The record-union., 1893-09-20

On the 1st day of April, 1884, moved
on the ground where l now reside, writes
w. A. Mills in Orchard and Farm, de-
termined, if possible, to make success
of the poultry business. 1t was much
longer contract than l imagined at the
time. You will stop to consider that at
that time there were very few poultry
farms in Sonoma County. There were
none within ten miles of my place that
had over 300 hens; now the same country
is nearly all hens. Within one mile of
me to the east there are now over 1000.
On the west there have been four poultry
farms started within one year, and none
of them over a hundred yards from me.
These are on the land recently sold by the
Cotati Company, and which will soon be
the Henopolis of California. 1 started
my poultry farm on the 1st of April, and
began with 100 hens. AS a beginner !
only made two mistakes out of two at
tempts. 1t was too late in the season TO
begin, and 100 hens were not enough to
start with. The first hen TO set was on
the 10th of April; good time to stop, but
/ run it through the entire season.
I don't think one man could make more
mistakes in the same length of time and
the same number of opportunities than l
did. You will remember at that time
there were not the same number OF OPP
portunities to take advantage of other
peoples experiments and knowledge. At
this time l was carefully reading and was
subscribing for a number OF Eastern
poultry journals, and can truthfully say
/ wish l had never seen one. They cost
mo money for the Journals, time to read
them, and loss on every occasion ever
attempted to follow their directions. l
assure you my name does not appear on
the subscription list Of any Eastern poul-
try journal, and it will not SO appear un-
less L wish to obtain names of Eastern
advertisers. l we'll remember it was
thought at the time, and many did not
hesitate to say to me, would be another
failure to add to the long list
was fortunate in getting ground that
drained in all directions and of gravelly
formation. There was no shade. In be-
ginning poultry farm the mort import
ant things to be considered are water
drainage, nature of soil, exposure to wind
and shade. l did not plant any shade
trees till the second year l was here, and
then not half as many as l should, and
have been lamentiDg that mistake and
have been planting trees ever since.
One enterprise was no failure, OF which
past. l have vegetable garden. In it
/ will raise this year over three tons of
cabbage for my chickens and an abund-
ance of vegetables of all kinds for the
house; but my pets are my berries. L ara
not eXaggerating when l say l can gather
as many pounds off OF the same space OF
ground as 1 can Of potatoes. OF all my
berries l consider the Lucretia dewberry
the choices. They ripen very much
earlier than the blackberry, are as large,
If not larger, are not so coarse, the seeds
are much smaller, and Of more delicate
and delicious flavor. l call particular at
tention to my garden, as 1t is tine pay
ing proposition when connected with a
poultry farm. Anyone contemplating
going into the chicken business with the
expectation of gaining sudden wealth,
why drop the business; you will be dis
appointed. If it is merely to fill in time
till something better turns up, don't 60
into it; it will cost less to do nothing.
But if you intend it as business, run it
as a business, and add a garden. You
often hear the remark, ''It costs less to
buy vegetables than to raise Them" Yes,
il you buy very few and are not partic-
lar as regards quality.
Starting with 100 hens, rent to pay and
other expenses to meet made it very dis
couraging. The most discouraging ex-
perience l ever had was when chicken
poX attacked the flock. l did not Know
what it was, and l did not find anyone
for month that could tell me. For the
benefit of my readers who have never
seen it, let me give a short description.
When it makes its appearance on the
comb or face it looks like seed wart;
when it confines itself to these parts it
does but little damage. If it attacks the
lids of the eye or eyes it usually produces
blindness; if both eyes at once, good bye
Ill IL
windpipe. Often 1t attacks the lining of
the mouth, and is often misnamed diph-
liberia. After large number of remedies
had been tried and failed, or partially
failed, / adopted sulphate of copper, or
bluestone. A small quantity should be
placed in the drinking water, say ten
grains to the pint. When possible these
spots should be well cauterized. In the
mouth l cleaned off the deposit and
sprinkled with sulphur. From that
time it did not amount to much. Care
and cleanliness carried me free from any
epidemic of a severe nature. Don't
iInaging the poultry business to be nice,
easy business. If it is, 1 never found it
SO. and have never got my place as clean
as wished it to be. AS visitor once
remarked, when you have nothing to
do, why Clean" Particular attention
must be paid to the smallest detail. A
man with nice large flock of hens is his
own man, and as independent as any can
be. / have not made as much money out
of the poultry business as expected, but
L am not hunting situation.
KEROSENE EMULSION.
We give the following reliable direc-
tions for this formula by II. L. Ward of
the Mississippi Agricultural College. 1t
is worth preserving:
The kerosene emulsion is simply a
method OF diluting kerosene so that it
may be applied to kill insects and YER
min, and yet not be strong enough to kill
the plants to which it is applied or to take
the hair off of animals if applied to the
skin. 1t is made by thoroughly mixing
soapsuds, water and kerosene. There are
many formul3 for this, and the success
or failure of the proportions used will
vary occordingsto the kind of water and
soap used. Rain or soft water is better
than hard water or that containing lime,
while a soap with much resin is 10 be
preferred to others. The best proportion
under all conditions is as follows: Kero-
sene. one gallon; hard soap, one-half
pound; water, one gallon.
Cut the soap into small pieces and boil
with the water. After the soap is all dis
solved, and while still hot, pour in the
kerosene and mix thoroughly. This is
best done by means Of hand force pump
and if properly mixed no kerosene will
appear at the top, but Will form a thick,
creamy mass. Now when the emulsion
is wanted for use, tits diluted with any
amount of water desired, generally
with from ten to fifteen gallons of water.
When applied with this strength it is
effective for killing insects, but Will not
iniure vegetation or animals which the
insects attack.
The emulsion can also be made, and
some prefer the method, by using sour
milk instead of soapsuds. The kerosene
is mixed with one-half the amount of
milk, which is slightly sour, then passed