Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1892 — Does Poultry Pay? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Does Poultry Pay?

The question is often asked, does poultry pay? The question is answered by the success of many. Mr. James Rankin of Massachusetts, makes the following statements in the lowa Homestead: “1 aiu exceedingly cautious by nature, and public opinion has been against the success of the poultry business when undertaken on a large scale. In sedition 1 had many kind neigh boss wliomssured itffe' repeatedly that it was only a matter of time when I would come to grief; that my land would soon become poisoned by constantly growing,poul-, try upon it; that disease and vermin would step in and carry off my hopes and expectations, etc. That land has grown one lot of poultry and one of barley and rye each season for the past fifteen years and remains unpoisoned yet. 1 have increased my plant until I have grown 10,000 birds and am increasing it still. The past season has seen two new buildings added to the plant and I can truly say that i see no symptoms of either vermin or'disease among any <of my fowls for the past ten years. During the past season, notwithstanding the high price of grain, the returns have been highly satisfactory, as the prices for chickens and eggs have run higher than ever before. At present I am busily engaged in turning $3,000 worth of corn, wheat and oats, bran, etc., into some $7,0000r SB,OOO worth of poultry and eggs. ”

through, large enough to put a common pair of clamps up through, having the hole the same width of the clamps, i from bottom. Mortise the hole to fit the taper of the clamps; by pulling them up through, the taper of clamps will hold very solid. Clamps can be made out of oakshingle stuff, the clamp ends being from around a knot. Fisheries. Use dry straw for bedding. Small hogs make the best meat. The eye of the owner fattens the stock. Oil meal with bran makes a capital ration. A thrifty hog should never squeal for his food. A few bogs are necessary to eat up the waste. The best way of feeding bran and oil meal is in the slop. A little turpentine in the feed is good for worms in hogs. Select the largest, most growthy, and best sows for breeders. The most essential items with hogs are good health and thrift.It is always an item to feed growing pigs for bone and muscle. One or more good brood sows is a positive necessity on every farm. Too much fat with growing pigs will check the growth of bone and muse’e. Hogs kept by neat, systematic farmers arc generally the freest from disease. WnEX skim milk is fed to the pigs •a little bran and oil meal stirred in will greatly improve it. Brood sows thrive better with plenty of range duriug the day and a warm place to sleep in at night The start that a pig gets in the first three months of its lffe has much to do with its thrift and future profit. Growing a mass of fat in the shortest time possible is not all that is necessary to make a pig most profitable.

WMw Ptotelloa fcr Tnn, Some fruit growers hare much trouble during the winter seasons from the depredations of mice among their small apple trees. Mauy of these trees are entirely girdled and rendered worthless. Where snow fall 9 deep, but light, it allows tbe marauders to work freely along through tbe grass and stubble. The only thing that can be done by those who take no precautionary measures in the fall to protect their trees is to keep the snow tramped solidly about each tree. But it is much better to take care that another winter shall not find them unprotected. A bit of wire netting, or tarred paper, ped carefilßy abobt the base should give good protection, or. a split tube or a flexible wooden covering may be applied. It does not pay to plant fruit trees, and care for them during the season, only to have them destroyed in the yvinter from lack of care. Litter and weeds of any kind about the base of an unprotected tree or near by in the orchard, are simply a cordial invitation to the mice to come in and shelter themselves. Young fruit trees may be protected from girdling by rabbits by wrapping the trunk with straw, hay. or cloth for one or two feet from the ground. Pieces of corn stalks, split in,halves.and tied around ‘the'tree, with the flat side next the trunk, will keep the rabbits from eating the bark. Rabbits girdle trees on clean ground, and mice those on weedy land. Should a tree be girdled, heaping earth around the fresh wound will sometimes save the tree*

Handy Bo( Catcher. Have a blacksmith make you a hog catcher just like the cut, which

explains itself. A is the rivet, BB are the eyes, D is a socket Pass a four-foot I rope through eye 88, make a knot on one end of rope. Take an o'.d broom-han-.

die, and fit end loose in socket The jaws should be large enough when closed to hpld agog’s leg firmly, without slipping out. It is a difficult thing to go into a pen of porkers and catch them, especially if one wants to single out one ani-

mal.says the Practical Farmer. Take the catcher by handle in right hand, and rope in other. Hold it to the hog’s hind leg, pull by rope, and you have the animal fast. The cost is very small, and the farmer will find it a saver of time and temper many times during the year.

Treatment for a Halter PuUer. Probably the best way to break a horse of halter or bridle pulling is to hitch him by the tail, i. e., by means of a rope about twenty feet long, put under his tail like a' crupper,: ana then twisted two or three times and each end run under a girth, and then passed through the nose-piece of the halter or rings of the bridle and hitched to a tree or post. This plan is recommended by Rockwell, and the writer has seen it tried with satisfactory results. A horse thus hitched, in attempting to break loose, is considerably surprised to find that the force and hurt comes noton the head, as he expected, ar.d as it is natural for him to go from the hurt, he steps forward and ceases to pull.—Baltimore American. Tillage I* Manure. _lt is practically,. although not technically true, that •‘tillage is manure.” But tillage with manure, is a safer rule, if you are after big and paying crops. In the same line of thought, science is a valuable aid to agriculture. But ‘‘science with practice” is the combination that *nust unlock tne secrets that lead to the highest agriculture and the most profitable farming.

Miscellaneous Recipes, Cupped Potatoes. —Boil, mash and season. Mold by pressing into a wet teacup. Coat each one with beaten egg and brown in the oven. Whatever receipe for pancakes you »jay follow, ipie rule always holds good: Mix all the liquids together in one bowl, and the dry in another, then stir the liquid into the dry and there will never be any danger of lumping. Oatmeal Cakes.— The cold oatmeal left from breakfast mixed with an equal measurement of flour—that is, one cupful of flour to one of cooked meal, with one beaten egg, half a cupful of milk and a spoonful of baking powder, will make very nice pancakes. Salt Pork —Boil four or five pounds of pork which is partly leaD. in plenty of water for an hour and a half. Take it out, remove the skin, cut gashes across the top, sprinkle with powdered sage, pepper and rolled cracker. Place in the oven until well browned. Flannel Cakes. —Sift two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one of salt with a quart of flour. In another bowl beat three eggs, add one and a half pints of milk and two ounces of melted butter; pour this mixture into the flour, beating vigorously the while.

Apple and Pear Marmalade.— Take equal quantities of such apples and pears as will cook well together, and to each pound when pared and cored, add three-quarters ot a pound of preserving sugar. Cook over a slow fire, continually stirring until the fruit is quite soft. Store in the usual way. Tomato Catsup. —Take two quarts of ripe tomatoes, peel and put them in a pan; stew until soft; then add a tablespoonful each of salt, black pepper, mustard and allspice; when cold add a pint of good vinegar, and strain through a sieve. Set it on the stove and let it simmer slowly for half an hour, and when cold seal in bottles. Stewed Lamb with Peas. —Take the neck or breast cut in small pieces and put in a stew pan with enough water to cover it Cover closely and stew until tender, then add a quart of green shelled peas, adding more water if needed. Cook until the peas are tender, then add butter, salt and pepper; let it simmer a minute, then serve