POULTRY & BEES.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 505, 24 January 1906, Page 8

POULTRY & BEES.

SHADE FOR CHICKENS. Ab Economical Heeler Which A»•wit» All Pnn>o»M. Where trees are not at hand, artificial shade iust be provided for the chickens, or little need be looked for in the way of growth. The ideal shade for young chit-kens is a raspberry or blackberry patch, but, where neither this nor trees are to be had, make a small covering like that suggested in the cut-.

The framework Is of laths nailed together, and the whole covered as shown with cheap-cotton cloth. li<> not bring the covering down to the ground either on the sides or ends, but give free access to the air on all sides. The chicken-raiser will be wise, howerer, if he plants several rows of raspberries at one side of the yard. The chicks will fertilize the bushes and keep the weeds down, and in return will be comfortably shaded during all the hot day* o? summer. And last, but not least, the owner will have many a dish of moat appetizing berries. —N. Y. Tribune.

CARE OF CHICKENS. - . T» B» On* Hoit Hat Be Afraid of Work. See that your fowls have everything to promote heelth. nothing that will hart or destroy. Vermin should not- be allowed to enter the fowls* house; but. should they get in. the be>rt thing to do is to pull off your coat and get to work. Thoroughly clean and whitewash the house and nests and kerosene the roosts. Sitting hens are a great prey to lice. Put clean broken straw in the nest, take the hen by the legs, breast on the floor, and rub sulphur through the feathers and let her sit for 24 hours before placing the eggs. A day or so before the chickens arc due use a good insect powder the same way the sulphur was put on. Have a dust bath handy end the hen will do the rest. When the chicks are hatched look for Terrain on their heads. If any. rub a small quantity of any fresh grease where you see them. Do not take the hen and newly-hatched chicks out of the nest at once, but let them brood for a conple of days. Fe«d the hen—the Chicks don't need anything. Keep the youngsters out of the early morning dew until ten or fourteen days old. Don't feed wet. raw cornmeal to spring chicks. Feed bread crumbs, hardboiled efrft*. granulated oatmeal, baked corncake and millet seed. When two weeks old shoot the neighbor's dog and keep your own cat in the cellar. —Dakota Field and Farm. EXCHANGING EGGS.

A Practice WT»i«h la Permitted to Flourish Too Freely. It is not unusual to have a neighbor request you to exchange eggs with him, and such neighbor may bare been the first to condemn your enterprise in purchasing new blood and pure breeds. As a rule every farmer who steps outride of the beaten path or ventures into something better is at once classed as a crank or a book farmer; but sooner or later his neighbors will show a willingness to obtain Irs stock if they can "exchange" with hsm. He must go to the expense of bringing the stock into the commnnity, and if he fails he is set down as lacking in intelligence; but when Jie succeeds he receives no credit. There is no reason why one shoulrl exchange eggs of pure breeds for those from scrub fowls any mere than a Jersey calf should be exchanged for one from a nondescript cow. When eggs are sold for hatching they represent something more than their value for the table. Those who buy them do not want eggs, but stoek, the eggs rep-r<"-tenting the embryo yottne of the desired breed. Any farmer who procures pure breeds sihould be encouraged by his neighltors, ass he benefits the whole eommonitv.—Rural World.

> Care for Feather KntJns. I have experienced considerable difficulty in effectually curing fowls of the bad habit of feather eating-. and found the following a certain cure after failing with paraffin. paring the bill, etc.: Take a piece of wire of the thickness of an ordinary hairpin, bind it round top portion of the bill mar thf. cud, sufficiently tight as not to allow it to ■lip off. This will not present the bird from eating or drinking, but will prevent it* closing its bill sufficiently tight to draw feathers, and th<* T«d habit is noon forgotten.—California Foultry Keepw. Don't M*rke« I.e.—• F-->wl». It eo*ts jthoiit five cents to produce a pound of poultry, even ;it the heaviest f«edin«. a writvr in the Anieri*-an Poultry Advocate. A poor hen weighing six pounds can Ik* gotten to the weight of eight pounds in from ten to twenty days- n-ore than two weeks—and if the ncirket price is 12 cent* per pound she will bring 14 cents. owing; to the extra quality, hut-a (lowing l2'/ a cents per pound idie will bring one dollar.