OF INTEREST TO FARMERS
FACTORS AFFECTING EGGS
A successful poultry raiser has
been able to reach some very defi
nite conclusions on the matter of
egg size and how it is determined
Alter working with a large number
of hens over a period of years. One
conclusion is that the average size
of the eggs laid by an individual
hen is a fixed, definite, and per
sistent characteristic. Practically, of
course, this means that selection for
egg size should be based on the av
erage weight of the eggs laid by a
hen, rather than on the fact that
she may eventually get to the point
where she lays large eggs after pro
ducing a good many small ones. It
was also found that a ration con
sisting entirely of whole grains dur
ing the winter months had the ef
fect of reducing the egg weight by
about 12 per cent. Liberal mash
feeding helps to maintain egg size.
The greater the productive capacity
of the hen, the smaller was the av
erage decrease in the weight of eggs
laid on successive days. Good hens
tend to maintain a constant egg
weight. Low producers, as well as
high layers, showed a small de
crease in the weight of eggs laid on
successive days during the season of
maximum production than at other
seasons of the year. When we con
sider the further fact, established
by several investigators, that egg
size is definitely inherited it is ap
parent that it will pay the careful
poultryman to give some thought
to egg size along with many other
factors when selecting breeding
stock.
HENS NEED MINERALS.
That lime in some form is quite
necessary in the ration of hens that
are laying heavily is a wellknown
fact, and it is common practice to
supply crushed oyster shell in hop
pers so that the hens can eat as
much as they like at any time.
When oyst*» shells a:e not avail
able, or when they are higher in
price than some of the other cal
cium carrying materials, the ques
tion of what to substitute becomes
important. Tests were carried on at
an experiment station in which sev
eral different carriers of calcium
were supplied to hens receiving a
ration of wheat, com and skimmilk.
The materials used in the different
trials were calcium carbonate, cal
cium sulfate, tricalcium phosphate,
calcium lactate and calcium chlor
ide. The results showed that cal
cium carbonate was superior to the
other compounds when measured by
the number of eggs laid, the aver
age weight of the egg content, the
average weight of the shell, and the
thriftiness of the birds. Oyster shells
consist almost entirely of calcium
carbonate, and the same is true of
many kinds of limestone. Those
limestones which carry more than
traces of magnesium are not well
suited to use in poultry rations.
Since the feeding of oyster shell is
not a daily chore, and may easily be
overlooked unless one has some rule
to follow, it is an excellent plan to
have a definite time each week for
cleaning and refilling the shell hop
pers. Many poultrvmen sprinkle a
small amount of the crushed shell
on top of the dry mash at inter
vals in order to make certain that
plenty is available to the hens.
.—
THE “IDEAL” FARM HOUSE.
Finding the “ideal” man Is easy
compared to finding the “ideal”
house In which to live after the
wedding, in the opinion of one west
ern architect, who specializes in the
designing of rural homes. At least
this is true in the case of farm
houses, he said. He learned what
a hard job it is by serving on the
jury of a national contest to se
lect the best from 4,600 farm house
plans. There are so many good farm
houses and features in farm houses
which are desirable that it is diffi
cult to select a single house or plan
which Is “ideal,” he said. "There are
as least six C’s to which the house
must conform before It can even ap
proach the ideal. These are comfort,
convenience, completeness, coziness,
communication and cost. To these
must be added a seventh point—ap
pearance. Comfort is that physical
feeling of ease or relaxation to
which both man and beast naturally
turn. Comfort should appear every
where—in the kitchen as well as in
the bedrooms and living room, on
the stairs and in the basement or
dormitory. Convenience is so well
known that It needs no discussion.
Completeness means having all
things necessary to comfort, health
and convenience. Communication
between parts was not needed in
the one-room cabin. It is never nec
essary from room to room or floor
to floor. The best is most direct and
without encroaching upon the pas
sage between other parts. Coziness
Is the placing of an object where it
appears to fit or belong. The farm
house should belong on its site,
nestle into the lawns and shrubbery
and blend with the skies. Cost is
the agonizing part of the farm
house. It should be kept reasonably
within the means but not skimped
to reduce the efficiency and ruin
the health of its occupants. Appear
ance, which overlaps coziness, can
not be over-emDhasized. It is the
exterior expression of charm and
character which every home should
have.”
- .... --»♦
WASHING MILKING MACHINE
Many milking machines have
been discarded because the dairy
man could not produce milk with
as low bacterial count as he did by
hand milking. There is no need,
however, of discarding a milking
machine on this account, for high
gTade and even certified milk can
be produced with a milking ma
chine. The following method is re
ported as having been in use in one
dairy for several years where Grade
A milk is produced regularly: (1)
Immediately after milking, while
the machine is still attached to the
vacuum, rinse the teat cups and the
milk hose by drawing through each
unit at least two gallons of water,
lukewarm or cold. It is important
to do this immediately after milk
COD LIVER OIL FOR PULLETS.
My pullets of the heavy breeds a
year ago, were pure bred, but late
hatched, the last ones hatching off
the last of May, says an enthusi
astic “farmeress” who believes in
getting there first. 7 did not hope
for winter eggs, but was anxious
that they develop well before our
cold winter weather set in. so all
along I fed cod liver oil, three times
a week. Now I feed cod liver oil from
a bottle, and along with their regu
lar mash and minerals, those pul
lets grew and mati>red and were
laying at 6 months. They not only
began early but laid all winter and
rurht through the Wiring with never
ing, so that no milk will dry on
the machine parts. (2) Prepare at
least one gallon of washing powder
solution, hot il possible, using two
heaping tablespoonfuls of powder
to a gallon. Draw this solution
through each unit. (3) Brush out
the tubes and especially the teat
cups, and wash the outside of these
parts. (4) Then place them in
some disinfecting solution until the
next milking. Be sure that no air
bubbles are caught in the rubber
tubes, and see that all parts are
completely submerged. (5) Once a
week take the machine apart and
scrub every part’inside and outside.
After assembling, put in the disin
fectant solution. (6) Flush out the
air line occasionally, using a hot
solution of washing powder and dis
infectant. In case some milk is
drawn into the air line during milk
ing, wash it out immediately after
milking.
A BIT OF ‘ WISDOM.”
I used to raise cheap ducks and
geese, and other tinhorn fowls: I
was a stranger then to peace, I filled
the nights with howls. For when I
took my birds to town, to sell them
or to trade, the customers would
beat me down, a scurvy price they
paid. They said, “Your ganders and
your drakes no epicure would please:
They surely died of stomach aches,
or of some fell disease.” So I be
wailed the poor man’s lot, and wept
from day to day; misfortune pep
pers him with shot, wherever he
may stray. “There's something
wrong,” I used to yell, three times
and sometimes twice, "when one
who has a goose to sell can’t get a
decent price. I hoped that congress
would relieve the woes of poultry
men, but all its promises deceive,
we’re stung, and stung again. The
industry is bound to go to smash
and break in bits, unless our states
men learn to throw some sane and
helpful fits.” But Farmer Brown
who lives next door came up one
day and said: “You would not have
much cause to roar if you would
use your head. You raise scrub fowls
when you could raise the fine ones
just as wTell; the purebred, gilt
edged gander pays, the cheap one
will not sell. It costs no more to rear
good ducks than rearing punk ones
costs; the good ones bring you many
bucks, the others are but frosts.” 1
listened to his pregnant words
which sounded good to me, and 1
closed out the tinhorn birds which i
had no pedigree. And now I’m sell
ing blue-blood stock at prices fierce
ly nigh, and people chase me ’round
the block in eagerness to buy.
JEWELRY FROM SKIM MILK.
The cow as a producer of jewel
ry is playing an entirely new role for
the members of the bovine world
At a recent dinner given in New
York, a manufacturer of plastic
casein exhibited some of the hun
dreds of beautiful and useful arti
cles made from the protein of milk
Strands of jade green beads, brace
lets, decorative buckles and buttons
are the most popular forms of jew
elry made from casein — the sub
stance better known in the form ol
cottage cheese. Jewelry is but one ol
the kinds of articles manufactured
from this milk by-product. Knife
and fork handles, hard, smooth and
cream-colored, resembling old ivory
trace their history back to milk
Green lampshades, rivaling jade in
color, texture and translucence are
made from casein. Other casein nov
elties are amber-colored fountain
pens and pencils, combs, shoe horns
toys, paper knives, umbrella tips
ornamental door knobs and electric
buttons. Casein also is used as the
base of letter in electric signs. The
casein for all these articles is made
from the skimmilk after the cream
has been taken out for butter, ice
cream, and table use. Plastic casein
is made from sweet skimmilk whicb
is available in creameries that make
sweet cream butler. It is precipitated
with rennet. Th:s i‘ype of casein
makes the fountain pens and cos
tume jewelry. The casein from soui
milk is used in glue and papei
manufacture.
FIBER IN POULTRY RATIONS.
Not all cf the materials used in
poultry rations can properly be
called feeds for the reason that some
do not furnish any nutrients which
the chicken can use. At the same
time they may be quite necessary to
successful results- One important
part of the ration that falls in this
class is the crude fiber. It has been
suggested that if it were possible
to feed fowls a ration that was
wholly digestible, and therefore en
tirely lacking in crude fiber, they
would very probably die of acute
constipation. On the other hand, too
much crude fiber in a ration is prac
tically certain to prevent profitable
egg production. Although hens can
digest very little of the crude fiber
that they consume, a certain amount
seems to be necessary in order to
dilute and open up the ration in the
digestive tract and so promote more
effective action by the digestive
juices. The optimum percentage of
crude fiber in rations for laying
hens has not been accurately deter
mined, but there is some evidence to
indicate that 3',is per cent of the
entire ration is about the right
amount. Furthermore, where hens
are given a free choice of feeds on
the cafeteria plan they make up
their own rations so that about 3’,^
per cent of crude fiber is consumed.
UNDERFEEDING KILLS PROFIT i
Underfeeding, or feeding of an in
complete ration, keeps down or
wipes out profits in many a dairy
herd. One farmer goes so far as to
say that dairy-cows now are bet
ter bred than fed; that starved
purebreds are no better than starved
scrubs. There is still room for im
provement along both lines. The
point is, every dairy-cow should
be fed a complete ration, and a?
much of it as she will turn into prof
it. 7t is the wrong way to feed as
little as the cow will get along on
and still show' a profit or Just break
even. Cow-testing records prove
that liberal feeding is not an ex
pense, but an investment.
a setback to speak of. I have rushed
them off for years in February and
March, in order to get winter eggs
from the grandmothers and great
grandmothers of these very pullets,
and barely did get them laying by
7 and 3 months, so I am certain
that those heavy doses of pure rich
cod liver oil all through the summer
and fall were responsible for my
winter eggs this time. The birds
seemed to mature faster and better
than any pullets I ever owned, de
veloping a full red comb, warm and
vibrant, and a decided singing as
early as the Leghorns 2 once
raised.
Daughter of the “400”
Wins Right to Pistol
Mrs. Muriel Vanderbilt Church,
descendant of one of America’*
most aristocratic lines, has just
been granted permission to carry
a pistol. It was explained that
Mrs. Church often returns to
her home in Middletown late at
night- The permission was grant
ed by Police Chief Alboro of Mid
dletown, December 23d, accord
ing to the chief’s monthly report
to the town council.
(International Nnwsraal)
-♦+ — ■ -
Link Standard Oil Head
To ine Smuggling
Herbert L. Pratt, chairman of tha
board of the Standard Oil Com
pany of New York, has been
charged with receiving $26,000
worth of champagne smuggled into
States, as a shipment
of flower pots” from France, at
his estate at Glen Cove, L. I.
(International Nawareeli
- - ♦+ --
De Rivera Quits
for Semi-Free Rule
Premier Primo de Rivera an
nounced that the Kin* of Spain
has approved his plan for abandon
ment of the dictatorship anu(
establishment of a so-called semi
normal Government in Spain.
Siutor national N tMai
De Rivera Out—New Premier Named
r , i
General Primo de Rivera, Premier and dictator <
of Spain since 1923, has resigned with his entire
cabinet, with which he is shown. The re
port indicates that the recent canvass made by
, de Rivera among principal army leaders through- 1
f out Spain as to whether he should remain In
office had resulted in an unfavorable verdict.
With the Genera] are shown Mr. Yanguas
Messia, secretary of state, and the Duke of
Tctuan, secretary of war. ,
tm- •*4i»n.I -■ — —
[A Religion for the Scientific
In the quiet Quaker town of.
ftwarthmore, Pa., a spirited move
ment to modernize religious teach
ings has had its beginning. This
Movement, undertaken with regard
for present-day thought and pres
ent-day science, has attained im
portant proportions. It is led by
Dr. Jesse H. Holmes (left), for
thirty years a professor of philos
ophy at S#artnmore College, and
Dean Roscoe Pound, of the Har
vard Law School (right).
- (International Newer eel)
British Minister’s
Daughter in Talkies
This latest recruit to the British
talkies is Miss Kathleen Green
wood, 24-year-old daughter of th*
British Minister of Health, Arthur
Greenwood. She has already don*
beginner's duty as one of the moh
in a two-language feature, and 1*
now ready to tackle the pail of a
peasant in a new sound and color
picture dealing with the Charga
of the Light Brigade.
(InUrnatlonal NanirHll
Former Capital Cop
1 Called in Boston Probe
Robert J. Allen, former Washing
ton. I). C., policeman, fl'ho testi
fied before a Boston grand jury
as to his Hub "vice investigations”
allegedly for Walter W. Liggett,
author of "Bawdy Boston.” A
general probe of the situation is
leihg made. Liggett himself ap
peared before the grand jury for
questioning.
(International Newsreel)
Doctor of Philosophy,
1 But Too Young to Vote
Elizabeth Pomerere h not y t 2t
years old, b it she holds t.1 high
dcgrn# of Lor ;r of Philosophy in
Biochemistry from Western Re
serve Unlversit , C eland, O.
Elizabeth is believed to be tl e
youngest girl over to le aw : ded
this -bolarship distinction. She is
» niece of former United States
Senator Atlee Pomerone
tliKCfliai! i«4
Testing ‘Chute Before Six-Mile Jump|
*
William T. Dodson, a civilian, former chief of the parachute section
of the Pacific Battle Fleet, testing his specially made chute before hi*
contemplated jump of six miles in an effort to better the 26,640 foot
record established by Capt A. W. Stevens of the United States Armjj
In 1921. The parachute is of the Lobe type and is expected to within
stand not only Dodson’s weight but the weight of his oxygen equip*
meat. •. ' T ' "T' __
^<[ Inter national Kiwrwl)
Scientific Flying
Earns Mackay Trophy
Captain Albert W. Stevens with
the electrically heated aviation suit
ho wore during the altitude flights
in which he gathered much scien
tific find photographic data. These
flight, were considered the most
meritorious of the last year by the
B^ard of Air Corps officers, and
cons quently Captain Stevens has
been recommended to the War De
partment for the ilackay trophy
award for W29.
(iBUnuhtloaal M*w»r*#I)
—- — ■ ■ ee
Found the Remains ,
1 of Eielson Airplane
Pilot Joe Crosson, clad In the Arctic
clothing he used when he and Har
old Gifiam, flying high above the
bleak and desolate coast of Siberia,
spied the wreckage of the plane oi
Lieut. Car! Ben Eielson and hii
mechanic, Earl Borland. The
wreckage waa said to be ninety
miles from the spot where the shir
was frozen in at North Cape.
iXntarBallonal Nivum