Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1918 — Page 3

A Bird in the Hand

(Special Information Service, United States Department of Agriculture.) IN BUYING AN INCUBATOR—SOME SUGGESTIONS.

A Good Hatch—Give the Incubator Your Personal Attention.

WELL TO SELECT BEST INCUBATOR

Hatcher Found to Be Successful Locally, Usually Most Profitable. MANY MAKES ARE RELIABLE Machines Most Popular In Vicinity Enables Beginner to Learn From Experience of Others—Size Is of Importance. If you are concerned now with the selection of an incubator, you have the choice of many .reliable makes. Since it is not advisable to recommend any particular machine, you would best study the types and decide for yourself. Wherever possible it is well to select an incubator which has given satisfaction in your locality, so that you may get the benefit of the experience of other operators near by. Some machines have become popular in certain sections of the country because they were advertised extensively in that section rather than because of adaptability to the climatic conditions. Don’t Buy Cheap Machine. Cheap machines are less reliable, require more attention and wear out much quicker than higher-priced incubators. As the value of the machine is small compared to the value of the eggs used during the normal life of the incubator, it la poor economy to purchase a machine that is not reliable. The details of construction and equipment of most incubators are so subject to change that it is impossible to state definitely the best kind of lamps, brackets, regulators and other equipment for the different Incubators. The lamp should have a bowl large enough to hold sufficient oil to burn at least 36 hours under average weather conditions; it should be easy to remove and replace and. set absolutely tight in position. The. incubator should be set so that the lamp is at a convenient height and the egg tray convenient to handle. , Size of Machine to Get The best size of an incubator to buy depends upon circumstances. It takes

HOW TO HELP INCUBATOR.

J Follow the manufacturer’s di- ; • rectlons in setting up and oper- • • ating an Incubator. • • See that the incubator is run- • J nlng steadily at the desired tem- 9 • perature before filling with eggs. • 2 Do not add fresh eggs to a tray • • containing eggs which are under- • 2 going incubation. • • Turn the eggs twice daily as- J 2 ter the second and until the • • nineteenth day. Cool the eggs • 2 once daily, according to the • • weather, from the seventh to the 2 • nineteenth day. • • Turn the eggs before caring 2 • for the lamps. • 2 • Attend to the machine careful- » • ly at regular hours. • 2 Keep the lamp and wick clean. • • Test the eggs on the seventh • 2 and fourteenth days. • • Do not open the machine after • 2 the eighteenth day until the • • chickens are hatched. 2

about as much time to care' for a 60 as it does for a 300-egg machine, so that it is generally advisable to get one of at least 150-egg capacity, although special conditions -often exist which make smaller machines valuable. A small machine is often used in connection with a larger one, placing all the eggs in the large machine after the first or second test Incubators of from 800 to 400-egg capacity are generally used on those large farms which use individual lamp incubators. Many poultrymen believe that it pays to have an incubator capacity large enough to hatch tbs bulk of their stock la two

SELLING HENS NOW MEANS LOSS OF EGG MILLIONS.

To effect a saving of 150,000,000 eggs for the food supply In the United States, poultry specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture are making every effort to encourage farmers to keep their hens until after the spring laying season rather than send them to market at this time. Figures compiled by the specialists show that more than 5,000,000 hens, each capable of producing 30 eggs, on \ an average, are sent to market from the southern states alone in the winter and early spring. The “Save-the-Hen” message Is being sent by the Department of Agriculture broadcast through press notices and posters and through its county agents, especially in the southern poultryraising sections, where the practice is more common.

Or three batches, so that much time is saved in tending to the incubators and brooders, while the chickens are more even in size than those that are hatched when the incubating period extends over a longer time. A fair estimate for a poultry farm Is an Incubator space of one-egg capacity per hen v provided that about one-half of the flock is to be renewed yearly and no outside hatching is carried on. The larger machines cost less in proportion to their capacity than the smaller ones.

Early Hatch, Early Layers.

February, March and April are the best months to hatch chickens, but the sooner it can be done the better. Hatching should be completed if possible by the first of May. Chickens hatched before this time will have a good chance to mature and be In laying condition as pullets before the cold weather of fall sets in, and should, in consequence, be producers during the entire fall and winter. This Is one of the chief reasons poultry specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture are urging the Importance this year of the early hatch. Early hatched chickens are also easier to raise, as they live and thrive better than those w’hich are still small when the hot weather begins.

City Chickens Need Room.

Whether the backyard poultry keeper should try to renew his flock either by hatching and rearing chicks or by purchasing and rearing day-old chicks, is an open question. Raising chicks should not be attempted unless a plot can be provided separate from that to which there is grass or where a supply of green feed can be furnished. Hatching under these conditions can best be done with hens.

Patience With Bitters.

To be successful with sitting hens requires careful and faithful attention to their needs, and above all, patience. Even with the best of care some hens prove to be fickle mothers and cause trouble and loss in hatching by breaking their eggs, leaving their nests or trampling on the chickens when first hatched. Most hens of the generalpurpose breeds,. such as the Plymouth pocks, Wyaridottes, Rhode Island Reds and Orpingtons make very good mothers. The heavier class or meat breeds, including the Brahmas and Cochins, are good sitters, but are Inclined to be clumsy on the nest. The Leghorns and other Mediterranean breeds are very nervous and usually do not make good mothers.

Instead of Beef Scrap.

If it Is desired to substitute cottonseed meal for beef scraps in the dry mash for hens the feeder should be careful not to replace more than half the beef scrap with this substitute, as the result in egg production and in the quality of the eggs will be unsatisfactory. Chopped green bone, available at the butcher shop, is an excellent substitute for be** when fed fresh to the hens. Buy it in small quantities as ‘it does not keen fresh very long, and when spoiled it is lik* ly to be harmful.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IN a.

WAR COMMANDMENTS

Ten war commandments for the women of America were proposed recently by the women’s committee of the council of national defense, of which Dr. Anna Howard Shaw is chairman, with the suggestion that they be made the basis for a New Year’s resolution. Here is the,new decalogue: Do not listen to alarmists or slackers. Do not chatter. Keep to yourself the news you hear. Multiply your activities in your home as well as outside. Encourage national industries, avoiding imported ones. Do not complain of the difficulties, annoyances and privations caused by the war. No matter how long the. struggle may last, await victory with strength and patience. Be moderate in your spending; neither lavish in gifts nor sordid in your economies. Exhibit day by day and hour by hour the same courage a man shows upon the field of battle. If you are stricken in your dearest affections bear you sorrow nobly that your tears may be worthy of the hero whose death you inourn. Do not look upon the departures for the front of those dear to you as an abandonment. Be with them constantly in thought, as they are with you, particularly in the hour of danger.

THE CYNIC SAYS

All women who pose are not models. Most of man’s troubles wear petticoats. i f. “ " The man of few words is usually married. Lots of men who have an aim in life lack ammunition. The more birthdays a woman has the less they count. No class of people have more competition than liars. One must dig in order to appreciate die dignity of labor. | One thing’s certain —you don’t need capital to start a rumor. Old bachelors either dodge women or are dodged by them. Many 1 a man has married In haste and paid alimony at leisure. Scene spinsters are so timid that they would jump at a proposal. Everything comes to him who waits. He’ll even get the earth when he dies. —\ Some women are so changeable they never wear the same complexion twice. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may have to go to the dentist.

CONDENSATIONS

A Detroit court has ruled that man-angels are out of place in front of a local cemetery and ordered the <culptor to make certain changes which will transform the effigies into women. For protecting fruit trees from frost an Inventor has patented a tent to be placed under them and diffuse through them the heat from a lamp Inside the tent. Mechanism consisting of a series of jointed strips of metal has been invented In Germany for raising or lowering several ventilators at once by manipulating a single lever. Water valves 12 feet in diameter and so constructed that they will close automatically in event of a break In the pipe line have been built for a hydroelectric plant in Utah. Twenty thousand dollars’ worth of cigarette paper was sent from the United States to the Philippines during the first six months of the past year. The total for the previous year was only $1,612. War-time conditions brought further change of fraternity rules at the University of Wisconsin. The faculty voted to amend the rule forbidding the Initiation of freshmen before the end of the first semester, so as to permit men’s societies .to take in first-year members at the middle of the first semester this falL if their academic standings are satisfactory.

SOME POINTERS

As to statistics, take our advice: Don’t believe ’em too readily. Paddle your own canoe and learn to paddle your fins when it upsets. Some of the people who complain of the boarding house table are those who expect $lO fare for $5 a week. Love your neighbors as they love themselves; the more familiar command is too feeble to reach some people.

FAIRY GODMOTHER

By MILDRED WHITE.

leupyritftp, Western .'iewspaper onion.> Mollie raised her face from the gayly colored book to look at the child. Eagerly the young-old eyes regarded her. “You may take this home and keep it, dear,” said Mollie, “a voyage into the pleasant unrealities will not hurt you. When I was a little girl, I loved the story of the fairy godmother w’ho brings to the poor maiden all that her heart could desire.” She smiled as the shabby little figures went joyously down the street. “It takes so little to make them happy,” murmurgd Mollie. Whimsically her thoughts went back to the fairy godmother. What convenient old creatures they . were, happening along at the opportune moment, returning some passing kindness by changing a hut into a castle, or bringing a fairy prince to claim his own. In real life all was so different. Here she was, after years of faithful attendance upon Aunt Drusilla, left alone in the small cottage, it being her own only upon condition that she remain as tenant. “Oh! for a fairy godmother,” sighed Mollie to the yellow cat, then she went to open the door. A bent old figure stood knocking, and Mollie smiled at her own fanciful thought as the wrinkled face peered into her own. “Does Miss Drusilla Wentworth live here?” quavered a sweet old voice. “No,” Mollie answered hesitatingly. In quick comprehension the woman nodded.

“Gone, I suppose,” she said, “like all the rest.” “Yes,” murmured Mollie. “She was a friend of mine years ago,” the woman explained; “we went to school together.” “Won’t you come in?" urged the girl. The visitor sighed as she sat before the sitting room fire. “It has been a tiresome journey,” she said; “I ought not to have come alone. But —they were all so against my coming. Who are you, my dear?” she asked abruptly, and Mollie told her. “Well, if you are Drusilla’s niece,” the soft voice went on, “you must have heard of Martha Manton?” “I heard,” Mollie said, “that she went away long years ago, to be married.” The old lady laughed softly. “And now,”’ she said, “she wants to come back.” Again the keen eyes searched the girl’s face. “I think I 1 will tell you about it. “£ly son has to go to war. He’s my baby, if he is thirty years old —and it’s very hard. Tom thought that I would be comfortable, during his absence at my married son’s home, but —” The old lady threw out her wrinkled hands and smiled. “I didn’t seem to fit in. At least, I could not fit, in a bedroom where the steam heat does not work. And It’s lonely spending evenings with your thoughts, while all the others are at dances or theaters, so I told them I was going back to my home town to stay with an old friend; and the only friend I could think of was Drusilla.” The girl arose briskly. “Well, take off your cloak,” she said, “and give your bag to me. Perhaps you will stay, say, for a week with Drusilla’s niece. I am. lonely, too, and if we find «we like each other —” “Oh!” cried the visitor rellevedly; “may I really stay for awhile, could you bear with an old body like me? You could call up my son in the city and find out all about me, dearie —” Impulsively Mollie bent and clasped the trembling hands. “Why,” she laughed, “I don’t need to find out the first thing about you; you’re going to be my fairy godmother!” It was pleasant coming In of an evening to find the lamp burning and the silvery head bent busily over Mollie’s own sewing. Or to sing at the piano to a joyously appreciative listener. Pleasant, too, for the young and old faces to smile at each other across the White-spread table. “Why, this Is home at last,” breathed the girl. “This is my home,” said the older woman. “And you will stay?” begged Mollie, when the first week was up. The answer was Interrupted by a summons to the front door. Past Mollie, Into the parlor strode a man’s sol-dier-clad figure. “Mother 1” burst out the man; “whatever did you mean by running away? John wired to camp, and I had leave of absence to come back. Why, mother!” "Dearie,” she entreated, "don’t make me go to John’s home Again; here lam loved and wanted.” “I want her very much,” agreed Mollie. And so, miraculously, during the soldier’s three days of absence, Mollie had two guests. “We had to dismiss our city servants and close up our big place,” the man told her; “too much of a care for mother.” Mollie stared. “You must come and stay with us some time —after the war Is over,” he went on. “You don’t know what a load you have lifted from my heart Leaving her happy makes it so much easier, and—” steadily his eyes looked Into her, “I want gnu to write to me often, will you,? That will help, too—the thought of coming back —to you both.” With her arm about the little old mother, the girl watched him go striding down the road. “It is cold, dear,” said Mollie; “you had better go inside.” And as the man turned for. one last long lock. Mollie waved. fairy godmother," she whispered. “you have brought to me rnj prince”

LITHUANIA

Koenigsberg, Prussia, Claimed by the New Lithuania.

LITHUANIA, which has declared Its independence of Russia, has a history that for hundreds of years was Intertwined with that of Poland, with which it long maintained a loose sort of union. At the time of the dismemberment of Poland’it went for the most part to Russia. Lithuania now comprises the Russian “governments” of Kovno, Vilna, Grodno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev, and Suwalki (the last a part of Russian Poland.) This territory is almost entirely occupied just now by the Germans, who swept over It In their campaign of 1915 against the Russians. In the heydey of the Lithuanians the dominions of their princes extended, however, far beyond the limits of today, reaching even the shores of the Black sea, and embracing districts now Included in Ukraine, Poland, and other parts of Russia.

A most interesting point about the claims of those who have brought about the Lithuanian declaration of Independence Is that, In their extreme form, they contemplate not only the separation of Lithuania from Russia but also the Incorporation into the new state of German territory which centuries ago formed part of Lithuania. This district includes the Important city of Koenigsberg, in what is now East Prussia, as well as Tilsit and other towns. If this district should form part of the new Lithuania, and if an independent Poland should have free access to the sea after the war through the seaport of Danzig, formerly Polish and now German, there would be a small wedge of German territory, isolated from the rest of the empire, between Polish Danzig and Lithuanian Koenigsberg. The Lithuanians re-en-force their claims to Koenigsberg and other cities now under German or Russian rule by pointing to the fact that they have names for them in the Lithuanian language which the cities bore In the old days before they were seized by Teutons or Slavs. ' Once a Great Principality.

The Lithuanian nation in the fourth century of our era was living along the coast of the Baltic sea between Riga and Koenigsberg. From the tenth to the sixteenth century the Lithuanian principality extended from the Baltic to the Black sea. In that territory were White Russians and Ukrainians or Little Russians. White Russians are mostly of Lithuanian stock. Whoever goes from Lithuania to White Russia soon notices that the same types, customs and festivities exist there. The language .of White Russia is 25 per cent Lithuanian, and the attitude of the people toward the Lithuanians is very friendly. The Lithuanians are Indo-Aryans, fair, light-haired, blue-eyed, tall, and strong. They are in no way related to the Slav or Teuton. They are said to have crossed from Asia to Europe about 2.0008. C. They settled along the Black sea. near the mouth of the Danube. Gradually they were driven by other races until they came to the shores of the Baltic, where they finally settled. Here Lithuanians grew and prospered. They were peaceful folk, never fighting unless attacked, busy with agricultural pursuits, and a few with hunting and fishing. As a nation they were prevented from going into manufacturing or Into commerce by physical surroundings, but some of the more venturesome made trips to Roman territory with cargoes of amber and various products of their country. The language of the Lithuanians has been preserved to this day. Some even say that it is the oldest language in user It closely resembles the Sanskrit and. In many cases of research work, is the key to it. Beat Germans and Mongols. The Lithuanians lived in dans until the thirteenth century, when, because of national danger, they banded together. They chose Ringaudas as the first •rand duke of Lithuania, and he soon

collected a large army. He defeated the Germans an* stopped the western advance of the Mongolians. He likewise defeated the Russians and increased the territory of Lithuania considerably. Mindaugis, the next grand duke, a capable organizer and administrator, continued the work successfully. Gedeminas, a shrewd diplomat, as is shown in his correspondence with the popes of Rome and the Teutonic order, was the next grand duke of note. He established the grand duchy of Lithuania on a firm basis, vanquished the Russians, Teutons, and especially the Tartars, and so helped save Europe from the greatest disaster that could have befallen it —Invasion and occupation by Mongolians. At this time Lithuania extended from the Baltic sea to the Black sea. After the death of Gedeminas, his two sons, Algirdas and Kelstutis, reigned, and waged oatties with Teutons and Slavs. In 1569 a sort of dual Polish-Lithua-nian government was adopted. Even, then, Lithuania kept its Independence. In the three partitions of Poland themajor part pf Lithuania was annexed by Russia and the smaller by Germany. Thus Lithuania was removed from the map of the world. The people were forbidden to use the Lithuanian language, and the possession of any Lithuanian books, even prayer books, was considered a political crime, and schools teaching Lithuanian were closed. The Russian government prohibited the use of any type in print but the Russian. The people as a result, smuggled In books and newspapers printed In Latin type, from Germany. Eventually the imperial order was revoked and the use of Latin type re-established. From that time on Lithuanian literature has flourished, many newspapers having been published and many books printed. There are probably about 7,500,000 persons of genuine Lithuanian stock. In addition to these, the Lithuanian state would include 1,500,000 Poles, Jews, Russians, and Germans, making a total of 9,000,000 for Lithuania proper. If Lettland should be united with Lithuania it would add 2,500,000 Letta, making a grand total population of Dr 500,000 for the new nation.

Russian Peasant's Hard Life.

The whole existence of the Russian • peasant is out of joint He is born in a world of earth and wood, where his life is circumscribed by a log cabin that is thatched in fall, when it assumes an appearance of tidiness, but becomes a huge harp for the March winds to play their woeful dirges on. The thatch is fed to the few starving animals, and the dispensable wooden props and decorations used to cook dinner with long before the approach of spring. Here between the unplastered, undecorated walls be lives with his horse, his pig, his hens—always provided he has any—under the same roof, glad of their sociability and animal warmth, being much in need of both. His home is one of the maze of zigzaz, lopsided, weather-beaten, bro-ken-down izbas that stand huddled together, freezing in God’s solemn peacefulness and uncanny dreaminess. Enchantlngly idyllic on a canvas, but * dreadful place to live in.

Java's Sugar Production.

Java is such a fruitful land that one hesitates to specify the principal crop, but it is one of the great sugar-pro-ducing countries of the world. The annual export of sugar amounts to something like 1,700,000 tons. People are so accustomed to thinking of sugar in terms of pounds that nearly 2,000,000 tons of sugar seems to have a stupefying effect on the mind. There are more than 400,000 acres of land under cultivation in sugar on the islandTcf Java and the average yield per acre is four and one-half tons, which is a yield that is high above the average st sugar land.