UC BERKELEY MASTER NEGATIVE STORAGE NUMBER 99-150.04 (National version of master negative storage number: CU SN99150.04) MICROFILMED 1999 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE USAIN State and Local Literature Preservation Project Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities REPRODUCTION AVAILABLE THROUGH INTERLIBRARY LOAN OFFICE MAIN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CA 94720-6000 COPYRIGHT The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials including foreign works under certain conditions. In addition, the United States extends protection to foreign works by means of various international conventions, bilateral agreements, and proclamations. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. University of California at Berkeley reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. Niles, William Niles' Pacific coast poultry and stock book Oakland, Calif. [1880] BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD TARGET University of California at Berkeley Library USAIN State and Local Literature Preservation Project Master negative storage number: 99-150.04 (national version of master negative storage number: CU SN99150.04) Niles, William. Niles' Pacific coast poultry and stock book. Oakland, Calif., Pacific Press Publishing House [1880]. UCD Shields SF487.N722 Microfilmed by University of California Library Photographic Service, Berkeley, CA Filmed from hard copy borrowed from University of California at Davis FILMED AND PROCESSED BY LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, 94720 DATE: 7/99 REDUCTION RATIO: 9 Is: 22 20 1.8 h————. S—————. Som —. . ———————, —— 1.6 LM A——————— SINAC I LAIST AM ——————— SI. I 28 32 36 = Fu) I= Jj = 2 I Be Li al ka fa = .4 HA ——————— I 10 III ————— ll IRMA, SUR RTOARI, RAEI, BARR SHR 125 I ARC ERAN, HE NBS 1010a ANSI/ISO #2 EQUIVALENT I | - w Oo < —- > a. Oo OQ Oo oc Qo = Q I a < oc 8 = Oo = a = xX N ™ = = a 3? A oO Ql oR oY 2° o? 0 OB » 0 QS INO Y Ww a be 7 Eid | | | NE | ip Prect AL eirey. Va ly J N | i iy | 8.7 | in; ml HI «MN 1 i! [ im fi il lh I bil Yael . i) es if a eg A ) Lo yc i y to Act of Congress in tie year 1880, by WILLIAM NILES, Entered according In the Office of the Libra rE a” oo 08" Pacific Press Publishing House, v Printers, Electrotypers and Binders, 2) OAKLAND, CAL. » rian of Congress, a. Washington, D. C. 70 MY CUSTOMERS, CORRESPONDENTS AND OTHERS : ANS San HE extent to which the Poultry and Stock-breeding business with me has fs grown, the multitude of inquiries and constant desire for information respect- 5 b ing my Stock, Fowls and poultry-raising, renders the publication of this work 7s Dwar an imperative necessity. A When further information or explanation than is found herein is desired (relative to the varieties I keep, shipping, breeding, &c.) it will be cheerfully given by letter, when a stamp is inclosed. In buying stock, I patronize the best breeders of long experience, and find that a few extra dollars outlay for “good blood” pays well in the end. Having a natural taste for fine stock, I make Poultry and Stock-breeding my special business and study, sparing neither time, labor nor means, to perfect and improve the breeds I keep, in all useful qualities, which can only be attained by proper and thorough manage- ment, perfect knowledge of varieties, and good judgment and skill in the selection and mating of breeding stock. In raising stock it is my aim and ambition to own and produce the best. I issue free Circulars and Price Lists of Eggs for Hatching, Lists of Poultry, Pigs, Cattle and other Thoroughbred Stock. G U AR ANTEES I guarantee all stock shipped by me to be first-class and as repre- ! sented. I also guarantee all-fowls and eggs sent by me to be in good condition, pure bred and as represented. My stock has always been and will continue to be my best advertisement. By my careful system of shipping and filling orders, stock is almost certain to reach the purchaser in good condition, whether sent by freight or express. See extracts from letters from customers in back part of book. BOXING ETC I box or crate stock shipped, comfortably, and as light as possible, : * and supply a liberal amount of food for any distance, delivering at our Express or Freight Office free of charge. 8 TO MY CUSTOMERS, CORRESPONDENTS AND OTHERS. WRITE ORDER AND ADDRESS PLAINLY, In xiriog, cstomers wil plese * mention what they want. Make up your mind as to the number you want, the price you wish to pay, and remit amount, and I will send you stock such as I would select for myself, were I putting a like sum into the enterprise. If no time is specified for stock to be shipped, I will ship as soon as con- venient. If you live at a distance from the Express Office, it will be well to write the name of some one near the station, who will take charge of the stock when it arrives, and give it the necessary attention. When express or freight office is different from the post- office, do not neglect to advise me of the same. I prefer that all parties would come and see for themselves before purchasing; but to those who cannot, I promise as good stock, and as cheap, as to those who do come. In filling orders I strive faithfully to please, and to so deal with my customers as to give them perfect satisfaction, if possible. SHIPMENTS When customers mention no particular route I use my own judgment * and ship in the manner I think best and cheapest; freight or express charges to be paid by the purchaser on receipt of stock. To all points along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to South America, and the Islands of the Pacific, I can ship by water at low rates. Stock for export will be carefully boxed and shipped as ordered. I mail a notice of shipment the same day stock is shipped. I always acknowledge receipt of order, whether stock is ready to ship or not. TER MS Cash with the order, by P. O. order on Los Angeles, registered letter, or draft * on San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York. On large orders, when preferred by the purchaser, the money may be deposited with some reliable banking house, subject to our draft on shipment of stock. FURTHER PARTICUL ARS When further information or explanation than is * found herein is desired, it will be cheerfully given by letter, when stamp is inclosed. It is my pleasure to do all in my power to retain the good will of every customer, and I want all to feel at liberty to ask as many questions as is desired through private correspondence. Please examine this work carefully; the selected engravings herein are of the highest order and the best of their kind, being life-like representations of the varieties they illus- trate. Can any poultry-keeper or stock-raiser, who will read and follow it, afford to be without it ? My sales of Thoroughbred live stock during the past six years have steadily increased, even exceeding my most sanguine expectations, and my sincere thanks are due to my many customers, in the Pacific States and Territories, also in Mexico, Australia, British Columbia, and the Sandwich Islands, who not only by their continued patronage, but by their kind words of recommendation to others, have done much to assist in building up my business to its present dimensions. : 1 trust that our present friendly relations will be strengthened by prolonged inter- course, and that all will bear in mind that it is my purpose always to so serve my patrons that each one once a customer shall always be a customer. Yours, very truly, WILLIAM NILES, Importer and Breeder, Los Angeles, California. € INTRODUCTION, <2 a CEI _Q__ om. HE interest manifested by the people of this coast in all matters appertaining to x b poultry and live stock has been steadily and constantly increasing from year to $ year, and the demand for some work especially adapted to the Pacific Coast RL UR . pe ) treating of each distinct breed, the methods of breeding, mating, and selecting as well as of the successful management of poultry and live stock in general induced me in 1881, to issue the first edition of the PACIFIC COAST POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. The price of the work was placed at just about the cost of publication, my desire being to give it as large a circulation as possible relying upon the increased business resulting therefrom to repay me for my labor. The cordial reception given to the POULTRY AND Stock Book by the press and saplh and the rapidity of its sale quite exceeded my anticipations, and a few months after the appearance of the first edition, a second one of four thousand copies was issued. The continued demand now renders necessary the publication of a third edition of eight thousand copies. I have availed myself of the opportunities thus afforded to thoroughly revise the work. Each article has been carefully looked over, a few articles omitted, and a large number added. I have devoted additional space to cattle, hogs, and sheep. The illustrations are numerous, and have been procured with great care and at large expense, and they will be found accurate, life-like representations of the different subjects they illustrate. I feel confident that the large amount of useful information and practical advice concerning the care and management of stock which is to be found herein will commend itself to every person engaged in poultry and stock-raising on this Coast. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST LIGHT BRAHMAS. Tars breed is one of the best for all purposes, and is well adapted to the town or country, but looks best on clean grass runs. For general utility, Light Brahmas perhaps cannot be overrated; and no breed has so widely grown into public favor. In size and quality they are similar to the Dark, but different in color, and a noble-looking bird. I have had cockerels weigh twelve, and pullets nine pounds, at eight months old, but these are good weights for adult birds. I have bred to my own ideal. They are a favorite with me. As an egg-producer the Light Brahma stands very high, and will give satisfaction as a layer, if not overfed. When fed too much they will become lazy and take on fat. They will bear confinement well, and a low fence will keep them within bounds. They are one of our most quiet and docile breeds. I am convinced that they are destined to become a favorite for general purposes on this coast. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. Poultry on the Pacific Coast. PoULTRY keeping is a healthy and engrossing pursuit; it is an occupation pleasurable as well as profitable; it not only affords amusement and ben- eficial employment, but well repays for the time and labor spent while engaged in it, and nowhere can poultry be raised so economically and advan- tageously as on the cheap lands of the Pacific States and Territories. Notwithstanding these facts, this branch of industry has been so sadly neglected, so little cared for, that thousands of people indulge in the illusion that poultry-raising is merely a hobby and an expensive one at that, while other thousands content themselves with mongrels, taking no thought how they may im- prove their fowls and cause them to render a three-fold greater profit for the time and money expended thereon. It is a well-established fact that more money can be made in raising poultry, if of a good quality, and producing eggs on this coast. in proportion to the capital invested and the care required than in any other branch of farm- ing; yet it is no exaggeration to say that in Cali- fornia not one farmer in ten gives this industry the attention its importance deserves. In the meantime, the daily mercantile reports of San Francisco continue to note the arrival of large consignments of eggs from Salt Lake and the Eastern States. In neither of these places are the conditions and climate so good as in our State. In the East heavy winters intervene and large expenditures are necessary for feed and buildings to protect the flocks from the inclement weather. Eastern eggs sell in our markets for several cents less per dozen than California eggs. The cost of transportation and the commission also amourts to quite an item, leaving the pro- ducer, at present prices, from ten to twelve cents per dozen. Now if farmers East can afford to raise eggs at ten cents per dozen, the farmers of California, where all the advantages rest, can cer- tainly afford to raise them at twenty and thirty and even forty cents per dozen. Eastern farmers have seen the importance of improving their flocks, and as a consequence the breeding of fine fowls there, both for fancy and profit, has attained a high degree of perfection, and it is certainly time the farmers of California should emulate their example by providing a better class of fowls, both for sale in our markets and for egg-produc- ing. Let them bear in mind the fact that it costs no more to keep good stock than poor, while every advantage is in favor of the former. 2 Poultry Farming. AN article copied from a French paper on poul- try farming in France has been going the rounds of the press of the United States. Though not new, some of the leading facts mentioned will serve to point a few remarks on the profits of the same businéss in this country, and especially in this State, if attended to in a systematic way. The French paper, deriving its information from the census tables of 1871, says there are 40,000,- 000 hens in France, valued at half a dollar each, an average below 16% cents per pound of meat. One-fifth are annually marketed for the table, aggregating $4,000,000 to the producers. The annual raising of chickens is 80,000,000, which yield in the markets $24,000,000, or an average of 3314 cents each, three for a dollar. This is rather under the lowest market price for Cali- fornia. Two million a year is added for capons and fatted hens. The production of eggs is esti- mated at $48,000,000 a year, and the total value of eggs, hens, capons and young chickens mar- keted yearly is $80,000,000. The result is aston- ishing, but the figures are true. They show that this business, which in America has been hitherto regarded as trifling and contemptible, yields to the French poultry farmers about one-third as much in value every year as the average wheat crop of all the States of the American Union, and nearly twice as much as the gold mines of Cali- fornia produced in their best days; with this advantage, too, that the poultry mine is constantly improving, while the gold mines are declining. The point worthy of earnest and thoughtful consideration with us is, that the business, if properly attended to, would pay much better in California than in France. or anywhere else. Nothing in the markets in this city, Sacramento, Stockton, Oakland, or Los Angeles, is at all times in equal demand at high prices with poultry and eggs. Enormous quantities are consumed, and the supply never over-stocks the market. Given the right consideration, and no farming enterprise with the same amount of capital would yield better returns than an investment in the raising of poultry and eggs for the market. The market for wheat, barley, corn, hay, potatoes, grapes, fruit, live-stock, wool, and every other staple, is subject to the eccentricities of damaging fluctuations, but for poultry and fresh eggs is always reliable at higher prices than these com- modities command in any other country.—San Francisco Chronicle. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST 12 THE above engraving was made from a photograph taken from life, and is doubtless one of the best illustrations of perfect fowls of this breed in existence. Dark Brahmas with me, and judging from the great demand for them, rank very high, and are perhaps unsurpassed for all purposes. They are remarkable for their size, beauty of form, and feather, excellent flesh, egg-producing, extreme hardiness and early maturing, being also active and better foragers than some of the large breeds. Their color does not soil with the dust and smoke of the town, like white or lighter colors. As winter layers I can recommend them as specially suited to the wants of farmers and ranch- men of the Pacific Coast, the rain not interfering with their steady production of eggs. The hens and pullets are beautifully marked with the steel-gray penciling so much desired. The best American breeders generally concede that our best home-strain of Dark Brahmas can no longer be improved by importations from England. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 13 Thoroughbred Poultry. ON the Pacific Coast, thoroughbred poultry breeding is in its infancy. Many persons have never heard of pure-bred fowls, and thousands have never seen them. Yet their advantages, and the fact of their ultimate adoption, to the exclusion of the common barn-yard fowl, are not difficult to impress upon the mind of the intelligent person, when once his attention is directed to the subject. The “Hen Fever” is an exceedingly infectious complaint. The longer a person has it the firmer becomes its hold, finally merging into a chronic complaint of “I want nothing but first- class poultry.” The most powerful of allies—the press— has taken up the cause. There are many publications devoted to the poultry interest, in this country and in Europe, and to their efforts is largely owing the rise and success of pure-bred poultry culture as an occupation, for any branch of industry is greatly stimulated by having a press devoted to its especial interest. Besides these poultry journals, nearly every agricultural paper, now, hasa poultry department, which is often one of the leading features of the journal. And in this connection it may not be amiss to acknowledge the great indebtedness the fanciers of this coast owe to the Pacific Rural Press, which more than all other journals has been a potent factor in building up the poultry and stock interests on this coast. Its columns are always replete with information of inestimable value to farmers, stock-raisers, and in fact to all who are interested in the healthy development of the Pacific States, and I would that it had a place on every fireside table. I believe that poultry-raising, in an extensive country so well fitted for it climatically as are these favored States and Territories, is destined ‘to become a most important and profitable industry. The dissemination of such practical information regarding poultry-raising as shall meet the wants of all—the farmer, the mechanic, and the day laborer, as well as those to whom succsss in this industry is not of so much pecuniary momen t— is what is especially needed to bring about this desirable result. FARMERS, invest a few dollars in pure-bred fowls for the benefit of your boys if they have a fancy in that direction. A boy needs something that he can call his own. Don’t compel your sons to lead an altogether humdrum life. You were once a boy yourself, Will Poultry Pay? THIS is a question that is often asked : Will poultry pay? Of course it will pay. The lazy, good-for-nothing tramp, sleeping in the barn, beg- ging or stealing from door to door, could make a good living by renting an acre of ground and rais- ing chickens. The poor farmer, who gets deeper and deeper in the mire every year because his grocery bill is larger than his wheat sales, might keep that grocery bill paid up in eggs and fowls, if he were not so wedded to his idols and 80 averse to progressive farming. We hear of a woman in Stanislaus County who last year sold over $1,000 worth of eggs and poultry, the labor of her own individual hands. But then she was different from most women and most men whom we meet on the farm. You cannot make her believe that it was a “small” business, unworthy the digaity and standing which are supposed to attend farm- ine. You cannot induce her to believe that it was a menial employment. On the other hand, she found many pleasures in it, the business genteel and easily managed, and the product convertible into cash at her own door. She raised 1,000 chickens and turkeys, and is making money.—San Fran- cisco Chronicle. Accommodations for Poultry. A POULTRY-HOUSE in our «climate is not an absolute necessity, as it is East. Fowls which roost in the branches of trees the year round will do well insome localities, although it is much bet- ter to provide them with a shelter from the wind, rain, and fogs of our rain y season. When a poul- try-house is built, the comfort and convenience of the fowls should be carefully regarded. Space on the ground is the greatest requisite and not height. Allow as much ventilation as possible. Drafts however should be carefully avoided at all seasons. The nests and roosts should be movable. Keep the house thoroughly cleaned and do not spare whitewash. Avoid vermin; for with vermin surely comes disease. If the fowls are to be kept penned up much of the time, the poultry-house should be surrounded by a yard, having a fence of sufficient height to keep them securely enclosed. Although the rays of the sun are very essential to the well-being of fowls, the poultry-yard should be provided with plenty of shade. Study to make your accommo- dations as atceptable to your poultry as possible, and they will reward you with plenty of eggs. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST 14 EE BUFF COCHINS. Burr CocHiNs are admired for their beautiful golden-buff color, and useful quali- ties; are really the * Fanciers’ Fowl” of the Asiatics, and show to good advantage in their yards or in the exhibition pen. Their attractive color, fine form, and noble carriage tell greatly in their favor anywhere. They make good layers for the winter months, the earliest and best sitters, and careful mothers. Buff’ Cochins have much to recommend them, especially their size, beauty, and docil- ity; and, since their advent in this country, have become very popular, and scarcely a breeder of Asiatics can be found who does not keep, or has not kept them. The gentleness and docility of this breed, in common with the Brahmas, commend them to all. The above handsome illustration, drawn from life, presents a cock and hen. breeding from choice selected stock. I am POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 15 Cheap Poultry-Houses. I FIND that the best and most successful way to manage fowls for profit, and to keep them free from disease on this coast, is to scatter them about in fields and orchards, in small flocks and in sep- arate houses. I have found no difficulty as to large numbers, if too many are not crowded into one house. My plan is to build small cheap houses for each family of about twenty-five fowls - I will give descriptions of two styles of houses, the first for the northern portion of this coast and the other for southern California and Arizona. A good size is 6x8, or 10x12 feet, the former, if it is purposed to move them often. Make them four feet high to the eaves; the roof can be of boards, shakes, or shingles, running six inches to | one foot over the eaves; with a small sliding door about one foot square in one end, and a door about two feet wide and about six feet high in the other end. Cover all cracks with strips of wood 80 that there will be no chance for drafts, one of the most prolific sources of disease. For the pur- pose of ventilation, cut a hole about one foot ‘square in each end of the house, near the apex of the roof. For southern California and Arizona a good house, and one which I use for moving about in my fields, is made at a very small cost. Size ten feet long by four and a half feet wide. Make the front six feet high and back four feet. Make roof of shakes, two lengths. Board up the back, and if you choose one or both ends, or make both ends and front of lath, using a board at top and bottom to nail to. I generally make the back only of boards and place it towards the prevailing winds. TI make sides, front, back, and roof in sep- arate parts and then tack together with nails, leaving the nail-heads protruding a little so they can be easily withdrawn. The roof may be sup- ported upon posts made of any material or can rest upon the sides. A lath door of any desired width with leather hinges should be made in the front. Two roosts, made of stuff two or three inches wide and placed from 18 to 24 inches above the ground, should be provided. Such a poultry-house can be taken apart readily and moved a length at a time, or two men can carry it from place to place. In this way you also avoid the necessity of cleaning out the droppings. A fowl house can be made as sub- stantial and as ornamental as is desired. For a stationary house in a city or town one would of course build in such manner as would be most convenient. Movable Fence. FENCES can be built cheaply of different heights with lath nailed upright to two or more 1x3 inch pieces, nailed to standards also 1x3, the first piece at the bottom, the second three feet ten inches above; if eight feet lath are used, the third at top. It is best to make this fence in panels about twelve feet long. Set or drive a post where the panels come together, and pass a wire or baling rope around panels and post, fasten, and you have a light, cheap, and strong fence. For Cochins and Brahmas a fence four feet high will be found suffi- cient. Lath can generally be had in four, six, and eight-foot lengths. The Best Whitewash for Poultry Buildings. IT is necessary, especially in California, to keep our poultry-houses clean and wholesome by the free use of whitewash. Although there are many recipes for making whitewash for this purpose, the following I believe to be the best — Into the whitewash pail drop a teacupful of soft- boiled rice and mix thoroughly. Then pour into a quart pot of cold water say ten or twelve drops of crude carbolic acid. Mix this into the rest and swab the interior of your hen-house with it. For outside, use rock salt dissolved instead of boiled rice, and dispense with carbolic acid. Probably no other preparation of whitewash ever equaled this for poultry buildings. Testing Hens for Sitters. WHEN a hen manifests a disposition to sit by remaining on the nest over night, by clucking, and by being ruffled in feathers as well as in temper to such a degree that she has the appear- ance of being decidedly uncomfortable, it is time that some action be taken to find out if she really desires to sit—when, if she does not, she must be made to quit her foolishness and get to work. A good way to test her is to place a few china eggs in a nest prepared for sitting purposes, and at night put the hen on the nest. If she sits con- tentedly twenty-four or thirty-six hours, the eggs may be intrusted to her keeping. This precau- tion for proving her sincerity is a very important matter; most especially so if we have eggs that are rare or high priced, and that we do not feel disposed to risk by giving to a hen on her first manifestations of a desire for incubation. A setting of eggs is sometimes lost by the hen deserting them after sitting only a short time. This is because she was not ready. 16 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST PARTRIDGE COCHINS. THis breed of fowls is thought by many to be the handsomest of Cochins. They are magnificent in size and shape, breed true to feather, are good sitters and mothers, mature rapidly, are very hardy, and certainly deserve their great popularity. In close confinement they will perhaps do better than any of the large birds, being well contented almost any place, and seem to enjoy themselves and thrive under almost any circumstances. Good or bad weather, they are the same, and it is seldom that one is attacked with any of the diseases common among fowls at certain seasons of the year. In color, cocks are black-breasted, with black or red back, and hackle and saddle-red or orange, striped with black. Hens in color are brown, finely penciled with darker brown. Their dark plumage adapts them well to confinement in city yards without soil- ing. For a cross on common stock, a Partridge Cochin cock will pay large returns, As a market fowl they sell well. One dressed has more the appearance of a turkey than a chicken, and will weigh twice as heavy as the common barn-yard fowl, and as a table fowl is far superior. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 17 Feed for Sitting Hens. THE best feed for sitting hens is whole corn, wheat, or barley, or a mixture of whole grain; soft food will digest too quickly. Sitting Hens and Eggs. IT is the best to seclude sitters as much as pos- sible. This is best accomplished by shutting them on their nest, and allowing them to come off once a day to feed, exercise and wallow or dust them- selves; or they can be placed in a room prepared for them, with food, water, dust bath, etc. Always set the hens at night, as they will then stick to their nests better. It is better to use false eggs for a day or two, until they get settled down to work, then supply the selected ones. But, first of all, rub or dust carbolic powder or buhach through their feathers (to the skin) and under their wings, and sprinkle a spoonful in the nest. Repeat the dusting again three or five days before the eggs hatch. Thus managed, sitting hens will not be troubled with lice, unless placed in a local- ity already alive with them. Always after a brood has hatched, the nest should be burned, and the box thoroughly scalded and whitewashed to prevent vermin. I think it best, if hatching during the summer months, to renew the nest about a week before the chicks are due. Keep nest and eggs clean. If any get broken, wash the balance in warm water, because yolked or “daubed ” eggs will not hatch. After ten days, sprinkle the eggs with tepid water about three times per week. During the summer months, it is better to sprinkle the eggs daily, the same daily sprinkling for water-fowls the year round. Do not put too many eggs under a hen. Nine to thirteen is enough of hen’s eggs, seven to nine duck’s eggs, three to five goose’s eggs, five to seven turkey’s eggs. Cultivate in yourself the greatest patience, quietude and perseverance, if you would insure success. How to Make Nests? for™Sitting Hens. SOME experience is needed in this matter, but by following the few simple directions given below very little trouble will be encountered. At the bottom of the nesting-boxes place some damp earth made into concave form. This dampness is beneficial as it supplies the moisture the eggs lose during the process of incubation. Some care is needed in forming the concavity in the damp earth. It must not be made so hollow that all the eggs will slip down to the bottom, nor so flat that the eggs will be liable to roll out upon the ground, A little practice, however, will enable one to strike the happy medium. Having now made the foundation of the nest, it must be cov- ered with short straws. Here, again, care must be taken to have the straws well bruised, limp and broken short. The straws should be prepared by hand, for if cut by machine they will irritate and prick both the mother hen and her chicks. Deserted Eggs not Always Lost. IF you discover that a hen has deserted her nest during incubation, and that the eggs are cold, do not destroy them. Try to find another hen that is sitting, or one that is ready to sit, and put the deserted eggs under her, and wait until they have been set on at least twenty-two or twenty- three days, thus allowing two or more days extra time to make up for their having been chilled during the process of incubation. I have known a number of eggs in a sitting to hatch after hav- ing been deserted at least forty-eight hours. So do not give up and destroy the eggs without a fair trial. Doubling the Broods. IT is all very well to set the hens just as fast as they are ready, but then it is a far better way to set two hens the same day, so as to double the broods when the young chicks appear. This sys- tem becomes more convenient when from certain unfdvorable influences the sitting hens bring off only a few birds, and it makes double care to attend to the wants of two hens with small flocks each, when one hen could take the lot and the other be put to hatching out a second bruod, or be penned up until she loses her broody propen- sities. By having your chicks in small broods, you not only give yourse!f much more labor, but lose the use of about half of the hens. This is only one of the easily-made mistakes of poultry- raisers, but it is one which can very readily be corrected. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST i! ! A fl Pe : al! ami le Al | fi I La bj I WHITE COCHINS. TH1s engraving is an excellent representation of this breed. They are a pure white throughout, to which they breed very true. None of the Cochin family are so little known and bred in this country as this beau- tiful variety. Rarely shown at our exhibitions, and then not often more than one or two coops, while all acknowledge their beauty, few seem to think of them as being anything more than ornamental. Fanciers: of this variety across the ocean place them fully as high as egg-producers, and in culinary qualities even above the Buffs, Partridge or Blacks. The eggs are also of large size, and of superior flavor. A flock of such fowls make a most attractive feature on a green lawn or in a field. They are handsome and massive in appearance, and make a most enticing roast or broil, giving a large amount of meat of the very best flavor, at a comparative early age. I have never bred any variety with better success. My strains have proved themselves to be extra fine layers. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. Rearing Chickens. WHEN the chicks commence hatching, let them alone for twenty-four hours, then remove them with the hen mother to their coop; at the same time apply a little melted or soft lard, with the finger, to the top of their heads and under their throats; it will prevent the large head lice or ticks from annoying them. This should be repeated two or three times a month. Three-fourths of all the chicks that die before they are two months old are killed by vermin ; yet the owner will pick up a droopy chicken, examine it, and say there is none on it. But if he would apply a drop oflard under the throat, he would probably observe a dozen or more large fat fellows back out to the end of the feathers and drop to the ground dead. It is unnecessary to repeat, that success in rearing chickens depends upon keeping them free from insects. The first feed should be a hard boiled egg, chopped fine. After that, scalded meal, or shorts mixed with bran and scalded; and after three or four days of age, cracked corn or wheat the last thing at night. Pure, fresh water should be kept before them all the time. Feed only what they will eat up clean, as sour food will bring on disease; milk, both sour and sweet, is most excel- lent for chicks, as well as grown fowls. Another item deserves special notice, being of the greatest service as an article of diet for young and growing chickens. I refer to bone meal. It supplies an abundance of bone-making material, and counter- acts any tendency to diarrhcea—from which large numbers of chicks die—by keeping their digestive organs in good condition. Green food must be had in the shape of grass or vegetables, in order to have them do well. I use freely Imperial Egg Food, and find it almost indispensable for rearing young chicks. By its use you will save enough more chicks to pay for the expense of using it, twice over. ———— — The First Food for Chickens. JUST before the chick breaks from its narrow cell, the last of the yolk is taken into the stomach: which gives it the strength to make its one grand effort for freedom. This food will certainly last twelve, if not twenty-four hours after it is free. During that time no other food is needed; only rest is required after its exhausting labor. Some persons are so thoughtless as to think that food must be fed them at once, and if they refuse what is offered undertake to make the little chicks eat. This is all wrong. Dry Feed for Young Chickens. IT is absolutely indispensable that the cooked mash given to any young chickens should be mixed dry. By this I mean to impress the idea that the meal mixture should be of a crumbly consistency, rather than that of the soggy kind of mash that nine out of ten careless, inexperienced persons give to the young broods in their infancy. I frequently receive complaints from persons, who have appealed to me to tell them why it is that their little birds drop off at ten to twenty days old so frequently, when they “feed them with plenty of soft meal, properly scalded,” and give them “all they can eat four or five times a day.” The cause of a large share of the mortality among the young broods is attributable to this very kind of feeding. Wet, sloppy dough or meal sours in their crops before beginning to digest, and they are destroyed by this means. I again repeat that their early food must be dry—for the first three or four weeks especially. Whenever they need drink, if shallow pans of milk or fresh water be left within their reach, they will avail themselves of the opportunity to take all they need. But for their meal feed the too common practice of drowning digestion by offering young birds three-quarters water to one-fourth of grain isinjurious. Give the natural solvents, the gastric juices, a chance and do not dilute them till they are too thin to act on the food. The Most Critical Period For young chicks is between the time they drop their downy coats and before they put on a full dress of feathers. At this time they must have the very best care and attention, or they will drop off witu little warning. After the young chicks are fully feathered, they are strong enough to help themselves and will get along finely if they have plenty of good food and are kept well sheltered. The extremes of dampness or heat are very severe on young chicks in the transitory state, especially on the Asiatics, which stay bare of feathers for so long a time, not feathering up as quickly as the Leghorns and other smaller breeds, and for this reason they should be well cared for, if you expect to raise a fair proportion of them. If the skin becomes parched or burned, a little glycerine or fresh lard or mutton tallow rubbed on the skin, will greatly relieve the young chick. Do Nor expect that more than three-fourths of all your chicks will live to maturity. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST BLACK COCHINS, IN point of use, are similar to other Cochins. They are somewhat of a new variety on this coast. A flock on a green lawn, with their rich, glossy black plumage, presents a handsome sight. When first hatched, chicks show more or less white under the throat and body, but become after a while black and remain so. White or grey under-feathers, or some white in the wings and tail admissible. Brahmas and Cochins or Asiatics, are all breeds of great size. Black Cochins are the smallest of the Cochin family, but for all that are good size. Sell well in market; bear confinement; thrive under unfavorable conditions; not inclined to roam: can be easily fenced in; and, being extremely hardy and quiet, they cost little more than common fowls. As layers during the winter months they are valuable, and with light feed do well in summer; are excellent sitters and mothers, and on the whole are profitable for general purposes. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 21 Separating the Brood While Feeding. AFTER the hen has left the chickens and also where there are broods of various sizes, the larger ones are likely to domineer over the smaller; and if all are fed together, the smaller ones are gener- ally robbed of their share of food. A separate run for each brood is therefore of great service, but when this is not practicable, and where a large number are to be fed, a very simple arrangement can be made for keeping them separate while eat- ing, the expense of which is only a bundle or two of three-foot lath. In a convenient corner of the yard for feeding let a row of lath be driven into the ground across the corner and at such distances apart that only the smallest chickens can pass between; another row is to be driven about two feet further back, and an inch or so further apart, so that the medium-sized chicks can pass but not the largest ones. The food for the youngest broods may then be thrown behind the closer row of lath, that for the medium broods between the two rows, and that for the largest broods outside of all. This plan not only prevents quarreling, but enables the attendant to favor the youngest broods with more expensive food without their being robbed by the older ones. Where adult fowls have the run of the same yard as the chick- ens, such an arrangement will allow of the chick- ens being well fed, without the danger of over- feeding the old fowls. Potatoes for Growing Chickens. GIVE the growing chicks a taste of boiled pota- toes and notice how they enjoy them. In many places the potato crop is large and this vegetable cheap. It is even cheaper than corn, but if fed in connection with corn and other articles of diet, it is a great help in raising young stock economi- cally and successfully. Give the chicks freely then of boiled potatoes, small ones will answer, skins and all, for an occasional change of diet. I feed annually tons of potatoes to my fowls, and find them an economical food for this section of country. TRY and set your hens so as to have two hatch out at the same time, and give the broods to one hen. Goop care, under all circumstances and at all times, is a prime necessity to success in breeding fowls. Fresh Water. IT must not be forgotten that it is highly im- portant to keep before our fowls and chickens, constantly during the trying heat of summer, a supply of fresh, cool, clean water. For their size, no animals drink as much and as frequently as will poultry. If arunning stream passes through the yard where fowls are limited to ran ge, so much the better. If they are compelled to drink such water only as can be conveniently supplied to them in vessels, it should be renewed twice a day, if possible, while the summer heat continues. Crushed Corn for Growing Chickens. FEED corn to young chicks in a crushed or cracked condition. Common cracked corn may be fed to them dry, or it may be scalded to ad- vantage, before feeding. It should always be given to the fowls fresh, however; as, if mixed with water or any other meal, it quickly grows musty, or sour, if not used. There are other advantages in feeding it in this shape—as compared with the use of whole corn— and these are that in the broken state it is taken up much more easily than are the whole kernels, and when eaten it digests very much more readily, while the process of devouring a given quantity is slower and the birds, if ever so hungry, cannot “gobble it down ” in bulk as they incline to rush at the whole grain. Too much care cannot be taken to provide only what is eaten up clean at a feeding—as after it lies upon the ground or has become wet, it becomes both unpalatable and unsavory. \ Green Corn on the Ear Is not only a very palatable food for growing chicks, but is highly nutritious and valuable for a change in their fare. If it must be purchased, it is not an economical provision, but if it can be grown upon the place, a little daily will go a great way, and for the young birds there is noth- ing so nourishing, except the waste milk of the farm-house. Green corn can be chopped up with the soft cob and inner husks, and fed to chicks or fowls once a day, while it is tender, to very good advantage. For valuable young breeding stock——or for the chickens marked out for future exhibition purposes —this edible is a grand thing. Where it can be had or raised conveniently, I recommend those who have not tried it to give their young fowls a little of this, daily, for a month, and learn how admirable an esculent this article is, in summer-time, for the growing chicks. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST WHITE LEGHORNS. A FINER or more life-like illustration is seldom seen. How proud, gay, sprightly and natural, ever moving and active, and on the alert for every living thing, from insects to enemies and strangers. Their beauty and vivacity, with their large red combs, white ear-lobes and plumage, with yellow legs and bills, combine to make them general favor- ites, always giving a cheerful tone to their surroundings. With the exception of color, I fail to see any difference in the merits of all Leghorns. One variety, I think, is as hardy as another, and in size there is no choice. White Leghorns are easily bred to color. Leghorns stand pre-eminent for hardiness and laying. Notwithstanding their disposition to ramble and forage, they will bear confinement as well as any other breed and do well. Leghorns are essentially non-sitters, easy to raise, mature rapidly, lay early and turn all their food into eggs. They may be fed all they can eat, yet they are so active and pre- disposed to laying eggs that they cannot be over-fattened, like some of the large breeds. I have developed my strain of White Leghorns to a high degree of excellence. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 23 Do Not Feed Egg-Shells to Hens, IT is at best a thoughtless folly to feed egg- shells to hens, for they are composed of worn-out matter which has answered its purpose and been discharged in a valuable capacity certainly, but useless, because, like calcined plaster, it is refined too much to bear using a second time. Then the quantity of lime it makes is so inconsiderable (the shells of a dozen eggs weighing only about 214 ounces), as to show one who considers it for a moment that the danger of teaching our hens to be egg-eaters in the nest is in no measure com- pensated for by this foolish practice. Attention to the minutest particulars is necessary to insure the best possible results with poultry. Be watch- ful, and learn something practical from every ob- servation of the natural habits of your flock. Milk for Poultry. THE time may come when we shall know ex- actly what is required, in the way of feed, and the proportions, to insure a requisite number of eggs within a given time. Meanwhile the near- est we can come to that unacquired art is by feeding our fowls such food as most resembles the egg. Perhaps nothing comes nearer it than milk, for both it and the egg are, for at least a time» the only food that the very young of both ovip- arous and viviparous animals subsist upon. Hence, we would expect if we should feed our hens upon milk thatour supply of eggs would be increased, and upon trial such proves to be the fact. Though we use skim milk only, the removed cream is in a measure compensated for by the use of grain and meat. Milk is therefore one of the best articles of food we can give our fowls, and for farmers to feed it to their hogs in the winter and spring is a mistake, as the returns will not equal one-half what would be received if the milk was fed to the hens. Bones and Boze Meal. IT is only recently that bones have been used as poultry food, their value not being known or appreciated by breeders. Now the manufacture of bone meal and crushed bones is a large busi- ness, supplying hundreds of breeders with what seems to be an essential element in the growth and development of poultry. Bone meal is usu- ally too fine to be used by itself, though some mix it with other fine food, moisten the mess and feed it in that way. Cracked or crushed bones, however, are more desirable, for there is not so much waste, and the fowls soon learn to eat it up clean when fed to them. A little of it in summer is very good to help them in producing eggs, but it is more valuable in cold weather when it can be fed more liberally. Have a quantity con- stantly in a small trough where the birds can get it at all times, or feed it at regular intervals. Where bone meal or crushed bones cannot con- veniently be obtained in their purity, gather up the bones which collect around the house and put them where they will dry out. When they have done so to a considerable degree, pound them up on a large, flat stone with a hammer, and you will have what you want, and can feel assured that it is undoubtedly pure. Green Food for Fowls. THE stomach by nature requires a certain amount of coarse and refuse matter to keep it in a healthy and active state; the lack of which tends to disease, constipation, indigestion, and a general disarrangement of the system. Domestic fowls are no exception to this rule, and green food (that is, grass and vegetables) cons'itutes just the kind of refuse matter needed. This the fowls themselves can obtain a portion of the time; but when they are debarred from obtaining such food, we must supply the deficiency by giving them cabbage, turnips, and onions, cut fine or coarse, as seems to suit them best. If we have not a supply of the above-named vegetables, pota- toes boiled and mixed with bran and meal, and fed warm, is a very good substitute. Cayenne Pepper. . FowLs seem to need some stimulating food, or rather an occasional seasoning to their different feeds of grain in its varied forms. In this con- nection Cayenne pepper is largely used, e-pe- cially for young chicks and young turkeys, but it must not be fed in too large quantiti s. Better feed it sparingly and often than at long intervals and in large quantities. It should always be fed with soft or mixed food. Mix the pepp-r well with the meal before moistening it, so as to insure its being well mixed through. Poultry breeders, especially those who raise turkeys large'y, know the value of Cayenne pepper, and use it acco d- ingly. Full grown fowls, too, are very fond of it, and it serves to keep them healthy, sharp-us their appetites, and helps to induce them to lay well and early. 24 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST HH Hil I Hii BROWN LEGHORNS. A CAREFUL study of our illustration will give one an idea of this justly popular variety: in color they are very nearly the same as the Black-Red Game, especially the hen. In respect to comb and general appearance they are like the White Leghorns. Their champions have claimed for them greater hardiness and size than in any other variety of Leghorns. Be that as it may they are an excellent breed for the practical purpose of egg production, as they rank high as non-sitters and are most persistent layers. Their color is favorable to extreme hardiness, and does not soil and show dirt like that of a white bird, in unclean places or runs. Originally, all true Leghorns were imported from Italy. The Browns do not yet breed as clear ear-lobes as the Whites, and the cockerels are worse in this respect than the pullets. Improvement in this point is being made from year to year, and the time is not far distant when these will be equal to the Whites in every point. The Browns are comparatively a new breed. We have found them excel- lent layers, prolific breeders, early maturing, and easy to raise. Are particularly well adapted to the Pacific Coast, where eggs are so much an object. Of this variety I have strains as pure and well marked as can be found. POULTRY AND Range and Shade. IT is indisputable that the more ample the range that fowls are permitted to run about in, at their leisure, the healthier, thriftier, and hap- pier they are. A close pent-up fowl-yard is not the place in which to grow fine birds, as a rule, though very many persons are obliged to keep their choice, small flocks thus stinted as to space; and, with the special care such owners are pleased to give their pets, they do passably well. But to rear chickens on the larger scale we must afford them room to run and grow in. They should in either case, in hot weather, be provided with plenty of shade, to which they will resort during the heat of the day very eagerly. If there are no trees, shrubs, or vines around the place that will afford this shelter from the heat, a rough lean-to or low open shed, boarded tight at the side facing the south and west, will be a good protection from the burning rays of the sun, and prove a grateful spot for them during the warm- est part of the day. Soft-Shell Eggs. OCCASIONALLY people are troubled with soft- shell eggs, and do not know how to remedy the evil ; especially is it to be avoided when the hatching season is at hand, for then it is abso- lutely necessary to have eggs with their shells of average firmness, and at other times it is desira- ble to know a remedy, so as to be able to avoid the trouble at all seasons of the year. Fowls which have free range seldom, if ever, drop soft-shell eggs, while those in confinement are apt to. Over-feeding is the principal cause of this complaint, and the remedy suggests itself to any one at a glance when it arises from this cause. The want of sufficient lime has, of course, much to do with this disorder, for unless the fowls have material wherewith to make the shell, they cannot perfect their work, and must lay their eggs in an unfinished condition. A good plan is to have some old plaster where fowls can help themselves. Nest Eggs. NEST eggs should be provided for every nest and left there when the daily supply of new-laid ones are gathered. Some persons keep an old spoiled egg for this purpose, but an unaccustomed hand may add that to the market basket. For this purpose Hill’s medicated nest egg, though costing a little something to begin with, is valua- ble, serviceable, and easily detected from the true egg by the gatherer, and is perfectly satisfactory to thehen. T useand like the medicated nest eggs. STOCK BOOK. 25 Exercise. ALLkinds of fowls are best conditioned the year through if they can have a wide range, as this affords them the exercise which is indispensable. If, however, it becomes necessary to keep fowls in yards, they should not be allowed to have food constantly before them, unless much of it is of the dry grains, in variety, which should be so scat- tered, when fed to them, that they will be obliged to hunt and scratch for it amongst the strewn leaves, straw, short hay, shavings, sawdust, or sand in the pens. An excellent way and one I practice is to spade up my pens and sow grain. This requires the fowls to work for their living and keeps them active. What they do not find puts in an appear- ance as green food. All fowls depend on motion for thrift, even down to the diminutive Bantams, all need it equally. For if the small breeds are not as much disposed to produce internal fat as the heavier breeds, they are more active and restless by nature, and without exercise they can never do well. Feathered creatures were not made to be kept still. Use Whitewash Liberally. To the liberal and judicious use of whitewash can be directly attributed the freedom from foul odors and lice, those pests of the poultrymen, so noticeable in many a well ordered chicken house. The money invested in a flock of pure bred fowls usually proves a sufficient incentive, aside from anything else, toinsure good sanitary regulations, but there are many others who keep fowls, notice- ably, farmers, who pay little if any attention to giving their birds good, wholesome, commodious quarters. This is gross carelessness, and is pro- ductive of much loss, both directly and indi. rectly, for no stock of any kind whatever can be expected to do its best when quartered in filth, and with every inducement for vermin to con- gregate and multiply. The roosts are never taken down nor disturbed from one year’s end to another; a box is tacked up to the side of the house, filled with straw, and left untouched and unmolested until about worn out, while the whole house is as innocent of whitewash as can be. Let this thing be remedied, and no better time than now, right away, can be found for it. Clean out the house thoroughly; remove all the boxes and roosts; give it a thorough whitewashing, both inside and out: treat the nest-boxes and roosts in the same way, and the cackling hens will rise with one voice and call you their benefactor. 26 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST == ir: E = en Z = q = . . at 4 Zs ly ===" ——— -— HOUDANS, OF all the French breeds, I regard the Houdans as the hardiest and best, and, in real merit, they should rank high in comparison with any of the improved breeds, combining, as they do, very many excellent traits and advantages. Now thoroughly acclimated, Houdans are hardy, early maturing, good layers, and one of the best table and market birds, the flesh being unusually white, juicy, and tender, with a larger proportion of breast meat and less shrinkage in dressing than any other variety. Some claim that a Houdan will dress one-fifth more, ready for the kitchen, than any other fowls of the same live weight. At maturity, cocks weigh six to nine pounds, and hens five to seven, or more, when fattened. They are not termed high flyers,” and are contented almost anywhere, though in disposition are lively and sprightly—being good foragers are well adapted to a free range, especially on the farm, where they are invaria- bly well liked. They are virtually non-sitters. Their eggs are generally fertile. So rapid is their growth that at two or three months old they rival the Brahmas in weight, and are better developed for broilers and table use. Admirers of Houdans are apt to take considerable pride and interest in them, which is not to be wondered at, as the beholder is always struck with their quaint, comical appearance. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 97 Don’t Feed Corn to Your Fowls. IT is surprising, when one stops to think, how much corn is fed to fowls; nearly every one seems to feed it to the laying hens. Now corn con- tains but little albuminous matter, the material out of which eggs are manufactured; and if eggs are desired we say by all means let corn alone, except for a change in diet, and on rainy days, to generate warmth. Corn in its composition con- tains so much fattening material that feeding it is sure to result in an increase of fat on the bodies of your hens; at the same time there will be a decrease of vitality and productiveness. This grain has been called the lazy man’s blessing, for the reason that it requires but little work in feeding; it keeps clean; nothing is wasted, and the fowls like it. We often wonder why it is that fowls take to corn so voraciously—they seem to prefer it to almost everything else. In fact your hens will eat it when they will eat anything; but besides producing fat it will produce disease by impairing digestion. Many poultry keepers have discovered the pernicious effects of corn on poultry and have tried to change the food, but the birds have steadily refused to change the diet. In such cases the only plan is to starve the fowls into eating some other food. They will surely come to time. when they get sufficiently hungry, and after they have become accustomed to a less attractive diet they will improve in every way. The question is often asked us: What shall I feed my hens? Our answer invariably is: Feed them almost anything, giving them the variety so desirable, except corn, and the less you feed of that grain in this climate the better. Nests for Laying Hens. LET them be movable, or convenient to clean, near or on the ground. Quite a favored plan now is to put the nests on the ground and a plat- form above them, about eighteen inches from the ground, and roosts about five inches above the platform. They can be kept clean very easily. The nests should be taken out frequently, cleansed and whitewashed. Arrange them so that the hen can step in on her eggs and not be obliged to jump down and so incur the risk of breaking the eggs. Some use barrels or half barrels with nests at the bottom, and then complain because the hen breaks so many eggs. Make the nests in a dark part of the house and opening from the light if convenient, as the hen likes seclusion when laying. Nests should be made so roomy as not to damage the hen’s feathers, and no larger. 3 Charcoal and Lime. THESE two articles play a very important part in the management of fowls, whether bred in a fancier’s yard or on a farm. Charcoal should be liberally fed, for no one thing is more conducive to health than this. It should be broken in small lumps and put where the fowls can get it, and they will eat it with great relish. We have seen it fed to pigs with the very best results, and those which were treated to it were never troubled with disease or sickness, while the neighboring ones were. This helps to prove its value not only for swine but for fowls. Where the birds are kept in confinement, it is a very good plan to keep a small trough in a sheltered place full of small bits of fresh charcoal, and the fowls will soon learn to help themselves. The value of lime in the form of whitewash is well known, and those who use it liberally are the ones who keep their flocks healthy and cleanly. To render the whitewash more effective in dis- lodging, driving away, or destroying lice and other parasitic nuisances, the addition of a little carbolic acid is invaluable, for scarcely anything seems to be so distasteful to the vermin. Air- slacked lime should be occasionally scattered over the floor of the chicken-house, to remove unpleas- ant and unhealthy odors, while a little of it should be scattered around the yards and runs, for material for egg shells. Oyster-shell lime is the best for this purpose. Do Not Crowd. THE crowding of fowls in a limited space is the rock on which many persons interested in poultry have stranded; not profiting by the advice of those who have tried it, they have become disgusted with the business, which they drop not to renew. From fifieen to twenty fowls (the former num- ber is preferable) in a room or coop, is all that should be attempted, generally. With this num- ber there will be a good supply of eggs, friendli- ness on the part of the fowls toward each other, together with peace and harmony; and it will not only be a satisfaction but a pleasure to care for them. Increase the number to any extent, and it will often be with more or less disastrous results, such as the breaking of eggs, quarreling and confusion, which will disgust, if not discour- age, those who have them in charge. Sometimes, with a good range, and under uncommonly favor- able circumstances, fifty fowls may be placed together, but never if they are yarded. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST WHITE-FACED BLACK SPANISH. AMONG thoroughbred poultry, Black Spanish is one of the longest established vari- eties, both in this country and Europe. That this variety originally came from Spain, there can be no doubt. The White-faced Black Spanish is one of the most showy and aristocratic of all the fine breeds of poultry. In good feather and condition, a nice flock of Spanish with their white faces, large red combs, lustrous black plumage, graceful and stylish carriage, are something the breeder or fancier may well be proud of. In shape and build, the Spanish is rather on the “stilty ” order—long in leg, neck, and body ,With- out proportionate breadth of breast; yet proud, stylish, and not unsymmetrical in profile. Given the free range of a farm, with indifferent housing, or even roosting in the open air on trees, they prove as hardy as Asiatics. : Generally speaking, they are non-sitters and layers of large white eggs, but rather inferior for the table. In California and other temperate latitudes, Spanish fowls can be raised in all their beauty and perfection, and with good profit, especially for eggs. I have a splendid stock, descended from choice importations. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 29 Money in Eggs. I AM frequently asked if poultry pays. My answer is: Certainly it does. My own experience proves it to my entire satisfaction. Poultry can be made to pay better than any other live-stock on the Pacific Coast, in proportion to the capital invested. Prices for eggs and fowls are always high, compared with the Eastern market, The demand for eggs is unlimited, and will always exceed the supply. In order to pay well, how- ever, the best laying breeds must be secured to start with. Chickens must be hatched early so that the pullets will be old enough to commence laying in the early winter when eggs are high. The fowls must have constant attention, dry quarters during cold rains, and not allowed to suffer from neglect in feeding. Fresh blood should be mingled yearly, by in- troducing a new cock, to insure health, size, and stamina. There is more profit in producing eggs for the market than in raising chickens, unless very early “broilers” be raised, which always command a high price during the winter and early spring months. Keep Your Fowls Tame. THERE is one point in poultry management to which I wish to call especial attention, as but few persons who rear poultry for profit ever attach much importance to it, notwithstanding it has a great influence on the profits. It is to keep your birds tame, whether they are kept up in suitable inclosures during the entire year, or permitted to have an unlimited range, for it pays to do so, in many ways. If you keep your birds tame, so they will come | to you quickly at the call, and eat out of your hand without any sign of fear or distrust, they will always be quiet and content, and will fatten and thrive much better. This matter is well understood by breeders of the larger kind of stock, such as cattle, horses, sheep, and swine» while there are a sensible few who apply the same principle with poultry. Many a fine nest of eggs has been destroyed by a wild and frightened hen—a hen which had early learned to fear her master or owner. If uniform kindness and gentleness had been re- sorted to, the nen would suffer herself to be handled while on the nest, and never once think of leaving it in such a hurry as to endanger the eggs. If the poultry on the farm is kept tame, it is not a difficult matter to catch one or more when wanted for table or other use. Hens Eating Eggs. IHAVE seldom been troubled with « egg-eaters,” and if hens are fed and managed as they should be, and supplied with every want, they will have no desire or appetite for devouring eggs. Hens seldom eat their eggs if allowed their liberty; it is only when confined that the habit is formed, and it is obvious, then, that they crave some- thing that they need, which the egg supplies. Feed and manage so as to prevent the habit. An ounce of prevention is certainly worth « a pound of cure” in this matter. But if the habit cannot be prevented, the dark nest is a certain cure, Arrange the nest at the end of a covered approach, soit will be quite dark, and as soon as the hen lays she will leave it instantly, and none will venture near, except for legitimate purposes. Moulting Time. WE all know how critical a period in the lives of domestic fowls is the season of moulting or annual feather-shedding time. Fowls should be kindly treated at this critical time in their ex- istence; and care should be exercised regarding their diet, while they are passing through this natural but oftentimes dangerous ordeal. Some of them will die. All are sick and “ out of tune,” while moulting. Give them plenty of good clean drink, in which daily a few drops of tincture of iron is mixed. This will assist digestion largely. Look out that your breeding birds are not over- fed to fattening at such a period. They now need good food, but not too much of it, or you easily surfeit them. Advantage of a Good Range. For both laying and breeding fowls, a good range is a necessity to their comfort, health, and profitableness. Without this convenience, to a greater or less extent —and the more liberal the range the better—it is futile to attempt to grow fowls to profit, and idle to expect them to produce eggs regularly. Good range. pure water, dry shelter, animal food, and entire freedom from filth, are all needful to promote high health and continuous prosperity in the poultry-yard; but more or less range for laying fowls is the first essential to their well doing. To afford this desirable accommodation, space is required; and where a considerable number of birds are kept, the room assigned to each lot should be as liber. ally accorded as possible, in order to prevent sickness among the stock. for the crowding of a large number of fowls into single inclosures is certain to generate disease. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST SILVER SPANGLED HAMBURGHS. I CONSIDER the above illustration one of the finest there is of this variety, yet no cut can do justice to their exquisite beauty in form and feather. There is a fascination 2 the graceful carriage and general appearance of the S. S. Hamburgs that pen or penci fails to reach in attempting to portray. Hamburgs are truly ornamental, and, in ther place, very useful. They are strictly non-sitters, and great layers, and at all on with good care and quarters. We have found them small feeders, easily raised, a being small in bone and fine in texture, good for the table and market, as far as a as they are about the size of common fowls, and are kept more for fancy and eggs t an All sub-varieties of Hamburgs do not differ much in traits and qualities, A free range is natural to Hamburgs, and they I place the Silver Spangled at the head of other purposes. but the Spangled are the most hardy. look and thrive best where they can have it. the list as the most profitable and beautiful of the Hamburgs. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 31 The Pest of the Poultry Raiser. THE pest of the poultry raiser in California is the lice or mites that infest the fowl kingdom. In our State there are four different varieties of the louse inflicting our fowls, and they are the most prolific causes of disease. In fact, there would be but little difficulty in raising chicks during our dry season if they were kept free from lice Hence it will be seen that it is of great impor- tance to poultry raisers that their young fowls should be kept free from lice, and therefore too much care cannot be taken to free the mother from these pests before the brood is hatched, other- wise they will be communicated to the young. We find in the Scientific American the following, which we give for the benefit of our readers: — “ Put a tablespoonful of sulphur in the nest as soon as the hens or turkeys are set. The heat of the fowls causes the fumes of the sulphur to pene- trate every part of their bodies; every louse is killed, and as all nits are hatched within ten days, when the mother leaves the nest with her brood she is perfectly free from nits or lice.” In some sections and upon certain soils in Cali- fornia there is a mite or louse that appears to “enjoy a sulphur bath. Where they are present it is necessary to use something more efficient. For this purpose I recommend Buhach, Carbolic Pow- der, and Hill’s Insecticides, including Hill’s Med- icated Powder, Hill’s Medicated Paint, and Hill’s Medicated Nest Egg, which will put an end to their existence. When lice are very bad it is best, before setting a hen, to see that the box to be used has been thoroughly washed inside with kerosene oil. I use the crude article, which can be procured in Los Angeles for about fifteen cents a gallon. Then place in the material to be used for a nest, after which sprinkle the hen and nest thoroughly with insect powder, and by changing once or twice the straw used for the nest, you will have but little or no trouble with lice while the hen is sit. ting. It isa good plan after cleaning roosts to wash them with kerosene oil or paint with Hill’s Medicated Paint. When the fowls go to roost at night the fumes of the oil and paint will penetrate the feathers and cause the lice, then upon the bodies of the fowl, to migrate. IT is estimated that 45,000,000 eggs are con- sumed every day in the United States, and yet there are people who fear that the poultry busi- ness will be overdone. Meat for Fowls. ADULT fowls when moulting, and young ones when feathering out, need meat with their food. Brahmas and other large breeds will do much better and make far stronger and healthier fowls if, as soon as they will eat it, a little cooked meat, chopped fine, be fed to them every day. Those who try it will be surprised to see at how early an age and with what eagerness the chicks will eat the meat. It should be cooked and cut up fine, so that they will have no difficulty in swal- lowing it. Fowls that have a good grass run, where they can gather up insects, do not need meat as much as those that are cooped up. It also pays well to feed meat to hens that are lay- ing, to keep them at it, and to those that are not laying to induce them to lay. The cheapest meat is chandler’s scraps (or cracklings), broken up, soaked in water, and fed either with soft food or separately. Curing Sitters. OUR plan of curing sitting hens of their broody propensities is somewhat different from that of the old lady who cured her hens of disease by wring- ing their necks. That no doubt effectually re- moves disease, but will soon reduce the size of the flock. The idea of ducking a poor broody hen to make her stop her clucking and motherly propen- sities is about as useless as putting their heads under their wings, or whirling them around until they are almost senseless, and then flinging them over the fence to meditate on their past iniquities. There are others who yoke up their broody hens, the same as many do the geese they wish to keep from going through the fences. The plan may be highly ornamental and diverting, yet it is rarely productive of the desired result. These are mostly the plans resorted to in “ye olden times,” when dung-hill fowls, whose powers of endurance were of the highest order, were the rule and pure bred fowls the exception. A far more sensible as well as effectual plan is to put all the broody hens you do not wish to set into a commodious coop, with a young active cockerel, and they will soon forget their broody ways. THERE is no one thing which conduces more to cleanliness and healthfulness in poultry breed- ing than a liberal and judicious application of whitewash on the inside and outside of the poultry-houses. 32 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST nam ene seattle!) x / 1 A | i : | IN W. C. BLACK POLANDS. THE above beautiful illustration represents very correctly a pair of White Crested Black Polands. They are strictly speaking a “fancy fowl.” : With the free range of a farm, I find them hardy, and I know not why they will not bear confinement well, if properly cared for. As egg-producers they are certainly very profitable, being non-sitters, and most perpetual layers, even in seasons when common hens stop laying. Of medium size, plump and neat when dressed, with excellent flesh, they excel for the table and market. Among all the varieties in our exhibitions, perhaps none are more attractive than well-bred W. C. B. Polands, with their large handsome white crests, contrasting so beauti- fully with the rich, changeable hues of their glossy-black plumage. In the poultry-yard, the eye of the visitor is sure to be “taken” with the style, beauty, and oddity of a group. As an ornamental and fancy fowl, we see no reason for their not becoming general favorites. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 33 Making Hens Lay. THE production of eggs is one of the most prof- itable branches of the poultry business. Properly managed, hens pay from 1060 to 300 per cent. profit as layers. To get the best results, too many should not be kept together. Of large breeds, twenty to thirty hens are sufficient—of smaller breeds, not more than thirty to fifty. They lay as well without a cock, and their eggs keep longer. Plenty of room should be given. Their droppings should be cleaned up at least twice a week. A box of dry dirt and ashes is essential for dusting in. Provide suitable nests and nest-eggs. Give plenty of clean, pure water; keep quarters clean, well ventilated, dry and comfortable. Ifhenshave free range, they obtain from animal or insect and vegetable life most of the materials which compose the substance of an egg. If we imitate natural conditions as nearly as possible, our hens will lay in any season of the year. We must supply artificially the want which nature supplies. A hen is a machine for converting a compound of raw material into one of the most nutritious and highly organized sub- stances—the egg; but the machine will not work unless it is in perfect order. Before laying, the hen must be in good health, condition and feather, and must be kept so; for laying is a severe and exhaustive strain upon the system. For getting and keeping in good condition for producing eggs, long study and experiment resulted in the pro- duction of the “Imperial Egg Food,” which thorough test will prove unequaled as an egg stimulator. The feed for laying fowls should consist of grain in variety, wheat and buckwheat being best, and not over one-half corn in winter, and one-fourth in summer, cooked feed daily, served in various ways, also milk, fresh meat and scraps, raw and cooked, chopped fine, with broken fresh, raw bones, or ground bone, three times a week at least, with plenty of gravel and broken oyster or other shells ‘constantly accessible. Cooked vegetables are necessary, but when confined, raw onions, turnips, apples and cabbage should be given three or four times a week, in good supply. The first feed each day should be mash, and the last grain; excepting to Asiatics give all they will eat, but no more. Watch, study, and supply their tastes, wants, and com- forts. Care well for and feed your hens properly, they will not disappoint you, unless it be in “ giv- ing” large returns and making a handsome * bal- ance sheet” on the profit side. Change the Diet. PouLTRY like a change of diet almost, if not quite, as well as does man, and they will thrive much better if particular attention be paid to the fowls in this respect. It is very desirable to change the food repeatedly, so they will not tire alike of food and laying. Corn is a most excel- lent food in its way, and there is no grain which is more valuable for fattening any kind of stock, but for any other purposes it is not so good, though it comes in very nicely, as an occasional food, to relieve the monotony of other food. The best feed for fowls and well-grown chicks is wheat followed by oats, buckwheat, rye, rice, etc., while for very young chicks cheese (made by draining the whey from sour, thick milk), with occasional feeds of cracked wheat and corn-meal mush are just the things to feed young and tender birds. Green food comes in for a share in the routine, and should be fed regularly and liberally to birds in confinement. Those which have their liberty can get what they wish of grass and alfalfa. An occasional mess of scalded corn-meal, in which there is a generous sprinkling of Cayenne pepper, is alike good for fowls and maturing chicks, for the pepper seems to help keep them healthy, strong, and vigorous. I would not advise it being fed to very young chicks, unless in a very small quantity, for it is too severe for their tender . Systems. Eggs in San Francisco. THE 8. F. Call collects the following informa- tion: Judged from the statistics of the trade, San Franciscans are truly an egg-eating people. A dealer estimates the daily consumption of eggs in _ this city to be 14,000 dozen. In addition to the home supplies, the hens of Illinois, Nebraska, Towa, and Utah are called upon to supply the demand. The great bulk of the supply comes from Iowa. Last year the Mormon poultry-yards contributed 360,000 dozen. The total consump- tion of this market for 1879 is estimated at 4,889,- 022 dozen, which includes 3,896,855 dozen from California and Utah, 40,000 dozen from Oregon, and 951,290 dozen from the Eastern States. The greatest number of eggs are used during the months of March, April, and May, while the minimum consumption is reached in the last three months of the year. Estimating the mean price at twenty cents, a very low figure, it is found that the people of San Francisco paid about $1,000,000 for eggs alone last vear. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST BLACK BREASTED RED GAMES. Our illustration shows the type of the most fashionable Games of the present day. Well-bred Games, of whatever style, can be determined in the hands of an expert. There is a peculiar hardness and wiryness of plumage, and a solidity and compactness of body, with size and firmness of muscle, by which the pure Game can be detected from the alloy of “trashy blood ” with unerring certainty. This is called “handling;” well-bred Games handle well. Aside from their fighting propensities, Games are profitable fowl on the farm, or where they can have range, being active and good foragers; they keep in better condition for it. The B. B. Reds are my special favorites, for their hardiness, unflinching courage, and useful qualities; besides they breed very true to a color that is always hand- some; they are really one of the most stylish birds we have, and are good for the table; are fair layers of eggs, superior in flavor and richness; as mothers they have no equal for care and vigilance in hatching and raising chicks. BLACK BREASTED RED GAME BANTAMS. THE different varieties of Game Bantams are fac-similes in miniature, in form, style, and color of the Games they represent. Some of them are also “dead game;”’ and where a number of cocks are kept together, with “true chivalry ” for their group, in a ‘‘ common cause,” will do battle against an intruding cock, of whatever breed, size, or pluck. My experience has been mostly with B. B. Reds. They breed as true as quails, and are one of the “delights” of the poultry-yard. My stock was originally imported, and I have brought it to a high degree of perfection. They are small, well colored and formed. All Bantams are very little trouble, as they can be kept with Asiatics without intermix- ing, if the Asiatics are not undersized and the Bantams oversized. With the smaller breeds of poultry they will cross. All Bantans are good layers. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 35 Egg-shell Food. THE supply of ground bone, oyster shells or something of the sort, is a necessity which has become too well known to need comment, but the Judicious feeding of these things has not been treated as of much importance. The fact that broken bone of the first quality can be bought for four cents a pound, has caused its careless hand- ling. What costs little is seldom highly valued, and many a man, when he throws down a hand- ful of bone, does not pause to think that he is not only wasting—which is a small matter in itself—but is not giving this “shell food” in the best manner. Do you say “what shall we do, then?” Make a box covered at top and bottom, and having sides of lath about two and one-half inches apart, and you have a convenient receptacle for your bones, lime, old mortar or shells. The material in the box will be always at hand, fresh and uncontaminated by droppings, which, as the box is covered, can never reach its contents, and you will not only secure economy in feeding, but almost absolute certainty in the production of properly shelled eggs. A slide may be placed in the top of the box for convenience in filling, or a small trough fitted between the bars, into which the bag can be emptied and the food will run to the center of the box and spread to the edges so as to be easily accessible from the sides. Water for Fowls. IT is very necessary that fowls should have a good supply of pure fresh water each day, and it should be put in the shade, so that the direct rays of the sun will not make it hot and impure before the fresh is supplied. One of the best things, and probably one of the simplest, is to keep a handful of old, rusty nails—the more rust on them the better—in each dish from which the fowls drink. This will go far towards keeping them in good health, making them strong and vigorous and less liable to disease. Fowls seem to require, espe- cially in this climate, something that will act as a bracing tonic, thus toning up the system, so that they will be in a better condition to throw off disease. For this purpose use the Douglass Mixt- ure in the water. Their increased vigor can read- ily be detected by their vivacity and the rich color of the comb, which is a sure indication of health. The comb of a diseased fowl always loses color in proportion as the disease approaches its worst stages, and in some instances turning black. I would advise those who suspect disease amongst their fowls to give this subject thoughtful con- sideration and study, remembering that preven- tion is always better than cure. Cooked Feed. I THINK fowls cost less, and return more, if fed warm, cooked food once a day, early in the morning. A mixture of corn, oats and bran and middlings, ground fine, is good; or the corn may be boiled unground. It is well to add a portion of boiled potatoes, apples or turnips, and vary the mixture occasionally, for a change. The feed should be well cooked, and not made thin. In breeding season fine bran and barley, with vege- tables, make a food sufficiently rich for Asiatics, which are disposed to get so fat as to prevent laying, increase broodiness, and render eggs un- fertile. In fact, they should be fed very spar- ingly, and kept hungry and lively. I prefer whole grain in variety for evening feed. In cooking daily there is quite a saving, as much can be converted into food that would otherwise go to waste. There is hardly anything but what fowls will eat if properly prepared. Dust-bath. BY instinct all birds are taught the need of a dust or water bath for their well-being. They choose a sheltered and sunny spot of fine dry soil in which they open their feathers and fill them with dust, which, applied often enough, and in sufficient quantities, is death to all parasites which infest the plumage or skin. Every one who has fowls should provide a dust- box. Fine road dust, coal ashes, sand, pulverized loam, or clay even, are all very good, and with a sprinkling of flour of sulphur, or a small quantity of diluted carbolic acid sprinkled over the dust» constitute as good a bath as can be desired. This should be placed in a sunny exposure, and kept dry and clean, so that the fowls may enjoy its benefits when they choose. ’ Dust-Box. TAKE any ordinary soap box or make a box any desired size from 8 to 12 inches high, tack four strips, one on each corner, have them extend above the box about three inches, and around these strips or posts run a piece of wire near the top. The fowls will jump into the box whenever they want to take a dust-bath and when through dusting themselves will jump out again, without stopping to perch on the sides of the box, and as a result the sand is kept free from droppings and remains clean. 36 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST PLYMOUTH ROCKS, THE Plymouth Rock is pre-eminently an American fowl, having originated in New England, and been perfected by American fanciers. Tt is a mooted question still how the Plymouth Rock was originally made, but we incline to the theory that they are a cross between the Dominique Cock and the Black Java Hen. They are now, however, a well- established breed, and fully entitled to position in our poultry department. A very fair idea of the build, carriage and general style of the Plymouth Rock may be obtained from our illustration which has bzen much admired. The general color is a gray, or what would be generally denominated a hawk color, each feather being distinctly penciled across the dark bars. The beak is a bright yellow, short, stout at base, and with a fine curved point. Eyes large, clear, and bright. Comb red, single, upright and straight. Wattles and ear-lobes bright red and of medium size. Neck of cock of medium length with abundant hackle. Color bluish-gray, and free from white or black feathers. Legs large and strong, of medium length, the skin of a yellowish color. They are also a clean- legged breed, there being no feathers on their feet and lower part of the leg. Their flesh, in quality, is fine grained, tender and juicy, and, as dressed poultry, they are plump, full- breasted, and with fine, yellow skin and legs, look well and sell well in market. Are not high flyers, and are excellent foragers, when given their liberty. I have been particular to get the best stock obtainable with this, as with all breeds that I keep, and can furnish good Birds and Eggs. POULTRY AND Keeping Poultry on a Large Scale. WHEN one begins to entertain thoughts of poultry on a large scale, and pictures in his im- agination a large fowl house, with four hundred birds perched at night, in long rows close together, only waiting for the morning to seek their nests, lay eggs and cackle, all healthy, bright, and pro- ductive, he is on dangerous ground. He must not use the rule of three in this wise: “If twenty hens in a snug, warm house, receiving odd bits of meat, potato, and fat, besides regular feed of grain, will produce twenty dollars profit in a years how much will four hundred hens produce in a large hen house ?”” This problem has been wrought out and believed in as the unerring result of mathematics, but in the end, after expensive experiments, produced almost uniformly disap- pointment and loss. But how can a man keep four hundred hens profitably ? I answer: Just as twenty men keep twenty hens each in a vil- lage, each man keeping a few separately, each flock having a snug, warm place, and a variety of food, “odds and ends,” such as every house- keeping establishment furnishes. If four hundred hens are kept together in one building the result is sterility, egg-eating, feather-eating, and the prevalence of some fatal type of disease, as roup or cholera. This has been the general experience of those who have made the experiment. If a man wishes to keep four hundred hens let him make a “hen village.” Build it on dry soil, placing the buildings eight rods apart; have them tight but not necessarily expensive; treat each family of fowls just as any man who is successful treats his small flock, giving the same feed of grain, flesh, fish, fat, vegetables and shells. Keep Accounts. PERHAPS there is nothing more necessary to success than a record of our poultry receipts and expenditures, noting the number of eggs laid, and the average price per month, the number and prices of chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese during the year, together with any observations or suggestions which may be noted from time to time. By reference to such a record we may learn what months are the best in which to sell eggs and poultry, and manage so as to reap the benefit of high prices; also buy grains, etc., at the cheapest seasons of the year; thus making all transactions to as good advantage as possible. In other words, manage your poultry business as the successful business man would manage his affairs. STOCK BOOK. 37 Poultry Raising for Farmers. THERE is an idea among some farmers that “keeping chickens don’t pay.” Among some it does not pay, but it is their own fault. They get a few common or mixed breed, and turn them into the barn-yard to take care of themselves; they fix up no comfortable roosting-place, but let them roost on an old shed or on the fence; they do not make good nests; and in the spring no pains are taken to set the hens, letting two or three sit on one egg, and perhaps one on twenty-five. The result is they have a few sickly young chickens, and in the end they have only a few old hens from which they get few eggs, and so conclude they don’t pay. But they do pay, if when starting the pains are taken to get a good rooster and several hens of good laying stock, build a suitable coop, or fix over an old shed water tight; give them plenty of yard room; arrange good nests, and when a hen wants to sit, put her in a quiet place by herself. Take pains in everything, and the result of this year’s work will be thirty or forty young chicks which you can readily dis- pose of, if vou don't care to keep them, at a price varying from twenty-five to fifty cents—a larger per cent on your investment than almost anything else connected with the farm or ranch. — Poultry Nation. Old Mortar. IN all cities, towns and villages, old mortar can be had for the taking away from torn-down build- ings or buildings undergoing repairs, and poultry raisers should attend to it and lay in a supply whenever an opportunity offers, as it is one of the very best things that can be given to laying hens. Besides, it acts as a disinfectant, and also as a destroyer of lice in the poultry-house. Altogether, it is one of the best. things you can get for your poultry and you should not neglect an opportu- nity of laying in a good supply whenever you can. Some Fine Fowls. MR. WiLLiaM NiLes shipped yesterday to Fresno County four coops of fowls which for beauty could not be surpassed. The shipment consisted of half a dozen White Leghorn, half a dozen Brown Leghorn, a pair of peacocks, and a pair of splendid bronze turkeys. Mr. Niles says his bus- iness has doubled each year since he began busi- ness here, and this year his sales will be nearly triple those of last year.—L. A. Daily Times. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST LANGSHANS, THE attention of fanciers and poultry-raisers generally is called to the Langshan fowl, an illustration of a pair of which is here presented. The Langshan fowl was discovered a number of years since, in Northern China, by an English exploring party under the com- mand of Major Croad, of Her Majesty’s army; and it was through his exertions that the first importation was made into England. In general appearance the Langshan somewhat resembles the Black Cochin, but it has a longer tail and larger comb; the plumage is dif- ferent, that of the Langshan being of a beautiful greenish-black color, with metallic reflec- tion like those on the wing of a beetle. The shape is different, the breast of the Cochin being narrow and thinly meated, while the breast of the Langshan is full. The color of the legs and feet is different from that of the Cochin, the latter being tinged with yellow, while the legs of the Langshan are bluish-black. In fact, the Langshan and Black Cochin are totally distinct breeds in every distinguishing feature. The merits of the Langshan fowl may be briefly summed as follows: — It possesses extreme hardiness, and matures rapidly. The great size that the old birds attain is accompanied with a full breast (yet the bony framework is quite small), and the flesh possesses a delicacy of flavor without the dryness and coarseness of texture so common to most of the other large breeds. The hens lack that intense desire to sit which is so essentially a characteristic of the Cochin. I am breeding from choice importations, and am prepared to furnish both stock and eggs of this as well as the other varieties which I breed. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 39 How Many Hens in One Lot? I FREQUENTLY have the above inquiry. Of the large breeds not more than thirty, and of the smaller never to exceed fifty—better not more than forty. As a rule, the fewer hens there are together the greater the profits from them. It is well to so arrange that the house can be divided into two parts and use them alternately. This gives a chance to seed the vacant yard with grow- ing grain and when well up turn the fowls upon it, and serve the other in the same way. Doing this enables the breeder to afford his flock fresh green food constantly. A great many people make the mistake of arranging their roosts like stairs, or a ladder, which the fowls will all want to climb, to occupy the topmost one, and crowd for it. It is better to make the roosts low and level. There will then be no crowding for places, and the birds will not get practice in flying up, so as to teach them more readily to scale high : fences. To be profitable, hens must be well fed, with a good variety of grain, meat, and vege- tables. When they are well cared for they are like a machine power “ turned on ”—it must work. Eggs they must lay and cannot help it. Gravel for Poultry. Fowws differ from animals in many ways, but particularly so in the way in which they reduce their food preparatory to assimilatingit. Nature has supplied animals with teeth, as well as pow- erful gastric juices to aid in preparing and reduc- ing the food, but birds resort to different agencies for the accomplishment of the same. Gravel, sand, or some other similar substance is almost as essential to the fowl’s well being as is food, and if fowls are keot in confinement, and not supplied with this, no matter how much grain you may supply, they will not thrive, or even keep healthy, for any length of time. Unless supplied in liberal quantities at long intervals, fine gravel or coarse sand should be regularly supplied, so the fowls will not be compelled to use the same several times over, which they will otherwise be obliged to do. It is surprising to see how the small gravel or pebbles will be worn even by the fowls using them once in helping them in the process of grinding, and when used several times they b come so smooth as to be of little practical use. If fine gravel is not convenient, take time and screen out some coarse sand, put away safely in a barrel, in some convenient place, and it is ready for use whenever desired. How to Begin. I AM frequently asked by those who are think- ing about or have decided upon improving their poultry, this question: Which is the most profit- able for us to purchase, fowls or eggs? My answer invariably is, the fowls are the cheapest. Why? Because in hatching out the eggs one takes many risks—the hen is liable to leave her nest or break eggs; the shell may be too hard and firm; the purchaser forgetting to sprinkle them at the proper time, some of the chickens are unable to come out of the shell; of course, in some few cases the breeder is blamed, when it is no fault of his. In support of my answer, I take from an article on “ Poultry Keeping, How to Begin,” from the American Agriculturist, the following :— “It is more profitable to purchase fowls than eggs. This is a simple matter of figuring. If a dozen eggs of choice fowls are procured, at a cost of say $5.00, a year will elapse before an y profit can be gained from the three or four pullets that may probably be hatched from them. If a trio of birds are purchased, at a cost say of $20.00, now, a number of eggs will be procured before sitting time arrives, and then each hen may bring out a brood of six or ten chicks. After these are raised more eggs will be laid, and if good care is given there may be on the whole twenty chickens—ten pullets and ten cockerels — as the produce of this trio within the same time that it would have taken from the dozen eggs first mentioned to produce three or four pullets. There is an obvious difference in favor of begin- ning with birds both as to profit and time.” Feather Eating. THIS annoying and unnatural practice is an- other habit formed under confinement of the fowls, and seems to arise from a want of grass and exercise. It is generally prevented by good care and giving grain, meat, shells, bone, and vegeta- bles in variety. The habit may be checked by giving finely cut, well cured rowen hay, and also by keeping constantly before them a small bundle of corn fodder, renewing as often as the tender leaves are stripped from the stalks. Another and more severe remedy, as a last resort, is to pare | down the sharp edges of the beak of the offender, 80 it cannot hold a feather to pluck it. We learn that a sort of bit has been invented to keep slightly open the beak, but have not tried its | merits. 40 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST “ EUREK AS.” THE above engraving isa fine illustration of this breed of fowl. ‘Eurekas,” in color and markings, somewhat resemble the Silver Spangled Hamburgs. They are heavier, how- ever, cocks averaging nine pounds and hens six pounds. They have a small rose comb, ) yellow legs, and free from feathers. Are of a contented disposition and good layers. I am prepared to furnish fowls or eggs of this variety to any who may wish to try them. POULTRY IN ORCHARDS. Make your orchards your poultry-yards. Fruit trees and poultry have an affinity for each other in more ways than one. The busy chicks find every bug, worm, and egg, that sooner or later work harm to the trees, and their droppings enrich and promote a healthy and vigorous growth. Clip their wings if they exhibit a desire to climb for fruit. CHOOSING A BREEDING COCK. In choosing a breeding-cock, be sure he possesses in perfection, as nearly as possible, all the qualities sought after in his breed, and that he is exempt from disease or deformity. It is much more important that the cock should be comparatively perfect than the hens allowed him should be, as his blood will assist in the formation of every chicken, whereas each hen will assist only in a fraction of the whole. The cock should be the very person- ification of activity and vigor. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 41 Your Very Best. HoNEsT work will tell in the end, no matter how jealousies or petty intrigues may retard its progress. Honest work, a continuous strife for perfection, is what has triumphed over obstacles and bitter struggles and brought its fitting re- ward of success. The poultry business has only been fairly recognized as a real industry of national interest for a brief ten years or even less. Yet what grand results have been effected by men who, starting with no fixed aim beyond doing their very best, have acquired the reputa- tion of successful fanciers solely by persistent endeavors. Honest care is the only real foundation for success in the poultry business, and we would earnestly advise all would-be-eminent poultry breeders to commence squarely with the deter- mination to first of all be honest, and trust in that sure touchstone to give them their due por- tion of success. Honesty pays in any business, but in none more than ours is it beyond question “the best policy.” How Many Varieties ? KEEP no more than can be kept well. A breeder who keeps but one variety may be otherwise engaged so as to neglect it more than the breeder who keeps two or more, and makes poultry a thorough study and business. The number of | varieties one keeps is no criterion by which to estimate the grade of his stock; more depends on skill, thorough management, and application. I am not of those who believe no person capable of successfully keeping but one breed, and making a specialty of it. I do believe one breed is all a great many people ought to keep, and more, too, while there are others who can keep a large variety and breed them all well. I hold there is no limit to man’s capacity to acquire knowledge and develop the mind in any given direction. With ample room where poultry-breeding is made a business and study, no one can afford to run one breed only, and no one breed will satisfy the desires or gratify the tastes of a mind large and active. Number of Hens for a Cock. OF Asiatics, six to ‘ten: of Games, Leghorns, Houdans, Spanish, and the smaller breeds, ten to twenty. All breeding cocks should be strong and vigorous. When eggs fail to hatch, the cock is invariably blamed, which is not necessarily the case. Too few hens with the cock, want of exercise, overfattening, and overfeeding, are all certain and prolific causes of sterility. Buying Fancy Fowls. GET the best every time—it don’t pay to get cheap stock, it is the dearest in the end. I know for I have tried it on several different occa- sions. Once I paid a dollar and a half for a sit- ting of Light Brahma eggs, and they were the dearest eggs that I ever bought. Five of them hatched, two of them were as black as the ace of spades, and of the remaining three there was not one first-class chicken. I sold the whole lot for five cents a pound, live weight, and was glad to get rid of them at that price. At another time I sent some money to a man who advertised * high- class” Dark Brahmas. They may have been, but they were certainl y “poor relations.” Early one morning I stole out to the hennery with my * lit- tle hatchet,” and we had a Brahma pie for dinner. I was reckless by that time, and the next day I deliberately sent $15 to an eminent poultry breeder for a pair of light Brahmas. I got them, too, and they were beauties. Since then I have paid high prices for good fowls, and have never regretted it. Poultry breeders who have any reputation to lose cannot afford to send out inferior fowls or eggs, and they cannot afford to sell good stock for half price.— Fanny Field, in Ohio Farmer. Mating and Breeding. THE breeder must be the architect of his own success. He must form in his mind the ideal, the kind of bird he desires to produce, and breed for it; to a limited extent, he may draw upon the skill of others, but if he has no skill of his own, or love for the business, failure will likely follow his undertaking. When the breeder selects and mates up his breeding yards, he is moulding for better or worse the young stock of another year. There is much in care and feeding, but it is in mating the breeding stock that science and skill are most apparent. In this we form the shape and develop the bird in any given direction, or in all essential points. A mistake, and the outlay of a season is lost. A hit, in improving upon the parent stock, and a step is made in the line of progress that will benefit all interested in the breed. The rule of like producing like cannot he ignored, but we do not always obtain the best re- sults, either in shape or color, by breeding together exhibition birds. It is important, then, for the breeder to know what he wants, and then mste his birds to attain it. As a rule, the best results are produced by mating so as to balance the de- fects on one side, with high perfection on the other, avoiding, if possible, all serious defects. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST 42 SEBRIGHT BANTAMS. OUR engraving is a good representation of both the Golden and Silver Locomia ike i d lacing—the ground color of the Golden ” being a Bantams. Both are alike in form and lacing g Dn “Silver,” i hite ich, golden yellow, and of the “Silver,” a clear, silvery white. | ii arin It is said they were originated in England more than seventy years ago by Sir John Sebright. They have been brought to their present degree of perfection by dy “in and in,” showing the power of the breeder’s skill, by perseverance, to mould to shape, size, and color. : : : Sebrights are valued for their small size, prompt, strutting carriage, and the beauty of their plumage. They have rose combs, leaden-blue legs, and the cocks are hen-tailed or i d to sterility. ly so, with short hackles. Sebrights, as a race, ten : di Sebrights are nice pets, and fond of being handled; also, excellent layers, good sitters and mothers, and easily reared; their exquisite beauty always draws admiration. PIGEONS. i i i mong others the PIGEONS are great scavengers, devouring multitudes of insects, and among Furnish them a convenient dove cote, and the excrement will be found ker worms. ) e fou ey Squabs are becoming a favorite dish it can be put to a good use as a fertilizer. Ta ale who Be willing to pay a good price for them, and Soft shoud see to it that the market is supplied with such food as is in demand and pays Wi 3 a pleasant feature of a farm-house to see doves flying around it. They pick io id ou living mainly, and are very prolific, a good dish for home, and for market can be cheaply furnished. I am generally prepared to furnish choice varieties to those of my customers who may wish them. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 43 How Many Varieties of Fowls to Keep. I AM often asked, “ How many varieties of fowls should I keep?” As this can only be answered intelligently after becoming fully acquainted with the writers circumstances and facilities for keep. ing them, I would advise all who are doubtful on this subject to keep as many chickens as they keep cows—i. e., as many as they can properly manage and take good care of. If you have a small lot you cannot keep many; if you have a ~ hundred acres of land and nothing to do but at- tend to your poultry you can keep fifty varieties if you choose. The number you keep must be governed by your facilities for keeping them. What Breeds to Keep. TygAT depends upon where fowls are kept and for what purpose; if the object be eggs, then select the non-sitters—Leghorns, French, Hamburgs; if for meat and market, mostly Asiatics; if for eggs, market and general purpose fowls, get Plymouth Rocks, Asiatics, Leghorns. For the town, the Asiatics are the best. A careful study of the illus- trations and descriptions in this work will aid in the selection of the varieties most suitable for cer- tain purposes. The Best Variety of Fowls. I ALmost daily receive letters from parties about to embark in poultry culture, asking us to ‘state what variety of poultry is the best. I reply that no one breed combines all the best qualities in the highest degree. The largest breeds are not the most active foragers, aud the best layers are not the best for the table, and so on through the chapter. Then again, any beginner who cares enough about fowls to wish to keep them, has or should have a fancy of his own by which he should be governed, rather than by any arbitrary direc- tion of another party. Sex of Eggs. It is frequently assorted that the sex of eggs can be determined by the shape of the egg, the position of the air-cell, the curl or twist at the small end, etc. These tests have been disproved by careful experiments, which have shown that all such ideas and theories are erroneous and absurd. CARE must be taken that chickens are not brooded on cold, damp ground, and the bed, whatever it be, must be renewed when soiled. 4 Price and Value. IT is a tacitly understood rule of all commercial transactions that the price of any article of mer- chandise represents its value in the estimation of the purchaser, as well as the seller; yet the rela- tions of price and value are scarcely as clearly understood in our specialty as in other transac. tions. The possession of the best pussible breed- ing stock is a matter of paramount importance to any one who makes poultry or stock breeding a business, so that we can hardly call any price Jancy that procures pairs or trios clearly marked, and at the same time sure and strong stock-get- ters. If the services of a horse with a good record are in demand, and are paid for at a high rate, can we fail to recognize the advantage of possess- ing a sire whose blood will influence all the mem- bers of the flock, and determine the results of a whole season’s work? It is a matter of dollars and cents as well as of taste. Poor breeding stock is dear at any price. The ultimate breeding-pen whose every member shall be almost perfect, will be well nigh priceless, while all the grades of excellence from the least to the greatest have their appropriate prices. Thorough consideration of the matter will, I feel sure, convince all rational persons that in poultry, as well as other business, price and value are inseparable. Improved Stock. AMONG the breeders of improved stock on the Pacific Coast who have won for themselves an enduring reputation no name stands higher than that of Mr. William Niles, of Los Angeles. By his fair dealing and strict attention to business he has constantly enlarged the scope of his opera- tions until now his customers are found in Aus- tralia, the Sandwich Islands, Central Americas Mexico, and British Columbia, as well asinjevery State and Territory this side of the Rocky Mount- ains. Mr. Niles has been East for several months, to familiarize himself with the modus operandi of large establishments of the kind in various St: tes, and during the time he has shipped much valuable stock to his place in Los Angeles.— From the “ Wasp,” S. F., April 14, 1883. “A THREE-YEAR-OLD” discovered the neigh_ bor’s hens in her yard scratching. In a most in. dignant tone she reported to her mother that Mrs. Smith’s hens were “ wiping their feet on our grass.” NILES’ PACIFIC COAST GUINEA FOWLS. Tue Guinea is a far more profitable fowl than is generally supposed. They are Ee egg-producers. As a table fowl they are superior, their flesh being of rare doo 5 Fite the many years of domestication which the Guinea fowl has undergone, it sti > hi in a marked degree, its wild, untamed nature, preferring to roost in trees to roos ny in an inclosure, and almost invariably stealing its nest in some secluded, wil - Io Young Guineas are pretty and cute little things, reminding one of young pan os : en quite young, before they change their dress of soft down for one of es oy iy 2 little tender and difficult to raise, but after they have passed this critical period, they ‘ust the opposite, and assert their wild nature by preferring to care for theraselves in a Corn meal should never be fed to the young Guineas during their “baby- WE he food should be the same as that given to young turkeys, such as hs ined soaked in fresh milk, cottage cheese, bits of hard-boiled egg, chopped onion op 2 or Bo forgetting that, when feathering up, they require the food little and often, as tie as oy will eat at a feed, and no more. Guinea fowls are very useful where there use SY : z mies to poultry, such as hawks, crows, snakes, rats, etc, for they are on o > on i detect danger, and give the alarm so quickly, and in such shrill and oft-repea { hat the enemies generally leave. : >= | i I'am olad to see that the Guinea fowl is receiving so much attention at the hands of oO y , its , —merits which are breeders and farmers generally, for they have merits of no mean order—m gg ust beginning to be fully appreciated. I have a choice stock, and am prepared to furnish Ju 5 > fine specimens of this useful fowl. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. Josh Billings on Hens. THE best time tew sett a hen iz when the hen iz ready. I kant tell you what the best breed iz, but the Shanghigh is the meanest. It kosts more tew board one than it duz a stage-hoss, and you might az well undertake tew fat a fanning mill, runnin oats thru it. There aint no profit in keep- ing a hen for his eggs, if he laze less than one a day. Hens are long lived, if they dont kontract a throat disease; there iz a grate menny goze to pot every year by this mellonkolly disease. I kant tell eggzactly how to pick out a good hen, but az a general thing the long eared o es I kno are the least apt to scratch up the garden. Eggs packed in equal parts of salt and lime water, with the other end down, will keep from 30 to 40 years if they are not disturbed. Fresh beefsteak iz good for hens; I suppose 4 or 5 pounds a day would be awl a hen would need, at first along. I shall be happee to advize with you any time on the hen question and take pay for my advize in eggs. Scratching Hens. SCRATCHING hens are often a great nuisance, and as their owner stands viewing the spot where they last “carried on,” his exclamation often is, “They have destroyed more than their necks are worth.” And yet this vigorous use of the drum- stick can be put to good purpose. Allow a large flock of hens and chickens to run in a corn-field, where, by their diligent search for worms, they keep the soil loose and fine, thereby giving us a fine crop of grain. So instead of sewing up the fowls’ feet in leather stockings, or buying the “patent anti-hen-scratcher,” or confining the fowls in close quarters, where you must feed them with green food daily, take your movable poultry-house to the corn-field or the orchard, and keep it and the hens there, and let them scratch. Their presence will prove especially beneficial to the young and growing fruit of the apple, plum, apricot, and nectarine trees, destroying all worms and curculios coming within reach of their vigorous investiga- tions. A hen-house on wheels or runners will be found very convenient, as it can be easily moved from place to place, with its occupants, by a horse, as occasion may require. BUTTERMILK is very much relished by poultry in summer. It is very nourishing, and is consid- ered a good egg-producer. I have used it for years, and am confident it is a good and nourish- ing drink. The Consumption of Eggs and Poultry. VERY few persons not acquainted with the poultry and egg business could realize the vast amount of capital that is devoted to this impor- tant industry. It is statistically reported that the city of New York uses over $4.000.000 worth of eggs each year, the average receipt of eggs in the city being about 1,000 barrels per day, the value of which will approximate in a year $8,760- 000. Two poultry merchants in Burlington County, New Jersey, shipped to New York in six months about 117 tons of poultry, worth about $95,000. Cincinnati alone is supposed to export annually about 25,000,000 of eggs. England is said to have a constant investment of over $30,- 000,000, and yet she is the largest importer of eggs and poultry. Ireland alone sends her annually over 70,000.000 eggs. France and Belgium have sent herin bne year nearly 530,000,000 eggs, worth $5,000,000. The production of eggs in France is estimated at $48,000,000 a year, and the total value of eggs, hens, capons and young chickens marketed yearly is $80,000,000; and the amount invested in poultry will approximate in round figures $75,000,000. The result is certainly aston- ishing, but the figures are true. They show that this business yields to the French poultrymen about one-third as much in value every year as the average wheat crop of all the States of the American Union, and nearly twice as much as the gold mines of California produced in their best days. ——— — Eggs for Burns, Cuts and Bruises. THE white of an egg has proved of late to be the most efficacious remedy for burns. Seven or eight successive applications of this substance will soothe the pain and effectually exclude the burn from the air. This simple remedy seems prefera- ble to collodian, or even cotton. Extraordinary stories are told of the healing properties of a new oil, which is easily made from the yolks of hens’ eggs. The eggs are first boiled hard, and the yolks are then removed, crushed, and placed over a fire where they are carefully stirred until the whole substance is just on the point of catching fire, when the oil separates and may be poured off. One yolk will yield nearly two teaspoonfuls of oil. It is in general use among the colonists of South Russia, as a means of curing cuts, bruises, and scratches. FREQUENT changes of food for fowls are indis- pensable to success. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST 4 > fr f a prize pair, and is one of the most per- IS engraving was made from a photograph of a p Id 1s one of [ fect ba of this breed ever made. Roum Packs are y ery sly as, Aue . : 4 “ ~ » y . ey wil a) being hardy and thrifty from the very she , and e grow h they : ’ Be Shs i of their existence is surprising. 1 he Bonen ate nepatialy 2 pub : : e -hole to muss in than for the clearest stream. dle duck, caring more for a regular mud Th sburv drake frequentl . : MN 8 5 pre-eminently among ducks. The Aylesbury drake q y weight, the Rouen stands pre-eminen | e MoT i : 9 » Avlesk duck seldom, if ever; while 1t 1s qu attains equal size, but the Aylesbury y 1 ; vers the drake, and occasionally more. As layers, they the Rouen duck to weigh as much as the ! thor Tir Slamane ior. One i i t this variety of ducks, knows not whether their p g are superior. One in looking a ty o 3, RI | Tet of the drates : ive st exc tion. The rich and showy dress o ’ or their massive form most excites the admira Sori lark Taath i » T severed at the back by a few dark Tea his dark green head, clearly defined white ring, severed : eke : j Te sides te ted behind by solid black, con > laret breast, fine wavy grey of his sides termina as id i se all, the changeable blue and purple wing-bars edged with the softest Yoh Snow white, all varied and distinct, yet harmonious, present, a str ing contrast to the feathering of his mate, which, though a modest brown with il dar oe sncilings, sharing the brilliant colors of the drake only in the ribbon marks on phi % ain oe less beautiful. I am breeding from a choice stock of this variety of wa fowl. spicuou black and purest POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 47 Care of Ducks. FREQUENTLY water fow's are so badly managed | that they are an actual expense to the owner, instead of bringing him a handsome return for his trouble. It is therefore quite difficult to con- vince the farmer, who is especially prejud ced against ducks, that if he would only give them proper attention he would find that he could not afford to do without them. They have many valuable qualities, such as early maturity, deli- cacy of flesh, and prolificness in large eggs. They have a bad reputation as enormous feeders, but this arises chiefly from the fact that they are fed irregularly. If allowed to forage in low ground, ditches, or streams, and fed when the other fowls are, they will not devour more than other poultry maturing as early. They destroy an immense number of insects, and it almost pays to keep them for this purpose alone. One im- portant point in the management of ducks is to give them comfortable quarters. By giving them their principal meal here in the evening, they will soon learn to know their home and return to it with great punctuality at the close of each day. Their eggs are usually laid at night or in the morning, and if allowed to remain at large during the night, these eggs will either be lost or destroyed. The mst favorable place for building a duck-house is upon a tide water or stream, where they can have access to sea-food, but where this is not practicable, they can still be raised successfully even when the accommoda- tions for swimming are very limited. Until three months old they do not require more water than other poultry. The period of incubation for ducks is about thirty days. The first food to be given to the ducklings is hard-boiled eggs, rice, and bread. Until three months old the young ducks should be fed on scalded meal, fresh ani- mal food, varied with whatever green food is the most convenient. Let an abundant supply of pure water for drinking be accessible at all times. Dogs SuckiNG EGes.—To break dogs from sucking eggs: Break an egg, and after pouring out part of the white, put in seven grains of tar- tar emetic; lay the egg in the yard where the dog will find it; he will be sick for a day or so, but will not be injured. Should one dose fail, repeat it. It is seldom, however, that the second dose is required. AMONG birds the rooster is an early riser, and then comes the crow. Ducks Without Water. Ducks and geese can be raised advantageously upon premises where there is neither pond nor stream for their amusement. The common idea that such a convenience is absolutely necessary to their thrift is erroneous. Our domesticated ducks, like the wild ones, prefer a brook or lakelet to pass their leisure in, and a swampy piece of ground through which a stream of water slug- gishly flows affords a good deal of animal food for them. I have raised large numbers of ducks and have found them to do just as well when given plenty of pure water to drink and allowed an occasional plunge bath, as when they have an abundance of water for swimming in. Ducks can be fed with the other poultry, and the ducklings hatched and reared by hens. Raising Ducks. SAYs a Wisconsin farmer: “ You can easily raise ducks by following these few instructions: As soon as your ducklings are hatched, take some boards and make a triangular fence, at least a foot high. Cover the south corner for shade. Put the brood in this yard and let them stay there until they can get over themselves. They are then strong enough to run at lar.e. Feed them mostly soft feed, such as rye and wheat bran or moistened bread. Give them some green grass, especially clover or pea leaves, ete. I have in this way raised many broods of ducks without losing a single one.” Cheap and Certain Rat Poison. TAKE old corks, cut them up, fry them for a little while in grease; if you have fowls put the pieces of cork under the floors of your barns and outhouses, or in places your fowls do not frequent. Mr. Rat will take charge of the corks and the corks will finish Mr. Rat. Shade for Poultry. IT is not always convenient for those who keep fancy poultry to yard their fowls where there is sufficient shade. It is then necessary to plant something that will afford shade, and that some- thing should be of quick growth, so that your fowls do not need to wait long for the nice cool shade. For this coast I know of nothing more desirable and that will grow faster than the pep- per tree and blue gum tree. Plant a few in your vards. The shade will not hurt your fowls neither will the berry. They will also be a great help in keeping away lice. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST tN \ N \ Mises AYLESBURY DUCKS. THis is a snow-white breed of ducks, ornamental, and very useful. Their pure snowy plumage appears to advantage either upon the water or contrasted with the green of a They should find a place at every homestead where there is a pond or a stream. They are from England, where they have long been bred for their size and superior table They are splendid foragers—ranging in fields and on streams quite a distance from home—devouring insects and grasshoppers, returning every evening. Are also excel- lawn. qualities. lent and reliable for market and all practical purposes. I have a very choice stock of this variety. PROFIT IN DUCKS. I must call the attention of farmers to the profit in ducks, when properly cared for, and when there are facilities at hand for breeding them properly. Many a farmer has real- ized far more from breeding ducks than he would obtain from his chickens, for they are hardy and lay remarkably well during some parts of the season. As soon as they com- mence to lay, the eggs should be carefully gathered and put away, till a hen (not a duck) wants to sit, then set her with duck eggs, and let her hatch and care for the brood till they are able to care for themselves. A hen will care for a brood of ducklings far better, ordinarily, than will an old duck. If the ducks think they have laid enough eggs, and show unmistakable signs of wanting to sit, put them into a convenient coop; put one of your most vigorous young drakes with them, and they will soon be willing to give you eggs again, which should be set under hens as fast as convenient, so as to bring out as many at a time as possible, thereby lessening the cost of attending to them. A shallow tub, kept well filled with water, will afford plenty of bathing room for the ducklings until they are two or three months old or perhaps longer. Keep very young ducks away from water for swimming ; they are apt to stay in too long and become chilled, then die. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK, ; 49 Farm Poultry. CONNECTED with every farm establishment there should be a poultry-yard. Without it the farm would be incomplete. I see no reason why poultry should not be considered as a species of agricultural stock, and turned to as good account as cattle or hogs. In fact, every householder, whether farmer, mechanic, or professional man, would find it to his advantage to keep a few hens —enough, at least, to supply the table with an abundance of eggs. A dozen choice hens, with careful management, would supply an ordi- nary family with all the eggs they wanted and a fowl now and then for the table. The cost of food for this small number of hens would amount to little; the care and attention given to them would be amply repaid by the pleasure afforded in studying their habits and watching their cun- ning ways; and the profits realized from the food obtained would amount, in a year, to a very considerable sum. During this period the dozen heus would lay at least a hundred dozen of eggs and raise chickens enough to supply the family with a weekly dinner. From this data calcula- tions can easily be made of the profits gained by keeping poultry. Poultry-keeping for Women. POULTRY-KEEPING is an occupation especially suited to women, because it involves patience and constant attention to details, rather than strength. Then, again, the hardest thing for many men to learn in handling either poultry or bees is gentlen>ss. How many times we have seen boys, and men with no more sense than boys, jerk hens roughly from their nests, enter the ‘poultry-house abruptly and frighten the occu- pants till they rush in a fluttering mass into the farthest corner, and keep the poultry community in constant agitation and distress. But all domestic animals appreciate the gentle manners of women when they are fortunate enough to be cared for by them. Killing Poultry. THE French kill their poultry by opening the beak of the fowl, and with a sharp-pointed, nar- row-bladed knife, make an incision at the back of the roof of the mouth, which divides the verte- bree and causes instant death, after which the fowls are hung up by their legs. They will bleed perfectly, with no disfigurement; picked while warm, and if desired scalded. In this way the skin presents a more natural appearance than when scalded. Table Merits. THERE is far more difference in the merits and qualities of the different breeds of fowls at differ- ent ages than one would suppose. While farmers who raise chicks for market care little about this point, as long as they have a chick now and thea, buyers are apt to think differently. There are many city purchasers who are adepts at picking out good, sweet, and juicy birds, while others, not being judges, generally select the opposite kind as their share. The larger breeds of fowls, such as the Brahmas and Cochins, make very fine eating when nearly full grown, and then are hard to beat, if they have been fed properly. If half-grown, immature birds are desired for the table, then such breeds as the Leghorns, Games, and others of like build. The reason for this is obvious. The Brahmas are much longer in maturing, while the Games and all the small or medium-sized breeds are sooner developed. They feather up quickly and acquire the much desired roundness and plumpness sooner and easier than do any of the larger breeds. This is especially so with pullets, though the same rule applies to cockerels, which latter we all know require maturity (not necessarily age) to make them really fine eating. Curious Egg Puzzle. To put an egg in a phial, soak it in very strong vinegar until the shell becomes soft; when quite soft it may be extended lengthwise without break- ing it, and so put carefully through the neck of a small bottle, when, by pouring cold water upon it, it will resume its former shape and hardness. Though one of the simplest of tricks, this is really a curiosity, as to those who are not in the secret, the question, “ How did the egg get into the phial ?” is a complete puzzler. Combs. THERE are several varieties of combs. A rose- comb is a double one, full of points, like that of the Hamburg. A pea-comb is as it were made up of three single combs pressed into one, that in the center being the highest, and having on each side the impression or projecting outline of the comb united to it by pressure. The cup-comb is upright and single in front; it then divides; each side bows out in the center and unites at the back, forming a cup. This comb is serrated all around. NILES’ PACIFIC IMPERIAL PEKIN DUCKS, ALTHOUGH of recent introduction into this country, they have become remarkably popular in a very few years. They are a valuable acquisition and have already gained the supremacy over the other v rieties. They are in large demand, which proves their real They have been bred with great care by the Chinese for centuries, and brought to Their snowy white plumage, with orange legs and yellow bills, make them appear exceedingly handsome. They are very hardy and easy to raise In laying qualities the Pekin ducks are without a rival. Their eggs hatch well; ducklings raise easily, mature rapidly—being larger at six weeks old thin any other breed. They are highly estimated for their flesh as a table-fowl. Are excellent foragers, and need no more water to swim in than chickens. Cannot fly, and are so easily restrained that they can be kept within low fences almost anywhere. They have a full growth of feathers, nearly equal to a goose, and can be picked the same as geese. The combination of good qualities possessed by the Imperial Pekin Ducks render them especially desirable for farm- ers and ranchmen on this coast. merit. a state of great perfection. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 51 Preserving Eggs. ON the Pacific Coast, April, May, and June are the months in which to put away eggs for keep- ing. During these months eggs are very cheap, and, as the principal object in preserving eggs is to obtain the advantage of an advanced price, they must evidently be put up when they are cheap. In October they will be worth in the neighborhood of fifty cents per dozen. Hence, if eggs can be preserved in good condition for about six months, a very handsome profit may be real- ized. We are surprised that more interest is not manifested in this branch of poultry business. It is undoubtedly a most profitable investment, if carried on to a sufficient extent. In fact, we can think of no ordinary use to which a small sum could be put with more satisfactory results— providing the process was a success. Those who have been successful in this direction will do well to try it on a larger scale. Eighteen dollars will buy one hundred dozen of eggs. In five or six months they will, judging from past experience, be worth, say, $40.00—being a gain on the money invested of over one hundred per cent. above the principal, of which a large amount is clear profit! We are not exaggerating in the least, as many might suppose; we are only writing what our own experience and the experience of others has sug- gested to us.— Poultry News. Egg-Preserving Recipes. I HAVE collected the following recipes from various sources, and give them without express- ing any preference, as all have certain qualities which commend them for use. My advice, how- ever, is to experiment in a small way at first and let your experience guide you in the future. Pickling Eggs. IF packed, large end down, in layers, so as uot to touch each other, in a cool, dry cellar, in salt, eggs will keep fresh for six or eight months, and cannot be told from new laid eggs. Another method is to four gallons of boiling water add half a peck of new lime, stirring well for awhile; when cold run through a coarse sieve to remove the hard lumps; add ten ounces of salt and three ounces of cream of tartar, and mix the whole thoroughly. The mixture should stand two weeks before using. The eggs should be packed as closely as possible, and be kept closely covered before pickling. This will preserve them from one to two years. | in pickle. Every egg should be perfectly fresh | keep in a cool place. The borax will crystallize | French Method. THE following method of preserving eggs is recommended by the French: In eight ounces of warm olive oil dissolve four ounces of beeswax; with this mixture anoint the egg all around, using the tips of the fingers or a rag. The oil will be absorbed by the shell and the pores filled up by the wax, and if kept in a cool place after two years the eggs will be as good as if fresh. An English Patented Method. Put into a tub one bushel (Winchester meas- ure) of quick lime (which is fresh slacked lime); salt thirty-two ounces; cream of tartar eight ounces. Use as much water as will give that consistency to the composition that will cause an egg to swim with its top just above the liquid. Then put and keep the eggs therein, which will preserve them perfegtly sound at least two years. Gum Shellac—Dr. Cooper's Method. D1ssoLVE some gum shellac in a sufficient quan- tity of alcohol to make a thin varnish; give each egg a coat, and after they have become thoroughly dry, pack them in bran or sawdust, with their points downward in such a manner that they can- not shift about. After you have kept them as long as you desire, wash the varnish carefully off, and they will be in the same state as they were before packing—ready for eating or hatching. Salt. TAKE a keg or pail, cover the bottom with half an inch of salt, and set your eggs close together on the small end; sprinkle them over with salt so as to cover them entirely, and put down another layer and cover with salt, till your keg is full. Cover it tight, and put it where they will not freeze, and they will keep fresh and good a year or longer. The eggs must be new and fresh when put down. Borax. MAKE a solution of borax and water, a heaping teaspoonful of pulverized borax to a pint of boil- ing water; let stand until the solution becomes warm, but not allow it to get so cool that the borax will crystallize. Dip the eggs quickly; then around the egg, and therefore keeps out the air | and preserves the egg. 52 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST TOULOUSE GEESE. THEY are highly esteemed for their fine feathers, hardiness and quietness; are extremely large. The geese lay thirty to forty eggs each in a season, and seldom offer to sit. I find them good to hatch, easy to raise, and much stronger when young than common gos- lings. They grow rapidly. They yield half a pound of feathers at a “picking,” and will stand the severest weather and climate without shelter. Are small feeders for their size and require no food, but pasture. In color, geese and ganders are exactly alike, a uniform handsome gray. They are gentle in disposition and can be fenced easier than sheep; breed at one year old, and in all respects are very profitable. Would pay especially well in sections where grain and grass are cheap. There are hundreds of waste places in our Pacific Coast country upon which, at a trifling expense, large numbers of these geese could be raised. For all purposes, the Toulouse should be rated high. The sexes can be distinguished by the form and voice—ganders are taller, more upright, with larger necks, and gabble in higher, finer and more rapid tones than the goose, the voice of which is a low, deep base, and slow. EMDEN, OR BREMEN GEESE. THis variety of geese have a snowy-white plumage, with flesh-colored bills, orange legs, and bright blue eyes. These birds attain heavy weights, and are highly valued on account of the superior quality and color of the down. The quiet, domestic character of the Emden geese causes them to lay on flesh rapidly. They are noted for the delicacy of their meat. They seldom stray from their homes and spend much of their time in a state of repose. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 53 Managing Geese. KEEP breeding geese thin in flesh, with range to grass. Feed little or nothing when spring comes and they will lay, and their eggs hatch better Only water for drink is required. Young geese breed as well as old, with free range and light feed. Feed young goslings scaled meal, slightly salted, with fresh, tender grass or lettuce. It is better to raise them with a hen. In warm weather Toulouse can be raised without a mother, and, at four weeks old, like old geese, may be turned into a field without further housing or shelter. Coarse feed, bran, meal, middlings, etc., can now be fed, with corn, apple-parings, cabbage, and boiled turnips and roots. Boiled corn and potatoes will fatten. Once started, a gosling is the easiest of all young birds to raise, and geese are never un- healthy. The goose is as much a grazing animal as a sheep or cow. Green stuff being its natural diet, the transition to grain exclusively is more violent than in the case of hens, which, in a state of nature. do not feed principally upon herbs, but upon insects, seeds, and a little of everything. Of course geese will not starve even if allowed noth- ing but grain, but the greediness with which they will devour such fresh food as apple-parings, etc., shows the urgency of their need for it. A few bushels of seedling apples, that will keep well, should be laid aside in the cellar for the geese. It is worth all the trouble just to see the evident enjoyment with which they eat them, to say nothing of the promotion of their thrift. a——— —— Hawks and Owls. NorHING is more vexatious to poultry-raisers than to have the best chickens appropriated by these aerial pirates. Trapping is more successful than shooting. A good way is to tie feathers on the plate of a steel trap, so as to resemble a chicken; place it on the ground among the coops, or where the hawk is in the habit of coming. He thinks it a chicken, and strikes it with his claws, and the trap returns the compliment with its jaws. Which is the Best Breed for Me to Keep? THIS is a question asked by most every one who cont mplates making a purchase of either fowls or eggs. It is a question easier answered by the inquirer than by any one else. No one should undertake to keep a variety of fowls that they could not appreciate, fancy, and take pride in, or a breed that would not be suited to their surroundings. Any breed will thrive well and do well, when the surroundings are such as are best suited to them, and they are properly cared for. Therefore a person thinking of keep- ing fowls should be very careful in his selection, and know beforehand whether his accommoda- tions are best suited to the large or small breeds, and make his selections accordingly. This work gives a pretty thorough description of the breeds, and from those descriptions a person can easily determine which is the best suited to him. What- ever breed you may select, make it a point to give them due care and attention and you will not be disappointed in them. The Value of Poultry Manure. DR. VOELKER has recently analyzed some sam- ples of chicken manure, and tabulates the results in Another way is to fasten the trap (without feath- ers) to the end of a pole, fifteen or twenty feet long; raise and set it in a field adjoining the build- ing or poultry-yard. Hawks very naturally alight on the pole with its trap, and stop longer than they intended. Over a score of hawks and owls have been caught in a single season by a trap thus arranged. a communication to the Royal Agricultural Soci- ety of England. We quote a couple of paragraphs from the remarks appended to the analysis: — “Chicken dung, although greatly inferior to Peruvian guano, is a much more concentrated fertilizer than the best description of ordinary farm-yard manure, which seldom yields more than % per cent of ammonia, whereas the sample of fresh chicken manure analyzed by me contained an amount of nitrogenos organic matter and salts of ammonia capable of yielding, on the final de- composition, 2 per cent of ammonia. “ With regard to the application of chicken manure, I would observe that the least expensive and probably best way of using it is to mix it with dry earth, burnt clay, weed ashes, and such like matters into a compost. Mixed with about twice its weight of dry earthy matters of this kind, it will soon be reduced into a fairly dry and powdery state, in which it may be readily spread broadcast on the land, or be sown by the manure drill, and be found a useful general manure for every kind of garden produce.” IT costs no more to keep good fowls than to keep poor ones. 54 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST eave, am a —— = WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS. THIS fine variety of turkeys is but little known. Their plumage is a beautiful snowy white, forming a very pleasing contrast with their bright red heads and the glossy black beards of the gobblers. They are much larger and hardier than the common white tur- key. They mate early, are good layers and excellent mothers. We can recommend them to those wishing to improve their common white turkeys. A White Holland gobbler will be worth to all such more than his actual cost. TURKEY FEATHERS. THOSE of us who were in the country in our early days remember with what anxiety the careful housewife saved the turkey wings for dusters. They hung under the mantel, and were supposed to be very useful. Perhaps they were. But it seems there is a market for all kinds of turkey feathers, and we can do no better than to quote the suggestions of one who says that now that the season of turkeys is approaching, we would advise our readers to take care of the feathrs: “ Herstofore very little use has been made of turkey feathers, there being no market for them. Occasionally a wing would be saved to make a fan, and that was about all. But now quite a demand has sprung up for them for making brushes and dusters, and when the feathers are properly taken care of a good price may be obtained for them. In saving them care must be taken not to pack them in bags like goose feathers, but the body, wing and tail feathers should be kept separate, and each kinl packed in a box by itself. For tail and wing feathers the boxes should be a little wider than the feather is long, and the feathers laid in the boxes straight, care being taken that the sides and ends of the feathers do not curl up, as that spoils the feath- ers for making dusters, and thereby injures the sale of them. In selecting the wing feathers, leave out the second joint, or that commonly used as a fan, as the feathers of that part of the wing are useless for making dusters. Body feathers should be kept as straight as possible, and also packed in boxes.” The feather buyers will pay good prices for all turkey feathers saved according to the above instructions. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. b5 Breeding and Rearing Turkeys. IT is just as easy to raise fine, large and healthy turkeys, if the proper course be pursued, as it is to worry over a lot of puny birds all the season, and then have them only attain about half the size they should. The best place to raise turkeys successfully and profitable is on a grain or grass farm, where they can have a good range. Turkeys kept housed will not do well. They cannot bear confinement. Itisnatural for them to roam about, even while young, in search of bugs and flies. I consider a turkey hen the best mother for young turkeys. It is much easier to raise turkeys here, in Cali- fornia, if hatched after the rains are over, than in the East. For breeding stock, select a large, well formed and early hatched young gobbler, and, when you can, have your hens two years old at least. They will lay better, sit steadier, and prove far better mothers, while the young are invariably hardier than those from last year’s hatch, if good strong stock is selected. Turkey raising in California is very easy and especially profitable where bronze gobblers are used. A young bronze gobbler running with a dozen com- mon hens will add an average of five pounds to the weight of each chick hatched the first year, while the young turkeys will be stronger and more easily raised, besides bringing a greater re- muneration to their owner when marketed. In some portions of this State flocks of from 1.000 to 5,000 are raised by one owner. The young require nothing but warmth for the first forty-eight hours. Turkeys hatch in twenty- seven or twenty-eight days. If young trukeys are fed at all, they should be fed with soft food, not wet food, and often. For the last feed, given early in the evenin:, I prefer broken wheat. They are very fond of curd, or cottage cheese; it is good for them. I know some parties who consider that their success in raising young tur- | keys is due to a free use of the above. For drink, sweet milk is preferable to water. Do not let it sour in their drinking vessels. Corn meal, mixed with the liquid in which meat has been boiled, is a good food. Onions chopped fine are very desirable for poultry, especially for young turkeys. One of the greatest enemies of chicks is the large or head louse. To prevent and remove this pest, anoint the head of each young turkey with lard or butter. Some use coal oil, but that is too heroic treatment. Dust your | turkey hen well with insect powder when you set her, and repeat a few days before time for hatch- ing. Follow a similar course with chickens. Fattening Turkeys. Most varieties of poulty fatten better and far quicker by being kept in confinement. This, how- ever, is not the case with turkeys for they will generally fall away in flesh when confined. Our practice has always been to feed them liberally and let them have their liberty till we want to kill them for market. By doing this we have in- variably found heavy weights amongst our flocks, and have never had any cause to complain of want of profit from turkeys. Plucking Turkeys. TURKEYS to present a good appearance and command a good price as dressed poultry, must be carefully handled, both before slaughtering and while the feathers are being plucked. Much, otherwise good poultry, is badly injured and made almost unsalable by reckless handling. Do not let boys who take care of the birds drive them about with a stick, or by shying stones at them. After the turkeys are killed, hold them very carefully, not squeezing the carcass between the knees, while you pluck them. A turkey which has been carelessly injured either before or after killing will not prove profit- able when marketed, and the signs of ill-treat- ment shown by dents and discolored spots in the naturally fat body, will depreciate its value two or three cents per pound —enough to take away all the profit. : Ensilage of Eggs. For some years, there has been the practice in Germany of cutting fodder-corn into small pieces in summer, and, by burying them, the earth pre- serves their freshness until wanted in winter for cow feed. This is called preserving by “ensil- age.” By an accident a Frenchman covered up some eggs with fresh earth, and an equal accident discovered the eggs again. These eggs were covy- ered up from September to spring, and pronounced as fresh as if just laid, and fit for either eating or setting. The above experiment can be easily and cheaply tried, and will doubtless be well worth the trouble. Suppose some of our readers try this simple plan, and report what success. BE careful not to frighten your fowls. A scare operates at once to diminish laying. The Leg- horns and Sp nish especially need careful man- agement. The keeper should enter the room or pen where they are slowly, and always should be gentle when near them. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST a A CP 7 2 EE es oo eee rr —— MAMMOTH BRONZE TURKEYS. THE Bronze has become the leading variety of turkeys with those who raise for market, on account of their large size and hardiness. They also challenge the admiration of all by their attractive plumage of rich and changeable colors. The cock turkey in full feather is really brilliant in appearance, and the females are only a little less so. All of the experience of our best breeders has been brought to bear upon the Bronze Turkey, which has resulted in their high state of perfection; for this reason any one purchasing thoroughbred Bronze Turkeys may feel confident that certain fixed characteristic qualities will be produced in their offspring. Their weight is greater far than the common stock. and one season’s breeding will more than pay for the increased cost originally, Adult turkeys will average from 30 to 40 pounds; hens, from 12 to 20 pounds; young gobblers at 10 months, from 18 to 25 pounds; young hens, from 10 to 15 pounds. I give these as fair average weights, although they are frequently exceeded, adult pairs of from 45 to 60 pounds being not uncommon. The Bronze are good layers and very hardy, but the hens, if full grown, are too heavy for mothers. The gobbler, for breeding purposes, should not weigh over 35 pounds. Customers purchasing from me may depend upon receiving first-class specimens of this variety. Turkeys lose from two to five pounds each if changed or shipped, but usually regain it in a few days if well kept. A Bronze gobbler running with ordinary hen turkeys will make a difference, in a brood of twelve young turkeys of five pounds each, that is 60, pounds, worth, at 25 cents per pound, $15, besides a much greater percentage of young reaching maturity, owing to the extreme hardiness of this breed. POULTRY AND Children as Poultry Breeders. WHY not give those children who have a taste for pets an opportunity to try their hands at poul- try breeding ? By so doing you not only gratify a natural desire, but you foster a love for the beau- tiful and cultivate a desire for practical business. And by all means get for them if possible thor- oughbred fowls. The additional outlay at first of a few dollars will be more than made up by the increased interest and pleasure taken in them by the children. They will learn to realize that they have something they can call their own, not found everywhere, like the common barn-yard fowl. The Poultry World thus urges the matter very forcibly: “It is one of the most promising indications of character when a boy shows a dis- position to earn something. This desire to hold something in fee-simple is the very opposite of trampism. Among boys the enjoyment of own- ing, buying and selling, is very keen, and is often gratified in the getting of knives, old watches and trinkets, and making exchanges with each other. Who does not remember the wonderful dicker and trade of his boyhood? It was only the begin- ning of a development, or rather a self-education. This matter should not be permitted to go with- out guidance. Parents and guardians should take an interest in it, not exercising a meddling inter- ference, but inspiring confidence, so as to be able to co-operate, plan, and watch the results. Now comes a scheme that is just right. How can we teach a boy business habits better than by giving him an opportunity to ‘run’ a hennery. The accounts must be accurately kept; there must be bantering ; there ought to be profit! A min- iature business springs up, and inasmuch as it is real, why is it not as good as a business college ? It may be better; for it may prevent spending time in the street or away from home, perhaps among questionable companions. A love of home is fostered by the ownership of flowers, small fruits and poultry. A fondness for the finest things produced in our climate—to cultivate them, if belonging to the vegetable kingdom ; to breed, foster and pet them, if belonging to the animal—is not only a source of keen enjoyment, but indicates good traits and a certain elevation of character above that which is brutish. Young people should be deftly guided step by step through pleasant paths, with here and there a little job of earnest work, made easy by social frolic and recreation, which come after in their proper place. With a little encouragement, boys may become quite familiar with the points of ex- | STOCK BOOK. 57 cellence in high-class poultry, pigeons and other pets, and learn the best methods of breeding and management. They may learn when and where to purchase supplies to the best advantage, and how to save the surplus products so as to give the most profit with the least expense. A pleas- ant self-reliance and good business habits may be growing, and at the same time a love for nature, for refinement, and humanity.” The Importance of Poultry as a Food Supply. COMPARATIVELY few, probably, of our readers have an adequate conception of the magnitude of the poultry interest in this country, or the amount of capital invested in the business outside of the millions of dollars represented by the stock scat- tered all over the country, from Maine to Oregon, in farmers’ barn-yards, in town lots, and in city alleys. Poultry-keeping has yielded perceptibly to those influences which are at work in all legitimate in- dustries in the country, and from a desultory, insignificant trade, has become one of the great productive industries of the day, no longer rele- gated to women and children, but prosecuted sys- tematically by men who invest all their time and money in it. Poultry-keeping is eminently a domestic industry, and capable of indefinite ex- tension, requiring, as it does, only small capital and limited space, and, as a rule, the small poultry-keepers do better, relatively, than the large ones, as they give closer attention to the health and comfort of their stock. We hear a great deal said about the vast and rapidly increasing shipments of beef and mutton to England, and little about the export of dressed poultry and eggs, and yet last year, thousands of dollars’ worth of each were shipped to Great Britain with satisfactory returns. Go on with the poultry-raising. There is no danger of either poultry or eggs for the table go- ing out of fashion ; and when poultry men learn to produce eggs at the season when they com- mand the highest price, as Western butter-mak- ers have already learned to do in the production of butter, raising eggs for market will become a very profitable branch of industry.—-Nutional Live Stock Journal. THE goose sits thirty days; swans forty-two; hens tweuty-one; ducks thirty; pea-hens and turkeys twenty-eight; canaries fourteen; pigeons fourteen; and parrots forty days. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST PEACOCKS, OR PEA FOWLS. There are many people who labor PEA FowwLs are both beautiful and profitable. under the mistaken idea that in order to raise or keep Pea Fowls they must have twenty or thirty acres of land for them to run over, but that is not 80. They are not of a oy roving disposition, except the female, who leaves the yard in the spring for some seclu e spot among the shrubbery, where she lays from four to nine eggs, and commences sitting: All this time the cock is strutting around the yard with his fan spread most of the time, presenting a very beautiful appearance, until the first of J uly, at which time his tail feathers commence dropping. As soon as you notice he is losing his tail, catch him and pull the finest feathers out. It is surprising how many feathers a Peacock’s tail is com- Out of one cock’s tail there were pulled over 200 feathers, worth from five to eight sed of. posed 0 This makes the cocks profitable. dollars. Next year he will have as fine a tail as ever. The female does not appear again until the young are old enough to make a very pee able appearance, and as they will average nearly one-half cocks, it makes the female a 0 profitable. The flesh is very palatable, and has quite a gamy taste, though they are seldom used for food. What adds more to the beauty of a yard or lawn than a pair of fine Pea Fowls? I have a choice stock of these handsome birds. POULTRY AND Pioneer Fanciers. WHEN a few men some thirty years ago turned ‘heir attention to chickens, their friends looked on with disdain. The idea that a man should devote his whole time to poultry-raising was preposterous, But these pioneer “fanciers” were not easil y dis- couraged. They persisted in thinking that chick- ens and other fowls were, as well as animals and fruits, susceptible of improvement. They worked out their ideas, and succeeded. Others became interested. Symptoms of the “hen fever” ap- peared. The disease rapidly spread. When it became no uncommon occurrence for a thorough- bred fowl to change hands with twenty-five dollars, or even twice and thrice that sum for extraordi- nary birds, as an equivalent, the breeding of thoroughbred poultry was no longer spoken of entirely as a “humbug,” and the work prospered ; it commanded general attention. To-day, instead of ugly, scrawny mongrels, we see, about the pro- gressive farmer’s yard, one or more of the pure breeds. The fancier has rendered the farmer great service. We have hens that lay two hun- dred eggs per annum, against the fifty to one hun. dred produced by the common fowl. We have hens that never sit; and hens that spend the larger portion of their lives in sitting. We have breeds of fowls whose cockerels are crowing at an age when others are following the mother. and pullets that lay at four and a half months of age. The farmer or fancier has an unlimited variety from which to select. If he has but little room he may keep the larger and heavier breeds. If he has more abundant space he may choose a smaller and more active breed. If he wishes a fowl for early marketing he has several breeds from which to choose. If he wishes a fowl solely for egg-pro- ducing purposes, he has easily within his reach several valuable breeds, while if he wishes a non- sitter, he is easily satisfied. With turkeys, geese and ducks the improvement has been no less marked. We have thoroughbred turkeys which weigh nearly twice as much as the ordinary turkey. By the use of one of these thoroughbred gobblers, a flock of common turkeys may be made to yield a much larger profit. We have the Pekin, Aylesbury and Rouen duck, the Toulouse and Emden goose. Not only is every producer more or less interested in poultry, but physicians, lawyers, ministers, merchants and bus- iness men generally, can spend spare hours both pleasantly and profitably in the cultivation of thoroughbred fowls. It is not only a recreation 5 [a STOCK BOOK. 59 to them, but it affords an opportunity for the profitable exercise of that highest attribute of humanity—intelligence. Think of the large num- bers of professional gentlemen in this country who spend a portion of their time with pure bred poultry, experimenting, inventing, and improving, And observe the results. Yet this is all for the general benefit. Thoroughbred poultry breeding is not a “craze,” as some have been pleased to style it. It is a sober. intelligent and absorbing occupation. Eggs as Food. Eaas, at the average prices, are among the cheapest and most nutritious articles of diet, Like milk, an egg is a complete food in itself, con- taining everything necessary for the development of a perfect animal. It seems a mystery how bones, muscles, feathers, and everything that a chicken requires for its perfect development are made from the yolk and white of an egg; but such is the fact and it shows how complete a food an egg is. It is also easily digested, if not damaged in cooking. Indeed, there is no more concentrated and nourishing food than eggs. The albumen, oil, and saline matter are, as in milk, in the right proportion for sustaining animal life. Two or three boiled eggs, with the addition of a slice or two of toast, will make a breakfast sufficient for a man, and good enough for a king. According to Dr. Edward Smith, in his trea- tise on “Food,” an egg weighing an ounce and’ three-quarters contains 120 grains of carbon and 17% grains of nitrogen, or 15.25 per cent. of carbon, and two per cent. of nitrogen. The value of one pound of egg, as food for sustaining the active forces of the body, is to the value of one pound! of lean beef as 1,584 to 900. As a flesh producer,. one pound of egg is about equal to one pound. of beef. A hen may be calculated to consume one bushel of corn yearly, and to lay ten dozen, or fifteen pounds of eggs. This is equivalent to saying that three and one-tenth pounds of corn will produce, when fed to a hen, five-sixths of a pound of eggs; but five-sixths of a pound of pork requires about five pounds of corn for its production. Taking into account the nutriment in each and the com- parative prices of the two on an average, the pork is about three times as costly a food as eggs, while it is certainly less healthful. —.Jowrnal of Chem- stry. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST £8: quest - pt = A - I ek 2 r, OSTRICHES. : ‘ ‘ i st T strich is a native of the sandy deserts of Africa and Andi, ma Ia iho Jorge f all ks ROW. existing, being from six to git fest i} hog, 2 hey Doe dred 0 Hg : le, and weighs ; 8 The adult male bird is larger than Do dems 5 a vii ly covered with a thin down, er part iz, po i 7 PD ble. The head and neck of the young are clothed wi I male, and dark gray in the female feathers. J : dult 1 black in the adu Ih gente] pe as of white feathers. The long plumes or the Y i and young with a slight sp re) with black. On each wing are two plumeless . tail are white, occasionally marked + es are highly valued for ornamental pur- Somaling jie Paes ly vg now a considerable article hs Wing Oe 2nd et ih move the wings are comparatively weak, those whic ivi Bi hilo tag Ig strength, so that an ostrich is not only capable of ang AY carey og ao} i bof striking a formidable blow ‘with its foot. The ostrich foi = iy hii] gest spend it os so great is its strength. The eyes of the ostrich are ag » Ae Is a. ho with lashes, and sight is keen. The oil i poygemos 0 ha e ting to himself, when he can, from owe > ily oie Each lly appropria ) moke their nest in common, scooping a mere hb igchs about three pounds, and is Po i d to lay about ten eggs. An egg weighs a i ot to man female is suppose y The thick and strong shell is put to many t two dozen ordinary hen’s eggs. i ogial fo 9heu, + African tribes, particularly used for water vessels. sntioaliy of whalh uses by the oO h feeds exclusively on vegetable substances, consisting princip y ‘ch smal. gi “It has a very large crop, and a strong gizzard. The ostric joi facts sos i f sand, to aid in the digestion of the birds swal'ow grains of sand, food A is liable to swallow indiscriminately Fhasver ry come in its hy i i llowing very unsui i t prevent it from swa ng ver, i eR bt subsisting for a long time Withous wee, 3 shall probably be in a Soiicn to supply ostrich eggs and young ostriches another season. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. Ostrich Farming in the United States. SOME time since Consul Baker, of Buenos Ayres, Ventured the statement that ostrich farming could be made very profitable in the Southern and Pacific Coast States. Since then Mr. Baker hasreceived a number of letters asking for further information. Instead of answering them sepa- rately he has put them together in a second com- munication on the subject. He says he does not think it would be possible to send ostrich eggs So as to arrive in this country in good condition. The only way, he says, is to procure the birds, which are best shipped when about four years old. The product of each bird is annually about $60.00, though the feathers of some have sold as high as $150. Mr. Baker thinks the birds would each produce $120 worth of feathers annually in the Southern States. Four-year old birds may be expected shortly to breed. A pair of breeders should raise about sixty chicks annually, Ostrich farming is being carried on successfully in Los Angeles County. The climate and condi- tions seem favorable, and there is much land in Arizona, as well as in California, that could be utilized by this industry. Figures on Eggs. THE egg traffic in the United States is large, and the business is increasing. In New York the aggregate transactions amount to the value of $8,000,000. In Cincinnati, Chicago, Boston, and other cities, the trade is proportionally large, and the total sales of eggs in the States are esti- mated at $60,000,000 annually. It is reported that 6,000,000 dozen are imported annually from Canada. Upwards of 20,000 car-loads of live and dressed poultry are sent to New York annually, and 25,500,000 dozen of eggs (306,000,000) to the same market. According to what are deemed the best estimates there are produced annually 9,000,000,000 eggs, or 750,000,000 dozen,—a nice little item for the consideration of those who call the egg, chicken, and poultry business a small affair, fit only for women and children to engage in. The egg producersof the United States have learned this fact, that there is more money in the egg business than in raising poultry for the mar- ket. In Minnesota, where fowls ars sold for $1.50 per dozen, eggs are sold for ten cents per dozen; in Kentucky, where fowls sold for fifteen cents apiece, eggs sold at twenty-four cents per dozen, and never below eight cents per dozen.— Mass. Plough- man. Poultry for Profit, THAT money should be made out of poultry requires that money should be first invested, then a liberal and abundant profit can be realized upon such investment with judicious care in breeding, feeding and marketing. It was pretty generally considered in this country that poultry on a large scale was impracticable and a failure, until a gentleman of means near New York City has thoroughly demonstrated that thousands of chickens may be successfully raised. He has 2,000 laying hens, and buys the eggs of as many more, which he hatches by incubators. He has this year hatched out several thousand chicks, for which he finds a ready market at remunera- tive prices, and hence it pays, because he has ap- plied brain work, intelligent study, skill, energy, and extensive cash capital, spending over $75,000 in grounds, houses and experiments, from which he realizes handsomely every year. Most people think poultry is too small a business to put money into, but experience proves that capital in pro- portion to experience may be profitably invested, if legitimately adhered to in the sale of eggs and poultry for market. The improved breeds are the best, and a few of them will rapidly breed up to supersede the common fowls that are used to start with. Keep no more than fifty chickens together, have small poultry houses and separate fenced plats, with grass and shade, and keep these runs well supplied with gravel, lime, pure, fresh water, and a good dust bath. A good variety of food regularly given will then produce plenty of eggs, and make the young chicks grow. Cleanli- ness in the poultry houses must be strictly main- tained, and with experience gained more capi- tal may be profitably invested, adding other col- onies ; and on every farm one or two poultry houses, well stocked, will pay a handsome profit, besides destroying insects in the orchard, and gathering weed, seed, and grain that would other- wise be wasted. Poultry of any of the improved strains may be made to pay handsomely on the farm with a little extra care to provide a variety of food, such as cooked turnips, potatoes, ete., with the variety of grain they get about the farm, the table scraps from the kitchen, and occasional scraps of fresh meat and a little red pepper. If you have not now the improved breeds, get them by all means, and from a reliable breeder. Every farmer should encourage poultry breeding for the money there is in it. NILES’ PACIFIC COAST ARTIFICIAL TNCUBATIOIN. Successful Results with Perfected Apparatus. i i i ifici is at last reduced to such a science, and : tching and rearing chickens artificially is at ( ea ilo Tus rd By that raising She for the market by this Meany is See vi 7 2 xr ma op og "Th advantages of artificial means over the natural are smerans, an people gg nd that : Bugis incubator is far ahead of the natural hen for hatching large n | 8a Wi = = a TE hy en | - \ | | | | a | i HE — D.NAN VLECK- ENG.5.F. TE) r il THE ECLIPSE SELF-REGULATING INCUBATOR. Eclipse Incubator, the result of many years’ experi- WE present herewith an illustration of the Improved Ee Yea ments, and embodying the many peculiar features found to b GENERAL DESCRIPTION. is a uniform circulation of hot water hat fugie’ the bottoms of which consist of wire The heat, radiated from a tank which is so contrived t to the bottom of the eggs a full 3 d in dr it, i lied to the top of the eggs; these are placec ’ me in the ee is a series of ventilating pipes. wien gondng ws cool, damp air. This system of ventilating te eggs k ie 5 BOW, < enell boiler whieh wonetia The water in the tank is heated by a kerosene-ol wi Hi TE a a with the tank, as illustrated in the above cut. By no possibil oF Im) eo ric battery, which is furnished complete The heat is kept at a certain point by the operation of a small doe ee i i i is a very simple one, and can easi the heat wii 8 BR i Sumy, is 2% by the operator, a large valve or ventilator in the machine ope rea P m . loses again. : : : i in order. The regulator is absolutely "the Eclipse Yonhator iv eilively selbreguioing, and eaelly nn on valuable improvements have i ; i degree of heat desired. During the 1 1 eo ah Tt Si i ws A id Judging ftom ihe juny febanes Sevlamonis Ean i . Sis ; ith the old style of mac y 11 . : 08 oes io a in the future than it has been in the past, if that be possible. e Price and Capacity of Eclipse Incubators. : mu rovements have increased the cost of manufacture, we will continue to furnis Francisco ready for shipment, for $100. Capacity 300 eggs. Although new imp ; ipse Incubator desired, will be cheerfully given by inclosing stamp ipse, delivered in San I Re further information regarding the Ecl and addressing us. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 63 Home-Made Incubators. AN incubator can be made with three boxes each six inches deep. The first, or bottom box, has no top, and the floor of the box is perforated with ten or twelve half-inch holes, into which are inserted tin tubes to admit air. This is called the ventilator. The second box, the egg drawer, has neither top nor bottom, but a piece of muslin is tightly drawn over slats running lengthwise on the bottom, upon which the eggs are placed. The third drawer has a zinc bottom, the top and sides being of wood. This is called the heater. At the rear of this box is a tin elbow, bending into it but extending downward outside. The three boxes being placed one above the other—first the ventilator, next egg-drawer, and lastly, the heater —have a box with three divisions, the upper one being heated by a lamp inserted into the tin elbow. The draught from the lamp is caused by two or three tin tubes extending from within half an inch of the zinc upward through the top of the incubator, and at the opposite end to the lamp. The whole is covered with a larger box eight inches larger in every direction—top, bottom, and sides—and filled with sawdust. The heat, smoke and impurities enter the heater, warm the zine, and pass out at the top tubes. The eggs in the egg-drawer underneath are kept at a temperature of 103 degrees, and the fresh air comes in through the tin tubes in the ventilator beneath, passes through the muslin bottom of the egg-drawer, and there remains until it escapes when the drawer is opened.— Independent. Scalding Poultry. For scalding poultry the water should be as near the boiling point as possible, without actu- ally boiling. The advantage of this is, the outer skin becomes cooked or set, and so does not peel off with the feathers and look ragged. The fowl being held by the legs, should be immersed and lifted up and down, into and out of the water three or four times, then, continuing to hold in the same way with one hand, pick off the feathers with the other without a moment's delay after taking out of the water. If skillfully handled, in this way the feathers and pinfeathers may all be removed without breaking the skin. Wher- ever the skin is broken exposure of the flesh to the air injures its appearance, and consequently the sale of the poultry. To KEEP bread from moulding—Give it to the poor woman who keeps boarders and hens. Home-Made Artificial Mothers. PERSONS desirous of making their own Artifi- cial Mothers will find the following plans worthy of trial: — For very young chicks tack strips of flannel two or three inches long to the cover of any box of convenient size (a raisin box for instance), and put in the bottom a piece of cloth or sacking. The chicks can be put in such a mother soon after hatching, and until they are two or three weeks old kept at night in the room with the incubator or some other warm place. Inthe daytime, when they are two or three days old, let them run about in the sun. When they are ten days old, they may be put in a larger brooder made on the same plan. The following description of an Artificial Mother for chicks three weeks old will enable any person to make one without difficulty. Drive two small stakes into the ground, at a distance of from nineteen inches to three feet, according to the number of chicks to be brooded. The stakes should be about twenty-four inches long, and all but ten inches should be driven into the ground. Then nail a light piece of wood, of proper length, to the end of each of the stakes, so as to form the frame-work of the miniature tent. Now stretch a large piece of cloth (a sack or two are good) across the ridge-pole, pinning the ends down on each side—exactly as though you were putting up a tent. The two ends will then be open. If you like, an extra sack may be laid over one end, 80 as to prevent draft, while the other end should be left open. If this “mother” be placed on the spot occupied by the one which was used when the chicks were smaller, they will readily make the change, and, if over three weeks old, will thrive as well if still furnished with artificial heat. This kind of “mother” is inexpensive and prevents all stifling or crushing of the chicks. No more than seventy-five or one hundred chicks should be kept under one brooder. ONE-HALF the care and labor required to earn fifty dollars tilling some crop, will produce that amount for the farmer if bestowed upon his flock of fowls. If you propose to him to persistently neglect his best cow from one end of the year to the other, he will set you down as a person a little off his balance, yet a common-sized flock of fowls, such as is kept at most farm-houses, will yield as much value yearly, if properly treated, as a first-rate cow. NILES’ PACIFIC SCOTCH TERRIER. SCOTCH TERRIERS. ABOVE we give a very correct illustration of the Scotch Terrier dog. It is our expe- rience that an important adjunct in poultry keeping is the right kind of a dog—one that is ever on the alert for intruders and vermin—rats, weasels, skunks, ete., besides being a good guard dog, and so intelligent and teachable that it can be trained for business, and, also, not to disturb, worry, or frighten the poultry. To find a dog, or breed of dogs, com- bining so many good traits, is no easy matter. In our time we have had dogs of many varieties, and some that were of no variety, but for all purposes, including easy keeping, hardiness, pluck, and intelligence, we have found no breed that comes so nearly to our requirements as the Scotch Terrier. They are clothed with a coat of thick, rough, wiry hair, are very active and muscular, and weigh ten to twenty pounds, are very bright, GREYHOUND. “knowing,” sagacious, independent, and ‘“ gamey ” to the last degree. It is their delight to hunt, work after, and destroy rats and gophers, and the males are generally more than a match for the fiercest «“ coon,” relishing nothing better than a tussle with one, where some dogs, four or five times their size would shrink from the fray. Being easily trained, they are especially apt to mind their place and business, in which they are ever vigilant and watchful, and not at all “coaxable” by strangers. Are particularly a “stay at home ” breed, becoming greatly attached to their master and his family. Hh Neither voracious or dainty, Scotch Terriers are extremely hardy, never minding the cold or snow, in consequence of their thick, heavy coats affording so good a protection. With those who keep them, they are regarded as indispensable for guard duty and general usefulness. j Wa I am able to furnish pups, if engaged some weeks or months in advance, of different varieties of thoroughbred dogs at moderate prices. RATS ROOTED OUT, i ; y } dred without in Two years ago my farm was overrun with rats; my boys caught over two hun the least Rome nuisance. 1 concluded I had got to try a new departure; I sent to Canada for At about five months of age she was up to her ears in busi- a small pure-bred Scotch Terrier pup, ness, iis and digging for rats and their nests, to the no small amusement of the younger mem- i amily ather of spring came on, Mr. Rat and the remnants of his family De a a SRE st, and I have not lost a bushel of corn stepped down and out, leaving the buildings and farm in disguy, 4 I ince, and did not even find any traces of them in the corn- ] f ng a couple here to spy a the land in the last year, but as they fell in company with the dogs carried back no report. I now keep two Scotch Terriers and think it is impossible for rats to ne a lodgment on the farm. Last winter there were many apple trees girdled by rabbits. yo of my neighbors lost a hundred each, but my tiees escaped. I credited my escape to fhe fact J the dogs hunted the nests and picked up the young rabbits. Squirrels, particularly groun squishy, are their delight. The farm is pretty well cleared of vermin. As watch dogs they have a few syns 8, but no superiors. 1 respectfully suggest that this is a better and cheaper solution of the rat gs ion than the Missouri Granger's proposition for a United States premium of $10,000 for the largest num- ber of rats killed by any oneman.—@. H. N., in N. Y. Tribune. ¢OULTRY AND Capons. THE practice of making capuns has been prac- ticed from the earliest antiquity, in Greece, India, and China. In England it was so common in Shakespeare's day that he naturally referred to men with aldermanic proportions of stomach as being “with good fat capon lined.” Tens of thousands of capons are sent to the markets in Paris yearly, during the autumn months. Capon- izing is mostly practiced in this country in Penn- sylvania and New Jersey. Its effect upon the fowls is that they grow one-third beyond their otherwise natural size, fatten more easily and rapidly on less food, and their flesh is of finer quality, the price they command in the market being fifty per cent. more than that of ordinary fowls of the same age. As an illustration of their superiority we quote from an exchange of recent date the statement that “a man in New Jersey has just sold a lot of 258 capons, averaging 10 3-5 pounds each, the heaviest pair weighing 28 pounds. The price obtained was 38 cents, mak- ing over $4.00 a head for the fowls.” This is an example worthy of imitation by our readers who raise poultry for the food market. Extra fine fowls always find a ready sale at high prices.. With the improved instruments lately manufact- ured, the operation of caponizing is quickly per- formed, and the art may be acquired by any farmer in a short time. Make more capons. Turn your half-grown cockerels to good account by this means, and so make your poultry-raising pay you thus much the better. I can furnish instruments to those who may wish to try their hand at this paying branch of the poultry busi- ness. Car Load. THE Breeder and Sportsman says a car-load of thoroughbred stock for William Niles arrived at Los Angeles last week. The stock consists of Holstein, Jersey, and Ayrshire cattle, as well as Berkshire hogs and poultry.— Pacific Rural Press. THE hen, if allowed freedom with her brood, will, to a great extent, support her young upon insects, larvae, and worms. These are their natural food, furnishing them with the nutritious ele- ments needed for their growth, while the exercise in obtaining this food gives to the chickens a development of muscle, making them strong and active. In a confined state if we wish the best results, we must provide something to take the place of the natural insect forage. STOCK BOOK. Caponizing, and How It Is Done. Market poulterers in New Jersey and Pennsyl- vania make a large profit in preparing and fatten- ing capons for New York market. The birds thus treated will nearly double their size and are more quiet. Thesame amount of food taken by a rooster, to maintain him simply, will continue to enlarge and fatten his brother capon. The meat is said to be of much finer quality, and the market price is nearly double that of ordinary fowls. The operation itself is quite easily learned, and the following brief description will enable any one of ordinary intelligence to perform it successfully. The instruments required are a pair of crooked concave forceps, a pointed hook, a steel splint, and a pair of tweezers. Before the operation, the fowl should be kept without food or drink for a day and a half, so that the viscera will not press against the ribs and be in danger while making the incis- ion. Pluck off the feathers from a place about the size of a silver dollar in a line between the hip joint and the shoulder, and, drawing the skin back taut and smooth, make an incision between the last two ribs, about an inch and a half long, just cutting through to the cavity of the bowels, but not cn any account catting the intestines. Next attach the hooks of the splint to the ribs on each side of the incision, to keep the slit open, and, push- ing the viscera away with some smooth instru- ment, such as the handle of a teaspoon, you will find the testicles attached to the back. Taking the cord to which the testicles are attached with the tweezers, inclose one testicle in the crooked forceps and twist it off, taking care to avoid rupt- uring! any of the larger blood vessels. Repeat the operation on the other testicle, and then with- draw the instruments, slip the skin back over the cut, and twist the feathers together, matting them with blood, so as to hold the edges of the wound and assist healing. Feed soft food for a day or two, and the fowls will come out all right. Not a large percentage die, even in the hands of a beginner, and they can be eaten, since they die soon, and merely in consequence of bleeding. These birds will often rival the turkey in weight, some pairs having lately been brought to market weighing over twenty-five pounds per pair.— Poultry World. With the improved instruments, as perfected, the art may be easily acquired by any one of ordinary intelligence. Price of instruments given on application by letter. 66 Select the Breeding Stock. MANY poultry keepers make a mistake in not selecting the very best of their flocks for breeding purposes. A great many make no selection at all, but use for stock purposes what may happen to be left after the largest and best have been sent to market. This is poor policy. Good will beget or reproduce good in poultry, as well as the reverse. Most people would not admire the intelligence or prudence of a man who would raise calves from his poorest cows; or colts from poor horse stock; or pigs from mean sows; or lambs from poor ewes. The stock raiser generally selects what he consid- ers the best of his animals for reproducing their kind; this is right and proper; but selection should be no more ignored in the poultry than in the larger animals. Keep an eye to the chickens and select those which come nearest your idea of what a good one should be and keep them over, no mat- ter if they are much the finest, largest, and best, so much the better. Cull out and sell, or eat, the small, long-legged, wild, ill-marked ones and raise a flock next year from your best birds. This will be found quite as profitable as to make selections for breeding calves, or pigs, or colts. Try it! w Origin of the Imperial Egg Food. A FEW years since, Mr. C. R. Allen, of Hart- ford, Conn., who was at that time quite a fancier; made some practical experiments in feeding and treating his fowls. Being an analytical chemist of a large drug house, he conceived the idea of making an analysis of an egg, in doing which he discovered that it was possible to make a prepa- ration containing all the necessary material for its production. The result was the birth of the Imperial Egg Food. Up to that time there was no article of that description sold in the country. Its immediate and unqualified success, and its con- sequent popularity, has induced some unscrupu- lous persons to put forth cheap imitations. Their compounds consist almost invariably of fine oyster shell and cayenne pepper. While the carbonate of lime may furnish material for the shell, it does nothing towards furnishing material for the egg itself, nothing in the way of keeping the fowls in good health, in glossy plumage, with bright, red combs, or in bringing along the chicks rapidly, and warding off all diseases. The Imperial Egg Food is constructed on purely scientific and physiological principles, and will accomplish all claimed for it, as many voluntary testimonials NILES’ PACIFIC COAST Be Gentle with Your Poultry. ONE of the important principles in breeding of improved poultry (and the principle will apply as well to the breeding of stock of any kind), the necessity that each individual should be absolutely without fear of those who care for them. Many clutches of eggs are ruined every year by inattention to this matter. The birds should be used to being handled, and should be taught to come freely to the breeder or the at- tendants at a call. If birds are early taught this lesson, and are never allowed to be frightened, they will have no fear whatever of those about them and will soon come to be as much attached to the attendants asthe house dog. On the other hand, if allowed to be driven and goaded about they never forget it. If properly handled they will not only give uniform satisfaction while sit-- ting and rearing their flocks, but will also thrive better and fatten more easily. Lice Destroyers. IT may be set down as a rule that fowls are not as thrifty as they should be when infested with vermin. To say the least they are out of condi- tion. Prevention in this, as in the case of dis- ease, is better than cure. Lice insome henneries literally overrun the fowls, sometimes even de- terring the owner from entering his chicken- house. This condition of things is always de- plorable, and I think entirely unnecessary. Hill's Medicated Powder, Carbolic Powder, Tobacco, and “ Buhach,” the California Insect Powder, are perhaps the best agents for the destruction of vermin on fowls, or in the nests while sitting. On this coast there are four distinct varieties of louse inflicting our fowls, and it is one of the most prolific causes of disease. In fact, there would be no difficulty in raising chicks during our warm, dry season, if they are kept free from lice. Whether Hill's Medica ted, *“ Buhach” or Carbolic Powder is used, it should be scattered freely in the nests, and the fowls should be dusted with the powder or have it *“ peppered” in among the feathers—an old yeast can with holes punched in the lid will answer—for a lit- tle goes a great ways, requiring but a few ounces for fifty fowls. There is a patent Insuffia- tor made for applying and distributing the “ Buhach ” powder. They are not expensive and are very useful. I will furnish either of the pow- ders and the patent insufflators to any of our received will show. readers who may need them. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 67 Bone Meal. Mz. L. WriGHT, author of the “ Illustrated Book of Poultry,” and “ The Practical Poultry Keeper,” and who is an acknowledged authority on all poultry matters says: ‘‘ Bone meal for feeding poultry should be about the fineness of coarse oatmeal. It should be used liberally in all soft feed, and about an ounce may be mixed with every half pint of feed before adding the water ; or it may be placed before the fowls in a small box in a dry and unmixed state, and on such food the young birds will grow wonderfully, and acquire a constitution which we have never been able to obtain in any other way. We ay say burnt bones pounded have not by any means the same effect, being reduced to mere phosphate of lime and animal charcoal. But raw ground bones have been proved by the very simple test of experiment to hasten the laying in pullets as might be expected from the jelly they contain; and in the case of weakly chickens, to which bone meal is ted for 1ts strengthening power, 1t will, in every case, produce the desired result.” A gentleman who has very successfully kept 1,500 laying hens, in this State, and gathered as high as 1,200 eggs in a single day, says he would not undertake to raise chickens or laying hens if he was unable to obtain bone meal for them. He attributes his success, next to keeping his fowls free from vermin, to the liberal use of bone meal. He says: “ Hens may be well fed with the best of food, but if unable to pick up lime or other matter for forming the shell, they will only lay as often as they get together a suf- ficient quantity, be it every second or third day ; and on certain soils, they will be fortunate if they can find enough to produce an egg a week, but, with a plentiful supply of shell-making material [and nothing equals crushed bones], they may lay an egg three days in succession and rest one, instead of laying one day and resting three.” I find the best way to feed bone meal is to sift the fine from the coarse. Place the coarse in a box where the fowls can have access toit at all times, The fine may be mixed in the soft feed at the rate of two spoonsful to a pint of feed. I am prepared to furnish pure bone meal in any de- sired quantity. Prices given on application by letter. No business in which a person can be engaged, whether for pleasure or profit, or both, presents such varied attractions as does the poultry busi- ness in all its branches. Fancy Farmers. FANCY farmers—men who work for pleasure rather than gain—have been ridiculed unjustly, for they have been to farmers what inventors have been to manufacturers. They have experi- mented for the good of the world, while others have simply worked for their own gain. They tested theories while others raised crops for the market. They have given a dignity and glory to the occupation of farming it never had before. Fancy farmers have changed the wild boar into the Berkshire and Poland China ; the wild bull of Britain into the Shorthorn; the mountain sheep, with its lean body and hair fleece, into the Southdown and Merino ; the mongrel fowl into the Bronze turkey, the Pekin duck, the Brahma and Leghorn hen. They have increased the capa- bilities and usefulness of domestic animals. They introduced irrigation and underdraining, grinding and cooking food for stock. They brought guano from Peru and nitrite of soda from Chili. They introduced and acclimated the plants of foreign origin. They brought out the theory of rotation of crops as a natural means of keeping up and increasing the fertility of the soil. They first ground up gypsum and bones, and treated the latter with acid to make manures of peculiar value. They first analyzed the soils, as a means of determining what was wanted to in- crease their fertility. They introduced the most approved methods of raising and distributing water. They have given us new varieties of fruits and vegetables and flowers. A fancy farmer originated the Early Rose potato; another the Wilton strawberry, and still another the Concord grape. Men like these add immensely to the wealth of the country, Cure for Dogs Killing Chickens. To CURE dogs of killing chickens, take the chicken that has been killed, by the legs, and, after beating the dog with it, pass one leg each side of the dog’s neck and tie the feet together, so that the chicken hangs securely fastened to his neck. After carrying the chicken around for a day or two, the dog will be so thoroughly dis- gusted with chickens in general that he will not be apt to trouble them again. FEED your poultry on raw onions chopped fine, mixed with other food, about once every other day. It is better than a dozen cures for as many different diseases. Ee A ————— YR —————————— eo] 58 Poultry Keeping a Science. IT is time to speak plainly and let it be under- stood that the poultry business is not simply a pastime, but a science which must be learned by study and experience, just as any other science is Jearned. Knowledge and skill are requisite to success here as elsewhere. The public must therefore, get rid of the idea that poultry-keeping requires no knowledge, skill, or experience.. It is time that less enthusiasm and nonsense and more skill and science were seen in the business. When this comes to pass, we shall hear much less com- plaint of loss and trouble from the ordinary hin- drances. There can be no question that much of the trouble complained of is caused by the poul- try-keeper not knowing or not practicing the best management, or even good management. The Irishman makes a savings bank of his pigs but a number of months must elapse before butch- ering times comes and dividends are declared. Raising cattle is still slower work. But a chicken is eatable at three months old, and money paid for corn can be turned to cash again in three days through the medium of the well-filled egg basket. Catching Hawks. WHENEVER you see a hawk fly off with a chicken follow him at sufficient distance to allow him to get well a'ong with his repast before you molest him; but be sure and frighten him away before he has devoured the whole chicken, then set your steel trap where you found the chicken, covering it well with the feathers for bait, and in a few minutes after you are out of sight the unsuspecting pirate will pounce down and take possession of that trap in a way that will allow you to carry it home at your leisure: TAKE your movable poultry-house to the corn- field or the orchard, and keep it and your hens there, and let them scratch it out on that line. Their presence will prove especially beneficial to the young and growing fruit of the apple, plum, apricot, and nectarine trees, destroying all worms and curculios coming within reach of their vigor- ous investigations. A hen-house on wheels or runners will be found very convenient, as it can be easily moved from place to place, with its occupants, by a horse, as occasion may require. Frrry fowls kept well are more profitable than NILES PACIFIC COAST A Good Price. G. W. BRADLEY, of Connecticut, sold at the recent Connecticut Exhibition, a Partridge Co- chin cockerel to J. T. Peckham, of Providence, for the modest sum of $200, cash. Mr. Bradley has more of the same tribe left. It pays to raise the best, and we cite this instance as instructive. It is no uncommon thing in the East for a single fowl to sell at $100. Many people open their eyes in bland astonishment when asked $10 for a single fowl. It would be a high price if received by one who devotes but little attention, time or money to the business. Some of the breeding stock owned by our enterprising importer, Mr. William Niles, has cost several times the price he asks for fowls—the progeny of imported birds. And we believe it to be the true policy for a breeder to procure only the best. For the best is undoubtedly the cheapest. Even the farmer who wishes to procure good stock, or new blood, will gain by paying a little more to one who has the best and is thoroughly reliable.— Horticulturalist. Ir, asks the Poultry and Farm Journal, the value of the poultry products of the United States foots up the enormous sum of six hundred mil- lions of dollars annually, which is probably not estimating it too high, can any thoughtful man regard it as a small or insignificant industry? We are glad to see that farmers, who should, of all classes of producers, be interested in this mat- ter, are waking up to the importance of poultry- breeding as a business.— Breeder and Sportsman. Do not fail, as you value the life and health of your chicks, to see that they are kept clear of vermin. A chick covered with lice presents a sickly appearance, and its death is only a ques- tion of time. Carbolic Powder or Insect Powder will be found to be an excellent remedy. The mother hen should be well covered with it. Put it into the feathers of her fluff, and sprinkle the chicks thoroughly. THE white of a hen’s egg contains 84.8 per cent. of water, 12 of albumen, 2 of fat, sugar and membranes, and 1.2 per cent. of mineral matter. The yolk shows a much greater degree of richness than the white; it contains 51.5 per cent. water, 15 of caseine and albumen, 30 of oil and fat, 2.1 coloring matter and extractions, and 1.4 per cent. one hundred that take care of themselves. of mineral matter. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 6¢ DISEARES GOMMON TO THIS COAST mele pmi————————— I HAVE given the cause, symptoms and treatment of the principal diseases to which poultr thi coast are subject. Any one following carefully the directions given in this eal h a little cause to consult this department; but should you be so unfortunate as 0 have ye a sick fowl, a close observance of the following practical treatment will generally accomplish the desired result. Sore or Swelled Head. THis is the most dreaded disease to which fowls on this coast are subject. There is no good reason why poultry raisers should ever be troubled with this nuisance to any extent, unless in the milder and more manage- able forms.. T make this assertion unhesitatingly, because I have known of many instances where such disease has never shown itself, or if it came wore off without proving fatal in a single case, upon premises where proper care is continunusly taken to prevent, on the old principle that *an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” If the poulterer attends to his stock as he ought to do, and provides his chickens with cloud, dry shelter, feeds his flocks regularly and judiciously, affords them good range, comfortable quarters, never crowds them together in numbers, and above all fights off the lice that will infest both birds and houses, and roosts (with diligent care in this last particular), he will not have much to say about sore-headed chicks or fowls. Occasion- ally the exception may occur; and upon dis- covery, if he remove the sick bird at once from the rest, he can easily treat it successfully, if worth the trouble, and all liability of infection will be avoided. Yet the better the sanitary conditions provided, the less the danger of attack. If the | reader will observe the instructions and rules given in this work, touching the rightful man- agement of poultry from chickenhood to ma- turity, he will not have much cause to com- | plain about *‘sore-heads” in his flocks. Should you be so unfortunate as to have a fowl at- tacked with this disease, and it seems to be an aggravated case, we advise killing at once the fowl so affected, unless it be a valuable bird, in which case [ should try and save it by faithful | | | treatment; this will prevent its spreading among your flock. This disease is highly contagious, being spread by means of the sick fowl drinking from the same trough or vessel as the other fowls. Symptoms.—You will first notice a collection of matter at the nostril; this matter collects and closes up the passage, which causes a swelling or puffing out between the eyes and beak, and giv- ing the appearance of a swelled head. There is generally a frothy substance in the corner of the eye. TREATMENT. — Catch the fowl affected and cleanse the passage and beak by washing; then put a finger in the mouth and thumb on the outside and gently press out the matter. If this treatment does not remove it, take a lance or sharp pen-knife and, commencing close to the beak, make a small incision, and in the same manner press all the collected matter out as clean as possible; then wash out the cavity. Sometimes this matter becomes hard like a cheesy substance; in such cases use tweezers to remove it. Then with a medium-sized camel’s-hair brush, or stiff feather stripped to within about one-half inch of the end, anoint carefully the cut and the top of the, beak with the following: Iodine, Y oz.; Alcohol 4 oz.; Potassa-iodid, 15 grains; well mixed, being careful not to let any get in the eyes. If the quantity is too much, then get one-half, and probably one-fourth in most cases would be suffi- cient. Treatthem in this manner once a day or once in two days, as the case may require. Should there be any cankered spots in the mouth or throat, treat them in the same way. Be sure and keep the cut open, and not allow the matter to collect. Feed dry food, ground, in which has been mixed, according to the directions, some “ Imperial Egg Food.” 70 A Disease Common to This Coast. Symptoms—Diarrhea. The fowl mopes and stands with its head drawn in, and there is often a thin, pinched look in the face. The droppings become green, and are sometimes of the color and consistency of yellow paint. TREATMENT.—Separate the sick fowl from the rest of the flock, and confine in a dry, warm place, Give an ounce of strong alum water twice every day, and feed soft food, in which has been mixed some of the Imperial Egg Food. If whole flocks are attacked, seek the cause, alter the food, clean out the houses, and disinfect them, change the location, boil meat and add alum-water and pep- per to the soup, in which mix bran and shorts, and feed hot each day. Add to the soft food to be fed in the morning, about one-half pint for each 100 fowls, of the following mixture: One pound sul- phate of iron (green copperas or green vitrol, to be had in any country store at ten or fifteen cents a pound), and one oz. of sulphuric acid dissolved in four gallons of water. This disease results from too much sameness in the food, an excess of fat- producing food, lack of green food, fermented or unwholesome grain, stagnant water, too close con- finemens$, or some neglect which deteriorates the system and produces an abnormal condition of the liver. Gapes. As S00N as you discover any symptoms of Gapes among your chickens, you may know that there are worms, very small red worms, in their wind- pipes. TREATMENT.—Give them camphor in their drinking vessels, strong enough to make quite a taste of the camphor. Should any get the disease badly before you discover it, force a pill of gum camphor down the throat, about the size of a small pea, and the fumes of that dose will kill the worms. No kind of worms can live in camphor, hence, camphor must be a powerful vermifuge. A few drops of spirits of turpentine will also cure. Incipient Cold or Running at the Nose. A SIMPLE remedy for cold or running at the nose, with wheezing, is to confine the birds in a small house or large box, and fumigate with sul- phur. Place a few live coals on a shovel and set it in the box with a dozen fowls; throw on a tea- spoonful of flour of sulphur, let the box remain closed for five or ten minutes. Repeat night NILES’ PACIFIC COAST Canker or Ulcer in Throat. THE cause will generally be found in filth, sameness of food, too close quarters, unwholesome or decayed food, impure or sun-warmed water, pro ducing a diseased state of the system, resulting in the formation of canker or ulcer in the throat, or sometimes pustules on the comb, wattles, and head, resembling small-pox. Symptoms.—Mouth held partially open, diffi- culty in breathing, and inability to eat. TREATMENT. —Paint the sores two or three times daily with Labarraque’s solution; if canker, first scrape off the ulcer with a stick. The canker- ous growth will be found in the roof of the mouth, under and on the tongue, and on the rim of the wind-pipe. Give stimulating food; should the fowl be unable to eat, feed a raw egg beaten up in alum water, twice daily. Apoplexy or Paralysis. MORE probably arising from high feeding than any other cause. Symptoms.—An unsteady walk with drooping wings, as if the bird were giddy, is a warning symptom. TREATMENT.—Fasting and a dose of fifteen grains jalap and one grain of calomel will be found very useful, with continued low diet for two or three days. In cases of sudden attacks, with loss of power and consciousness, it will be necessary to lance immediately the large vein under the wing, and to bleed freely until the bird recovers. Stop the flow of blood by means of burnt alum or other styptic, and take care that the fowl is not allowed to peck open the wound and cause death from hemorrhage. Cold water applied to the head is often of a beneficial effect. Fortunately, these diseases are of* indifferent occurrence. Giddiness. USUALLY resulting from too high feeding, and likely to develop in apoplexy. : TREATMENT.—Hold the head under a stream of water, and reduce the system by a dose of cas- tor oil, and feed on sparer diet. Sore Eyes in Chickens. ONE small drop of glycerine applied to each eye will soon cause the eyes to open, or soften the edges of thelids so as to admit of their being easily opened by the hand, or, in severe cases, by the and morning for a few days. use of a pen-knife. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 71 Colds, Snuffies, Swelled-Head, Roup. THE causes are damp houses, drafts in the houses, over-crowding, and damp cold weather. If the hen-houses have leaky roofs, or are so inse- cure that the floor becomes damp and muddy, it is almost impossible to keep fowls in health. Dur- ing the rainy season our fowls should be well housed; and it will pay to provide a house with tight roof and free from drafts, so that the floor may be dry and the fowls offered a place in which to roost without being chilled by currents of cold damp air. A neglected cold soon degenerates in- to roup, and very often the fowl is not noticed until a lump appears on the side of its head, or an offensive discharge accumulates at the nostrils. TREATMENT.—Piace the fowls in a warm, dry place, give a good dose of ‘castor oil, feed soft, stimulating food. Wash the head and throat with Labarraque’s solution diluted with three times its auantity of water. A roupy fowl should at once be separated from the flock, as the matter which is coughed out, or oozes from the nostrils, will cause the spread of the disease. Young and half-grown fowls, if crowded, especially in summer, take cold at night. Those on the inside, where they are huddled together, become too warm, and then make their way to the outer edge of the flock, and there become chilled. Chicks hatched late and not well hovered by the hen during the nights which are so warm at nightfall, but cold towards morning, also catch cold, as do those where too many are given to one hen. The cold becomes chronic, the chicken assumes a pinched look, is stunted, pines away and often dies. The mucus may be pressed from the nostrils with the fingers. Chicks so diseased should be removed at once. placed in a warm dry place, fed stimulating food, and well housed at night. Those not yet attacked may be saved by removing the cause of the dis- ease. Itis contagious; that is, those roosting with others so afflicted, and breathing the same con- fined air, soon become sick. Costiveness. Symptoms.—Costiveness will be noticed by the fowl’s frequent attempts to relieve itself. The cause is continued dry hard feed, and a limited supply of clean water. TREATMENT.—Give a feed of bread and milk, warmed; a small quantity of fresh meat may be safely given, with a change of green food, as cab- bage chopped fine; mashed boiled potatoes are also good. If this method be strictly followed, a cure will be performed in nearly every case. Influenza or Hard Breathing FowLws are subject to colds, the same as man- kind. Should your fowls show signs of influenza or hard breathing, make a brush with the second- ary feather of the wing, by pulling off the side feathers and leaving a nice bunch on the end. TREATMENT.—Dip the brush in turpentine, open the beak, run the brush down the throat, turning it sideways, and drawing it through the division or cut in the roof of the mouth. After this operation lay the head back and use the tur- pentine freely on the outside of the throat Should the feet and legs feel cold to the touch, anoint with turpentine. If in good health and condition the legs and feet should be warm; use Judgment in applying all remedies. Diarrhea. As A rule I do not believe in dosing fowls when they are ailing, especially if they are in the advanced stages of sickness, for such cases are best corrected, and more quickly, by the use of the ax and chopping-block. Some do not even do this but let the sick birds live out a short and miser. able existence in the yards, with the other birds, often living just long enough to infect other birds, and thus aggravating the loss which ensues During the spring and early summer, breeding birds are sometimes attacked by “scours” or diarrhea, which, if left to go unchecked and un- cared for, for any length of time, will result in ex- | treme weakness, and often in death. In such cases it is necessary to resort to some remedy, or else the flocks will soon be decimated. TREATMENT.—I have found the judicious use of soda—the common baking soda—to be very effective. It is easily procured, is not dangerous, and is generally in the house at all times. There are several ways of administering the soda, but the best way is to mix some of it with fine corn meal, moistening it with water, and then giving it in the form of small pills. Flour can be used in the same connection, if desired. Two or three pills given each day, will, in a couple of days, usually afford relief. Soda put in the drinking water will also afford relief to the fowls. Black Comb. SOMETIMES the combs of fowls will turn black. Should any of our readers be troubled with this, they will find the iodine ointment beneficial. Apply to the comb with a small brush or feather. A a LAN OA TOTO 5 BM BAG i PO A Lc 72 Crop-bound Fowls. THa1s difficulty is caused by the failure of some substance swallowed to pass from the crop to the gizzard. He Symptoms.—The trouble is first indicated by : swelling at the point of junction of the head asd neck. On taking up the fowl the crop 1s foun to be unnaturally distended and either caked hard or flaccid and watery. When the fowl is held head downward, a very offensive liquor will run from the mouth, while in other cases the crop is perfectly dry. TREATMENT.—When the contents of the crop are soft, as indicated by the touch, give two tablespoonfuls of olive oil and gently knead the crop till the oil is well diffused, and this operation may remove the stoppage. If, however, this does not suffice, the next step is to open the crop. Opening should be resorted to without trying the oil if the contents are found by manipulation to be dry and hard or stringy, as, for instance, if they consist of kernels of whole grain, or long hay or twine, or other similar substances. Get some one to hold the fowl firmly, while you pluck away the feathers on the under side of the crop, in the line of the body and to the breadth of about half an inch; then, drawing the skin tightly, make, with a sharp knife, an incision about an inch and one-quarter long through the skin and crop, and remove the contents of the latter. After taking out the solid matter wash out the crop with tepid water, and then sew up, first the crop, and then the outer skin. After the operation the fowl should be put in a small coop and fed sparingly on soft food for a week. The operation is easily performed, and it is only nec- essary to be careful not to cut too far toward the body and induce too much bleeding, and to sew separately the crop and outer skin. Consumption. CoNsUMPTION is caused by cold or dampness, want of light, and constitutional debility. Most frequently observed in birds bred from parents related. ; Symptoms.—Chronic cough, with wasting away and loss of strength. Incurable when once fairly seated. TREATMENT.— When its presence is suspected, cod liver oil added to the meal food is corrective, NILES’ PACIFIC COAST Leg Weakness. Youne fowls of the larger breeds frequently outgrow their strength, or from lack of bony mes ter,shown by constant squatting about instea g walking or standing, are troubled with leg weak- ness. TrREATMENT.—To prevent the occurrence of this affection, give all young fowls plenty of bone dust, broken bones, or oyster shells. j A little tincture of murate of iron in the drinking water is beneficial. Sometimes this is caused by cold or rheumatism in the joints. When this is the case, they will favor the sore spots by pi to the ground. Hens sometimes get t00 Sat an « break down,” occasionally, it appears, from partial paralysis. Long-legged, overgrown cock- erels will often become thus affected. The remedy is uncertain, because it must be understood what the trouble és in order to cure it —though itis a difficult matter to restore fowls thus diseased, or injured. And unless they are particularly valu- able, the best thing to do (when the evil becomes a settled matter) is to cut off their heads. Itis next to impossible to cure them permanently. Rheumatism. tiffnes of ymptoms.—Weakness of the legs, s a contraction of the toes are symptoms of this disease, which may be mistaken for cramps. The treatment is similar. TREATMENT.—The bird must be put in a warm and dry place, and fed with warm and rather stimulating food. The legs should be bathed in rather hot water, containing. some mustard, and afterwards dried. Half a grain of opium twice a day should be given internally. A little cooked meat every day is beneficial, and minute doses of oil of mustard have been of marked efficacy in some cases. ——————— Bumble Foot. BuMBLE foot simply denotes the corn or lump frequently found in Cochins, Dorkings, and other large varieties. ; TREATMENT. — Apply lunar caustic; pigment of iodine applied daily will be beneficial. If the corn appears to contain matter, 1t should be opened and the pus pressed out, after which it should be well washed out with warm water; and after a day or two apply the caustic as directed, Compel the fowl to sleep on straw during treai- together with the “Imperial Egg Food ”—half a teaspoonful once a day. ment. . sound hen. Give her some eggs, not too many; . year old will sit weeks without any trouble. If POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK 73 Broken-Down Fowls. ONE of the most unsightly objects that appear in the poultry yard is a hen that is completely broken down behind, making her waddle around in an upright position, somewhat resembling the penguin’s mode of locomotion. Most people, looking at such an object, would condemn her to the butcher’s block at once, without a further thought. Where the bird is of no value as a breeder, it would be far the best plan; but if she be a valuable specimen, do not be quite so hasty, TREATMENT.—When you see the weakness, cut off half the food, and make the fowls roam around all day, if you can, which will usually effect a cure. But when they are completely broken down and nothing else is the matter, they will lay out their litters and want to sit. This is the time to doctor, as she will sit as well as any also set another hen at the same time to take the chicks when they are hatched. Reset her again —twice more if she will continue to attend to her business. Any of the Asiatics that are a she is inclined to be restive, put a small chick under her for an hour or so and she will give no trouble. In almost every case six weeks will straighten up the worst case, but nine weeks are better, as they are less liable to a return of the old weakness. Let the hen run with her last chicks as long as she will, and by the time they are ready to wean she will be fully recovered, and no more liable than any other fowl that has not had the trouble. It sometimes happens that some of the non- sitters are effected in this way, and itis a very much more difficult matter to cure them, though by patience and a great deal of trouble you can usually effect a cure by cooping them up, and putting them on a very spare diet. Warts on Chickens. Enlarged Wattles. CASES of enlarged wattles are not common. The wattles appear large and swollen. TREATMENT.—Open with a lance or knife the lower end of the wattle. Sometimes the matter is soft and again hard. When hard, remove with tweezers. If it does not loosen readily, anoint it with iodine ointment, same as is recommended for swelled head. Repeat as often as is necessary and it will finally come out and the wattles hea) up. Cramps. EARLY chickens are most subject to this disease, caused by exposure to damp, during cold weather. Symptoms.—It may be known by a tendency to walk on the toes, and afterward on the knuckles or outside of the foot. Also by squatting on the hock. TREATMENT.—Removal to a place provided with a dry boarded floor, well sanded and kept clean, is usually sufficient. In severe cases where the toes are much contracted, the legs and feet should be bathed in warm water several times daily. Itis well to add one part tincture of arnica to fifteen of water. ¥ Egg-Bound Fowls, INABILITY to lay on account of unusual size of egg. Symptoms.—May be known by the hen coming off her nest, and moping about in evident distress with wings on the ground; sometimes she remains on the nest. TREATMENT.—A large dose of castor oil will generally give relief in a few hours. Failing in this, a free injection of olive oil into the oviduct may be used, care being taken not to break the egg; if no syringe is at hand, the oil may be passed up with a feather, having first bathed the vent with warm water. The food should be soft and not of a stimulating nature. In case the TREATMENT.—Dissolve some blue stone in water, cut the wart off, and with a knife scrape out all the seed that can be taken out, then with a mop apply the liquid blue stone. If taken when the wart first appears, the above remedy will cure. Use as often as needed, as more than one application is necessary. Another remedy is to rub carbolic acid freely on the warts of the chickens about twice. Use clear, purified carbolic acid; unless the warts are different from the egg passage should protrude or become ruptured, egg production should be totally arrested by giv- ing the following: One grain calomel, one-twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, and one-fourth of a grain of opium, made into a pill, and administered every four hours until four pills have been given. In the first pill the quantity of calomel and opium may be doubled. DISEASE in your flocks can in most cases be traced to bad management, improper feeding, and usual style they will generally disappear. negligence. 74 NILES’ PACIFIC COAST Cholera. THIS is a disease that has seldom appeared on this coast. Cholera is the most dreaded disease in the Eastern States. 1 give the symptoms and treatment in case any of our readers should be so unfortunate as to be troubled with the disease in their flocks. If there is a disease among fowls resulting from carelessness or ignorance more than any other, it is the fatal disease known as the Cholera. All writers on the subject agree that it arises from exposure to the sun without sufficient shade, warm and stale drinking water, foul and offensive grass runs, occasioned by the droppings, and, most important of all, the absence of a regular supply of fresh green food, which is the great preventive of diarrhea in fowls. This disease is rarely if ever known where a cool shade, clean runs, fresh, cool water and green food are provided daily. Symptoms.—Sudden and violent thirst, diar- rhea, greenish droppings, afterwards thin and whitish, with extreme weakness and staggering, or “ falling about,” sometimes accompanied with cramps, and often with “anxious” look about the face. Death results in from twelve to thirty- six hours. TREATMENT.—Administer every three hours the following: Rhubarb, 5 grains; cayenne pep- per, 2 grains; laudanum, 10 drops. Give mid- way between each dose a teaspoonful of brandy, diluted with water, containing five drops of McDougall’s Fluid Extract, or the following: Equal parts of the tincture of opium, red pepper, rhubarb, peppermint and camphor, well shaken, with doses increased from ten to twenty drops several times a day, when not immediately re- lieved. For drink, in cholera, give carbolic acid, 1 dr.; glycerine, 1 ounce; mix in a quart of water. Of this mixture use 2 tablespoonfuls to a gallon of water, allowing no other drink. Onions for Sick and Well Poultry. As a preventive and a remedy for many of the diseases to which domestic fowls are liable, when living under wrong conditions, too much can hardly be said in favor of onions for fowls. They should be chopped up fine and the fowls given all they will eat up clean. I prefer feeding them at night, giving no other feed at the time. THE chemical composition of hoofs, hair, wool and feathers is substantially the same. Formulas. I HERE give a few general formulas that will prove useful to any one raising poultry: — McDoucALL’'s FLuiD EXTRACT.—A neutral solution of carbolate of lime and sulphate of mag- nesia, being entirely free from corrosive or irri- tating effects, while at the same time combining most of the valuable properties of both carbolic and sulphuric acids. LABARRAQUE’s SOLUTION.—Equally as good as that purchased at a drug store may be made very cheaply. Dissolve one-half pound of com- mon washing soda in a pint of warm water, also one-quarter pound of chloride of lime in three pints of water, mixing gradually until smooth; let stand a few hours; unite the two mixtures, shake, let stand until clear, and then pour the supernatant fluid into a bottle, cork tightly, and keep out of the heat and sun. A half gallon ° need thus cost but fifteen cents. DouGrLAs MIXTURE.—The “ Douglas Mixture” is a good constant tonic, and made thus: Sulphate of iron, 1 pound; sulphuric acid, 1 ounce; water, 1 gallon. Mix and dissolve. Dose, 1 to 2 tea- spoonfuls to a pint of drinking water. A New Disinfectant. A DISTINGUISHED medical authority recom- mends for use in civil and military hospitals, and for the purpose of destroying the poison germs of small-pox, scarlet fever, and other infectious dis- eases, a disinfectant composed of one part of rec- tified oil of turpentine, and seven parts of ben- zine, with the addition of five drops of oil of verbena to each ounce. Articles of clothing, fur- niture, wall paper, carpeting, books, newspapers, letters, may be perfectly saturated with it without receiving the slightest injury. Fractures. TREATMENT.—A broken shank may be “set ” without difficulty, and secured with a splint of porous brown paper, saturated with the white of an egg, which hardens as it dries. A broken wing is best cared for by putting the feathers in position and binding tightly together about an inch from the end. But unless the accident oc- curred to a very valuable fowl, useful to breed from, the time and care necessary to successfully treat fractures are generally unprofitably wasted. Broken bones unite rapidly in fowls. POULTRY AND STOCK BOOK. 75 LET TRR-BOX ad ® tie] o.. WHILE editing the Poultry Department of a prominent journal, I was the recipient of many letters making queries in regard to the care and management of poultry, the treatment of various diseases, and numerous other topics. Such of these, with the addition of some others received since then, with their answers, as will be of most interest and value to the readers of this work, are given on this and the following pages. 5 “oN Soft-shelled Eggs. C. W. S., HoNoLuLU, S. I., wants to know the cause of hens laying soft-shelled eggs. Also why hens drop their eggs frequently from the roosts — oftentimes soft-shelled. : REPLY. —This irregularity is a weakness, and though not common, will sometimes occur from lack of plenty of gravel, old mortar, bones, etc. which should be handy for fowls to peck when they need these things for shell-creating. If they are confined to close quarters and wooden floors in the houses in winter, this will cause the above trouble. A tonic formed by dropping a little tincture of iron into the drinking vessels, will help to prevent this. But diet of the right kind is the best rem- edy.. Tnsome cases where all the above-mentioned substances are provided, hens will lay soft-shelled eggs, owing to an abnormal state of the egg-pro- ducing organs. Excess of fat may be the cause, if so, the hen must be starved down in order to effect a cure. Cooked Vegetables. A. C. L., LAPNER’S LANDING, British Colum- bia, asks: “ Are cooked vegetables a healthy and economical food for fowls? Ts cooked food prefer- able to dry grain?” REPLY.—Cooked vegetables of all kinds, but more especially boiled potatoes, turnips, and car- rots, are found to be economical food for fowls, and to conduce to their health. These should be mashed with thoroughly scalded corn or oat-meal, and occasionally with shorts or wheat-middlings, for laying hens. For young stock, corn and oat- meal is best, with the vegetables added. But cooked food, two-thirds of the time, is better than a large proportion of dry grains of any descrip- tion. Those who have never tried this mode of feeding fowls will quickly discover the difference between this and the old plan of throwing whole corn or grain to their flocks continually. 6 Roosts for Chickens. C. M. 8., CERES, Cal., asks: “ What is the mat- ter with a Partridge Cochin hen of mine? She drags down a little behind and her feathers are always soiled as by something liquid. The roost is about five feet from the ground, reached by a ladder. I once put feed in the coop when the hen was on the roost; she flew directly to the ground, after which I noticed that she was a little lame as she now is when walking quickly or running.” REPLY.--Roosts for Asiatic fowls (Cochins, Brah- mas, Langshans, etc.), should not be more than two or two and a half feet from the ground. For the Leghorns and other smaller breeds it does not matter so much what the height is, although for them I prefer a roost three or four feet in height to a higher one. “The roost is five feet from the ground,” at once accounts for the trouble with this Partridge Cochin hen. While she will of necessity always ascend by the ladder, it will be found that occa-ionally she will jump down, and, if laying, one such leap will often suffice to break an egg and perhaps ruin her, both for looks and laying. Asiatic roosters are also injured by jumping from high roots, for they seldom alight on their feet alone, as do the lighter breeds, but legs, breast. and all the under part of the body usually come in contact with the ground. Let the roosts be made low and a broken down hen or lamed rooster will be a rarity. ' Cankered Mouth. W. A. N,, RIVERSIDE, Cal., writes: “Will you please tell me what is the best and surest cure for cankered sore mouth and throat in poultry, My fowls have got it among them, and I am afraid it will prove fatal.” REPLY.—Apply a feather-tip that has been dipped in a solution of chlorinated soda to the canker sores—just touching them is sufficient. Re- peat this treatment until the sores disappear; give soft food, and add a little iron to the water. 76 From Australia. G. W.M., MELBOURNE, Australia, writes: “ The trio of Cochins you sent me arrived in good order, and although the freight was about half the origi- nal purchase price, still I am well pleased with my bargain. The rooster was so large that I at first feared you had sent me a capon, but have found my fears entirely groundless. Can you send me equally good trios of light Brahmas and White Leghorns? As I told you before, I want choice fowls only, and would not take poor ones as a gift. A friend wishes me to ask you if capons can be put on the market at eight or ten months old, or must they be older in order to sell as capons ? Is there any decided mark by which a capon can be distinguish: d from a rooster while alive, and also when dead, and at what age do they show the mark, if any? RePLY.—My Leghorns and Brahmas are of the choicest strains, and 1 know will give as good satisfaction as the Cochins. Cavons can be sold in market at ten months old, but if they are kept till twelve months old, they are then at their best as to proportions, and their flesh continues quite tender, comparatively. The © distinguish- ing marks” of capons are unmistakable. While living they exhibit no inclination to consort with hens, and conspicuously shun the society of cocks when placed in the same inclo