Evening star., 1916-04-30
POULTRY YARD NOTES.

that is handy to keep and use. The
Ralston Purina Company has offered
to mail a copy of this sixty-four-page
book free to any readers of The Star.
Address Ralston Purina Company.
Gratiot street, st. Louis. Mo.
Many a small farmer. especially II
he has low. wet land, is in a position
to net a tidy sum by raising and fat
tening geese at a minimum of ex-
pense and labor.
Geese should never be used as breed
ers until two years of age. and still
older is better. Geese will lay more
eggs when Ave or six years old than
when young, and the goslings will be
stronger. Geese can be used for breed
ers until they are twenty-five years
old. and sometimes older. For market
purposes alone the best plan is to mate
two or three Toulouse geese to an
Embden gander The result of this
cross will be stock that is easily raised,
mature more quickly, grow to be larg-
any one variety. This mixed progeny
should never be used for breeders. be-
cause they do not give good results.
Not only are geese more cheaply and
easily fed than other poultry. but they
have several other advantages in their
favor. They require little in the way
Of buildings. A low. cheap shed to
to provide a nesting place is sufficient.
They suffer little from disease. They
require less care and attention than
other poultry. The breeding stock does
not require renewing so often. In rails
ing geese, however, it is advisa BILE to
confine the goose and her brood until
the goslings are a few weeks old. Geese
are great foragers. and the old goose
will tire and wear out her brood un-
less they are allowed to first gain size
Sfr
to pasture
A simple brooder can be made from a
packing box, 3 feet square and high, a
common lantern, a 3O-inch length of
furnace pipe. 10 inches in diameter. a
piece of tin or galvanized iron Ia inches
square. three bricks and pane of II
by 16-inch glass Nail up half the top
door is inches by 3 feet. Cut an opening
10 by IA inches in the center of the
door and cover it with the glass. If
possible. arrange the glass to slide in
grooves so that 1t can be opened for
ventilation. Hinge the door to one side
of the box) is the front of the brooder.
Turn the box SO that the front faces
you. Cut an opening IL inches square
in the top of the brooder. Stand the
on them place the length of furnace
pipe. Insert the lantern through the
top of the brooder inside the furnace
pipe, allowing it to hang down half
way. Bend a heavy wire into a T
shaped hook to support the lantern
handle from top of brooder. With a
chisel cut a 4-inch hole at the center
of the piece of galvanized iron to allow
the fumes of the lantern to escape, and
place this sheet over the 12-inch hole
above the lantern. Take off board
6 inches wide from either end at the
floor for the chicks to enter and leave
the brooder. Cover this inside with a
strip of blanket or old clothes, and cut
3-inch slits every 4 inches through
which the chicks can pass. The curtain
is to confine the heat in a cool room.
Cover the floor of the brooder with
2 inches of clover chaff or short straw
Fill the lantern and light it. A mod
crate flame is all that is required to
warm the brooder to ninety degrees on
the floor. This brooder is intended to
be operated in a small pen or run, the
floor of which is covered with inches
of short straw. The chicks can leave
the brooder if they become too warm
If they are cold they will peep and
crowd around the lantern. Increase OF
decrease the heat until the chicks rest
near the opening of the brooder and
are contented.