Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1896 — THE CARE OF EARLY CHICKS. [ARTICLE]

THE CARE OF EARLY CHICKS.

Early-hatched chickens seem to have stronger constitutions than those which are hatched after the weather becomes warm. It is surprising how much cold they will endure if they are kept dry. If it is possible, I like to have one or two broods out by the first of March. When one has no incubator and must await the pleasure of the hens this cannot always be done. A slatted coop, which will confine the hen and allow the chickens to run about, placed in a dry shed, into which the sun can shine, is a very good place for them for the first, four or six weeks. If the presence of rats is suspected, there should be a tight box-coop in which to fasten them at night. In some localities this is absolutely necessary as a protection from minks and weasels. If the hens hive as free a range as they have on he greater number of farms, the youig chicks may also be allowed to run a’ large after the first few weeks, but they should be kept in thet coops until themiddie of the forenoon. It is well to renumber that a limp and apparently' lifdess chick whic' has been caught ina sudden shower may’ often be warmd back to life by bringing it to the fir-. It may be necessary to bring them ii by the basketful sometlmes, and I ha’e seen some surprising resuscitations n such cases. A hen running at lage will raise her brood with less feedig than one confined in a small lot, butthe chances are that she

I will lose more of them. Not only are they caught by hawks. but there are other dangers which beset them. Most provoking of all is to have your neighi hoc’s cat dine off chicken daily, while you wonder how Blackie manages to I lose one or two chickens every day. By-and-by you catch the innocent-looking ' pussy in the very act of springing upon ' the chick, and the mystery is solved. It must never be forgotten that the coops, as well as the feeding and drinhI ing vessels, must be kept clean. Filth ' bfeeds disease always and everywhere. ' The mites which are so annoying, especially in warm weather, soon infest ■ an unclean coop. For the first four or five weeks of i their lives they will need to be fed at least five times daily. “Little and of- ! ten” is a good rule to follow in feeding. Corn bread made by mixing the meal into a liatter with buttermilk, using , twice as much soda as the measure of 1 milk, as if for the table, makes one of i the best foods for small chicks. This 1 quantity of soda will make the bread crumble readily. Possibly the crust may need soaking. It is not a great deal of trouble to bake ouee a day enough to last until the next day, and as a food it is certainly an improvement on raw cornmeal mixed with water, which some of us can remember used to be the regulation food for young chicks. If the skim milk is not fed to the calves or pigs it can be given to the chickens to drink; or, better still, after it has clabbered, heat until the curd and whey separate. There is nothing better than the curd for young chickens, especially during the first three or four weeks pf their lives. As soon as they are old enough to eat wheat, give all they will eat of this grain for the last feed at night. Cracked corn may alternate with the wheat, and at a later period whole corn.

TRAINING TOMATOES. Referring to the tomato-trellis recently described, I would say that for several seasons I have used wire netting in my garden for training tomatoes in preference to stakes and strings. Netting three feet wide, securely tacked to strong stakes set at intervals of three and a half or four feet apart, was formerly used, but greater width is desirable. This forms a perpendicular trellis about four feet high, as the wire should be placed ten Or twelve inches from the ground. Stakes two by four inches are heavy enough if braced, the first season, although I have used threeinch hard-hack fence-posts. A light strip of wood may be run across the top for staying the upper eud of the wire, but this is not essential unless heavy blankets are to be used for protection against light frosts in autumn. Raffia, once used for tying the vines to the wire, will never be superseded by strings. It is always soft, pliable and strong, never stretching in wet weather or slipping if properly tied. This method of training tomatoes admits air on all sides, nnd does not interrupt the sun’s rays. The fruit ripens evenly, is easily picked and readily protected on cold nights. An ideal trellis of this sort was developed in a neighbor’s garden the past season. Ten-foot stakes and netting two set wide wsre used. But the growth of the Ponderosa is phenomenal, and two other strips of netting were added, with a space of a few inches betwen them. The result was a handsome screen fullj' eight set high, thickly decorated with crimson fruits. The aspirations of the vines, however, were unsatisfied, and a foot more of netting would have been covered. The expense of such an arrangement is light, and the profit and pleasure arising from clean, well-ripened fruit are satisfactory in every way.

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES. Keep a cat for the rat, and the pig may get fat. If you work yourself those around you will work. One fat cow is worth a poor coach and scrubby six. No need to buy a new farm so long as you can make the old one better. As a manure-spreader the sheep beats all the modern contrivances. It is not he that sows, but he that manures well that gets the big crop. Double the manure pile, and you may double, the crop. It is better than buying a new farm. If all that is wasted in the kitchen could get back to the farm the farmer would become rich. The farm that is without a wind-mill lacks one of the greatest conveniences that a farm can have. Peach and plum trees are not benefited by a little trimming, while cherry trees need but little trijnming. There is no danger of manuring a soil too early for vegetables, while the crops all grow much more tender and the growth is more rapid. Even under the most favorable conditions after a tree is transplanted some time must elapse before its roots secure such a hold upon the soil as to supply the plant food necessary to make a vigorous growth. If you have' occasion to kill a hen from your flock and you find her rolling in fat put that down as the reason your liens are not laying. Just let up on the food for a few days, and you will see an improvement. Don’t waste your food. There is no better cross for a general purpose fowl than the Brown Leghorn and the Plymouth Rock. The Rock increases the size and the Leghorn carries with it the laying qualities. What more can you expect to accomplish with any other cross? If any of your 1 fowls snore when they breathe it is because they have caught cold through that crack or knot hole you neglected to plug l up last fall. Nothing will invite a cold to locate in a hen’s head like an overhead draught at night, and in this respect hens and people do not materially differ.

Fifteen men and twenty-three women died in Great Britain during 1895 aged over 100 years.