The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-11-16
FIELD N FARM.
Care OF Poultry in Winter.

dozen, and in large towns and cities
from 80 to rs cents. In summer they
usually are from 10 to 90 cents. The
important question, then. for those who
keep poultry for the eggs is, how to
produce them i'll tue season at which
they will bring the highest price. To
do this requires care and skill. 1t is
not enough to simply throw the fowls a
sufficient amount of corn or rather grain
10 keep them from starving, let them
roost on the trees, under the barn or
shed, or whatever place they find, as is
the practice of money. Nor is 1t much
better to have q low garrett over the hog
pen, or some other out-building. with a
few poles across for perches, and a
small hole for the fowls to 90 in and out,
and so dirty and filthy that they will
only go there to roost when compelled
to for want Of a better place. 1t is no
wonder that fowls thus treated do not
lay in winter.
My object in writing this article is
not to give the poultry fancier any new
ideas, but to give the farmers and those
that keep a few hens to produce eggs
Tor their own table and to buy grocer
les with a few practical directions about
the care of poultry in winter, in order to
secure the best result s; and we believe
If these directions were followed we
would seldom hear the remark that
hens don't lay"
In order to pro luce eggs in winter the
hens should have a comfortable house.
This can easily be built by any farmer
reasonably handy With tools, and at a
very small outlay. It should be built in
q place where it will be as much as pos
| SIhIp nrotnntnl fran, ft,a rrrth orl ,,,,@
winds. 1t should be large enough to &C.
commodate the number of fowls de-
signed to be kept. For twenty to TWEEN
ty-hve hens a house 8 X 10, 5 feet high
back and s feet front will do. The front
should always face the solth, and be
well supplied with windows. You
cannot get too much sunlight in winter
into a poultry house. A cheap and SUBJ
stantiat house may be built of inch
boards, battened and lined with tarred
paper. The perches should be placed at
the back, with platform to catch the
%droppings. The %droppings should be
removed frequently. The ground al
ways makes the hest floor for the hen
house, but should always be kept dry.
If not too cold fowls should be permit
ted to run out a part of the day.
Feeding fowls is always a very impor.
tant matter. They should be fed regu-
larly, but not too much. We have found
the following successful: Have a kettle
IN which all the scraps of bread, meat,
potatoes, potato and apple skins, &C.,
from the kitchen are thrown. Put this
on the stove in the morning as soon as
the fire is built, ard when it has boiled
a few minutes take two pints of chop,
ma lie of corn, oats, and barley or rye,
and one part wheat bran, and mix into
it. Be careful to have the mash thus
made as thick a you can stir it. When
this is cold so as not to burn you when
you put your hand into 1t, give it to
your fowls, Do not give them more of
this than they will eat up clean in five
feed of oats, 5uckwheat, or wheat
screenings. Have Your house well litter
ed with straw, or, what is still better,
the litter from the barn floor and h,y
loft; scatter the grain over this. 1t will
keep the hens in exercise all afternoon,
and prevent their learning bad habits.
In the evening give a light feed
of whole corn. 1t is a very good plan
to give laying hens meat and
vegetables, such as cabbage, potatoes,
and onions, once or twice a week. They
should always be supplied with pure,
fresh water, in vessels that are Kept
ClCttil. 1lClC II III dlllL1dI Liz Will
drink more, or that water seems to be
more indispensable to than the fowls. If
the weather is too cold for the hens to
stay out of the house, or if the ground
is covered with snow, they should be
furnished with lime in some shape. A
| box kept filled with old plaster and
placed where they can have access to it
is very good. They should also be pro-
vided with q dust bath. A box tive feet
square and one foot high, kept half or
two-thirds full of roal dust, is about the
best thing, but if the dust has not been
| saved during the summer, fine coal ashes
! will do.
There is a very great difference in the
laying qualities Of the different varieties
o; fowls in winter. The larger varieties
usually excel as winter layers, and the
smaller as ummer But tnke the mixed
breeds. as usually kept by farmers, and
| care for them as above directed, and
the result will be an abundance of eggs
in winter.-PouLtry journal Record.
Ping Eye in Cattle.
The disease known as pink-eve, or in
1uenza, in horses sometimes occurs
among cattle, and has very much the
same symptoms; beginning with q
copious weeping from the eyes, the dis
charge being naked with pas from the
infamed membranes. Thewhole of the
head is affected by a general catarrh, the
COWS suffer generally from the fever and
fall of in milk. In course of time the
interior membranes of the eye become
clouded with pus and the eye turns
white, when blindness follows. 1t is
doubtless malhrial in Its nature and due
to atmospheric or general causes, and
appears s~poradically, or here and there,
a few in each herd being attacked. 1t is
not a frequent disease among cows, bat
appears chiefly where they are lodged
rich undrained soil, or in the fail,
when there are sudden changes Of
weather or temperature. The treatment
should consist of vigorous purging Of ep-
sem salts. two pounds given at once;
after that half-ounce doses of chlorate of
potash should be given daily. The eyes
should be- bathed in warm water
and cleansed and two or three
grains IA fall pinch) of burned alum
should be blown in the eye through a
small quill daily. 1t WILDE best to keep
the ows in a stable and protected from
the light, and wrap q large towel around
the head and horns, and keep this wet
ted with cold water. Good nursing will
be beneficial: warm oatmeal Cruel
should be given copiously, and the ami
NAL well bedded to induce rest. Chopped
apples, potatoes, or turnips will be USE
full.
Hints to Farmers.
Maine farming has a boom. The state
has spent this year 81, 225 ,020 in farming
machines ank manures, 800, 900 being
for phosphates. The dairy product is
improving and the farm mortgages are
growing fewer.
The Auburn, Me-, canning works
ave done their biggest wears business