it for a setting pensive if you feed the best quality of never recommended rolled oats, but nearly every grocer hen, during incubation. The tendency will have some damaged rolled oats is to smother the embryo chick within (not so badly damaged that the chicks the egg. I have never recommended will not appreciate them) and they will this during incubation. make a very much better food for the young chicks. them. I found that out some years got some men to experiment with me, ago, and I now frequently take a hand-one was Mr. Jackson, of the Dunn ful of the rolled cats that are damaged county asylum, and we tried that and and put it where the chicks can get we are absolutely sure that Lambert's it You can get it reasonably if you "Dean to Lice" will not hurt the egg can buy it at all. one particle during the period of in Mr. Smith-You remember at Knapp They will appreciate we had a discussion on that point. Mr. Smith-That is a very good cubation. point, Mrs. Howie. I would sooner have steel-cut for young chicks. Mr. Buskirk-In white-washing your hen-houses, would you recommend carbolic acid, a little in the whitewash? Mr. Smith-A very good recipe is that used for the government buildings. It does not rub off so readily and you do not get your clothes white. Mr. Buskirk-Can you give the recipe? Mr. Smith-I cannot give it here. Mrs. Tilson-Are you in sympathy with the experiment station work of the country, Mr. McKerrow, and do you accept the results of the Unitea States government experiments? Supt. McKerrow-Certainly. Mrs. Tilson-Their decision is that we should make our own insecticides. We can make the insecticides as well as the poultry "foods." I Mr. Matteson-It has ruined a great many eggs for me. In my experience it has. It blights the embryo chick. Supt. McKerrow-As the doctors disagree, I wish Mrs. Tilson could give a government recipe,-something that would do the same work. Mrs. Tilson-I could not give anything off-hand, but will send you a note.* The government publication says that Lambert's "Death to Lice" is a fraud for the reason that you are paying twenty-five cents for something which is worth only one-third of that. One thing which I have used successfully is a very little sulphur, a level *U. S. Bulletin 41 says a dust bath for fowls, with kerosene on perches and whitewash and thoroughness for house, are the most approved remedies for parasites. A Florida experiment station bulMr. Matteson-Under what title is letin says apply to all parts of house this information given? hot carbolic acid solution, one of acid Mrs. Tilson-U. S. Gov. bulletin en- to twenty parts water, or whitewash titled "Insecticides," No. 146. Mr. Smith-If they go against Lambert's "Death to Lice," they are against my experience. Mrs. Tilson-They give the constituents of Lambert's "Death to Lice" and an unfavorable mention. Mr. Smith-Vermin are the greatest enemies that we have to contend with in the successful keeping of poultry. We must have aids. Mr. Matteson-I agree in regard to Lambert's "Death to Lice." I have used it for fifteen years, but I have with one pound chloride of lime added to four gallons of wash, or kerosene emulsion. Upon the thin skin of young fowls only bland substances are permissible, like Persian insect powder, lard or cottonseed oil. In the case of old fowls, a little sulphur or kerosene may be added to grease, or a 5 per cent. solution of creolin used. Scald out nests and small coops. I will add that the following are excellent deterrents in nests: onion skins, tobacco trash, wormwood, tansy, elder or cedar sprigs. teaspoonful in the nest. It never did | never tried to see whether they would any harm whatever. But I would clean destroy eggs. the hen and the nest before I began. If know kerosene will interfere in hatching. Supt. McKerrow-We will ask Mrs. Tilson to get that recipe that is as good as Lambert's. Mr. Smith-Mrs. Tilson, when you found that kerosene hurt the eggs, was it from the effects of the fumes, was it from contact? Mr. Hill-Have you ever heard of using moth balls in the nest with the setting hen? I tried it last summer very successfully. Mr. Smith-It is recommended, and I have seen it published where a hen ate a moth ball and committed suicide. Mr. Buskirk-Would you recommend putting eggs into warm water to make it easier for the chicks to break the or Mrs. Tilson-More particularly from shells? contact. Mr. Smith-Yes. I have used liquid lice killer occasionally, but my box was deep with hay and it never interfered with the hatching of the eggs. I took care not to have it come in contact with the eggs. Mr. Smith-A hen left to herself will get off her nest very early in the morning when the air is cool. She has those heated up to 103 degrees or 104 degrees. She gets off the nest and the cool air coming in contact with the warm eggs causes the moisture to Mrs. Tilson-I am very economical, precipitate and this moistens them you see. I make my own lice killers. I sufficiently without never try too many experiments. Lice moisture. killers will sometimes kill fowls. I any additional If the grain a hen eats in a year is measured, it will be found to be about a bushel, but this need not all be expensive wheat. In addition, she will need considerable green food, bone and grit. The yearly cost of a hen's board, East, runs from seventy-five cents to one dollar. The Utah Station and my own accounts give sixty cents for the West. To get at cost, a poulterer cannot watch every pint, but must measure a considerable quantity of grain, etc., and put it in bins, boxes, or barrels by itself. One woman who did so, told me ner husband muddled her by feeding the preacher's horse from her hens' portion. Corn for Food. Green food colors egg yolks, makes A hen's four stomachs show she is them hatch well, furnishes shells, meant for variety of food and bulky keeps fowls healthy, and is cheap. food. Nor would the Lord have given Herbs of all sorts, catnip, spearmint, her four stomachs to pour slop horse-radish, nettle, plantain, dande (Commercial Poultry). more, so you can keep the kind of fowls you fancy. The proportion of solids to each other is always about the same with any hen's egg, but she puts in more or less water, as she has it. Like a dairy cow at her normal, A poultry court declares the bone cutter necessary. With large flocks, I have succeeded which can add flow, but no more richness, so a well-fed hen at her normal can simply add water. It is distilled, flavored water, desired and sold at a high price, an honest watering of stock. Each fowl needs five to eight ounces a day, in dishes easily and regularly cleaned, or she ceases to drink. Quarters. Houses which are comfortable save food bills in winter, from hens no having to turn everything eaten into heat. A house large enough for days is bleak at night. If snug at night it is crowd-| the spider family. Some lice breed in ed days. Therefore, build a good filth and are scavengers only. Most lodging room and a cheaper day affair, of them breed on the fowls and many a scratching shed or room, according are bloodsuckers. Mites live in roosts, to the protected or non-protected situ- nests, walls, coops, etc., coming out at night to feast on blood, then retiring to their haunts through days. To avoid lice, clean the hens. To avoid mites, clean the house. A shallow box, in a sunny spot, with mellow dust inside, assists the hens in their care of themselves. Every bit of poultryhouse furniture should be simple and movable to facilitate easy cleaning, a thing not true of some expensive outfits. It will be seen the poultry outfit, to De complete, is internal and external, chemical, and mechanical, and com mon sense. An important part of "Biddy's" food. DISCUSSION. The Chairman-Before taking up the discussion, I want to request that the questions be stated as briefly as possible, that we may use the time to the best advantage. ation. The value of a south exposure when the sun "runs low," the right- hand house about an equal time each than The plan of my hen-houses. Parasites. other Two divisions of parasites are the main affliction of hens, namely, lice, which are true insects, and mites, of Mr. Brigham-How large do you make your hen-houses and how many Mrs. Tilson-I allow four square feet house room per fowl, and at least half as much shed room. On a farm, fifty twenty-five un fowls is the limit, and Mr. Matteson-Would you recommend a platform under your rocst? Mrs. Tilson-Such a platform permits hens to utilize all the floor space, but should be kept very clean, or it becomes a harbor for insects. Το catch droppings I use sand, often removed and renewed, because my hens are not crowded as to room. Mr. Smith-Should you have a greater surface of scratching room? Mrs. Tilson-Certainly, have all the scratching room that you can afford. Mr. Matteson-Would it not be easier to fight the red mites if each box was single? Mrs. Tilson-Yes. I would not have a nest attached to the house for any |