The record-union., 1894-04-10

that egg production required.

constituents that egg production required.
The best way to iced the bone. if either
granulated or crushed bone is used, is to
I'LL small box with it, and let the hens
eat OF 1t as they wish. They will not
oYer-eat if the bone is free from meat,
and no further care is necessary than to
replenlsh the box from time to time.
liens 90 not appear to be very fond OF
dry bone, and when it is kept constantly
before them will eat it rather slowly. If,
however, the bone has little meat on it,
they appear quite greedy for il. The
green bones, ground in bone mill con-
tam meat, fat and marrow in greater or
less quantities, and of this the fowls are
very fond. This is an excellent food for
mems when fed judiciously; but i'll the
feeding Of it one cannot trust the hens
appetite. but must regulate the quantity
by his own judgment. Given jnst
enough the hens will lay very freely, and
wliI handsomely repay their owner for
the cost OF the bone mill and the trouble
OF furnishing the ground bone.-B. But
Ter, in American Agriculturist.
SEX OF EGGS.
Mrs. T. II. Gosnell of Ohio, in the Gin
cinnati Semi Weekly Gazette, gives the
following information how TO tell pullets
from cockerels by the eggs shape: For
puIlets select the round eggs always, and
ones, and, by closely observing and fol-
lowing out this plan the farmer, fancier
or breeder can make his calculations as 10
what proportion of the brood will be pull
lets. In setting my hens l always sort
the eggs, and have had the best of luck
with pullets.
My mother, who is now quite old.
taught me this years ago, and L have
found it correct one.
Previous 10 my marriage my husband
had lived as bachelor, and had kept
great many fowls, but nearly all his
matches proved TO be roosters. On in
vestigatIOn | found that in selecting eggs
for hatching he had used the largest and
more pointed ones-they having appealed
more to his taste After took charge OF
| the poultry and applied my rule, the diff
ference was most emphatic, and he could
readily appreciate it.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Among the varieties of English sheep,
which have been taken to New Zealand
for crossing with Merinos. one Of the
favorite breeds is the Romney Marsh, or
Kentish. The object OF the cross is to
obtain a carcass suitable for the frozen
mutton trade without sacrificing the
! fleece.
Australia suffers not only from the
rabbit plague but also from the plaques
OF European foxes and English sparroWs,
both OF which species were carried there,
as were the rabbits, by incautious settlers.
It was hoped that the foxes would keep
the rabbits in check, but il is found that
they destroy far more lambs and poultry
than rabbits.
a novel system of branding horses,
cattle and sheep is reported from Aus
tralia. The brand is kept at the required
heat by the action OF electricity from
storage batteries. From these flexible
tube carries the electric energy TO the
brand, which is heated from within. 1t
is claimed that this brand is perfectly
safe, that it marks without q blotch, and
is kept at uniform temperature.
The British Government in India has
gone into the dairy business, to the eX
tent Of establishing dairy farms in places
where troops are stationed, for their eX
elusive benefit. Frequent outbreaks of
enteric fever having been traced to pol
luted milk supply, the dairy farms were
established with manifest gain in the
health of the troops. The farms have
generally proved self-sustaining, and
that at Allahabad shows profit.
Peanuts-or as they are called there,
groundnuts-are largely cultivated in In
dia, the area devoted to the crop in the
Presidency of Madras, alone, ranging
from 200, 900 to 2S0,000 acres. The methods
OF cultivation are very rude ana prlml-
tive. When the crop is ready for harvest
from forty to eighty women are employed
per acre for gathering the nuts. which
they do by grubbing them out of the soil.
The average crop on unirrigated land is
fifty bushels per acre, on irrigated land
about twice that.
Two years ago we tried an experiment
in feeding newly-set tomato plants with
very small dressing Of nitrate of soda,
which was thoroughly mixed with the
soil around them. The ground was mod
erately fertile before the application. Not
only was the growth of the plants greatly
stimulated, but their productiveness also.
The fruit was unusually large and fair
and it ripened several days before that on
vines to which we did not apply the nj
trate AS special manure for the tomato
crop, nitrate of soda cannot be excelled.
American Cultivator.