ee

|

™ Nhe j in yu ‘ : hi N c S

lll Ik i >i wh

Bini:
\ a‘

i :

ies

<- ~* eh ae
_ x “
% ~~ :
re cont amet
o “eg SOO LT
ie
: — eS aS
c- - Se < SSS SS
—_ ~S=
— we Sl
= Mosieg ate Se
a ae rr.
we ~~ -
_ ae) Roh;
~ i tient i a
re. a
Re A Semen
7 ore
$ erate RS
> ~~ aa =o —<-+*
Fonans oe aor
fF pa ah
a hw ay
—_ mane — ~ _ -
“Sz

GopyrightN°

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT:

MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

Th aaele i aan
p + are ce
‘= :

A BORDER OF HARDY PERENNIALS

MAKING
HOME PROFITABLE

BY
KATE V. SAINT-MAUR

AUTHOR OF ‘‘ THE EARTH’S BOUNTY,” ETC,

ILLUSTRATED

Rew Work
STURGIS & WALTON

COMPANY
Igi2

Copyright 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911
By THE CROWELL PUBLISHING CO.
Copyright 1912
By STURGIS & WALTON CO.

Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1912

oe

“7142714298

PUNY ae Te&.

CONTENTS

A PROFITABLE HOME ..
RETIN artes Wg! 1d

THE SITTING HEN AND THE INCUBATOR

RAISING EARLY BROILERS .

THE Pouttry YArp In M1p-SEASON

JULY IN THE PoULTRY YARD
A Flock oF TuRKEYS . .
Ducks AND GEESE...
PIGEONS AND SQUABS . .
Pouttry AILMENTS . .
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN .
eee IOTRED fg)
How to Grow ASPARAGUS
How To Grow MusHrooms

Stx Goop VEGETABLES TO GROW
How To PLANT AND CULTIVATE STRAWBERRIES

How To Grow SMALL FRUvuITS
How To RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS .

ee OSes 05 Sy BLS
LAVENDER AND HERBS. .
GROWING WATERCRESS

My EXPERIENCE WITH BEES .

SToRING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Forcinc RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS

Eg ee yer
CARING FoR House PETs .

RaIsING CANARIES FOR MARKET .

Tue Business SIDE ..

°)

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Border of Hardy Perennials ... . . . . Frontispiece —
FACING PAGE
The Poultry Yard .
eereeen wun Putheys: 8 in bo ok a vee ek ee
EE aaeeE ComBe Ne) fou US ack i ei arn Vo aca ie oe
A Cornet of the Vegetable Garden . 0 2 ke a SO
co LE ER Se ne nee re ag eet egy Man MR ae eye 2
REM MCERIE 5 gt a fae ot) ae) cae cam Heth as amt be a a a

Mae Sekt CIEE |) a sh) SS tee tor Sapo gart ey Oa eee ee

MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

A PROFITABLE HOME

about our emancipation. A disastrous business

venture made it necessary to curtail expenses.
Rent being an especially heavy item, the hunt for a
cheaper habitation commenced. Toiling up and down
innumerable stuffy staircases in tow of slatternly jani-
tors revealed the fact that cheap flats were either over-
crowded barracks redolent of dirty soapsuds and stale
cooking, or overdecorated cubbyholes where children
were tabooed. Evening after evening for two weeks
I returned home weary and discouraged.

Then chance, in the shape of a poultry show, came
to my relief. Instead of a cheap flat and semi-dark
rooms, why not a house and garden, where we could
have chickens, eggs and vegetables of our own?
Friends scoffed; and even my husband, who had al-
ways joined me in planning the ideal home of our old
age, as a place far from the noise and rush of the city,
where we could indulge our love of flowers and ani-
mals, demurred at first, though he eventually became
imbued with my enthusiasm, and told me to go ahead

3

7 is just sixteen years since misfortune brought

4. MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

if I felt equal to shouldering the responsibilities which
city duties would obviously prevent his sharing.

He stipulated also that transportation to and from
his business in the city, and all other expenses, should
come within the newly necessary curtailment of ex-
penses, which limited rent to twenty-five dollars a
month and the housekeeping allowance to twelve dol-
lars a week; that none of our very limited capital
should be risked, excepting one hundred dollars to
cover expense of moving, etc., and that even this sum
should be considered as a loan. To satisfy the dear
man’s cautious, masculine ideas of fairness, I took
twenty-four hours to consider the conditions, and then,
with solemn, businesslike gravity, accepted.

A painstaking advertisement in a Sunday paper, stat-
ing plainly that we wanted a small farm near the city
and a railway station, the rent not to exceed fifteen
dollars a month, brought dozens of letters offering all
sorts of places at all sorts of distances and prices, but
only six real answers. With the writers of these six
letters I corresponded; studied innumerable railway
guides ; took several fruitless journeys; hesitated about
two or three places, then just stumbled upon the right
place.

It is like choosing a new hat or garment. ‘You like
that one, but this one is more becoming. You sud-
denly see something else quite different — hesitancy is
over; the unconscious ideal is found.

The house was long and low and white, standing at
the end of the road, facing a somewhat neglected, old-

A PROFITABLE HOME e

fashioned flower garden, which verged into five acres
of orchard bounded by a river. The man who was
driving me didn’t know to whom the place belonged.
I got out, looked in at the windows, made out that
there was a wide hall through the centre and two big
old-fashioned fireplaces and a lot of odd cupboards.

Outside there was a wood-shed, summer kitchen,
small smoke-house, barn, cow shed, corn-crib and
chicken house. My original destination was forgot-
ten. I was driven back to the station; found out who
the owner was, and where he lived; drove over there,
and ascertained that the house contained four large
rooms and one small one, kitchen, pantry and two cel-
lars downstairs, and five rooms and an attic upstairs.

There are one hundred and eighty acres of land or
more, but the landlord would divide it to suit good
tenants, which he evidently thought we would, be, for
subsequently we arranged to take the house, buildings,
orchard, twelve acres of farm land and four acres of
woodland on a three years’ lease, at a rental of fifteen
dollars a month, with the privilege of taking the re-
mainder of the land at any time during our tenancy
for an extra five dollars a month, and an option of
purchase.

Really, it seemed too good to be true, for it was
within the prescribed distance from the city and depot,
the price of commutation being only six dollars a
month. The river, the old-fashioned garden with its
two great catalpa trees shading the house, and the
beauty of the surrounding scenery, made it almost a

6 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

realization of our ideal home. Thankful joy filled
our hearts even before we had experienced the glori-
ous invigoration of an industrious outdoor life on the
farm, where each day brings some new interest.

All our goods and chattels, including two cats and a
canary, were packed in two vans, which took them the
entire twenty-eight miles for thirty dollars. ‘A kitchen
stove cost thirty-five dollars; three wash tubs, four
lamps anda few necessary tools absorbed another
twenty-five dollars; and the last ten of the hundred
dollars was spent in straw matting, which we divided
between two bedrooms.

Of course, I had to start at the very bottom of the
ladder, buying only with the money that I could save
from week to week from my housekeeping allowance.
A few hens, a few ducks, gradually through the poul-
try family, then an incubator and brooder, to the dig-
nity of a horse and cow; after whose acquisition, the
home became self-supporting, the third year showing
a surplus profit.

Of course, there were difficulties and troubles to be
overcome, but they were all the direct result of my
own ignorance. A friend well posted in country-
home making, from whom I could have acquired vi-
carious experience, would have prevented most of
them. Hence my desire to pass on to practical lessons,
learned during the last sixteen years, for the benefit of
other women.

Our old-fashioned white house and shady garden

A PROFITABLE HOME 7

might not appeal to every one, but no matter what
individual taste may demand in architecture and en-
vironment, there are certain points which must be
observed to insure the health and happiness which we
all desire. The house must be on high ground, with
good subdrainage. How to be sure of the latter point
puzzled me, until an old real-estate man, in answer to
my praise of a place we were passing, said:

“Handsome? Yes, but it is a death trap. Dig a
hole six feet deep anywhere around the house, and in
twelve hours there will be water at the bottom of it.”

Needless to say, this place was not on his list, but
the hint was a good one and has been remembered.
Wet meadows and spring ponds may give no anxiety,
but stagnant water is dangerous, for it breeds mosquti-
toes and malaria. Fortunately, it is generally easily
abolished ; an able-bodied man with a shovel can usually
dig a gutter to some near-by fall in the natural grade
of the land that will drain it. Mosquitoes were one
of our troubles for two years; then three hours’ work
banished their breeding-ground.

As it is a permanent home, and not a summer camp,
which is being selected, shelter from cold winds is
important. The woodland on our place protected
barns, house and orchard. If there is no natural wind-
break, and the place is satisfactory enough otherwise
to make you contemplate buying it in future, it will
be wise to plant out quick-growing trees, which usually
can be bought for little or nothing in the country, and

8 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

transplanted when quite a good size. Inexpensive
country houses do not have furnaces, and like us, you
may not be able to afford one for a year or two.

We found that two large stoves, with the pipes ar-
ranged to pass through the ceiling and into radiators
in the rooms above, and thence into the chimney, would
heat four rooms. ‘The pipe of the kitchen range can
be utilized in the same way. Stoves with cracks and
poor fire bricks waste fuel and warmth, so don’t try
to economise on stoves. |

We have always used an open hearth in the living-
room, because it looks so cheerily comfortable, and a
door at the opposite end of the room opens into the
dining-room, allowing the air from there to come in,
and so preventing the cold backs which are the usual
drawback of a picturesque open fire.

One of the joys of depending on stoves is being able
to regulate the heat in each room to meet all conditions.
Our apartment in town was of the better class, yet just
as surely as an extra cold snap arrived, so surely did
the heating apparatus get out of order. Another
horror was the “ kling-kling ” of the pipes in the dark,
uncanny hours of the morning, when every well-regu-
lated human being ought to be allowed to sleep in
peace.

Having plenty of wood, we used what are called
“air-tight chunk stoves” instead of coal, excepting
in the kitchen, And truly we have never experienced
any trouble in keeping the entire house hot in the bitter-
est weather. But we took precautions, such as keeping

A PROFITABLE HOME 9

the putty around the window panes in good order.
We used sandbags on the ledges, mats at the doors,
and red building paper (which has no odor) or several
thicknesses of newspaper under the floor covering.
Then we opened most of the windows for a few min-
utes every morning, and let in fresh air.

People rave about the pleasures of the country in
summer, but I think city folks more thoroughly realise
the joys of a country home in winter. We found
something delightfully restful about the crackling log
fire on the open hearth, around which the whole family
could gather. There is a “ hominess”’ about it that
can’t be found by the side of a steam radiator. And
could any specialist prescribe a better panacea for a
business man’s overwrought nerves? There, I am let-
ting my enthusiasm for country pleasure interfere with
the practical help I set out to give. And even now the
joys of skating, sleighing and tobogganing have not
been cited.

Making the home comfortable in hot weather is a
very simple matter. A house has four sides — one for
each point of the compass—so open windows and
doors, and catch whatever breeze there is.. Wire
screens are cheap; besides, care in not allowing gar-
bage and water to stand around the premises will
mitigate flies and mosquitoes.

If fate or your fancy has settled you in a new place
minus old trees to shade the lawn and porch, wire net-
ting and wild cucumber vines, which grow very rap-
idly, will furnish a substitute. For keeping provisions

10 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

I found a well-ventilated cellar better than the best
refrigerator. We take out the windows and replace
them with two thicknesses of flannel, which are thor-
oughly saturated with water. At noon time on a hot
day evaporation lowers the temperature several de-
grees, yet the current of fresh air is not obstructed, as
it would be with closed windows.

Well or spring water is usually refreshingly cool, so
an ice house is really not imperative, though I recom-
mend building a small one if the farm provides good
ice, for it is an inexpensive building to construct, rough
boards, sawdust and the ordinary handy man’s labor
being the only requirements. We did not have one
for several years, but then we had a spring-house with
a stone floor and shelves, and a wide gutter running
all around, through which the water from the spring
was conducted, keeping the place almost icy.

Modern improvements are never to be found in in-
expensive country houses, so we found that a bath-
room or some means of taking an all-over scrub would
have to be constructed immediately. We bought a
full-sized tin bath tub with a wooden bottom for about
seven dollars, and placed it in the little room off the
kitchen. A piece of rubber hose was bound tightly to
the escape pipe of the bath tub, and carried through
the wall out into a box drain, thence to a barrel ten
feet from the house, which had no bottom, and was
sunk into the ground. From there, of course, the
water seeped into the subsoil and disappeared.

We thought it was very fine indeed at first, but later,

A PROFITABLE HOME IF

when our ideas and finances broadened, we replaced it
with a porcelain enameled tub and wash bowl, with
properly soldered waste pipes into a tile-drain sink
three feet deep, to prevent freezing.

A pump over the kitchen sink had been the only
water supply, but as that was drawn from a splendid
spring several feet above the level of the house, we
determined, when investing in a new bathroom out-
fit, to stretch the purse strings a little further, and
put in hot and cold water. A waterback was attached
to the kitchen stove, and a sixty-three-gallon boiler
attached. It cost twenty-two dollars and seventy-five
cents. The bath and basin cost thirty-eight dollars.
Fifty feet of one-and-one-half-inch pipe, seven dollars
and fifty cents. One hundred feet of half-inch pipe,
six dollars. Waste pipe, two dollars. Labor, twenty-
two dollars.

When a spring is not conveniently situated, an auto-
matic ram and a cistern will have to be used, and I am
told that they would cost about seventy dollars more.
Even with the new arrangement of the bathroom, we
retain the earth closet, which had been bought some
time before, at a cost of twenty-five dollars. It stands
with its back to the outer wall, through which a trap-
door was cut, to permit the removal and replacing of
pans and earth, This is undoubtedly the most inex-
pensive and sanitary contrivance with which a country
house can be furnished,

The next comfort was a telephone, which cost only
eighteen dollars a year, including local calls, long-dis-

12 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

tance calls, of course, being extra charges. That, with
the rural delivery and daily paper, brings us stay-at-
homes in touch with the great doings of the world
and the little interests of our friends.

We deserted the city in March, but experience has
taught me that the fall is the best time of the year in
which to migrate. There are not so many people look-
ing for country places; the days are bright and cool,
the roads in good condition, and there is much that
can be done in the garden and orchard to facilitate
next spring’s work. By starting poultry in the fall,
one can have broilers ready to catch the early spring
prices. Moreover, it is the early chick that will make
a good layer the following winter.

In the following chapter we will carry the house-
keeping into the poultry yard, for that is the best start-
ing point for a self-supporting home.

POULTRY:

S poultry was the stepping stone which enabled
me to reach the haven of a self-supporting

home, I naturally consider it the best founda-
tion on which a city woman can build her expectations
of rural prosperity. I suppose — and I certainly hope
— that every woman won’t have to begin with just
two or three birds, as I did; but those who may have
to, should find my first six months’ experience com-
forting.

Twenty-one mongrel hens were bought in three de-
tachments, costing fifty to seventy-five cents each.
They were nearly all old ladies with strongly de-
veloped maternal instincts, who delighted in sitting on
eggs and brooding chickens, so we managed to rear
one hundred and forty-eight chickens. We had from
three to four eggs a day for the table, because we
desired to keep only White Wyandotte hens in the
future, and eggs for hatching were bought from a
near-by farm, and cost altogether six dollars, feed for
six months cost four dollars, making a total outlay of
twenty dollars and fifty cents. Ninety chickens were
sold as broilers, realising twenty-two dollars, so the
actual cash profit was only two dollars.

But there was an increase in stock to fifty-eight

13

14 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

pullets, all worth at least one dollar and fifty cents by
the end of the sixth month. By November 22d they
were all laying, the average number of eggs being
twenty-five a day, when strictly new-laid eggs were
bringing from thirty-five to fifty cents a dozen, a
record which I think truly justifies me in recommend-
ing Biddy as the pioneer factor in economical home
making. Even well-bred, industrious hens must have
good conditions and care to be profitable.

There are innumerable breeds and varieties of
breeds, the most popular at present being Plymouth
Rocks, Barred, Buff, and White Wyandottes, Silver-
Laced, White, Buff, Golden, Partridge, and Black;
Rhode Island Reds, which have a plumage somewhat
similar to the old-fashioned game bird, and vary only
in having both rose and single combs; Minorcas, Black
and White; Andalusians, about the shade of a Maltese
cat, single combs; Leghorns, Black, Brown, Buff,
Duck-Winged, Silver, and White.

Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds are very
good birds and probably the latter would be my selec-
tion, if anything could persuade me to desert White
Wyandottes. The chicks of the three foregoing are
all strong and easily reared, but the Wyandottes make
plump broilers at a slightly earlier age, maturing per-
haps a week or two earlier than the others, which are
equally good roasters. I do not know that there is
any material difference in their egg-producing capaci-
ties.

Leghorns, Minorcas and Andalusians are much

POULTRY 15

smaller birds and are considered to be the egg ma-
chines of the hen family; but observation has con-
vinced me that they fall far behind the three heavier
breeds quoted during severely cold weather, when eggs
are most valuable. Hence I always recommend
Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks
for general utility in the vicinity of New ‘York or
further north, and the Leghorns, Minorcas and Anda-
lusians for the Southern states, especially when eggs
are the only consideration, and the birds can have free
range. One of the great drawbacks to the latter birds
is their ability to fly or climb over fences of almost
any height, while the ’Dottes, Rocks and Reds are
easily controlled in yards that are not over four feet
in height.

Whichever individual fancy or environment decide
you in keeping, be advised by one who has bought her
experience: Don’t attempt more than one breed at
a time, and shun a mixed flock of nondescripts, for it
would tax the perspicacity of a Solomon to feed cor-
rectly a tribe of mongrels.

Of course, by pure-bred birds I don’t necessarily
mean expensive prize winners. ‘That would be foolish
extravagance. But all large poultry plants have what
are termed “‘ market stock” for sale in the fall — the
progeny of aristocrats, but lacking some necessary
point for show-room honours. Such birds can be
bought for about a dollar and a quarter each, and will
answer every practical purpose.

Male birds need not be bought until about three

16 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

weeks before the eggs are wanted for incubation.
Then, if your choice should have been Wyandottes,
Plymouth Rocks or Rhode Island Reds, each flock of
seven hens should be headed by a cockerel. Leg-
horns, Minorcas and Andalusians can run fifteen hens
to a flock. The male bird should be as good as you
can afford, for by such means you can gradually im-
prove your stock, until it reaches perfection. It is
safer to buy the cockerels from breeders far distant
from the original home of the hens, to avoid any dan-
ger of relationship.

Whenever new birds are bought, segregate them for
a few days in some small house and yard, to assure
yourself that they are healthy and fit associates for
your birds. Catch the birds, one by one, each night,
while in quarantine. Hold by the feet, the head
down, and saturate the feathers with some good insect
powder from an ordinary ‘flour dredger.

The poultry house should be whitewashed about
every six weeks in hot weather, and as late and early
in the fall and spring as the weather will permit.
Scatter dry earth or sand on the platform; clean and
renew every day. Once a week paint the corners of
nests, roosts and any other fixtures or roughly spliced
joints in the building with kerosene oil and crude
carbolic acid, mixed in the proportion of one pint of
oil to half an ounce of carbolic. Leaves or what-
ever scratching material may be used on the floor
should be raked out once a week in hot weather. All
cleanings should be put into a heap under shelter, or

POULTRY 17

into barrels, for poultry droppings are invaluable fer-
tilizer for the vegetable garden.

Dry, cold weather doesn’t hurt the hens at all, but
after winter rains or heavy snow they should be con-
fined to the house, and unless the weather is excep-
tionally inclement, all the windows thrown open
between 9 A.M. and 2:30 p.m. Very stormy days
we keep them open only while the hens are busy
scratching for the noon supply of corn.

It is the industrious, busy hen that produces the
most eggs, so the first consideration is to keep the flock
busy. We promote exercise by having the small yards
at the back of the houses repeatedly dug up during the
spring and summer. In the autumn the dry, falling
leaves are collected, and used on the floors of the
houses during bad weather. Fresh, cold water is
kept constantly before them in stone vessels in sum-
mer, and in a padded-box arrangement in winter.

Boxes of clean, dry soil are placed in sunny spots in
the house, to encourage the birds to take the dust baths
in which they delight. Hens, having no teeth with
which to chew their food, are dependent on grit to
perform the office of mastication after the food has
passed into the bird’s gizzard, where a sort of grind-
ing process takes place, which reduces hard corn to a
digestible compound. Being near a stone crusher, we
buy the fine gravel by the load. Those not so fortu-
nately situated will find a specially prepared mixture
at any poultry-supply store, or the small flock can be
supplied by smashing broken crockery and glass into

18 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

pieces about the size of hemp seed. Oyster shell is a
very poor substitute for grit, its value being the lime
it supplies for the formation of shell.

Fowls are better off kept in yards; in fact, they
must be so restrained if the highest egg records are to
be reached. In way back times, it was considered a
great detriment to yard fowls, but for some years past
professional poultry-keepers have yarded their fowls,
because they found it was the only way to reach the
top notch. Even now the general farmers still adhere
to the free range idea, and I am convinced that it is
not purely because they think it necessary, but it saves
feed and other bother. It has been estimated that a
flock of common dunghill hens, such as are seen in the
average farm, lay in a year less than a hundred eggs
each. The figures are eighty to ninety. Farmers
who have become breeders, and who thus give the hen
decidedly more consideration, and still adhere to the
free range system, have increased this yield to one
hundred and fifty and better. Breeders who have fol-
lowed the strictly up-to-date methods, and have
yarded their layers, have obtained an average of one
hundred and seventy-five eggs, and some have even
reached the two hundred mark.

Please note that I say fowls or hens, and I do not
mean this to include growing chicks. The line must
be distinctly drawn between the two. ‘The range can-
not be too extended for growing stock. What we
strive for in growing chicks is frame, on which later
we intend to put flesh. This frame can only be built

POULTRY 19

by food, and plenty of it, converted into bone and
muscle by exercise. After the chick has made the
frame, we can safely yard her and put on the flesh,
and thus convert her into a money-earning machine.

The advantages gained by yarding stock are mani-
fold. First of all, by confining stock to a certain
space, we are sure they eat the food provided and in
the quantity we mean them to have. Feeding layers
to produce eggs is becoming every year a more deli-
cate operation. Formula after formula is tried by
different breeders, as an experiment, with the hope of
increasing the egg yield. If we can force each hen to
lay ten a year more, it means a considerable increase
of the total of the flock, and a better return in dollars
and cents to the breeder. Yarding stock is a means
toward this end. ‘The food fed is converted, as we
mean it to be, into eggs, and not into muscle. It is
decidedly more troublesome to care for stock in this
way, and necessitates additional labour and expense,
but we are looking for the increase all the time, and
are thus continually hoping to be compensated for the
extra trouble.

Fowls in yards must be supplied with everything
they require, which means, all they would naturally
seek if running at large. This includes, besides the
grain we feed by formula, green food, meat, a scratch-
ing place and dusting spot, and grit and water. Of
all these I consider green food the most necessary,
and the one thing to be impressed upon the mind, be-
cause it is the one thing too often forgotten. Green

20 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

food of any variety is acceptable. The ideal yarding
of fowls is what is known as double yarding—a
house in the middle and a yard on each side. These
yards can be sown with rye or oats, and alternated so
that the fowls will have a constant green run as long
as the rye or oats will grow, which is until frost.
Failing the double yard system, green food may be
supplied by lawn clippings, whole cabbage, clover hay
or sprouted oats, fed in a variety of ways. Turning
up the ground of the yards with a cultivator or by
shallow ploughing, will bring the worms and bugs
within reach, or sheep heads cut open and fed raw can
be thrown in, and this is an ideal meat food. Ground
beef scraps may be mixed in mash —and last, and
probably the best, cut green bone.

Yarded fowls need exercise. It must not be under-
stood that because they are confined they do not get
exercise, or as much as if let run at large. The yards
should be at least one hundred and fifty feet long, if
they are the width of the average coop, which is ten
to twelve feet. Some breeds are decidedly more
active by nature than others; for instance, the Leg-
horns as compared to the Cochins or Brahmas. This
does not affect the health of the fowls particularly.
A Leghorn is no healthier because of her activity than
a Cochin is. It is simply the difference in their
natures, but because of this excess of activity of one
breed over another, the one must have more room
than the other. The Leghorn stands the confinement
of a coop ten by twelve feet in winter, provided she

POULTRY 21

can be kept actively hunting for her food; but the
same bird would mope and become out of condition
if confined too long in an exhibition coop in a show
room. On the other hand, a Cochin, being of a lazier
nature, forages slowly, and wanders quietly over her
yard, takes things easy in the winter coop, and stands
the confinement of the exhibition coop excellently.

The foraging nature of any breed can be killed by
excessive feeding. Even birds with free range, if
overfed at special meal hours, will take but limited ex-
ercise, exactly as those treated the same way and
yarded. Exercise is induced by short feeding. In
other words, no laying strain should be fed all they
can eat except at night. Hunger induces exercise,
whether a fowl be let run or yarded. Therefore,
fowls fed short and induced to hunt for more, will lay
eggs, while those overfed, in the morning especially,
will sit around moping in the sun, and convert the
food into flesh instead of eggs.

Another advantage of yarded fowls is the certainty
of finding all the eggs laid every day, and then being
able to guarantee them as strictly fresh. This is a
point of great importance, and constitutes the differ-
ence between eggs produced by an up-to-date breeder
with yarded fowls, and those sold by the “ honest”
farmer who collects them wherever found, and cannot
swear that they were laid to-day, not two weeks ago.

The wise poultry keeper will not delay getting.
things in order for the breeding season. New blood —
is necessary to keep up the vigour of the flock. Buy

2 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

the best male bird you can afford. The rooster is
more than half the flock. A good bird will grade up
young stock next spring. Remember even if you
have pretty good birds of your own rearing, there is
danger in inbreeding for more than one season.

Select only the largest, brightest hens for the breed-
ing pens. Reject any which have shown signs of ill-
ness at any time of their lives. The eggs are the main
point; only the best layers should be selected. From
seven to twelve birds are enough for one flock. If
you haven’t the coops, or a long house divided into
compartments with accompanying yards, and can’t
divide your birds into small flocks, adopt the alter-
nating plan. Keep several male birds in a house and
yard separated from the hens, and let only one run
with the hens at a time, alternating them every day or
every week, according to the number of hens. For
example, if I were compelled to keep fifty hens in one
flock, I would keep seven male birds, and let each one
in turn run one day with the flock, rather than allow
three or four birds to remain with the flock all the
time.

Now is the time to overhaul things. There is no
opportunity when spring comes, for then there is al-
ways a rush, and you will bring trouble on yourself
by using coops which haven’t been properly cleaned,
or which have no fastenings, or have broken hinges or
leaks in the roof. The boys want something to amuse
them during the winter evenings; get them interested
in showing off their mechanical skill by making feed-

POULT RY 23

hoppers and drinking-fountains. Self-feeding hop-
pers save a great deal of food, especially round brood
coops. ‘They prevent the grain being spilled or tram-
pled into the ground or spoiled by thunder showers.

The brand of tea which we use in the house comes
in square pound tins, and these we convert into self-
feeders by cutting out two inches of the front an inch
from the bottom, and fitting a sloping false bottom
inside. Any handy boy can look at the picture of a
self-feeder in a catalogue, and make one that will be
just as serviceable. Pound baking powder cans can
have a hole the size of a pea cut about an inch from
the top, and when filled with water and turned upside
down in a two-inch tin pan make capital little drink-
ing-fountains for brood coops, and cost only five
cents for the dish, so there is no excuse for not having
plenty of them, and they save chicks getting drowned
or the water getting defiled, which is usually the case
when open dishes are used. Having all the little
things ready and in order counts for a lot in the spring,
when everyone has more work than he can comfort-
ably do.

At least two-thirds of the letters I receive are about
“mysterious”? cases, nearly all of which are due to
the presence of vermin in the houses. Most of the
women who write seem to be horrified when they find
their hens infested by such pests, but my experience
has been that it is the nicely-kept, presumably clean,
house and flock which is apt to be the worst. Why,
is a puzzle, unless it is that women are apt to keep

24 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

their fowls’ home so tidily clean that one never thinks
of hidden troubles, and for that reason the house and
flock are never drastically attacked, as they should be,
with eradicators and preventives. And, naturally,
the hidden pests multiply undisturbed, and infest the
whole place before their presence is suspected.
Few people know that there are any number and
variety of pests which are difficult to discover because
of other secretive habits. For instance, there is the
depluming scab mite, which is a very minute, vicious
pest, that often causes hens to be accused of feather-
pulling, when in reality the poor things are only trying
to rid themselves of intruders who cause them positive
torture. When a bird is noticed to have bare places
on neck or back or body it is well to catch it and pull
out one of its feathers near the bare spot. Ten to
one you will find a scaly collection near a quill. Rub
it off on to a sheet of paper, and examine it under a
magnifying glass, and you will discover that every
grain that looked like dandruff is a living mite. An-
other tiny atom, which buries itself under the skin of
fowls’ legs, causes itself to be known as “ scaly legs.”
Many of the mysterious deaths can be traced to an-
other variety of the same family which attacks the
air-passages of the bird’s throat, and occasionally
reaches the lungs. The affected bird gets drowsy,
mopes about for a few days, and at last dies from
suffocation, and people wonder what has been the
trouble. Then there are three varieties of fleas, so
dark in colour that they look almost black, which live

POULTRY 25

in the soil, or in cracks and crevices of the poultry
houses, and sally forth when hungry to feed on the
poor defenceless hen. One species of these crawls,
instead of hopping like the ordinary flea, so people
frequently make the mistake of thinking that it is a
plant insect which will not molest poultry. It is all
these unsuspected visitors which attack poultry at
night, rob them of their vitality, and the poultryman
of much of his profits.

Long ago, when I first started my poultry plant, I
found a recipe for liquid louse exterminator and a
worm powder published in some magazine recom-
mended by Dr. P. T. L. Woods, the great poultry
expert. The liquid is easily made, and very cheap.
Dissolve crude naphtha flakes in kerosene oil. Moth-
aline and naphtha camphor are two preparations put
up in packages, which can be bought at any drug
store, and would do as well as the flakes, if you have
any difficulty in getting them. A Boston firm puts
up a preparation with aromatic naphthalens and cam-
phor, in packages which cost twenty-five cents, and
is very good. One package dissolved in two gallons
of kerosene makes a good mixture to spray house,
nests and roosts. For the birds themselves, paint the
inside of a box with the liquid, and keep a bird in
it for from fifteen to twenty minutes. I had a box
made with a compartment one foot square, so that we
could treat six birds at one time. Near the top of
each compartment there is a hole large enough for the
bird to put his head through, and outside we put a

26 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

trough which is slightly raised from the ground, so
that the birds can just reach the contents. Fill it with
small grain, and they keep busy most of the time,
which insures their not being smothered, and their
necks passing through the hole prevents the fume of
the wash escaping too rapidly. Of course, someone
must remain and watch the birds all the time; other-
wise there is the danger of the bird pulling its head
in and being suffocated. To be sure that the bird is
perfectly clean, fumigation should be repeated three
times, with an interval of three days after each. If
houses are kept clean and all new birds are thoroughly
fumigated before they are turned into the flock, it will
not be necessary to attack the whole flock more than
once or twice a year. Nests for setting hens are al-
ways swabbed out with the mixture, and brood coops
get a dose once a week. As soon as any hen shows
signs of, getting broody, she is dredged with powder,
which is well rubbed down into the “ fluff” of the
feathers; then on the tenth and nineteenth days she is
again well powdered, and from the time the chicks are
a week old she receives a dose of powder once a week
as long as she broods them. ‘The recipe for the insect
powder is as follows:

To one peck of freshly slaked lime add half an
ounce of carbolic acid. Mix very thoroughly, and
add same quantity, in bulk, of tobacco dust. Another
powder recommended by Dr. Woods in the same arti-
cle, and which I have used very frequently, is made
by mixing equal parts of finely-sifted coal ashes and

“POULTRY 27

tobacco dust, then moisten the whole with the liquid
louse exterminator. Allow it to dry and it is ready for
use. When purchasing carbolic acid, ask for ninety
per cent. strength, otherwise they are very likely to give
you a much weaker preparation, fit only for medical
use.

THE SITTING HEN AND THE INCUBATOR

initiation, it seems as if I had not fully real-

ised the possibilities of my new undertaking
until the first incubator was inaugurated. As I have
already told you, I did all the first year’s hatch under
hens, and still set every hen that evinces any desire to
assume the cares of motherhood, because it seems Na-
ture’s plan to keep the egg machine in good working
order. Ifa broody hen is not allowed to sit, it takes
several days of incarceration to break up her desire,
then several days more after she is freed before she
commences to lay, and invariably the sitting fever will
attack her again within a few weeks. Now, incuba-
tion takes only three weeks; brooding of chicks, an-
other four or six weeks, and Mrs. Biddy has had a
complete rest, followed by vigorous exercise while
scratching for her babies. So when she is returned to
the yard she is in perfect condition to produce eggs.
Let Biddy sit whenever she wants to, but don’t wait her
pleasure in the early spring, for you might have no
young chickens to sell when they bring good prices.

: OOKING back over the memories of my farm

THE SELECTION OF THE INCUBATOR

There are a great many incubators on the market,
some heated by hot air, others by hot water. If you

29

30 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

select any one of the standard makes advertised you
will get a good, practical hatcher. Printed instruc-
tions for setting up and running are sent out with every
machine, but they don’t emphasise all the important
points quite strongly enough for amateurs. Lots of
people can’t drive a screw home accurately, and fail
to realise that if the head is slightly to the right or left
it throws the fixture which is being attached to the ma-
chine out of plumb, and a hair’s breadth makes a dif-
ference when such delicate appliances as thermostatic
rods (the power which controls the heat), are con-
cerned. A blunder supplies much knowledge. I
should never have realised the necessity for absolute
exactness if one of the screws used in attaching the
lamp support to our second incubator had not gone
slightly awry. It caused the chimney almost to touch
one side of the socket into which it fits. That, in turn,
drew the flame to one side, and caused it to smoke
at night when turned up for extra heat. It was a very
little blunder, apparently, but it almost spoiled the in-
cubator, and quite spoiled the hatch.

To be sure that the incubator fixtures are plumb,

use a spirit level, the only safe guide. After starting
the machine, practise running it for a few days before
putting in the eggs. When the heat reaches one hun-
dred and two and one-half degrees, with the escape dial
hanging the width of a match from the opening, put in
the trays, which, being cold, will lower the heat, and
should close the dial until the trays become warm, and
the thermometer in the machine again registers one

—————— Oe

SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 31

hundred and two and one-half, when the dial should
once more be dangling the match width above the open-
ing. Should the closing and opening not take place
as the heat varies, the machine is not properly ad-
justed, and you must practise until it will bear the test
before putting in the eggs.

The thermometers are supposed to have been tested
before they are shipped, but it is well to buy an extra
one and compare them; or get your doctor, who is
sure to have an accurate thermometer, to do it for you.
The egg tester comes with the incubator. It is a tin,
funnel-like chimney that fits over the lamp, and has a
projecting opening, bordered with black, before which
to hold the eggs. ‘The first test should be made on the
seventh day; the second on the fifteenth day. Hold
the egg, large end uppermost, in front of the opening.
If it looks perfectly clear it is infertile and can be used
to feed young chicks. If it shows a dark-red spot
with spidery legs it is fertile, and must be returned to
the incubator. Dead germs are rarely discernible at
the first testing, except to the expert eye. ‘By the fif-
teenth, the veriest amateur will be able to detect them.

Successful incubation depends principally on being
able to maintain the amount of heat and moisture nec-
essary at the different stages of development. A ther-
mometer is furnished with most incubators, but as yet
hygrometers are not, so it is advisable to buy one.
_ For as they only cost $1.50 each, it would be pennywise
and pound-foolish to do without one. Having these
two little instruments to tell exactly the amount of heat

32 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

and moisture present in the machine, simplifies the
work wonderfully.

Personally, I like to have the thermometer register
102 degrees, and the hygrometer 75, when I first put
the eggs in the incubator. ‘The second week, the heat
is increased to 102%, and the moisture lowered to 70
degrees. The third week, heat from 102% to 103;
moisture not over 45 until the nineteenth day, when
the moisture is again increased to 55 or 60 degrees.

The reason for such fluctuation in the moisture may
need some explanation. During the first stages of in-
cubation it is necessary to prevent the escape of the
water which is part of the egg, as it is needed to keep
the albumen in the right condition for the development
of the germ. After the tenth day, when the embryo
is formed, the water should be gradually allowed to
evaporate, so that the amount of air inside the shell
increases, as it is needed to aid the circulation of the
blood and permit the growth of the chick. Increasing
the moisture again on the nineteenth day is simply
done to soften the inside skin of the egg and make it
easy for the chick to break through.

When extra moisture is to be supplied, place a pan
of wet sand or a damp sponge in the bottom of the
incubator. If the machine is standing in a very damp
cellar, the difficulty is often to keep down the moisture
rather than to increase it.

In this case, keep the trays out of the machine for
a greater length of time when you turn the eggs each
day, and open the ventilators, Probably the safest

SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR — 33

and simplest way to learn how to gauge this im-
portant point of moisture, is to set a hen at the same
time that you start the incubator, and then compare
the development of the air-cell in the egg every few
days. If the development is too slow, open the venti-
lators at the side of the incubator wider, and air the
eggs a little longer each day when you have the trays
out to turn the eggs. Reverse affairs if the develop-
ment is too quick. It is better to run the machine a
degree or two above the given temperature than be-
low it, especially during the last few days.

After the morning of the twentieth day don’t open
the incubator until the hatch is over, or until late on the
twenty-second day, and don’t get nervous if the tem-
perature runs to one hundred and four or even to one
hundred and five; it is caused by the animal heat of
the chicks, and will do them no harm. ‘Turning down
the lamp slightly will of course reduce the heat; but be
very careful not to let it run below one hundred and
three during the last twenty-four hours. Low tem-
perature prolongs the hatch, weakens the chickens and
makes them susceptible to all sorts of ailments.

Individual outdoor brooders I think are the best, for
in very cold weather they can stand in a light outhouse.
I used to monopolise the summer kitchen from Feb-
ruary to April, and then have them placed out in the
orchard. Placing an outdoor brooder under cover is
really only for the convenience of the attendant, for
they are storm proof. If you commence with an in-
cubator that holds one hundred and twenty to one hun-

‘

34 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

dred and sixty eggs you will require two brooders, and
if in a cold or Northern locality, some small house
which can be warmed during very cold weather, if you

propose commencing to incubate in January. A

brooder supposed to hold one hundred chickens will ac-
commodate that number comfortably for about nine
days, after which not more than fifty should be kept
in it. Hence the necessity for two brooders. When
the chicks are six weeks old in cold weather, and four
weeks old in moderate weather, they can be removed
to the small house (the temperature of which should
be kept at sixty degrees during the night). Remem-
ber, incubation takes only twenty-one days, so you must
allow at least three weeks to elapse before starting
the incubator a second time.

Give the brooder a good coat of whitwash inside
before using it. Cover the drum which furnishes the
heat under the hover with two or three thicknesses of
flannel, to make it soft for the little bodies to cuddle up
against. Cover the floor of the hover compartment
with a piece of old carpet or felt, and the outside com-
partment with sweepings from the haymow. Have
the heat running steadily at ninety-five degrees for sev-
eral hours before the chicks are to be put into it, and
keep it at that heat the first seven or eight days. Then
gradually let it fall to seventy-five degrees. Of course,
I mean the heat under the hover. The rest of the
brooder will be—and should be—several degrees
lower.

SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR 35

THE CARE OF THE CHICKS IN THE BROODER

Keep fresh water in vessels into which the chicks
can get only their bills in the outer compartment.
Never neglect seeing that they are all safely cuddled
up to the heat at dusk.

During the bright, sunny hours in the middle of the
day let the chicks have plenty of fresh air in the play-
room; at feeding time, when they are all busy, give
the hover compartment a thorough airing.

When Biddy is doing the brooding, remember she is
pretty sure to need dusting with some good insect
powder. The nest box she sat in should have been
cleaned, and a handful of camphor balls scattered under
the hay of the nest. Moreover, each hen should be
dusted before setting, twice during the twenty-one
days, three days after the hatch is out, and each week
so long as she broods the chicks.

Fresh air, warmth and good food prevent many
troubles almost impossible to cure if once contracted;
so look to the little things.

Thirty hours must be allowed for the proper diges-
tion and assimilation of the yolk, which is absorbed
into the abdomen immediately before the chick breaks
through the shell. When Biddy has done the hatch-
ing do not move her to the brood coop for twenty-
four hours, unless she is flighty and keeps getting off
the nest, in which case it is better to keep the chicks
in a covered box by the kitchen stove until some more
motherly hen can be persuaded to adopt them. AI-

36 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

ways try to set two or three hens at the same time.
Good hens that are well fed and have not been
bothered with vermin seldom give any trouble about
the last twenty-four hours.

HOW TO DIVERSIFY THE DAILY RATION

Now about the all-important question of feeding:
For the first two or three days get ten pounds of rape
and millet seed, pin-head oatmeal and cracked corn,
charcoal, and fine, sharp grit. Mix all together. If
you cannot get pin-head oatmeal, buy hulled oats and
break them up fine. The grain must also be cracked
quite fine; in fact, it is safer to put the mixture through
a sieve which will allow nothing larger than millet to
go through. Then there is no danger of chicks be-
ing choked. Feed the mixture by scattering among the
sweepings, to encourage the chicks to scratch and take
exercise.

Morning and evening make a mash by chopping a
hard-boiled egg, shell and all, green onion tops or
sprouts. Mix with stale bread crumbs, and feed on a
flat pie plate or strip of wood. After the chicks are
two weeks old the oats and corn need not be quite so
fine — more the size of hemp seed, which can be
added to the mixture; so can cracked wheat or barley,
and the mash can be made of ground corn and oats,
with onions and scalded liver, chopped, three times a
week (about a small cupful to a quart of mash).

What I mean by scalded liver is liver dropped into
a kettle of boiling water and let boil up once. Leave

SITTING HEN AND INCUBATOR = 37

to cool in the water. Quite raw it is too strong for
little chicks. For a change I mix the grain with scald-
ing milk two or three times a week. Never make more
at a time than will be fed within the next few hours,
as it sours.

Pot cheese is a favourite dish with all poultry, and
very wholesome. If there is any tendency to bowel
trouble, give them rice water in place of the drinking
water.

Keep brooders and brood coops clean and dry. The
grass around the coops should be kept cut loose, so
that the chicks can run about easily. See that every
coop is closed at night, and do not let the chicks out
while the grass is dewy. Don’t give the hens too many
chicks to brood in winter, for if she cannot keep them
close to her they will die of chill.

=

oes a Se he
oa

A ee eee

RAISING EARLY BROILERS

| DISTINCT branch of the poultry business,
A and one that is extremely profitable for those

who can run it successfully, is raising young
chicks in the winter for early broilers. To commence
on a large scale requires as large capital, but there are
hundreds of men and women who have accommoda-
tions on their premises that would enable them to start
in a small way, and by investing the profits from the
first year they could obtain a really good equipment
for the business.

Of course, the real starting-point should be a good
flock of healthy hens, all of one breed, preferably
Wyandottes or Rocks, for really the hen who lays the
egg has as much to do with the success in broiler-
making as the care one may bestow on the business.

Next in importance is a well-constructed new incu-
bator. Don’t be tempted to buy a second-hand ma-
chine, which has usually been allowed to stand in a
damp cellar or in some outside shed while not in use,
for it will in all probability warp or go to pieces when
put in commission again.

Brooders come third on the list, but are quite as
important as the two foregoing, for there is no use
hatching a chick unless it can be reared, and the heat

B9

40 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

and ventilation of the artificial mother is more than
half the battle.

The up-to-date broiler plant consists of an incuba-
tor-cellar, a nursery, or brooder-house, as it is usually
called, and a broiler-house. Both the latter are
divided into small pens, about two feet wide and five
feet long. In the nursery-house, the top ends of the
pens are inclosed like boxes to the depth of about a
foot and a half, and have hot-water pipes running
through them to furnish heat for the chicks to brood
under. A flannel curtain cut into strips falls from the
top of the inclosed part to divide it from the rest of
the pen, which runs down to the outer wall of the
house, where a large window lets in light and sun.
The pens should have board floors slightly elevated
above the main floor, to avoid dampness, and the divi-
sions are made with a foot board about nine inches
high, and one inch netting two feet high above that.
The brooder-house is divided in the same way, but the
hot-water pipes only run around the walls of the
house, as the birds don’t need the immediate heat to
brood under, after they leave the nursery, when they
are five or six weeks old.

But, until you can afford the proper equipment, one
or two incubators can be run in the cellar of the house
or an unused room where there is no other heat. In-
dividual brooders can be used in place of the nursery
and brooder-house, if you have any light outbuilding
to stand them in. In fact, I like the individual

RAISING EARLY BROILERS 41

brooders better for the nursery period than the pipe-
house system, because it is only necessary to heat as
many as are needed, and with the pipe system the en-
tire house has to be heated, even if you are only going
to use one section.

Most of the different makes of brooders on the
market are made with two compartments: A cham-
ber with a round hover, which is heated with a lamp,
and an outer compartment for exercise and feeding.
The average price is nine dollars, and the machines
are supposed to hold one hundred chickens, but
seventy-five are quite enough; and even that number
should be decreased to fifty the second week, and
twenty-five the fourth week —that is, if the chicks
are to be confined entirely to the brooder. But if it
stands in a warm room, where a small outer inclosure
can be made on the floor of the house for a playroom,
fifty chicks can be carried through to the squab-
broiler age in one brooder.

Chicks hatched specially for the broiler trade have
to be steadily pushed along; plump, juicy meat being
the main object. The first requisite is warmth.
Have the compartment in which the hover is situated
heated up to ninety-eight degrees before the chicks
are put in and keep it so for the first three days and
nights. Keep the door in the outer compartment shut
for the same length of time. On the fourth day it
can be opened and the chicks allowed to run into it,
but the room in which the brooder stands should be

42 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

warm, and the little ones should be watched toward
bedtime, for they are apt to remain in the outer com-
partment and become chilled.

Being chilled even for a short time is fatal to young
chicks, for if it does not kill outright, it causes bowel
trouble and gives them a bad setback which will surely
delay the day of marketing, if nothing worse. After
they are three weeks old, the door in the outer com-
partment can be opened, so that they can run out on
to the floor of the room. Let them have plenty of
scratching material. If the weather is fine and mild,
it will do them good to let them have an outside run
for an hour or two in the middle of the day, but don’t
be in a hurry to harden them before they are five
weeks old, for it is a risky experiment.

Wyandotte chickens when hatched will weigh two
ounces. If all goes well they should gain two ounces
during the first ten days; four ounces for the third
week; another two ounces in the fourth week, and at
the end of the eighth week they should weigh two
pounds.

The entire life of a chicken intended for a broiler
is so artificial that few if any of the rules for raising
ordinary chicks can be applied to them. The great
aim is to develop them as quickly as possible, for, to
get the best price, a broiler must grow quickly and be
plump.

Like all newly-hatched birds, they must have noth-
ing to eat for the first thirty-six hours. After that
commercial chick-feed (which is a mixture of all sorts

RAISING EARLY BROILERS 43

of small seeds and cracked grains) should be their
sole diet for ten days.

‘When there are only small quantities of chicks to
feed, and cash is of more value than time, it will be
cheaper to mix the feed at home. Take one quart
each of finely-cracked corn, bran and hulled oats; mix
_ with the same quantity of golden millet, rape, Kafir-
corn and very sharp, fine gravel, crushed charcoal
and finely-chopped clover-hay. Mix thoroughly, then
pass through a fine sieve, to insure there being no
large pieces of the corn or oats for the babies to choke
themselves with. For the three days they are confined
to the hover department, put a small pan filled with
the mixture in each corner and, instead of water, fill
a small drinking-fountain with milk which has been
scalded and allowed to cool. Leave it with them for
ten or fifteen minutes, at morning, noon and again at
about 3:00 P.M. It must not be allowed to remain
all the time, because the heat from the hover will turn
it sour.

After they are allowed access to the outer compart-
ment, mixed grain should be scattered on the cut hay
(or whatever is used to cover the floor) so that the
chicks will have to scratch which compels them to take
enough exercise for healthy growth. The plan is to
feed little and often. The milk can be allowed to
stand in the outer compartment, but the fountain must
be thoroughly cleansed and scalded every day.

After the tenth day, the door of the outer compart-
ment can be opened and the chicks given further lib-

44 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

erty, if there is a stove in the building to warm the
atmosphere; but if there is not, don’t let them out of
the brooder until they are four weeks old. In either
case their diet must be slightly changed after the tenth
day. Steam some of the chopped clover-hay — about
a quart — and add one pint of coarse corn-meal, one
pint of ground oats and half a small cupful of chopped
liver which has been boiled for five minutes (raw
liver is too strong for such young birds, but it should
not be boiled more than the five minutes). Feed once
a day atnoon. Put the mash into two or three dishes,
so they can all get a chance to eat at once. Remove
any that is left at the end of ten minutes. If it is not
possible to get fresh liver, use one teaspoonful of
beef-meal or any of the commercial meat preparations
which are ground fine. Continue to scatter the dry
grains three times a day.

When they are four weeks old, give mash twice a
day about 9:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M., increasing the
allowance of meat slightly; and if you have plenty of
skim-milk, make cottage cheese and give it to them
as an extra once or twice a week. From the fourth
week keep a pan containing grit and charcoal always
before them. After they are six weeks old increase
the quantity of corn-meal in the mash, and corre-
spondingly decrease the ground oats, until all corn-meal
and no oats are being used. Also, stop steaming the
clover and mix it dry with the other ingredients; then
moisten the mash in scalded milk in which suet has
been boiled (one pound of chopped suet to four quarts

RAISING EARLY: BROILERS 45

of milk). Boil for fifteen minutes. Feed it three
times a day —9:00' A. M., 12:00 M. and 3:00 P.M.
The last two weeks before killing, omit all the dry
grain; feed nothing but mash, made as before, only as
soft as possible without being sloppy. Feed four
times a day all they will eat in ten minutes, but on no
account leave food before them longer than that, or
they will become satiated. Birds pushed along should
be in fine condition for market when from ten to
twelve weeks old.

Our broilers are never given water to drink, but
always scalded milk. Scalded milk invariably checks
any tendency toward bowel trouble and is also a strong
factor in making the flesh tender and juicy.

THE POULTRY-YARD IN MID-SEASON

to the sentimental feeling most people have

for infant things, that they are invariably
well cared for until they are deposed by new ar-
rivals, or reach the half-fledged, long-legged period
of gawky ugliness. Then they are almost surely neg-
lected, especially by the amateur, who does not realise
that the intermediate stages are of paramount impor-
tance. It is a waste of time and money to hatch
chicks and feed hens heavily in the winter, if they are
allowed to reach a standstill period during growth.

When chicks are eight weeks old, they should be
separated from their mothers, and the families di-
vided; the young pullets being relegated to colony
coops, in an orchard or partly shaded meadow, where
they will have extensive free range; the cockerels be-
ing placed in the semi-confinement of yards, as their
ultimate fate is the frying-pan, which necessitates
plump bodies, while free range would only develop
frame and muscle.

Our colony houses are six feet long, three feet
wide, thirty-six inches high in front, and twenty-four
inches at the back. They are made of light scantling;
the ends, back and roof being covered with roofing-

47

B ABY chicks are so pretty, and appeal so strongly

48 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE,

paper, and the front, to within eight inches of the
ground, with unbleached muslin, which insures perfect
ventilation and prevents rain beating in upon the birds
when they are on the roosts, which are fixed a foot
from the bottom and nine inches from the back of the
coop. Two holes are made, nine inches apart, in the
middle of each end of the coop, and a heavy rope
knotted through them, to form handles.

The coops having no flooring, and the whole con-
struction being light, they are easily moved to fresh
ground each week, and so kept clean with little trou-
ble, an important item when there is a large quantity
being used. Having a large orchard, we placed the
coops in rows thirty feet apart, as two sides of the
orchard adjoin woodland, through which a never-fail-
ing spring-stream runs, so the birds have a splendid
range.

Twenty birds are placed in each coop. The first
week a portable yard, five feet long, is placed in front
of each coop so that the young chicks cannot wander
off and get lost, as they surely would in strange quar-
ters. During that time a self-feeding hopper and a
drinking-fountain are placed inside of the coop.
When the yard is removed, the individual vessels are
dispensed with, large drinking-tubs and feed-hoppers
being stationed midway between every four coops, to
reduce time and labour in caring for the birds. ,

The large hoppers are nothing more than boxes, five
feet long, two feet wide and six inches deep, over
which is placed an A-shaped cover, made of slats, one

GavaA AALTINOd AHL

.
.
.
.
1

POULTRY-YARD IN MID-SEASON 49

inch apart, to prevent the birds getting into the box
and scratching the grain onto the ground, where it
will be wasted. For water, five-gallon kegs are used,
with. an automatic escape, which keeps a small pan
continually full. Both feed and water are placed un-
der a rough shelter, to protect them from sun and
rain. Using such large receptacles, it is only neces-
sary to fill them every other day.

Feed consists of a dry mash, composed of ten
pounds of wheat bran, ten pounds of ground oats, one
pound of white middlings, one pound of old-process
oil-meal and ten pounds of beef scraps, all well mixed.
In addition to that, they receive at night a feed of
wheat and cracked corn — two parts of the former to
one of the latter. About half a pint is scattered in
front of each coop, at about four P. M.

Grit is supplied in large quantities. Being near a
stone-crusher, we buy the screenings by the cart-load
and dump it in heaps on the outskirts of the orchard,
where it does not show, but is quite accessible to the
chicks.

On these rations, without any variation, the pullets
are kept until September, when they are transferred
- to their winter quarters — houses twelve feet wide,
ten feet high in front, sloping to eight feet at the back.
Each house is divided by wire netting into twelve-foot
compartments, in each of which forty birds are kept.

Winter feeding commences as soon as the birds are
settled in their houses, and consists of the same mash
as when on range, except that ten pounds of corn-

50 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

meal is added, and, instead of the ten pounds of com-
mercial beef scraps, sixteen pounds of freshly cracked
‘green bone is used, and, in place of being before them
all the time, it is fed once a day, just what they will
eat up clean in fifteen minutes.

Until three years ago, we used to moisten the mash
and feed at eight o’clock in the morning. Now we
feed it dry, at 2 P.M.; at night, wheat, cracked and
whole corn, scattered over cut straw, which covers
the floor of the house. The proportions are three
pounds of whole corn, one pound of wheat and two
pounds of cracked corn. The birds are always eager
for the whole corn, and, as they run about to pick it
up, the cracked corn and wheat get shaken down into
the litter, so they rarely get any but the whole corn at
night, which fills up their crops and keeps them warm
until morning, when the fine grain induces them to
scratch — vigorous exercise, which sets their blood
circulating and keeps them busy until 8 a. m., when
the drinking-fountains are filled up with hot water.

For green food we use Swiss chard, cabbage and
rape until frost destroys the supply, after which we
resort to clover hay, chopped and steamed. It is fed
at about 11 A. M., a large panful to each compartment,
and at the same time a pint of wheat and cracked oats
is scattered on the floor. Sharp grit and oyster-shells
are always before them, and in very cold weather the
drinking-fountains are filled up again with hot water
at eleven and three o’clock.

If you have no orchard, or other partly shady place

POULTRY-YARD IN MID-SEASON | 51

for coops, it will be necessary to erect some sort of
shelters for the birds to rest under during the heat of
the day. Any sort of material or shape will do, so
long as protection from the sun is afforded. If free
range is quite impossible (as it often is for suburban
poultry-keepers), the birds must be given as large
yards as possible and supplied with lots of scratching
material, over which small grain must be scattered two
or three times a day. Fresh green bone will be better
than the beef scraps. Vegetable food is most impera-
tive under such circumstances. Sow a large patch of
Swiss chard; it is a true cut-and-come-again crop.
Oats and rape are also useful crops for poultry-keep-
ers who can give their birds free range through the
summer.

A word of warning: If you are reduced to cutting
grass, or use lawn-clippings, be careful to have them
cut into short lengths of not more than an inch, other-
wise the birds may become crop-bound.

The cockerels which go into the market-pen are
fattened and sold as quickly as possible, except the
few we keep for stock, and these are given large yards
and fed in the same manner as pullets on range.

For fattening birds, use ground corn and oats in
equal parts, add half a part of charcoal and moisten
with skim-milk. Give plenty of green food and sharp
grit. Feed little and often. All expedition must be
used in the matter of marketing, for every day’s delay
after they reach the desired weight is a dead loss.

Constant culling and marketing is one of the great

52: MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

secrets of success. Culling must be observed just as
rigidly when selecting winter stock. Discard any
faulty birds. There are always some in every flock,
even if the parent birds have been blue-ribbon speci-
mens: Crooked tails or feet, ear-lobes which are red
instead of white, or white instead of red, according to
the variety you may be keeping. Wyandottes, Or-
pingtons, Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas or Cochins
should all have bright-red ear-lobes. Leghorns, Mi-
norcas and Andalusians should be pure white. It is a
bright, energetic-looking pullet which makes the best
layer, and it is not profitable to keep any but the best
layers, so put them into small pens and fatten. The
young roosters bring good prices in the fall, and their
absence from the farm reduces feed-bills and prevents
crowding in the house, which is always disastrous.

Do not delay, after September first, in getting the
pullets into their winter quarters, for it is most im-
portant that they become accustomed to their new sur-
roundings and reconciled to the change from free
range to semi-inactivity. It often takes five or six
weeks for them to become accustomed to the new con-
ditions, and, unless they have time to adjust them-
selves, they won’t start laying until cold weather sets
in, which means that the egg-crop is likely to be un-
profitably delayed.

JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD

try-farmers realise that July is one of the most

important months in the year. The desire to
have eggs in zero weather invariably compels good
attention to the hens during the winter. Baby chicks
arouse interest in the spring, but as the weather gets
warmer, eggs are plentiful, and the pretty, fluffy babies
developed into long, lanky creatures, who seem noth-
ing but a nuisance specially ordained to destroy the
garden, so the poor things are shut up in small quar-
ters and wofully neglected. During the fall and
winter I am repeatedly asked how to make pullets and
hens lay, but I can rarely suggest a remedy, because
nine times out of ten it is the result of blunders made
during the preceding summer.

I don’t believe in sacrificing the garden to the chick-
ens, but I do think they should be properly controlled.
A roll of two-inch-mesh wire netting five feet high
costs only about four dollars. At the price of eggs
nowadays a few dozen will pay-for it. Posts can be
cut in the wood-lot on most farms, so a yard for a
good-sized flock can easily be made for less than five
dollars. The best plan is to run a division fence down
the centre, so the birds can be confined in one half

53

1: is strange that few people except the real poul-

s4 | MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

alternately, for by such means a supply of green food
can be kept growing until frost. The ground should
be ploughed, and seeded to rye or oats, before the wire
is put up. If poultry is to be profitable, the old and
young stock must be kept apart, because it is impos-
sible to feed correctly when they are all together.
Young birds need plenty of nutritious food to push
them along quickly, and laying hens must be put on
special rations to bring about early molting, which is
the foundation of a good winter supply of eggs.
About July 5th commence to cut down the feed
gradually, until at the end of two weeks forty hens
are having only a pint of oats and a pint of wheat
mixed, night and morning. Scatter it amongst cut
straw or some litter, so they will have to scratch for
every grain. The first of August commence to in-
crease the rations, and keep it up for a week, so that
by the fifteenth they are getting two quarts of mash
in the morning, a quart of meat scraps and a pint of
cracked corn at noon and wheat and oats or barley at
night. Give them just about all they will eat up clean
in fifteen minutes. The morning mash should be
composed of two parts ground feed (corn and oats),
one part white middlings and one part oil-meal, mixed
with scalding milk or water. The semi-starvation
followed by the heavy feed forces the moulting season
and allows plenty of time to feather out and get into
condition before October, when their rations should
be made up of the essentials for egg-production, which
are clover hay, bran, wheat, corn and animal food.

JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD 55

You see, it takes about three months for hens to get
rid of their old feathers and put on a new coat, and if
the process is not forced in some way, they will not
commence before August, which would make it Octo-
ber beiore they finished. Of course that would be
time enough if it happened to be a warm, late fall,
but if cold winter weather sets in, as it often does in
November, hens would not lay before spring, as
moulting leaves them in a more or less debilitated con-
dition. |

Lots of people make the mistake of selling off hens
as soon as they cease laying at this season, which
means that they are usually parting with the birds that
would make the real winter layers. Hens that lay
through the summer, and do not cease until the fall,
will be idle and unprofitable in the winter. It is the
general disregard of the moulting period which causes
so many failures in the winter supply of eggs. The
rule should be to sell off all the hens that have been
laying steadily through the summer and commenced
to shed feathers in September. Growing feathers is
a trying ordeal, and the consequence is that when the
hen begins to moult she ceases to lay, for she cannot
produce eggs and feathers at the same time.

Feathers are composed largely of nitrogen and min-
eral matter. That is why the food at moulting time
has to be so very nutritious. To feed nothing but
corn at such a time is simply waste, as the hen cannot
produce new feathers from such a diet. If she is on
free range she would have a better chance of gather-

56 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

ing the necessary material, but even then, if tae
feathering process is delayed too long, the hen becomes
exhausted, and is susceptible to cold and all sorts of
diseases. This is the real reason why roup and
swelled head are so prevalent in the fall.

Young birds hatched out in April or thereabouts
usually commence to lay in November, because they
have not been subject to the drain upon the constitu- |
tion caused by moulting. But chickens that have been
hatched in February or early March are very liable to
moult late in the fall, just when they should be com-
mencing to lay. For this reason it is as well to
market all the first-hatched chickens, and hold over
those hatched late in March or through April, to in-
crease the laying flock.

Cull all young stock down closely. Don’t keep a
lot of young cockerels to eat up the profits during the
winter. Even pullets which are at all backward should
be marketed, for they won’t develop after cold
weather sets in, and it does not pay to keep them
through for summer layers. Most of the failures
made in the poultry business are due to people not
having the courage to clean out non-productive birds.
Just calculate how many quarts of feed ten growing
birds will eat in seven months, and I think you will be
convinced that it is unfair to expect the flock to sup-
port them and still show a profit. The trouble is that
people don’t realise that young stock stand still as soon
as cold weather starts, remaining almost stationary
until spring. Another evil of keeping undeveloped

JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD 57

stock is that they occupy house-room and crowd the
older birds.

Now is the time to wage war on vermin, while the
bright days last; turn the hens out and have a good
housecleaning. Use plenty of hot limewash to which
kerosene and crude carbolic acid have been added. If
you have two houses, crowd all the birds into one for
a few days, and when the empty house has been thor-
oughly cleaned, commence to catch the birds at night,
and powder thoroughly. Use Dalmatian or the home
made powder in an ordinary tin flour-dredger, and
after shaking a good supply into the feathers, use your
hands to rub it well into the fluffy parts near the skin.
It is well to repeat the dose about three days after.
In thus doing house and birds at the same time, you
may be reasonably sure of having exterminated the
pests for a few months, at least. Remember to rake
up all the falling leaves, to be used for scratching ma-
terial. A bagful scattered on the floor of the chicken-
house once or twice a week will increase the egg-yield
and keep the birds healthy during enforced confine-
ment.

Before I forget it, let me remind you not to feed
new corn to the fowls. Every year, about this sea-
son, I get quantities of letters telling of good, fat hens,
the picture of health, which have been found dead.
Acute indigestion, brought on by eating unseasoned
corn, is the cause. So be careful. If your last year’s
supply has run out, it is better to buy a few bags than
lose hens on whom you depend for winter eggs.

58 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

Store all the cabbage or other green vegetables you can
before it is too late. Look the house over and stop up
all cracks and crevices. A draft from a small hole
may give one bird a cold which may develop into roup
and infect the whole flock, though an open-front house
with only muslin screens may be healthy.

About open-front houses, I don’t believe in them
for laying stock. If I were going to carry a lot of
young birds or hens which will not lay until April, I
might adopt the open-front house as a matter of
economy, but not otherwise. I can’t see what is
gained by them —that is, in cold latitudes. In the
South they are probably all right. We all know that
the great precentage of food supplied during cold
weather goes to keep up bodily warmth, and that if we
expect eggs in zero weather we must supply the hens
with sufficient provisions to nourish the body, gen-
erate heat and allow a surplus to be converted into
eggs. By providing tight, warm sleeping-quarters,
we save some of the food which would be used for
warmth in a cold house. Plenty of fresh air I do be-
lieve in, but everything likes to be warm during the
still, dark hours.

I have often seen the argument used that wild birds,
which have no houses at all, are always healthy. But
how often do we hear about numbers of birds being
found dead after a severe storm. What is more, wild
birds only lay during the spring of the year. When
man upsets Nature’s laws to supply human wants, he

ey ING THe’ POULT RY-YARD 59

should stop quoting Nature’s ways. Our present-day
hen, which lays, or is expected to lay, one hundred
and eighty to two hundred eggs a year, is a very differ-
ent creature from the wild hen, and she must be pro-
vided with better food, housing and care.

As of course you know, different food materials
contain different qualities. Some give us the fat nec-
essary for warmth; others, nitrogenous qualities,
which form flesh; still others, minerals, such as lime,
soda, etc., etc., needed for bone and muscle. All
kinds of animals, birds, and even human beings, re-
quire some quantity of these ingredients, otherwise
one part of the body or nervous system will be starved,
while another will be overfed. With the hen it is of
great importance that she have all these different in-
gredients well blended in her food, as she requires
them not only to sustain her in health, but also for the
formation of eggs.

We will start with the foods that give the greatest
quantity of lime, because it is needed for shell, and
some fractional part in the white and yolk, most essen-
tial, for it is turned during incubation into bone, the
very foundation of the chicken. Clover hay, linseed-
meal and wheat bran contain about six pounds of lime
in every hundred, and turnip-tops, carrots and all
grasses have a goodly percentage. Flesh comes from
nitrogenous or albumenal foods, first of which are
beef, linseed-meal, middlings, bran, clover hay, wheat
and skimmed milk. Fat and heat we get from car-

60 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

bonaceous provenders, among which corn and buck-
wheat lead, closely followed by oats, wheat, rye, clover
hay, linseed-meal and unskimmed milk.

Mineral matter — lime, soda, potash, magnesia and
sulphur — is principally formed by the action of di-
gestion reducing the matter containing these ingredi-
ents to ash. The usual troubles assailing poultry on
most farms come from the feeding of only one of
these elements. Poor Biddy has all flesh and no
warmth, or all fat and no flesh.

Kill a bird that has been fed on corn only, and it
will be heavy with layers of internal fat, but showing
avery poor depth of breast-meat. Balancing rations,
trying to equalise flesh, fat (warmth) and mineral,
is not a very hard proposition when the values of even
a few grains and plants are realised.

Having read so far, you will now realise that clover
hay, linseed-meal, bran, wheat, oats, beef scraps and
unskimmed milk contain practically all the equivalents
of summer foods; the addition, therefore, of corn,
buckwheat or rye in cold weather is safe and simple if
given only as warmth-makers. Never allow the pro-
portion to exceed what is needed for that purpose, or
fat will be made and stored, neutralising all your care.
In other words, the hen fed on corn only, in order to
accumulate the ten parts of flesh and twenty parts of
fat needed for the egg, will be compelled to acquire
fifty parts more fat than she requires.

Green bone and water now alone remain for con-
sideration. The former is beyond doubt the best of

JULY IN THE POULTRY-YARD 61

egg foods, qualifying as it does in nearly all the needed
elements. Many farmers scoff at the idea of having
to pay for a mill to cut up bone for chickens, yet the
same men will not grudge a hay-cutter for the horse
and cow. Green bone means fresh bone from the
butcher, which can be bought for about two cents a
pound. The mill to grind it ranges from eight to
fifteen dollars.

Green bone contains the natural meat, juices, blood,
gristle, oil and mineral matter in soluble condition,
which renders it easy of digestion, especially for birds
— almost all the components for eggs (white, yolk
and shell), in the most concentrated form possible.
So, if eggs are to become profitable, the bone-mill must
be kept going. When it is impossible to obtain the
green or fresh bone, the ground bone sold especially
for poultry can be used, though it is not half so satis-
factory, because the drying process it has to submit to
before grinding leaves little but the phosphate of lime
and earthy matter, which clover and bran furnish in
better form. At least half the egg is composed of
water, surely a sufficient reason for impressing the
importance of a generous supply accessible at all times,
in clean dishes, of a proper temperature, cool in sum-
mer and the chill off in winter.

:
7
Mi,
i ok
mit

sy
’

ik

A FLOCK OF TURKEYS

HERE are six varieties of turkeys: Bronze,

White Holland, Bourbon Reds, black, buff,

slate and Narragansett. But the three first

are the ones most worth raising specially for market,

as they are large birds and the most popular varieties.

So it is easy to get good stock, to start with, which is
of paramount importance.

A trio of any one of the three varieties will cost
from fifteen to twenty dollars, and if only twenty
birds are reared the first year for market, they will
bring at least sixty dollars. That is placing the aver-
age weight at twelve pounds and price twenty-five
cents a pound. ‘This is, however, absurd, when you
consider that young toms weigh twenty pounds and
pullets fifteen, feed could not possibly cost more than
ten dollars, which would leave thirty dollars’ profit the
first year.

A successful turkey-raiser told me he had kept his
birds in yards for twelve years, so I felt safe in adopt-
ing the plan. I suppose I ought to have said in-
closures, for they covered about half an acre each.
The land was shaly, with a rocky background, but
there were plenty of clumps of scrub brush and ferns,
from the rocks to the top of the two acres they used.

63

64. MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

The ground sloped to the south; a spot of no earthly
good for any other purpose, but perfectly ideal for
turkeys.

However, as our farm had no such place, I utilised
a strip of poor brush land which had good natural
drainage and made three inclosures, each one one hun-
dred feet wide and three hundred feet long. An
open-front shed twelve feet long and ten feet wide
was built in each. They were just rough shelters
built out of slabs and the only fittings were perches
made out of sassafras poles, none of them less than
nine inches in circumference. ‘This is one of the im-
portant items in fixing a place for turkeys. Being
heavy, large-footed birds, they are uncomfortable and
positively suffer if condemned to balance themselves
on slight perches such as chickens use.

It took four loads of slabs to make the three sheds,
and they cost seventy-five cents a load at the sawmill.
Wire netting cost forty-eight dollars, perches and
posts were cut in our own woods, and the home help
did the work.

I got ten female birds from the Massachusetts farm
for fifty dollars and two toms from Long Island for
twenty dollars. We sent for the birds early in
December so that they should have time to get thor-
oughly at home in their new quarters before the laying
season. Before they arrived, the front of the sheds
was covered with wire netting, so that we could keep
them shut up at first, but after two or three weeks it
was removed and they were allowed the range of the

SASHA AO AD0ld Vv

A FLOCK OF TURKEYS 6s

yards. The wire around the inclosure was only four
feet high and one wing of each bird was cut to prevent
them flying over it.

Early in March a half-barrel was secreted among
the brush, in both the occupied yards, so that the hens
would be accustomed to their appearance and, we
hoped, consider safe hiding-places for their eggs.
The plan answered splendidly. About the middle of
the month we commenced to keep a lookout for eggs
in the half-barrel and for stolen nests. When an egg
was found, it was purloined, and a china one put in
its place; ditto when the second egg was taken, but
after that, no more china eggs were dropped, for two
always seemed to satisfy Mrs. Turkey.

Unlike common hens, turkeys are not attracted to
a nest by an egg. In fact, they retain so much of
the wild bird that they will not adopt a nest that has
been used by any other bird, so never distribute nest-
eggs as decoys, but only as substitutes for those
abstracted. -

The matter of feeding the old birds is of great im-
portance and is the rock most farmers founder on.
Too often the birds are left to forage for themselves
or, at the best, are given uncertain quantities of corn,
which means that they are miserably thin and dilapi-
dated or outrageously fat. In either case they lack
the components which the egg for hatching should
possess. Result, weak youngsters which are doomed
to die, no matter how much care is lavished on them.

I once heard an old poultryman say that the care

66 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

of the chick must commence when its mother is
hatched. This may seem ambiguous to the amateur,
but it is literally a fact and one which my Massa-
chusetts friend had made me understand was most
potent when applied to turkeys. So our turkeys are
fed with special reference to supplying the ingredients
to be converted into bone and vigour in the birds to
be. Breakfast: Chopped clover-hay, steamed over-
night, two quarts; corn and oats ground together, one
quart; beef-scraps, half a pint. At noon, one quart
of oats, Kafir-corn or barley scattered broadcast in the
yards. At night, whole corn when the weather is
very cold, but as it moderates in the spring the amount
is decreased and wheat is used in its place.

These are their regular rations from December to
April, when the beef-scraps and corn are entirely
omitted. Water and grit is before them all the time.
We buy screenings from the stone-crusher and, as it
is cheap, dump a lot into each yard twice a year.

I generally steal the first ten eggs from each nest
and set them under the hens. However many a
turkey lays after that, she is allowed to keep and hatch
them. It takes them twenty-nine days to hatch, and
large, motherly old hens should be chosen from the
chicken-house to do the incubating. It is not safe to
put more than five such eggs under an ordinary hen.

When the hatch is over, put the hen into a brood-
coop and, in front of it, put a box about nine inches
deep and large enough to form a yard for the babies
to exercise in. It is, of course, necessary to remove

A PLOCK OF TURKEYS 67

part or the whole of the end of the box which joins
the front of the coop, so that the little ones can run
in and out. Cover the bottom of the box with coarse
sand and put a small drinking-fountain in one corner.
Thus the babies will have a safe place to play in the
first few days of infancy, when they must be kept dry.
After that the box can be removed and the coop moved
a few feet every day for the sake of cleanliness.

When Mrs. Turkey’s brood hatches, we treat them
in the same way, only the brood-coop is specially made
and is much larger than the ordinary hen-coop. The
first feed the babies have is stale home-made bread
soaked in scalded milk, which is squeezed out of it be-
fore it is fed. Like little chicks, they must have
nothing for twenty-four hours, then little and often
must be the rule.

Never leave food in front of little turkeys, for they
are very apt to overeat. After two weeks they need
only be fed four times a day; after the fourth week
three times a day. After the first two days add a
little hard-boiled egg which has been chopped fine,
without removing the shell, and a few days later,
pin-head oatmeal and ground charcoal; about a tea-
spoonful of the latter to a cupful of bread and oat-
meal.

By the end of two weeks gradually reduce the bread
and increase the oatmeal, which should be cooked
about half an hour and allowed to dry out, so it is
easily crumbled when cool.

After the fourth week, ordinary ground oats, just

68 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

moistened with scalding milk, may be used. Half-
boiled liver, chopped fine, is the best animal food to
give. When that is not practicable, use the best
brand of commercial ground beef, one teaspoonful to
a quart of meal, because it is very strong and liable
to produce diarrhea, a disease which attacks young
turkeys almost sooner than any other young bird.
Watch carefully and at the first evidence of any loose-
ness of the bowels give boiled rice to eat and rice-
water or cold tea to drink.

Watch newly-hatched babies for a few days at feed-
time, for there is often one or more that needs to be
taught how to eat. This is especially so when they
are with common hens. But a little patience in crum-
bling close in front of them and coaxing them to pick
it up will overcome the difficulty. After they are
eight weeks old we take them from the hens and put
them into the third yard, which is kept exclusively for
young stock. :

At night they are driven into the shed, the front of
_ which is always kept covered with wire netting, so
that they can be closed in until they get accustomed to
roosting. Of course, the perches in this shed are put
nearer the ground and are much smaller than those
intended for grown birds. About October 1st they
are allowed the free range of the farm and are fed on
corn at night and given all the milk they will drink,
to get them into good killing condition before Thanks-
giving, when they are all sold off, except perhaps a
few extra good ones, which we may keep for stock.

A FLOCK OF TURKEYS 69

The old birds are also allowed free range from Octo-
ber until February, but they are fed in the yards at
night and are shut in so that they don’t form any bad
wandering habits.

In buying stock, be generous and get the very best,
from some well-known turkey-raiser. Ordinary farm
stock is so apt to be inbred that, although the birds
may look all right, it is not safe to buy them for breed-
ing purposes, as a want of stamina will surely show
in the youngsters.

For the same reason it is best to get the hen-birds
from one place and the toms from another. If you
are going to keep Bourbon Reds or bronze, it is ad-
visable to buy half-wild toms. These are the result
of crossing wild gobblers with domestic hens, which
is done by large breeders to infuse new blood and keep
up the vigour of their stock. Personally, I like the
White Holland turkey best, as they are domesticated
and bear confinement well.

If you are only going to keep a few birds, say a trio
or five hens and a gobbler, large yards are not neces-
sary, but a shed over which netting can be put, should
always be set apart for their use, so that they can be
fed and shut up at night. Never, under any circum-
stances, keep any of the pullets you raise, unless you
change your gobbler. Don’t let two gobblers run with
the flock at the same time. If you want to increase
your number of birds, you must either put up in-
closures or alternate the gobblers every two days.

DUCKS AND GEESE

UCKS are so profitable that I cannot under-
1) stand why so few keep them, unless it is the

mistaken idea that they must have a stream
or pond in which to swim. It is true that the old-
fashioned puddle duck did seem a miserable creature
out of water, but the improved strains are almost as
much land birds as chickens are. My stock started
with two ducks and a drake which had cost me seven
dollars. The first season I raised fifty-eight, sold
forty-six, and kept twelve to stock. They were ready
for market when eleven weeks old, and the lowest price
was eighteen cents a pound.

Ducks must have dry, comfortable quarters, but a
splendid house for twenty ducks can be made on any
farm for a dollar, or even less. One man who keeps
large flocks makes duck houses with hurdles of green
boughs for walls and roof, the outside padded with
leaves, straw, corn stalks or cedar boughs. Each
house is six feet by four feet and two and one half
feet high, and,accommodates seven ducks and a drake.

Dry-goods boxes, costing ten cents at any village
store, can be made comfortable for a small flock.
The main point is to keep them dry, which depends
almost more on the care given to the covering of the

71

72 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

floor than the wall of the house. Good, dry bedding,
changed at least twice a week, will keep them warm
and happy through the coldest weather.

Ducks’ eggs bring good prices during February and
March. iYou can easily get them to laying by then,
as it depends principally on feeding. Ducks, like geese
or cattle, must have a good percentage of bulk material
and green stuff, as well as concentrated grain feed.
Clover hay, or even mixed hay, chopped and steamed,
~ about half a pailful with a pint of coarsely ground corn-
meal and the same of bran mixed through it, is about
right. If hay is short, chop corn stalks small, and
steam. Chopped vegetables of all kinds are good, but
pumpkins, potatoes and beets are fattening; so, unless
the weather is very cold, omit the corn when they are
fed, using more bran or screenings in its place.

In the summer have the children gather plantain,
dock, groundsel or any other non-poisonous weeds.
Have sugar barrels ready, and pack in the weeds while
fresh. Get a heavy, solid board rounded off to fit in-
side the ‘barrel, put on top of the green stuff, and
weight down with heavy stones. Pad up tight with
paper, sawdust, straw or any loose material, and re-
place the head of the barrel. When snow covers the
ground, such food will increase the eggs from both
ducks and chickens.

Oak leaves, acorns and pig hickories do not take
long to gather in the fall, and will tone up the appetites
of pigs, chickens and ducks late in January, when they
are getting tired of grain feed,

DUCKS AND GEESE

DUCKS AND GEESE 73

Imperial Pekin, Rouen and Indian Runners have
been the best market breeds of ducks for some years
past, and are still splendid fellows, both for eggs and
table, and their new rivals, the Buff Orpington ducks,
quite equal them as utility birds.

Ducks make such bad mothers that it is better to
hatch their eggs under hens or in incubators. The
first few eggs a duck lays each season are seldom
fertile. Eleven are a full sitting, and it requires
twenty-eight days for their hatching. Examine the
nest every two or three days after setting the hen, for
bad eggs. A weak germ that dies causes the egg to
decompose, and the odour once smelled can never be
forgotten.

Examine the nest when the hen comes off to feed,
and take away the eggs that are dark and mottled. If
you fancy an egg looks wrong, pick it up and smell it;
that and its sticky touch assure you, for the egg is .
porous. If you have been using an incubator to hatch
chicks you can test with a proper tester, and this must
be done all the time from the fourth to the fifteenth
day.

When the hatch is over at the end of the twenty-
eighth day, have ready a box about a foot deep and
three feet long, the top out and one end taken off.
Place the open end against the coop door, so making
a little run, with a board floor covered with an inch
of dry sand or earth. Baby ducks need even more
protection from damp than chicks; therefore, if the
weather is bad, keep the coop and run under cover,

74. MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

and if fine, the shade of a tree is necessary, for the
little fellows can’t stand the full sun. After a week
the hen can be removed, but keep them within bounds
on short grass, not letting them out until the dew is
gone.

For twenty-four hours feed nothing. First week:
Half a pint of rolled oats, some cracker or stale bread
crumbs, two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, half a
cupful of coarse sand just moistened with milk. Feed
four times a day just what they will eat in ten minutes.

Second and third weeks: Half a pound of ground
oats, the same of wheat bran, one-fourth of a pint of
corn-meal, the same of coarse sand, two tablespoonfuls
of beef meal, a pint of finely cut green clover, rye or
cabbage moistened with scalded milk. ‘They must be
fed four times a day.

Fourth to sixth week: Boil a quart of hulled oats
for an hour, add a pint of corn-meal, wheat bran, half
a pint of fine grit, the same of beef scraps and a quart
of clover or any kind of green food. Feed four times
a day.

Sixth to tenth week: One quart of corn-meal, a
pint of wheat bran, a pint of boiled oats, a pint of
beef scraps, half a pint of grit, a tablespoonful of char-
coal and a pint of clover. Feed three times a day.

They should be ready to kill the eleventh week.

Do not let the ducks, young or old, get frightened
if you can possibly help it. They are nervous things.
No matter what you feed, if they are frightened or
made to run daily, they will not fatten. If you go

DUCKS AND GEESE 70

about them gently they are the easiest things to drive
any distance, for where one goes, all follow; hurry
them and they will scatter, and it is good-bye to them
for hours. )

The feed for those to be kept for stock is the same
up to three weeks old, but from that on one quart of
ground feed, one quart of bran, half a pint of grit and
half a pint of beef scraps. Mix moist with milk,
water, sour milk or buttermilk, and feed night and
morning. If on a free range this is all they want.
If not, you must add clover or vegetables, and feed
three times a day. Remember always to have fresh,
clean water before them.

When ducks are ten or eleven weeks old they should
be in condition for market. Early green ducks should
weigh not more than four and one-half pounds, while
later ducks cannot be too heavy. As a rule early
ducks mature very unevenly, making it necessary to
sort them over often.

Ducks are fit to dress for only a short time. They
“‘ go back,” as it is termed, for they shed and grow a
new lot of feathers, which takes all the fat and all your
profit. Hence the importance of turning them into
money as soon as possible.

In dressing it is most desirable to dry pick. Al-
though some still scald, dry-picked stock sells better
than scalded, especially when the market is dull, for it
can be frozen, while scalded stock cannot. For dry
picking have a box for the feathers. It may be of
any size you wish on the ground, and should be of

76 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

such depth that the top edge is one or two inches
lower than your knee when in a sitting position. To
use for cooling the ducks, saw a coal-oil barrel in two;
use one-half for cooling, the other half for clear water
to put them in after washing.

To kill, catch the feet in the left hand, and the neck
near the breast with the right hand, then with a swing-
ing motion (the same as in using an axe), strike the
back of the head against a post with sufficient force to
start the blood from the ears. Now with a quick mo-
tion place the body under your left arm, catching the
back of the head and the top of the bill in the left
hand. Using a knife with a five-inch blade, make a
cut crosswise at the base of the brain, then turn the
edge to the roof of the mouth, and slash outward, be-
ing careful not to split the bill. Let the blood run for
two seconds.

Sit down. Place your knees against the neck just
tight enough to keep it in place. If too much pressure
is put on, it will stop the flow of blood and give the
flesh a red appearance. Hold the feet and wings in
the left hand. Commence picking at the vent, then the
breast and neck. The feathers are left on half the
neck, and on the wings from the first joint out. Pick
clean as you go, for once the duck gets cold, it will be
hard to pick. Experts use a shoemaker’s knife ground
thin, and strop it the same as a razor, to shave the pin
and small feathers off.

After picking, put them into ice water or cold spring
water until the animal heat is gone; then wash the

DUCKS AND GEESE 77

feet, and wash all clots of blood from the mouth and
throat; then put into another vessel of water, which
takes all the stains off and gives a nice clean appear-
ance. After they are clean you can put them into a
barrel or box with crushed ice, and if left for twelve
to twenty-four hours in this condition they can be
shipped a long distance with but little ice. To make
dressed ducks show up good it is necessary to take
them out of clean water at the finish. The second
vessel should have clean water put in as soon as it gets
cloudy.

When packing for shipment, use flour or sugar
barrels. Pack with back down, putting the head un-
der the wing. Pack close, and leave a space on top
for ice. Raise the top hoop, place burlap on top, drive
the hoop on again, with the burlap under, and nail
firmly. Before using, the barrel should be thoroughly
washed. Bore two three-fourths-inch holes in the
bottom, to drain.

A goose will lay from ten to twenty eggs and then
want to sit; but if you coop her in sight of her com-
panions, four or five days will suffice to break her up.
If she lays a third clutch of eggs, let her keep them
and sit.

When the weather is mild, set five eggs under a hen;
or, if she is very large, seven might be risked. It
takes from twenty-eight to thirty days for goose eggs
to hatch. As the skin is very tough, it is well to
sprinkle a little water around the nest, and even on
the eggs themselves, during the last two weeks, espe-

78 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

cially if the weather is dry and hens are doing the
incubating.

The youngsters need nothing for the first thirty-six
hours. Then feed scalded corn-meal —the coarsest
kind—and wheat bran, chopped green clover or
young green oats cut fine, tops of green onions, lettuce
leaves or any tender young greens.

If the weather is fine, put the coop containing Biddy
and her family out on the grass, making a small yard
in front for the first few days, to prevent their wan-
dering too far away. Move the coop and yard to a
new place as they eat the grass. Like young ducks,
their drinking water must be in a vessel that permits
them to put the whole beak into the water, or they are
apt to get the air passages clogged up with soft food,
causing the gosling to smother; but on no account
must they be permitted to get their bodies into the
water, as they chill and cramp so easily.

It is much better to buy two- or three-year-old birds
from a reliable dealer for stock than obtain eggs for
setting and wait for them to develop. After the
breeding season is over, geese and goslings need little
grain if on grass land. Late in the fall geese do well
if turned into the corn stubble or the orchard, where
they will clean up all the windfalls — which does
much to stamp out grubs and insects.

PIGEONS AND SQUABS

HEN pigeons are kept for squab-raising it is
\ } \) one of the most profitable ventures in which
suburbanites or real country folks can em-
bark. The young are ready for market when four
weeks old; the average wholesale price is three dollars
adozen. Private customers will pay forty cents a pair
all through the winter months, and a good pair of
mature birds will raise two squabs every four weeks
for nine months in the year, which means that each
old pair of birds should provide one and one-half
dozen squabs, which will market for four dollars and
fifty cents. The cost of keep is supposed to be fifty
cents a year, but ever allowing one dollar a year, there
should be three dollars and fifty cents clear profit.
These estimates are made on good homer pigeons,
well housed and cared for, not common nondescript
birds, leading a half-wild existence, with only old-
fashioned shelter behind a row of holes high up in the
barn, where the nests are exposed to every storm; be-
sides which, the young of mongrel pigeons only weigh
five or six ounces when four weeks old, and are so
scrawny and unappetising that they are difficult to
market at any price, whilst homers at the same age
weigh from twelve to twenty ounces, and are white-

79

80 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

skinned and plump. The mature homers will cost
about two dollars a pair from any of the recognised
lofts, but it is no use buying elsewhere, for unless birds
are mated pairs, you may have another season wasted.
Pigeons are faithful creatures and remain in pairs for
years, and if an accident happens to one of them will
frequently refuse to mate a second time the same sea-
son. Young birds which are only paired at the time
of sale are likely to object to the mates chosen for
them, and proceed to exercise personal choice when
liberated amid a flock of strange birds. So be wise
and buy only from reliable experienced breeders.

The most convenient house for squab-raising is
built like a chicken-coop, about twelve feet wide, eight
feet high in front, sloping to six feet at the back, and
any length, according to the number of birds kept.
Have plenty of windows in front of the house, and
openings six inches square, three feet apart, all along
the back of the house about a foot from the roof.
Run a nine-inch board the entire length of the house
as a platform for the birds to alight on as they go in
and out, and it is just as well to have a similar board
just under the holes on the inside of the house. Put
up three or four perches near the front windows, so
that the birds can fly from side to side of the house on
wet days for exercise.

The number of birds which can be kept in each
house can be easiest estimated by the nests. Each
pair of brooders must be provided with nest-boxes
divided into two compartments twelve inches square.

PIGEONS AND SQUABS 81

They can be arranged in tiers all along the side, back
and front walls, and from floor to ceiling. Put the
first tier about eighteen inches above the floor, as the
birds don’t seem to like the lower nests. Fasten small
perches about a foot long to the partition on each box,
for the convenience of the birds as they fly back and
forth, and when feeding their young.

Before the house is occupied, it should be thor-
oughly whitewashed, the floor covered with sand or
ground plaster, and earthenware dishes known as
“nappies,” which cost one dollar a dozen, must be put
in, one into each compartment. Suspend a bundle of
cut hay in one corner of the house, as some birds like
to make their own nests, though others seem to think
that a handful of tobacco-stems, which it is well to
place in each nappy as a check to vermin, is quite nest
enough.

Drinking-fountains and feeding-boxes into which
the birds can only get their beaks are imperative for
pigeons, for they are most particular and will not take
defiled food or drink unless positively starved into it.
Yet if they have open feed and water boxes, they will
scatter the contents all over the floor. There is a
galvanised-iron feeding-box costing one dollar on the
market which has seven openings, so that many birds
can feed at the same time. Water-fountains of the
“same material are virtually indestructible, and cost only
fifty cents.

The yard and fly must of course be entirely closed
for pigeons, and should be four feet higher than the

82 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

front of the house, so that the birds can use the roof
for a sun-parlour. We use four-by-four joists, cut
into twelve-foot lengths, for the front of the house,
as they can be nailed to the house and need not be
sunk into the ground, as those at the side and far end
must be. The joists for the sides and end are cut
into thirteen-and-one-half-foot lengths, which allows
a foot and a half to go into the ground. These meas-
urements allow the use of four-foot netting without
any waste. For a house twelve feet long, I think the
yard should be at least fifty feet. Erect several
perches at the far end of the yard, a platform about
two feet wide and four feet long on legs three feet
high in the centre of the yard for the bath-tubs to
stand on. Pigeons must have a bath, for cleanliness
is a necessity; a pan about two feet square and four
inches deep is the best size, and they can be bought
in galvanised iron for one dollar each.

Red-wheat, Kafir-corn, cracked corn, Canadian
field-peas, German millet and hemp-seed are all appro-
priate for pigeons. They should be alternated, or one
or two mixed together. Of course, sometimes one
grain is cheaper than another, or easier to get in cer-
tain districts, but don’t use any one grain exclusively.
Pigeons must have variety.

We follow the rations recommended by W. E. Rice,
a very experienced pigeon-raiser. Morning: Equal
parts of cracked corn, Kafir-corn and wheat. Even-
ing: Cracked corn and Canadian peas. ‘These regu-
lar meals are put into the feed-boxes in quantity

PIGEONS AND SQUABS 83

sufficient to insure the birds having a constant supply.
Treats which we feed at odd times, such as millet,
hemp and rice, are thrown on the ground, for, as they
are only fed in comparatively small quantities, they
are eaten up at once, and so there is no danger of their
being soiled. Remember always to buy red, not white,
wheat, for the latter is very apt to cause diarrhea.

Once a week we give them a meal of stale bread
which has been steeped in skim-milk and squeezed al-
most dry again, for we have lots of skim-milk, and the
bread we get from a baker in the town for twenty-
five cents a barrel. Freight costs another twenty-
five cents, but even at fifty cents a barrel we find it
an economical feed when there are a lot of squabs to
be fattened for the market.

The parent birds take all the trouble and respon-
sibility of feeding and raising the young right up to
the time they are ready for market. The hen-bird
lays two eggs, with one day intervening, which take
eighteen days to incubate. After the eggs are
hatched, both birds devote their entire energies to feed-
ing the youngsters for about two weeks, for both
have the power to secrete the predigested substance
often called pigeon’s milk, on which nestlings are ex-
clusively fed for the first few days. At the end of
two weeks the hen has usually laid two more eggs in
the second nest, so that by the time the squabs in the
first nest are ready for market, the second eggs are
ready to hatch. It is this double family which neces-
sitates two nests for each pair of birds.

84 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

Cleanliness is even more imperative in the pigeon-
house than in the hen-house. Never neglect to scald
out the earthenware nest, and whitewash the compart-
ment it stands in, every time squabs are removed for
market, for it is only by such rigid system that the
place can be kept in a sanitary condition. Pigeons
must have shell, salt and charcoal to be healthy, so
there should be a self-feeder with three compartments
in each house. When ordering, specify that the
oyster-shell is for pigeons, as it is to be broken up
smaller than for the hens. The rock salt and charcoal
should be ground to about the size of rice. During
the heavy breeding season we crush most of the grain,
and always peas, for when the parent birds are rushed
for time between their two nests they are very liable to
pick up whole grain and feed to the young birds before
they are able to digest it. Until we discovered this
carelessness, we often had a dead squab in the nest.
The feed-boxes can be kept filled up, as pigeons never
overeat, and must have access to food at all times
when they have young ones to feed.

If you start with a few pairs of birds, the best way
to increase the number is to sell the squabs, and use
the money to buy mature birds, for it takes pigeons
six months to reach maturity, and it is necessary to
have two extra houses in which to keep the growing
birds, as they should not be allowed to remain in the
regular brood-pen. If, however, you have specially-
mated birds and desire to raise their progeny, you
must watch the nests, and as soon as the young ones

PIGEONS AND SQUABS 85

get out on the floor (the old ones generally push them
out when the eggs in the second nest hatch), they can
fend for themselves, and should be removed to a
nursery-house, where all feed must be cracked to the
size of rice for several weeks. When one desires to
build up size and good points, it is necessary to have
two nursery-houses, and so be in a position to select
the best birds from different parentage to mate.

To illustrate: The nestlings from one side of the
house should go into Nursery No. 1, nestlings from
the other side into Nursery No. 2. Our nurseries
are only seven by ten feet, so we never have more than
twenty birds in each, and they can be taken within
a few days of each other, in this way making very
little difference in age when it comes to mating-time.
When the younger ones in the nurseries are between
six and seven months old, we take a bird from each
and put them into a mating-cage, which is really a
coop, four feet long, two and one-half feet deep and
two feet high, which is fastened up in a corner of the
feed-house. The coop is divided into two compart-
ments by a wire-netting door. A bird is put into
each compartment. If they are male and female, they
will commence within a week or two to coo and talk
to each other through the wire, at which time the com-
partment is fastened up to the top of the cage, and
they are allowed to have the run of the coop for three
or four days, after which they are put into a regular
breeding-house, where they will soon take possession
of the nest. If, however, the birds chosen simply

86 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

ignore each other after they are put into the mating-
cage, one of them is removed to another cage, and two
more birds are taken from the nursery-house and put
into the two compartments. In this way we go
through the nests until we have them all paired.

POULTRY AILMENTS

NLY in rare instances does poultry require
() doctoring, yet it is well to be prepared with
sufficient knowledge to recognise the symp-
toms of approaching trouble. A few small coops
should be kept in some dry, sheltered outhouse, to be
used as quarantine quarters. Empty dry-goods boxes
turned on their sides, with half the front boarded
across and a door of wire netting to close the other
half, make good coops for individual patients. They
should be covered all around, sides and top and bot-
tom, with roofing-paper, to insure freedom from draft.
The boxes may be any size, but I like them about
eighteen inches wide and high, and about two and a
half feet long. To avoid dampness, and for con-
venience in attending to the birds, it is well to elevate
them on legs or stand them on a shelf or bench. Be-
fore using, or whenever they are vacated, they should
be disinfected and the inside thoroughly painted with
whitewash. The enamelled cups without handles can
be attached to the side of the coop by wire loops.
The most dreaded visitor on a poultry-farm is roup,
for it not only affects the bird during the period of
immediate illness, but it leaves behind it all sorts of
constitutional weaknesses to the bird’s progeny.

87

88 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

Every poultry-keeper should cultivate the habit of
scrutinising his or her flock at feed-times. A suspi-
cious-looking bird should be caught and removed to
quarantine quarters immediately. The symptoms of
cold, influenza, canker, diphtheria and roup are in the
earlier stages almost identical — watery eyes, sneez-
ing, discharge from the nostrils or the nostrils being
stuffed up (the nostrils are the two small holes at the
base of the bill). When the bird is noticed to have
any one of these symptoms, open the bill and look
down the throat. Should there be no signs of trou-
ble, you may be sure that there is nothing but an
ordinary cold to fight, which a few days in hospital
will cure.

Give light and easily digested food, such as stale
bread soaked in scalded milk and squeezed almost dry
or corn-meal which has been well steamed. Put ten
drops of spirits of camphor on a lump of sugar, then
dissolve the sugar in a half-pint of water and use in
the drinking-cup. If, however, examination reveals
yellow spots on the mouth or in the throat, or a thick
slimy discharge from the eyes and nostrils, it is a seri-
ous case of catarrh or roupy cold, which may, if neg-
lected, develop into malignant roup. Throughout the
entire range of cold and roupy diseases there is no
special odour until malignant roup is positively de-
veloped. Then there is a most offensive and unmis-
takable odour.

Treat all diseases which overstep a common cold as
roup, and you will err on the side of safety. In the

POULTRY AILMENTS 89

last and most malignant stages of roup, the face and
eyes or head are very likely to be severely swollen,
and if things have progressed to such a condition, be-
fore the bird has been removed from the flock, it is
well to take the precaution of disinfecting the drink-
ing and feeding dishes and generally clean up the
poultry-house, and add a disinfectant to the drinking-
water for a few days. Permanganate of potassium
is what I generally use, because it is cheap and most
effective as a germ-killer. Dissolve one teaspoonful
in a quart of warm water, and you will have such a
strong solution that for all ordinary uses can be diluted
again at the rate of one teaspoonful to five of water.

Treatment for roup: First wash off any discharge
which may have accumulated around the eyes and bill
with warm water and permanganate; then fill an
atomiser with diluted permanganate solution and thor-
oughly spray the throat and nostrils. Repeat night
and morning, as long as there seems any necessity.
Keep the light diet as recommended for common cold.

Indigestion’ and intermediate stages up to acute
gastritis and liver complaint, all spring from the same
causes, and will succumb to the same remedies, so we
will consider them connectedly. They are caused by
indiscreet or excessive feeding; mash which has been
allowed to become sour; an excess of bread, potatoes
or fat in table-scraps fed to the birds; lack of corn,
vegetables or sharp grit; condition powders, egg-
foods, and such condiments, if given frequently, will
affect the digestive organs and bring on indigestion.

go MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

At first the sufferer looks mopey and stupid; the comb
is pale. At this stage a few days in hospital and a
dose of magnesia and reformation in diet will work
a cure. Put about a third of a teaspoonful of sul-
phate of magnesia in a cup of drinking-water. Feed
a mash composed of three parts finely-cut clover-hay,
which has been thoroughly steamed, and one part each
of coarsely-ground corn and oats. If you haven't
clover-hay, use wheat-bran instead; chopped apple,
lettuce or any greens should be the mid-day meal.
Put a small pan of sharp grit into the coop. Advance
symptoms are watery, yellowish droppings and thirst,
and the comb becoming fiery red, which may gradually
darken to crimson as the bird’s condition becomes
worse. Administer a teaspoonful of castor-oil; feed
sparingly on mash, which at this stage should consist
of boiled rice, scalded bread and milk or cottage-
cheese. If the dysentery is very severe, fill up a
drinking-vessel with the water in which the rice was
boiled. After eight hours of such diet, add twenty-
five drops of tincture of nux vomica to half a pint of
rice-water. Continue with light, nourishing food for
about a week.

In the fall fowls are frequently given free range,
before the corn and other crops are harvested, and
with the result that they gorge themselves with new
corn, which is very liable to heat and swell. In the
summer people are very likely to cut grass and throw
it in to yarded hens, who will eat it greedily, but it
invariably causes trouble, being in long lengths.

POULTRY AILMENTS 91

Lawn-clippings, which are not over an inch in length,
are quite safe and, of course, supply the required green
food which they specially crave in hot weather.
When the bird is seen to have an unusually large crop
and shows signs of distress, catch it and hold by the
feet, head downward, then gently work the crop so
as to push a little of the contents into the throat and
out through the beak. Even if only a few grains can
be ejected in this way, it will help the strained con-
dition of the crop and ease the bird’s sufferings. Ad-
minister a dose of castor or sweet oil.

Occasionally an obstinate case can’t be helped by
simple means, and then surgery has to be resorted to.
Tie the feet together and the wings close to the body
with a broad strip of muslin, place the bird on its side
on the table, calling in assistance to hold it still, and
with a sharp pocket-knife make a small slit, first in
the outer skin, pulling one side slightly outward, then
making an insertion in the crop itself. Carefully re-
move the contents. You need not be at all nervous
about the operation, which is quite painless. After
the crop is emptied, take a moderately fine needle
threaded with a fine sewing-silk. Take two or three
stitches in the crop and cut off the thread, pull the
edges of the outer skin together and fasten with two
or three stitches. Of course, under no circumstances
must the crop and the outer skin be fastened together
in stitching. Keep the bird on very meagre rations
for a week or ten days.

The most common ailment of infant chickenhood is

92 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

bowel trouble, and one should be on the watch for the
the first signs, all through the hatching season, as a
few hours means much to frail baby life. A chill,
dampness, improper food or dirty drinking-water are
the usual causes. Should any laxity be noticed in the
droppings, remove the drinking-water and substitute
either milk which has been scalded and allowed to cool
or rice-water, according to the symptoms. Feed
boiled rice at least once a day. If the chicks are in
a brooder, set the temperature a little higher than un-
der ordinary circumstances. If they are with a hen,
keep her confined to the brood-coop, to insure the
chicks being able to nestle to her.

Gapes is the second scourge of chick-life. Gapes is
not truly a disease, but the effect of a parasite worm,
which is supposed only to materialise on ground in
which poultry-droppings have been deposited for sev-
eral seasons. A gapeworm is only about five six-
teenths of an inch in length and no thicker than a fine
thread. Once introduced into the bird’s throat it
fastens there and sucks the blood of its victim, and,
of course, a little chick has not the strength to eject
it, no matter how much it may cough or gape. They
multiply very quickly. Some of the remedies are as
follows: Dip the end of a small wing feather in
turpentine, push it down the bird’s throat, turn two or
three times quickly and pull out. The worm may
come with it. Another is to mix salt and water or
steep tobacco in water for ten minutes; pour a table-
spoonful down the bird’s throat, keeping the head up,

POULTRY AILMENTS 03

and the two holes at the base of the bill covered with
your thumb and forefinger whilst you count five. Re-
lease and suddenly turn the bird upside down, holding
by the feet. It will gasp, splutter and usually eject
the worm. To exterminate the pests, have the
ground, on which the birds have been cooped and
yarded, sprinkled with quicklime (keeping the birds
safely cooped, so that they cannot get into or eat the
lime). Let it lie overnight and then plough under.
If such treatment is impossible, remove all the young
stock to some other part of the farm. Mature birds
have the strength to eject the worms,

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

make out seed lists early in the spring, to save

time later. Every family will, of course, have
specially preferred vegetables to take precedence over
others, so individual taste alone can determine the
allotted space for each variety. Our selection and
plan was made with due regard for table pickles and
- preserves, all of which were bountifully supplied.
Therefore, if your discrimination on such subjects is
too undeveloped as yet to be trusted, accept our experi-
ence this year, and then you will know how to recon-
struct it for your personal needs. When planning out.
on paper, the second crop should be considered as well
as the spring sowings.

One of the advantages of sending for seeds early is
that you are sure to get the varieties selected, whereas
later in the season “ the best” is frequently sold out.

When choosing a site, remember that a slight slope
to the south or southeast is desirable. Size must de-
pend very much on whether you intend having a
separate berry patch or not. A hundred feet by
seventy-five feet will supply an average small family
with vegetables for the table, excepting winter pota-
toes, which should be a field crop.

25

|: is advisable to plan the garden on paper and

96 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

Protection from the northeast storms should be pro-
vided. Cedar or privet is the ideal hedge for such
purposes, but it takes money and time; so, while it is
developing, resort to the serviceable hurdle fence made
of brush.

If the weather is fine, the last two weeks of March
should see the patch of ground intended for the vege-
table garden ploughed and harrowed.

Have well-rotted stable manure scattered over the
surface before ploughing, which should be deep at
first. After two or three days’ airing, plough again,
running the furrows crosswise; then harrow and roll
and harrow again, until every clod is broken up.
Thorough preparation of the soil should never be
shirked, for it is more than half the battle. Let me
caution you not to have the ploughing done if the
ground be wet. Much of the disappointment which
city people experience arises from the natural desire
of the amateur to get to work. Earth ploughed, dug
or hoed when wet or soggy will bake and crust all
summer. The right consistency can be ascertained by
picking up a handful and squeezing it. If it remains
a solid lump it is too wet, but when it presses to-
gether easily, and as readily falls apart when released,
it is in just the right condition to work, will turn a
clean furrow and will readily crumble under the har-
row. Sod ground is desirable for potatoes, so if there
is a strip of grass land which needs renewal, have it
well ploughed, harrowed, and marked off in rows
eighteen inches apart, for the winter crop.

A CORNER OF THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 97

Almost every old farmer has a theory about the
way and size to cut potatoes for planting. After
listening to and trying several methods, we have come
to the conclusion that cutting large tubers in four, and
small ones through the centre lengthwise, is much bet-
ter than dissecting carefully to separate every eye, and
then using two pieces when planting, especially as the
innumerable experiments made at the agricultural sta-
tions have revealed the fact that eyes gather nutriment
for sustenance and growth from the potato itself, until
the sprouts develop stems that form joints, at which
point rootlets start, proving beyond doubt that, unless
the piece of potato planted is large enough adequately
to feed the eye or eyes it may contain, the root growth,
which is required to furnish the subsequent tubers
with food, must be weakened. We plant one quarter
potato to every foot in the row, and cover from four
to five inches deep, selecting ground which has been
heavily manured the year before, and scattering wood
ashes on the surface after the seeds have been covered.

Failing this source, commerical fertiliser specially
prepared for potatoes must be bought. Thorough
cultivation is necessary to insure a good crop. Soon
— say seven or eight days after planting —run the
harrow over the field, to kill the embryo weeds and
level the surface. As soon as the plants show, cul-
tivate again, but of course only between the rows,
and with an ordinary cultivator. Repeat at frequent
intervals.

It is estimated that it takes fifteen bushels of po-

98 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

tatoes after they have been cut into quarters, to plant
an acre, which should return one hundred and thirty
bushels of salable potatoes, by which is meant large
and medium sized potatoes, small ones not entering
into the calculation. There will be in all probability
about thirty bushels of these dwarfs, which are excel-
lent fattening food for poultry and pigs when cooked
and mashed up.

The space intended for carrots requires extremely
good cultivation, for the soil must be thoroughly pul-
verised. ‘Tie the seeds in a piece of cheese cloth, steep
in water for twelve hours, then hang up in a warm
room to drip and dry sufficiently to prevent their stick-
ing together when being planted. ‘Another aid we
furnish these delicate seedlings is to drop a radish
seed every six inches, because they germinate quickly
and throw a strong seed leaf, which breaks the crust
over the row and allows the fragile carrot sprout free
access.

Allow two feet from the last row of potatoes,
stretch the line, and with a pointed stick draw a
shallow drill in which to scatter the carrot seed.
Covering must not be more than a fourth of an inch;
press down firmly. Between each two rows of car-
rots allow one foot. Steep and use only half the seed
at first, planting the remainder twenty days later.
With good ground and cultivation you should have
carrots late in June.

A thirty-inch space must divide the carrots from
the beets. Prepare the ground as before, but make

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN — 99

the drill a full inch deep, dropping the seed half an
inch apart, the rows two feet apart. These should be
ready for use the first week in June. Keep half the
seed for late planting.

Early turnips can start another two feet along.
Drill half an inch deep, the rows one foot apart.

“First of All” peas are semi-dwarf, but yield much
better if given some support. We plant every two
rows seven inches apart, in a drill one inch deep, and
when the peas are two inches high we stick brush be-
tween the rows, so making a hedge of vine when de-
veloped. Twin rows should be two feet apart.

For onion sets, make drills an inch and a half deep,
placing the sets upright and from four to six inches
apart. Firm the earth all around, and the fourth of
an inch over them. These will furnish early onions
for cooking. For onion seed the soil cannot be too
carefully prepared, for, like carrots, they are long in
germinating and extremely fragile. A few radish
seeds can again be used as pioneers. Instead of com-
mercial fertiliser, the poultry droppings are used for
onions, being reduced to a powder by grinding in an
old chopping machine. Sprinkle freely, within one
inch of the centre of the row, and from three to four
inches each side of it. Unless rain falls within a few
days, water very thoroughly with a sprinkler. Hen
droppings seem especially desirable for all bulbs and
tubers.

Lettuce seed requires well-enriched soil; drill one-
fourth of an inch deep, the rows one foot apart.

100 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

From the time seeds are put into the ground, culti-
vation must be continual, raking between rows being
frequent enough to destroy embryo weeds. Ten
minutes’ light work with a rake before weeds develop
will save hours of hard labour with a hoe. Cultiva-
tion is required, not only to destroy weeds, but to
supply air, and encourage all the moisture from the
subsoil to travel upward, so nourishing the plant roots
as they develop, and preventing the soil from baking.
Not cultivating the ground around plants is as injuri-
ous to their health as shutting a child in an unventi-
lated room.

Lettuce, cabbage and cauliflower plants should now
be planted out. Prepare the rows as for seed, and
_ with the pointed stick used for marking the rows,
make holes directly under the line — nine inches apart
for. lettuce, one foot for cabbage and cauliflower.
Put a little water into'the hole, pack the earth around
the root and stem, water copiously, then draw dry
earth up over the wet surface, to prevent the moisture
from evaporating or a crust forming. To promote
root growth, cut off half the length of the outer leaves
with a pair of sharp scissors. If possible, provide
some protection until the plants are established.

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants should be bedded
out about the twentieth of May. ‘Tomatoes and egg-
plants stand two and one-half feet apart, each one in
ground very heavily enriched to a depth of three feet
and a circumference of two feet. Pursue the same
method of planting as for cabbage, except that in-

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN IOI

stead of cutting the leaves across, nip out the two
heart leaves of each plant. Checking top growth
makes the plant branch and form a stocky bush in-
. stead of a spindly top growth that will break under
the weight of fruit when it forms.

If the “home” is to be an ideal haven of rest it
must be pretty. Economy may prohibit buying plants
for the flower garden, but the exercise of a little fore-
thought will enable you to have a lovely display of
flowers all through the summer at a nominal cost.
Procure some shallow boxes from your grocer. They
should not be more than three inches deep, and about
eighteen inches long and one foot wide. If it is not
possible to get what you want, saw a six or seven inch
box in half, using the lid as a bottom for the second
box.

Have the mould thoroughly pulverised before sow-
ing, and prepare an extra quantity to use for covering
the seeds. This I do by half filling a rather fine
colander and shaking it over the box until there’is an
even layer over the seeds. The average small flower
seed should not have more than the fourth of an inch
over it. A board that will fit inside the box should
be pressed down hard, to insure the seeds being firmly
embedded in the mould. Otherwise the air gets
around them and dries up and kills the first frail germs
of life. After planting and patting down, sprinkle
lightly, and stand the boxes in a south or southwest
window in a living room where the temperature
averages sixty degrees. The boxes must be watched

102 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

for what is called “ damping off.’ It can easily be de-
tected by the sickly appearance of the seedlings, fol-
lowed by a shrivelling or burning of the stem close to
the earth. The moment the danger signal is noticed,
prick out into fresh boxes of corresponding size or a
trifle deeper. The seedlings need not be planted more
than half an inch apart. Prepare the mould in the
boxes the same as you did for the seeds, pat down,
and with a toothpick make the holes in which the baby
plants are to be put, firming the earth around them
gently with the forefinger of each hand. Should no
suggestion of debility appear among the seedlings, still
prick out into fresh boxes when the second leaves un-
fold.

“ Bovee ” potatoes, for early garden crop.......... t peck, $0.75
RGRIOE BS CORE ATES Oy dolar ccc sarwileare in ae ad ares 6 wna ened I ounce, 256
Gauihower:. Barly. ‘Snowball’ .oc.03 os eua weer I packet, .25
RO ter aii s te site's vats ane ass eG eianal Clalae oie cutee I packet, .10
BEES Seta the stele lasate 2b ibs ore/d.e Seba alee aie SH aap lotta eee 2 ounces, .20
PyAISSelS)) SHEDTUES *-to05c Disc wista Hes craw loe pig sree ernie nose I packet, .10
Cabbage: Jersey: Wakehela:. csi sind once clewes one 1 packet, (rs
Cabbage, “ Autumn King ”........ civtaibioe's Pode estat T. packet, /) 255
Kole? * Mwart) Greete eo 8 esac sicko Seca svaae went I ounce, .10
Lettuce, “ Boston. Market”... 60.0000 aiatecaldioreiana atk T ounce, 15
Peas) MiESE Gri Wels wins od deals cele welepeamesien wee I pint, Sas
Pensed SP etil Patis sei pay cue soe eae ee ons ot a cretenee 14 pint, .10
Pens, “Champion of Pneland "ss. ginciaccws es ssid: QUAEL, * 9e em
Parnips, |" Early: Flat: Date 7 ciie ee esses aiath avers I packet, .05
Turnips, “ Purple ‘Top. Aberdeen” 525 sc. sucess I packet, .05
Orns, |. RULSDRSAL os Wha whesloes poase eomemeate oe I packet, .I0
White \onion Seis; 7.652. <evass sve seen aaaciegivete belts I. qtiart:)))<25
Red *Gnign + Sets Clk yak hiss oelad Mew oie teite Se ee I quart, -25
Wnion: seed,. “” Prizetaker 35: J3. 2 cg canes phates hd 2 I ounce, .20

Cucumber, (" White ‘Spine oie at ae eee ees E packet; crm

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN
HPevowm. New York Spineless” ..)...3.0sc00e005. I packet,
AGE. PCA TINSOT CAISHION Shes dae cs eccccecde cis 1 packet,

Stent ELUSY | MOINES Lab evcovcesebesectecetecessl Packels
Seeemcion.: | DENNGRICO” 6 asses ipccseccevsceccesl packet,
meeash,, Lone Island” (summer)... i ..iesseceee sk packet,
Squash, “ Gregory” (winter)..... Peldine a0 ele Wie tgme TAREE,
Green bush bean, “ The Longfellow”............1 packet,
Pome lara sheath, |" Wewidthiat 6 shies ss ces cecccceek. packet,
Dkra,™ Long Green”... ...: Po RE K wma tela sees cn ak (DaCKeD.
Peeisay OCAFICE LL UEHUY cede bon sidacasadeice Qeca sel OUNCE,
Corn, “Country Gentleman ”......... gaits deidae KE PACkee
Herbs — parsley, sage, summer savory, thyme, marjoram,

aniseed, wormwood, saffron, tansy ......... I packet each,

Total cost eeeeeeoev eve eeeeeeeeeeeseeeeseseeeseeseeeeee ead

.40

$4.95

‘ ie |
ve at
ronk See
A es

, ae

THE HOTBED

[To outer shells of hotbed and cold-frame are
identical, and can be made by any handy man.
As all sashes are made in one size — namely,
six by three—the boxes must correspond; to insure
water running off and all the power of the sun being
utilised, they must slope lengthways, the top end of a
box being three or four inches higher than the bottom.
The ordinary box or bed frame is made six feet long,
three feet wide and fifteen inches high at the top end,
sloping to twelve at the foot, and stands on the surface
of the ground, but the plan we have adopted after
several years’ experience is to dig a pit three feet —
deep, six feet two inches long and three feet two
inches wide, and build the box twenty inches high at
the top end, sloping to seventeen inches at the foot,
and of course six feet long and three feet wide, which
allows it to stand inside the dugout and five inches
below the surface of the surrounding ground, so
effectually preventing any cold air creeping in around
the bottom. We use sound boards two inches thick
for sides and ends and two-by-two studding for cor-
ner stays.

Very well-made boxes and sashes, which fit exactly,
are sold by several of the greenhouse builders for

105

106 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

about eight dollars. They are shipped knock-down
to save express charges, but they are ready to bolt
together. They come in the ordinary six-by-three
size, for single beds, or in groups of from three to
five, with light partitions for the sashes to rest upon.
The five-section bed costs about twelve dollars, but
will need five sashes, amounting to fifteen dollars, and
the partitions, which I think are about one dollar
a piece. |

For convenience in bad weather, it is well to have
the beds near the house, and, when possible, sheltered
from the north and facing the south. Fresh horse
manure constitutes the heating power in a hotbed.
We use solid droppings and dry leaves, about half
and half. It is ripened in the manure-shed by being
made into a heap about three feet high and three feet
wide, thoroughly sprinkled with liquid manure. It
is allowed to stand some weeks after mixing, then
twice forked over, two weeks intervening. All the
droppings should be well broken up and mixed with
the leaves, and the entire mass repiled between each
forking.

After the ripening process has been accomplished,
it must be packed into the bottom of the hotbed to
the depth of two and a half feet. It should be
smoothly laid and well tramped into place. Put in the
sash, and within a few days the heat will rise to a
hundred degrees or over. ‘Lift the sash slightly at
one end, and wait until the temperature falls to
about eighty-five degrees, then place about six inches

THE HOTBED 107

of rich, fibrous soil over the top. We manufacture
our potting-mould several months before it is required,
by taking the old heating material from spent beds
and mixing it with an equal amount of soil from sod
land and about one-third the quantity of clean, sharp
sand. After thorough mixing, it is piled in a large
heap and left exposed to the weather until required,
or until late in the fall, when it is put into a shed and
kept dry to prevent freezing, as potting-mould and
covering for fresh hotbeds is often needed in the
early spring. Just before using, it is passed through
a sieve to remove all lumps.

The first year, when there is no old bed to empty,
good top-dressing or potting-mould can be made
by cutting deep sods, shaking the earth from the roots
and mixing it with an equal amount of old, well-rotted
cow manure and about one quarter the amount of
clean sand. It is imperative to prepare all such things
in the fall. The outside of a hotbed should be banked
up with rough stable manure and the sash covered at
night with mats and shutters in extreme cold weather.
Old carpet or bags made of burlap and filled with cut
hay will cost nothing except time and answer quite
well. We use pads, for which all sorts of old clothes
are utilised. Then unbleached sheets large enough to
cover the sash, side and ends, and reach well onto the
ground, are used. The sheets are given two coats of
oil, and so are impervious to rain or snow, and we
think better than wooden shutters.

Suppose you want to make your first venture with

108 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

winter salads, the first gathering for Thanksgiving,
and from then on until spring. Start one bed the
first week in October, sow three rows of lettuce seed
five inches apart, sowing three different varieties,
Tennis-Ball, Boston Market and Big Boston; two
rows of curly cress (peppergrass) the same distance
apart, and five days later, two rows of white mustard.
Eight or ten days later, prepare a second bed, so that
the heat may have risen and decreased to about
seventy-five by the time lettuce is large enough to
transplant — about three weeks from the sowing of
the seed. Set out the seedlings eight mches apart
each way in the new bed, and sow radish seed between
the rows.

I¢ you have enough frames, plant the three different
varieties of lettuce in different beds. They will
mature in the rotation named. Between the rows of
the Boston Market and the Big Boston, onion seeds
may be sown. When selecting lettuce to transplant,
choose the strong seedlings and from different parts
of the rows, so that when the surplus plants are
thinned out, the rest will be left to grow undisturbed.

The mustard and cress will be ready to cut m from
seven to ten days after the mustard is sown. Cut the
cress with a pair of scissors a little above the soil and
it will spring again and again. Mustard must be
sowed after each gathering, but as it only takes half
the time to develop, it will be ready when the second
crop of cress is. Mustard should be allowed to grow
more than an inch and a half above the ground. One

THE HOTBED 109

important thing to remember in running a succession
of hotbed crops, is that the heating power of manure
only lasts about seven weeks. Beans, beets and
Swiss chard, and such hardy things, which require
two months or more to mature, do not suffer through
the decrease of heat, in fact, will do just as well, or
better, in a spent hotbed or cold-frame, which is just
a hotbed without any heating material. But if very
cold weather sets in, bank up heavily around the sides
and ends with fresh manure, to keep the cold from
penetrating the bed-box, and using extra heavy mats
over the sash at night.

Eggplant, tomatoes and peppers should be started
the last week in February, and celery, cabbage, cauli-
flower and Brussels sprouts about the first of March.
One bed should be devoted to onion seed (sown at
the end of February), and seedlings can be pricked
out into another bed or cold-frame when about two
inches high, and will be strong bulbs to plant out in the
garden in April. Cucumbers, muskmelons and squash
can all be started on sods in a hotbed, early in April,
and will be sturdy plants by May 2oth.

HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS

HY every garden has not an asparagus-bed is

, \ an unfathomable mystery to me. It is uni-

versally liked; even epicures consider it a
delicacy. It is ready for table use in very early
spring, when everyone craves fresh vegetables, and
it is as easy to grow as any other vegetable after it
is once established.

Probably the last word explains the mystery. It
takes three years to establish, or, rather, to bring it to
the profitable stage. A light crop can be gathered the
second season, so the home table profits almost as
quickly as in the case of artichokes or strawberries.
Whatever the cause, the fact remains that an aspara-
gus-bed is rarely found ona farm. Yet the pecuniary
advantages to be reaped from asparagus-growing are
sufficient to satisfy the most ambitious gardener.

Three years after our first bed from seed was
started we sold three hundred and fifty-four bunches
at an average of forty cents a bunch. Early in the
season we got fifty cents, toward the end of the
season some were sold for thirty-five cents. Since
then the annual returns have never dropped below two
hundred and eighty-six dollars. Manuring and cul-
tivating cost approximately twelve dollars a year.

EF

112 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

The bed occupied about a quarter of an acre of
ground. Having a number of egg customers, we sell
direct and so get the full price, but even wholesale
prices range from fifteen to twelve cents.

There are two ways of starting beds, sowing seed
or setting out plants. One-year-old plants will cost
from sixty cents to a dollar a hundred. Planted in
April and well cared for, they will provide several
dishes for the home table the following spring and
nearly a full crop the second spring. Seed sowed at
the same time will take a year longer, but after that
will give a larger yield than the transplanted plants
and, as asparagus-beds are productive for fifteen or
twenty years, the one-year loss in the beginning is an
economy. But it is well to set out a few plants, sim-
ply because in the country one cannot get Southern
vegetables, which come into the city early in the spring,
and, therefore, should try to have a home supply as
quickly as possible.

In selecting ground for an asparagus-bed, it must
‘ be remembered that it is a permanent crop, and can-
not be transplanted after it is established. It will
grow on any ordinary garden soil which is well
drained, but, when possible, heavy subsoil with light
sand or loam above it should be selected, as it will
invariably produce an earlier crop each year than
heavy ground. ‘The soil should slope to the south or
southwest, and a shelter from the northeast is also
desirable. For our large market bed we used land
that had been under cultivation for two years. The

HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 113

preceding crops had been corn, oats and potatoes, so it
had been thoroughly worked.

After the potatoes were harvested in the fall, the
field was ploughed, and barn-yard manure scattered
broadcast over it. Early the following spring the
ground was again ploughed, to turn in the manure,
and harrowed each way to thoroughly break up and
pulverise the soil. Should you be compelled to use
ground that has not been worked previously, and is
of a heavy, damp character, it would be well to plough
as early as possible in summer, if necessary, using a
subsoil plough, to break the ground to a depth of
fifteen or sixteen inches.

Harrow to smooth the surface, and repeat the
harrowing about every three weeks until October,
when it should be ploughed again to the depth of six
or seven inches, manured and left until spring. After
the spring harrowing the rows must be marked out
five feet apart and running from north to south.
Use the plough back and forth in the same furrow
to make a wide trench, which should be six or seven
inches deep and about a foot wide. If much of the
soil falls back into the trench, remove it with a spade
or broad hoe, then plant seed about three inches apart.
Keep the rows free from weeds all through the season
and the ground loose around the plants.

It is desirable to utilise the space between the rows,
as it insures the ground being well cultivated. Each
space will accommodate two rows of carrots, onions
or lettuce, or one row of cabbage. In the fall, when

114 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

the tops of the asparagus begin to die, they must be
cut off and burned.

The following spring the ground between the rows
should be manured and ploughed, or spaded if the
place is an inclosed garden and a plough cannot be
used. Strong roots may throw very good-sized
sprouts, but don’t be tempted to gather them, for their
removal will stimulate the plant to throw up more
stalks than its age warrants, and the result will be
either death or a weakly, unprofitable existence for
several seasons. Not more than one row of carrots
or onions should be grown between the rows the sec-
ond season, and, unless space is of great value, it is
as well not to use it at all. .

Cultivation must be kept up all through the growing
season, to destroy weeds and keep the ground in con-
dition. Many amateurs have an idea that hoeing or
cultivating of any sort is solely to destroy weeds,
which is a great mistake. Stirring the surface soil
breaks the crust, and the powdered earth forms a —
mulch which keeps the lower soil moist, a condition
which liberates the mineral qualities which constitute
plant-food.

The second spring after sowing seed a light crop of
stalks may be gathered, say two or three from each
hill, but not more. Then allow the stalks to grow and
feather out until they assume their full fern-like form.
In June apply a moderate quantity of barn-yard
manure between the rows if the ground is not being
used. If it is occupied by a crop, use commercial

HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS 115

fertiliser composed of equal parts of nitrate of soda,
sulphate of potash and wood-ashes. Scatter each side
of whatever vegetable occupies the space between the
rows and work the fertiliser well into the soil.

In August, when the crop is harvested, apply a
moderately heavy dressing of well-rotted barn-yard
manure. Late in October cut down stalks and burn,
as the year before; then plough or spade between the
rows. The third spring will bring the bed to a profit-
able state, though it will not reach its full yearly ca-
pacity for another year. Use the one-horse cultivator
or hoe between the rows as early as the ground can
be worked. Draw the earth slightly from the roots
at first, to permit the sun to warm the ground around
the roots and awaken the plant to life.

A week or so later, if white asparagus is desired,
the soil must be again drawn up over the plants and
each row hilled up so as to bleach the sprouts. The
operation will need repeating about once a week all
through the cutting season, which should not last
more than three weeks on so young a bed, though
in future years it may be kept up six or even eight
weeks.

After the cutting season throw down the ridges
made by the hilling-up and apply either barn-yard
manure or commercial fertiliser, repeating the applica-
tion about July 1st. If green asparagus is desired,
the only difference in treatment consists in omitting
the hilling-up.

After the third year care of the bed consists of

116 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

manuring and cultivating. We have found it best to
use barn-yard manure and commercial fertiliser al-
ternately. Sowing the seed in trenches or deep
furrows is done to insure the crowns being three or
four inches below the surface when they have de-
veloped considerable growth, which would not be the
case if they were sown on the level ground to com-
mence with. Like its cousin, the lily of the valley,
asparagus sends out roots and stalks from a heart or
crown, which must be underground where it is moist
and dark. ° ,

Asparagus may be canned like any other vegetable
for winter use; pack, cut ends down, in glass jars, fill
jars with cold water, put the lids on loosely, stand in
hot water, boil three hours, fill the jars to the brim
with boiling water and screw lids down tight.

If you consider that raising from seed is beyond
your patience, buy plants from a reliable grower.
Most nurserymen’s catalogues quote one and two year
plants, but the experienced are unanimous in prefer-
ring strong one-year-old plants, affirming that they
stand being transplanted better than the older ones.
The ground must be prepared as for seed. When
‘the plants arrive, put them into water for twelve or
twenty-four hours to soften. Set the plants two feet
apart in trenches, being careful to have the crowns
right side up. If you hold up a plant in your hand
you will notice that the thick fleshy roots all proceed
from the heart, or crown, as it is called, and droop
downward, and that on the other side of the crown

HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS D177

there are what look like small rootlets. These are
really the dry stalks from the preceding season and
buds of the coming season, and are often mistaken
for roots and placed downward in the trenches instead
of upward, which of course they should be.

The proper way to plant is to make a small mound >
at the bottom of the trench — about two handfuls of
soil— and spread out the roots, and place the crown
on the mound of earth in such a way that the roots
envelope it. Press them firmly into place, and cover
until the crown is about two inches below the soil.
If it happens to be a dry season, water regularly until
growth is well established.

Asparagus must be cut very carefully, Hee ais the
embryo shoot may be destroyed or the crown itself
killed. When only small quantities are being removed
each day, the best plan is to pass the thumb and fore-
finger down the spur an inch or two into the ground,
then bend outward, and it will snap below the surface
of the earth without injuring the plant in any way.
When large beds are being cut for market, a knife will
have to be used, as it does the work so much more
quickly. Asparagus-knives are of special shape.
There are several on the market, and they will be
found advertised in all seedmen’s catalogues. The
average price is fifty cents.

Rust, a fungus disease, has become very prevalent
during the last few years, attacking both young and
old beds. As the name implies, it looks like rust on
the stalks and spoils the appearance for market, be-

118 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

sides injuring the plant and materially affecting the
crop.

It has been suggested by many who have studied
the subject that rust originates on decaying stalks.
For that reason it is advisable to burn the dead stalks
as soon as they are cut away in the fall, instead of
allowing them to decay on a compost-heap, as one
does with other garden trimmings. Spraying with
Bordeaux mixture after the cutting season each year
has been recommended as a preventive. Once estab-
lished, there seems no remedy. We have a neighbour
whose beds were seriously affected seven or eight years
ago. He tried a number of ordinary washes and
powders, but they seemed useless. Six years ago he
started new beds and adopted our plan of alternating
commercial fertiliser with barn-yard manure as we
had never had any sign of rust, and he attributed it
to the ashes in the mixture we used, thinking that they
purified the ground.

Another enemy is the asparagus-beetle — an attract-
ive-looking insect, jet black, with red, yellow and blue
markings. It remains hidden in brush or rubbish
through the winter and comes out in the first warm
days of spring to lay its eggs, always choosing the
young, tender sprouts for their resting-place. In a
few days the young grubs hatch and feed on the
asparagus, boring small holes, entirely ruining the
appearance of the stalks, and occasionally descend to
the crown of the plant itself. It only takes the grubs
a month to pass through the several stages which

HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS | 119

bring them to maturity, so that if only one or two
beetles survive the winter, there may be an army by
the time the beds are bearing fully. Allowing poul-
try to run on the beds in the fall and winter is about
the safest and easiest way of scotching the pests,
though dusting with air-slaked lime in the early spring
is recommended, and some authorities suggest the
cutting of the beds as soon as shoots develop in the
early spring, hoping in that way to destroy the eggs.
This is rather an expensive remedy, as it means burn-
ing up the early market crop, which brings the best
prices.

%

HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS

NYONE who has a good cellar where an even
A temperature can be maintained can grow
mushrooms for home use, but if they are to
be raised in large quantities for market, an appropri-
ate building must be given over to their exclusive use.
We have been successful for several seasons in grow-
ing mushrooms in an amateurish way, but it was not
until a large root-cellar was left vacant that we
thought of the feasibility of adding them to our
market products.

The farm we were lucky enough to acquire was one
of the old-fashioned, practical places, with a full
equipment of buildings. Under the cow-barn there
was a stone basement, used for the winter storing
of root crops. After our dairy herd developed, it
seemed wise to use ensilage instead of roots during
the winter. So we built a silo, and this left the store-
house vacant. It was eighty feet long and fifteen feet
wide, so, after we conceived the mushroom idea, we
partitioned off thirty feet to retain as a storing-place
for household vegetables and fitted up the other fifty
feet with mushroom-beds.

We put in a brooder-house stove and pipe system,
which cost one hundred and twenty dollars. The

121

122 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

lumber for the beds cost an additional thirty dollars,
extra manure twenty-two dollars and spawn fifty dol-
lars—two hundred and twenty-two dollars in all.
Four months later we had received four hundred and
forty-five dollars. Since then the returns have fluctu-
ated between four and five hundred dollars, and we
estimate that it costs one hundred and twenty-five dol-
lars per season to produce the crop. So I think that
mushrooms can be considered profitable when run in
connection with poultry or general farming, especially
as they come in at a season of the year when there is
very little else to be attended to, and, what is more,
the only heavy work is preparing manure and compost
- for the beds, and that any ordinary farm man can
accomplish. The rest is all so light and easy that a
young girl or a delicate woman can attend to it with-
out fatigue.

It is not necessary to have an expensive stone or
brick building. We have a neighbour who uses part
of an old cow-stable, and a man in the suburbs of New
York, who grows a quantity each season, has simply
a dugout with rough board walls, two feet above the
ground, and an A-shaped roof — all covered with tar-
paper, a place that could not have cost more than
seventy-five dollars at the very most. A shed or out-
building of any kind will answer if it is weather-proof
and can be kept at a temperature of fifty-five or sixty
in zero weather without much expense.

Don’t be tempted to start on any elaborate scale in
the house-cellar, for the odour from the beds whilst

SNOOAHSNW

HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 123

the manure is heating prior to planting-time will per-
meate the entire house and cling to carpets and drap-
eries in a most horrible way. Of course, this does
not obtain when only a few are to be raised for the
home table, because shallow boxes can be used and
need not be carried into the cellar until the objection-
able period is past.

When a special house is used, the beds may be made
on the floor, a great depth of manure used and artifi-
cial heat dispensed with. But it is not a good or
economical plan, for the necessary amount of stable
manure would cost as much as fuel, necessitate close
watching and the result would not be as satisfactory,
so we will only consider the approved method of
benches and artificial heat, which is generally adopted
by the modern market grower.

The benches in our house run on each side, leaving
walks three feet wide through the centre of the house,
two feet along the side walls. Having the three walks
enables us to gather from each side of the beds, which
is almost a necessity when the beds are four feet wide.
With a narrower house and beds, a centre path would
be sufficient, but it should not be less than three feet
wide for convenience when filling and emptying
beds.

The benches are made of two-by-two studding and
rough hemlock boards, the studding being used for
the upright supports which go from floor to ceiling,
every five feet of the entire length and on each side
of the house. Supports are run diagonally between

124 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

each four uprights on each side of the house, to make
a foundation for the floor of the beds, as well as to
strengthen the entire structure. The hemlock boards
are used for the sides and bottoms of the beds, which
are two feet above the ground. Beds should be six-
teen inches deep, but we used one row of boards nine
inches wide and another row six inches wide, as the
boards happened to be cut in those sizes.

The second tier of beds, which were added a year
later, were a foot and a half above the top of the first
tier and only twelve inches deep, but have proved
quite as satisfactory in every way, and as the shallow
beds take less manure, I think it is safe to advise be-
ginners to adopt the latter depth for beds in a house
where artificial heat is used.

The bottoms and sides of the beds should be fixed
so that they can be easily removed, as it facilitates
the work of emptying beds, which has to be done
every spring. Any heating apparatus which can be
easily arranged and depended upon can, of course, be
used, but I think the stove and pipes which are spe-
cially made for poultry plants are the most convenient,
as their construction is so simple that any handy man
can fix them without the aid of a plumber —a great
consideration on the farm.

Narrow cellar windows were inserted in the sides
of the house, to furnish light and air in the spring
and fall, when the heavy work was being done, and
also while gathering each day during the season. It
is so much pleasanter to work by daylight, and it does

HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 125

not injure the crop in any way, if shutters are used to
keep out the cold.

The main factor in mushroom-growing is beds.
First, the material of which they are composed; sec-
ondly, the way they are made. Fresh manure, with
a fair percentage of short bedding (straw or leaves
preferably), must be collected each day when the sta-
bles are cleaned. We use two parts horse and one
part cow manure, sometimes substituting sheep-drop-
pings for horse. ‘The daily collection must be stored
in a shed and made into a pile about three feet high
and two and a half feet wide.

As soon as sufficient manure is collected to fill the
beds, the curing process should be commenced. This
consists of packing manure closely together, and if
at all dry, slightly moistening it with water or drain-
age from the stables to start fermentation. Within a
few hours the heat will commence to create steam and
it must be forked over and made into a fresh pile.

To check the heat, which would, if left to run its
course, quickly burn out the value of the manure and
render it worthless, forking and repiling will probably
have to be repeated three or four times, with from
two to three days intervening, according to the
strength of the manure and the temperature. It usu-
ally takes from two to three weeks to cure manure
properly. When it shows a temperature of one hun-
dred degrees Fahrenheit after being undisturbed for
thirty-six hours, it may be considered all right.

We half fill beds with the rough material, then mix

126 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

soil from sod ground with the remainder to fill up the
top of the beds. The proportion is about one-third
soil to two-thirds prepared manure. When filling the
beds, the manure, and also the mixture of soil and
manure, should be strewed in thin layers, say about
two inches at a time, and stamped down thoroughly
before the next layer is added. When the beds are
filled, cover the surface with straw or mats to prevent
the beds becoming dry.

The manure will heat considerably after being
packed in the beds, so thermometers should be inserted
every few feet, as planting must not be done until the
temperature falls to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, at
which stage the straw or mat can be removed and the
spawn inserted. The propagation of mushrooms is
entirely different from that of any other vegetable,
neither seed, bulb, nor cutting holding any place in
the process. From the gill-like lining of a full-grown
mushroom fall innumerable spores, so minute that if
caught on a sheet of paper they would look like dust.
If the spores fall upon earth that is in just the right
condition, mould-like filaments develop, spread and
become what we call spawn.

Spawn culture is a complicated process, which con-
cerns the grower of mushrooms not at all, as he buys
spawn as he would any other seed, except that it is
sold in compressed brick-like cakes, which weigh
about a pound apiece, or in rough shreds; the latter
variety being known as flake or French spawn.

Bricks, known as English spawn, seem to give the

HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 127

best results in this country and are what we have
always used. They should be broken into pieces
about the size of a walnut, planted in rows a foot
apart, the pieces being six inches apart in the rows.
The spawn should be inserted about three inches.
The best plan is to lift a small part of the manure
with a hand fork, press down the spawn, replace the
manure and press firmly in place. The close packing
is one of the principal points of success, so it is well
to go over the entire bed with the back of a wooden
shovel or a small mallet.

After planting replace the straw or mats if the
temperature of the house is at all dry. Eight days
later remove the mats and cover the beds with a layer
two inches thick of good garden soil.

Until the mushrooms begin to appear the tempera-
ture of the house may be sixty-five to sixty-eight
degrees Fahrenheit, but from the moment they com-
mence to appear keep it as nearly fifty-five as possible.
Moisture must be carefully watched. If the beds ap-
pear at all dry, even after the soil has been placed over
them, cover with mats for a few days or even sprin-
kle the beds very lightly, but they must not be made
at all wet. Perhaps the safest plain for the inex-
perienced is to sprinkle the walks, as then there can
be no danger of an overdose.

It takes about five weeks for spawn to spread
through the beds and about another two weeks before
the crop makes its appearance. Well-made beds, in
a house kept at fifty-five degrees, will yield for ten

128 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

or twelve weeks, but during the last two or three
weeks the quantity will decrease rapidly.

Gathering must be done every day, and in the height
of the yield it is wise to go through the beds twice a
day to avoid the loss which occurs within a few hours
from overripening. When the mushroom first breaks
through the ground, it is apparently a solid, white
ball, balanced on a miniature column. A few hours,
and the under part of the ball breaks from the stock
and the mushroom gradually spreads like an umbrella
being opened and shows a line of pale pink, or flesh-
coloured, gills, which become darker every hour until
almost black, at which stage the mushroom becomes
thin and rapidly decays.

If mushrooms are gathered just after the veil (as
the skin which attaches the edge of the cap to the
stock is technically termed) breaks, they can be held
over for twenty-four hours without deteriorating, if
kept in a cool place away from the air. If, by chance,
some open ones escape the picker’s notice, remove
them as soon as seen.

SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW

tables are neglected in the majority of home

gardens. Okra, Swiss chard, leeks, Brussels
sprouts and Scotch kale are really little known, yet
they are all appetizing health additions to the table,
and require no special conditions or culture.

Okra, or gumbo, as it is invariably called in the
South, figures very largely in Creole cooking, but here
in the East is only just appearing in the markets.
The demand is sure to grow rapidly, because it is
one of those insidious articles which seem indispensa-
ble when once used. Soups, stews, gravies and in-
numerable made dishes are all improved by a little
okra, and it is the basis of many special dishes. My
household is fond of gumbo soup, so for that alone
okra had to have a place in the garden, and now we
use it in a dozen different ways. Cut into slices and
spread alternately with rice and tomatoes in a cas-
serole, with butter, in which curry-powder and salt has
been mixed, dotted all over the top and baked for
three hours, it is a deliciously savoury luncheon dish.

‘But it is the growing, not the cooking, of this neg-
lected vegetable that I have to do with just now. The
ground for okra should be thoroughly enriched and

129

ik is strange that many of the most useful vege-

130 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

well cultivated. Make a furrow about an inch deep,
and if only a home supply is wanted, about thirty feet
long. Sow the seeds two inches apart in rows and
cover. Thin to eighteen inches apart when the seed-
lings are about two inches high. If more than one
row is to be grown, make them two and a half feet
apart.

Okra is a semi-tropical plant, so is better not sown
until the second week in May. Once started, it grows
very rapidly, yields and continues a supply of pods
throughout the season. The flowers are large and
rather pretty, but only last a few hours; after they
fall it takes about twelve hours for a pod to develop
sufficiently for gathering. ‘To be in perfect condition
for cooking they should not be much more than an
inch long. Any surplus quantity can be dried or
canned for winter use. Sliced, they are a splendid
addition to mixed pickles.

Swiss chard is such a true cut-and-come-again that
for home or market it is invaluable, and a poultry-
keeper can find no better or cheaper green food for
fowls that are yarded. The leaves and stalks are the
edible part, and can be boiled like spinach or the stalks
alone used. They are white and run the full length
of the leaf. Cut them out and tie loosely; cook and
serve just as you would asparagus. The new variety
called “Lucullus ” is, I think, the best. Make the
ground very rich; sow in rows three feet apart, about
the end of April or the first week in May. Thin the
plants when they are about two inches high to stand

SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW 131

eighteen inches apart. When used as spinach cut the
leaves when they are ten inches high, but when the
stalks are to simulate asparagus gathering should be
delayed until they are about fourteen inches high.
Then cut off the green part of the leaf, which can still
be used as greens. No matter how the leaves are to
be used or at what height the crop is cut, be very care-
ful never to injure the heart of the plant, for if you
do successive crops will be spoiled.

Brussels sprouts have been gaining favour in the
market during the last few years and should certainly
be in every garden, for they possess all the healthful
qualities of cabbage, and the flavour is much more
delicate.

When small, the plants look exactly like cabbage,
but instead of firm, solid heads, the stalks run up to
twelve or fourteen inches in height, and baby cabbages
spring out all around the stalk for the entire length.
_ One plant often yields thirty-five or forty of these
diminutive cabbages.

One great advantage of Brussels sprouts is that the
seed need not be sown until June and the plants are
not ready for transplanting until July, so can succeed
early peas in the same ground. Like all members of
the cabbage family, Brussels sprouts are gluttons and
positively must have heavy and rich ground. Sow
seed in shallow drills; transplant when seedlings are
about three inches high, two feet apart in rows three
feet apart. For early spring harvest, sow seeds in
hotbed during February or March. Mature plants are

132 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

quite hardy, but must be dug up before severe frost.
The best way to keep the home supply is to hang the
whole plant up by the roots in a frost-proof cellar.

Leeks and winter onions are members of the onion
family which are usually overlooked, and it is a great
pity, because they are both most desirable. Leeks
should be sown on very fine, rich soil. A heavy
dressing of poultry manure, applied the fall before
planting, is an ideal fertiliser. Scatter the seed thick
in rows two feet apart and thin out the plants so that
they stand nine inches apart. Cultivate the ground
constantly and hill up as the plants grow. ‘This is a
part of the work which must not be neglected, as it
encourages the growth and bleaches the stalks. A
slight frost won’t hurt them, but they must be heavily
banked up and covered with litter if they are to stay
out in the ground until spring.

The winter supply of these vegetables should be dug
in December and stored in the house for convenience.
Pack them, standing up as they grow, in boxes; scat-
ter earth between them, and keep them in a dark cellar.
For soups they are much superior to ordinary onions.
Boiled and served with white sauce, they are a most
enjoyable vegetable.

Winter bunch onions, as they are termed, are really
the earliest of all spring onions. Sow the seed in
shallow drills, a foot apart, in May or June. Culti-
vate until fall, then cover with litter. Early in the
following spring rake off and cultivate lightly between

SIX GOOD VEGETABLES TO GROW _ 133

the rows, and you will have delicious green onions for
table or market when other people are thinking about
sowing the seed.

Kale should be considered indispensable in every
garden, for it comes into season late in the fall, when
frost has demolished all other greens. Even in the
vicinity of New York it can be relied upon to furnish
early spring greens almost before the snow is off the
ground. In fact, I have gathered it from under deep
snow in midwinter and found it in good condition.
Seeds should be sown about the middle of June, and
the seedlings transplanted into rows two feet and a
half apart. The leaves are curly and of a dark green,
and should not be used until there has been some frost,
for until frozen they are as tough as they are tender
after Jack Frost has visited them.

As soon as the weather becomes colder, bank straw
or leaves on each side of the rows up to the top of the
kale and then put cedar branches or brush of some
sort along each side to keep the covering in place.

Kohlrabi is another valuable vegetable, which comes
in when other things have faded. It really belongs
to the cabbage family, but it is more like the turnip.
The edible part is the bulb which develops above
ground. When cooked it looks and tastes like a most
delicately flavoured turnip. As they must be cooked
while young and tender, it is best to make several sow-
ings; one in the hotbed in February, and two others
in the open ground; the first in May, the second in

134 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

August. They can stand quite a heavy frost and so
are usable until December or January, according to
the season.

Sow in rows placed about two feet apart, and after
the young plants have attained sufficient strength to
withstand attacks from beetles and such insects, thin
them to two feet apart.

Perhaps it is as well to add a few hints about the
general cultivation of these vegetables — hints which
will be useful for all gardening. Cultivation must
be constant and thorough, especially when the soil is
light and sandy. Of course, no good gardener will
permit weeds to get a foothold in his territory, but the
constant use of the rake is much more important, for it
keeps up the supply of moisture in the soil around the
roots of the plants, and so insures their being well fed
and making rapid growth.

This is a point which always seems to puzzle inex-
perienced gardeners, so it needs explanation. Stir-
ring the surface soil with a fine rake as soon as it is
partly dry after a rain, furnishes a mulch of dust
which prevents the moisture in the lower earth escap-
ing, because it checks the capillary process by which
moisture travels to the surface and is carried into the
air. The soil may be rich in the mineral and animal
components which constitute plant-food, but unless
moisture is present in sufficient quantities these are not
available as sustenance for plants.

HOW. TO PLANT AND CULTIVATE STRAW-
BERRIES

create a sense of superiority is difficult to say, but

it does. City friends, who accept really difficult
agricultural accomplishments with matter-of-fact in-
difference, tender a sort of wondering respect to the
strawberry-grower, and what is more extraordinary,
the grower invariably accepts the laudation with the
condescending pride of a victor. At least, I must own
to some such feeling, even though I know how absurd
it is, for the small wild berry is indigenous to this
country and was adopted by the thrifty colonial house-
wives as a garden-plant long before the horticulturists
dreamed of taking it under their scientific manage-
ment.

The cultivated strawberries are somewhat like
exotics, having been created in Europe from the native
wild berry and a somewhat similar wild plant brought
from Chili in 1750. Varieties resulting from that
cross were subsequently brought to this country and
furnished the stock from which has gradually been
developed the large, luscious fruit of to-day. But it
still likes American soil and so will thrive in a wider
range of latitude than any other cultivated plant.

135

J why growing one’s own strawberries should

136 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

There are several strawberry farms in our vicinity
and, according to the owners, they bear most profit-
able crops. One grower tells me that he averages six
thousand quarts to the acre, and gets an average price
of eight cents a quart. Another neighbour says he
calculates to clear three hundred dollars an acre from
his berries. Personally, I can’t quote figures, because
we have never gone in for market berries. Being
very fond of them, and wanting the very best we could
possibly grow, we have always confined our efforts to
garden culture, just for home consumption, and the
reward has been such epicurean feasts that we have
been satisfied.

Like asparagus, strawberry beds should be estab-
lished as soon as the family has settled in a country
home, because it takes a year to get a full crop.
There are a great many varieties to choose from, but
I think it is best to restrict selection to the old estab-
lished kinds. The Marshall for first early, the Glen
Mary for mid-season and the Gandy for late gather-
ing. And truly I don’t believe there can be a better
selection for the home garden in the vicinity of New
York.

But, as some varieties do better than others in a
certain locality, it is advisable to consult old residents
in the neighbourhood and the nurserymen from whom
plants are ordered.

Light sandy soil, sloping slightly to the south, will
produce the earliest berries, but we are convinced

STRAWBERRIES 137

from experience that slightly heavier soil and a more
northerly exposure produces a better fruit in mid-
season. Our beds all slope to the south, but the late
varieties are so situated that they are slightly shaded
by a row of young pear trees, which protects them
from the direct rays of the sun. Thre soil is—or
rather was — of ordinary quality, neither very sandy
nor very heavy, so for several seasons we scattered
fine coal ashes between the rows of the early plants,
which materially lightened the soil, and for several
years we have had berries from five to ten days earlier
than our neighbours.

New beds may be started in the fall or spring,
whichever is the most convenient. If the plants are
set out in the early fall, they will bear the following
season, but if planting is delayed until spring, it will
be a full year before any fruit can be expected. So
I ‘recommend August planting of all plants to the be-
ginner, and spring planting when there are established
beds to take other plants from.

To explain: Strawberries are propagated from
the runners, which, under natural conditions, shoot
out from the parent plants and, taking root, develop
individual crowns. But the up-to-date nurseryman
has of late years taken to sinking small pots filled with
rich earth in the beds, then by lifting the ends of the
runners on to the pots the roots of the young plants
develop within the pot instead of on the ground and
can later in the season be removed without any check

138 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

to growth, which, of course, greatly facilitates the
growth of the crown after it is set out in its permanent
position.

Pot plants, as they are called, are slightly more ex-
pensive than layer plants, but they are well worth it
when time is an object.

Before the plants arrive the ground should be thor-
oughly prepared by digging and raking until it is
in a fine fibrous condition. Mark off rows four feet
apart. When the plants are received, unpack and
water copiously, and leave in a shady place for twenty-
four hours before setting out, at which time make a
hole with a trowel a little larger than the pot in which
the plant has been growing, fill it about half-full of
water, and if the plants have been delivered in the
pots, remove carefully by loosening the soil, which is
done by pushing a small stick through the drain-hole
and turning the pot upside down. Then slip out the
ball of earth, and put it into the hole which you made
with the trowel. Fill in with the loose earth and the
process of planting will be complete.

Plants should be set two feet apart in the rows. If
they are strong and healthy specimens, growth will
start almost immediately, so you must go carefully
through the rows in about two weeks’ time, when the
plants will have commenced to throw out runners.
We never allow more than four for each plant, and
those are trained to root as nearly as possible before
and behind and on each side of the parent plant, which
makes a solid row about twenty-seven inches wide at

STRAWBERRIES 139

the end of the growing season. ‘The best way of in-
suring runners rooting is to press them close to the
soil, holding them in place either with a small stone-or
a handful of earth.

After growth stops in the fall, the space between
the rows should receive a dressing of commercial
fertiliser and be well spaded over. About December
Ist a mulch of straw or leaves should be spread over
the plants to protect them from the frost. Early the
following spring the same work is repeated, and about
May 1st the mulch is removed from immediately
around the plants, but left on the ground to keep the
berries from coming in contact with the earth, and
also to keep the soil moist about the roots. The beds
must be kept free from weeds at all times.

After the crop has been gathered, a few runners
are allowed to develop and are rooted in pots, as ex-
plained above, to be used in establishing new growth
later in August, as we always put out six new rows
each season and demolish six old ones, as young plants
yield more and better fruit than old ones. For market
the culture cannot be so careful, because the size of
the beds will necessitate the use of horse cultivation.
What is more, pot plants cost too much.

The successful market grower, to whom I have re-
ferred previously, practises the following method:
The ground from which early potatoes have been
harvested is sown with oats and rye, and when that
crop is removed the following summer the ground is
ploughed, harrowed and marked off in rows four feet

140 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

apart, and the plants are taken from the field set out
the year before.

When the field is planted in June, a man goes
through the rows about August and covers the tips of
the runners with a little soil, to hold them down to the
ground. ‘This work is usually done by a man’s foot
and a hoe; then, after growth stops in the fall or be-
fore it starts the following spring, the young plants
formed from the runners are severed from the parent
plant and taken up. This is accomplished by running
a one-horse plough along the outside of the rows to
cut the runners and throw out the plants, so making
it easy for a man to go along and pick up the strong-
est plants, which are carried to a trench in some con-
venient location and left until the following June.

The trenches are made about six inches deep and
the plants are set about one inch apart, and the trench
refilled. Again a man’s foot and the hoe do the work.
The idea is that severing plants while in a dormant
condition and storing them closely in a trench prevents
their feeling the shock of removal from the parent
stem and retards growth until time to bed. Of
course, when they are removed to permanent rows,
they are planted one foot apart and fields are kept free
from weeds by the use of a one-horse cultivator be-
tween the rows.

Even in field culture the runners have to be attended
to as soon as they commence to form, Allowing sev-
eral to. develop from each plant will make the row a
comparatively solid mass of from fifteen to eighteen

STRAWBERRIES 141

inches wide at the end of the season. A field set out
in June or early July will give a full crop the follow-
ing year and be nearly as productive the second year
if early cultivated and fertilised, but after that should
be ploughed up and the ground used for potatoes, cab-
bage or some other crops before it is again used for
strawberries.

The ground on which strawberries are to be grown
should have been well enriched with barn-yard manure
for previous crops, but commercial fertiliser should
be used while berries hold possession of the ground,
for barn-yard manure is apt to contain the spores of
fungus diseases which attack strawberries. Any sign
of these diseases should be instantly checked by spray-
ing with Bordeaux mixture. One thing more. When
purchasing plants, remember that there are what are
called perfect and imperfect plants. The latter are
just as good for all practical purposes if planted side
by side with perfect plants, but not otherwise.

HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS

F gathered when ripe, and served at once, berries
—§in fact, all the small fruits — are undoubtedly
luxuries. So the country home should always

devote some space to them, no matter how small the
garden may be; and when the home is a farm, ex-
pected to become self-supporting, the berry orchard
should be established immediately after taking posses-
sion, for the outlay is little, returns quick, and neces-
sary knowledge is very easily acquired. ‘Therefore,
small fruits are a permanent branch of husbandry to
be recommended to the amateur of small means, who
needs a marketable commodity to keep the pot boiling.

Like most old farms, our place had a few neglected
currant bushes, a patch of half-wild black and red
raspberries, and a strawberry bed in a most demoral-
ised condition. But even these poor degenerates con-
vinced us of the economy of growing small fruits for
our own use, and the profit to be derived by supplying
other people’s tables. Besides the luxury of having
freshly-gathered fruit, there are preserves, jellies and
cordials for winter use, At the end of the first year
we thoroughly pruned and cultivated the old bram-
bles, and planted half an acre with brambles and
black and red currants. Afterward the space was

143

144 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

enlarged, until we had a good-sized berry orchard,
which has always shown a profit even in the worst
seasons. Brambles will grow in almost any ground,
but if well fed and given a congenial home they yield
much better. The fruit is larger, better coloured and
finer flavoured. So, when possible, select ground that
is somewhat sandy in character, with a heavy subsoil.
Ground that has been under cultivation for two or
three seasons is best, because it will have been well
worked, and so will be comparatively free from weeds.
Commence with a small patch, say half an acre,
divided equally between black and red raspberries,
blackberries and black and red currants. Strawber-
ries cannot be included in a general small-fruit
orchard, because the beds are profitable for only three
years, and it is better to take them into regular crop
rotation, using ground that has previously been occu-
pied by potatoes or corn. As space is somewhat
limited, we will devote this chapter to brambles and
currants. .

There are new plants for favour each year in nurs-
ery catalogues, but we will cover only a few of the
old stand-bys, such as the following list: Raspberries,
(red), Columbian and Cuthbert; (black) Gregg and
Cumberland; blackberries, Wilson and Taylor; cur-
rants, Red Cherry and Fay’s Prolific; gooseberries,
Industry and Pearl. The best plan is to purchase a
few dozen plants of each variety from some good
nursery for parent stock, and when they are once well
set, do your own propagating from them. Raspber-

HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 145

ries should be set three feet apart, in rows five feet
apart. Have the ground well dressed with stable
manure, and mark off in rows. It is best to use a
plough for the marking, as you then have a furrow
about the right depth in which to plant. If the plants
have travelled far, stand them in a shallow pan or
half barrel, and cover the roots with water for ten
or twelve hours before planting. Brambles that are
kept well trimmed need no staking out, but when
planting young stock it is well to have some stakes cut
about four feet long and pointed at one end. Drive
one every three feet along the rows, and then set
the plant close up to it. Spread out the roots in the
natural form, and firm the earth well around them,
then tie the canes loosely to the stake, to prevent the
wind from blowing them from side to side. Unless
stakes are used at this time, brambles or small bushes
sway from side to side in every light breeze, and the
roots are loosened, thus preventing them from gain-
ing any hold on the ground. Cultivation should be
as thorough and constant as for corn until August,
as it is required to keep down weeds and permit
growth. After August, cultivation should stop, to
check the growth and allow the summer wood time to
ripen before frost.

To those who are new to gardening, the above may
need some explanation. Cultivation— by which is
meant stirring the surface soil with the cultivator or
garden rake — prevents the moisture from escaping
from the ground. Moisture releases and brings into

146 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

consumable form the different properties of the soil
which constitute plant-food. A bountiful supply of
nourishment naturally promotes growth. Stop culti-
vation, and food decreases, growth stops, and the
tender twigs at the extremity of branches have time
to harden sufficiently to resist frost that would kill
new growth.

Planting and general care are virtually the same
with blackberries. Raspberries are of a weedy or
spreading nature, and throw up new shoots from root
beds, which must be kept down between rows, or the
patch will become a tangled wilderness within a few
years. Even during the first summer after setting
out it is advisable to top-prune as fresh growth is
made. Don’t allow the canes to grow to a length of
more than twenty inches. The pinching off of the
ends forces them to throw out side branches and more
canes from the main root, a very desirable thing, as
fruit is borne only on the extremity of branches grown
the preceding year. After the first year all the old
canes which have borne fruit must be cut out. In
winter, when sap has returned to the roots, is the best
time for this work; but as the amateur may find some
difficulty in distinguishing the old canes from the new
ones, it is safer to do the demolishing soon after the
fruit has been gathered, when there can be no mistake.
Each fall throw well-rotted stable manure around the
roots of each plant, and fork it into the ground as
early in the spring as the weather permits. At the
same time run the plough between the rows, to destroy

HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS = 147

the undesirable root shoots. Blackberries do not
form root beds that send up new shoots, so the plough-
ing need not be practised between the rows; otherwise,
clearing and pruning are virtually the same as for
raspberries.

When more plants are required of the raspberry
family, allow some of the root shoots to develop dur-
ing the summer, and early the following spring take
them up with a sharp spade, which will sever the con-
nection between the new and the old plant without
injury to either. As blackberries do not throw up
new plants in the same way, they must be created
from seeds or layers. Allow one or two canes of old
plants to grow long enough to fall over and reach the
ground, and in August peg the tops to the ground with
a forked stick, and draw up a little mould around
each. They will soon throw out roots and top
growth, and early the following spring can be cut
from the parent branch about eight inches above the
rooted end. Dig up a new plant, and set in rows the
same as raspberries. All the brambles are very vigor-
ous growers and remarkably free from disease, but
it is advisable to keep a lookout for the anthracnose,
which is a greyish-looking spot with a purple centre.
They are most likely to make their appearance in sum-
mer on young canes, and if not checked, multiply and
eventually kill the plants. Cut out any affected canes
immediately after discovery, and burn. Spray the ad-
jacent plants with Bordeaux mixture two or three
times, allowing twelve or fifteen days between the

148 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

applications. If old plants are affected, they don’t
need any consideration—take shoots from them.
Orange-rust is the yellowish-looking spot on the under
side of the leaves. The only remedy is to dig up,
and cremate, but I truly think, instead of talking about
cause and cure of occasional diseases, it is better to
set out new plants every five or six years, for fresh-
grown youthful vigour invariably militates disease
more than any amount of doctoring.

Currants, both black and red, should be in every
small-fruit orchard; or if there is no special orchard,
a few bushes should be planted in the vegetable gar-
den. ‘Bushes should stand five feet apart, in a partly
shady position if possible, and in rich, moist soil.
Currant bushes bear for many years if properly cared
for, and in their case pruning need not be an annual
occurrence, as the same branches will bear for several
years; it is advisable, however, to cut out a few of the
older branches every two or three years, and encour-
age new growth. Early in the spring spray well, and
again after the fruit has formed, and yet again late
in the summer, for borers. This is the worst and
commonest enemy the currant has. It originates
from a dark-blue moth with yellow bands across the
body, which lays its eggs on the buds of the outer.
branches. The eggs hatch into small white cater-
pillars with dark heads. After destroying the appear-
ance of the bush they bore to the centre of the stems,
and remain there until the following year. Much
disease and many insect pests will be averted if all

HOW TO GROW SMALL FRUITS 149

dead leaves are raked up from under the bushes in the
late fall, and burned. Mulch around the bushes in
the early winter with stable manure, and fork into the
ground the following spring. Stock can be increased
either by dividing large bushes, which is really the
quickest way, or by taking cuttings. If the latter
method is followed — and when there are only young
bushes on the premises, it will have to be — take about
eight inches off the end of well-developed branches
of the same season’s growth. Plant them so that all
but the top leaf-bud is under ground. They need not
be set more than three inches apart, and must be
transplanted the following year. August is the best
season to take the cuttings, as it gives them time to
form roots before frost. In November protect them
slightly with a mulch of straw or leaves. They
should remain in the nursery bed for a year before
being transplanted again to their permanent position.

Gooseberries are usually picked green and used for
pies, but when the large-fruiting varieties are grown
they are delicious raw when ripe. The soil should be
rich, heavy loam well drained. Little pruning is
needed for the first two or three years beyond the clip-
ping back of the shoots to develop fruit spurs along
the cane, but of course weak or broken branches must
be removed.

Propagation is done by suckers and mound layers,
though the American varieties grow easily from cut-
tings. To procure strong mound layers, cut the old
bushes back in the late fall or early spring to encour-

150 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

age new shoots to spring up from the roots, and when
they are from one to two feet high press them out-
ward from the parent plant, covering the base of the
shoot up to about four inches above the root with
earth, packing it well down. Then in the fall or fol-
lowing spring sever the shoot from the parent plant
and transplant to the permanent home. Let them
stand about four feet apart each way.

HOW TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS

[T's revival of the old-time hardy garden has
become such a craze among fashionable folk
that the country woman who desires to add
to her income will find growing perennial plants for
sale a profitable occupation, provided, remember, that
there is a well-to-do community near at hand where
she may find a ready market.

Like all occupations which have to do with Nature,
it is folly to attempt it unless you have an innate love
of the work, for it requires the comprehensive sym-
pathy of a real affinity, as well as technical knowledge,
to rear either plants or animals successfully.

_ The great advantage in raising bedding plants is the
small space and capital required. A hundred square
feet, and two or three dollars for seeds, will enable
anyone to make a beginning, which can easily be
worked up into a large business. ‘The correct month
for starting perennials from seed is June, but as that
necessitates waiting about nine months for any re-
turns, I am sure the beginner will agree with me in
thinking it is best to start some in the house or hotbed,
for then the varieties which flower the first season can
be sold in May or June, and those which don’t flower

I51

152 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

until the second season will be large, strong plants in
October, when many people set out hardy plants.

The sashes for hotbeds, glazed and painted ready
for use, cost only three dollars and fifty cents each,
and the walls of the beds can be made out of any old
boards, so they do not add very much to the expense
of starting, but if you do not care to undertake any-
thing so professional as this at first, it is quite possible
to manage with shallow boxes, if you have a south or
southeast window in a room which averages from
sixty to sixty-five degrees.

The first consideration is getting good potting
mould for the seed-beds or boxes. It must be light
and fibrous, a condition best arrived at by shaving off
the under side of grass sods, and mixing with about
twice the amount of ordinary garden soil and a little
fine sand. But as you are not likely to have a store
of sods, and the frozen condition of the ground will
make it difficult to get them, you must substitute well-
rotted cow manure. Have ordinary garden soil car-
ried into some place warm enough to dissipate all
frost, then mix thoroughly with the pulverised manure
and sand. Pass through a fine sieve, and it will be
ready for use.

Even when the hotbed is used, it is better to have
small boxes for the different varieties of seeds, and
stand them in the hotbed, instead of sowing the seed
directly in the bed itself, for some varieties take
longer than others to germinate, and it is a difficult
problem to ventilate and water a bed containing a mis-

HOW TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS 153

cellaneous assortment, but when the seeds are in boxes,
they can be removed from the bed during the warm
part of the day, and the difficulty is militated. Boxes
should be about two and a half inches deep, and have
a few cracks or holes in the bottom for drainage.
Cover the bottom with a layer of coal ashes, then fill
to within a quarter of an inch of the top with the
potting-mould. Smooth it off evenly, water and stand
in a warm place. |

Within a few days there will be a crop of weed
seedlings. Demolish them, rewater and allow a few
days to elapse on the chance of a second crop appear-
ing, after which it will be safe to do the planting. It
is a good scheme to use a flour or powdered-sugar
shaker for very small seeds, instead of trying to sow
them by hand. When seeds are large enough to han-
dle individually, like hollyhocks, push them into the
soil with the point of a pencil or a wooden-skewer,
half an inch apart in rows one inch apart.

After the seeds have been placed, scatter mould
over them. ‘The amount has to be determined by the
size of the seeds. The general rule is, twice their
own depth; but with the very minute varieties it is
better to put no covering at all.

No matter what the depth of covering, the soil must
be pressed firmly down with a smooth piece of board,
cut to fit inside the box. A desk-blotter or roller is
very convenient, and does the work very evenly. Do
not be afraid to press down firmly. The seeds must
be closely imbedded in the soil, otherwise the air will

154 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

dry up the first frail sprouts and kill them. ‘After
the rolling and pressing, sprinkle with water, ther:
cover with a piece of glass or paper, and stand in the
hotbed or window.

Covering the boxes with glass or paper is done to
retard evaporation. Seeds must never be allowed to
dry out during the time of germination; watering is
so likely to disturb the soil around them that it is to be
avoided if possible, but if it has to be done, use a very
fine rose on the sprinkler, warm water and be very
careful.

After the seedlings appear, remove the covering,
and when the second leaves have developed, transplant
into fresh boxes if you are depending on window cul-
ture. If you have a hotbed, they can be set in rows
from one to two inches apart, according to the size of
the plants.

During the bright warm days the sash of the hotbed
should be raised or entirely removed, but be very
watchful of the weather. Spring is such a treacher-
ous time of year that the warm mornings may develop
into frosty afternoons. Always replace the sash over
the hotbed by three o’clock in the afternoon, and cover
with mats before dusk. As soon as the ground is in
condition for the outside nursery beds, dig and thor-
oughly cultivate, for the plants which are to be held
over for fall sales must be bedded out as soon as all
fear of frost is past, and seeds sown for the next
year’s stock. ©

The seed-beds in the open ground must be well pre-

HOW. TO RAISE PERENNIAL PLANTS 155

pared and made very fine and fibrous. Sow the seeds
in rows and transplant as with the house seedlings.
Beds must all be kept free from weeds and under good
cultivation during the growing season. When severe
weather comes in the fall, cover lightly with leaves or
soil, and the plants will winter safely and be ready for
spring sales the following year. The house-raised
seedlings which are to be sold for this year’s bedding
can go into garden beds, but it is really better to put
them into small individual pots, which should be partly
submerged in soil or sand. Customers will usually
pay a few cents extra for pot-plants.
There is such an endless variety of perennial plants
“that it is impossible to grow them all; in fact, it would
be very foolish to try to do so. Select the best-known
and most popular kinds, and have some of different
sizes, so that you can make up selections for beds.
Hollyhocks, foxgloves, golden glow, monk’s-hood all
range from three and a half to five feet in height.
After them come phlox, larkspur, false dragon’s-
head, Canterbury bells and bergamot. A step lower
are bleeding-heart, columbine, leopard’s-bane, asters,
sweet-williams and wallflowers. Still lower are Ice-
land poppies, Japanese primroses, wake-robin and
pansies.
The first year it would add to your profit to grow
a few of the annual varieties in the hotbed collection:
Hollyhocks, sweet sultans, sweet tobacco, asters, wall-
flowers, mignonette and salvia. Among the peren-
nials which will flower the first season if seed is sown

136 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

in boxes or hotbeds, are monk’s-hood (which is one of
the most charming of the tall blue flowers and
comes also in white, and blue-white mixed) ; larkspur;
Chinese bellflower (large bell-shaped flowers of steel
blue, white and violet) ; heliotrope and marshmallows
(pink, rose colour, white with crimson spots, and
golden yellow with maroon centres)—these are
amongst the most valuable of the first-year bloomers,
for they flower all through the summer. Three of
the most fragrant annuals are sweet tobacco, sweet
sultan and mignonette.

Sweet-williams are such old favourites, and are so
multicoloured that I have always been thankful that
they flowered the first season. Meadow-sweet — or
goat’s-beard, as it is often called —is white and fra-
grant. Blanket-flower grows about two feet high,
and has most gorgeous flowers, dark velvety brown
marked with blotches of crimson. Of course, all the
varieties suggested for early house-culture should also
be sown in the open ground in June to produce a
plentiful supply of strong plants for the following
year.

Ssas0d ANNLr

JUNE ROSES

she first luxury we allowed ourselves on the
farm was a collection of roses. We had put
aside a sum of money for some necessary re-
pairs, and when they were completed there were six
dollars left, which we agreed to spend on the garden.
One dollar went for perennial seeds, another for wis-
taria root. The remaining four were devoted to
roses. We sent for an advertised collection of hardy
roses, consisting of six two-year-old plants for one
dollar and twenty cents, two Crimson Ramblers at
fifty cents each and two Dorothy Perkins at fifty
cents apiece, a collection for winter forcing, which
were only little seedlings, and cost forty cents.
Lastly, a two-year-old moss rose was added, which
also cost forty cents. Since that time, several two-
year-olds of specially desired varieties have been
bought, but the purchases made with that four dollars
really constituted the stock from which we have popu-
lated our own and many other gardens.

The first year the Dorothy Perkins covered about
twelve square feet of sidewall, and all but the winter
collection and one of the others flowered the first
season. One hundred slips were taken, and eighty-
two lived. Twenty were sold the following season

157

158 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

at ten cents each. The second year one hundred were
sold at five cents each to a local store, and three dozen
at ten cents to odd customers. The winter collec-
tion was not allowed to flower until the second winter;
then they were put into the violet-house, where they
did quite well, but as we had neither time nor desire
to undertake any more hothouse work, we never made
any attempt to increase the stock or make any sales.
However, rose-growing for the winter market is car-
ried on quite extensively in our vicinity, so I have had
ample proof of the profit to be derived from the work
when undertaken as a business. But truly, I think
growing garden plants is almost as profitable, and most
certainly it is a much easier and healthier branch of
the work. Moreover, it does not require capital, nor
the knowledge required for hothouse culture.

The best soil for roses is that which is rich in
vegetable matter, such as sod, roots and fallen leaves
which have been exposed to the action of the elements
long enough to disintegrate and melt into the soil.
It is the condition found in the ground cover of woods
and forests, and it can be simulated at home by means
of a compost heap. Old sods, leaves and all waste
vegetable matter are piled up with alternate layers of
garden soil, allowed to remain for several months,
then thoroughly forked and repiled. When it is
wanted for use, pass through a coarse sieve, and mix
with one-half its own bulk of cow manure.

If your garden soil is not very good, dig large holes

JUNE ROSES 159

two feet square and deep. Then fill up with the
home-made compost, or soil from the woods, and old
cow manure. When the young plants come from the
nursery, unpack and stand the roots in water. If the
ground should not be ready, or any other cause
compels delay in planting, add rich soil to the water
in which the plants are standing, until it is about
the consistency of mud, and keep in that condition
until the plants can be set in their permanent positions
out of doors.

Make a hole in the middle of the filled-in space large
enough to permit of the roots being spread out to
their full capacity. Never squeeze plants into a small
hole, which necessitates the doubling under of roots.
This applies to all plants as well as roses. After the
roots have been spread out evenly in the hole, scatter
soil over them to the depth of two inches; then water
copiously, and after the water has been absorbed by
the soil, fill up with dry earth and firm down thor-
oughly.

Watering in the middle of the filling-in operation
washes the soil into all the crevices around the rootlets,
and insures a supply of moisture around the plants.
Putting in the dry earth above it prevents evaporation,
so that the roots have valuable food while they are
recovering their hold on Mother Earth.

Another point to remember in setting out roots is
that an eastern or northern exposure is to be preferred
to a southern exposure, as the morning sun is better

160 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

for them than the strong noon-day glare. Keep the
ground as clean and well-cultivated as around tender
annuals.

Now we come to the question of food for this glut-
tonous beauty. Get a strong barrel and stand it on
blocks to raise it to about the height of a pail above the
ground, then tack the mouth of an ordinary burlap
bag securely around the top of the barrel, so that the
bottom of the bag falls to within one inch of the bottom
of the barrel. Insert a common tap just above the
lowest hoop, then empty two pailfuls of fresh cow-
droppings into the bag, and pour water over it until
the barrel is full. Let it stand two or three days
before using. Dose: Three quarts of the liquid for
each plant every two weeks, from the time they show
life in the spring until September.

Hybrid teas are the variety best adapted to garden
culture. They embrace some of our most beautiful
roses, are perfectly hardy and flower throughout the
summer. ‘To this class belong all the Killarney and
Lyon family; La France, Viscountess Folkestone,
Mrs. Aaron Ward, Harry Kirk and about one hun-
dred others. In order to insure free flowering none
must be allowed to fade on the bush. Keep a close
watch, and cut the moment the petals show any sign
of withering. Allow long stalks, as it is the most
natural way of pruning these plants and insures a
supply lasting until frost.

Crimson Ramblers I have discarded entirely, for
their blossoming period is short, and their foliage is

JUNE ROSES 161

not attractive. Dorothy Perkins and Hiawatha both
grow rapidly and are better in every respect.

Two years ago, I bought one plant of the new
German climber, Thousand Beauties, which is rightly
named, for it is a mass of blossom, and it is like hav-
ing twenty plants in one, as it bears flowers of all
shades, from white to deep crimson. It was a con-
stant wonder and delight the whole of last summer
and made quite as much growth as any of the other
climbers, so I really think it is worth a place in any
collection.

In the fall, all bushes are given a conservative prun-
ing, by which I mean that only some of the old wood
is removed — not all—and that the rampant young
growth is cut back to about half its length. After the
ground is frozen, a heavy covering of cow manure is
put around the plants at a distance of two or three
feet, according to the size of the bush, and at Christ-
mas-time, before the really severe weather comes,
fallen leaves are spread over that, and a few cedar
branches, to prevent their being blown away. In the
spring, as soon as the ground can be worked, the
manure and leaves are worked into the soil, and any
branches which have been winter-killed are cut off.

Our collection has been enlarged entirely through
cuttings. I cut off about six inches from the end of
branches, close to a bud. These cuttings are allowed
to stand in water for two or three days, then planted
in shallow boxes filled with moist, rich soil, and kept
in a light, warm cellar, where the temperature averages

162 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

about fifty degrees. The following year they are
planted out into nursery beds until August, when they
are set out in their permanent homes. Last summer
I transplanted ten straight from the cellar into a
garden bed, and by July they were two and a half feet
high, and bore from four to seven blossoms each from
August to September 15th, when we had a hard, frosty
night, which checked all development.

If cuttings are intended for winter forcing, proceed
as before until the second spring, then transplant into
pots, which should be plunged to the rim in the ground.

About once a week turn the pots around, to prevent
any roots which may force their way through the
bottom of the pot from getting a hold on the ground.
At the same time nip off any flower buds which may
appear. Feed well, to promote growth, and about July
have the benches in the hothouse filled up with rich
soil, to which has been added a goodly percentage of
silver sand. Remove the plants from the pots, and set
out about fifteen inches apart. Of course, the fire
must not be started in the heating apparatus, and all
windows and doors must be kept open, so that the
plants have plenty of air, and during the hot, close
days, they should be lightly sprayed three or four
times a day. After the first of September there is
danger of frost, so it is best to close the windows at
night, but the principal desire is to keep the plants
cool to permit their growth until the fires are lighted
and forcing really begins, which should be about
October. When the fires are first lighted, keep the

JUNE ROSES 163

temperature down to about fifty-five degrees, increase
slowly to sixty-five, then to seventy.

Watering is a great problem, and nothing but prac-
tice can really teach you the exact proportions. The
only general instruction is: The plant must never be
allowed to dry out, nor must it ever be too wet. A
spray for green fly and other insects should be used
in the evening, once or twice a week, from the time the
plants are taken from the garden into the house.

LAVENDER AND HERBS

"T] “HERE should be an herb bed in every garden,
for their usefulness is manifold. Ye dames
of olden times knew and estimated their value,

but when housewifery was metamorphosed into do-

mestic science, the traditional law of our grandmothers
sank into derision, and many factors of homey comfort
might forever have been buried in oblivion had not
some wise person started a craze for old furniture.

‘That aroused a general interest in the old-time house-

wifery, and resulted in a revival of half-forgotten arts,

the hardy garden and herb bed being among them.

I spent most of my schoolday holidays at my grand-
mother’s place in Yorkshire, England, where many of
the customs of Queen Anne’s time remain unchanged.
So to me lavender and herbs seemed indispensable in
a self-respecting household, and as soon as I owned a
garden they were installed. Perhaps you never ex-
perienced the delight of sleeping between sheets redo-
lent of sweet herbs, so don’t know what you are miss-
ing. At grandmother’s, sheer muslin bags were
filled with lavender, thyme and rosemary, and kept in
every cupboard, bureau drawer and chest. Large jars
filled with rose-leaves and mignonette, all the herbs and

165

166 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

many spices were stowed in the sitting-rooms and
halls, and the lids were removed for about half an
hour after sweeping and dusting were completed, so
a faint, indescribable perfume permeated the whole
house, and was most delightful. Punk sticks and
pastils have such a positive odour that after a time
one becomes very tired of them, but herbal odours,
being delicate and indescribable, merely suggest the
freshness of meadow lands in June, and invigorate the
senses instead of wearying.

The herb then is invaluable for all sorts of com-
plexion and hair washes. Even Helen of Troy’s
beauty was attributed to their use. As disinfectants
— well, the plague was supposed to be banished from
Athens by the air being purified with aromatic herbs,
and during the great plague in England in Elizabeth’s
time, little balls of perfume paste encased in silver,
gold or ivory, open-worked lockets or pomades were
worn suspended round the neck or carried in the
pockets, and during an outbreak of smallpox, grand-
mamma brought forth several such inherited treasures
and filled them with a compound made of beeswax,
herbs and spices, and we all wore them in the old way.
What influence they exercised over the dreaded dis-
ease I do not pretend to gauge, but we all escaped.
Separate or mingled fate and superstition has made
me use such compounds whenever travelling or know-
ingly exposed to infection. Even medical men don’t
deny the benefit of sweet odours, or their value as dis-
infectants, so why should not we enjoy the undoubted

LAVENDER AND HERBS 167

pleasure when it only means a few packages of seeds
and a little trouble.

Lavender is hardy when it is once firmly established,
but it is not the easiest perennial to start in this
country. At first I bought nursery stock, but out of
two dozen plants which I got from four different
sources during two years, only one lived, and that was
always a semi-invalid, so I resorted to the slower
method of sowing seed. In March, a shallow box
was filled with potting mould thoroughly soaked with
water, then covered with about one-fourth of an inch
of soil, patted down firmly, the box covered with
glass, and placed in a west window. As soon as seed-
lings appeared the glass was removed, but they were
shaded from the direct sun and slightly sprinkled
every morning. When two inches high they were
transplanted to a deeper box and set two inches apart.
About two months later they were transplanted to a
partly-shaded seed-bed in the garden, and the last two
leaves were nipped off each plant to insure a bushy
growth. Cultivation was constant all through the
summer until August, when they were again trans-
planted — this time into a bed which was to be their
permanent home —a border partly shaded by shrubs.
It happened to be a very dry summer, so they were
sprinkled every evening. When cool weather set in,
leaves were scattered between the plants, and the quan-
tity increased as the weather became more severe. In
the spring the mulch was removed, and a little bone
meal raked into the ground around the plants. The

168’ MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

ground must be covered every winter, and it is well
to have a dressing of well-rotted cow manure dug into
the bed during the early fall.

In June or July we always have huge quantities of
flowers. We have never marketed any of them, but
they have formed the basis of many Christmas and
birthday presents. ‘Ten pounds of lavender flowers,
and one pound each of musk, thyme, rosemary and
mint leaves, all dried, and mixed with one ounce of
ground cloves, was grandmamma’s formula for moth-
bags which preserved our furs and woollens just as ef-
fectually as camphor balls or tar mixtures.

Sage is needed for pork, duck and goose dressings,
and is one of the very best tonics for the hair: the
broad leaf variety is the best to grow. It will save
time to buy the plants; they only cost ten cents each,
are very easy to establish, and quite hardy. Three
plants will be sufficient for a home supply. Set out
three feet apart in a partly shaded situation. There
are two varieties of thyme; both should find a place
in the garden, the broad leaf English in the herb-bed
for flavoring stews and soups; the almond-scented in
the flower garden, for it is a pretty variegated plant
which remains green all through the year, and is used
only for sachets and potpourri. Both varieties are
perennials, but if sown early in the spring will mature
the first season. The seed should be sown in rows nine
inches apart, on rich soil which has been worked into a
fine, loose condition, with a fine garden rake, and later
smoothed off with a board or the back of a spade.

LAVENDER AND HERBS 169

Mark the rows by pressing the edge of a board on to
the ground. Don’t make a furrow, as the seed is
very small. Next, sprinkle thoroughly, using a fine
rose on the water-can. Keep the can moving back and
forth until the ground is thoroughly saturated to the
depth of an inch. Wait for an hour, then scatter the
seed thinly on the marked lines, and cover about
the sixteenth of an inch with dry, fine soil. It is a
good plan to fill the flour-dredger with soil, and shake
it over the rows, for then you are sure of its being
evenly distributed. After the seed is covered, put a
board over the row, and press gently, to insure the
seeds being firmed into the ground.

Thyme, marjoram —din fact, all small seeds — do
better if they are partly shaded. I make long, narrow
frames of slats, and cover them with unbleached mus-
lin, then drive a few sticks into each side of the row,
and lay the frames over them. For safety against
wind-storms, it is well to put a few nails through the
frames into the sticks. About eleven o’clock it is ad-
visable to sprinkle the muslin over the frames with
water, as the evaporation prevents the seedlings be-
coming too dry. If time won’t permit making the
frames, spread two or three thicknesses over the rows,
using stones to hold them in place, or mulch with lawn
clippings. I like the former the best, because they
are easy to remove, and are not so untidy as a grass
mulch, which dries and blows about.

When the seedlings are well established — which is
when they have got their second pair of leaves and are

170 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

an inch high — the mulch will have to be removed, but
if the frames are used, they can remain for another
week.

Rosemary is another perennial, and the plants can
easily be got from any nursery, but if you want to
raise some seed, proceed exactly as for thyme. After
you have one well-grown plant, it is better to propa-
gate by cutting than to raise from seed. They re-
quire rich soil, and a sunny position, and need some
light protection during the winter. The whole plant
is aromatic, but the flowers are the strongest. It is the
essential oil which is distilled from them that is the
principal ingredient of eau de cologne. A cupful each
of lavender, thyme, rosemary and mint, steeped in two
quarts of hot water for two hours, strained and added
to a warm bath, banishes fatigue in a miraculous way,
and in cases of long convalescence, a cupful of the
mixture in the sponge bath is most gratifying and re-
freshing to the invalid.

Summer savory is an annual. It must be sown in
shallow drills nine inches apart, in early summer.
Sweet marjoram is a perennial, and should receive the
same culture as lavender. Both are used for flavour-
ing, stuffings and soups. Bane, saffron and worm-
wood belong to the poultry department principally.
The first are annuals, the last perennial. Borage is
an annual which gives just the piquant fillip to salads
and summer drinks which epicures delight in, and bees
simply adore it. Plant in dry, sandy soil. Dill and
taragon must not be left out of the herb collection, for

LAVENDER AND HERBS by a

they improve the pickles, and are necessary for many
sauces. They are both annuals of easy culture, and
will grow in any garden. Sow. in rows ten inches
apart, and thin when plants get second leaves. To
make taragon vinegar, gather a pint of the young
sprigs, wash, and pour two quarts of malt vinegar over
them. Let it stand two or three weeks, strain, and if
not quite strong enough, add fresh sprigs. Strain
after two weeks, and bottle for use.

Spearmint requires moist soil. We grow it in large
quantities, as we have a good market for it at five
cents a bunch during the spring and summer. It is
positively no trouble after it is introduced into con-
genial soil, for it spreads rapidly, and needs no culti-
vation beyond the cutting what is necessary for
market.

Don’t make the mistake of transplanting the com-
mon wild mint, for usually the flavour is more like
peppermint than spearmint, which is the variety de-
manded for sauces. We bought three plants origi-
nally, which cost fifteen cents each, and now it covers
about fifty feet of one side of the back garden, where
the ground is moist and shaded by some old quince
trees.

GROWING WATERCRESS

ATERCRESS is in constant demand the
; N year round in the markets of all large cities,
so it is a salable crop which should especially
appeal to the commuter class of farmers, as it must
be freshly gathered to be at its best, and naturally
cannot be shipped long distances to market, which is
perhaps the principal reason for its being such a
profitable crop. In France and England, watercress
farms are quite numerous, especially in the vicinity of
Paris and London; but in this country it is only just
beginning to be cultivated to any great extent, the ~
principal market supply being furnished by Italians
who take short journeys into the country and gather
it from the ponds and streams where it grows wild.
Under such circumstances it is not surprising that the
leaves of poisonous water plants are often found in
bunches offered for sale in the public markets. ‘We
have supplied our egg customers and one hotel with
cress for four years, and never received less than five
cents a bunch — usually ten cents — and from Novem-
ber to March from twelve to fifteen cents for a good-
sized bunch,
Like a good many of the side lines which have
brought grist to our mill, it developed from an ap-

173,

174 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

parent accident. There was a large wild bed in the
stream which ran through the lower meadows, from
which we gathered cress during the spring and sum-
mer. Chancing down a wagon-road one day in Jan-
uary, we were astonished to see lots of fresh green
sprigs growing under the meagre shelter of a low
log bridge which crossed the brook. We accepted the
hint, and determined to protect enough of the brook
the following year to supply us with fresh salad
through the winter. Some time in October, brush was
piled up for a distance of about six feet on each side of
the stream. In November, when the nights com-
menced to be really cold, we made some frames out
of thin cedar poles, interlaced them with strong cedar
branches, and then placed them over the stream, with
the ends resting on the brush, which elevated them
about nine inches above the cress. Though primitive,
the arrangement proved beyond doubt that forcing
watercress was practicable.

During that winter we often put a little cress around
the poultry which was being shipped to private cus-
tomers, and so many requests came for a regular sup-
ply that we concluded it would pay to increase the
beds. But as the stream was some distance from the
house, and accessible to the cows when they were in
the lower pasture, we resolved to utilize the escape
from the spring-house, which was never failing. It
had up to that time been carried off by a tile-drain
under the side lawn. Operations were commenced
by digging a ditch three feet wide, one foot deep. At

GROWING WATERCRESS 175

first it was only made fifty feet long; subsequently it
Was increased to one hundred feet. As the ground
was heavy clay, we carted clean sand from a bank at
the other end of the farm, and covered the bottom of
the ditch to the depth of three inches to form a seed-
bed, and also to militate the usual creepy-crawly brook
creatures.

At every five feet of the ditch, sluices were inserted
-— just box-like arrangements, made out of rough
boards, one of which could be raised and lowered at
will, so that the amount of water in each five-foot
section would be under control. When the ditch and
sluices were completed, a trap divided through the
middle was put in front of the escape from the spring-
house to divide the flow of water, and one length of
the tile at each end of the trap carried it to the opposite
sides of the ditch to insure even distribution.

It is a special stone building, twelve feet square,
used for milk and butter. The floor is about three
feet below the ground, and a gutter, fourteen inches
wide and twelve inches deep, runs all round the four
sides, and is kept continually full of cold running
water from a spring situated about three feet to the
right of the house. The water is divided by a stone
as it enters the house, and goes to the right or left in
the gutter until it reaches the escape at the opposite
side of the house. The floor and gutter are made of
stone, so the place is beautifully clean and very like
an old-country dairy.

After the beds had been thoroughly saturated with

176 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

water, all but the merest dribble was shut off. Roots
from the meadow brook were taken up, washed care-
fully in fresh water to remove the before-mentioned
creepy creatures, and then set out in the sand at the
bottom of the ditch. Field stones were placed on
the roots of each plant to prevent their being dislodged
by the action of the water before they had had time to
establish an anchorage. After two weeks the whole
supply of water was allowed to run into the ditch, and
it covered the bottom to a depth of five inches.

Fully one-half the plants died and had to be re-
planted, but the following year the entire ditch was a _
solid mass of cress. The leaves were much larger,
and the flavour much better, than the cress had ever
been in its wild state. Of course, if the best price
was to be obtained in the winter, our desire was to
force the crop at that season. We built sides fifteen
inches deep to the ditch, using rough slabs, which only
cost us fifty cents a load from the sawmill in the
woods. ‘Then we used the ordinary cold-frame sash
over the top.

After the beds are once established, their cultiva-
tion consists in cutting, and nothing else; and, as the
cutting is necessary for the market supply, it is really
truer to call it harvesting than cultivating; though
neglecting to cut the beds regularly as soon as they
are four inches high will ruin a bed very rapidly, as
the plants grow thick-stemmed and sprawly.

We find that old beds as a rule are not as profitable
as young ones, so we make a practice of renewing

GROWING WATERCRESS 177

three or four sections every year. The method is to
withhold water in July until the plants die, then pull
them up, after which the bottom of the ditch is dug
over to let in the air and sweeten the ground. After
a lapse of two or three days, it is raked down level
again, and a few loads of fresh sand spread over the
bottom, saturated with water as before, though, in-
stead of old roots, we now use slips three inches long,
taken from the ends of old branching plants. They
root very quickly, and make better plants than the old
roots.

Twice we have started an entirely new stock from
the seed, and think the result quite worthy of the extra
trouble. The seed is very light and small, so it is
best to start it in shallow pans filled with sand, which
must, of course, be kept saturated with water, but not
submerged.

May or June is the best season for this planting, for
then plants are large enough to transplant into beds
in July, and will be well established before the forcing
season.

For a small home supply through the winter, half-
barrels or wash-tubs may be used. Half fill them with
sandy soil and stand in a light, warm cellar. Set slips
four inches apart in August, and keep perpetually
moist. If you have no means of getting slips, buy
seed from any good seedsman. Start in shallow pans
in June.

I saw an item in a paper, not long ago, which esti-
mated that an acre of watercress, at its present market

178 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

prices, would bring from four to five hundred dollars
a year.

Watercress should be carefully prepared for market.
Gather and bunch at once, to prevent unnecessary
handling. Cut the stalks evenly after the bunches
are tied up, and pack in light crates lined with hay
or moss. Place bunches closely together in rows, with
hay or moss between layers. Ship on late trains if
they have to go by express, to avoid exposure to the
heat of the sun during transit. When small quanti-
ties are going to private customers, pack in strawberry
or grape boxes, as there is less likelihood of the cress
heating and spoiling when packed in this way.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES

q 8 old-fashioned hive was so inconvenient and
wasteful that many people who date their
knowledge of bee-keeping from the old home-

stead will find it difficult, to believe that apiculture has

developed into a practical, money-making industry dur-
ing the last twenty years, until now the average
amount of honey put on the market each year is up-

ward of a hundred million pounds, representing a

money value of from eight to ten million dollars.

In a favourable locality one hive, with its average
colony of thirty-five thousand workers and a queen,
will turn out from thirty to forty pounds, besides the
fifteen or twenty necessary to feed the hive through
the winter.

The vicious temper of the old-time black bee has
much to do with the neglect of this profitable industry.
The Italian bees are, however, so much better as
honey-gatherers that they are almost universally kept
now, and are so gentle in disposition that even a nerv-
ous person can easily learn to manipulate them with-
out fear of stings.

The principal honey-producing plants in our East-
ern states are fruit bloom of all kinds, locust, white
clover, crimson clover, basswood, sumac, goldenrod,

179

180 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

buckwheat, sunflowers, grapes and asters. Of these,
clover, basswood and buckwheat provide the bulk of
our honey crop in most localities, although large yields
are often obtained from others. Fruit bloom, though
yielding much honey, comes so early in the season that
it is mostly consumed by the bees in brood-rearing.
Clover commences the last of May, lasts several weeks,
and yields a light-coloured honey of fine flavour.
Basswood blooms the first part of July, lasts about ten
days, and produces a very white honey. Buckwheat
blooms in August and the first part of September. It
gives a dark-red honey with a strong flavour.

My apiary started with three hives, bought for two
dollars at a farm auction. I knew nothing about bees
or hives at the time; the owner was not there to
be questioned, so it was a truly risky proceeding, not
to be recommended. ‘But if chance makes it possible.
to pick up one or two good hives of the box, movable-
frame style, and bees of any sort for a few dollars,
take them and improve the stock by introducing good
Italian queens, which can be bought for two dollars
and fifty cents each from any bee-supply house. They
can be shipped through the mail in small cages.

When an Italian queen is introduced into a hive
of common bees in May or June there will be no sign
of the original occupants in the fall. For the working
bees are such indefatigable toilers that during blossom-
time they usually wear themselves out in about six
weeks, and most certainly never survive more than
twelve. The drones are driven from the hive to die

MY: EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 181

whenever any of the different blossom crops which
supply honey are on the decline. Queens live for
years, but as perpetuators of their race are only to be
relied upon for three years.

If your immediate neighbourhood cannot furnish
stock to start with, the best plan is to send for frames
of nuclei and a queen. One frame would cost three
dollars, and hardly contains sufficient bees to build up
a strong colony, therefore it is better to send for three
frames, which will make a splendid start, and only
cost an additional one dollar and fifty cents. If pur-
chased in June or July they will have multiplied so
considerably by the time buckwheat is in blossom that
you will be able to build up a second colony. Of
course, a hive filled with a full complement of bees
can be bought, but would cost at least ten dollars.
Express charges would be very expensive, as bees come
under the head of live creatures, and double rates must
be paid. The frames of nuclei are packed’ in light
cases which cost less than half.

A hive must be ready to receive the little travellers
on their arrival, and here again it is advisable to con-
sider express charges. One hive ready for use will
cost two dollars and sixty cents, and almost as much
expressage as five hives “in the flat,” as dealers call
it, and the five hives can be had for nine dollars and
twenty-five cents. Nails of the correct size and full
instructions are sent with the hive, so even a feminine
amateur will find it quite easy to put them together.
I use two-story, dovetailed hives, which consist of a

182 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

cover, bottom, brood-chamber and two supers. Bees
are best kept in a quiet corner of the garden, or under
the trees in the orchard, where they are protected from
the noon-day sun and east winds. When we had only
two or three hives they stood on a shelf in an open-
fronted shelter, which was made from a large packing-
case bought from the general store for twenty cents.
In the winter we packed straw or leaves around the
hives, and set up boards in front, which leaned against
the top of the case, and sloped out a few inches at the
ground. ‘This was to keep out the snow and rain
and yet allow plenty of ventilation. Now that hives
are scattered through the orchard, we simply slip each
into a case a little larger than itself, and set up a board
in front. Further south no protection will be required,
but in the North it would be advisable to carry the
hives into a dry, well-ventilated cellar for the winter.
The only drawback to the latter plan is that the bees
may become restless quite early in the spring, so the
condition of hives should be watched.

A small hand-mirror held at the opening of the
hive, and a light held in the other hand so that it will
shine into the hive, will enable you to see what is go-
ing on inside. If the bees appear restless, it is a sure
sign that they need more air. Opening the cellar win-
dows after dark on a moderate night will usually sup-
ply all the ventilation that is necessary, until the mid-
dle or end of March, when it is best to let the bees
have a cleansing flight if they still appear restless. It
is not very much trouble, when only a few hives are

MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 183

kept, to carry them out on a warm day and place them
where they stood last fall. It should be done early
in the morning and as carefully as possible, so as not
to disturb the inmates, who will gradually arouse as
the sun gains strength, and take flight. This will re-
lieve the intestines of the waste matter which has
caused their restlessness. After the sun has gone
down in the evening, carry the hives back into the cel-
lar, and the bees will be quiet until spring is sufficiently
advanced to warrant putting them out for the season,
which is usually when soft maples and willows com-
mence to furnish pollen.

As soon as the days are warm in spring we go
through the hives and give them a general clean-up.
If a hive appears to be short of honey, a comb from
a hive that is well supplied is removed and given to
it, and as some bees are sure to have died during the
winter, some colonies will be stronger than others, so
things must be evened up. When a hive has more
than five frames filled with brood, one or two are
taken out and placed in hives having less than five
frames filled with brood. A great advantage of the
modern frame-hive is this being able to take out and
put in brood, and later add supers and empty sections
as the original ones are filled with honey.

A bee’s life is apparently a most accurately prear-
ranged existence, filled with allotted dutiés, which are
intuitively understood and wnerringly performed.
There is only one queen allowed in each colony, and
she lays all the eggs, the: workers being imperfectly-

184 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

developed females. Drones are the masculine mem-
bers of the population, lazy fellows, whom the work-
kers have to feed, hence the reason for their being
expelled from the hive whenever food is scarce.
The queen is truly a royal personage, who only
leaves the hive to take what is called the nuptial flight,
when she meets some drone in midair, and returns to
become the sole mother of the hive. She is always
guarded by a small retinue of attendants, who feed
and care for her as she wanders from cell to cell, de-
positing an egg in each with untiring zeal. The egg
develops into a tiny grub-like worm, which is fed for
seven days by young workers; then the cell is capped
over by another set of workers, the grub being left un-
disturbed for eleven or twelve days, by which time it
has developed into a full-fledged bee, which gnaws its
way out of the cell, and at once takes up the duties of
life. For six or seven days its time is devoted to feed-
ing the newly-hatched eggs, then, for about the same
length of time, building combs and cleaning the hives,
after which it is evidently considered strong enough
to leave the hive and commence the arduous task of
gathering honey. ‘The queen is exempt from all work.
Within a week or two after a virgin queen has taken
her nuptial flight, the hive should be opened and the
frames removed, one by one, and examined until
the queen is found. She can be distinguished from
the others by the length of her body and the way the
other bees cluster around her. Pick her up very gently
by the back, being careful not to squeeze her abdomen,

MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEES 185

and with a pair of sharp scissors clip both wings on
one side of her body. This insures a short flight at
swarming-time. When she again issues from the
hive, usually the excited condition of the bees will in-
dicate when this is going to take place, and as the
queen cannot fly with her cut wings, you will have
little trouble, for she will be found on the ground near
the hive, with a group of bees around her, and the
full swarm not far away. Approach very quietly,
and place a small wire trap over the queen. ‘The traps
are sold by all the bee-supply firms, and cost twenty-
five cents. Place the trap in the opening of the hive
you desire the swarm to occupy, cautiously approach
the full swarm, and with a soft broom sweep the bees
into the hive if the position they occupy makes it pos-
sible; if not, use a box or pan, and carry them to the
hive and empty them in front. They will soon com-
mence to occupy the new home. The slide of the
queen trap can be opened, and the bees inside will set-
tle down to business.

After the first swarm, early in the season, it is ad-
visable to take every possible means to prevent after-
swarms. Want of room is the main cause for old
bees leaving a hive, so a great deal may be accomplished
by careful manipulation of the frames. The lower
part of the hive is devoted to brood-rearing; the other
part is composed of the frames which hold the section-
boxes. Section-boxes are the small square cases in
which comb-honey is marketed.

Among the modern inventions in apiculture is the

186 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

comb foundation, or starter, as it is sometimes called.
In the old days bees had to supply all the wax to build
the combs. Now it is bought with the cells ready
started, and the bees have only to draw them out and
finish off the work, which of course saves the little
workers much time, and enables them to store more
honey. What is termed medium foundation is used in
the brood-frames, and thin or extra thin in the section-
boxes. Bees will sometimes ignore extra space when
added above the frames where they have been work-
ing, so it is advisable to raise the top super, and insert
another one below it. This supplying empty sec-
tions materially mitigates swarming, but does not al-
ways prevent it. It is the after-swarms that it is so
important to check, as they are of little use, seldom be-
ing able to gather sufficient stores to keep them through
the winter. In September all hives should be ex-
amined, and if any have less than twenty-five pounds
of honey, artificial feeding must be resorted to. Make
a syrup of equal quantities of sugar and water; heat
slowly, stirring all the time, being very careful not to
let it scorch, for burnt syrup means destruction to the
bees. Allow it to cool, and then fill what is known as
a Miller feeder, which costs thirty-five cents, and fits
into any of the movable-frame hives.

WNOOGdsaadOLs: dv 11aO2 Vv

©

.

¥
4

ad

ities tae

i

STORING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

living in the country materialises in winter

when fruit and vegetables can be struck from
the family living expenses, so the keeping and storing
of the garden and orchard products are of great im-
portance to the housewife who wants to make the
home furnish current expenses. To keep well, things
must be gathered at the moment between full develop-
ment and complete ripeness, for, if development is not
complete, fruit and vegetables shrink and wither; if
completely ripe, they decay rapidly.

The house cellar, attic, or a root-cellar or pit in the
garden are all available on a country place, and all
suitable for different things. The cellar is best for
storing fruits and vegetables. Long ago we had racks
made of two-by-two scantling — some six feet long,
others three feet, and both two feet wide—to put
under barrels and boxes to lift them from the ground
and allow a free current of air to circulate under-
neath them as a protection against damp and mildew.
To economise space, we had boxes, ten feet long and
ten inches deep, fixed in tiers of three, with one foot
of space between. The frames which supported them

187

A T least one-half of the profit to be derived from

188 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

were also made of two-by-two scantling, and reached
from the rafters of the ceiling to the ground.

The keeping of early fruits, like currants, straw-
berries, and raspberries, depends principally upon the
-cook’s skill, for they have to be canned and made into
preserves and jellies. Get into the habit of doing
such work in small quantities — from a quart to six
quarts, or even a pint, as the day’s gathering may
provide. The habit of waiting for the height of the
season, when a big gathering is possible, is frequently
the cause of home-canned goods spoiling, because some
of the fruit is almost sure to be overripe, and that
means that fermentation or mould will set in, in a short
time, and ruin the entire boiling.

After wiping and labelling the jars, they must be
kept in a cool, dark place. We have a big cupboard
at the back of the outside section of the cellar, where
all such goods are kept. Begin with asparagus, which
is best packed into jars filled with salt and water, and
cooked in a steam boiler for an hour anda half. Peas
are shelled, and about two quarts of the hulls and a
sprig of mint are boiled in four quarts of water for
thirty minutes, then strained, the water brought to the
boiling-point, salted to taste, and the peas boiled slowly
in it for thirty minutes. Fill the jars to overflowing,
and screw down the tops at once. Beans must be
strung and sliced and boiled in salted water, as for
table, or packed in two-inch layers, with a sprinkling
of salt between, in a stone crock. Put a plate or a
stone on top of the beans to keep them under the

Sm ge at OE

STORING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 189

brine, and cover closely. When wanted for use, soak
in fresh cold water overnight and cook in the usual
way.

Gathering and packing is of the greatest importance
in keeping fruit. The most favourable time is when
the fruit has attained its full growth and colour, which
is several days before it is quite ripe. All fruit should
be handled with the greatest care; the slightest bruise
or scratch starts a condition which will develop rot.
A high extension ladder, a high step-ladder, and an
agile boy are the requisites for picking. When pos-
sible, choose a bright, cool day, have the boxes and
barrels ready, and press all help into service. Before
allowing anyone to pick apples, teach him how. Take
the apple lightly, turn it slowly, and press upward,
so that the stem is severed from the branch, not from
fruit.

Whoever does the climbing should discard shoes,
for they are apt to injure the bark of the tree, which
always causes later troubles. A shallow bag, slung
across the body sling-fashion, is the best receptacle for
the picker to-use, because it leaves both hands free.
The work is greatly facilitated if two people can pick,
two pack, and a fifth take the fruit from the pickers
to the packers. Have two bag-slings for each person
picking, so that the collector can take the full one
and hand up an empty one, which saves emptying
the fruit into a basket.

The packers and the barrels, or boxes, should stand
side by side, with a box of convenient height and size

190 © MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

turned upside down to act as a table on which to place
the sling-bags when full. The best apples are packed
in small boxes, with paper between the layers. The
second quality are put into barrels. Put a layer of
hay in the bottom of the barrel, fill it with the fruit,
and end with a layer of hay. The small ones may
be used for cider and for feeding stock.

Onions are ready to harvest when the tops fall
down and dry. Choose a dry day to dig them up.
Leave the bulbs lying on the ground for several days,
then carry into a shed, where they can be spread out
for two or three days more, while the work of cut-
ting off the roots and tops is being completed. We
have a room over the woodshed which we use for
onions, as they are apt to sprout in a cellar that is
moist enough to keep other root-crops in good condi-
tion. We had tiers of shelves, made of slats, put up
all round the walls, on which the onions are spread
out, and, as a precaution against frost, they are covered
with bags or dry autumn leaves as severe weather
approaches. Bore holes about nine inches apart in
the sides of the barrels; fill with the onions, leaving
the head of the barrel off, and stand in any unused
room. | |

Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops die down.
Choose a dry, bright day and cart at once into a dark
place to dry. Don’t leave them in the light on the
field, but spread out for a few days, then pack them
in the cellar in barrels which have a few holes bored
in them, or in bins which have a bottom made of slats.

STORING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES tor

Carrots, turnips and beets should be packed in boxes
or on tiers of box shelves. In either case, they
should be well covered with sand or soil to prevent the
roots shrivelling. Put a few boards in a sunny place,
and stand the squash and pumpkins on them. They
should stay there about a week or ten days, and be
covered at night with bags or an old blanket, after
which put them in some dry, cool place.

Cauliflowers are pulled up with as much soil as may
be attached to the roots, and hung head down from
ceiling of the cellar; Brussels sprouts, the same. Cab-
bage is pulled up in the same way and packed in rows
of two or three abreast on the cellar floor. These are
for use in very bad weather. The main quantity is
stacked in a pit in the garden and covered with earth,
straw and brush.

Celery is partly protected by being earthed up for
bleaching, so it can be left in the garden until the first
of October, or even the fifteenth if mild, but it must
be brought in before heavy frost. About nine inches
of soil is spread on the floor all along one side of the
cellar. The celery is dug and brought in with what
earth adheres to the roots, and then set in the soil
just as if the plants were expected to grow, only they
are put very close together and about three abreast.
When the row is completed, boards are set upon end,
the full length of the row, and another set of heads
is packed in the same way, each additional row being
divided by boards. This is done to prevent the celery
heating, and rot setting in, as would be the case if the

192 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

entire mass was allowed to touch. After the setting-
up is all done, earth is scattered heavily between the
heads.

There is usually a large quantity of green tomatoes
still on the vines in the fall, and the full-sized ones can
be packed in shallow boxes, with paper between the
layers, and kept in a cool, dark place. Later in the
season bring out a few at a time to ripen in the win-
dow of a warm room.

Grapes must be carefully cut, the bunches examined
and any faulty grapes removed with a pair of scissors.
Put slats across a box about two inches from the top,
tying the bunches of grapes to the slats and letting
them hang down into the box, leaving a space between
the bunches. Fill the box up with finely-cut tissue-
paper and keep on the shelf in the cellar.

The cellar for storing fruit must be well ventilated
and free from damp, though a cement cellar is apt to
be too dry, which causes the fruit to shrivel. In such
a case, stand a tub or a couple of pails of water in the
cellar, and do not fail to change it once or twice a
month. A dry cellar with an earthen floor is usually
about right, though, if rapid thaws occur during the
early spring, such a floor is likely to become very
damp; as a remedy, put one or two wide, shallow
boxes, filled with unslaked lime, into the cellar, which
will absorb the moisture.

FORCING RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS

\ ), ta had little more than settled on the farm
when I read an article in some farm paper
about forcing rhubarb in a dark cellar.
(There was a lot of rhubarb in the garden, and a lot
of room in the cellar. Several roots were dug up and
packed in one corner of the section we kept for vege-
tables, but as the article had not mentioned that any
heat was necessary, and that it was necessary to expel
all light, the venture was not a success, for there was
a window in the wall near the chosen corner, which
allowed the light to shine right on the roots, and the
temperature was much too cold. There were dozens
of spindly little stalks, with large green leaves at their
ends, but nothing worthy the name of pie-plant.
However, before the following winter I had secured
technical knowledge and vicarious experience to start
on. The window was boarded up, and two lanterns
were kept burning near the roots. We had rhubarb
charlotte and rhubarb pies, and stewed rhubarb for
breakfast, just as often as we liked, from December
until March, and what is more to the purpose, we sold
eighty-two dollars’ worth.
After we built the mushroom-cellar, a section was

193

194 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

partitioned off for rhubarb and Asparagus, and both
became profitable adjuncts to our winter income. One
great advantage about both of these crop’ for home
use is that there is no necessity to use manure or any
great amount of moisture, and for that reason there
is no objectionable odour to sift through into the
living-rooms.

Naturally, when large quantities are to be raised for
market, it is better to have a special room for work,
but even that does not necessitate any serious outlay.
A neighbour built a house twenty-eight feet long on
the dugout plan, on a side-hill at the back of his house;
just boarded up the front and ends with rough slabs,
which cost him two dollars and fifty cents. Three
rolls of tar-paper, at one dollar and ten cents each,
were used to exclude light and draft. Stove-pipe cost
another two dollars. He had an old stove, but even
if he had had to buy one, it would only have meant
another eight or ten dollars, and the first crop brought
him in one hundred and thirty dollars.

There is often some old building around a farm
which can be utilised for this work, but if there is
no hillside or building available, it is better to exca-
vate to a depth of three feet, making the house about
nine feet wide and as long as you like. This will al-
low a two-foot path through the middle, and a little
more than three feet on each side, in which to store
the roots, Side-wallg need be only a foot above the
ground, but it is best to have a peaked roof, the cen-
tre of which is three and a half feet above ground,

. RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS 195

so that there will be plenty of headroom in the centre
of the house.

Place a door at one end, with an extension shed
and storm door beyond it, unless the house can be
built adjoining some shed or#outbuilding into which
the door may open. Cover the ends and roof with
tar-paper, and bank the sides up with earth. Then
in the centre of the house make a pit, about two feet
below the floor and large enough for a stove to stand
in, and run the pipe from a double elbow to each end
of the house.

The reason for making the pit for the stove to
stand in is to get the pipe as near the ground as possi-
ble. It is possible to do without the stove if the floor
of the house is covered with manure and a goodly
supply is packed around the sides of the house, but
as that would be more expensive and much more la-
borious, I advise you to adopt the stove plan, especially
as it involves none of the harrowing niceties usually
attached to running hothouse heating apparatus, there
being no water-pipes to freeze or injury to crops if
the fire happens to run down or even go out alto-
gether. My neighbour, who built the house on the
side hill, tells me that he had no coal-stove at first,
and used the kerosene cooking-stove from his summer
kitchen,

Having decided where and what quantity is to be
raised next winter, the preliminary work must be be-
gun at once. If you have a lot of old roots in the
garden, dig up the greater number just as soon as it

196 ~MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

is possible to put a spade in the ground, and cut the
roots into good-sized chunks, being careful to leave
from two to four eyes (embryo buds, which are un-
mistakable) in each clump.

If you have a strip of ground on which corn or po-
tatoes were grown last year, scatter barn-yard ma-
nure over it. If it is heavy loam, plough deeply, but
if light sandy soil, the furrows need not be more than
six inches deep, and in addition to the barn-yard fer-
tiliser it will be well to use a heavy dressing of wood
ashes. We spread the barn-yard manure about three
inches deep all over the surface of the ground before
ploughing, then broadcast ashes, harrowing up and
down, leave for about two weeks, and then harrow
from side to side.

When in good condition, the ground must be
marked off into rows about four feet apart. Run the
plough twice in the same furrow, and the trench will
be deep enough to admit of a little more manure be-
ing scattered, then covered lightly with soil before the
plants are put in. Set them three feet apart. Culti-
vate well through the summer to keep clean and pro-
mote growth.

Cut out any flower-stalks which may appear, for
one flower-stalk takes more strength from the root
than twenty fruit-stalks, so they should never be al-
lowed to mature, even in the ordinary garden-beds.

The clumps left undisturbed for the summer sup-
ply should have a good dressing of manure worked
into the ground around them now and again after

RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS 197

the gathering season is over, so that they will be in
good condition to go into the cellar in December.

When old clumps have been divided and set out in
April, they will be large and strong enough to use for
forcing the following December, but if young nursery
plants have to be bought, it is better to defer forcing
until the second winter.

About November 15th we dig up the roots and leave
them to be frozen; then about December Ist, or even
a little earlier if the nights have been frosty, one-half
the roots are piled up in a shed, and the other half
packed on the earth floor of the forcing-house. A lit-
tle earth is scattered between them, and then they are
sprinkled with water in which nitrate of soda has been
dissolved, one ounce of the latter to one gallon of
water.

The stove is started, a wash-boiler of water put on,
and then the work simply consists of shaking down
the stove, putting on half a scuttle of coal and filling
up the boiler night and morning.

In from three to four weeks the first gathering is
made. Stalks should be from twelve to fourteen
inches high, and four usually go to a bunch. The
roots will yield good crops for from three to four
weeks, but gathering should cease when the crop shows
any sign of declining.

When you decide that the roots shall stop bearing,
let the fire go out. Three or four days later the roots
can be removed and piled in a shed, and those that have
been held dormant brought in and spread on the cellar

198 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

floor. Proceed as with the first lot, and at the end of
the season simply let out the fire again and wait until
the weather will permit outside planting. Then divide
the roots into two or three pieces, according to size,
and plant in rows as before. They will be ready for
forcing again the second winter, so that, once started,
the supply is always on the increase.

Asparagus can also be forced in the same manner
as rhubarb, the only difference being that asparagus
roots don’t divide well, so seed has to be sown each
year to keep up a stock for forcing. Plants cannot be
used until the third season, and they are not supposed
to be worth replanting for forcing.

Asparagus can also be forced by placing hotbed
frames and sashes over the plants, and banking up all
around the frames with stable manure, to generate
heat. This method only slightly hastens the crop.
There is nothing quite as satisfactory or profitable as
the dark house or cellar, because growing roots from
seed is comparatively little trouble, and the supply once
started, it is an easy matter to keep up a succession of
three-year-old roots. ‘Time can be saved the first year
by buying one- or two-year-old plants from a nursery,
planting them in the garden, and the following year
use for forcing.

RAISING PIGS

a cow should certainly keep a pig, if things

are to be run on a profitable basis, for the
skim-milk, buttermilk and waste vegetables cannot be
satisfactorily disposed of, unless there is a pig to con-
sume them. Build the sty first. Ours is built on the
English plan, a sleeping-compartment six feet square,
five feet high in front, three feet at back. Outer com-
partment of same size, with walls three feet high, floor
slanting slightly to the front. There is a trough in
each corner of the open compartment. The floor of
the sleeping-room is six inches higher than the outer
compartment, and the whole building, except the roof,
is made of concrete, so can be easily and thoroughly
cleansed.

If several sows are to be kept, each must have a
sty, and there should be one or two large ones for
young stock. The piggery should be as far from the
house and water-supply as possible.

If funds have to be very carefully dispensed, start
with a pair of young ones, which usually can be bought
in any farming district in the spring for about six
dollars a pair when six weeks old. They will need
a little extra care at first, a warm bed of common hay

199

A COUNTRY home large enough to maintain

200 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

or dry leaves over straw. It is advisable to watch
them at feeding-time to see that they eat. The first
week boil a quart of wheat-bran, pounded oatmeal
(hulled oats very coarsely ground), coarse corn-meal
and white middlings, and twelve quarts of water for
half an hour. Let stand until cold, then add skim-
milk sufficient to make it like rather thick gruel. Give
four quarts three times a day for two pigs. Gradually
accustom them to vegetables. Outside leaves of cab-
bage, lettuce and other greens, potato-peelings and
peapods can all be utilised. Boil until tender, mix a
little bran or round oats with them, and feed once a
day. After a week or ten days gradually reduce the
gruel and substitute regular feed, bearing in mind al-
ways that frame must be built before fattening is at-
tempted.

If there is plenty of cash in the exchequer, time
can be saved by purchasing a mature sow due to farrow
in April. When making your selection, choose a pla-
cid-looking animal with a reputation for being a good
mother. A vicious, bad-tempered pig is a menace on
a home farm. Moreover, the vicious sow is generally
a bad mother. Probably no animal is more easily af-
fected by the treatment it receives when young than
a pig. Treated kindly, they become tractable, gentle
creatures; if abused, Surly and dangerous. For this
reason it is perhaps better for the amateur to commence
with a pair of little ones, or one old sow. Suppose
you have bought a sow after breeding; you may expect
little ones in sixteen weeks. Her litter may consist of

RAISING PIGS 201

any number from six to fourteen. Let her have plenty
of exercise until a few days before she is due, then
restrict her range to her own sty.

For safety, it is well to make a fender-like frame
that will stand about six inches above the floor and
the same from the side-walls. Then if Mrs. Mother
is careless enough to roll over, any baby that happens
to be in danger of being crushed can escape under the
fender. We used some old oak fence-rails, cutting
them to fit snugly across from wall to wall, and bored
large auger-holes seven inches from each end. Strong
bolts and nuts were put through the corners, and blocks
of wood six inches square are placed for it to rest on;
being bolted together, they are easily taken apart and
in and out of the pens, as they are not wanted after
the little ones are a few days old.

Have the sleeping-compartment thoroughly cleaned
out and bedded with straw and the fender put in place
four or five days before the litter is expected, and
don’t disturb it after that until they are four or five
days old. Put a small quantity of clean straw in the
outer compartment during the last week. About a
month before farrowing-time let bran and ground oats
predominate in the sow’s rations, and add a little lin-
seed-meal. She should be kept in full vigour, but not
allowed to get fat, for which reason corn is best elimi-
nated from her food. After the litter has arrived
give nothing heavier than a little bran-gruel for
twenty-four hours. Feed lightly for two or three
days, then increase, giving her about all she wants;

202 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

at the end of ten days commence to add corn-meal in
limited quantities and green food of some sort, unless
the weather is such that the family can go out to pas-
ture. There should be a little opening in the outer
compartment large enough for the youngsters to creep
through, and outside a fenced-in yard, in which there
is no trough. When the babies are two weeks old
give them a little grain. They will soon learn to
help themselves, and so reduce the trouble at weaning-
time. We take the mother away when they are six
or seven weeks old and let her run with the herd
until again near farrowing-time. If a boar is kept,
he should have his own sty and a separate yard. His
food should be good, but not too fattening. The best
age is between one and five years.

To keep pigs successfully on the home farm, you
must disabuse your mind of the idea that they are
naturally dirty creatures, for they really are not.
Given clean quarters, a stream to bathe in, and whole-
some feed, they are as self-respecting as any animal
on the farm. If there is no brook nor spring-place
near the pasture, a large patch of sod should be re-
moved, and the hollow filled with water. After a few
weeks let it dry up, and make a new bath.

See that no horrible half-mouldy swill-barrels are
kept around. Table scraps, excepting meat, vegetable
peelings, small potatoes, apples, in fact all unmarket-
able vegetables, are boiled in the food-cooker with
about the same amount of salt that we should use in
cooking for the table. When everything is soft, bran,

RAISING PIGS 203

crushed oats, shorts or middlings are stirred in to
make it into a thick porridge, the whole being closely
covered and allowed to stand until cold. Sometimes
cornstalks are chopped and boiled in the same way.
When a feed-cooker is used, preparing the food is
very little trouble, and most certainly it goes further
than uncooked. Each animal has a pailful night and
morning. Skim-milk and buttermilk, when there is
any to spare, and a forkful of ensilage in the winter
when there is no pasture. Water stands before them
all the time in one of the cement troughs, into which
twice a week a pailful of coal-ashes is put to aid diges-
tion, and once a week an ounce of sulphur and char-
coal is added to the feed. When pigs weigh about
one hundred pounds, corn can commence to take the
place of their grain, for from then on fattening is
the one end and aim of management. The fleshy,
small or medium pig, which weighs from two hundred
and fifty to three hundred pounds brings a better price
in the Eastern markets nowadays than the large
greasy pig, so that returns are realised more quickly,
and it pays to force them with the best of food. If by
any chance a sow should farrow late in November, it
is more profitable to market the little ones as sucking
pigs than to try to keep them through the cold of
January and February. Ham and bacon is necessarily
a staple in country households, and a real luxury
when home-cured. As soon as the meat is cool, it
must be cured, for should it become frozen, it is im-
possible to turn it into good ham and bacon. Sugar

204. MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

and Wiltshire are the two perferred methods. There
is a small hand-machine on the market, specially made
for injecting the liquid for the Wiltshire method.
The positive price I don’t know, but I believe it is
about ten dollars. However, I have used a white
metal syringe, which holds thirty-six ounces and an-
swered very well for the small quantity undertaken.
The process given in an old English receipt is as fol-
lows: Add to five gallons of water, twelve pounds
of salt, one pound of saltpetre, one ounce of salt pru-
nella, two pounds of brown sugar. Bring slowly to
the boiling point, let simmer for fifteen minutes, skim;
when cool it is ready to use in the injecting machine
or syringe. Insert the syringe in the flesh, and inject
the pickle. This is to be done every few inches over
the entire surface of the meat, to insure the full piece
being permeated with the liquid. Lay the meat on the
slab, powder with saltpetre, lay the rind side down-
wards and cover the cut side with a thick coating of
salt. The work should be done on a stone slab, or
hardwood bench with raised edges. Let the meat re-
main fifteen days, and recover with fresh salt. After
seven days more, wash the meat with clean cloths, and
hang up to dry for several days before smoking. The
dry sugar-cured method, is, I think, to be preferred
in this country, because it is more generally liked.
Place the hams and sides on a slab, and proceed as
follows: Mix five pounds of salt with three pounds
of brown sugar and two ounces of saltpetre.
Thoroughly rub all parts of the meat, every third day

RAISING PIGS 20%

for three weeks, after which, wash and wipe and dry
for smoking. Of course, you know that nothing but
hard wood must be used for the fire. Green hickory
is the best. Sausages should be composed of one-
third bread — stale bread grated. Never use new or
moistened bread. Casings only cost five cents a
pound, so it is better to buy them already prepared. A
good mixture is five parts lean pork, one part fat, two
parts veal or mutton. Pass through the chopping
machine, then to every eight pounds add one teaspoon-
ful of dried and finely powdered sage, thyme, and
marjoram, two teaspoonfuls each of mustard, pepper
and salt. Add the bread-crumbs last, thoroughly mix,
and fill the casings. Make short, fat links.

CARING FOR HOUSE PETS

desperately from human ignorance as the house

pet. People who keep horses, cattle or even
poultry consider it necessary to know something about
their wants and requirements, but the poor pet animal
is the recipient of much affection and many cruelties,
for it is cruel to ruin the health by injudicious feed-
ing, and vitality and happiness by want of exercise.
A wholesome, happy dog or cat is the best playfellow
children can have; an entertaining companion for any
member of the human race, but an ailing, unhealthy
animal is a positive menace to the family.

The young dog just taken from its mother requires
special care and patient training, or it will not develop
into an intelligent companion. Even an older dog
who comes from kennels of repute will require care-
ful guiding. Of course, I refer to the general house-
dog; hunting-dogs are usually broken to their special
duties before being sold. But the house or pet dog
must understand a multitude of things, all of which
vary according to the idiosyncrasies of the family who
adopt it, so it has to readjust its habits to new owners
and enyironment,

Have a kennel ready before the dog arrives. A dry-

207

|: all probability no creature on earth suffers so

*

208 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

goods case covered with roofing-paper will do if it has
two heavy pieces of scantling nailed across the bot-
tom, to lift it three or four inches above the ground,
so that the air can circulate under it and prevent mois-
ture from the ground making the floor damp. Place
it in a sheltered position, out of winter winds or the
glare of a summer sun. A good straw bed every
week in cold weather and a good scrubbing in warm
weather are sanitary precautions which should be ob-
served. Have a strong screw-eye at one side of the
kennel and a chain with a swivel snap at each end to
prevent the chain getting twisted up to half its length,
and for convenience when handling a strange dog.
If the dog has been crated and expressed, remember
that in all probability the poor beast will be frightened,
tired and cross. Talk to it for a while, and manage,
if possible, to get a collar on and a chain attached be-
fore opening the crate. Then let Mr. Dog get out
by himself, at his own time. Walk him about for
some time and let him inspect the premises in the
neighbourhood of the house. Naturally cleanly dogs
will need the exercise, so don’t curtail it. If there are
any signs of constipation, a dish of sour milk will
usually correct the trouble. If, however, the journey
has the reverse effect, which is very likely to be the
case in summer, scald milk, pour over some stale bread
which has been toasted and feed when quite cool.
When the dog has finished his inspection of the
premises, fasten him to the kennel and be sure to pro-
vide a solid, heavy water-pan that cannot easily be

CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 209

knocked over. Leave him to become accustomed to
his new home and to sleep off the nervous strain of
the journey. Should he whine or bark, don’t go near
him. He is too excited and upset to be disciplined,
and sympathy and petting at this point would mean a
prolonged fight later.

Feed him yourself and take him for a run on chain
in the evening, early in the morning and at noon. De-
cide which will be the most convenient hours and try
not to change them. Two or three days are usually
sufficient to make the average dog accept a new master
and claim the kennel as his castle, so after that time he
can be allowed freedom.

If the dog is young and is to sleep out of doors,
he should be chained at night, otherwise he will be
apt to form the habit of wandering off in the early
morning hours or moonlight nights, but no dog, young
or old, should be kept perpetually chained. Young
dogs, especially of the terrier class, are benefited by
being chained in a cool, shady spot during the middle
of the day, as they are apt to rush about and be over-
come by the heat, which often causes fits and terrifies
the family into believing that it is a case of hydropho-
bia.

If the new dog is under nine months of age, feed
him three times a day. Bread and milk, oatmeal,
hominy, or any such food which has been well boiled,
- allowed to cool and covered with milk, makes a suit-
able breakfast. Lunch may be half a puppy-cake or
a slice of brown bread. The main meal should con-

210 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

sist of boiled meat, onions and rice, mixed with some
cooked green vegetable.

After the ninth month two meals a day are suffi-
cient. Be as careful not to overfeed as not to under-
feed. A dog should be ready for each meal, but
never ravenously hungry. Don’t give milk which has
not been scalded or potatoes in any form, if you wish
to keep the puppy free from worms. Sour milk once
or twice a week is beneficial, but must not be given
oftener. Twice a week a bone with some meat on it
is needed. Some people think that raw meat is bad
for dogs, but a limited quantity of fresh lean meat is
really necessary for growing dogs, and being on the
bone necessitates a lot of gnawing, which is good for
the teeth and encourages the flow of saliva which aids
digestion.

If you should have a mother-dog with puppies, give
her a large sleeping place; dry and comfortably warm
in winter, dry and cool in summer. Puppies should
be taught to drink as soon as possible after they are
six weeks old. Condensed milk saves the trouble of
scalding cow’s milk. Whichever is used should be
given warm; never hot or cold. The puppies will
learn to eat more quickly if the mother is taken away
for about an hour before offering food. Gradually
increase the length of her absence until she spends only
the nights with her babies, and weaning will be ac-
complished without any trouble, —

To prevent worms, the one great trouble which at-
tacks all dogs, give the mother a dose of worm medi-

CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 211

cine three or four weeks before the babies are ex-
pected, and give the babies very small doses when they
are three weeks old, six weeks old and nine weeks
old. After that time I depend on sour milk, and an
occasional dose of castor-oil.

House-breaking should be attended to as soon as the
puppies commence to run about. Never leave a puppy
alone in a room, for one mistake prompts others. Be
watchful, and the moment a puppy begins to fidget or
to run about, put it outside or in a box containing saw-
dust. Patience and perseverance are necessary at
first, but in two or three weeks the lesson will be
perfectly learned, especially if the hours of taking
the dogs out are strictly adhered to.

Old dogs, whose education in this respect has been
neglected, can be taught tidy habits if fed at regular
hours, the last meal not later than three o’clock in the
afternoon, the evening exercise being postponed till
about eight, after which they should be fastened to
the box or basket which acts as their bed by a chain
not more than two feet long. Release early in the
morning and take out at once. They will soon under-
stand the discipline of enforced hours, for the close
proximity of their bed calls natural instinct to their
assistance. The habit once formed, it will prevail
when allowed to sleep in any part of the house.

Bathing dogs of any kind or size I don’t believe in
very much, for it robs the skin of the natural oil
which is required to feed the hair and keep it in con-
dition. Brushing, however, is quite necessary, es-

212 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

pecially in the summer, when fleas may be about, and
it is well to begin early in the season to rub some good
insect-powder into the hair, then after about half an
hour brush it out thoroughly.

Delicate small dogs with long hair can have a mix-
ture of cocoanut and sweet almond-oil rubbed into the
hair once a week and brushed out again.

If any accident makes washing unavoidable, stand
the dog in a small tub half filled with warm water,
rub white soap on a flesh-brush, and brush from the
center of the back with straight strokes to the end
of the hair on each side. Take the front paws in your
left hand, letting the dog stand on his hind legs, and
brush from the neck down to clean the under part of
the body. The head should come last. Wash the ears
first, being careful not to let water run into them.
Hold the nose up and wash the top of the head and
sides of the face, so that the water runs backward
and not into the eyes. Last of all wash the muzzle,
being very careful about soap. Rinse in two clear
waters, then wrap the body in a warm towel while you
wipe the face and the inside of the ears.

When about half dry let him down for a shake, but
be careful he does not escape under a piece of furni-
ture and roll, as he will probably try to do. Brush
until quite dry, rubbing a little oil onto the bristles, at
the end of the dressing.

Treat your dog at all ages with kindly considera-
tion. Be patiently and considerately firm, remember-
ing that you must rule through affection and respect.

CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 213

Don’t hector or worry all the time. Be your dog’s
playfellow as well as master, and he will soon become
an intelligent and faithful protector.

Cats can be kept in a city home with less trouble
than dogs, because they haven’t got to be taken out
to exercise, a duty which can’t be shirked with Mr.
Dog. Cats are needed in suburban or country houses
at least as much as dogs. The master of the house
can usually guard against the rarely met burglar, but
no human vigilance is adroit enough to fight four-
legged pantry thieves, and a farm must have a good-
sized tribe of felines to prevent loss in the barn, poultry
house and corn-crib.,

Well-bred cats are just as good hunters as common
ones, so it is wise for the self-supporting home to
keep aristocratic cats for the house, as there is no oc-
casion to do violence to your feelings when kittens ar-
rive, because they can always be sold at fairly good
prices.

In the outbuilding we keep Maltese and very large
blacks. We have so many requests for the Maltese
and blacks that even the plebeian mothers are al-
lowed to keep one or two kits of every litter, for hav-
ing children to provide for is a great spur to Mrs.
Cat’s hunting proclivities.

Considering the service cats perform for humanity
by keeping in check the numerous varieties of rodents
which abound in cities no less than in country places,
they should be the most highly prized and cared-for
small animals we have instead of the most abused.

214 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

There seems to be a prevailing but erroneous idea
that cats are neither affectionate nor companionable.
Treat a cat as you would an intelligent dog and she
will compare so favorably that Mr. Dog will have to
be extremely gifted to retain his superiority.

The outside cats should have plenty of fresh milk
night and morning when the cows are milked, not only
as food, but to counteract the injurious effect of the
number of mice they eat. New milk is rich in cream
fats, and acts as an antidote to the poison contained
in the gall of the mice. Twice a week we give them a
feed of raw meat, on the bone if we can get enough
bones, for even the rat-catchers must be well fed, or
they lack the vitality to hunt.

Having plenty of exercise, and being able to find
grass and herbs for themselves, barn-cats are usually
normal, healthy creatures, and need little dieting or
doctoring from their owners, but they should always
have a good, warm place to sleep in.

The city house-cat leads such a semi-artificial life
that she needs more care. Milk which has stood sev-
eral hours and been skimmed is not an especially good
food. It should be scalded and allowed to cool be-
fore it is given to kittens.

People rarely think to provide water for cats, yet
they really prefer it to milk, and drink a surprising
quantity when a dish of it is kept in one regular place.
Potatoes should be as rigidly tabooed in the kittens’
diet as in the puppies’. Accustom a cat to eat cereal
or bread and milk in the morning.

CARING FOR HOUSE PETS 215

Our house-cats always have a little strip of fat
bacon when it has been cut for breakfast, and I am
sure that the fat and salt are useful worm preventives.
At noon they have liver or beef which has been stewed
with onions and any green vegetable which we may
have; for supper a saucer of milk.

It is very easy to teach a kitten to be cleanly if you
exercise vigilance at first and provide a shallow box
or pan half filled with ashes or sawdust. One thing
which must be understood by the city housekeeper
whose pet has to depend entirely upon the box is that
it must be emptied regularly, at least once a day, and,
if necessary, twice. Neglect it and the animal’s in-
stinct of cleanliness is offended, and it will select some
place for itself, thereby falling into untidy habits.

RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET

to keep, and no special conditions for raising

which cannot be successfully accomplished in
a limited space. The most fastidious woman cannot
object to caring for a few families. One male and
two females will start a profitable flock. The male
bird should be selected for his voice, regardless of
his color or shape. The two other birds, on the con-
trary, should be selected for those very qualifications.
The male should be darker and deeper in colour than
the female. In fact, male birds, with green on their
wings and heads, mated with pale females, produce
the best-coloured young ones. Never allow two top-
knot birds to pair, for, oddly enough, the progeny will
usually have bald or deformed heads. A breeding
cage with separate compartments costs at least $4,
but a very good one can be made at home out of empty
dry goods or grocery boxes. Of course, it must be a
well-made, smooth one, otherwise it might hurt the
birds. Painting is not advisable, but it is well to
tub off any rough surfaces with coarse sandpaper.
Remove the lid and one side of the box. Leave the
bottom, one side and ends intact. Turn the box so
that the remaining side becomes the bottom of the

217

. ANARIES are dear, fascinating little creatures

218 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

cage. Next get a piece of sheef zinc, nick the cor-
ners, and turn them up all around, to form a tray an
inch deep. This is to fit inside the cage. Square-
meshed, galvanised cloth is the best for the front
and top. Fasten it to the back, ends and front with
matting tacks, leaving a space at the bottom in front
for the tray to slip in under. Puta partition through
the middle of the cage, with a small door in it. A
door is also necessary in each compartment. ‘The or-
dinary seed and water dishes can’t be improved on by
home contrivances, so add them to the purchased list.

Two half cocoanut shells, or small boxes, must be
hung up on the end or back of each compartment as

- foundations for the nest. Cover the bottom of the

tray with a thick layer of bird-gravel, and hang up
materials for nest-building in each compartment.
Dried moss, bits of raw cotton, or short fine hay, are
all suitable. The material for a cage three feet long,
eighteen inches high and deep, will only cost a dollar,
so the homemade cage, in addition to being an econ-
omy, has the advantage of size, which means a great
deal in a breeding cage, as it allows the birds so much
more exercise.

Put a female in each compartment, so that they
may become accustomed to each other. In about 4
week, the door in the partition can be opened, and
both birds allowed the freedom of both compartments.
During this time, the male bird must be kept in his
own cage, and in another room. During these pre-
liminary stages, which should run from three to four

RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET 219

weeks, the three birds must have, in addition to their
regular food, a small dish of mash every morning,
made of hard-boiled egg chopped very fine, stale bread-
crumbs, and hulled oats ground (not oatmeal or
rolled oats), equal parts of each, just moistened with
scalded milk, and, of course, allowed to cool before
being fed to the birds.

After the two females are on friendly terms, bring
the male bird’s cage into the room, and hang it be-
fore the breeding-cage, and out of sight, if possible.
Curiosity will be aroused, and the birds will spend
most of their time talking to each other, and endeavour-
ing to see each other. A week later, close the door
in the partition, leaving a female in each compartment.
Put the two cages on a level; two or three days later,
open the door of one compartment, and the door of
the male bird’s cage, placing them close together. He
will soon commence going in and out of the breeding-
cage, and in a day or so his cage may be removed.
After the hen-bird commences to sit, open the door in
the partition, and let the male into the second com-

partment. When the second hen commences to sit,
the door in the compartment can be left permanently
open, as there is little fear of the birds’ fighting, and
the male will divide his attention between the two
families, helping to feed and care for the nestlings.

Special care is necessary during the incubating
period, for the eggs of these little songsters are ex-
ceedingly fragile, and a loud noise to which they are
unaccustomed, even the slamming of a door, will some-

220 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

times addle them. Too bright a light is also annoying,
so a piece of green baize pinned around the corner of
the cage will give a sense of seclusion which will keep
the bird tranquil and happy. Allow nothing to worry
or trouble them while sitting.

Fourteen days after the first egg is laid, the young
appear. The tiny creatures are a great disappoint-
ment to those who see them for the first time. Chicks
and ducklings are lovely from the time they first
emerge from the shell; but a young canary is feather-
less, blind, and has the longest neck imaginable. In
a short time, however, it becomes a golden ball of
down, and its early unattractiveness is forgotten in
admiration.

Continue the mash food, but after the little ones are
hatched, feed night and morning. Add rape seed
which has been boiled a few minutes, and then rinsed
through cold water. The nestlings’ eyes open about
the sixth day. After the thirteenth day they will be-
gin feeding themselves in the most independent man-
ner. When the brood is a month old, remove them to
another cage. They will then begin to lose their first
crop of feathers, and must be carefully protected from
draughts, lest they take cold. At the end of this first
moulting period, you can tell how the young will de-
velop, both for shape and song.

The mother bird will usually begin to build a second
nest when the babies in the first are about fourteen
days old, sometimes keeping up this double family
from February till June; so that with good birds you

RAISING CANARIES FOR MARKET 221

can count on having eight broods from the two fe- ‘
males, with an average of sixteen male birds. If the
trainer — that is to say, the bird who teaches the young
ones to sing —is a good songster, the males should
bring two dollars apiece when sixteen weeks old.

The young females can, with a little patience, be
trained and taught tricks, which will make them worth
as much or more than their brothers, who have only
voice to recommend them; but if the female’s educa-
tion is ignored, they are not worth more than fifty
cents apiece, unless kept to breeding age. Cages must
be kept scrupulously clean, with plenty of sand on the
floor. Accustom the birds to having a bath dish put
in for a time every morning. Should the feet look
soiled, or the nails be too long, take the bird firmly, but
gently, in your hand, and hold the feet in warm soap
and water, to remove all dirt and soften the nails, the
extreme points of which can be cut with a pair of
sharp, fine scissors. Take care not to go above or too
near the end — the end of the nerve that can be seen
running through the upper part of the nail; for if
you do, it will be painful to the bird, as cutting into
the quick of your finger-nail would be. If you are
a real bird-lover, and have time and patience, you can ©
accustom a flock to your presence until they will let
you go among them in a flying-room and handle them
at your pleasure; for they are naturally most affec-
tionate, gentle little creatures, as full of playfulness as
a kitten. A solitary songster will feel neglect and
loneliness to a pitiable degree, but will respond to pet-

222 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

ting as readily as a child. A canary from the general
stock of a bird-store is timid and reserved at first, but
will soon establish friendly relations between himself
and his owner.

THE BUSINESS SIDE

r | AO make the home profitable, there must be
some system of bookkeeping instituted, no
matter how simple, also there must be some

ingenuity exercised about marketing. Take advantage
of the long evenings to start books and lay plans for
the disposal of surplus products to the best advantage.
Unless you know what each animal costs to keep, and
what returns you are receiving from it, you can’t be
sure what your profits really are. I know how most
amateurs hate to be bound down to the actualities of
a balance-sheet with its cold facts on what it costs
to produce this, that or the other thing. But experi-
ence has taught me that it is the crucial point and must
be ascertained, ‘Your accounts need not be elaborate
but they must be clear and accurate. Establish some
simple system of bookkeeping and after you have once
overcome prejudice and made the plunge, it is really
gratifying to know. for a positive fact whether things
are really paying or not.

The first step toward general order is keeping rec-
ords of individual animals or flocks, as the case may
be, and also of the farm and garden crops, Bestow
a name or number upon each animal, and if you are
going in for husbandry in an extensive way, have a

223

224 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

book for each variety. If only two or three animals
are to be kept, a general stock-book will do. Each
field and meadow should be named or numbered, and
a book devoted to work done on each.

Poultry also needs a special book; so do expenses.

My plan is to head a page in the cattle register with
the animal’s name or number; date of birth or pur-
chase, with price; followed by when bred, to whom,
when due, actual date of event, sex of offspring and
name or number bestowed upon it. On the opposite
page, if the animal is a cow, the amount of milk she
gives, a week after calving, and at one measuring
every month until we cease milking her. Milk is
tested for butter-fats once in every three months and
the result recorded.

The record of pigs and sheep is not so elaborate,
because, of course, there is only breeding and arrival
of offspring to be noted. For poultry, the number
of pens heads the page, followed by the number of
birds it contains, and the individual numbers, and on
the opposite page the number of eggs gathered each
week.

The feed-book contains the amount of grain, etc.,
used for each variety of stock.

The farm-book is kept in a like manner, the field
number heading the page; then, when ploughed; how
and to what extent fertilised; with what variety of
seeds sown; number of times cultivated, when har-
vested and the amount of the crop.

On the opposite page, in pencil, are suggestions for

Sa aaah

THE BUSINESS SIDE 225

catch crops and rotation for main planting for a
period of five years. Small note-pads with pencils
attached are fastened up in every stall or pen of each
outbuilding, and events are jotted down as they oc-
cur, so that there is no chance of forgetting or getting
things mixed. Every Saturday the sheets are torn
from the pads and brought to the house, for the items
to be transferred to the different books. It does not
take half an hour each week to do the clerical work,
and it saves innumerable mistakes and accidents, be-
sides furnishing proof of the relative value of each
animal and piece of land.

On one side of the expense book all money spent
is entered; on the other, all moneys received. <A bal-
ance is struck every month and transferred to a gen-
eral ledger, which, in turn, is balanced once a year.

Another thing that must be understood is that all
profits must not be considered as a bonus to be used
for personal pleasure. Some part of all moneys re-
ceived should be set aside as working capital, other-
Wise improvement and extension are simply impossible.

Marketing home products advantageously is of para-
mount importance, and seems to be the point on which
many beginners fail. Commission men and wholesale
markets should not be restored to, because home-grown
products of all descriptions excel in quality and not
in quantity; therefore, appeal to high-class private
custom, who desire the very best, regardless of price.

I have never sold through any of the ordinary mar-
ket channels, yet have always had more orders than I

226 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

could fill and received a little more than the ordinary
prices. Naturally the location of the home and the
quality of the wares must influence the returns to some
extent, but not half so much as the method of packing
and shipping. Nicety in these respects captures the
favor of customers and they take pride in exhibiting
things to their friends — which is the very best sort
of advertising a home business can have.

When I had reached the point where I knew that I
could depend on a certain number of eggs regularly,
I wrote to a doctor friend in the city and told him
that I could promise to deliver six dozen strictly fresh-
laid eggs twice a week for the whole year, at a uniform
price of forty-five cents a dozen; customers to pay
the express charges, which would be twenty-five cents
on each six dozen. (Express companies return empty
packages free of charge.) Within a month he had
found four customers for me, who would take two
dozen a week each, the box to be delivered at his house,
where the other three customers were to call every Sat-
urday and Wednesday.

All poultry-supply houses have wooden boxes for
sale with divided trays, made to hold three, six or
twelve dozen eggs, for about two dollars apiece. Be-
fore the year was out each of the three other cus-
tomers had interested one or two friends, with the
result that three six-dozen boxes were shipped
three times a week, and the following winter I had
orders from the same people for butter and table
poultry.

THE BUSINESS SIDE 227

In this way my market grew, as did my stock, and I
never had any surplus to worry about. Of course, I
realise that there was an element of good luck in hav-
ing a doctor for a friend, but when there is no good
Samaritan to start a clientele for you, energy will
surely accomplish it; for every housekeeper longs to
get good, fresh-delivered table delicacies which have
not passed through a dozen hands.

I know one woman who got her first customer by
writing personal notes to women of social prominence
in a near-by town, whose addresses she got from a
directory. From twenty letters she received two re-
plies, but they both became regular customers, and
recommended friends.

Another instance of personal effort took the form
of calls upon doctors and clergymen. Still another
woman interested the fashionable milliner of her town
to canvass orders among her customers, and paid for
the favour with eggs and butter.

A more impersonal way of gaining customers aout
be to arrange with one or two well-located drug or
stationery stores for the display of large cards bearing
notices of the things for sale and your address; but,
of course, there are dozens of ways to find customers.
Advertising in newspapers will do as a last resource,
but strictly personal methods are the best.

Now about packing. Eggs should never be more
than two days old and must be sorted into lots of uni-
form color and size. If the eggs should become soiled
in muddy weather, wipe them with a damp cloth as

228 MAKING HOME PROFITABLE

soon as gathered, so that the shell does not become
permanently stained.

For private customers, table birds should be es-
pecially fattened and dry picked, which means that the
feathers are removed as soon as the bird has been
killed, without its being dipped into scalding water.
As the scalding spoils the flavour, birds so dressed are
only accepted by third-class market.

After the feathers and pin-feathers have all been
removed, the bird should be drawn, washed in cold
water, wiped quite dry, a piece of charcoal or peeled
onion put inside the body and then trussed, for they
look so much more attractive than when shipped in a
sprawling condition.

Drawing and dressing for market is not the custom
for general marketing in this country, but it is uni-
versal in Europe, and private customers always ap-
preciate the improvement such rigid cleanliness neces-
sarily makes in flavour. Wrap each bird in a square
of new cheese-cloth. Place a few sprigs of parsley,
thyme and summer savoury at one side, for the con-
venience of the cook; then put on an outer wrapping
of white paper and tie with clean, fresh string.
Things going from a home should look dainty.

Don’t try sending butter by express unless you have
orders enough to make it worth while to buy one of
the refrigerator hampers which are now used for auto-
mobiles. A hamper which costs about four dollars
will hold five or six pounds of butter, so it is not a
very great outlay when you can get forty-five cents a

THE BUSINESS SIDE 229

pound for your butter. In making up hampers of
fruit and vegetables, use small grape-baskets to divide
the different varieties. Line them with green leaves.
Pack everything with dainty care and reject every-
thing which is not in perfect condition. Don’t let any-
thing interfere with the arranged schedule for ship-
ping. Gain a reputation for uniform excellence and
punctuality, and success is sure.

THE END

+ t! ta! \ a’; v

iN,
BAN oe

Vel ot
ay

y Pat 4) } Ai
y * fi Alyn had

a
‘ A
Bi:
vat
a bu |
i ae
fats * hy
ore oe

1g J :

-

i]
é
Se

‘

“4
Le

Ay ; fl :

{ Wika it
Ns i Ali)

Os ; eh
Bs, tr MAP Ce te) ‘ i
OW ea APE Nee fry!
Nia Bes
=

Ae a) Ber (es)
PPAR OReU Us Cee

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

UNNI

OO0e?74has5A