth and the 
 process of planting will be complete. 
 
 Plants should be set two feet apart in the rows. If 
 they are strong and healthy specimens, growth will 
 start almost immediately, so you must go carefully 
 through the rows in about two weeks' time, when the 
 plants will have commenced to throw out runners. 
 We never allow more than four for each plant, and 
 those are trained to root as nearly as possible before 
 and behind and on each side of the parent plant, which 
 makes a solid row about twenty-seven inches wide at 
 
STRAWBERRIES 139 
 
 the end of the growing season. The best way of in- 
 suring runners rooting is to press them close to the 
 soil, holding them in place either with a small stone -or 
 a handful of earth. 
 
 After growth stops in the fall, the space betwecH 
 the rows should receive a dressing of commercial 
 fertiliser and be well spaded over. About December 
 1st a mulch of straw or leaves should be spread over 
 the plants to protect them from the frost. Early the 
 following spring the same work is repeated, and about 
 May 1st the mulch is removed from immediately 
 around the plants, but left on the ground to keep the 
 berries from coming in contact with the earth, and 
 also to keep the soil moist about the roots. The beds 
 must be kept free from weeds at all times. 
 
 After the crop has been gathered, a few runners 
 are allowed to develop and are rooted in pots, as ex- 
 plained above, to be used in establishing new growth 
 later in August, as we always put out six new rows 
 each season and demolish six old ones, as young plants 
 yield more and better fruit than old ones. For market 
 the culture cannot be so careful, because the size of 
 the beds will necessitate the use of horse cultivation. 
 What is more, pot plants cost too much. 
 
 The successful market grower, to whom I have re- 
 ferred previously, practises the following method: 
 The ground from which early potatoes have been 
 harvested is sown with oats and rye, and when that 
 crop is removed the following summer the ground is 
 ploughed, harrowed and marked off in rows four feet 
 
I40 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 apart, and the plants are taken from the field set out 
 the year before. 
 
 When the field is planted in June, a man goes 
 through the rows about August and covers the tips of 
 the runners with a little soil, to hold them down to the 
 ground. This work is usually done by a man's foot 
 and a hoe; then, after growth stops in the fall or be- 
 fore it starts the following spring, the young plants 
 formed from the runners are severed from the parent 
 plant and taken up. This is accomplished by running 
 a one-horse plough along the outside of the rows to 
 cut the runners and throw out the plants, so making 
 it easy for a man to go along and pick up the strong- 
 est plants, which are carried to a trench in some con- 
 venient location and left until the following June. 
 
 The trenches are made about six inches deep and 
 the plants are set about one inch apart, and the trench 
 refilled. Again a man's foot and the hoe do the work. 
 The idea is that severing plants while in a dormant 
 condition and storing them closely in a trench prevents 
 their feeling the shock of removal from the parent 
 stem and retards growth until time to bed. Of 
 course, when they are removed to permanent rows, 
 they are planted one foot apart and fields are kept free 
 from weeds by the use of a one-horse cultivator be- 
 tween the rows. 
 
 Even in field culture the runners have to be attended 
 to as soon as they commence to form. Allowing sev- 
 eral to develop from each plant will make the row a 
 comparatively solid mass of from fifteen to eighteen 
 
STRAWBERRIES 1411 
 
 inches wide at the end of the season. A field set out 
 in June or early July will give a full crop the follow- 
 ing year and be nearly as productive the second year 
 if early cultivated and fertilised, but after that should 
 be ploughed up and the ground used for potatoes, cab- 
 bage or some other crops before it is again used for 
 strawberries. 
 
 The ground on which strawberries are to be grown 
 should have been well enriched with barn-yard manure 
 for previous crops, but commercial fertiliser should 
 be used while berries hold possession of the ground, 
 for barn-yard manure is apt to contain the spores of 
 fungus diseases which attack strawberries. Any sign 
 of these diseases should be instantly checked by spray- 
 ing with Bordeaux mixture. One thing more. When 
 purchasing plants, remember that there are what are 
 called perfect and imperfect plants. The latter are 
 just as good for all practical purposes if planted side 
 by side with perfect plants, but not otherwise. 
 
HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 
 
 IF gathered when ripe, and served at once, berries 
 — in fact, all the small fruits — are undoubtedly 
 luxuries. So the country home should always 
 devote some space to them, no matter how small the 
 garden may be; and when the home is a farm, ex- 
 pected to become self-supporting, the berry orchard 
 should be established immediately after taking posses- 
 sion, for the outlay is little, returns quick, and neces- 
 sary knowledge is very easily acquired. Therefore, 
 small fruits are a permanent branch of husbandry to 
 be recommended to the amateur of small means, who 
 needs a marketable commodity to keep the pot boiling. 
 Like most old farms, our place had a few neglected 
 currant bushes, a patch of half- wild black and red 
 raspberries, and a strawberry bed in a most demoral- 
 ised condition. But even these poor degenerates con- 
 vinced us of the economy of growing small fruits for 
 our own use, and the profit to be derived by supplying 
 other people's tables. Besides the luxury of having 
 freshly-gathered fruit, there are preserves, jellies and 
 cordials for winter use. At the end of the first year 
 we thoroughly pruned and cultivated the old bram- 
 bles, and planted half an acre with brambles and 
 black and red currants. Afterward the space was 
 
 1143 
 
144 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 enlarged, until we had a good-sized berry orchard, 
 which has always shown a profit even in the worst 
 seasons. Brambles will grow in almost any ground, 
 but if well fed and given a congenial home they yield 
 much better. The fruit is larger, better coloured and 
 finer flavoured. So, when possible, select ground that 
 is somewhat sandy in character, with a heavy subsoil. 
 Ground that has been under cultivation for two or 
 three seasons is best, because it will have been well 
 worked, and so will be comparatively free from weeds. 
 Commence with a small patch, say half an acre, 
 divided equally between black and red raspberries, 
 blackberries and black and red currants. Strawber- 
 ries cannot be included in a general small-fruit 
 orchard, because the beds are profitable for only three 
 years, and it is better to take them into regular crop 
 rotation, using ground that has previously been occu- 
 pied by potatoes or com. As space is somewhat 
 limited, we will devote this chapter to brambles and 
 currants. 
 
 There are new plants for favour each year in nurs- 
 ery catalogues, but we will cover only a few of the 
 old stand-bys, such as the following list : Raspberries 
 (red), Columbian and Cuthbert; (black) Gregg and 
 Cimiberland; blackberries, Wilson and Taylor; cur- 
 rants. Red Cherry and Fay's Prolific; gooseberries. 
 Industry and Pearl. The best plan is to purchase a 
 few dozen plants of each variety from some good 
 nursery for parent stock, and when they are once well 
 set, do your own propagating from them. Raspber- 
 
HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 145 
 
 ries should be set three feet apart, in rows five feet 
 apart. Have the ground well dressed with stable 
 manure, and mark off in rows. It is best to use a 
 plough for the marking, as you then have a furrow 
 about the right depth in which to plant. If the plants 
 have travelled far, stand them in a shallow pan or 
 half barrel, and cover the roots with water for ten 
 or twelve hours before planting. Brambles that are 
 kept well trimmed need no staking out, but when 
 planting young stock it is well to have some stakes cut 
 about four feet long and pointed at one end. Drive 
 one every three feet along the rows, and then set 
 the plant close up to it. Spread out the roots in the 
 natural form, and firm the earth well around them, 
 then tie the canes loosely to the stake, to prevent the 
 wind from blowing them from side to side. Unless 
 stakes are used at this time, brambles or small bushes 
 sway from side to side in every light breeze, and the 
 roots are loosened, thus preventing them from gain- 
 ing any hold on the ground. Cultivation should be 
 as thorough and constant as for corn until August, 
 as it is required to keep down weeds and permit 
 growth. After August, cultivation should stop, to 
 check the growth and allow the summer wood time to 
 ripen before frost. 
 
 To those who are new to gardening, the above may 
 need some explanation. Cultivation — by which is 
 meant stirring the surface soil with the cultivator or 
 garden rake^ — -prevents the moisture from escaping 
 from the ground. Moisture releases and brings into 
 
146 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 consumable fonn the different properties of the soil 
 which constitute plant- food. A bountiful supply of 
 nourishment naturally promotes growth. Stop culti- 
 vation, and food decreases, growth stops, and the 
 tender twigs at the extremity of branches have time 
 to harden sufficiently to resist frost that would kill 
 new growth. 
 
 Planting and general care are virtually the same 
 with blackberries. Raspberries are of a weedy or 
 spreading nature, and throw up new shoots from root 
 beds, which must be kept down between rows, or the 
 patch will become a tangled wilderness within a few 
 years. Even during the first summer after setting 
 out it is advisable to top-prune as fresh growth is 
 made. Don't allow the canes to grow to a length of 
 more than twenty inches. The pinching off of the 
 ends forces them to throw out side branches and more 
 canes from the main root, a very desirable thing, as 
 fruit is borne only on the extremity of branches grown 
 the preceding year. After the first year all the old 
 canes which have borne fruit must be cut out. In 
 winter, when sap has returned to the roots, is the best 
 time for this work ; but as the amateur may find some 
 difficulty in distinguishing the old canes from the new 
 ones, it is safer to do the demolishing soon after the 
 fruit has been gathered, when there can be no mistake. 
 Each fall throw well-rotted stable manure around the 
 roots of each plant, and fork it into the ground as 
 early in the spring as the weather permits. At the 
 same time run the plough between the rows, to destroy 
 
HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 147 
 
 the undesirable root shoots. Blackberries do not 
 form root beds that send up new shoots, so the plough- 
 ing need not be practised between the rows ; otherwise, 
 clearing and pruning are virtually the same as for 
 raspberries. 
 
 When more plants are required of the raspberry 
 family, allow some of the root shoots to develop dur- 
 ing the summer, and early the following spring take 
 them up with a sharp spade, which will sever the con- 
 nection between the new and the old plant without 
 injury to either. As blackberries do not throw up 
 new plants in the same way, they must be created 
 from seeds or layers. Allow one or two canes of old 
 plants to grow long enough to fall over and reach the 
 ground, and in August peg the tops to the ground with 
 a forked stick, and draw up a little mould around 
 each. They will soon throw out roots and top 
 growth, and early the following spring can be cut 
 from the parent branch about eight inches above the 
 rooted end. Dig up a new plant, and set in rows the 
 same as raspberries. All the brambles are very vigor- 
 ous growers and remarkably free from disease, but 
 it is advisable to keep a lookout for the anthracnose, 
 which is a greyish-looking spot with a purple centre. 
 They are most likely to make their appearance in sum- 
 mer on young canes, and if not checked, multiply and 
 eventually kill the plants. Cut out any affected canes 
 immediately after discovery, and burn. Spray the ad- 
 jacent plants with Bordeaux mixture two or three 
 times, allowing twelve or fifteen days between the 
 
148 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 applications. If old plants are affected, they don't 
 need any consideration — take shoots from them. 
 Orange-rust is the yellowish-looking spot on the under 
 side of the leaves. The only remedy is to dig up, 
 and cremate, but I truly think, instead of talking about 
 cause and cure of occasional diseases, it is better to 
 set out new plants every five or six years, for fresh- 
 grown youthful vigour invariably militates disease 
 more than any amount of doctoring. 
 
 Currants, both black and red, should be in every 
 small-fruit orchard; or if there is no special orchard, 
 a few bushes should be planted in the vegetable gar- 
 den. iBushes should stand five feet apart, in a partly 
 shady position if possible, and in rich, moist soil. 
 Currant bushes bear for many years if properly cared 
 for, and in their case pruning need not be an annual 
 occurrence, as the same branches will bear for several 
 years ; it is advisable, however, to cut out a few of the 
 older branches every two or three years, and encour- 
 age new growth. Early in the spring spray well, and 
 again after the fruit has formed, and yet again late 
 in the summer, for borers. This is the worst and 
 commonest enemy the currant has. It originates 
 from a dark-blue moth with yellow bands across the 
 body, which lays its eggs on the buds of the outer 
 branches. The eggs hatch into small white cater- 
 pillars with dark heads. After destroying the appear- 
 ance of the bush they bore to the centre of the stems, 
 and remain there until the following year. Much 
 disease and many insect pests will be averted if all 
 
HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 149 
 
 dead leaves are raked up from under the bushes in the 
 late fall, and burned. Mulch around the bushes in 
 the early winter with stable manure, and fork into the 
 ground the following spring. Stock can be increased 
 either by dividing large bushes, which is really the 
 quickest way, or by taking cuttings. If the latter 
 method is followed — and when there are only young 
 bushes on the premises, it will have to be — take about 
 eight inches ofif the end of well-developed branches 
 of the same season's growth. Plant them so that all 
 but the top leaf -bud is under ground. They need not 
 be set more than three inches apart, and must be 
 transplanted the following year. August is the best 
 season to take the cuttings, as it gives them time to 
 form roots before frost. In November protect them 
 slightly with a mulch of straw or leaves. They 
 should remain in the nursery bed for a year before 
 being transplanted again to their permanent position. 
 
 Gooseberries are usually picked green and used for 
 pies, but when the large- fruiting varieties are grown 
 they are delicious raw when ripe. The soil should be 
 rich, heavy loam well drained. Little pruning is 
 needed for the first two or three years beyond the clip- 
 ping back of the shoots to develop fruit spurs along 
 the cane, but of course weak or broken branches must 
 be removed. 
 
 Propagation is done by suckers and mound layers, 
 though the American varieties grow easily from cut- 
 tings. To procure strong mound layers, cut the old 
 bushes back in the late fall or early spring to encour- 
 
ISO MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 age new shoots to spring up from the roots, and when 
 they are from one to two feet high press them out- 
 ward from the parent plant, covering the base of the 
 shoot up to about four inches above the root with 
 earth, packing it well down. Then in the fall or fol- 
 lowing spring sever the shoot from the parent plant 
 and transplant to the permanent home. Let them 
 stand about four feet apart each way. 
 
HOW TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS 
 
 THE revival of the old-time hardy garden has 
 become such a craze among fashionable folk 
 that the country woman who desires to add 
 to her income will find growing perennial plants for 
 sale a profitable occupation, provided, remember, that 
 there is a well-to-do community near at hand where 
 she may find a ready market. 
 
 Like all occupations which have to do with Nature, 
 it is folly to attempt it unless you have an innate love 
 of the work, for it requires the comprehensive sym- 
 pathy of a real affinity, as well as technical knowledge, 
 to rear either plants or animals successfully. 
 
 The great advantage in raising bedding plants is the 
 small space and capital required. A hundred square 
 feet, and two or three dollars for seeds, will enable 
 anyone to make a beginning, which can easily be 
 worked up into a large business. The correct month 
 for starting perennials from seed is June, but as that 
 necessitates waiting about nine months for any re- 
 turns, I am sure the beginner will agree with me in 
 thinking it is best to start some in the house or hotbed, 
 for then the varieties which flower the first season can 
 be sold in May or June, and those which don't flower 
 
 151 
 
152 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 until the second season will be large, strong plants in 
 October, when many people set out hardy plants. 
 
 The sashes for hotbeds, glazed and painted ready 
 for use, cost only three dollars and fifty cents each, 
 and the walls of the beds can be made out of any old 
 boards, so they do not add very much to the expense 
 of starting, but if you do not care to undertake any- 
 thing so professional as this at first, it is quite possible 
 to manage with shallow boxes, if you have a south or 
 southeast window in a room which averages from 
 sixty to sixty-five degrees. 
 
 The first consideration is getting good potting 
 mould for the seed-beds or boxes. It must be light 
 and fibrous, a condition best arrived at by shaving off 
 the under side of grass sods, and mixing with about 
 twice the amount of ordinary garden soil and a little 
 fine sand. But as you are not likely to have a store 
 of sods, and the frozen condition of the ground will 
 make it difficult to get them, you must substitute well- 
 rotted cow manure. Have ordinary garden soil car- 
 ried into some place warm enough to dissipate all 
 frost, then mix thoroughly with the pulverised manure 
 and sand. Pass through a fine sieve, and it will be 
 ready for use. 
 
 Even when the hotbed is used, it is better to have 
 small boxes for the different varieties of seeds, and 
 stand them in the hotbed, instead of sowing the seed 
 directly in the bed itself, for some varieties take 
 longer than others to germinate, and it is a difficult 
 problem to ventilate and water a bed containing a mis- 
 
HOW TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS i53i 
 
 cellaneous assortment, but when the seeds are in boxes, 
 they can be removed from the bed during the warm 
 part of the day, and the difficulty is miHtated. Boxe^ 
 should be about two and a half inches deep, and have 
 a few cracks or holes in the bottom for drainage. 
 Cover the bottom with a layer of coal ashes, then fill 
 to within a quarter of an inch of the top with the 
 potting-mould. Smooth it off evenly, water and stand 
 in a warm place. 
 
 Within a few days there will be a crop of weed 
 seedlings. Demolish them, rewater and allow a few 
 days to elapse on the chance of a second crop appear- 
 ing, after which it will be safe to do the planting. It 
 is a good scheme to use a flour or powdered-sugar 
 shaker for very small seeds, instead of trying to sow 
 them by hand. When seeds are large enough to han- 
 dle individually, like hollyhocks, push them into the 
 soil with the point of a pencil or a wooden-skewer, 
 half an inch apart in rows one inch apart. 
 
 After the seeds have been placed, scatter mould 
 over them. The amount has to be determined by the 
 size of the seeds. The general rule is, twice their 
 own depth; but with the very minute varieties it is 
 better to put no covering at all. 
 
 No matter what the depth of covering, the soil must 
 be pressed firmly down with a smooth piece of board, 
 cut to fit inside the box. A desk-blotter or roller is 
 very convenient, and does the work very evenly. Do 
 not be afraid to press down firmly. The seeds must 
 be closely imbedded in the soil, otherwise the air will 
 
154 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 dry up the first frail sprouts and kill tHem. After 
 the rolling and pressing, sprinkle with water, then 
 cover with a piece of glass or paper, and stand in the 
 hotbed or window. 
 
 Covering the boxes with glass or paper is done to 
 retard evaporation. Seeds must never be allowed to 
 dry out during the time of germination; watering is 
 so likely to disturb the soil around them that it is to be 
 avoided if possible, but if it has to be done, use a very 
 fine rose on the sprinkler, warm water and be very 
 careful. 
 
 After the seedlings appear, remove the covering, 
 and when the second leaves have developed, transplant 
 into fresh boxes if you are depending on window cul- 
 ture. If you have a hotbed, they can be set in row^ 
 from one to two inches apart, according to the size of 
 the plants. 
 
 During the bright warm days the sasH of the hotbed 
 should be raised or entirely removed, but be very 
 watchful of the weather. Spring is sucH a treacher- 
 ous time of year that the warm mornings may develop 
 into frosty afternoons. Always replace the sash over 
 the hotbed by three o'clock in the afternoon, and cover 
 with mats before dusk. As soon as the ground is in 
 condition for the outside nursery beds, dig and thor- 
 oughly cultivate, for the plants which are to be held 
 over for fall sales must be bedded out as soon as all 
 fear of frost is past, and seeds sown for the next 
 year's stock. 
 
 The seed-beds in the open ground must be well pre- 
 
HOW TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS 155 
 
 pared and made very fine and fibrous. Sow tlie seeds 
 in rows and transplant as with the house seedlings. 
 Beds must all be kept free from weeds and under good 
 cultivation during the growing season. When severe 
 weather comes in the fall, cover lightly with leaves or 
 soil, and the plants will winter safely and be ready for 
 spring sales the following year. The house-raised 
 seedlings which are to be sold for this year's bedding 
 can go into garden beds, but it is really better to put 
 them into small individual pots, which should be partly 
 submerged in soil or sand. Customers will usually 
 pay a few cents extra for pot-plants. 
 
 There is such an endless variety of perennial plants 
 that it is impossible to grow them all ; in fact, it would 
 be very foolish to try to do so. Select the best-known 
 and most popular kinds, and have some of different 
 sizes, so that you can make up selections for beds. 
 Hollyhocks, foxgloves, golden glow, monk's-hood all 
 range from three and a half to five feet in height. 
 After them come phlox, larkspur, false dragon's- 
 head, Canterbury bells and bergamot. A step lower 
 are bleeding-heart, columbine, leopard's-bane, asters, 
 sweet-williams and wallflowers. Still lower are Ice- 
 land poppies, Japanese primroses, wake-robin and 
 pansies. 
 
 The first year it would add to your profit to grow 
 a few of the annual varieties in the hotbed collection : 
 Hollyhocks, sweet sultans, sweet tobacco, asters, wall- 
 flowers, mignonette and salvia. Among the peren- 
 nials which will flower the first season if seed is sown 
 
156 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 in boxes or hotbeds, are monk*s-hood (which is one of 
 the most charming of the tall blue flowers and 
 comes also in white, and blue- white mixed) ; larkspur; 
 Chinese bellflower (large bell-shaped flowers of steel 
 blue, white and violet) ; heliotrope and marshmallows 
 (pink, rose colour, white with crimson spots, and 
 golden yellow with maroon centres) — these are 
 amongst the most valuable of the first-year bloomers, 
 for they flower all through the summer. Three of 
 the most fragrant annuals are sweet tobacco, sweet 
 sultan and mignonette. 
 
 Sweet-williams are such old favourites, and are so 
 multicoloured that I have always been thankful that 
 they flowered the first season. Meadow-sweet — or 
 goat's-beard, as it is often called — is white and fra- 
 grant. Blanket-flower grows about two feet high, 
 and has most gorgeous flowers, dark velvety brown 
 marked with blotches of crimson. Of course, all the 
 varieties suggested for early house-culture should also 
 be sown in the open ground in June to produce a 
 plentiful supply of strong plants for the following 
 year. 
 
JUNE ROSES 
 
 THE first luxury we allowed ourselves on the 
 farm was a collection of roses. We had put 
 aside a sum of money for some necessary re- 
 pairs, and when they were completed there were six 
 dollars left, which we agreed to spend on the garden. 
 One dollar went for perennial seeds, another for wis- 
 taria root. The remaining four were devoted to 
 roses. We sent for an advertised collection of hardy 
 roses, consisting of six two-year-old plants for one 
 dollar and twenty cents, two Crimson Ramblers at 
 fifty cents each and two Dorothy Perkins at fifty 
 cents apiece, a collection for winter forcing, which 
 were only little seedlings, and cost forty cents. 
 Lastly, a two-year-old moss rose was added, which 
 also cost forty cents. Since that time, several two- 
 year-olds of specially desired varieties have been 
 bought, but the purchases made with that four dollars 
 really constituted the stock from which we have popu- 
 lated our own and many other gardens. 
 
 The first year the Dorothy Perkins covered about 
 twelve square feet of sidewall, and all but the winter 
 collection and one of the others flowered the first 
 season. One hundred slips were taken, and eighty- 
 two lived. Twenty were sold the following season 
 
 ^i7 
 
15.8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 at ten cents eacH. The second year one hundred were 
 sold at five cents each to a local store, and three dozen 
 at ten cents to odd customers. The winter collec- 
 tion was not allowed to flower until the second winter ; 
 then they were put into the violet-house, where they 
 did quite well, but as we had neither time nor desire 
 to undertake any more hothouse work, we never made 
 any attempt to increase the stock or make any sales. 
 However, rose-growing for the winter market is car- 
 ried on quite extensively in our vicinity, so I have had 
 ample proof of the profit to be derived from the work 
 when undertaken as a business. But truly, I think 
 growing garden plants is almost as profitable, and most 
 certainly it is a much easier and healthier branch of 
 the work. Moreover, it does not require capital, nor 
 the knowledge required for hothouse culture. 
 
 The best soil for roses is that which is rich in 
 vegetable matter, such as sod, roots and fallen leaves 
 which have been exposed to the action of the elements 
 long enough to disintegrate and melt into the soil. 
 It is the condition found in the ground cover of woods 
 and forests, and it can be simulated at home by means 
 of a compost heap. Old sods, leaves and all waste 
 vegetable matter are piled up with alternate layers of 
 garden soil, allowed to remain for several months, 
 then thoroughly forked and repiled. When it is 
 wanted for use, pass through a coarse sieve, and mix 
 with one-half its own bulk of cow manure. 
 
 If your garden soil is not very good, dig large holes 
 
JUNE ROSES 159 
 
 two feet square and deep. Then fill up with the 
 home-made compost, or soil from the woods, and old 
 cow manure. When the young plants come from the 
 nursery, unpack and stand the roots in water. If the 
 ground Should not be ready, or any other cause 
 compels delay in planting, add rich soil to the water 
 in which the plants are standing, until it is about 
 the consistency of mud, and keep in that condition 
 until the plants can be set in their permanent positions 
 out of doors. 
 
 Make a hole in the middle of the filled-in space large 
 enough to permit of the roots being spread out to 
 their full capacity. Never squeeze plants into a small 
 hole, which necessitates the doubling under of roots. 
 This applies to all plants as well as roses. After the 
 roots have been spread out evenly in the hole, scatter 
 soil over them to the depth of two inches; then water 
 copiously, and after the water has been absorbed by 
 the soil, fill up with dry earth and firm down thor- 
 oughly. 
 
 Watering in the middle of the filling-in operation 
 washes the soil into all the crevices around the rootlets, 
 and insures a supply of moisture around the plants. 
 Putting in the dry earth above it prevents evaporation, 
 so that the roots have valuable food while they are 
 recovering their hold on Mother Earth. 
 
 Another point to remember in setting out roots is 
 that an eastern or northern exposure is to be preferred 
 to ^ southern exposure, as the morning sun is better 
 
[i6q making home PROFITABLE 
 
 'for tHem than the strong noon-day glare. Keep tHe 
 ground as clean and well-cultivated as around tender 
 annuals. 
 
 Now we come to the question of food for this glut- 
 tonous beauty. Get a strong barrel and stand it on 
 blocks to raise it to about the height of a pail above the 
 ground, then tack the mouth of an ordinary burlap 
 bag securely around the top of the barrel, so that the 
 bottom of the bag falls to within one inch of the bottom 
 of the barrel. Insert a common tap just above the 
 lowest hoop, then empty two pailfuls of fresh cow- 
 droppings into the bag, and pour water over it until 
 the barrel is full. Let it stand two or three days 
 before using. Dose: Three quarts of the liquid for 
 each plant every two weeks, from the time they show 
 life in the spring until September. 
 
 Hybrid teas are the variety best adapted to garden 
 culture. They embrace some of our most beautiful 
 roses, are perfectly hardy and flower throughout the 
 summer. To this class belong all the Killamey and 
 Lyon family; La France, Viscountess Folkestone, 
 Mrs. Aaron Ward, Harry Kirk and about one hun- 
 dred others. In order to insure free flowering none 
 must be allowed to fade on the bush. Keep a close 
 watch, and cut the moment the petals show any sign 
 of withering. Allow long stalks, as it is the most 
 natural way of pruning these plants and insures a 
 supply lasting until frost. 
 
 Crimson Ramblers I have discarded entirely, for 
 their blossoming period is short, and their foliage is 
 
JUNE ROSES i6i 
 
 not attractive. Dorothy Perkins and Hiawatha both 
 grow rapidly and are better in every respect. 
 
 Two years ago, I bought one plant of the new 
 German climber, Thousand Beauties, which is rightly 
 named, for it is a mass of blossom, and it is like hav- 
 ing twenty plants in one, as it bears flowers of all 
 shades, from white to deep crimson. It was a con- 
 stant wonder and delight the whole of last summer 
 and made quite as much growth as any of the other 
 climbers, so I really think it is worth a place in any 
 collection. 
 
 In the fall, all bushes are given a conservative prun- 
 ing, by which I mean that only some of the old wood 
 is removed — not all — and that the rampant young 
 growth is cut back to about half its length. After the 
 ground is frozen, a heavy covering of cow manure is 
 put around the plants at a distance of two or three 
 feet, according to the size of the bush, and at Christ- 
 mas-time, before the really severe weather comes, 
 fallen leaves are spread over that, and a few cedar 
 branches, to prevent their being blown away. In the 
 spring, as soon as the ground can be worked, the 
 manure and leaves are worked into the soil, and any 
 branches which have been winter-killed are cut off. 
 
 Our collection has been enlarged entirely through 
 cuttings. I cut off about six inches from the end of 
 branches, close to a bud. These cuttings are allowed 
 to stand in water for two or three days, then planted 
 in shallow boxes filled with moist, rich soil, and kept 
 in a light, warm cellar, where the temperature averages 
 
i62 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 about fifty degrees. The following year they are 
 planted out into nursery beds until August, when they 
 are set out in their permanent homes. Last summer 
 I transplanted ten straight from the cellar into a 
 garden bed, and by July they were two and a half feet 
 high, and bore from four to seven blossoms each from 
 August to September 1 5th, when we had a hard, frosty 
 night, which checked all development. 
 
 If cuttings are intended for winter forcing, proceed 
 as before until the second spring, then transplant into 
 pots, which should be plunged to the rim in the ground. 
 
 About once a week turn the pots around, to prevent 
 any roots which may force their way through the 
 bottom of the pot from getting a hold on the ground. 
 At the same time nip off any flower buds which may 
 appear. Feed well, to promote growth, and about July 
 have the benches in the hothouse filled up with rich 
 soil, to which has been added a goodly percentage of 
 silver sand. Remove the plants from the pots, and set 
 out about fifteen inches apart. Of course, the fire 
 must not be started in the heating apparatus, and all 
 windows and doors must be kept open, so that the 
 plants have plenty of air, and during the hot, close 
 days, they should be lightly sprayed three or four 
 times a day. After the first of September there is 
 danger of frost, so it is best to close the windows at 
 night, but the principal desire is to keep the plants 
 cool to permit their growth until the fires are lighted 
 and forcing really begins, which should be about 
 October. When the fires are first lighted, keep the 
 
JUNE ROSES 163 
 
 temperature down to about fifty-five degrees, increase 
 slowly to sixty-five, then to seventy. 
 
 Watering is a great problem, and nothing but prac- 
 tice can really teach you the exact proportions. The 
 only general instruction is : The plant must never be 
 allowed to dry out, nor must it ever be too wet. A 
 spray for green fly and other insects should be used 
 in the evening, once or twice a week, from the time the 
 plants are taken from the garden into the house. 
 
LAVENDER AND HERBS 
 
 THERE should be an herb bed in every garden, 
 for their usefulness is manifold. Ye dames 
 of olden times knew and estimated their value, 
 but when housewifery was metamorphosed into do- 
 mestic science, the traditional law of our grandmothers 
 sank into derision, and many factors of homey comfort 
 might forever have been buried in oblivion had not 
 some wise person started a craze for old furniture. 
 That aroused a general interest in the old-time house- 
 wifery, and resulted in a revival of half-forgotten arts, 
 the hardy garden and herb bed being among them. 
 
 I spent most of my schoolday holidays at my grand- 
 mother's place in Yorkshire, England, where many of 
 the customs of Queen Anne's time remain unchanged. 
 So to me lavender and herbs seemed indispensable in 
 a self-respecting household, and as soon as I owned a 
 garden they were installed. Perhaps you never ex- 
 perienced the delight of sleeping between sheets redo- 
 lent of sweet herbs, so don't know what you are miss- 
 ing. At grandmother's, sheer mnslin bags were 
 filled with lavender, thyme and rosemary, and kept in 
 every cupboard, bureau drawer and chest. Large jars 
 filled with rose-leaves and mignonette, all the herbs and 
 
 165 
 
i66 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 many spices were stowed in the sitting-rooms and 
 halls, and the lids were removed for about half an 
 hour after sweeping and dusting were completed, so 
 a faint, indescribable perfume permeated the whole 
 house, and was most delightful. Punk sticks and 
 pastils have such a positive odour that after a time 
 one becomes very tired of them, but herbal odours, 
 being delicate and indescribable, merely suggest the 
 freshness of meadow lands in June, and invigorate the 
 senses instead of wearying. 
 
 The herb then is invaluable for all sorts of com- 
 plexion and hair washes. Even Helen of Troy's 
 beauty was attributed to their use. As disinfectants 
 — well, the plague was supposed to be banished from 
 Athens by the air being purified with aromatic herbs, 
 and during the great plague in England in Elizabeth's 
 time, little balls of perfume paste encased in silver, 
 gold or ivory, open-worked lockets or pomades were 
 worn suspended round the neck or carried in the 
 pockets, and during an outbreak of smallpox, grand- 
 mamma brought forth several such inherited treasures 
 and filled them with a compound made of beeswax, 
 herbs and spices, and we all wore them in the old way. 
 What influence they exercised over the dreaded dis- 
 ease I do not pretend to gauge, but we all escaped. 
 Separate or mingled fate and superstition has made 
 me use such compounds whenever travelling or know- 
 ingly exposed to infection. Even medical men don't 
 deny the benefit of sweet odours, or their value as dis- 
 infectants, so why should not we enjoy the undoubted 
 
LAVENDER AND HERBS 167 
 
 pleasure when it only means a few packages of seeds 
 and a little trouble. 
 
 Lavender is hardy when it is once firmly established, 
 but it is not the easiest perennial to start in this 
 country. At first I bought nursery stock, but out of 
 two dozen plants which I got from four different 
 sources during two years, only one lived, and that was 
 always a semi-invalid, so I resorted to the slower 
 method of sowing seed. In March, a shallow box 
 was filled with potting mould thoroughly soaked with 
 water, then covered with about one-fourth of an inch 
 of soil, patted down firmly, the box covered with 
 glass, and placed in a west window. As soon as seed- 
 lings appeared the glass was removed, but they were 
 shaded from the direct sun and slightly sprinkled 
 every morning. When two inches high they were 
 transplanted to a deeper box and set two inches apart. 
 About two months later they were transplanted to a 
 partly-shaded seed-bed in the garden, and the last two 
 leaves were nipped ofT each plant to insure a bushy 
 growth. Cultivation was constant all through the 
 summer until August, when they were again trans- 
 planted — this time into a bed which was to be their 
 permanent home — a border partly shaded by shrubs. 
 It happened to be a very dry summer, so they were 
 sprinkled every evening. When cool weather set in, 
 leaves were scattered between the plants, and the quan- 
 tity increased as the weather became more severe. In 
 the spring the mulch was removed, and a little bone 
 meal raked into the ground around the plants. The 
 
1 68 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 ground must be covered every winter, and it is well 
 to have a dressing of well-rotted cow manure dug into 
 the bed during the early fall. 
 
 In June or July we always have huge quantities of 
 flowers. We have never marketed any of them, but 
 they have formed the basis of many Christmas and 
 birthday presents. Ten pounds of lavender flowers, 
 and one pound each of musk, thyme, rosemary and 
 mint leaves, all dried, and mixed with one ounce of 
 ground cloves, was grandmamma's formula for moth- 
 bags which preserved our furs and woollens just as ef- 
 fectually as camphor balls or tar mixtures. 
 
 Sage is needed for pork, duck and goose dressings, 
 and is one of the very best tonics for the hair: the 
 broad leaf variety is the best to grow. It will save 
 time to buy the plants; they only cost ten cents each, 
 are very easy to establish, and quite hardy. Three 
 plants will be sufficient for a home supply. Set out 
 three feet apart in a partly shaded situation. There 
 are two varieties of thyme; both should find a place 
 in the garden, the broad leaf English in the herb-bed 
 for flavoring stews and soups; the almond-scented in 
 the flower garden, for it is a pretty variegated plant 
 which remains green all through the year, and is used 
 only for sachets and potpourri. Both varieties are 
 perennials, but if sown early in the spring will mature 
 the first season. The seed should be sown in rows nine 
 inches apart, on rich soil which has been worked into a 
 fine, loose condition, with a fine garden rake, and later 
 smoothed off with a board or the back of a spade. 
 
LAVENDER AND HERBS '169 
 
 Mark the rows by pressing the edge of a board on to 
 the ground. Don't make a furrow, as the seed is 
 very small. Next, sprinkle thoroughly, using a fine 
 rose on the water-can. Keep the can moving back and 
 forth until the ground is thoroughly saturated to the 
 depth of an inch. Wait for an hour, then scatter the 
 seed thinly on the marked lines, and cover about 
 the sixteenth of an inch with dry, fine soil. It is a 
 good plan to fill the flour-dredger with soil, and shake 
 it over the rows, for then you are sure of its being 
 evenly distributed. After the seed is covered, put a 
 board over the row, and press gently, to insure the 
 seeds being firmed into the ground. 
 
 Thyme, marjoram — in fact, all small seeds — do 
 better if they are partly shaded. I make long, narrow 
 frames of slats, and cover them with unbleached mus- 
 lin, then drive a few sticks into each side of the row, 
 and lay the frames over them. For safety against 
 wind-storms, it is well to put a few nails through the 
 frames into the sticks. About eleven o'clock it is ad- 
 visable to sprinkle the muslin over the frames with 
 water, as the evaporation prevents the seedlings be- 
 coming too dry. If time won't permit making the 
 frames, spread two or three thicknesses over the rows, 
 using stones to hold them in place, or mulch with lawn 
 clippings. I like the former the best, because they 
 are easy to remove, and are not so untidy as a grass 
 mulch, which dries and blows about. 
 
 When the seedlings are well established — which is 
 when they have got their second pair of leaves and are 
 
lyo MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 an inch high — the mulch will have to be removed, but 
 if the frames are used, they can remain for another 
 week. 
 
 Rosemary is another perennial, and the plants can 
 easily be got from any nursery, but if you want to 
 raise some seed, proceed exactly as for thyme. After 
 you have one well-grown plant, it is better to propa- 
 gate by cutting than to raise from seed. They re- 
 quire rich soil, and a sunny position, and need some 
 light protection during the winter. The whole plant 
 is aromatic, but the flowers are the strongest. It is the 
 essential oil which is distilled from them that is the 
 principal ingredient of eau de cologne. A cupful each 
 of lavender, thyme, rosemary and mint, steeped in two 
 quarts of hot water for two hours, strained and added 
 to a warm bath, banishes fatigue in a miraculous way, 
 and in cases of long convalescence, a cupful of the 
 mixture in the sponge bath is most gratifying and re- 
 freshing to the invalid. 
 
 Summer savory is an annual. It must be sown in 
 shallow drills nine inches apart, in early summer. 
 Sweet marjoram is a perennial, and should receive the 
 same culture as lavender. Both are used for flavour- 
 ing, stuffings and soups. Bane, saffron and worm- 
 wood belong to the poultry department principally. 
 The first are annuals, the last perennial. Borage is 
 an annual which gives just the piquant fillip to salads 
 and summer drinks which epicures delight in, and bees 
 simply adore it. Plant in dry, sandy soil. Dill and 
 taragon must not be left out of the herb collection, for 
 
LAVENDER AND HERBS 171; 
 
 they improve the pickles, and are necessary for many 
 sauces. They are both annuals of easy culture, and 
 will grow in any garden. Sow in rows ten inches 
 apart, and thin when plants get second leaves. To 
 make taragon vinegar, gather a pint of the young 
 sprigs, wash, and pour two quarts of malt vinegar over 
 them. Let it stand two or three weeks, strain, and if 
 not quite strong enough, add fresh sprigs. Strain 
 after two weeks, and bottle for use. 
 
 Spearmint requires moist soil. We grow it in large 
 quantities, as we have a good market for it at five 
 cents a bunch during the spring and summer. It is 
 positively no trouble after it is introduced into con- 
 genial soil, for it spreads rapidly, and needs no culti- 
 vation beyond the cutting what is necessary for 
 market. 
 
 Don't make the mistake of transplanting the com- 
 mon wild mint, for usually the flavour is more like 
 peppermint than spearmint, which is the variety de- 
 manded for sauces. We bought three plants origi- 
 nally, which cost fifteen cents each, and now it covers 
 about fifty feet of one side of the back garden, where 
 the ground is moist and shaded by some old quince 
 trees. 
 
GROWING WATERCRESS 
 
 WATERCRESS is in constant demand the 
 year round in the markets of all large cities, 
 so it is a salable crop which should especially 
 appeal to the commuter class of farmers, as it must 
 be freshly gathered to be at its best, and naturally 
 cannot be shipped long distances to market, which is 
 perhaps the principal reason for its being such a 
 profitable crop. In France and England, watercress 
 farms are quite numerous, especially in the vicinity of 
 'Paris and London; but in this country it is only jusf 
 beginning to be cultivated to any great extent, the 
 principal market supply being furnished by Italian^ 
 who take short journeys into the country and gather 
 it from the ponds and streams where it grows wild. 
 Under such circumstances it is not surprising that the 
 leaves of poisonous water plants are often found in 
 bunches offered for sale in the public markets. We 
 have supplied our egg customers and one hotel with' 
 cress for four years, and never received less than five 
 cents a bunch — usually ten cents — and from Novem- 
 ber to March from twelve to fifteen cents for a good- 
 sized bunch. 
 
 Like a good many of the side lines which have 
 brought grist to pur mill, it developed from an ap- 
 
 ^73, 
 
174 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 parent accident. There was a large wild bed in the 
 stream which ran through the lower meadows, from 
 which we gathered cress during the spring and sum- 
 mer. Chancing down a wagon-road one day in Jan- 
 uary, we were astonished to see lots of fresh green 
 sprigs growing under the meagre shelter of a low 
 log bridge which crossed the brook. We accepted the 
 hint, and determined to protect enough of the brook 
 the following year to supply us with fresh salad 
 through the winter. Some time in October, brush was 
 piled up for a distance of about six feet on each side of 
 the stream. In November, when the nights com- 
 menced to be really cold, we made some frames out 
 of thin cedar poles, interlaced them with strong cedar 
 branches, and then placed them over the stream, with 
 the ends resting on the brush, which elevated them 
 about nine inches above the cress. Though primitive, 
 the arrangement proved beyond doubt that forcing 
 watercress was practicable. 
 
 During that winter we often put a little cress around 
 the poultry which was being shipped to private cus- 
 tomers, and so many requests came for a regular sup- 
 ply that we concluded it would pay to increase the 
 beds. But as the stream was some distance from the 
 house, and accessible to the cows when they were in 
 the lower pasture, we resolved to utilize the escape 
 from the spring-house, which was never failing. It 
 had up to that time been carried off by a tile-drain 
 under the side lawn. Operations were commenced 
 by digging a ditch three feet wide, one foot deep. At 
 
GROWING WATERCRESS 175 
 
 first it was only made fifty feet long; subsequently it 
 was increased to one hundred feet. As the ground 
 was heavy clay, we carted clean sand from a bank at 
 the other end of the farm, and covered the bottom of 
 the ditch to the depth of three inches to form a seed- 
 bed, and also to militate the usual creepy-crawly brook 
 creatures. 
 
 At every five feet of the ditch, sluices were inserted 
 ' — just box-like arrangements, made out of rough 
 boards, one of which could be raised and lowered at 
 will, so that the amount of water in each five- foot 
 section would be under control. When the ditch and 
 sluices were completed, a trap divided through the 
 middle was put in front of the escape from the spring- 
 house to divide the flow of water, and one length of 
 the tile at each end of the trap carried it to the opposite 
 sides of the ditch to insure even distribution. 
 
 It is a special stone building, twelve feet square, 
 used for milk and butter. The floor is about three 
 feet below the ground, and a gutter, fourteen inches 
 wide and twelve inches deep, runs all round the four 
 sides, and is kept continually full of cold running 
 water from a spring situated about three feet to the 
 right of the house. The water is divided by a stone 
 as it enters the house, and goes to the right or left in 
 the gutter until it reaches the escape at the opposite 
 side of the house. The floor and gutter are made of 
 stone, so the place is beautifully clean and very like 
 an old-country dairy. 
 
 After the beds had been thoroughly saturated with 
 
176 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 water, all but the merest dribble was shut off. Roots 
 from the meadow brook were taken up, washed care- 
 fully in fresh water to remove the before-mentioned 
 creepy creatures, and then set out in the sand at the 
 bottom of the ditch. Field stones were placed on 
 the roots of each plant to prevent their being dislodged 
 by the action of the water before they had had time to 
 establish an anchorage. After two weeks the whole 
 supply of water was allowed to run into the ditch, and 
 it covered the bottom to a depth of five inches. 
 
 Fully one-half the plants died and had to be re- 
 planted, but the following year the entire ditch was a 
 solid mass of cress. The leaves were much larger, 
 and the flavour much better, than the cress had ever 
 been in its wild state. Of course, if the best price 
 was to be obtained in the winter, our desire was to 
 force the crop at that season. We built sides fifteen 
 inches deep to the ditch, using rough slabs, which only 
 cost us fifty cents a load from the sawmill in the 
 woods. Then we used the ordinary cold-frame sash 
 over the top. 
 
 After the beds are once established, their cultiva- 
 tion consists in cutting, and nothing else ; and, as the 
 cutting is necessary for the market supply, it is really 
 truer to call it harvesting than cultivating; though 
 neglecting to cut the beds regularly as soon as they 
 are four inches high will ruin a bed very rapidly, as 
 the plants grow thick-stemmed and sprawly. 
 
 We find that old beds as a rule are not as profitable 
 as young ones, so we make a practice of renewing 
 
GROWING WATERCRESS 177 
 
 three or four sections every year. The method is to 
 withhold water in July until the plants die, then pull 
 them up, after which the bottom of the ditch is dug 
 over to let in the air and sweeten the ground. After 
 a lapse of two or three days, it is raked down level 
 again, and a few loads of fresh sand spread over the 
 bottom, saturated with water as before, though, in- 
 stead of old roots, we now use slips three inches long, 
 taken from the ends of old branching plants. They 
 root very quickly, and make better plants than the old 
 roots. 
 
 Twice we have started an entirely new stock from 
 the seed, and think the result quite worthy of the extra 
 trouble. The seed is very light and small, so it is 
 best to start it in shallow pans filled with sand, which 
 must, of course, be kept saturated with water, but not 
 submerged. 
 
 May or June is the best season for this planting, for 
 then plants are large enough to transplant into beds 
 in July, and will be well established before the forcing 
 season. 
 
 For a small home supply through the winter, half- 
 barrels or wash-tubs may be used. Half fill them with 
 sandy soil and stand in a light, warm cellar. Set slips 
 four inches apart in August, and keep perpetually 
 moist. If you have no means of getting slips, buy 
 seed from any good seedsman. Start in shallow pans 
 in June. 
 
 I saw an item in a paper, not long ago, which esti- 
 mated that an acre of watercress, at its present market 
 
178 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 prices, would bring from four to five hundred dollars 
 a year. 
 
 Watercress should be carefully prepared for market. 
 Gather and bunch at once, to prevent unnecessary 
 handling. Cut the stalks evenly after the bunches 
 are tied up, and pack in light crates lined v^ith hay 
 or moss. Place bunches closely together in rows, with 
 hay or moss between layers. Ship on late trains if 
 they have to go by express, to avoid exposure to the 
 heat of the sun during transit. When small quanti- 
 ties are going to private customers, pack in strawberry 
 or grape boxes, as there is less likelihood of the cress 
 heating and spoiling when packed in this way. 
 
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 
 
 THE old-fashioned hive was so inconvenient and 
 wasteful that many people who date their 
 knowledge of bee-keeping from the old home- 
 stead will find it difficult to believe that apiculture has 
 developed into a practical, money-making industry dur- 
 ing the last twenty years, until now the average 
 amount of honey put on the market each year is up- 
 ward of a hundred million pounds, representing a 
 money value of from eight to ten million dollars. 
 
 In a favourable locality one hive, with its average 
 colony of thirty-five thousand workers and a queen, 
 will turn out from thirty to forty pounds, besides the 
 fifteen or twenty necessary to feed the hive through 
 the winter. 
 
 The vicious temper of the old-time black bee has 
 much to do with the neglect of this profitable industry. 
 The Italian bees are, however, so much better as 
 honey-gatherers that they are almost universally kept 
 now, and are so gentle in disposition that even a nerv- 
 ous person can easily learn to manipulate them with- 
 out fear of stings. 
 
 The principal honey-producing plants in our East- 
 ern states are fruit bloom of all kinds, locust, white 
 clover, crimson clover, basswood, sumac, goldenrod, 
 
 179 
 
i8o MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 buckwheat, sunflowers, grapes and asters. Of these, 
 clover, bass wood and buckwheat provide the bulk of 
 our honey crop in most localities, although large yields 
 are often obtained from others. Fruit bloom, though 
 yielding much honey, comes so early in the season that 
 it is mostly consumed by the bees in brood-rearing. 
 Clover commences the last of May, lasts several weeks, 
 and yields a light-coloured honey of fine flavour. 
 Bass wood blooms the first part of July, lasts about ten 
 days, and produces a very white honey. Buckwheat 
 blooms in August and the first part of September. It 
 gives a dark-red honey with a strong flavour. 
 
 My apiary started with three hives, bought for two 
 dollars at a farm auction. I knew nothing about bees 
 or hives at the time; the owner was not there to 
 be questioned, so it was a truly risky proceeding, not 
 to be recommended. But if chance makes it possible 
 to pick up one or two good hives of the box, movable- 
 frame style, and bees of any sort for a few dollars, 
 take them and improve the stock by introducing good 
 Italian queens, which can be bought for two dollars 
 and fifty cents each from any bee-supply house. They 
 can be shipped through the mail in small cages. 
 
 When an Italian queen is introduced into a hive 
 of common bees in May or June there will be no sign 
 of the original occupants in the fall. For the working 
 bees are such indefatigable toilers that during blossom- 
 time they usually wear themselves out in about six 
 weeks, and most certainly never survive more than 
 twelve. The drones are driven from the hive to die 
 
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES i8i 
 
 whenever any of the different blossom crops which 
 supply honey are on the decline. Queens live for 
 years, but as perpetuators of their race are only to be 
 relied upon for three years. 
 
 If your immediate neighbourhood cannot furnish 
 stock to start with, the best plan is to send for frames 
 of nuclei and a queen. One frame would cost three 
 dollars, and hardly contains sufficient bees to build up 
 a strong colony, therefore it is better to send for three 
 frames, which will make a splendid start, and only 
 cost an additional one dollar and fifty cents. If pur- 
 chased in June or July they will have multiplied so 
 considerably by the time buckwheat is in blossom that 
 you will be able to build up a second colony. Of 
 course, a hive filled with a full complement of bees 
 can be bought, but would cost at least ten dollars. 
 Express charges would be very expensive, as bees come 
 under the head of live creatures, and double rates must 
 be paid. The frames of nuclei are packed in light 
 cases which cost less than half. 
 
 A hive must be ready to receive the little travellers 
 on their arrival, and here again it is advisable to con- 
 sider express charges. One hive ready for use will 
 cost two dollars and sixty cents, and almost as much 
 expressage as five hives " in the flat," as dealers call 
 it, and the five hives can be had for nine dollars and 
 twenty-five cents. Nails of the correct size and full 
 instructions are sent with the hive, so even a feminine 
 amateur will find it quite easy to put them together. 
 I use two-story, dovetailed hives, which consist of a 
 
1 82 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 cover, bottom, brood-chamber and two supers. Bees 
 are best kept in a quiet corner of the garden, or under 
 the trees in the orchard, where they are protected from 
 the noon-day sun and east winds. When we had only 
 two or three hives they stood on a shelf in an open- 
 fronted shelter, which was made from a large packing- 
 case bought from the general store for twenty cents. 
 In the winter we packed straw or leaves around the 
 hives, and set up boards in front, which leaned against 
 the top of the case, and sloped out a few inches at the 
 ground. This was to keep out the snow and rain 
 and yet allow plenty of ventilation. Now that hives 
 are scattered through the orchard, we simply slip each 
 into a case a little larger than itself, and set up a board 
 in front. Further south no protection will be required, 
 but in the North it would be advisable to carry the 
 hives into a dry, well-ventilated cellar for the winter. 
 The only drawback to the latter plan is that the bees 
 may become restless quite early in the spring, so the 
 condition of hives should be watched. 
 
 A small hand-mirror held at the opening of the 
 hive, and a light held in the other hand so that it will 
 shine into the hive, will enable you to see what is go- 
 ing on inside. If the bees appear restless, it is a sure 
 sign that they need more air. Opening the cellar win- 
 dows after dark on a moderate night will usually sup- 
 ply all the ventilation that is necessary, until the mid- 
 dle or end of March, when it is best to let the bees 
 have a cleansing flight if they still appear restless. It 
 is not very much trouble, when only a few hives are 
 
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 183 
 
 kept, to carry them out on a warm day and place them 
 where they stood last fall. It should be done early 
 in the morning and as carefully as possible, so as not 
 to disturb the inmates, who will gradually arouse as 
 the sun gains strength, and take flight. This will re- 
 lieve the intestines of the waste matter which has 
 caused their restlessness. After the sun has gone 
 down in the evening, carry the hives back into the cel- 
 lar, and the bees will be quiet until spring is sufficiently 
 advanced to warrant putting them out for the season, 
 which is usually when soft maples and willows com- 
 mence to furnish pollen. 
 
 As soon as the days are warm in spring we go 
 through the hives and give them a general clean-up. 
 If a hive appears to be short of honey, a comb from 
 a hive that is well supplied is removed and given to 
 it, and as some bees are sure to have died during the 
 winter, some colonies will be stronger than others, so 
 things must be evened up. When a hive has more 
 than five frames filled witH brood, one or two are 
 taken out and placed in hives having less than five 
 frames filled with brood. A great advantage of the 
 modem frame-hive is this being able to take out and 
 put in brood, and later add supers and empty sections 
 as the original ones are filled with honey. 
 
 A bee's life is apparently a most accurately prear- 
 ranged existence, filled with allotted duties, which are 
 intuitively understood and unerringly performed. 
 There is only one queen allowed in each colony, and 
 she lays all the eggs, the* workers being imperfectly- 
 
i84 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 developed females. Drones are the masculine mem- 
 bers of the population, lazy fellows, whom the work- 
 kers have to feed, hence the reason for their being 
 expelled from the hive whenever food is scarce. 
 
 The queen is truly a royal personage, who only 
 leaves the hive to tal<:e what is called the nuptial flight, 
 when she meets some drone in midair, and returns to 
 become the sole mother of the hive. She is always 
 guarded by a small retinue of attendants, who feed 
 and care for her as she wanders from cell to cell, de- 
 positing an egg in each with untiring zeal. The egg 
 develops into a tiny grub-like worm, which is fed for 
 seven days by young workers; then the cell is capped 
 over by another set of workers, the grub being left un- 
 disturbed for eleven or twelve days, by which time it 
 has developed into a full-fledged bee, which gnaws its 
 way out of the cell, and at once takes up the duties of 
 life. For six or seven days its time is devoted to feed- 
 ing the newly-hatched eggs, then, for about the same 
 length of time, building combs and cleaning the hives, 
 after which it is evidently considered strong enough 
 to leave the hive and commence the arduous task of 
 gathering honey. The queen is exempt from all work. 
 
 Within a week or two after a virgin queen has taken 
 her nuptial flight, the hive should be opened and the 
 frames removed, one by one, and examined until 
 the queen is found. She can be distinguished from 
 the others by the length of her body and the way the 
 other bees cluster around her. Pick her up very gently 
 by the back, being careful not to squeeze her abdomen. 
 
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 185 
 
 and with a pair of sharp scissors clip both wings on 
 one side of her body. This insures a short flight at 
 swarming-time. When she again issues from the 
 hive, usually the excited condition of the bees will in- 
 dicate when this is going to take place, and as the 
 queen cannot fly with her cut wings, you will have 
 little trouble, for she will be found on the ground near 
 the hive, with a group of bees around her, and the 
 full swarm not far away. Approach very quietly, 
 and place a small wire trap over the queen. The traps 
 are sold by all the bee-supply firms, and cost twenty- 
 five cents. Place the trap in the opening of the hive 
 you desire the swarm to occupy, cautiously approach 
 the full swarm, and with a soft broom sweep the bees 
 into the hive if the position they occupy makes it pos- 
 sible; if not, use a box or pan, and carry them to the 
 hive and empty them in front. They will soon com- 
 mence to occupy the new home. The slide of the 
 queen trap can be opened, and the bees inside will set- 
 tle down to business. 
 
 After the first swarm, early in the season, it is ad- 
 visable to take every possible means to prevent after- 
 swarms. Want of room is the main cause for old 
 bees leaving a hive, so a great deal may be accomplished 
 by careful manipulation of the frames. The lower 
 part of the hive is devoted to brood- rearing ; the other 
 part is composed of the frames which hold the section- 
 boxes. Section-boxes are the small square cases in 
 which comb-honey is marketed. 
 
 Among the modern inventions in apiculture is the 
 
i86 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 comb foundation, or starter, as it is sometimes called. 
 In the old days bees had to supply all the wax to build 
 the combs. Now it is bought with the cells ready 
 started, and the bees have only to draw them out and 
 finish off the work, which of course saves the little 
 workers much time, and enables them to store more 
 honey. What is termed medium foundation is used in 
 the brood- frames, and thin or extra thin in the section- 
 boxes. Bees will sometimes ignore extra space when 
 added above the frames where they have been work- 
 ing, so it is advisable to raise the top super, and insert 
 another one below it. This supplying empty sec- 
 tions materially mitigates swarming, but does not al- 
 ways prevent it. It is the after-swarms that it is so 
 important to check, as they are of little use, seldom be- 
 ing able to gather sufficient stores to keep them through 
 the winter. In September all hives should be ex- 
 amined, and if any have less than twenty-five pounds 
 of honey, artificial feeding must be resorted to. Make 
 a syrup of equal quantities of sugar and water; heat 
 slowly, stirring all the time, being very careful not to 
 let it scorch, for burnt syrup means destruction to the 
 bees. Allow it to cool, iand then fill what is known as 
 a Miller feeder, which costs thirty-five cents, and fits 
 into any of the movable- frame hives. 
 
STORING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 
 
 AT least one-half of the profit to be derived from 
 living in the country materialises in winter 
 when fruit and vegetables can be struck from 
 the family living expenses, so the keeping and storing 
 of the garden and orchard products are of great im- 
 portance to the housewife who wants to make the 
 home furnish current expenses. To keep well, things 
 must be gathered at the moment between full develop- 
 ment and complete ripeness, for, if development is not 
 complete, fruit and vegetables shrink and wither; if 
 completely ripe, they decay rapidly. 
 
 The house cellar, attic, or a root-cellar or pit in the 
 garden are all available on a country place, and all 
 suitable for different things. The cellar is best for 
 storing fruits and vegetables. Long ago we had racks 
 made of two-by-two scantling — some six feet long, 
 others three feet, and both two feet wide — to put 
 under barrels and boxes to lift them from the ground 
 and allow a free current of air to circulate under- 
 neath them as a protection against damp and mildew. 
 To economise space, we had boxes, ten feet long and 
 ten inches deep, fixed in tiers of three, with one foot 
 of space between. The frames which supported them 
 
 187 
 
i88 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 were also made of two-by-two scantling, and reached 
 from the rafters of the ceiling to the ground. 
 
 The keeping of early fruits, like currants, straw- 
 berries, and raspberries, depends principally upon the 
 cook's skill, for they have to be canned and made into 
 preserves and jellies. Get into the habit of doing 
 such work in small ciuantities — from a quart to six 
 quarts, or even a pint, as the day's gathering may 
 provide. The habit of waiting for the height of the 
 season, when a big gathering is possible, is frequently 
 the cause of home-canned goods spoiling, because some 
 of the fruit is almost sure to be overripe, and that 
 means that fermentation or mould will set in, in a short 
 time, and ruin the entire boiling. 
 
 After wiping and labelling the jars, they must be 
 kept in a cool, dark place. We have a big cupboard 
 at the back of the outside section of the cellar, where 
 all such goods are kept. Begin with asparagus, which 
 is best packed into jars filled with salt and water, and 
 cooked in a steam boiler for an hour and a half. Peas 
 are shelled, and about two quarts of the hulls and a 
 sprig of mint are boiled in four quarts of water for 
 thirty minutes, then strained, the water brought to the 
 boiling-point, salted to taste, and the peas boiled slowly 
 in it for thirty minutes. Fill the jars to overflowing, 
 and screw down the tops at once. Beans must be 
 strung and sliced and boiled in salted water, as for 
 table, or packed in two-inch layers, with a sprinkling 
 of salt between, in a stone crock. Put a plate or a 
 stone on top of the beans to keep them under the 
 
STORING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 189 
 
 brine, and cover closely. When wanted for use, soak 
 in fresh cold water overnight and cook in the usual 
 way. 
 
 Gathering and packing is of the greatest importance 
 in keeping fruit. The most favourable time is when 
 the fruit has attained its full growth and colour, which 
 is several days before it is quite ripe. All fruit should 
 be handled with the greatest care; the slightest bruise 
 or scratch starts a condition which will develop rot. 
 A high extension ladder, a high step-ladder, and an 
 agile boy are the requisites for picking. When pos- 
 sible, choose a bright, cool day, have the boxes and 
 barrels ready, and press all help into service. Before 
 allowing anyone to pick apples, teach him how. Take 
 the apple lightly, turn it slowly, and press upward, 
 so that the stem is severed from the branch, not from 
 fruit. 
 
 Whoever does the climbing should discard shoes, 
 for they are apt to injure the bark of the tree, which 
 always causes later troubles. A shallow bag, slung 
 across the body sling-fashion, is the best receptacle for 
 the picker to use, because it leaves both hands free. 
 The work is greatly facilitated if two people can pick, 
 two pack, and a fifth take the fruit from the pickers 
 to the packers. Have two bag-slings for each person 
 picking, so that the collector can take the full one 
 and hand up an empty one, which saves emptying 
 the fruit into a basket. 
 
 The packers and the barrels, or boxes, should stand! 
 side by side, with a box of convenient height and size 
 
igo MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 turned upside down to act as a table on which to place 
 the sling-bags when full. The best apples are packed 
 in small boxes, with paper between the layers. The 
 second quality are put into barrels. Put a layer of 
 hay in the bottom of the barrel, fill it with the fruit, 
 and end with a layer of hay. The small ones may 
 be used for cider and for feeding stock. 
 
 Onions are ready to harvest when the tops fall 
 down and dry. Choose a dry day to dig them up. 
 Leave the bulbs lying on the ground for several days, 
 then carry into a shed, where they can be spread out 
 for two or three days more, while the work of cut- 
 ting off the roots and tops is being completed. We 
 have a room over the woodshed which we use for 
 onions, as they are apt to sprout in a cellar tliat is 
 moist enough to keep other root-crops in good condi- 
 tion. We had tiers of shelves, made of slats, put up 
 all round the walls, on which the onions are spread 
 out, and, as a precaution against frost, they are covered 
 with bags or dry autumn leaves as severe weather 
 approaches. Bore holes about nine inches apart in 
 the sides of the barrels; fill with the onions, leaving 
 the head of the barrel off, and stand in any unused 
 room. 
 
 Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops die down. 
 Choose a dry, bright day and cart at once into a dark 
 place to dry. Don't leave them in the light on the 
 field, but spread out for a few days, then pack them 
 in the cellar in barrels which have a few holes bored 
 in them, or in bins which have a bottom made of slats. 
 
STORING FRUIT ANQ VEGETABLES 191 
 
 Carrots, turnips and beets should be packed in boxes 
 or on tiers of box shelves. In either case, they 
 should be well covered with sand or soil to prevent the 
 roots shrivelling. Put a few boards in a sunny place, 
 and stand the squash and pumpkins on them. They 
 should stay there about a week or ten days, and be 
 covered at night with bags or an old blanket, after 
 which put them in some dry, cool place. 
 
 Cauliflowers are pulled up with as much soil as may 
 be attached to the roots, and hung head down from 
 ceiling of the cellar; Brussels sprouts, the same. Cab- 
 bage is pulled up in the same way and packed in rows 
 of two or three abreast on the cellar floor. These are 
 for use in very bad weather. The main quantity is 
 stacked in a pit in the garden and covered with earth, 
 straw and brush. 
 
 Celery is partly protected by being earthed up for 
 bleaching, so it can be left in the garden until the first 
 of October, or even the fifteenth if mild, but it must 
 be brought in before heavy frost. About nine inches 
 of soil is spread on the floor all along one side of the 
 cellar. The celery is dug and brought in with what 
 earth adheres to the roots, and then set in the soil 
 just as if the plants were expected to grow, only they 
 are put very close together and about three abreast. 
 When the row is completed, boards are set upon end, 
 the full length of the row, and another set of heads 
 is packed in the same way, each additional row being 
 divided by boards. This is done to prevent the celery 
 heating, and rot setting in, as would be the case if the 
 
192 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 entire mass was allowed to touch. After the setting- 
 up is all done, earth is scattered heavily between the 
 heads. 
 
 There is usually a large quantity of green tomatoes 
 still on the vines in the fall, and the full-sized ones can 
 be packed in shallow boxes, with paper between the 
 layers, and kept in a cool, dark place. Later in the 
 season bring out a few at a time to ripen in the win- 
 dow of a warm room. 
 
 Grapes must be carefully cut, the bunches examined 
 and any faulty grapes removed with a pair of scissors. 
 Put slats across a box about two inches from the top, 
 tying the bunches of grapes to the slats and letting 
 them hang down into the box, leaving a space between 
 the bunches. Fill the box up with finely-cut tissue- 
 paper and keep on the shelf in the cellar. 
 
 The cellar for storing fruit must be well ventilated 
 and free from damp, though a cement cellar is apt to 
 be too dry, which causes the fruit to shrivel. In such 
 a case, stand a tub or a couple of pails of water in the 
 cellar, and do not fail to change it once or twice a 
 month. A dry cellar with an earthen floor is usually 
 about right, though, if rapid thaws occur during the 
 early spring, such a floor is likely to become very 
 damp; as a remedy, put one or two wide, shallow 
 boxes, filled with unslaked lime, into the cellar, which 
 will absorb the moisture. 
 
FORCING RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS 
 
 WE had little more than settled on the farm 
 when I read an article in some farm paper 
 about forcing rhubarb in a dark cellar. 
 [There was a lot of rhubarb in the garden, and a lot 
 of room in the cellar. Several roots were dug up and 
 packed in one comer of the section we kept for vege- 
 tables, but as the article had not mentioned that any 
 heat was necessary, and that it was necessary to expel 
 all light, the venture was not a success, for there was 
 a window in the wall near the chosen corner, which 
 allowed the light to shine right on the roots, and the 
 temperature was much too cold. There were dozens 
 of spindly little stalks, with large green leaves at their 
 ends, but nothing worthy the name of pie-plant. 
 
 However, before the following winter I had secured 
 technical knowledge and vicarious experiencQ to start 
 on. The window was boarded up, and two lanterns 
 were kept burning nea,r the roots. We had rhubarb 
 charlotte and rhubarb pies, and stewed rhubarb for 
 breakfast, just as often a^ we liked, from December 
 until March, and what is more to the purpose, we sold 
 eighty-two dollars' worth. 
 
 After we built the mushroom-cellar, a section was 
 
 193 
 
194 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 partitioned off foi* rliubarb an3 asparagus, and both 
 became profitable adjuncts to our winter income. One 
 great advantage about both of these crops for home 
 use IS that there is no necessity to use manure or any 
 great amount of moisture, and for that reason there 
 is no objectionable odour to sift through into the 
 living-rooms. 
 
 Naturally, when large quantities are to be raised for 
 market, it is better to have a special room for work, 
 but even that does not necessitate any serious outlay. 
 A neighbour built a house twenty-eight feet long on 
 the dugout plan, on a side-hill at the back of his house ; 
 just boarded up the front and ends with rough slabs, 
 which cost him two dollars and fifty cents. Three 
 rolls of tar-paper, at one dollar and ten cents each, 
 were used to exclude light and draft. Stove-pipe cost 
 another two dollars. He had an old stove, but even 
 if he had had to buy one, it would only have meant 
 another eight or ten dollars, and the first crop brought 
 him in one hundred and thirty dollars. 
 
 There is often some old building around a farm 
 which can be utilised for this work, but if there is 
 no hillside or building available, it is better to exca- 
 vate to a depth of three feet, making the house about 
 nine feet wide and as long as you like. This will al- 
 low a two-foot path through the middle, and a little 
 more than three feet on each side, in which to store 
 the roots. Side-walls need be only a foot above the 
 ground, but it is best to have a peaked roof, the cen- 
 tre of which is three and a half feet above ground. 
 
RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS 195 
 
 so that there will be plenty of headroom m the centre 
 of the house. 
 
 Place a door at one end, with an extension shed 
 and storm door beyond it, unless the house can be 
 built adjoining some shed or#x)utbuilding into which 
 the door may open. Cover the ends and roof with 
 tar-paper, and bank the sides up with earth. Then 
 in the centre of the house make a pit, about two feet 
 below the floor and large enough for a stove to stand 
 in, and run the pipe from a double elbow to each end 
 of the house. 
 
 .The reason for making the pit for the stove to 
 stand in is to get the pipe as near the ground as possi- 
 ble. It is possible to do without the stove if the floor 
 of the house is covered with manure and a goodly 
 supply is packed around the sides of the house, but 
 as that would be more expensive and much more la- 
 borious, I advise you to adopt the stove plan, especially 
 as it involves none of the harrowing niceties usually 
 attached to running hothouse heating apparatus, there 
 being no water-pipes to freeze or injury to crops if 
 the fire happens to run down or even go out alto- 
 gether. My neighbour, who built the house on the 
 side hill, tells me that he had no coal-stove at first, 
 and used the kerosene cooking-^tove from his summer 
 kitchen. 
 
 Having decided where '^nd wHat quantity is to be 
 raised next winter, the preliminary work must be be- 
 gun at once. If you have a lot of old roots in the 
 garden, dig up the greater number just as soon as it 
 
196 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 is possible to put a spade in the ground, and cut the 
 roots into good-sized chunks, being careful to leave 
 from two to four eyes (embryo buds, which are un- 
 mistakable) in each clump. 
 
 If you have a strip of ground on which corn or po- 
 tatoes were grown last year, scatter barn-yard ma- 
 nure over it. If it is heavy loam, plough deeply, but 
 if light sandy soil, the furrows need not be more than 
 six inches deep, and in addition to the barn-yard fer- 
 tiliser it will be well to use a heavy dressing of wood 
 ashes. We spread the barn-yard manure about three 
 inches deep all over the surface of the ground before 
 ploughing, then broadcast ashes, harrowing up and 
 down, leave for about two weeks, and then harrow 
 from side to side. 
 
 When in good condition, the ground must be 
 marked off into rows about four feet apart. Run the 
 plough twice in the same furrow, and the trench will 
 be deep enough to admit of a little more manure be- 
 ing scattered, then covered lightly with soil before the 
 plants are put in. Set them three feet apart. Culti- 
 vate well through the summer to keep clean and pro- 
 mote growth. 
 
 Cut out any flower-stalks which may appear, for 
 one flower-stalk takes more strength from the root 
 than twenty fruit-stalks, so they should never be al- 
 lowed to mature, even in the ordinary garden-beds. 
 
 The clumps left undisturbed for the summer sup- 
 ply should have a good dressing of manure worked 
 into the ground around them now and again after 
 
RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS 197 
 
 the gathering season is over, so that they will be in 
 good condition to go into the cellar in December. 
 
 When old clumps have been divided and set out in 
 April, they will be large and strong enough to use for 
 forcing the following December, but if young nursery 
 plants have to be bought, it is better to defer forcing 
 until the second winter. 
 
 About November 15th we dig up the roots and leave 
 them to be frozen; then about December ist, or even 
 a little earlier if the nights have been frosty, one-half 
 the roots are piled up in a shed, and the other half 
 packed on the earth floor of the forcing-house. A lit- 
 tle earth is scattered between them, and then they are 
 sprinkled with water in which nitrate of soda has been 
 dissolved, one ounce of the latter to one gallon of 
 water. 
 
 The stove is started, a wash-boiler of water put on, 
 and then the work simply consists of shaking down 
 the stove, putting on half a scuttle of coal and filling 
 up the boiler night and morning. 
 
 In from three to four weeks the first gathering is 
 made. Stalks should be from twelve to fourteen 
 inches high, and four usually go to a bunch. The 
 roots will yield good crops for from three to four 
 weeks, but gathering should cease when the crop shows 
 any sign of declining. 
 
 When you decide that the roots shall stop bearing, 
 let the fire go out. Three or four days later the roots 
 can be removed and piled in a shed, and those that have 
 been held dormant brought in and spread on the cellar 
 
198 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 floor. Proceed as with the first lot, and at the end of 
 the season simply let out the fire again and wait until 
 the weather will permit outside planting. Then divide 
 the roots into two or three pieces, according to size, 
 and plant in rows as before. They will be ready for 
 forcing again the second winter, so that, once started, 
 the supply is always on the increase. 
 
 Asparagus can also be forced in the same manner 
 as rhubarb, the only difference being that asparagus 
 roots don't divide well, so seed has to be sown each 
 year to keep up a stock for forcing. Plants cannot be 
 used until the third season, and they are not supposed 
 to be worth replanting for forcing. 
 
 Asparagus can also be forced by placing hotbed 
 frames and sashes over the plants, and banking up all 
 around the frames with stable manure, to generate 
 heat. This method only slightly hastens the crop. 
 There is nothing quite as satisfactory or profitable as 
 the dark house or cellar, because growing roots from 
 seed is comparatively little trouble, and the supply once 
 started, it is an easy matter to keep up a succession of 
 three-year-old roots. Time can be saved the first year 
 by buying one- or two-year-old plants from a nursery, 
 planting them in the garden, and the following year 
 use for forcing. 
 
RAISING PIGS 
 
 A COUNTRY home large enough to maintain 
 a cow should certainly keep a pig, if things 
 are to be run on a profitable basis, for the 
 skim-milk, buttermilk and waste vegetables cannot be 
 satisfactorily disposed of, unless there is a pig to con- 
 sume them. Build the sty first. Ours is built on the 
 English plan, a sleeping-compartment six feet square, 
 five feet high in front, three feet at back. Outer com- 
 partment of same size, with walls three feet high, floor 
 slanting slightly to the front. There is a trough in 
 each corner of the open compartment. The floor of 
 the sleeping-room is six inches higher than the outer 
 compartment, and the whole building, except the roof, 
 is made of concrete, so can be easily and thoroughly 
 cleansed. 
 
 If Several sows are to be kept, each must have a 
 sty, and there should be one or two large ones for 
 young stock. The piggery should be as far from the 
 house and water-supply as possible. 
 
 If funds have to be very carefully dispensed, start 
 with a pair of young ones, which usually can be bought 
 in any farming district in the spring for about six 
 dollars a pair when six weeks old. They will need 
 a little extra care at first, a warm bed of common hay 
 
 199 
 
200 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 or dry leaves over straw. It is advisable to watch 
 them at feeding-time to see that they eat. The first 
 week boil a quart of wheat-bran, pounded oatmeal 
 (hulled oats very coarsely ground), coarse corn-meal 
 and white middlings, and twelve quarts of water for 
 half an hour. Let stand until cold, then add skim- 
 milk sufficient to make it like rather thick gruel. Give 
 four quarts three times a day for two pigs. Gradually 
 accustom' them to vegetables. Outside leaves of cab- 
 bage, lettuce and other greens, potato-peelings and 
 peapods can all be utilised. Boil until tender, mix a 
 little bran or round oats with them, and feed once a 
 day. After a week or ten days gradually reduce the 
 gruel and substitute regular feed, bearing in mind al- 
 ways that frame must be built before fattening is at- 
 tempted. 
 
 If there is plenty of cash in the exchequer, time 
 can be saved by purchasing a mature sow due to farrow 
 in April. When making your selection, choose a pla- 
 cid-looking animal with a reputation for being a good 
 mother. A vicious, bad-tempered pig is a menace on 
 a home farm. Moreover, the vicious sow is generally 
 a bad mother. Probably no animal is more easily af- 
 fected by the treatment it receives when young than 
 a pig. Treated kindly, they become tractable, gentle 
 creatures; if abused, surly and dangerous. For this 
 reason it is perhaps better for the amateur to commence 
 with a pair of little ones, or one old sow. Suppose 
 you have bought a sow after breeding; you may expect 
 little ones in sixteen weeks. Her litter may consist of 
 
RAISING PIGS 201) 
 
 any number from six to fourteen. Let Ker have plenty 
 of exercise until a few days before she is due, then 
 restrict her range to her own sty. 
 
 For safety, it is well to make a fender-like frame 
 that will stand about six inches above the floor and 
 the same from the side- walls. Then if Mrs. Mother 
 is careless enough to roll over, any baby that happens 
 to be in danger of being crushed can escape under the 
 fender. We used some old oak fence-rails, cutting 
 them to fit snugly across from wall to wall, and bored 
 large auger-holes seven inches from each end. Strong 
 bolts and nuts were put through the corners, and blocks 
 of wood six inches square are placed for it to rest on ; 
 being bolted together, they are easily taken apart and 
 in and out of the pens, as they are not wanted after 
 the little ones are a few days old. 
 
 Have the sleeping-compartment thoroughly cleaned 
 out and bedded with straw and the fender put in place 
 four or five days before the litter is expected, and 
 don't disturb it after that until they are four or five 
 days old. Put a small quantity of clean straw in the 
 outer compartment during the last week. About a 
 month before farro wing-time let bran and ground oats 
 predominate in the sow's rations, and add a little lin- 
 seed-meal. She should be kept in full vigour, but not 
 allowed to get fat, for which reason corn is best elimi- 
 nated from her food. After the litter has arrived 
 give nothing heavier than a little bran-gruel for 
 twenty-four hours. Feed lightly for two or three 
 days, then increase, giving her about all she wants; 
 
202 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 at the end of ten days commence to add corn-meal in 
 limited quantities and green food of some sort, unless 
 the weather is such that the family can go out to pas- 
 ture. There should be a little opening in the outer 
 compartment large enough for the youngsters to creep 
 through, and outside a fenced-in yard, in which there 
 is no trough. When the babies are two weeks old 
 give them a little grain. They will soon learn to 
 help themselves, and so reduce the trouble at weaning- 
 time. We take the mother away when they are six 
 or seven weeks old and let her run with the herd 
 until again near farrowing-time. If a boar is kept, 
 he should have his own sty and a separate yard. His 
 food should be good, but not too fattening. The best 
 age is between one and five years. 
 
 To keep pigs successfully on the home farm, you 
 must disabuse your mind of the idea that they are 
 naturally dirty creatures, for they really are not. 
 Given clean quarters, a stream to bathe in, and whole- 
 some feed, they are as self-respecting as any animal 
 on the farm. If there is no brook nor spring-place 
 near the pasture, a large patch of sod should be re- 
 moved, and the hollow filled with water. After a few 
 weeks let it dry up, and make a new bath. 
 
 See that no horrible half-mouldy swill-barrels are 
 kept around. Table scraps, excepting meat, vegetable 
 peelings, small potatoes, apples, in fact all unmarket- 
 able vegetables, are boiled in the food-cooker with 
 about the same amount of salt that we should use in 
 cooking for the table. When everything is soft, bran. 
 
RAISING PIGS 203 
 
 crushed oats, shorts or middlings are stirred in to 
 make it into a thick porridge, the whole being closely 
 covered and allowed to stand until cold. Sometimes 
 cornstalks are chopped and boiled in the same way. 
 When a feed-cooker is used, preparing the food is 
 very little trouble, and most certainly it goes further 
 than uncooked. Each animal has a pailful night and 
 morning. Skim-milk and buttermilk, when there is 
 any to spare, and a forkful of ensilage in the winter 
 when there is no pasture. Water stands before them 
 all the time in one of the cement troughs, into which 
 twice a week a pailful of coal-ashes is put to aid diges- 
 tion, and once a week an ounce of sulphur and char- 
 coal is added to the feed. When pigs weigh about 
 one hundred pounds, corn can commence to take the 
 place of their grain, for from then on fattening is 
 the one end and aim of management. The fleshy, 
 small or medium pig, which weighs from two hundred 
 and fifty to three hundred pounds brings a better price 
 in the Eastern markets nowadays than the large 
 greasy pig, so that returns are realised more quickly, 
 and it pays to force them with the best of food. If by 
 any chance a sow should farrow late in November, it 
 is more profitable to market the little ones as sucking 
 pigs than to try to keep them through the cold of 
 January and February. Ham and bacon is necessarily 
 a staple in country households, and a real luxury 
 when home-cured. As soon as the meat is cool, it 
 must be cured, for should it become frozen, it is im- 
 possible to turn it into good ham and bacon. Sugar 
 
204 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 and Wiltshire are the two perferred methods. There 
 is a small hand-machine on the market, specially made 
 for injecting the liquid for the Wiltshire method. 
 The positive price I don't know, but I believe it is 
 about ten dollars. However, I have used a white 
 metal syringe, which holds thirty-six ounces and an- 
 swered very well for the small quantity undertaken. 
 The process given in an old English receipt is as fol- 
 lows: Add to five gallons of water, twelve pounds 
 of salt, one pound of saltpetre, one ounce of salt pru- 
 nella, two pounds of brown sugar. Bring slowly to 
 the boiling point, let simmer for fifteen minutes, skim ; 
 when cool it is ready to use in the injecting machine 
 or syringe. Insert the syringe in the flesh, and inject 
 the pickle. This is to be done every few inches over 
 the entire surface of the meat, to insure the full piece 
 being permeated with the liquid. Lay the meat on the 
 slab, powder with saltpetre, lay the rind side down- 
 wards and cover the cut side with a thick coating of 
 salt. The work should be done on a stone slab, or 
 hardwood bench with raised edges. Let the meat re- 
 main fifteen days, and recover with fresh salt. After 
 seven days more, wash the meat with clean cloths, and 
 hang up to dry for several days before smoking. The 
 dry sugar-cured method, is, I think, to be preferred 
 in this country, because it is more generally liked. 
 Place the hams and sides on a slab, and proceed as 
 follows: Mix five pounds of salt with three pounds 
 of brown sugar and two ounces of saltpetre. 
 Thoroughly rub all parts of the meat, every third day 
 
RAISING PIGS 205 
 
 for three weeks, after which, wash and wipe and dry 
 for smoking. Of course, you know that nothing but 
 hard wood must be used for the fire. Green hickory 
 is the best. Sausages should be composed of one- 
 third bread — stale bread grated. Never use new or 
 moistened bread. Casings only cost five cents a 
 pound, so it is better to buy them already prepared. A 
 good mixture is five parts lean pork, one part fat, two 
 parts veal or mutton. Pass through the chopping 
 machine, then to every eight pounds add one teaspoon- 
 ful of dried and finely powdered sage, thyme, and 
 marjoram, two teaspoon fuls each of mustard, pepper 
 and salt. Add the bread-crumbs last, thoroughly mix, 
 and fill the casings. Make short, fat links. 
 
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 
 
 IN all probability no creature on earth suffers so 
 desperately from human ignorance as the house 
 pet. People who keep horses, cattle or even 
 poultry consider it necessary to know something about 
 their wants and requirements, but the poor pet animal 
 is the recipient of much affection and many cruelties, 
 for it is cruel to ruin the health by injudicious feed- 
 ing, and vitality and happiness by want of exercise. 
 A wholesome, happy dog or cat is the best playfellow 
 children can have ; an entertaining companion for any 
 member of the human race, but an ailing, unhealthy 
 animal is a positive menace to the family. 
 
 The young dog just taken from its mother requires 
 special care and patient training, or it will not develop 
 into an intelligent companion. Even an older dog 
 who comes from kennels of repute will require care- 
 ful guiding. Of course, I refer to the general house- 
 dog; hunting-dogs are usually broken to their special 
 duties before being gold. But the house or pet dog 
 must understand a multitude of things, all of which 
 vary according to the idiosyncrasies of the family who 
 adopt it, so it has to readjust its habits to new owners 
 and environment. 
 
 Have a kennel ready before the dog arrives. A dry- 
 
 207 
 
2o8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 goods case covered with roofing-paper will do if it has 
 two heavy pieces of scantling nailed across the bot- 
 tom, to lift it three or four inches above the ground, 
 iso that the air can circulate under it and prevent mois- 
 ture from the ground making the floor damp. Place 
 it in a sheltered position, out of winter winds or the 
 glare of a summer sun. A good straw bed every 
 week in cold weather and a good scrubbing in warm 
 weather are sanitary precautions which should be ob- 
 served. Have a strong screw-eye at one side of the 
 kennel and a chain with a swivel snap at each end to 
 prevent the chain getting twisted up to half its length, 
 and for convenience when handling a strange dog. 
 
 If the dog has been crated and expressed, remember 
 that in all probability the poor beast will be frightened, 
 tired and cross. Talk to it for a while, and manage, 
 if possible, to get a collar on and a chain attached be- 
 fore opening the crate. Then let Mr. Dog get out 
 by himself, at his own time. Walk him about for 
 some time and let him inspect the premises in the 
 neighbourhood of the house. Naturally cleanly dogs 
 will need the exercise, so don't curtail it. If there are 
 any signs of constipation, a dish of sour milk will 
 usually correct the trouble. If, however, the journey 
 has the reverse effect, which is very likely to be the 
 case in summer, scald milk, pour over some stale bread 
 which has been toasted and feed when quite cool. 
 
 When the dog has finished his inspection of the 
 premises, fasten him to the kennel and be sure to pro- 
 vide a solid, heavy water-pan that cannot easily be 
 
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 209 
 
 knocked over. Leave him to become accustomed to 
 his new home and to sleep off the nervous strain of 
 the journey. Should he whine or bark, don't go near 
 him. He is too excited and upset to be disciplined, 
 and sympathy and petting at this point would mean a 
 prolonged fight later. 
 
 Feed him yourself and take him for a run on chain 
 in the evening, early in the morning and at noon. De- 
 cide which will be the most convenient hours and try 
 not to change them. Two or three days are usually 
 sufficient to make the average dog accept a new master 
 and claim the kennel as his castle, so after that time he 
 can be allowed freedom. 
 
 If the dog is young and is to sleep out of doors, 
 he should be chained at night, otherwise he will be 
 apt to form the habit of wandering off in the early 
 morning hours or moonlight nights, but no dog, young 
 or old, should be kept perpetually chained. Young 
 dogs, especially of the terrier class, are benefited by 
 being chained in a cool, shady spot during the middle 
 of the day, as they are apt to rush about and be over- 
 come by the heat, which often causes fits and terrifies 
 the family into believing that it is a case of hydropho- 
 bia. 
 
 If the new dog is under nine months of age, feed 
 him three times a day. Bread and milk, oatmeal, 
 hominy, or any such food which has been well boiled, 
 allowed to cool and covered with milk, makes a suit- 
 able breakfast. Lunch may be half a puppy-cake or 
 a slice of brown bread. The main meal should con- 
 
2IO MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 sist of boiled meat, onions and rice, mixed with some 
 cooked green vegetable. 
 
 After the ninth month two meals a day are suffi- 
 cient. Be as careful not to overfeed as not to under- 
 feed. A dog should be ready for each meal, but 
 never ravenously hungry. Don't give milk which has 
 not been scalded or potatoes in any form, if you wish 
 to keep the puppy free from worms. Sour milk once 
 or twice a week is beneficial, but must not be given 
 oftener. Twice a week a bone with some meat on it 
 is needed. Some people think that raw meat is bad 
 for dogs, but a limited quantity of fresh lean meat is 
 really necessary for growing dogs, and being on the 
 bone necessitates a lot of gnawing, which is good for 
 the teeth and encourages the flow of saliva which aids 
 digestion. 
 
 If you should have a mother-dog with puppies, give 
 her a large sleeping place ; dry and comfortably warni 
 in winter, dry and cool in summer. Puppies should 
 be taught to drink as soon as possible after they are 
 six weeks old. Condensed milk saves the trouble of 
 scalding cow's milk. Whichever is used should be 
 given warm; never hot or cold. The puppies will 
 learn to eat more quickly if the mother is taken away 
 for about an hour before offering food. Gradually 
 increase the length of her absence until she spends only 
 the nights with her babies, and weaning will be ac- 
 complished without any trouble. 
 
 To prevent worms, the one great trouble which at- 
 tacks all dogs, give the mother a dose of worm medi- 
 
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS ^n 
 
 cine three or four weeks before the babies are ex- 
 pected, and give the babies very small doses when they 
 are three weeks old, six weeks old and nine weeks 
 old. After that time I depend on sour milk, and an 
 occasional dose of castor-oil. 
 
 House-breaking should be attended to as soon as the 
 puppies commence to run about. Never leave a puppy 
 alone in a room, for one mistake prompts others. Be 
 watchful, and the moment a puppy begins to fidget or 
 to run about, put it outside or in a box containing saw- 
 dust. Patience and perseverance are necessary at 
 first, but in two or three weeks the lesson will be 
 perfectly learned, especially if the hours of taking 
 the dogs out are strictly adhered to. 
 
 Old dogs, whose education in this respect has been 
 neglected, can be taught tidy habits if fed at regular 
 hours, the last meal not later than three o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the evening exercise being postponed till 
 about eight, after which they should be fastened to 
 the box or basket which acts as their bed by a chain 
 not more than two feet long. Release early in the 
 morning and take out at once. They will soon under- 
 stand the discipline of enforced hours, for the close 
 proximity of their bed calls natural instinct to their 
 assistance. The habit once formed, it will prevail 
 when allowed to sleep in any part of the house. 
 
 Bathing dogs of any kind or size I don't believe in 
 very much, for it robs the skin of the natural oil 
 which is required to feed the hair and keep it in con- 
 dition. Brushing, however, is quite necessary, es- 
 
212 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 pecially in the summer, when fleas may be about, and 
 it is well to begin early in the season to rub some good 
 insect-powder into the hair, then after about half an 
 hour brush it out thoroughly. 
 
 Delicate small dogs with long hair can have a mix- 
 ture of cocoanut and sweet almond-oil rubbed into the 
 hair once a week and brushed out again. 
 
 If any accident makes washing unavoidable, stand 
 the dog in a small tub half filled with warm water, 
 rub white soap on a flesh-brush, and brush from the 
 center of the back with straight strokes to the end 
 of the hair on each side. Take the front paws in your 
 left hand, letting the dog stand on his hind legs, and 
 brush from the neck down to clean the under part of 
 the body. The head should come last. Wash the ears 
 first, being careful not to let water run into them. 
 Hold the nose up and wash the top of the head and 
 sides of the face, so that the water runs backward 
 and not into the eyes. Last of all wash the muzzle, 
 being veiy careful about soap. Rinse in two clear 
 w^aters, then wrap the body in a warm towel while you 
 wipe the face and the inside of the ears. 
 
 When about half dry let him down for a shake, but 
 be careful he does not escape under a piece of furni- 
 ture and roll, as he will probably try to do. Brush 
 until quite dry, rubbing a little oil onto the bristles, at 
 the end of the dressing. 
 
 Treat your dog at all ages with kindly considera- 
 tion. Be patiently and considerately firm, remember- 
 ing that you must rule through affection and respect. 
 
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 213 
 
 Don't hector or worry all the time. Be your dog's 
 playfellow as well as master, and he will soon become 
 an intelligent and faithful protector. 
 
 Cats can be kept in a city home with less trouble 
 than dogs, because they haven't got to be taken out 
 to exercise, a duty which can't be shirked with Mr. 
 Dog. Cats are needed in suburban or counti*y houses 
 at least as much as dogs. The master of the house 
 can usually guard against the rarely met burglar, but 
 no human vigilance is adroit enough to fight four- 
 legged pantry thieves, and a farm must have a good- 
 sized tribe of felines to prevent loss in the barn, poultry 
 house and corn-crib. 
 
 Well-bred cats are just as good hunters as common 
 ones, so it is wise for the self-supporting home to 
 keep aristocratic cats for the house, as there is no oc- 
 casion to do violence to your feelings when kittens ar- 
 rive, because they can always be sold at fairly good 
 prices. 
 
 In the outbuilding we keep Maltese and very large 
 blacks. We have so many requests for the Maltese 
 and blacks that even the plebeian mothers are al- 
 lowed to keep one or two kits of every litter, for hav- 
 ing children to provide for is a great spur to Mrs. 
 Cat's hunting proclivities. 
 
 Considering the service cats perform for humanity 
 by keeping in check the numerous varieties of rodents 
 which abound in cities no less than in country places, 
 they should be the most highly prized and cared-for 
 small animals we have instead of the most abused. 
 
214 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 There seems to be a prevailing but erroneous idea 
 that cats are neither affectionate nor companionable. 
 Treat a cat as you would an intelligent dog and she 
 will compare so favorably that Mr. Dog will have to 
 be extremely gifted to retain his superiority. 
 
 The outside cats should have plenty of fresh milk 
 night and morning when tlie cows are milked, not only 
 as food, but to counteract the injurious effect of the 
 number of mice they eat. New milk is rich in cream 
 fats, and acts as an antidote to the poison contained 
 in the gall of the mice. Twice a week we give them a 
 feed of raw meat, on tlie bone if we can get enough 
 bones, for even the rat-catchers must be well fed, or 
 they lack the vitality to hunt. 
 
 Having plenty of exercise, and being able to find 
 grass and herbs for themselves, barn-cats are usually 
 normal, healthy creatures, and need little dieting or 
 doctoring from their owners, but they should always 
 have a good, warm place to sleep m. 
 
 The city house-cat leads such a semi-artificial life 
 that she needs more care. Milk which has stood sev- 
 eral hours and been skimmed is not an especially good 
 food. It should be scalded and allowed to cool be- 
 fore it is given to kittens. 
 
 People rarely think to provide water for cats, yet 
 they really prefer it to milk, and drink a surprising 
 quantity when a dish of it is kept in one regular place. 
 Potatoes should be as rigidly tabooed in the kittens' 
 diet as in the puppies'. Accustom a cat to eat cereal 
 or bread and milk in the morning. 
 
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 215 
 
 Our house-cats always have a little strip of fat 
 bacon when it has been cut for breakfast, and I am 
 sure that the fat and salt are useful worm preventives. 
 At noon they have liver or beef which has been stewed 
 with onions and any green vegetable which we may 
 have; for supper a saucer of milk. 
 
 It is very easy to teach a kitten to be cleanly if you 
 exercise vigilance at first and provide a shallow box 
 or pan half filled with ashes or sawdust. One thing 
 which must be understood by the city housekeeper 
 whose pet has to depend entirely upon the box is that 
 it must be emptied regularly, at least once a day, and, 
 if necessary, twice. Neglect it and the animal's in- 
 stinct of cleanliness is offended, and it will select some 
 place for itself, thereby falling into untidy^ habits. 
 
RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET 
 
 CANARIES are dear, fascinating little creatures 
 to keep, and no special conditions for raising 
 which cannot be successfully accomplished in 
 a limited space. The most fastidious woman cannot 
 object to caring for a few families. One male and 
 two females will start a profitable flock. The male 
 bird should be selected for his voice, regardless of 
 his color or shape. The two other birds, on the con- 
 trary, should be selected for those very qualifications. 
 The male should be darker and deeper in colour than 
 the female. In fact, male birds, with green on their 
 wings and heads, mated with pale females, produce 
 the best-coloured young ones. Never allow two top- 
 knot birds to pair, for, oddly enough, the progeny will 
 usually have bald or deformed heads. A breeding 
 cage with separate compartments costs at least $4, 
 but a very good one can be made at home out of empty 
 dry goods or grocery boxes. Of course, it must be a 
 well-made, smooth one, otherwise it might hurt the 
 birds. Painting is not advisable, but it is well to 
 rub off any rough surfaces with coarse sandpaper. 
 Remove the lid and one side of the box. Leave the 
 bottom, one side and ends intact. Turn the box so 
 that the remaining side becomes the bottom of the 
 
 217 
 
2i8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 cage. Nex!: get a piece of sheet zinc, nick the cor- 
 ners, and turn them up all around, to form a tray an 
 inch deep. This is to fit inside the cage. Square- 
 meshed, galvanised cloth is the best for the front 
 and top. Fasten it to the back, ends and front with 
 matting tacks, leaving a space at the bottom in front 
 for the tray to slip in under. Put a partition through 
 the middle of the cage, with a Small door in it. A 
 door is also necessary in each compartment. The or- 
 dinary seed and water dishes can't be improved on by 
 home contrivances, so add them to the purchased list. 
 
 Two half cocoanut shells, or small boxes, must be 
 hung up on the end or back of each compartment as 
 foundations for the nest. Cover the bottom of the 
 tray with a thick layer of bird-gravel, and hang up 
 materials for nest-building in each compartment. 
 Dried moss, bits of raw cotton, or short fine hay, are 
 all suitable. The material for a cage three feet long, 
 eighteen inches high and deep, will only cost a dollar, 
 so the homemade cage, in addition to being an econ- 
 omy, has the advantage of size, which means a great 
 deal in a breeding cage, as it allows the birds so much 
 more exercise. 
 
 Put a female in each compartment, so that they 
 may become accustomed to each other. In about a 
 week, the door in the partition can be opened, and 
 both birds allowed the freedom of both compartments. 
 During this time, the male bird must be kept in his 
 own cage, and in another room. During these pre- 
 liminary stages, which should run from three to four 
 
RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET 219 
 
 weeks, the three birds must have, in addition to their 
 regular food, a small dish of mash every morning, 
 made of hard-boiled egg chopped very fine, stale bread- 
 crumbs, and hulled oats ground (not oatmeal or 
 rolled oats), equal parts of each, just moistened with 
 scalded milk, and, of course, allowed to cool before 
 being fed to the birds. 
 
 After the two females are on friendly terms, bring 
 the male bird's cage into the room, and hang it be- 
 fore the breeding-cage, and out of sight, if possible. 
 Curiosity will be aroused, and the birds will spend 
 most of their time talking to each other, and endeavour- 
 ing to see each other. A week later, close the door 
 in the partition, leaving a female in each compartment. 
 Put the two cages on a level ; two or three days later, 
 open the door of one compartment, and the door of 
 the male bird's cage, placing them close together. He 
 will soon commence going in and out of the breeding- 
 cage, and in a day or so his cage may be removed. 
 After the hen-bird commences to sit, open the door in 
 the partition, and let the male into the second com- 
 partment. When the second hen commences to sit, 
 the door in the compartment can be left permanently 
 open, as there is little fear of the birds' fighting, and 
 the male will divide his attention between the two 
 families, helping to feed and care for the nestlings. 
 
 Special care is necessary during the incubating 
 period, for the eggs of these little songsters are ex- 
 ceedingly fragile, and a loud noise to which they are 
 unaccustomed, even the slamming of a door, will some- 
 
220 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 times addle them. Too bright a light is also annoying, 
 so a piece of green baize pinned around the corner of 
 the cage will give a sense of seclusion which will keep 
 the bird tranquil and happy. Allow nothing to worry 
 or trouble them while sitting. 
 
 Fourteen days after the first egg is laid, the young 
 appear. The tiny creatures are a great disappoint- 
 ment to those who see them for the first time. Chicks 
 and ducklings are lovely from the time they fii^st 
 emerge from the shell ; but a young canary is feather- 
 less, blind, and has the longest neck imaginable. In 
 a short time, however, it becomes a golden ball of 
 down, and its early unattractiveness is forgotten in 
 admiration. 
 
 Continue the mash food, but after the little ones are 
 hatched, feed night and morning. Add rape seed 
 which has been boiled a few minutes, and then rinsed 
 through cold water. The nestlings' eyes open about 
 the sixth day. After the thirteenth day they will be- 
 gin feeding themselves in the most independent man- 
 ner. When the brood is a month old, remove them to 
 another cage. They will then begin to lose their first 
 crop of feathers, and must be carefully protected from 
 draughts, lest they take cold. At the end of this first 
 moulting period, you can tell how the young will de- 
 velop, both for shape and song. 
 
 The mother bird will usually begin to build a second 
 nest when the babies in the first are about fourteen 
 days old, sometimes keeping up this double family 
 from February till June; so that with good birds you 
 
RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET 2211 
 
 can count on having eight broods from the two fe- 
 males, with an average of sixteen male birds. If the 
 trainer — that is to say, the bird who teaches the young 
 ones to sing — is a good songster, the males should 
 bring two dollars apiece when sixteen weeks old. 
 
 The young females can, with a little patience, be 
 trained and taught tricks, which will make them worth 
 as much or more than their brothers, who have only 
 voice to recommend them; but if the female's educa- 
 tion is ignored, they are not worth more than fifty 
 cents apiece, unless kept to breeding age. Cages must 
 be kept scrupulously clean, with plenty of sand on the 
 floor. Accustom the birds to having a bath dish put 
 in for a time every morning. Should the feet look 
 soiled, or the nails be too long, take the bird firmly, but 
 gently, in your hand, and hold the feet in warm soap 
 and water, to remove all dirt and soften the nails, the 
 extreme points of which can be cut with a pair of 
 sharp, fine scissors. Take care not to go above or too 
 near the end — the end of the nerve that can be seen 
 running through the upper part of the nail; for if 
 you do, it will be painful to the bird, as cutting into 
 the quick of your finger-nail would be. If you are 
 a real bird-lover, and have time and patience, you can 
 accustom a flock to your presence until they will let 
 you go among them in a flying-room and handle them 
 at your pleasure; for they are naturally most affec- 
 tionate, gentle little creatures, as full of playfulness as 
 a kitten. A solitary songster will feel neglect and 
 loneliness to a pitiable degree, but will respond to pet- 
 
222 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 ting as readily as a child. A canary from the general 
 stock of a bird-store is timid and reserved at first, but 
 ^vill soon establish friendly relations between himself 
 and his owner. 
 
THE BUSINESS SIDE 
 
 TO make the home profitable, there must be 
 some system of bookkeeping instituted, no 
 matter how simple, also there must be some 
 ingenuity exercised about marketing. Take advantage 
 of the long evenings to start books and lay plans for 
 the disposal of surplus products to the best advantage. 
 Unless you know what each animal costs to keep, and 
 what returns you are receiving from it, you can't be 
 sure what your profits really are. I know how most 
 amateurs hate to be bound down to the actualities of 
 a balance-sheet with its cold facts on what it costs 
 to produce this, that or the other thing. But experi- 
 ence has taught me that it is the crucial point and must 
 be ascertained. Your accounts need not be elaborate 
 but they must be clear and accurate. Establish some 
 simple system of bookkeeping and after you have once 
 overcome prejudice and made the plunge, it is really 
 gratifying to know, for a positive fact whether things 
 are really paying or not. 
 
 The first step toward general order J3 keeping rec- 
 ords of individual animals or flocks, as the case may 
 be, and also of the farm and garden crops. Bestow 
 a name or number upon each animal, and if you are 
 going in for husbandry in an extensive way, have ai 
 
 223 
 
224 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 book for each variety. If only two or three animals 
 are to be kept, a general stock-book will do. Each 
 field and meadow should be named or numbered, and 
 a book devoted to work done on each. 
 
 Poultry also needs a special book; so do expenses. 
 
 My plan is to head a page in the cattle register with 
 the animal's name or number; date of birth or pur- 
 chase, with price; followed by when bred, to whom, 
 when due, actual date of event, sex of offspring and 
 name or number bestowed upon it. On the opposite 
 page, if the animal is a cow, the amount of milk she 
 gives, a week after calving, and at one measuring 
 every month until we cease milking her. Milk is 
 tested for butter- fats once in every three months and 
 the result recorded. 
 
 The record of pigs and sheep is not so elaborate, 
 because, of course, there is only breeding and arrival 
 of offspring to be noted. For poultry, the number 
 of pens heads the page, followed by the number of 
 birds it contains, and the individual numbers, and on 
 the opposite page the number of eggs gathered each 
 week. 
 
 The feed-book contains the amount of grain, etc., 
 used for each variety of stock. 
 
 The farm-book is kept in a like manner, the field 
 number heading the page; then, when ploughed; how 
 and to what extent fertilised; with what variety of 
 seeds sown; number of times cultivated, when har- 
 vested and the amount of the crop. 
 
 On the opposite page, in pencil, are suggestions for 
 
THE BUSINESS SIDE 225 
 
 catch crops and rotation for main planting for a 
 period of five years. Small note-pads with pencils 
 attached are fastened up in every stall or pen of each 
 outbuilding, and events are jotted down as they oc- 
 cur, so that there is no chance of forgetting or getting 
 things mixed. Every Saturday the sheets are torn 
 from the pads and brought to the house, for the items 
 to be transferred to the different books. It does not 
 take half an hour each week to do the clerical work, 
 and it saves innumerable mistakes and accidents, be- 
 sides furnishing proof of the relative value of each 
 animal and piece of land. 
 
 On one side of the expense book all money spent 
 is entered; on the other, all moneys received. A bal- 
 ance is struck every month and transferred to a gen- 
 eral ledger, which, in turn, is balanced once a year. 
 
 Another thing that must be understood is that all 
 profits must not be considered as a bonus to be used 
 for personal pleasure. Some part of all moneys re- 
 ceived should be set aside as working capital, other- 
 wise improvement and extension are simply impossible. 
 
 Marketing home products advantageously is of para- 
 mount importance, and seems to be the point on which 
 many beginners fail. Commission men and wholesale 
 markets should not be restored to, because home-grown 
 products of all descriptions excel in quality and not 
 in quantity; therefore, appeal to high-class private 
 custom, who desire the very best, regardless of price. 
 
 I have never sold through any of the ordinary mar- 
 ket channels, yet have always had more orders than I 
 
226 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 could fill and received a little more than the ordinary 
 prices. Naturally the location of the home and the 
 quality of the wares must Influence the returns to some 
 extent, but not half so much as the method of packing 
 and shipping. Nicety in these respects captures the 
 favor of customers and they take pride in exhibiting 
 things to their friends — which is the very best sort 
 of advertising a home business can have. 
 
 When I had reached the point where I knew that I 
 could depend on a certain number of eggs regularly, 
 I wrote to a doctor friend in the city and told him 
 that I could promise to deliver six dozen strictly fresh- 
 laid eggs twice a week for the whole year, at a uniform 
 price of forty-five cents a dozen; customers to pay 
 the express charges, which would be twenty-five cents 
 on each six dozen. (Express companies return empty 
 packages free of charge.) Within a month he had 
 found four customers for me, who would take two 
 dozen a week each, the box to be delivered at his house, 
 where the other three customers were to call every Sat- 
 urday and Wednesday. 
 
 All poultry-supply houses have wooden boxes for 
 sale with divided trays, made to hold three, six or 
 twelve dozen eggs, for about two dollars apiece. Be- 
 fore the year was out each of the three other cus- 
 tomers had interested one or two friends, with the 
 result that three six-dozen boxes were shipped 
 three times a week, and the following winter I had 
 orders from the same people for butter and table 
 poultry. 
 
THE BUSINESS SIDE 227 
 
 In this way my market grew, as did my stock, and I 
 never had any surplus to worry about. Of course, I 
 reahse that there was an element of good luck in hav- 
 ing a doctor for a friend, but when there is no good 
 Samaritan to start a clientele for you, energy will 
 surely accomplish it; for every housekeeper longs to 
 get good, fresh-delivered table delicacies which have 
 not passed through a dozen hands. 
 
 I know one woman who got her first customer by 
 writing personal notes to women of social prominence 
 in a near-by town, whose addresses she got from a 
 directory. From twenty letters she received two re- 
 plies, but they both became regular customers, and 
 recommended friends. 
 
 Another instance of personal effort took the form 
 of calls upon doctors and clergymen. Still another 
 woman interested the fashionable milliner of her town 
 to canvass orders among her customers, and paid for 
 the favour with eggs and butter. 
 
 A more impersonal way of gaining customers would 
 be to arrange with one or two well-located drug or 
 stationery stores for the display of large cards bearing 
 notices of the things for sale and your address; but, 
 of course, there are dozens of ways to find customers. 
 Advertising in newspapers will do as a last resource, 
 but strictly personal methods are the best. 
 
 Now about packing. Eggs should never be more 
 than two days old and must be sorted into lots of uni- 
 form color and size. If the eggs should become soiled 
 in muddy weather, wipe them with a damp cloth as 
 
228 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE 
 
 soon as gathered, so that the shell does not become 
 pennanently stained. 
 
 For private customers, table birds should be es- 
 pecially fattened and dry picked, which means that the 
 feathers are removed as soon as the bird has been 
 killed, without its being dipped into scalding water. 
 As the scalding spoils the flavour, birds so dressed are 
 only accepted by third-class market. 
 
 After the feathers and pin- feathers have all been 
 removed, the bird should be drawn, washed in cold 
 water, wiped quite dry, a piece of charcoal or peeled 
 onion put inside the body and then trussed, for they 
 look so much more attractive than when shipped in a 
 sprawling condition. 
 
 Drawing and dressing for market is not the custom 
 for general marketing in this country, but it is uni- 
 versal in Europe, and private customers always ap- 
 preciate the improvement such rigid cleanliness neces- 
 sarily makes in flavour. Wrap each bird in a square 
 of new cheese-cloth. Place a few sprigs of parsley, 
 thyme and summer savoury at one side, for the con- 
 venience of the cook; then put on an outer wrapping 
 of white paper and tie with clean, fresh string. 
 Things going from a home should look dainty. 
 
 Don't try sending butter by express unless you have 
 orders enough to make it worth while to buy one of 
 the refrigerator hampers which are now used for auto- 
 mobiles. A hamper which costs about four dollars 
 will hold five or six pounds of butter, so it is not a 
 very great outlay when you can get forty-five cents a 
 
THE BUSINESS SIDE 229 
 
 pound for 3^our butter. In making up hampers of 
 fruit and vegetables, use small grape-baskets to divide 
 the different varieties. Line them with green leaves. 
 Pack everything with dainty care and reject every- 
 thing which is not in perfect condition. Don't let any- 
 thing interfere with the arranged schedule for ship- 
 ping. Gain a reputation for uniform excellence and 
 punctuality, and success is sure. 
 
 THE END 
 
MAY 18 1912 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 DD0E74aflT5A