The Journal of agriculture and horticulture, 1 mars 1902, samedi 1 mars 1902

[" } D) SY; ee \u201d\u2014 x _ - 2 44 A R Û OH 9 À, KR CAMES 0 Xu?.IE 1 @ Fo) CA 45 ie Be X 1 \\ { | =, 5 AE kl ON WN IS A Vi 3 XS A SIPS SR OIE ENA f | = 2, foal D D AND ii) A _\u2014- VIS ihn ves pli Le 2311 4, Sv PS THX Journal of Bgricultume and Horticulture The Farm.THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE is the officia organ of the Council of Agriculture of the Province of Quebec, It is issued Bi-monthly and is designed to include not only in name, but in fact, OTES BY TH AY.anything concerned with Agriculture and Stock-Raising, Horticulture &c, N E WAY All matters relating to the reading columns of the Journal must be addressed to Arthur R, Jemner Fust, Editor of the JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, 4 Lincoln Avenue, Montreal.For RATES of advertisements, etc,, address the Publishers Stuffing fowls\u2014We thought that the proper LA PATRIE PUBLISHING OO .: 9 & 81 St.James St Montreal food for fattening fowls had been settled longo Subscription ; 81.00 per Annum payable in advance ago ; but, as we see in the reports of the meetings of the Farmer\u2019s Clubs, ete, discussions still rise Fable of Gontenty on the subject.We give here a recipe that we have used, with great success, on both sides of the THE FARM .Atlantic.NO Dy the WAY orne Lasers von sesemsensens 385 lantic Stuffing fowls.vevase s vossensennen :ansovars secoserus assensocs JOD Apatite .\u2026\u2026ersersscescses coversrnnnnene sossonse marssosess 386 1 lb.of barley meal.Price Of CAttI@-FJOË veuves cevarressersemnre vsos vanessa an s\u2026.386 8 oz.of oat-meal.Seeding \u2026.\u2026.\u2026\u2026.\u2026.0\u2026 soccer anovepeussa avance ssuencn06 ssosceueense 386 ClOVEK .\u2026.\u2026+wssss covere sense covers annenene veenereressen posseoses 386 4 oz.of suet.Reply to a complaint .ressesessasere sernre cesenesnesnvee cerns 386 9 A , an Early sowing, Wrightson ON .\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.0eces sossacnes v\u2026\u2026.387 2 oz.of coarse sugar.Clover-hay sootat essences \u2014onvet poceontesepossoente à voccer eo rocaonae 3 389 .Apatite, the editor ON ccccsccrcrnccoensen s sosearans reereassssns 389 This, well mixed, and moistened with warm Sheep feeding, the editor on .avesassensentens succseute ilk.is to administer 4 .HOUSEHOLD MATTERS milk, i to be administered in the following About dress \u2026.\u2026.\u2026.carceosenees passasssenenren vascranceens .\u2026.391 Manner Children\u2019s clothing - ssoassacreserenessamsssesenses sossasrse sasssss 392 (The pullets are the easier to fat, but they are RECIPpeS s.\u2026\u2026\u2026crerroseenees cocos00e0 vussccsstncs0s menvoscors cv 392 .T4 THE G ARDEN AND ORCHARD often too much in request for early laying to be The elm-leaf beetle \u2014\u201d.copeetS0sc0a00e s.oresress soc.394 available for food purposes, so we must be sa- Seasonable hint# \u2026.\u2026\u2026\u2026cserserccrcesernersecsaccce voccessoccee 396 tisfied with the cockerels.) THE POULTRY-YARD Take the damp meal mixture and roll up, in the Handling chickens, Hare on «.c.cceververienernens vassovcs .396 .] ; Experiments on fowls, À.G.Gilbert on.\u2026\u2026\u2026 397 form of small cigars, a sufficient quantity of it PO re Graham on.seeseenes one seer 200 for one meal; the quantity you will have to learn \u2019 \"THE FLOCK by experience.Sit down close t&o the coop, having Lambing time, by the editor .\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.renee were 402 by your side, on a low table or stool, any old tea Shearing owes in March.Me 404 or coffee pot with the spout unbroken full of warm milk.Take one of the fowls quietl The beef-cattle trade.vorsessernennee \u2026 sovaccees va 405 Juietly, and placing Beet-ro0t A8 8 CAÎLO F000 wer area sors vores eons oon 406 It between your knees, open its beak, and, previous- With the breeders.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.voscocsensse reenes ees errs 407 ly dipping it into the milk, thrust a roll very gent- The Ottawa provincial sale.crernresseernenens eeeses 408 Iv down the bird\u2019s throat thine it SCIENCE 5 ba external roat, smoothing its passage by Plants and microbes, W.R.Gilbert on.\u2026\u2026.\u2026\u2026+.0-+02000.gentle external manipulation, which being trans- Microbes and manure, Geo.Moore on .sasssasencus lated into English, means outside stroking ; after NOTES FROM OTTAWA.which, pour a trifle of milk down the suject\u2019s Farmer's Institute work \u2026\u2026 vossesess sossesvanses 0ss0s0000000 throat.The fowl, will probably be strongly oppos- VOL.5.No.| and 15 delivered fres to al members of Farmers Chaba.\" MARCH 1st, 1902 386 THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE ed to this treatment for the first 1wo or three times, but within the second day it will stretch oul is neck and open its beak greedily for the gobhet.Twice a day of this worl will suffice.At the end of ten days treaiment, properly carried out, the bird will be ripe fat, at least all ours used to be, except in the case of Cochins, that took nearly three weeks of it and then, overflowing with vellow fat.were only lit to be given to the ferrets.No Fastern bred Towl that cver we saw was fit for anvthine except to produce cggs.Game-fowls, Dorkings, Surrev-Fowls, these breeds are the best for the table.{ Mind and keep all the feeding fools, tea-pot.basin Tor the gobbets, cte\u2026 quite clean and free The fowls should be in a well- ventilated, auiet place, the more sombre the better.Not necessary, we hope to tell you to fast the birds for 20 hours or =o, before wringing their necks.from sourness.The above is our own veritable practice, and has alwavs proved most satisfactory.Apatite \u2014Sorry to see a revival of theawve hoped, exploded Tallacy that Tinely ground apatite, our Canadian phosphate of Time.would benefit crops.We certainly speak on this subjeet without prejudice that some of the the are {he propertly of a member of our family, hut when we have letters in Jand from such men as the late Prof.Vocleker.dhemist to the RAS.of England.Prof.Aîtken of the Iighland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, and the late Sir John Lawes, seeing MORE valuable deposits in Laurentides of world-wide lame.all bearing the same lesti- mony that = Grind the crystalline form of phosphate of lime as fine as ever you please, it will he ineffvetual as a manure until jt 15 treated with acid: now the Canadian apatite ix a ervstallime form of phosphate of lime.Price of callle-food \u2014 Any one casting his eves of an the /erald, will necessarily he struck with the marvellous rise of price in all kinds of cattle food in the State of Texas.What is to he the line struck out by the farmers of that Stale no one is that they hetier Tie quietly wait for better times, article veprinfed from an tell : our idea on their oars and Seeding.\u20141{ {hose of our friends.who have been grudging the full complement of seed to the ground, in the past, will only try an extra bushel to the arpent, thev will find it pays.The new all- conquering oats in Scotland is said\u2014see p.not to have done so well in some places, because it did not get seed enough sown ; it needs 5 bushels to the acre.They would not sow 5 bushels in Scotland if 4 would do ; trust our friends North of Tweed to know better than to waste anything.We recommend, on land in moderately good heart : Wheat.\u20142 1-2 bushel: to the arpent.Barley.\u20142 1-2 bushels to the arpent.Oats.\u20143 1-2 bushels to the arpent.Peas.\u20142 1-2 bushels to the arpent.For green fodder : 2 bughels of oats to the arpent.1 bushel of peas to the arpent.1-2 bushel of vetches to the arpent.Of Lucerne or Alfalfa, 20 Ibs.of good seed ix enough for an Imperial acre ; say 18 lbs.to the arpent, but, if the seed is in the least doubtful add according to vour judgment.The American: recommend 30 lbs.to the acre, so we conclude their seed is not doubtful but bad.Try a good dose of plaster over your Lucerne this summer.Every farmer who has suitable land.should grow { or 5 acres of thix invaluable plant.simple enough Cultivation previous crop, well cleaned and manured potatoes or roots ; sow barley or other arain-crop and vour Lucerne with it as you are accustomed to deal with clover.In the following spring roll as soon ax the land is fairly dry ; and when the third autumn has arrived and the plant have their tap-roots well down four fect or so in the sub-soil harrow vehemently.You may kill the weeds.but vou will not hurt the Lucerne.Cloger\u20141ardly credible : but [ sce by some old reports that there were farmers in this province, some thirty years ago, who used to sow à pound of clover to the arpent.\u2014_\u20140 REPLY TO A COMPLAINT FROM THE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION.The Journal d\u2019Agricullure.as well as several other papers, has published the report of a meeting of the Breeders\u2019 Association of the Province of Quebec.in which the following resolution will he found : THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 387 \u201cThe Council of Agriculture which had promised to attend to the complaints made by our Association against certain Agricultural Societies that do not comply with the regulations, has, up to the present time, done nothing.\u201d These complaints were set out in a letter dated 12th March 1900 addressed to Dr.Couture, Secretary of the Breeder's Association, which letter contained the following resolutions : \u201cResolved.That this association has learned that certain Exhibition Societies do not insist upon certificates of registration for thoroughbred stock.The Association would draw the attention of the Department of Agriculture to this fact, which is in contravention of the law, and begs that the law be applied rigorously and impartially n every case.\u201d On March the 17th.I, as Secretary of the Coun- vil of Agriculture, wrote to Dr.Couture, asking him to give me the names of the Societies that were breaking through the rules of the Council of Agriculture as mentioned in the above resolution.On March 20th 1900, Dr.Couture replied that the Association thought \u201c that it would be better for this year, not to mention the Agricultural Societies that were aimed at.\u201d We have never received the names of these So- vieties.Consequently, the Council of Agriculture has never been in a position to do anything as re- sards \u201cthe complaints against certain Societies which do not insist upon the rules\u201d for the good reason that the Breeders\u201d Association has refused in give the names of those Societies.(\u2018Translated by the Editor.) (Signed) OCT.OUELLETTE, Seeretary of the Council of Agriculture.so: SEASONABLE NOTES.BARLY SOWING.In another week we shall have entered upon a month of great activity in the fields.January (1) is a month for sowing, but it is comparatively sel- Jom that the land will bear the necessary traffic,or that the weather proves propitious.I saw barley (1) Ob.erve how anxious farmers, in England, are to get their malting barley in early.Eb.going in well on the 22nd., and it is unlikely that this was a solitary case.The dry time which has continued since the opening of the New Year has made a season, which has no doubt been taken advantage of by many ; and those who have got in barley or oats, beans or peas, may be congratulated upon having put their work a step forward.Corn got in now is safe from the risk of snow and spells of wet weather, which may easily cause all hope of early sowing to be abandoned.Once in the ground.vermination begins, and, if the present mild weather continues, the blade will soon appear above the surface.January is exceptionally carly for sowing, and is only suitable for the purpose on dry and warm soils situated in a favourable climate.It must, however.be allowed that barley can scarcely be too soon sown, and that it suffers little from ordinary frosts.Karly sowing favours a big and heavy sample, a stifft and upright straw, and a good vield : while late sowing tends to the production of lank straw and thin corn.Such general statement sare liable to be falsified by examples of prize barleys sown no carlier than March, which is the more usual month for the purpose.They, however, only show that the sowing season is by no means restricted to one month, but, happily, may be extended over at least four.What should be urged upon growers is that when a season presents itself it ought to be utilised, and not allowed to slide.There has been very little interruption to ploughing, and a good deal of land must now be ready for dressing and drilling.As to the mildness of the present season, it cannot be called exceptional in the light of recent experience, for there has been no continuous hard frost since 1895.The tendency appears to be in favour of warm weather, and it is not unlikely that we shall see another dry summer.In any case, the best safeguard lies in carly sowing, and establishing the plants before they are exposed to drought.TIIE OPENING SEASON.The vear opened with an accumulated deficiency of about one year\u2019s rainfall, and it is no matter of wonder that springs are abnormally low.December helped the total rainfall for the ycar, or the deficiency would have been still more marked.The underground store of water was very low, and the absorbent power of the soil and subsoils must be exceptionally high.Percolation will, therefore, Re RR Er SR RENE 7 tpn lt Des 383 THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE be arrested to a considerable degree, except in the topmost layers, and the subsoil must be in a condition to hold all the rain likely to fall for some time to come.The scientific investigations carried out at Rothamsted, as well as in Continental stations, would be of little practical value if they did not supply some practical lessons to farmers.We have had a run of dry years culmi- naling in the drought from which we have scarcely yet emerged.The excess of rain in December is apparently to be followed by an equalising and disappointing deficiency in January, and the land is once more dry.The weather is settled, and marked by a sort of reluctance to rain, which has been its character for a long time.The temperature is high, and favours the idea that we have a dry late winter before us, if not a dry spring.As already stated, percolation cannot be active mnder such circumstances, and the washing through the soil of nitrates must be slight.The fertility of the soil will, therefore, be high relatively if not positively.That is to say, the nitrates Yormed naturally in the soil must have accumulated.The land has not yielded its increase, and the balance of existing fertilising matter must be on the right side.IT a favourable season were to set in, it is probable that growth would be luxuriant and rapid, even upon the less holding soils, which have not been depleted by washing either through or over them.This view 1s particularly applicable to clay soils, which, like the light soils, have not yielded heavily for some years.The question is, whether the manure residues and food residues (a most important consideration) are still present in the soil as realisable assets.The effects of manuring are no doubt cumulative, and the assumption is that they have been accumulating and will be realisable when the proper conditions are restored.On the other himd, light lands have undoubtedly suffered from the failure of root crops.It is an axiom in farming that \u201c one good crop \u201d is often the precursor of another.A poor root crop fed upon the land by sheep is not so likely to be followed by a heavy crop of corn, as a good crop and a good folding.The position of light land farmers is, therefore, less hopeful as regards the accumulation of fertility in the land.FARMING FOR DRY WEATHER.Cake is usually credited with leaving about half of its value in the land ; bul in such seasons.as we have recently passed through this hopeful view has certainly passed quickly, and, although the period for sowing the various root crops is still distant, it is well to get through the sowing of spring corn so as to free the teams for the next important work.Swedes are generally sown too late, as is readily seen by the fine specimens which appear when swede seed has been intentionally or accidentally added to mangel seed.In the North.swedes are often sown in April, and it would be well, especially in dry seasons, if they were drilled late in April or early in May in Southern counties, especially upon the higher and drier fields.The catch cropping system has been responsible during these dry years for partial failure of root crops.It is in fact difficult to secure the same moisture and tilth when land has been spring folded and then ploughed for roots, as when it has been autumn-ploughed and winter-ploughed or winter-followed.In the former case the root cultivation must be delayed until the sheep have been over the ground ; but in the latter case a fine and moist tilth can be made for early drilling.Although an advocate of catch cropping, 1 must allow that there is a weakness here, which comes out in protracted droughts, although it is forgotten in kind or genial seasons.CULTIVATING AND PLOUGHING.Late spring ploughing is often injurious, as i» also late spring dunging.No implement moves the entire soil like the plough, but this inversion of the furrow should be done before the dry weather sets in.No implement cuts thistle and dock root» like the plough, but this severance may be effected early.If land has been dunged and winter ploughed it may be spring cultivated, and dressed and drilled with roots in good time.The system has always been approved for clay land, but there is still too much late ploughing of the more friable soils.EARLY RAPE AND KALE.Rape drilled in April should be ready for folding in July.The variations in root sowing are numerous if we include those kindred crops kale.kohl, rape and cabbage.They are not strictly speaking root crops, but the cultivation and place in rotation are similar, and they can be drilled alternately with roots.I may mention the following combinations as useful :\u2014Rape and turnips : rape and swedes ; kale and swedes ; kale and ket THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 389 rabi ; rape and spring vetches.All but the last are drilled so as to secure one or two drills of rape and kale, and three or four rows of turnips, -wedes, or kohl rabi.Rape and vetches are sown iogether on the Yorkshire Wolds, by drilling the rape and horse-hocing in the vetch seed between the rows of voung rape, and it yields a good sheep \u2018eed.These methods of cultivation are well adapt- «| for dry summers, being less risky than \u201csolid\u201d turnips and swedes, and the chief reason for draw- \u2018mg attention to them in January is to impress their importance before the cropping is arranged l'or the season.Joux YVRIGHTSON.0: CLOVER HAY.The following, from an American exchange, is right in its object, but hardly right in its way to vain that object.Cut early, and let the clover lie until, after once turning, it is fit for cocking, and never turn out the cocks unless after heavy rain.\u2014Ed.J.of A.\u201cThe next best fodder for milch cows is clover hav, but the clover must be cut while the blos- -oms are red, and before it falls down, and the -tems begin to rot, and great pains should be taken to have the hay well made, by being dried mostly in the cock, and not burned up by the sun until the stems are stiff as fire pokers, and the leaves fall off in handling.\u201d : 0: APATITE.From the county of Norfolk, we hear all sorts of good reports as to the good that has been derived from this system : the practical knowledge of the farmer seems to have acted as a check on the theoretical knowledge of the chemist.In Sussex, this has been gained : Mr.Jamieson, the chemist, Who has been running a muck for some vight vears against the use of sulphurie acid in ihe manufacture of superphosphate, it as last convinced that the acid does not produce \u201c finger- and-toc \u201d in the root-crop, but that a dressing of -uperphosphate may with advantage be substituted for part of the fine ground coprolite to promote carlv germination.One of the earliest experiments we should recommend to be made on any experimental farm established in this country, would set at rest for ever the question whether our apatite, in a finely ground state, is capable of assimilation by plants.The experiment has been tried over and over again in England, and the universal verdict of both practical farmers and agricultural chemists is, that apatite, however finely ground is, unless dissolved i nacid, perfectly useless.And yet M.Franchot, the manager of an extensive apatite mine near Hull, gravely states : \u201cthe pulverised phosphate (apatite) is superior to that manipulated ; which means diluted with sulphuric and other acids.\u201d On the other hand, M.Abalski, the mining engineer emploved by the Quebec government, states in his report for last year : \u201cValuable as the apatite is for manure when dissolved insulphuric acid, in a simply ground state it is utterly useless.\u201d The question is so thoroughly decided in Iing- land that undissolved apatite is now never tried there even by the most sanguine experimenter.Still, there are people here who, whether from interested motives or from pure obstinacy we do not know, refuse to be convinced of the absolute truth of this fact, and it would he worth while making the experiment in this province to complete the demonstrations0.: Sheep-feeding.\u2014We were asked the other day by an intelligent enough man why, seeing every other agricultural writer of the Dominion was recommending farmers to devote themselves to dairv- ing, we alone advised the adoption of sheep-farm- ing.Our answer was not brief, but we had not time to expatiate on the subject, and our friend was impatient ; but we think before we parted he had come to sce that we are not so complete a visionary as he had thought us.The following are the principal reasons that have induced us to he- lieve that sheep-farming, under a proper system of management, would greatly increase the profits of the greater part of the acreage of the country : 1.We presume that nobody will deny that ma- nurc is the great want of our established farms.Here and there, in the neighbourhood of our larger town\u2014there are not many of them\u2014a few hundred loads of dung can be picked up and cart- 390 THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE ed, or rather sleighed home during the winter months.But, even supposing a farmer draws a load a day, that will only amount to some 180 loads a season ; for what with Sundays, fétes, and storms, there are so many hinderances in the way, that we doubt if there are more than 180 available days in the winter half-year for dung-cart- ing.The 180 loads of manure may be set down ax averaging about 1,200 hs.ecach\u2014108 tons, and when turned over, and in a fit state to go on the land, may be equal to the manuring of seven acres of land, MM is a common calculation among practical men in our country that where dung alone is used.an acre of land requires, to keep it in a good sate of fertility, five tons of manure a year.What with cost.cartage to the farm and on to the land in spring.turning, and spreading, we cannot put the cost of this dressing of 15 tons at less than 15.00 en acre.Now, let us caleulate the cost of à good manuring for an acre of =heep-crop, when no dung is to be used : 150 Ihe, of sulphate of ammonia at $3.25.$4.83 200 Ths, of mineral superphosphate at $1.30 2.60 Sowing the above by hand $7.47 And at must be observed that in addition to the stall cost of these fertilisers, they bring no weeds in their train\u2014town-dung in always full of weed- seeds hrought in the hay, \u2014and are always to be had in abundance, whereas, even af all farmers, or even many of them, had money in hand to huy manure in the towns during winter, we all know the supply ix very scanty even at such places as Sherbrooke, where dung used to feteh $4.00 a cord in my (me, and was quarrelled for even at that price.Another advantage in employing these artificial manures i= that they can be ordered at the last moment and the interest of the cost-price saved : dung has to be paid for as it is drawn away.Well, we have our manure, in the concentrated form, all ready on the land : what plants shall we sow to henefit by it ?Of all the plants that fatten sheep there are two that stand out preeminentlv.T'ares and rape.Supposing our sheep-field to be 9 acres in ex- teni.we should be inelined to divide it into three parts : the first to be sown, ax carly as possible, with two bushels of tares and three pounds of rape an acre ; the second and third, 15 and 30 days.respectively, after the first, with from six to ciglu pounds of rape-seed an acre.The tares should be sown alone, like oats, and the three pounds of rape broadcasted after the harrowing is done ; the roller will bury it deep enough.No drilling up of the spreading of dung, land.no carting and no splitting of drills, no hand or horse.The tares and rape of the first division, if sown in the last week in April or the first week in May.will be fit to feed off by the I= July.just when food in the pastures is getting scarce.By the bye, we forget to mention, what, after all, most of our readers know, that the sulphate of ammonia and the superphosphate should be mixed and sown broadeast on the top of the last plough- hoeing h ing, and harrowed in with the seed in the first division of rape and tares.In the second and third divisions, in which rape alone is sown, the artifi- cials will of course go on hefore the harrowing In preparation for sowing begins.On good heavy land, 1 have grown capital rape\u2014 3ft.9 in.high land, we have grown capital rape\u2014æft.9 in.high ashes an acre.We have now to consider what we are to do with the crops we have grown : and, first, what weight of green meat have we to deal with ?The rape and tares of the first division will probably produce about 12 tons an acre, the rape.alone, of the second and third, about 15 tons\u2014an average of 13.50 tons an acre, or, on the whole \u201c acres, 242,000 pounds of green-meat.We think we have sufficient proof that a good sized weaned (2) lamb will, with a trifle of dry food in addition, make away with about 15 pounds of vegetables, such as we are considering, a day.According to this calculation.we have on our 9 acres enough food to support about 110 lambs or 80 older sheep, from the 1st July to the 1st December.At the latter end of October, many of the lambs or older sheep will, if they have been properly attended to, be fit for the butcher, and may he drawn out as required.The whole should be rine-fat before the rape is finished.(1) Rape, well done by, should be 3 ft 6in.in height, and so thick that no weeds can show their heads.(2) In Sussex, Kent, &c, called a teg, in Scotland, hog in Glo\u2019stershire, a hogget.À.R.J.F. THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 391 As we said before, some dry food will be required for the sheep while feeding off the crops.For this we should recommend halt a pound a day per head of cotton seed cake and pease mixed\u2014 we must not forget that our main crop is rather watery in its substance\u2014the cost of the mixture will be a cent and a-third a pound, and each lamb will cat about a dollar\u2019s worth during the five months he 1s fatting.When the weather becomes cool, with frosty mornings, a few pounds of clover or pease-siraw chaff will be eagerly devoured, but during the varm weather sheep will not look at either.Treated in this way, good growthy lambs of any af the best breeds may be expected to increase in nve-weight some six ounces a day a piece, or, during the 150 days of fatting, 56 pounds, which, il 6 cents a pound is equal to $3.36 a head, or the 110 Jambs should have increased in value on the 9 acres of land by $370.00,\u2014$41.00 an acre ! And now let us sec what the cost of this has been : 1 ploughing .$1.20 3 harrowings &e.2.222211 M Manure Cee YAR Sowing and seed\u20146 lbs.rape 1.00 Cake and pease 11.00 Shepherding 5.00 26.67 Balance-profit .+.1433 $41.00 With due selection of the sheep to be fatted, amd a proper market-skill on the part of the \u2018armer both in buying and selling, we have not ihe least doubt about the realisation of the above >rofit.And what will follow ?Such a crop of grain is js seldom seen here.HMausehald Matters.CONDUCTED BY MRS JENNtR-FUST).ABOUT DRess.The year of mourning for the late Queen being aver society once more resumes colours.We are Just at present living in such an age of extrava- vance that no sooner has one heautiful idea been hronght out than another springs up still more resplendent, till only those in the very swing of society have the desire or means to keep up with it.In search for novelty the fashions of 40 and more years ago are being brought out as new ideas, e.g.No.1 and 2. 39.THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE No.Tis [rom a photograph of myself taken over 43 years ago.No 2.a sleeve of to-day.3.4, 5, 6 sleeves in fashion many years ago, and fashionable to-day.A trial is being made to bring back the old Kiled skirt, as a walking dress, the only alteration from the old style is that of making a few tucks near the edge of the skirt.sensible walking skirts seem to have come to stay, thev are made a good deal fuller, so as to give greater freedom in walking.There are people who will wear their dresses too short, then they look very ugly ; they should never he above 2 inches from the ground to look nice ; just enough to keep them clear of the mud of the streets.Muffs are made quite flat this season ; silk, velvet, or satin ones are made in the same shape with a puffino of silk or satin about 5 inches wide at each end; a pocket is allowable on the side next to the user, a good sized how of ribbon gis the finishing touch to the mat which can be casily made at home.CHILDREN'S CLOTHING.For very small boys the Russian blouse suit is preferred by many to the sailor suit, and for winter wear are made in corduroy, velveteen, and velvet, as well as in cloth.The white and tan leather belts look best with these suits, which shonld always be made very simply and without any trimming : even embroidered collars are not =o smart as a plain band around the neck, which may be of white cloth or linen.Velvet, velveteen, and corduroy are materials which are especially good for children\u2019s suits.For a little girl, even so voung as six years, a wine-colour or black velvet frock with white.guimpe and deep lace frill and soft sash is most attractive, while for a boy, a velveteen suit is always smart and becoming, whether made, for a small boy, in Russian blouse style or with knee-breeches and shor{ coat.Of course, these are only intended for formal occasions, and not for every-day wear.The gray or tan corduroy can however, be worn for the hardest kind of service, fo nothing wears like corduroy.These little corduroy suits in Russian style are worn by both boys and girls.For a fair child there is nothing prettier than a fawn-colour cur- duroy coat with white kid belt and heavy white lace color, such a coat being quite suitable for a child\u2019s best wear.Spann To wast Witte Cine OR JAPANESE SILK, China and Japancese silk is so much used for children\u2019s clothing, and for evening dress for voung ladies, that everyone should know how to wash and get it up, for if this is properly performed the dress looks equal to new cach time it is got up.Mothers of tiny children should make a note of this, and they will find that a good Japanese or China silk at 1s.Gd.a vard will be a far better investment than a muslin one, inasmuch as it onlv needs ironing when hall dry, and =o starch used, to look like new cach time it is washed.First of all, a lather should be made of lukewarm water and soap jelly ; wash the silk in this, make the lather strong, but do not, on any account rub the soap on the silk.If very soiled, wash in a second lather, then rinse in cold water with à tablespoonful of methylated spirit in each gallon of water : rinse the silk through this, squeeze the water out, but wring it as little as possible, as the wringing is liable to make marks in the silk that cannot be removed.The methylated spirit in the water gives a gloss and firmness to the silk that makes it look lige new become only partially dry.and iron quickly before anl part gets really dry.az, if sprikled with water when dryfi the drops of water will make marks that will show even after it is ironed.SANDWICH MAKING.Sandwiches are always in demand.especially at Christmas time.when they are in great request for children\u2019s parties, afternoon teas.ete.It i= the making of the sandwich, not what is put in it.which makes it either a delightmul morsel or the reverse, See therefore, first of all, that vour bread i at least a day old, that your knife is sharp and your fancy cutters sharp and clean.The best loaf l'or cutting sandwiches is the tinned one, the shape of a brick.Always melt and work np the butter to a nice workable consistency before proceeding to cut the bread.Cut sandwiches in dainty shapes with a cutter, and when finished press them between two plates with a weight on the top.To serve, pile on plates with lace papers and garnish THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 393 with parsley, ete.If meat sandwiches are called for, do not cut slices of meat or anything else, which it is difficult to cut neatly, but let the meat be minced and nicely flavoured.Devilled shrimps niake a nice savoury paste, much appreciated by men folk.Take the required amount of shelled shrimps, pound up with pepper, salt, and curry powder to taste, spread on white bread and butter, and garnish with cress.Sweet sandwiches come in for afternoon tea and take the form of thin white, or brown bread and butter, or thin layers of pastry or sponge cake.Spread thinlv with jam, jelly, or thinly sliced preserved ginger.SOME TRIFLES FOR TEAS.Lt is always pleasant to get new ideas for afternoon tea.The following receipts, to the best of my belief, are new :\u2014 SAVOURY SANDMICHES.Take four eggs and boil them for a quarter of an hour ; take out the yolks, and beat them to a smooth paste with 2 oz.of butter, half a teaspoonful of raw mustard, a teaspoonful and a half of anchovy sauce, a little cayenne pepper, and a dust of ordinary pepper.Salt must not be added, as the anchovy sauce renders it unnecessary.When the paste is quite smooth cut some thin sandwiches, butter the bread, and between each piece put a layer of the paste, trim with a knife or cut our with a stamper.The whites of the eggs may he laid asid with a cover over them until the following day, when they can be used for anything that is hked.POTATO SANDMICIIES.Take four large potatoes, boil them, them mash them, with the following seasonings :(\u2014=2 ous.butter, 1-2 teaspoonful of powdered mace, 1-4 of a teaspoonful of finely-minced parsley, half that amount of lemon thyme, also very finely minced.Make some sandwiches of hot buttered toast, and spread with the above mixture.Trim, and serve in a covered dish.FOR TUE YOUNGSTERS.Beat four ounces of butter (melted) with two breakfast cupsful of treacle, add half a pound of brown sugar and one ounce of ground ginger.Mix well, and while stirring add about three ounces of mixed candied peel cut up into tiny pieces and a quarter of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda dissolved in a very little hot water.When all are stirred together beat up one egg and add, and mix in enough flour to form a kneadable paste.Divide into small pieces and roll them into little balls.1f a blanched almond is placed on the top of these it looks very pretty.Bake for fifteen minutes on a greased baking sheet.FOR CITILDREN\u2019S PARTY.Something pretty and at the same time something that is wholesome, is called for in a pudding for a children\u2019s party, and I think this is a suitable one, as it combines both the attractive and the wholesome in one.Wash and dry half a pound of rice, and put it in a small saucepan with a quart of cold water.When it comes to a boil remove and drain.Rinse the saucepan, and put the rice back in it with one quart and a half of boiled milk, half a salt spoonful of salt, and half a table spoonful of butter.Let it come to a boil, and then only simmer with covered saucepan for thirty minutes ; do not stir.The rice will be tender and cach grain separate.Then add quarter of a pound of sugar.Keep the saucepan covered for ten minutes, but do not cook any more.Remove from the fire ; mix three yolks of raw egg with three tablespoonfuls of raw cream and one teaspoonful of vanilla or maraschino ; add them to the rise, mix well, put in a bowl, and let it cool off.Finish with half a pint of stiff whipped cream.Mix gently.Use a three pint mould or a china bowl ; first put a layer of rice, then a layer of marmala- Je, apricot or orange, and so on, putting four Javers of cach, and finishing with another of rice.Put the mould in a cold place for twelve hours.Serve on a fancy round glass dish, and desorate the top with candied fruits.THE HOUSE YOU LIVE IN.I have heard many women complain that certain localities do not agree with them, when they would probably find, by examination, that their house was at faut, and not the locality.A leaky drain or a badly constructed water-closet is a death-trap, far more dangerous than most people appreciate ; and, even if they were aware of the / a eA A, 3 bi 394 existence of such poisonous openings they are frequently too easy going to remedy them until fever or some other disease attacks the household, and opens their eyes when it is too late.Ventilation of living and bed rooms is another point much neglected, so few homekeepers appreciating its importance that thev will even fasten up windows and fireplaces for fear they may encounter a draught.This is the surest way to foster disease.Throw back the bed linen and open wide the windows and doors of your house for a time every morning, and let the pure air drive through, for pure air is natures disinfectant, and there is nothme like it.THINGS WORTIF KNOWING.THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE \u201c Maple sugar in its perfection is rarely seen, perhaps never seen in the market ; it has a mild delicacy of flavor that no other sweet can match.What you smell in freshly cut maple wood, or taste in the blossom of the tree, is in it.\u201d :0: The Barden and Brochard, (Conpucrep BY MR.GEO.MOORE).THE ELM-LEAF BEETLE.(Continued) Re If vou are unfortunate enough to get vour tablecloth or serviettes stained with port or claret, just, instead of putting them aside to be washed, hold the stained part for a short time in boiling milk, when every trace wil disappear.The same remedy mav he used for ink stains.One thing, however, must he observed\u2014this treatment must be applied before the article is washed.Matting must on no account be cleaned with soap, or it will be ruined, but it can be cleaned and made to look like new if it is cleaned with a sponge, wrung out of strong salt and water, but do not make 11 wet enough to scak through the matting.MAPLE SUGAR.In the olden days each household laid in its barrels of maple sugar to last till the scason came again.and it was commonly used as white sugar i= to-day.Now maple sugar retails to-day at about the price of cane sugar.John Burroughs save, that sugar making 1s one of the mosi picturesque features of farm life pe- cultar to this country, and further: \u201cBefore the bud =wells, before the grass springs, before the plow is started.comes the sugar harvest.Tt is the sequel of the hitter frost.À sad run is the sweet good-byv of winter.It denotes a certain equipoise of the season : the heat of the day fully balances the might.\u2014A dav that brings the bees out of the hive will bring the sap out of the maple tree ; it is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost.When the frost is all out of the ground and the snow is gone from its surface, the flow stops.While on a visit last summer (1901), EI was struck with the ravages of the elm-leaf-beetle, and by the fact that in all the towns in Massachusetts where proper percautions for the protection of the trees had been taken, not a leaf was eaten.In the event of a like visitation, I procured, by the courtesy of the U.8.Department of Agriculture, some particulars with regard to the pest which is recommended to the careful perusal of readers of this Journal.Elm tree leaf attacked by beetle and larvæ. THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 395 The Elpn-leaf-beetle is a native of Southern Europe : it is most abundant and destructive in the south of France and in Germany, Italy and Austria.In England, it is rarely found and becomes less numerous and destructive toward the North.Tt was imported into the United States by way of Baltimore in 1837, and has spread as far South as Charlotte, N.C., and North as far as New-Hampshire, in 1892 or 1893.NATURA- SI12E \u2014 Sixx\" Pull grown beetle much enlarged.| ds RÉ 3 LEE NAT.SIZE UT Young larvæ attacking leaf.Larva or grub enlarged.Pupa enlarged.The beetle feeds upon the leaves of Elm-trees only; all the varieties are attacked, but the common English elm is its favourite food.The adult beetle passes the winter in cracks in fences, under the loose bark of trees, in fact anvwhere it can {ind shelter.As soon as the buds of the trees begin to swell in the spring, the beetles issue from their winter quarters and mate, and as soon as the buds burst, they begin to feed upon theleaflets.This feeding is continued until the leaves are partly grown, and during the latter part of this period the females are laying their eggs.The eggs are placed on the lower side of the leaves in clusters of 5 to 20.The cgg-state lasts about a week.The larvae or grubs.asx soon as they are hatched feed on the underside of the leaf.gradually making of it a complete skeleton.At the surface of the ground thev are transformed to orange coloured pupac or chrvsalides, a little over a quarter of an inch in length, in this stage thev remain for from six to ten davs and then are transformed into beetles, The pupae will be often found in masses on the ground under the tree.On very large trees, with rough hark the pupae will transform underj the bark scales or in the hollow of a crotch.! The difference between the early work of the beetles and the grubs is easily distinguished.The beetles eat entirely through the leaves, making holes, while the grubs eat only the fleshy part of the leaf on its lower side, thus skeletonizing it.In the south there are two generations annually but in the North only one, or in some seasons, a second incomplete one.And now we come to the most practically important part of our subject mamely the remedies.The only, quite satisfactory, safeguard against this insect is spraying the trees with an arsenical solution.Another remedy, which is only partial, is to destroy the larvae at the ground surface.To sprav very large trees seemed at onc time an Impossibility, and would be so now in individual cases, but if the towns or provincial authorities take hold and make use of the specially constructed apparatus and employ the right men,it Is quite practicable, and to save the magnificent elms, which are the glory of many a village or town, the expense would not be thrown away.The \u201cGypsy-moth\u201d commission have done grand work in this respect in the New England States.Probably the largest elm tree in America, the Dexter elm at Medford, Mass., has been saved by spraying, and surely the preservation of an object of nature, which was the growth of centuries, was well worth the effort and outlay.Of course, the Gypsy-moth Commission had all the necessary equipment to perform the work on a large scale, thoroughly and expeditiously; as tank carts, hose with extension poles, and multiple nozzles, and in some instances the town fire engines ; beside which the fmen employed were intrepid climbers and feared not to ascend the tallest trees when climbing to enable them to well saturate the branches, was necessary to successful spraying.But these expensive appliances may be dispensed with when it is desirable to do the spraying on a small scale.One of the professors in the States had a strong barrel pump and carried his nozzle at the end of a long rubber- hose.with a bamboo extension pole, up into the centre of the tree by climbing a ladder to the main crotch.From this point the spray was thrown in all directions, and the tree was thoroughly coated with the mixture in a very short time.The first spraving.being directed against the bectles which have heen wintered over should be pe TROT 1 Hrs eee Sipe a 396 THE JOURNAL OF AGRIOULTURE AND HORTICULTURE done just as the buds are bursting ; a large proportion of these will be destroyed, and not only the young leaves saved from perforation, but the number of eggs laid will be lessened.À second spraying should Le conducted two weeks later to destroy the grubs, the majority of which should, by this time, be hatched.If the spraying have been followed by rains a third or, even, a fourth spraying may be necessary.If these followed up vear after year for a few years, the pest will be conquered.The material to be used for these sprayings may be Paris green, London purple or arsenate of lead.The pupae which reach the ground can be des- troved by the use of coal oil emulsion, diluted, one part lo five parts of water.This must be applied to the base of the tree and all the ground over hung by its branches ; in case of large trees, it is also well to climb up and saturate the principles eroiches where the insects may have lodged.Scraping off the rough bark slightly, not too severely, so ag to leave as few crevices as possilile for the beetles to hide in, is a matter of much im- pertance which mu.be a'tended to as a preven- five mussure | had the advantage of an excellent objuet lesson as to the adoption or neglect of the prescribed remedies.The two {ownships of Hopedale and Milford, Massachusetts, adjoin each other and in both are come noble elm-trecs, those in Hopedale had been faithfully sprayed and scraped, while those in Milford were utterly neglected.It was casy lo sce which {own one was in, by the condition of the elm-trecs, in a few days after the eggs of the beetle had hatched, the leaves of the {rees in Milford were destroyed and fell off, while those in Hopedale never lost a particle of their verdure ; to go Jeon lopeda.: to Milford like going from summer to winter as far as shade trees were concerned.Wis the and we know that if this negleet was continued that the Milford people would lose their trees entirely, because a tree cannot survive without leaves any more than an animal without lungs.101\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 SEASONABLE HINTS.To prevent destruction of fruit huds.Just before the huds are ready to burst.dust them with foot ov wood ashes.Insects may be kept off this way, and the dust will not injure the leaf op blossom, because it will have been washed off by the rain, Another plan may be adopted to prevent insects from attacking orchards, or, at least, in a great measure checking their depredations.Make a fire of sticks and weeds on the windward side of the orchard, so that the smoke will blow among the trees.To free plants from lice : Mix 10 oz of flower of sulphur with 1 bushel of sawdust, scatter this over the plants several times.Simple rules for distinguishing the true mushroom from the poisonous fungus.1.Sprinkle a little salt in the gills, if they turn vellow they are poisonous, if black, they are harmless.2.False mushrooms grow on dead trees or stumps, usually in clusters; true ones grow in pastures.8.False mushrooms, when cut, turn blue, are moist on the surface, the upper surface is generally rose or orange coloured, and have an astringent and very disagreeable flavor.4.The true mushroom may be known by its pinky red gills, which change, with age, to a liver colour, the flesh and stem are white and solid.0\u2014\u2014\u2014 The Raultry-Yard.HANDLING THE CHICKENS.When They are Being Prepared for Market.\u201cWhen the chickens are being fattened in the fall the crates should be left outside, where the fowl can get plenty of fresh air.'?The crates are made of lath, 6 feet long.The bottom laths are left 1 3-8 inches apart so that the droppings will fall through.During the first week of confinement the chickens should be fed on ground oats and milk, in light quantities.After the first week the fowl should be fed all they will eat of ground oats, low grade flour, corn and buckwheat.Ground pease make the flesh very hard.Ques \u2014What is a good substitute for milk.Mr.Hare.\u2014We have never obtained a satisfactory substitute for skim-milk, although boiled THK JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 397 clover has been found to give fairly good results.\u201c Ques.\u2014What is the result if the chickens are fed too much the first week ?Mr.Hare.\u2014They go oft their feed if fed too hard.They should be fed three times a day during the first week and twice a day during the latter three weeks, Grit is a good remedy for sour stomach, and should be fed twice a week.In warm weather the fowls should get water twice a day and once a day during the colder weather.Ques.\u2014Is milk equally as good for a laying hen ?Mr.Hare\u2014Yes.Ques.\u2014How old should the birds be when put in the crates ?Mr.Hare.\u2014They should be three months old and should weigh three pounds.Ques.\u2014Did you ever try to fatten the Leghorns ?Mr.Hare\u2014No, but we discarded them owing to the fact that their spur develops much more quickly than those of the breeds I have mentioned.Ques.\u2014What about the Dorkings ?Mr.Hare.\u2014They are very good.Mr.Graham.\u2014Only one farmer in 25 can raise them.(1) Mr.Gishorne\u2014I have met men who spoke very highly of them.Mr.Hodson\u2014\"l'he trouble is that many farmers get the large breed and as a result they do not do as well as the smaller breed although they make good broilers.Ques.\u2014Supposing 1t is impossible to get skim- milk, what should be fed ?Mr.Hare\u2014Cut up mangels and water is very good, also blood meal.They must have an animal food.The government sent over a large quantity of dressed chickens to England last fall and realized 14 cents per pound for every shipment.After paying commission, transportation charges, and incidental expenses they net us 13 cents per pound in Montreal.\u201cWe are holding some in Montreal to send over in the spring when chickens will be scarce in England and selling at a better price.(1) Any one can rear them but not oa heavy clay soils.Eb.J.of Aa.The Department has men watching the requirements of the English market and giving the farmers the benefit of what they note.A GUARANTEE.\u201c1 will guarantee that any farmer who puts his chickens up and fattens them according to instructions, will get a much better price for them, and more than that, the department will be glad to assist and give any information to farmers who are desirous of giving the business a trial.Ques.\u2014Can small quantities be sent to England ?Mr.Hare\u2014Not less than 200 chickens.Ques.\u2014Does it pay to hold chickens until spring ?Mr.Hare\u2014lt does, providing storage.Prices in England average about 14c per pound from the first of October, and 18\u20ac per pound in the spring.Ques.\u2014Have vou ever tried to fatten ducks ?Mr.Hare\u2014I believe there is a good demand in certain parts of England for ducks.We have never tried it in Canada as yet, although it is under contemplation.Ques.\u2014What place do the White Wyandottes fake ?Mr.Hare\u2014T'hey are too lauky and not broad enough.Ques.\u2014 What kind of grit is hest to feed ?Mr, Hare\u2014Lake shore gravel or cinders.Charcoal is one of the best kinds of grit for curing a sour stomach.Ques.\u2014How hard should the mash be made ?Mr.Hare\u2014It should be made very soft, about 17 pounds of milk to 10 pounds of meal.Ques.\u2014Is there any feeding value in hulls ?Mr.Hare\u2014There is very little feeding value in hulls and they are injurious to the chickens.we have cold oF \u2014 MR.A.G.GILBERT.Describing the Results of Experiments Conducted at the Experimental Farm.The next speaker was Mr.A, G.Gilbert, manager of the ponltry department, Experimental Farm, Ottawa.Mr.Gilbert spoke as follows :\u2014 \u201cThe value of experimental work carefully conducted for a number of vears as a means of eR ENE LE gel ae a A pI i eA) Se Gn 398 arriving at correct conclusions cannot be overestimated.It puts an end to conjecture, so often given in the place of facts.The man who gives us his opinion and who in so doing often talks \u2018\u201c through his hat\u201d and has no place now before an audience of farmers, or practical poultry men, such as I now have the pleasure of addressing.Backed up then by an experience acquired in fifteen years\u2019of experimental work and years before that as an amateur poultry keeper 1 can speak with no uncertain sound in relation to certain breeds best fitted for the farmer.1 see by the programme that I am put down on this occasion to talk on some features of experimental work in connection with my department, these features to be as to the breeds best suited for farmers.I have advocated strongly Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Wyandottes as breeds best suited for the farmers of this country, for the reason that both varieties furnish good winter layers and rapid flesh-forming chickens, \u201c We have now a comparatively newcomer in the Buff Orpington, a variety that is bound to take a front place on account of its marks.It has white legs and a white skin, and so far, experience has shown the pullets to be excellent winter layers and the cockerels to be hardy, quick growers and rapid flesh-makers.* When they are in greater numbers throughout the country, and should future experimental work warant the many deservedly good things said about them they will doubtless be held at cheaper figures and be generally adopted by the farmers.It must be a rave breed that will take the place of the Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes.But trade knows no sentiment.It is the breed or variety of a breed that embraces in the greatest number the best.points that will become universally adopted.\u201cThere is one strong point in favor of the Bult Orpingtons, and it is that the farmers or breeders who hold them have birds with white legs and white skin, suitable for both English and home markets.The two strings to the Buff Orpingtons how are strong points in their favor.THE PRESENT POSITION.\u201cThe position at present seems to he something like this : \u201cA great number of farmers have heen advised in the nast to procure Barred Plvmouth and White Wyandottes and have done so.Rocks THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE * Should thev do away with them and take to the newcomer ?\u201cNot at all.Let those who have Plymouth Rocks or Wyandottes keep them and perfect their strains, so as to have the best winter egg producers and the heaviest flesh weight makers in the shortest time.1f a farmer is about to begin poul- {ry keeping he may make a choice of Buff Or- pingtons if he can procure eggs or stock at a reasonable figure.\u201c Experience so far gained shows that it is far better for farmers who intend to commence, to buy stock, rather than eggs.Stock can be bought comparatively cheap in the fall months from a reliable dealer.In the spring following the purchase he should hatch out all the chickens he can, and by the end of the season he will have sold cockerels enough to in a great measure recoup him for first outlay.He will also have a number of pullets worth at least one dollar cach as prospective layers, and he will have the parent stock, and they will be good as breeders for another year anyway.\u201cThis will apply in any case.\u201cIn the event of a farmer wishing a number of eggs to fill an incubator he should purchase from as nearby a source as possible and from a breeder with a large number of hens, so as to ensure the eggs being as fresh as possible.MR.GILBERT'S EXPERIENCE, \u201c My experience in raising a superior quality of poultry flesh has heen a large one for years past and I have never had any trouble in obtaining a and over per weight development of one pound and month on Plymouth Rocks.Wyandottes Brahmas.But there are some important points in connection with the proper fattening of thoroughbreds of anv kind of poultry that our farmers will find indespensible to success.Summarized, the most important are :\u2014 \u201c First\u2014The proper breeds.\u201c\u201c Second\u2014PBreecding from robust birds.\u201cThird\u2014The proper care for and the feeding of the chickens from time of hatching.\u201cIt is well to bear in mind that chickens ill- fed or neglected in the first five weeks of their existence will not make early lavers or satisfactory market fowl.\u201c Fourth\u2014The none but large, penning up of the hirds at (hree or four months of age for three or four wecks, or less, scems to give the best results.\u201cTo prove my contention that fowls of the larger breeds, properly treated, require little {attening, I may say that in the end of October last I purchased trom a farmer in Huntley township near Ottawa, four Barred Plymouth Rock cockerels, which weighed 7 1-4, 7 1-4, 7.14, 7.07, t.05 1-2 lbs., most satisfactory weights, you will admit, from birds raised by a farmer.\u201cA white Plymouth cockerel, hatched on the 18th of April, weighed on 21st October, 6 months and three days ofter, 7 pounds 4 ounces.The same bird, on 22nd November, 1 month and 1 dav later, weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, and on the 6th of December, 14 days later, 9 pounds 4 1-2 ounces.* Thre other White Plymouth Rocks, hatched on the 25th April, weighed on 21st October following, 5 months 26 days, 5 pounds 14 ounces, 5 pounds 12 ounces, and 5 pounds 12 ounces respectively.\u201cA Barred Plymouth Rock cockerel, hatched on same day, weighed on 31st of October,6 months after, 7 pounds 5 1-2 ounces.\u201c Three other cockerels of same breed, hatched on 24th May, weighed on 31st of October, 5 months and 7 days, 5 pounds 13 1-2 ounces, 5 vonnds 6 1-2 ounces, and 5 pounds 3 ounces res- peetively.\u201c And so on with other breeds, Light Brahmas did equally as well, and it goes to prove my contention that with proper care and treatmen Barred Plymouth Rocks and all the fowls I have mentioned will put on at least a flesh weight of one pund per month.Perhaps not that weight in the first month, but afterwards they make up so that at the end of four or five months the weight will average one hound a month.\u201d INTERESTING QUESTIONS.Ques.\u2014 \u201cWhat about space in a hen house ?\u201d Mr.Gilbert.\u2014\u201c It is hard io get good results where hens are kept in a crowded space.\u201d Ques \u2014\u201c How many hens should a farmer keep ?\u201d Mr.Gilbert\u2014\u201c T think that a farmer should only keep a hundred hens, and raise about 250 chickens each year.T also think that the chickens should be put in the crates as soon as possible, say hefore they commence to moult.\u201d THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE Ques.\u2014*\u201c What do you feed chickens ?\u201d Mr.Gilbert\u2014\u201c My first feed is bread crumbs, soaked.\u201d WEEL-KNOWN POULTRY MAN.Mr.Graham, From the Agricultural College, Speaks.The next speaker, was Mr.W.R.Graham, manager of the Poultry Department, 0.A.C., Guelph, who gave a very interesting address on a recent experiment carried on at the College.The experiment was carried on with eight different lots of birds, and each lot were fed a different ration.The following rations were fed : 1.Two parts corn, two of oats and one of peas.2.Two parts corn, two of buckwheat and one of oats.3.T'wo parts oats, two of wheat, and one of corn.4.Two parts barley, two of corn, and one of oats.Coarse chopped oats.Pulverized oats.Coarse corn meal.Gold dust (finely ground corn.) The first two gave the best results and they were about equal, though with him the second ration was a little cheaper.Next best was the pulverized oats.No.4 was rather strong food.No.3 was too mussy and he is frying it again with two parts corn and only one of wheat.The gold dust was hardly eaten by the chickens, and the coarse cornmeal was not eaten readily.The cost of a pound of gain varied from 4 1-5c to 7c, the average being 5c.The coarse ground oats gave the most expensive gains.The fowls used were grade Plymouth Rocks.The cramming machine was used only three days.Mr.Graham stated that if milk is decomposed it is not desirable as feed for chickens.\u201c Milk is at its best feeding value for chickens when at the stage termed by cheesemakers as a \u201c starter.\u201d Vat dust which is practically low grade flour, makes an excellent diet, but Mr.Graham said that this kind of meal has advanced nearly $5 per ton in price, owing to the fact that miners in Ene- land, are usine it in their drinking water.He said that he had found from experiments carried on at the college that beef suet makes a verv good substitute for milk.~r Ce pe 400 THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE \u201cA beef head weighing about 21 pounds can be purchased for about fifteen or twenty cents, and when boiled in a pot until the substance : is all taken out makes an excellent food.Mr.Graham also spoke strongly in favor of the Buff Orpingtons.Hé was of the opinion that they will make the very best fowl that can be produced in the future.Mr.Graham favored keeping a henhouse moderately cool.If {he doors are kept closed, the walls hecame frosted und as a result water keeps dripping all the time and keeps the atmosphere in the building very moist.Ques.\u2014\u201c How often do you gather the eggs ?\u201d Mr.Graham.\u2014 About five times a dav and the last eggs 1 tested were 96 per cent, fertile.\u201d A full account of the addresses delivered on Thursday will be given in next week\u2019s issue.An outline of them is given in another column.\u2014 \u2014\u2014:0: FATTENING CHICKENS.Results of Experiments Conducted at the Guelph Agrictutural College.Superintendent Graham of the Ontario Agricultural College, has just finished à series of experiments, which he conducted for the purpose of ascertaimine the feeding value of different com- hinations of feeds for fattening chickens.The experiment was earried on with eight different lots of birds, and each lot were fed a different ration.The following rations were fed : 1.Two parts corn, two of buckwheat and one of oals, 2.Two parts corn, two of buckwheat and one of oats.3.Two parts oats, two of wheat, corn.; 4.Two parts barley, two of corn, oats.5.Coarse chopped oats, 6.Pulverized oats.7.Coarse corn meal.8.Gold Dust (finely ground corn.) The results of the experiments as given out bv Mr, Graham are as follows : The first two gave the hes and one of and one of results and thev were about equal, {hough with him the second ration was a little cheaper.Next hest was the pul- verized oats, No.4 was rather strong food.No.3 was too mussy and he i strying it again with two parts corn and only one of wheat.The gold dust was hardly eaten by the chickens, and the coarse cornmeal was not eaten readily.The cost of a pound of grain varied from 4 1-5c¢ to Vc.the average being 5c.The coarse ground oats gave the most expensive gains.The fowls used were grade Plymouth Rocks.The cramming machine was used only three days.: 0: POULTRY NOTES.À fitting opportunity occurs for introducing fresh methods and regulations for the conduct of one\u2019s affairs, and therefore it will not be untimely to make a few suggestions in regard to the management of poultry.In the first place, it would be advisable to tell off someone whose particular duly it should be to feed the fowls regularly and suitably, to let them out in the morning, and fasten them up at night, so as to be secure from foxes and other depredators, to collect all eggs at least once a day, and to bear in mind that on no account must eggs collected from stolen nests be mixed with those gathered from nests set apart for laying purposes, and these nests he must see are provided in undisturbed spots, and in sufficient numbers to prevent the hens laying away, and that they be kept scrupulously clean, as also musi be the floor of the fowlhouse.MALE BIRDS.that have heen kept apart from the hens for a month or two prior to mating will prove more reliable as breeders, and it must be borne in mind that the value of the young birds will depend to a great extent on the quality of the male parent.and that if the hens are mongrels it will be all the more essential to mate them with a pure-bred cockerel.ITATCITING.All sitting hoxes and hen coops should be well cleansed and lime-washed, for the presence of vermin will lead to forsaken nests, and greatly retard the growth of chickens.The chicken coops should he something hetter than an old box, roughly adapted to the purpose, for such, being seb æ - neither wind nor rain proof, greatly inorease the chance of disease and mortality.TIME FOR SETTING.If winter egos and good table birds are desir- cid.eggs from the heavier or sitting breeds, should ail be hatched out by the end of April, but with cous of the lighter or non-sitting breeds, which mature earlier, later hatchings may be made.In the early part of the season fewer cggs should be placed under the hen than when the weather becomes more genial.LAYING lIIENS.50 soon as ploughing operations are commenced, some of the stock should be taken in a portable house to a spot from whence they can follow the track of the plough, for the animal life they can then pick up will have a marked effect upon the egg basket.UTILITY.0: THRIFT.Mabel (who has just concluded a bargain for a {c«])\u2014Then T'Il tell mother yowll kill it and send it up to-night.Mrs.Macfarlane\u2014Na, na, I\u2019ll no kill it till the morn, Pm thinkin\u2019 it\u2019s goin\u2019 to lay an egg this evenin® |! 20: LEAVES AND CUT STRAW.There is one point of advantage in the use of cut straw or leaves which largely influences laying in winter, and that is the warmth retained in the poultry-house.It is not that these materially create warmth, but thev keep the winds from coming in aleng the floor, and as they also absorb dampness, tliv prevent the settling of moisture on the walls.Lei any one go into a stable or stall that has four or five inches or more of leaves on the floor, and th: stall will be found warmer and more comfort- ahis than one having the floor bare.THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 401 THE MARITIME POULTRY TRADE.Mr.F.C.Hare, chief of the poultry branch of the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, returned last week from addressing a series of meetings in the Maritime Provinces, on the poultry trade.Great interest was taken in all these gatherings.At some places considerable business is done in raising chickens for the summer trade.At some summer resorts these chickens are worth 25¢ a lb.At a conference of farmers at Fredericton a resolution was passed asking the local government to cooperate withe the Dominion Department of Agriculture in placing a chicken fattening station in everv county in New Brunswick, Mr.Hare is arranging to spend as much time as possible in the Maritime Provinces next fall, and the department has consented to allow him to instruct as manw private individuals as time will permit.A new style of hov for shipping poultry to the English market has just been adopted This permits of twelve chickens heing packed in one layer and of the box being more easily opened and examined .The chickens are also packed with their backs up, and their appearance is thereby greatly improved ,With the box formerly used the chickens had to be packed in lays of six, and the top laver had to be removed to permit examination of the shipment.an Farming World.0: THE WET EGG.Sir-\u2014An cge when it is laid is a wel egg (the shell is wet), and the longer you can keep an egg wet the fresher it will remain.This is a truth, expounded, 1 belive, for the first time, and has never before appeared in print.Why do we hear so much, especially through the winter months.ahout bad and stale cges ?We know that hens with all their faults never lav stale eggs ; we also know.to our cost, that but few hens during the winter lay any eggs at all, good or bad ! Then where do we get our stale British eggs from ?We stupidly make them stale by dry storing.11 all British eggs were wet stored the day they were laid.such a thing as a bad or even an indifferent egg would hecome a novelty, a curiosity, instead of being au everyday article of commerce.We all know that an cgg be- 402 comes stale by keeping, but let me add, by improper keeping.If an egg is kept a week it is far from fresh, if kept a month it becomes very stale, even objectionable ; if kept three or four months it becomes what is termed \u201c\u201c the ergs,\u201d \u201c hop egg,\u201d \u201cthe foreigner,\u201d \u201cnot warranted,\u201d or, to be more precise, the bad or rotten egg ! We all know what dry storing is, when we look at a lot of eggs in a shop window or upon a shelf in the farmer\u2019s larder.Wet storing is the placing of eggs the day they are laid in glass water, and leavine them there until they are sold or required for immediate use.It matters not whether they have been wet stored a week, a month, or even or six months, they continue equally fresh and always good alike.Surely this is a matter of some importance to the British farmer, the shopkeeper, and to every house keeper ?There is one way, and only one way, of forcing our farmers and shopkeepers to practise a little care and attention on the freshness of the eggs they supply.Let all housckeepers refuse to purchase British eggs from any shop unless they see them taken wet out of the preserving pan, and let all shopkeepers refuse to take in farmers\u2019 eggs except with a guarantee that the have all been wet stored the dav they were collected from the nests.There is no more trouble to wet store than to dry store, the only difference being placing the eggs in a dry box or basket in the one case, and into a bucket one-third filled with water glass in the other instance.Where, then, is the extra labour ?Time water has, for a century or more, been used in many private families as a preservative, but water glass is far better.The American and our own agricultural experimental farms and colleges have conclusively proved that glass-preserved eggs, even after six months storing, were ax nearly equal to a \u201cnew laid\u201d as a preserved egg can possibly be.Eggs kept in lime- water after several months\u2019 immersion are apt to partake of a limev flavour and are only useful for kitchen purposes.but not for the egg-cup.I can speak personally as to the efficacy of water glass.for T have just finished two 9 gallon barrels of eggs.which I so preserved last spring and summer.These eggs proved as sound and good as when I stored them nearly six months back : and, indeed.many of them.when the top was removed.retained within that \u201cmilky\u201d matter, so characte ristic of an ego taken straight from the nest.All foreign and imporfed eggs are of necessity THE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE \u2014 Cd more or less stale and of uncertain age, having been laid weeks, and sometimes months, before they reach our markets.But the foreigner is more alive to his own interests than we are, and already they are beginning to practise the wet storing in water glass, and, unless we mend our ways, the day is not far distant when the stale, dry-stored egg will become the speciality of the British farmer and shop-keeper.It took twenty years before our farmers could be induced to adopt, even here and there, the Dutch factory system, to secure u good butter of uniform quality ; how many years will it take us before we shall trouble ourselves to preserve the freshness of our eggs ?As water glass is now an article of commerce, and quite cheap, let us hove that a jar of it may soon become a fixture in the larder or storeroom of all house holders in town and country who can appreciate a fresh egg in preference to a more or less stale or bad one.K.B.BAGHOT-DE-LA-BERE.Burbage Hall, Leicestershire.El ame The Flock LAMBING TIME.(By the Editor.) The time is al hand I hope, when we shall sec.under the care of shepherds, flocks of sheep carefully looked after, and fed during the whole of the summer on green-crops grown expressly for their consumption.I cannot conceive of any other means of restoring the fertility of the worn-oui farms so common in some parts of the province.Sheep, even when the flock ix small, pay their owner, for if they did not.we should not see so many let out on shares.But kept, as they ought to be, on the land, (1) from May to December, they will not only yield the ordinary return of a lamb and a fleece.but they will at least double the production of the farm.As T said before, two things are specially to he sought for ; twins, and a general lambing in the shortest possible period.(1) That is.not allowed to lie about in the Lush or in the ditches, where there droppings will be watted.Eb, You may think yourself very fortunate if you have secured a good shepherd.I had one and only one, but he was a phenomenon ; he knew personally every ewe in the flock, (1) its descent, and when it was due to lamb; he knew how to assist it when it needed help,but he always let it alone when assistance was unnecessary ; he never wasted the food set apart for the ewes, knew how to care for a sick ewe, how to rear a lamb that has lost its mother, and how to induce a ewe, with a single lamb, that had lots of milk, to act as foster-mother to a lamb whose dam had not enough.One never heard, in those davs, in my lambing-shed.the baaing of ewes and lambs that had lost one another : his watchful care never grew slack, and during the time he was in my service, he discharged his duty like a man.The number of ewes a ram can serve depends upon circumstances.A Hampshire-Down lamb- ram, 8 months old, can manage without trouble from 30 to 40 : a shearling of any breed from 70 to 80.A Southdown shearling I hired from Jonas Webb served 110 ewes, but they were young and vigorous, in full condition, and great pains were taken by the shepherd to keep the ram well fed and to give him plenty of rest in the early mornings.To the best of my recollection.all but 25 of them gave twins, and one especial night I well remember, in which 20 ewes presented me with 39 lambs ! The Hampshire men prefer lamb-rams ; but iheir ewes lamb so early, about the middle of January, and are so well fed, that their lambs are as strong in the months of August and September as are the shearlings\u20142-tooth\u2019s\u2014(Un- srammatical : but such is the technical form)\u2014 of other breeds.As T said before, the ram should be put into a