Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1911 — Page 2

Winter Months on the Farm

How to Improve Them

Pbuitry can be made to par a much larger return on most farms with good Winter management since the fowls consume much feed that would otherwise be wasted. During the summer farm poultry keeping is comparatively easy, and the fowls earn a good living and give profitable returns In growth and eggs, but during the winter periods the farm flock is often jxoorly cared for and returns are far, less than they should be under slightly improved methods. A small flock, rightly managed, will lay more eggs than several hundred hens allowed to roam free, hunting for their living with the exception of an occasional feed of whole corn or table scraps. When laying hens crowd into draughty stables or under the corn crib for shelter, the egg crop is bound to be short. Colony House System. The best poultry house for the average farmer is a small movable colony house, which will accommodate 25 to 30 hens as a laying flock. • The advantages of the movable house are that It is more sanitary, particularly In summer, when it can be dragged about fields and cleaning is made unnecessary. Fowls are given an increased range over new territory each time the house Is moved. Less poultry feed, is needed to keep the fowls In active condition and the benefits of the birds as Insect destroyers may be secured by bringing the movable house Into the orchard. During winter the movable house is less advantageous, but by locating it on a warm Bouth slope and providing ample space, it serves this purpose fully as well as a fixed house. A good colony house, shown in the Illustration, is used at the Wisconsin College of Agriculture poultry department for summer chick raising, and with slight modifications may be made to serve for winter use. This bouse is Bxl2 feet on the floor, which is of matched hard pine laid upon two 4x4 inch runners. It is sided on studs with plain mill lumber and where used only for Summer colonies no lining is required. Where such a house is used In the winter, It should be Well lined, so that it Is perfectly air tight on all sides, except the front, where the 2 open windows are placed. The house is feet high on front and slopes

A good type of colony house set in a young orchard. This may be built of plain milled lumber at moderate cost. The fowls enter through small openings In the rear.

down to 4*4 feet on the back. A roosting closet, in front of which is hung a muslin curtain, must be provided in one end for winter use. This curtain should be hung upon a rod supported by cleats so that it may be removed in summer when the curtain is not needed. A fixed or permanent laying house for farm flock may be constructed about as follows: The building should be 14 feet wide and as long as is necessary to provide 12 feet compartments which will hold 4fl to 50 hens each. The partitions between these compartments may be made of netting. This building should have a long and short slope roof about 7 feet high on the front and 4% feet on the rear. In the front a window, covered with one inch betting, open the year around, will furnish ACbple ventilation and light. Perches should be put in at the rear over a dropping board, in front of which is hung the muslin curtain to be dropped in severely cold weather to confine the heat from the bodies of the fowls into a small space. Suffl- , cient ventilation will be secured in the roosting compartment through the i muslin. Mixed gravel furnishes the best material for the floor of a house for j laying bens, and if changed each year la quite sanitary. This gravel should be at least six inches deep upon a firm foundation. If rats are troublesome the foundation under the walls of the j house should be made of concrete and a tight bottom of Concrete over which four inches of gravel may be spread. This gravel is covered with six Inches of litter, which must be changed as rapidly as it becomes damp or dirty. ' Clover Good Litter. While straw Is quite universally used as a scratching litter in poultry houses, clover hay will prove more efficient and hut little more expensive bn most farms. A forkful added each

Poultry Management Care of Fowl* for Profitable Returns Wkh Hints on Buildings and Appliances

By PROF. J. G. HALPIN

H'uccru/n College of Agriculture

day will give the hens some fresh feed to pick over since they a large number of the greed clover leaves. A good method is to place some straw In the poultry house and add a little clover hay regularly. Clover chaff and second grade hay may be used to good advantage. It is unnecessary to chop straw or other litter for hens, if It is in mod; erate lengths, since they will soon break it up If the building is kept dry. Bedding down hens with clover or alfalfa hay avoids the necessity of soaking chaff for feeding, and fits Into the system of- the average farm much better It is Important to provide sufficient litter at least 8 to. 12 inches deep, in order to make the hens work tb get their grains. A small amount of Utter will soon be scratched over and the hens will need more exercise. Pur* Water Essential. Plenty of clean water above the freezing temperature in winter is quite important A large part of the composition of the egg is water and the hens need a regular and ample supply to do their best work. If water is placed In the poultry house while slightly warm, the necessity of making arrangements to prevent freezing will bo avoided. The prime essential is to keep drinking vessels clean. Scald them frequently and rljttse out every day. The drinking vessels should be placed on a platform 12 to 18 Inches above the general level of the floor, so that litter will not be scratched into the vessel. An ordinary No. 12 galvanized iron pail is most practical for the ordinary poultry house. It is easy •to handle and clean and can be carried without difficulty better than a shallow' -pan—or patented drinking fountains. __________ Best Form of Fend Troughs. For feeding a wet mash a flat trough 4 feet 5 inches wide, with sides 4 inches high 8 feet long, is ample for a flock of 40 hens. This flat trough Is better than the V-shaped, so commonly used, as it is much easier to clean and is not upset so readily. For feeding a dry mash, the main hopper Is about the best arrangement ever devised. It consists of a square flat box 4 Inches wide slatted on the side w T ith perpendicular slats 2 inches apart and has a sloping top,

which will not permit the fowls to roost upon it. When used in a house this hopper has openings only on one ! side, and is hung against the wall. The narrow openings permit the hens to eat the dry mash, but not to serateh it out into the litter. Dark Nests Preferable. The darkened nest has several advantages Iq that hens are less liable to break and eat their eggs or to disturb each other. The nest should be at least 12x14 Inches in size and enough nests should be provided so that there is at least one nest for each six hens. Make the top and sides separate from the bottom, so that it may be removed and easily cleansed. Such nests should be taken out at least once a month and thoroughly 1 cleaned. The sloping top is necessary to prevent the hens roosting | upon the nest. In providing perches many farmers make the common mistake of not placing them on the same level. Hens naturally like the highest roost, and will crowd each other off often, with serious Injury. Six Inches of roost--1 ing space for a hen Is ample. Under the perches a tight, removable dropping board should be provided, which may be regularly cleaned In winter and may be removed entirely In summer. while the fowls are not using the house so constantly. The prirpe essential in handling poultry for success is to keep them clean. Most farm poultry bouses are not tight enough to keep the fowls sufficiently warm; are stuffy and poorly ventilated, and soon become filled with fumes from the droppings until Qiey are decidedly unhealthy. Two extremes are commonly observed, either a large number of fowls are crowded into a small, poorly constructed henhouse or they are left to seek their roosting places as best they can on either a piece of farm machinery or a stable partition.

SELLS GOATS MILA

Big Demand for Product From Babies and Adults. ' i„V „ ’ * Maw York Y7oman Surprises Friends by Successful Operation of Dairy Near Buffalo—Animals Put on Bpecial FeedingNew York.—A New York woman has surprised her friends by making a stlccess of a goat dairy on her farm near Buffalo. "No one was more surprised than my friends when i went iljto this business," she said. “1 hardly know myself how I started. It's one of those thingß which come to you at times when you feel that you must do someing for a livelihood, yet do not know what to do—the result of an inspiration, perhaps. "But you are, after leaving the city abd moving out on this farm for the children's sake, I realized that there was plenty of room to carry on a profitable business if I only knew what to do. "The chief reason I took hold of goat raising, I think, is because I heard our family doctor say that the best thing for young children suffering from summer complaint and malnutrition was pure goat’s milk. He also said that It was the best nourishment for weak stomachs. Furthermore, he declared it was almost impossible to secure goat’s milk In the cities. “This set me to thinking. Here 1 was, an able-bodied woman, and herd was plenty of room for all the goats I could get hold of. So It was ‘goats or give up.’ 1 decided, and I have certainly made a success at it. "In the first place, the worst thing I had to contend with was that I had no ready money. I went skirmishing around and was finally able to borrow SSOO, which amount I considered sufficient as my first outlay. So 1 bought SSOO worth of goats. “These were not of any fancy breed, but just ordinary goats, young and in healthy condition. The goats I simply turned out on my pastures, and the beauty of It Is that the goat can live on very sparse vegetation if necessary. He will not eat the proverbial tla can, but he will get nutriment out of what ordinary animals would starve upon. Accordingly, he is not expensive to keep. “But to get the proper strength of milk in its healthy, pure condition, I put my goats on a special feeding. It was my purpose to sell my milk to druggists and physicians. To succeed I wanted the best product I could get to put on the market. "The eagerness with which my proposition was received by the medical fraternity In Buffalo encouraged me to go in for goat’s milk for all it was worth. I assured these people they could depend on me for a certain sup-

REVENGE OF LOVER

Irate French Youth Vents Spite on Wrong Man. All Paris Laughs at Levon, Who Filled Mouth of His Sweetheart’s Father With Axle Grease and Couldn’t Explain It. Paris. —All the world loves a lover, it is said, but all Paris is laughing at one. His name is Levon, and he was employeij at the Bourse. Whenever his empioyer wanted him he was never to be found but, stocked with a long list of excuses, was always able to retain his position. Finally, however, his employer decided to make a personal investigation. The result was that he suddenly came on his employee hidden in a come- of the Bourse conversing sweetly with a young girl. Not giving Levon time to frame one of his excuses the stockbroker discharged him immediately. Levon would not have cared much had it not been for the fact that In his conversations with his : girl friend he had given the impression that he was a member of the firm. To be "fired" in front of the astonished young woman’s eyes was more than he could bear. He determined on revenge. That evening he bought a pall of axle grease and a long brush. He then posted himself at a corner near the office of his ex-employer. He heard steps approaching and prepared himself. As the man turned the corner Levon dabbed hts face and whiskers plentifully with the grease. The man opened his mouth to yell, but the brush found Its way inside and prevented anything but a sputter. Finally, lipwever. half a dozen strong arms prevailed on the discharged clerk to have mercy. The party adjourned to a police station and the operation of separating the victim from the wagon grease was begun. Levon looked on. not without, enjoyment, until the

Volcano Study Center.

Springfield, Mass. —The "Volcanic Research Society" has just been organized In this city. Its membership will Include scientific men from ail parts of the country, the plan being to make exhaustive investigations of volcanic eruptions slid activities In various parts of the world. Tfcp society plans to make this city the center of information concerning volcanoes, earthquakes and allied phenomena. t . , •

FIRST WOMAN WIRELESS OPERATOR

MISS Graynella Packer of Jacksonville, Fla., lias been appointed wireless operator on board the Clyde liner Mohawk, running between New York and Charleston and Jacksonville, and is the first of her sex to fill such a position. Miss Packer, who is twenty-two years old and very pretty, intends to use the money she earns to sludy music, as she Is especially interested in voice culture and wishes to become a grand opera singer.

ply, and they guaranteed to take alj I could furnish. “This constituted a daily routine of work. I got two helpers, but did much of the work myself. Everything I have about my goat stables is as sanitary as it is possible to make it. The milking is done under the same sanitary rules. My bottling is all sterilized and I deliver my milk in pint and quart bottles, fresh and sealed. No sooner is it received each day at the drug stores and dispensaries than 1t is carried away. I furnish the fresh product to the trade for several cents more than is paid for ordinary cow’s milk. “My milk is bottled and put on the trains every morning in the same manner as the usual dairy business, and the bottles iome back to me

man’s face emerged. Then he almost expired. The man on whom he had taken his “revenge” was not his former employer, but the father of his sweetheart. Levon tried to explain matters to the man he hoped would some day be his father-in-law. But that hardhearted individual immediately made a charge against him. And as mis fortunes do not come singly, his sweetheart, as soon as she heard of the affair, swore never to see him again. The judge, however, had a sense of humor and thought three days’ imprisonment, in connection with his other trials, was enough.

Damage by Wolves in Idaho

Animals Particularly Ravenous and Causing Much Loss to Stock Owners and Ranchers. Boise, Idaho. —Wolves are destroying scores of sheep and cattle In the southern part of the state, according to James J. Gordon, an Orryhee county rancher, who is In Boise for a few days. The animals are said to be particularly ferocious tuis year, for the early season, and many of the ranchers are taking special precaution In the hiring of extra ranch hands to ward off the r ‘.tacks of the ravenous animals. “It Is the most remarkable early winter I have ever seen," said Mr. Gordon, “in the number of wolves which are Infesting the country Not only sheep, but many cattle are being destroyed by the animals, which are traveling in packs over the country Even the coyotes are doing more damage than unusual this year, but the greatest danger to the stockman Is the number of wolves. “The anlmalß are apparently ravenous, which Is an unusual condition at this season of the year, and much trouble Is anticipated when the win-

Painting Brings $400,000.

Vienna.—A report of the accidental discovery among some pictures at Schwarzau, the country seat of the Duke of Parma, of ? canvas by Velasquez. which had been missing for 160 years, is published in the Wiener Journal. The picture is Bald to be an equestrian portrait of Philip IV. of Spain, painted in 1623. According, to the ’Journal the picture already baa been Bold to an English firm of art dealers for 5400.000.

empty for a tresh supply. In a very short time I was able to pay my borrowed SSOO back. Very shortly I shall double my supply of goats and very likely will soon ship my milk into New York city. “The goats themselves are easy to take care of and require about the same average space a goat aB the common sheep, but I should much rather put all the money I had into goats than the latter. Goats are very hardy. "For a farmer’s wife, or any woman who wants to take up an out-of-door existence, I can say that nothing Is better than systematically running a goat dairy. On the size herd I have a woman should be able to clear $1,500 a year and do it nicely and without trouble when she is once experienced in the daily routine.”

Windfall for Farm Hand.

London. —A fortune of $250,000 has been unexpectedly left to John McLusky, a farm laborer of Busby, near Glasgow. McLusky was found by a legal firm, which inserted an advertisement in-a Glasgow paper seeking his whereabouts. The fortune was bequeathed by a brother who died some weeks ago in New York.

Meat Imports $205,000,000.

London.—Frozen meat df the value of $205,000,000 was imported by England last year, said Mr. Stanley Machin at a reception given by the London chamber of commerce to delegates from Vienna inquiring into the meat supply.

ter really sets in severely. Many ranchers have had trouble with them, running into the very barnyards. “Wolves are decidedly on the increase in the southern part of the state, and more have been killed there in the past month than in former years. “In the event that the trouble is not abated, it is extremely probable that united efforts will be made by the Btockman, and hunting parties will- be organized as part of a systematic crusade against them. “Another means, which has been suggested as an aid in their extermination, is an added reward to the bounty given by the state, which would be offered by the stockmen. “Large bands of sheep have bee i removed .rom northern Utah and it is generally believed that this has been responsible for a large number of wolves which have come into the southern part of this state, for they have been forced out of Utah, because of lack of food."

Hen Lived 21 Years.

Biddeford. Me. —Cape Daniel Tarbox’s famous black hen is dead. The captain announced the news along with 6ome Interesting information concerning the hen’s career. She would have been 22 years old had she lived until next May. Her record as a producer has been a remarkable one. the captain asserting that the bird has laid 4.000 eggs The last was of unusual size. However. it was right after that the hen became feeble, and though receiving closest care, died. Her eggs were not her only claim to public attention and admiration, for she had never been licked by anything on the place that wor* feathers.

When the Altar Was Not a Refuge

WHEN Joab the warrior entered the Tabernacle court and laid hold of two of: the two horns or comer projections of the altar of burnt offerings, he had found the place of all places that was: safest for him. And yet it was not safe. .. Joab was David’s nephew, and for many years he had been true to the: great king; only, he was true to the: worst side of David, and not to thaj best side, and so he was not true toi David at all. To be sure, he had fought on David's! side against Saul, and David had made, him commander-in-chief; but Joab chose to follow his own judgment! rather than his king’s, and that is treason. In the first place, Joab slew Abner, the mighty warrior, whom David was moved by the wisest motives to preserve, and whorp the king mourned as "a prince and a great man.” In the second place, Joab slew Absar lom, and by that murder almost broke the father’s heartIn the third place Joab slew Amasa, as he was in the act of kissing him, and thus became the Judas of the Old 1 Testament. Joab’s Final Treachery. In the fourth place, worst of all, he pandered to David’s lust by placing Uriah where he must be killed in the battle, that David might marry his wife, Bathsheba. As a final treachery to David, defying his royal master’s will that Solomon should succeed him, Joab joined David’s oldest son-Adonijah, the secand Absalom In his plots for the succession; and when those were foiled, Joab, the mighty general had nothing left but to flee for his life to the house of God. The four “horns of the altar’’ received the blood of the sacrifices, and in a special way summed up the sanctity of the altar itself. From of old, 1, panting fugitives had laid hold upon them, and gained that protection from merited punishment which the altar and its sacrifices gloriously symbolized. Joab seized upon his last hope when he grasped in his despair the horns of the altar. The Unpardonable Sin. But wilful murderers, by an express provision of the sacred law, were forbidden even this final sanctuary; and Joab was a wilful murderer, trebly dyed. Solomon was acting legally, as well as wisely for his kingdom, when he sent Benaiah, who . slew him. There is an unpardonable sin! —that Is the lesson taught by the Joabs. There is a filthiness that must remain “filthy still,” that even the blood of the Lamb cannot wash away. There is a laying hold even of the horns of God’s altar that does not avail, because the hands alone lay hold and not the heart. No one has committed the unparadonable sin if he dreads sin and longs after holiness; those that brood over this teaching are least of all those that need it. The sin against which the altar of God’s mercy is closed is the sin that, through years of acquiescence in it, has closed the heart against God’s mercy, and made holiness no longer desired. The Joabs fall by inches, till at last they fall even from the horns of the altar.

Loving Others Into the Truth.

We need more than a clear knowledge of the truth in order to get others to see the truth. We may even know the truth and live the truth, and yet utterly fail in winning others to live that truth for themselves. To knowing and doing we must add love —a loving confidence in others, freely and constantly expressed; a quick appreciation of their best points, and a loving blindness, most of the time, to their weaker and unworthy side. Only thus can we lead them on into the knowledge and the acceptance of the truths that they lack and need. If we would effectively close the door to their recognition of truths that we know they lack, all we need to do Is to tell them of their lack, to show our disapproval of this in critical determination that they Bhall realize their failure and adopt our course. Probably no human being that ever lived responded to this course of treatment. Yet it is mistakenly administered by some of the best-meaning followers of Christ, who fail to follow their master ip the love without which they themselves would never have been won to him.

Whole-Hearted Devotion.

Have I given myself up to say that there must be nothing, nothing whatever. to share my heart with God and his will? Is a heart perfect with the Lord my God, the object of my desire, my prayer, my faith, my hope? Whether It has been so or not, let It be so today. Uhke the promise of God’s word your own; “The God of peace himself perfect you." The God who is of power tp do above all we ask or think, will open up to yqu the blessed prospect of a life of wbfbh he ■hall say; his heart »ai perfect with the Lord his God. —Murray. f Wherever souls are being tried and ’ ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely ways—there God is hews ing out the pillars of his Phillips Brooks.