POULTRY > AGRICULTURE FINE FORMS. Model Plant at the Kansas Agri cultural College. «• IT COST $2,500 TO BUILD. Houses, Coops and SFieds All Con structed to Obtain Best Results In Raising Poultry at Lowest Expendi ture of Time and Money. The modal poultry plant at the Kan sas Agricultural college is not a lux ury. It is.just what any modern, pro gressive, prosperous farmer should and wouid have. The' state might build the finest, lvind of a 'plattt, and- the farmers' would say it tftiight nothing because it' was beyond their means; llere is a first class plant that? did not cost a Cent rnoVe tiiiin any man could afford if he Intended togo into the poultry business. Probably $2,500 would cover the whole thing—feiices; houses nnil rieefttkl machinery."' At present the plant uses-four acres. It consist^" of' a laboratory building nud' feed''hrblise combined, ..one laying house, two colony shed roof laying houses, other.rcolony houses and coops and yards, . Thg.gqtes to each yard are conveniently arranged.to permit easy going from one yard to the other and, consist of larger gates in the end of whVti" rire Seff fastening smaller ones.- Every hotis£ is equipped with special watering and feeding devices. The laboratory building is 28 by 44 feet, with 10 foot studs and an eight foot rise to roof. Tills building con tains one laboratory 28 by 44 feet for students. The basement .is. eight feet high and contains one incubator room 28 by 30 fPPt, one- egg room 9 by 12 feet, one furnace room 8 by 12 feet and one killing room 0 by 12 feet. The attic of the "building is used-for stor- Rge. The feed, house is built on next to the laboratory building and is 18 bv 30 feet. It contains five large bins . frnSii.'r*, JPhoto by Iy&D33s Agricultural collcco. . ■"MoiiEL Poultry plant.- 8 Uy. iVi feet for,. grains, three small bins 5 by 2 feet 8 inches for ground feed and live medium, sized bins for grit'ind'streils. • •'■*' s The laying house is; constructed <>n a model plan and contains six pens. Each' pen is 15 by .15 feet; and will house from sixty to sixty-five birds. The. material used, in the construction Is .of- -yellow pine, and for.the frame work 2 by 4's were used. The sides, back and frput, are hovered with one thickness of 'seven-eighths inch drop : siding. • The roof is made of matched flooring, covered with two ply Kongo roofing paper. Ah inside wall is con structed JM the rear of each pen and extends two.,and fOne-ltftff feet from the. rear plate down toward .the floor. The rafters are also boarded up for three feet over the roosts. The dimensions of the laying house and tts jlfffeitenA parts'. are given in ile taiL ' The'hoilse 'proper is 90 i>y 15 fefet, eight'fi?et High In front and five feet in the back. The curtain opening In the south side is three feet' above the floor and 3 feet' (i inches by 0 feet 10% inches in size. The winilo.w open ing is 2 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 7V> Inches and contains a window with two sashes,' having nine lights each. The door opening into the yard is 3 feet by 15 feet, and the swinging door from one pen to the o.ther'is 3 feet by 5 feet 8 inches. .The placing of doors bet ween the different pens' affords a runway the.whple length of the build ing when all doors are opened. The dropping*borird'iu the rear of each pen is 3 feet 4 inches by 15 feet and is three feet above the floor. The three roosts are set on the dropping board and are made of 2 *>y 4 pieces, set on end, placed ten inches from the wall, twelve inches apart, leaving six inches from the edge of the dropping board to, the center of the last roost. ■ The dropping board is fixed like a ■helf and can be removed easily. And as roosts are set on this board they also can be removed without incon *■ renlence' ami cleaned and sprayed. The nests are 14 by 14 by 14 inches, made like'a drawer, with coarse screen or hardware cloth bottoms. These " nests are immediately under the drop ping board, and the hens tnust enter the nests from, behind.. A door fixed on hinges enables the poultryinan to .gather the eggs froip the front. . broody' 'coop; *m#»de • lir <>Bie corner of ' tfie pe nT 're*ta :oa th e pping board. It is 3 by 3 feet and has a bottom made of laths and front and sides of wire netting. The floor is made of concrete placed six inches above the ground surface. The foundation also is made of con crete, 8 by 18 Inches. The partitions are built up two and one-half feet with solid boarding and a one inch mesh wire netting used the rest of the way. This laying costs at the rate of $1.25 per bird and allows four square feet for each bird. The two colony laying shed roof houses are each 10 by 12 feet and house thirty to thirty-five birds. The roosts, dropping board and broody coop are constructed on a similar plan as in laying house. These houses have curtain and window openings and doors in the front. Trap nests are used, which enable the poultryman to separate the laying hens from the non laying ones. The other colony houses consist of one cockerel house 9 by 9 feet, with a screen front and end; three colony houses 8 by 8 feet, used in summer and costing $25 to S3O. and one gasoline colony house 8 by 8 feet, used for 200 young chicks in spring and for hens in winter; also a house made of two piano boxes used for a brooder house for 150 young chicks and five coops used as brooders for 75 to 100 chicks. | FARMER AND BUSINESS MAN. | •2 Recently a proniinent business + £ man said that if merchants, man- 2 iufaeturcrs, bankers or other busi- 4 ness concerns did business as 2 carelessly as do the majority of * farmers there would be a panic 2 in .two days and ruin would stare * every man in the face. Every * merchant has the cost price and + A the selling price msfrked on ev- * * ery piece of poods and can tell T £ the amount of his profit or loss + T at a glance. He is not reproved T 2 for his book learning, and why J T should the farmer who attempts 4 4« to conserve his own business in- <f T terests be derided in that man- X ? ner? J Water Required For Crops. Various investigators' have found that it requires from about 400 to 1,000 pounds of water to produce a pound of dry matter of a farm crop. The water requirement increases with a higher temperature, a great amount of sun shine and a drier atmosphere. In the arid regions a moderately high tem perature, a cloudless sky and a dry atmosphere prevail. Consequently the wa l t?r requirements of plants natural ly tend to be higher for the same kinds of crops. It is concluded that about 750 pounds of water are required in the arid for the production of one pound of dry matter of common farm crops.—Colorado Agricultural Col lege. Not Too Much Fertilizer. Dr. G. S. Fraps, state chemist of Texafj, at the Texas experiment station at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, College Station, Tex., says: "Commercial fertilizers are good for young plants in hotbeds, especially ni trate of soda. However, great care should be taken not to use too n)uch, as too much will injure the soil and perhaps kill the plant. A friend of mine killed all of his mother-in-law's geraniums and other flowers by dosing them too heavily with fertilizer. Three Milkings Daily. According to some experiments noted by the department of agriculture, it was found that where cows were milk ed three times a day—morning, noon and evening—the milk was richer at noon and the poorest in the morning, and when mttked morning and evening the milk was slightly richer in the evening. Good For the Chickens. Meat meal, beef scrap, green bone, etc., are good for the fowls. A consid erable amount of protein will be need ed by the fowls, especially the laying hens and young chickens. When in sects are scarce give the fowls a meat ration occasionally. Prepare the Soil For Spring, Prepare to rotate crops and get the benefits that may be derived from a systematic rotation. Build up your "soil In plant food by a liberal'applica tion of,-fertilizers and tun? under green crops to supply humus. WINTER LANDSCAPES. Season Not One Without Color, a« the Common Doluiion. There is a curious delusion that win ter is a season without color. Once live this season out close to moun tains, forests, fields and stretches of cultivated valley, and you may dis cover such lovely colors and such odd combinations as you never dreamed, and even days of absolute prismatic dazzle, reducing summer by eomparir son to a tame green velvet, remarks a writer in Scribner's.' Winter, to be sure, has its moods of black and white, when pictures are reduced to their simple elements of line and chihro oscu ro. But even these are fascinating, its if nature were bent upon showing you that she Is not dependent on her color box for her charm. In early winter, when the snow is yet light, you may walk Up a back rond through the timber and note where a wagon has turned off up a log ging trail. The snow has melted in the wheel tracks, making two brown paths, where the dead leaves show through. Those tracks have all the rich irregularity of the lines in an etch ing. Presently you come upon a brook, following it into the woods. It runs through the white carpet, quite black, as if laid on with a free brush loaded with ink. There" is ice in the back wa ters, and that Is black too. The dark pines rise from its banks, straight, geometrical. Nature today is drawn, not painted, washed in'with black and white. j - LEE AS TEACHER. Manner of Reproof Peculiar to Con federate General. An interesting story is told in the New York Evening I'ost of the meth ods of reproof which were peculiar to Robert E. Lee after he became presi dent of Washington and Lee universi ty. .. A student was once called to account for absence. "Mr. M., I am glad to see yon better," Lee said to him, smil ing. "But, general, 1 have not been sick." "Then I am glad you have bet ter news from home." "But, general, I have had no bad news.". "Ah. I took it for granted that nothing less than sickness or distressing news from home could have kept you from your duty." In the same vein was, his remark to a student who had been late for prayers. "Mr. I'age, will you kindly give my compliments to Miss —and ask: her if she will please have breakfast a lit tle earlier for you?" To a negligent student he said: "How is your mother? 1 am sure-,you must be to her. You are so careful of the health of her son." His reply to a certain young sophomore watf in a different tone. Summoned to Lee's of fice. he was gently, admonished that only patience and industry would'save him from failure in college and in life. "But, general, you failed," the student replied with sophomore ineptitude. "1 hope that you may be more fortunate than I," was the quiet answer. A FEW CURES TO ROUT THE BLUES Proxy't First Name. Albert Tiedemann, a freshman of the University of Pennsylvania, was call ed upon to vote for oflieers In a recent gathering. Not being well acquainted with the nominees, he thoughtfully hesitated before tilling out his ballot. One of the company left the room with the explanation that he would "vote by. proxy." "So will I," said Albert, and with his pencil poised above his 'pa per he leaned over to a companion on his right and asked: "Say, what's Proxy's first name?"— Pittsburgh Dispatch. Looked Down Upon.. ;i v . ■ 1 I - . r* 1 One fcr the Other. ."What's the trouble, wife?" "No trouble whatever."' "Yes, there Is. What are you woyy ing about now—something that hap pened at home or something that hap pened in a novel?"— Louisville (Courier- Journal. ' ' ——————— ' > Stranger*. "Have you met your wi£e jotely ?", I asked Lord de Vere. He yawned, ayd.. tried hard to remember. , - - ti "I haven't,". hs; .s#id, vbiifr, s6cte|tJk notes declare she'll bi hgipfe fp Febru- : When the Letter Carrier, I Gave Assistance to' Cupid | : By HENRY S. SCOyT J MIEUE was a girl on my route," I said the postman, "to wliom I delivered letters from the time she was just old enough to read. them. It may seem strange to you, but whenever I had a letter for her it was the pleasure of the day for me. There's no happiness equal to giv ing happiness to another, and when ever my little girl received a letter the Jqy that lit up her childish face was reflected in niirie.'' "When she was about seventeen there, came a new interest for her in her let ters. One morning when 1 was sorting the mail for my route I saw a letter tlie superscription of which indicated that it was not from a girl friehd. It was written in a clerical band, evi dently by a young man whose chirog raphy had not- become set. My little girl was waiting for me at the gate, and I knew that her eyes were upon me while I was yet far down the street. Before 1 reached her they were big with expectancy. While 1 had still two stops to make before coming to her I held up her letter, but I was too far for her to see the superscription, and she was only partly reassured. When she Saw the youthful writing ornamented with pen flourishes a gladness spread itself over her features that made my heart 'correspondingly joyful. "Every day for weeks I gave her a letter addressed in the same hand. Then I noticed by the postmark tl>:it the writer was going from place tp place -and the letters were less fre quent. This made the girl more anx ious to get theiu, and, as soon as 1 tiirned a certain corner far down the street and saw her watching at the gate, when 1 had no letter for her t would raise an empty hand, but when I had one 1 would wave it aloft. "The letters were coming again daily when suddenly they stopped Every day that I passed my little girl with out one for her she grew more anx ious. and when a week had gone by arid I was obliged to pass the worried pale face at the gate without bringing comfort I felt as a doctor must feel who can give a patient no relief. "One day I had a letter for. her ad dressed in the usual hand. I was mightily pleased and watched her face eagerly when 1 delivered it. She tore it open and ran It over eagerly. I had no right fo delay, but I did, wishing to know if the news was good or bad. I saw her turn red, and. crumpling the letter spasmodically, she ran into the house. "That was the last of her waiting at the gate for letters, • "Several .years passed, during which I delivered my little girl no love letters. Of tliis I was sure,-for of all she re ceived few were in ■> masculine -hand, and such.came only at intervals. Then His Request Granted. 1 "Oh,-let me drink of thine eyes! Oh, let me drink! Oh, let me drink"— . "brink,, theju, amj sliliit utf!"—Life. y to Crank Up. n equipments for your p.rJ .- •. *, . , " .(Jropn—Yes; an extra tire, nfi n'lla*. aa'afibi enough. cash biiit.—Har per's Bazar. *" one day while sorting my mail for de- j livery I came across one on which the handwriting seemed familiar. Then I 1 recognized it as that of the youthful correspondent, only now It had become a man's llxed hand. I handed it in at the house to a maid with other mail, so I didn't see the recipient when she opened it. At the next delivery my lit tle girl appeared at the door and hand ed me the letter I had delivered un opened and readdressed, .evidently to the sender. "Do you know J just couldn't semi that letter back? I should have beem 'fired,' I know, but I would have rather lost my posjtion than let that little girl blight her life. If she had beetl doing it for any reason except 'mad' 'she would either not have'-replied at all or by letter. 'Mad' it was, I was sure, and 1 "believed that if the fellow got his letter back in that way the matter would be ended forever. •At the post office 1 shoved the letter into a box marked 'MiSsent,' put a-bit Of paper in an envelope on which 1 wrote, 'Never give tip the sblp," and sent it instead, disguising my hand and not signing what I hriU written. "lii about a' week another letter came for the girl from the lover. I handed it in, not seeing the recipient. Aftei that 1 delivered several letters at in tervals of five or six days, and I knew, the correspondence was on again. In a few weeks more when I whistled at the house of my little girl she opened the door herself and snatched her let ter with some of iter old eagerness. "It was about three months after this that 1 was tipped to carry a big bundle'of wedding cards to the post office*! They were given me by the girl herself." I braced tip and'made bold to say to her: " 'l've delivered letters to you for years, rtnd you know how much inter ested I've been in you. Won't you tell me what came between you and your lovetr •• '"■■■: W , " 'You've been very lovely to me ever sliice I was a <4iild, so I'm go.ing to tell you. It was all his fault. In one of his letters he spoke of my,beautiful gray eyes. My eyes, art} bWe« That started it, and it went tin till'lie wroti L horrid things to ine.*" "Whet? they were about toi be mat' ried I delivered letters to-trie joun;; man at her house.l gave hjui-irie on i she had sent back and I hatnjpftppec . He looked at It, then at me with air tonishinent. "■ "'lf 1 had gb't that letter,' he gait , 'she would never have got another oii > from me.' \ "Taking a ten dollar riill' from hi i pocket, he handed it tp nig. But went on without it-.' "There are Some things a postuia i can't be paid for."l £aught With the Goods. Mrs. Newlywed (weepihg)f— Henry, [ am sure I have grounds'for a'dlvorc . I am poslttive that you hafe deceive i me! i Mr. Newly wed—What in"the worl 1 do .you mean? What have'l done Ij arouse such a foolish suspicion? Mrs. Newlywed (weeping harder)- I —saw . a memorandum In your pock* t tljis morning to—to buy' s'orue new ril i bons for your typewriter!— Westerner The After Dinner Speech. How you feel jnst before-you're cjtll- upon. l i" v ■ ; "/• Protection~~Atj4'rflst His Friends.. , A Why do j\ju'want'tMe-fai-'tartlint you have inherited all -thi* money kept ,9 stcret'/" ftsfced-tlre hiw-yer.' "•".liisf t&" save'myself -the tremble,.of,. Vethsing " to' invest.'«it in -the fool scfienies thfrt'ihy friends-will propose If they Wiiofl- I he replied.— f>etrofP Vree'l'tess. - «> «. 1 ( • ' • '■ 1 ' Poor' Husband. ■ '/ .. '"lfy'd J?tffir*^ist*r t, -'mnrry n 'Mclf Ws boni?" ■'*" '<¥' •••' ' ''•/«*■ -r H '' "■'Ws'tt rteh BJan. » band."* • >*• 100 MILE AN HOUR AEROS. Walter Brookins Says THay Will Be a Real ft Jr-This Year. «. .. , Aeroplanes for..this season, accord ing: to Walter Brookins, will be able to make from ninety io JOO miles an. hour. lie predicts; that they.vtiH b® able to make long voyages over seas, to alight in the ocean, start again from the water,.and "trim' sail"'afloat in the air. "I can tell now what, caused me to. h'tfve that bad sinashup at Belmont park," said Brookins, in telling of the outlook for aeroplnes as he sees it. "It was the same kind of a sm'ashup that automobiles used to have fifteen years ago or sol In those days there was only one speed, and a car leaped away at top spfced,... and stopped abruptly. That gave the automobile makers their chief,problem: Today we. of the nir ganid are just where the automobilists were then. Wb have got to get speed control. "We can fly fast enough to keep up, but not slow enough to make §afe landing. If we should'fly slow, enough to land safely we would simply drop,, and that we im'ist bverc'ome. At' 1 Bel mont park I had very little wing space ■ on the baby Wright racer and a big engine. Flying was fine, but alighting —well, I had to hit the earth at a higher speed than it could be done, "Now, this is the way out, aiid ex periments are going to demonstrate it. An aeroplane to get off the ground needs lots of wing space. It, also needs wing space to alight on. After it gets up, and gets to going it can.- move i.long,on materially smaller wings. "We are coming, to adjustable wing areas and adjustable angles of inci dence for our planes. The sharper the angle.the more the upward thrust as tlie plane leaves the ground. After it is up and strikes -a •CEiiising. .level the angle ought to be lessened and the sail area—that's the hcst term for it ought to be reefed in. "If we could got that matter solved we'd have aeroplanes whose speed we could control. We need aeroplanes that can stay aloft at twenty miles an hour and under, and if we get them in a | condition to do that and then can reef ! in the sail spread after we get up we I can send them to 100 miles an hour on i the present engine development. A sin ' gle aeroplane capable of running at twenty and llien at'lOO miles an hour— howj-vould that be for a development? Wouldn't it make thtj auUimob'Ue'look sick" ODD SCHEMES TO SAVE. A Few Interesting Methods, Results of I Are Surprising. 1 The conversation had drifted around jo the question of saving money as p gainst making it, and the receiving teller in the savings department of fine "of DetroltAs best banks, .wh'o htfd tbeen ag'-interested:listener, coined in the discussion^ De troit Free Press.. 4 ' . .'. ' "Th'e methods employed - by many 'people iu swelling their savings ac counts are very interesting," remarked the teller. "A business man in Ik'iroit was left in possession of some H&ansfcwhen his father died, and lie : kept that tdofley working with good re sults. "He has ambitions, however, and when a daughter came to <gl;»dden-the ■household he decided that* some day this young lady would ll:u'(? tlie;fin'ish- I ing tooehes to her education put' on abroad. ' * "Here way his plan. Every nickel and penny he received,in change went down into a--pocket that was never touched save to remove -therefrom:the accumulation of coins' and transfer them to a small bank kept \at the house. Thi&i'n turn w;TS Emptied'and the contents deposited in the bank to the credit of the Hiild. ';!t must be all of eight years ago. that jthis plan was put into effect and with the same thor oughness that marks him in other lines lie sticks t<t thefresolution. "One man 1 know is particularly fond of'having his wife take luncheon with hitn. Tliis an aver age twice a wee"k,.. Imniediately aft erward he Muscles to tlip'bank and de posits an amount equal t to the cost of the luncheon, and they don't eat fifteen cent meols either. .. « v ... "Pfenty of fellows duplicate the price of every luxury and-deposit the pro ceeds to the ctedit of their savings ac count. It is not a bad idea either, and it is surprising' how rapidly the hioney counts up." When Women Were Knighted. It.-is..not at all well known that knighthood has constantly been con ferred upon women. . Many English la dles- teceived'the accolade, and many m'dre were- such-knightly orcijers. as the 'Garter find St.-John. When Mai:y £ Choimoildeley, "the bold laily of Cheshire," was knighted by Elizabeth for "her valiant add«*»s" on the queen taKihg'Tlie command at the threatened did she "kho\V rl*it a "whole olty of Spa.ni.sh wo tneiV, -the- galhuit women of Tortosa, foE.saving tliat city from tire Moors* Mary aud Elieabeth had' bfltlf titvVn knighted at their coro nation, bnt Tsy Hie>itirtie Anne, the sec ond MtoT'-and: VietoriiL ascended the throne it lia<} l>eeu ipiite forgotten that | according to,' English law and use n WopQflh ,wl(o .tilled" a man's olliee ac quired all its privileges and-' w'ae lui from none of its duties: „•.« . Worts of Yore.' " ytwrpasP f'watched'the work ers'On thfe Sue* canal: them were girls, digging up the sand with .their baftr 'scooping it into the : njdlu&TVJ l\*ftd»;. throwing It Into faisßSft eaV# bad. woven for her selll2? ffie"fJo.ftd/ o'fc'twenty to "MlVtwt dp -the-bank and Vliiinlifng ff.'-"t>U}iiiteeslug'• Magazine.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers