The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-11-27
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Selecting POultry.

SEND the following which | have OBJ
served for some years in purchasing
poultry, and which may be fuse to some
OF. your readers who may not be familiar
with the age of poultry
Few housekeepers, and fewer cooks,
are as good Judges of the age of poultry
as they ought to be. We all know when
poultry comes upon the table, whether
1t is tender or tough; and there should
be no difficulty in knowing just as cer-
tainly whether chicken, duck, goose or
turkey is old or young, when it is offered
for sale. Now the following is offered
rs a rule by which poultry can be safely
judged. which if read over for few
times, and then laid away for ready
reference when needed, no person need
purchase old, tough poultry unless from
choice.
If II hens spur is hard. and the scales
on tie legs rough, she is old, whether
you see her head or not, but the head
will corroborate your observation. If
the under bill is so stiff that YOU cannot
bend it down, and the comb thick and
rough les We her, no matter how fat and
plump, for some one less particular. A
young hen has only the rudiments of
spurs; the scales on the legs are smooth,
glossy and fresh-colored, whatever the
color may be; the claws tender and
short, the nails sharp. the under bill
soft, and the comb thin and smooth.
An old hen turkey has rough scales on
the legs, callosities on the soles of the
feet, and long, strong claws; young
one is the reverse of all these marks.
When the feathers are on and the old
turkey-cock has a long tuft or beard q
young one has but a sproutless one; and
when they are off the smooth scales on
the legs decide the point, besides the
difference in size of the wattles of the
neck and the elastic shoot upon the
nose.
An old goose when alive is known by
the rough legs, the strength of the wings,
particularly at the pinions, the thick
ness and strength of the bill, and the
tineness of the feathers; and when
plucked, by the legs, the tenderness o
the skin under the wings, by the pnions
and the bill and the coarseness Of the
skin.
Ducks are distinguished by the same
means, but there is this difference-that
a duckling's bill is much longer in pro-
portion to the breadth of its head than
the old duck. A young pigeon is dis
tinguished by its pale colors, smooth
scales, tender, collapsed feet, and the
yellow long down interspersed among
its feathers. A pigeon that can flv has
always red-colored legs and no down,
and is then too old for use.-Gerr,a,s-
torn Telegraph.
: Feeding Pigs.
A Yorkshire FARMER IN England says
.. of different food for pigs: "After trying
nearly all the different kinds of cereals,
, and weighing my pigs once in fourteen
+ days, have come to the conclusion that
if you want to gain weight fast, give
plenty of barley-meal and milk. Corn.
meal may be substituted for the barley
Indian corn" says DR.. Voelcker, ar
eminent authority, is richer in fat
forming matters than almost any Other
description of food. The ready-madt
,, fat in corn amounts to from five and 6
half to six per cent. But animals should
p not be fed exclusively on Indian meal
? because the fesh-forming matter in it i.
=. small. Bean meal Cor pea .meaD sup
plies the deficiency" Five pounds o
Indian corn-meal to one pound of pea
D meal is mixture which contains the
G proportion of flesh-forming and fattening
1 matters nicely balanced. If the farmer
? has not the pea-meal to mix with tn,
s corn he may use oatmeal as q substi
\ tute. A very common food for hogs i
e boiled apples and potatoes, mixed Will
$ hot with corn meal. Thiss-is goo'
Vt food, but lacks in the nitrogenous ele
e ment, which should be supplied eithe
4 by the addition ofcotton seed meal, bran
pea meal or oat meal. If cotton see,
, meal is used, only one part to ten of corr
!, meal would be about the right proper
t ton, while one part of the other kind
}. to five of corn meal might be used. An.
b one who has had any experience in feed
e ing pigs must have noticed the differ
n ence there is in the readiness and cheap
ness with which some can be tattened a
S compared with others. In Lawes' an
c Gilberts experiments two pigs in eatin
IS one hundred pounds of corn game
= three pounds, while one pig, which at
g one hundred pounds of corn during tn
;. same time gained nineteen and one quar-
S ter pounds. 1t is readily seen that it
o highly important to secure the rigll
l. kind ofpigs if the feeding of them is t
h be made the most profitable possible
It With a judicious selection of pigs an
e the right kind of feeding and gener;
management, there is money TO be mad
on our farms in pork-raisirg, notwitl
standing the gloomy picture of the bus
~ ness presented to the public during I'll
y, political campaign by Solon Chase
80 LeUiSt0n Journal
" When to Apply Manure
d | AhS plutllCc dluOIlS
" is to make general clearing of the yarC
l. and barn cellars once year, either i
" the spring or fall. Either practice make
d heavy draft upon the teams, and it h;
% its disadvantages. If this work is dor
1t in the spring, it is when the ground
e. soft and other work is exceedingly pres
re ing. If the manure is drawn out in IL
is fall and dropped in heaps upon the fiel
n. to be cultivated next season, there
L more or less waste by teaching and b
of evaporation. There is growing dispt
T. sition among our intelligent farmers {
a. apply manure directly to growing crop
ne or is near the time of planting and SOW
st ing as possible. 1t is felt that the soon,
ne manure is put within reach of the roo
ga of plants the better for the crops an
ar their owner. Manure is so much cap
a tai invested and bears interest only as
of is consumed in the soil.
j. The barn cellar may be so managed s
he to manufacture and turn out fertilizer
IN every month in the year, so that I'll
he farmer may suit his convenience in az
of plying them to the soil. When manu-
of is not wanted for cultivated crops, it
lt always safe to apply it to the grass crol
D. either in pasture or upon meadows aft,
ly moving. Top dressing is growing
s. favor with our intelligent farmers. Gra
he pays better than almost any farm cro
ID in the older States, and the spreading
n compost saves the necessity of frequel
re blowing and seeding. BY top dressir