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Titles included in this collection are listed in the volumes published by the Cornell University Press in the series THE LITERATURE OF THE AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, 1991-1995, Wallace C. Olsen, series editor. ames E Rice MEMORIAL POULTRY LIBRARY CORNELL — > uaversity (>= pre THE GIFT OF M4. i, Faprn eter. ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY NEW YORK STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HoME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING After Wheeles, @ Tongue 3 upper bill removed ec 2 e omacks Lt A Small intestine z k m o P r s The digestive tract of a fowl, POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING HARRY M. LAMON FORMERLY SENIOR POULTRYMAN, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND ALFRED R. LEE, POULTRYMAN IN CHARGE, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LIMITED 1922 Mme 4 22a. By 4a OPYRIGHT, 1922, BY ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY All Rights Reserved PRINTED IN U. S. A. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PLACE AND IMPORTANCE OF PoULTRY IN AGRICULTURE . PART I. PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY CHAPTER I CoMPosITION oF PLANTS SS AS aS eS) How plants make food—Production of carbohydrates and vegetable fats—Production of nitrogenous and mineral compounds. Factors influencing the nutritive value of feeds CHAPTER II COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE FowL AND oF Eccs Composition of a fowl and of eggs—Table 1. Composi- tion of poultry and eggs—Parts taken by mineral salts— Anatomy of the fowl—Digestion and assimilation of food—Structure of the egg CHAPTER III EconomicaL Propuction oF Eccs AND oF Pouttry FLEsH. Relative production of animal food by animals and fowls —Place and importance of poultry farms—Meat versus egg production on poultry farms—The soft roaster in- dustry—Duck farming—Commercial poultry fattening— Dressed weights of poultry CHAPTER IV FEEDING STANDARDS AND THE ErFecT oF DIFFERENT NUTRIENTS Measuring feed values for animals—How feeds are analyzed—Difference in value and in use of feed nutrients —Products essential to life and growth—Sources of these essential products—Feeding standards for fowls—Nutri- tive ratios—Example of nutritive ratio—Feed require- ments of chicks and mature fowls—Feed requirements of chickens per day for each 100 pounds of live weight 5 PAGE iI 17 23 30 40 CONTENTS PART II. DESCRIPTION OF FEED STUFFS CHAPTER V CEREALS AND THEIR By-Propucrs Usep 1N Pouttry FEEDING 51 Indian corn and its by-products—Wheat and its by- products—Oats and their by-products—Barley and brew- ers’ grains—Rye—Emmer—Sorghums and millets—Buck- wheat CHAPTER VI SEEDS AND VEGETABLE ProTtEIN FEEDS . . 69 Canada field pea—Use of peas in pigeon teete—Soy beats and soy bean meal—Cowpeas and beans—Peanuts and peanut meal—Cocoanut meal—Cottonseed meal—Flax seed and linseed meal—Hemp seed—Rice CHAPTER VII ANIMAL ProtreInN, MILK AND MISCELLANEOUS Freps .. &2 Packing house by-products—Fresh meat and bone Tiay meal—Milk—Driced milk—Semi-solid and condensed but- termilk—Beet pulp—Molasses—Dried distillers’ grains— Acorns—Condimental or stock feeds—Mineral feeds CHAPTER VIII GREEN AND SUCCULENT FEEDS .. so. « OF Green feeds—Grasses—Legumes for ‘pee and for hay —Roots and tubers—Miscellaneous green and succulent feeds—Rape—Kale—Soilage of crops—Sprouted grains —Yeast—Poisonous plants—Preparation of feeds PART III. PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY CHAPTER IX MetnHop or Feepinc Layinc Hens . . . . . . m7 Relative value of moist and dry mashes—Scratch feeds— Commercial mixed feeds—Green feeds—Forage crops— Sprouted oats—Cabbages and mange! beets—Clover and alfalfa—Oyster shells—Grit—Charcoal—Water—Quan- tity of grain to feed—Proportion of grain and mash— Quality of feed—Feeding the general farm flock—Feed- ing the backyard flock 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER X Ecc Layinc Rations Selection of a ration—Balanced rations—The “nutritive ratio—Value of animal protein feeds—Vegetable protein feeds—Commercial scratch mixtures and mashes—Effect of feed on quality of eggs CHAPTER XI FEEDING AND FATTENING CHICKENS. Feeding baby chicks—Feed for growing chickens—Fatten- ing poultry for market—Best chickens to fatten— Method of pen fattening—Crate fattening—Fattening hens—Fattening rations—Feather picking—Length of fattening period—Cramming poultry—Best time to mar- ket poultry—Selling hens alive—Shrinkage in dress- ing poultry—Feeding and shipping live poultry CHAPTER XII MANAGEMENT oF LayinG Stock... Value of early hatching—Exercise—Use _ of artificial lights—Kind of light to use—Forcing the molt and feed- ing during the summer—Culling and selection of stock— Difference in methods of feeding hens and pullets—Man- agement of breeding stock and male birds—Management of broody hens CHAPTER XIII Feepinc Ducxs, Gress, Turkeys, PicEoNs AND CAPons . The feeding of ducks—Feeding ducklings—Feeding breed- ing and laying ducks—Feeding geese—Feeding the gos- lings—Preparing for market—Noodling geese—Feeding turkeys—Feeding turkey poults—Fattening turkeys— Feeding pigeons—Feeding squab breeders—Composition of pigeon feedstuffs—Feeding flying pigeons—Feeding capons CHAPTER XIV Prorit AND Economy IN Pouttry FEEDING Feed cost of producing eggs—Feed consumed per dozen eggs at Government poultry-farm and at egg-laying contests—Monthly record of total feed consumed per dozen eggs and egg yield per hen at the Government farm —Feed cost of growing chickens—Feed required to grow chickens—Nornial weight of growing chickens—Labor cost of producing eggs—Growing crops on poultry farms—Care of yards and ranges—Oat sprouters—Labor- saving devices APPENDIX . Table I-Egg Laying Rations; Table II—-Composition and Digestible Nutrients of Poultry Feeds 7 146 156 182 104 214 236 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS All illustrations are by the courtesy of the Bureau of Animal Indus- try, United States Department of Agriculture. Frontispiece. The digestive tract of a fowl Fig. 1. Anatomy of the fowl. . . . . . : 26 Fig. 2. Feeds making a balanced ration. . . . . 42 Fig. 3. Average feed consumption of ahen . . . . 43 Fig. 4. Mangel beets prepared for feeding . . «106 Fig. 5. Growing green feed in the poultry yard. . . . 107 Fig. 6. Feeding garbage. . ba ow Tig? Fig. 7. Egg yolks affected by eattorseed feeding > oo» « 143 Fig. 8 Plan of a fattening battery . . . . . . 165 Fig. 9. Milk fattening of chickens . . . . . . 166 Fig. 10. Interior poultry grading room. - . 167 Fig. 11. Feeding chickens with a cramming machine so fe “A Fig. 12. Live poultry shipping cars . . . 2 « 375 Fig. 13. Use of artificial lights . . 184 Fig. 14. Feeding scratch grains ee 85 Fig. 15. Large flock of geese on fateening faen - . . 200 Fig. 16. Feeding young ducks. . . . . . . 201 Fig. 17. Open oats sprouter . . . . . ee! 2228 Fig. 18 Enclosed oats sprouter . . . . . . . 229 Fig. 19. Simple box style hopper . . . . . . . 230 Fig. 20. Labor saving devices . be Ae Se ase i, TT Fig. 21. Wall type dry mash feed hopper 2% & (3. “233 Fig. 22. Out-door feed hopper 4 ss: . 233 Fig. 23. Another style of out-door feed Fispiied : . 0. 234 PREFACE “Poultry Feeds and Feeding” is designed to meet the needs of both poultry keepers and students by furnishing detailed information on all feeds and methods of feeding used with poultry. Grains, rations and methods of feed- ing used in every section of the United States are taken up and discussed to make this book of value in all sections. Part I is devoted to the principles of feeding, explains which elements have been found essential in feeding poul- try and tells why certain combinations are made. This part of the book is of special value to the student of poul- try but the authors have tried to present this in a plain style which can be grasped by every intelligent poultry keeper and the subject is worthy of careful considera- tion by all progressive poultry feeders. Every grain or feed-stuff used for poultry is discussed in Part II and references are given to experiments conducted in the feeding of poultry. The information in this section on the comparative feeding value of the dif- ferent grains is of considerable importance to all poultry keepers in order to help them make an intelligent selection of feeds and to adapt their rations to prices and available supplies of feeds, which are constantly changing. The student will also find the references to experiments in feeding poultry and also the material in the Appendix of this book of great value. 9 PREFACE Part III is devoted to the practical feeding of poultry and tells how to feed poultry, and is the part of greatest importance to everyone who keeps any chickens. The readers who do not care to study into the purpose of feed- ing or to learn why certain things are done can turn di- rect to this part of the book and select a ration which will give them good results and secure information on feeding which is of immediate practical application. Successful rations are given which are in actual use in different sec- tions of the country. Rations for every class of poultry keepers are included: for the farmers with whom poultry is a side issue, for the suburban or city family who have only enough available space to keep a few fowls and for the poultryman who keeps chickens on a large scale. Complete information and rations on the commercial fattening of poultry as it is conducted in the poultry fat- tening stations are also included. The authors have endeavored to supply a book on poul- try feeding that will do for poultrymen and poultry stu- dents what the well-known book on “Feeds and Feeding” by Henry and Morrison has so successfully done for stockmen and students of livestock. The object through- out this book has been to present all the scientific and practical facts relating to poultry feeding in so simple a manner that anyone can understand and readily use them in his own feeding problems. ALFRED R. LEE Harry M. Lamon. Washington, D. C., 1922 10 INTRODUCTION PLACE AND IMPORTANCE OF POULTRY IN AGRICULTURE Poultry occupies a more important place in the life and nourishment of the American people than any one kind of livestock. The keeping of poultry is not confined to extensive ranches or even to farms, but is adapted to all sorts of conditions, ranging from the small flock of hens kept in a backyard or a city lot with only a few square feet of available land, through varying sizes of flocks kept on practically all of the general farms in all sections of the United States, to large poultry farms, each keeping from 500 to 10,000 or more hens. It provides pleasure, profit and the opportunity to get absolutely fresh table products at all seasons of the year, to every class of people. THE VALUE OF POULTRY PRODUCTION The estimated value of poultry products in the United States exceeds a billion dollars and the industry is steadily growing. The population of the United States increased about 21 per cent during the census period of 1900 to 1910 while the products from most lines of livestock were actually decreasing. Poultry products, however, increased materially during that time, fowls showing an increase in numbers of 17 per cent while their value increased 48 per cent. During this period eggs increased in numbers i INTRODUCTION 23 per cent and in value 112 per cent. In other words, poultry and eggs are steadily occupying a more important place in the diet of the American people as the amount of poultry products either imported or exported is not large. The place which poultry products occupy in our diet com- bined with the growing population of this country and its constantly increasing demand for food products guar- antees a steady demand at good prices for future poultry and egg production and allows for a healthy growth of the poultry industry and continued steady expansion of poultry farms. Quality in poultry products is being ap- preciated and paid for more and more especially in the value of strictly fresh eggs. The importance and value of eggs for human consumption have been greatly empha- sized in recent experiments in which a soluble fat abso- lutely essential to human life and growth has been found in eggs, milk and certain glandular organs of animals. The large poultry farms cannot compete in cost of pro- duction with the general farmer who keeps poultry as a side issue but they can get a much higher price for their eggs by supplying eggs to the consumer while they are strictly fresh and in prime condition. It is this difference in price obtained for strictly fresh eggs above the price of average receipts which gives the commercial egg farmer a sound practical basis on which to operate successfully. There is not the same relative profit in the production of high grade fresh poultry on the commercial poultry farm as poultry can also be produced more cheaply on the gen- eral farm from which it goes to the poultry packing sta- 12 INTRODUCTION tions and is fattened, held in storage for any reasonable length of time, and then sold at nearly the same price as fresh killed poultry products will command. POULTRY RAISING IS PROFITABLE The bulk of the poultry is produced, and the greatest opportunity for profit exists, on general farms especially in the Central West section. The leading states given in the order of their value of poultry products is as follows: Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Kansas, Texas, Michigan and California. Poultry is kept in good sized flocks on most every farm in these states, these flocks containing from 25 to 200 hens. The states of California, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania contain also a considerable number of good sized commercial poultry farms which aid materially in bringing up the value of the poultry products in these states. Nearly every general farm could carry 100 hens profitably, while on many farms where some member of the family likes poultry, a much larger number of fowls than this can be kept profitably. Poultry kept on farms can be fed to some extent on unmarketable grains and will secure a considerable part of their living during the growing season from products which would otherwise be largely wasted. Better feeding and management of the hens and care in handling the poultry products would give a greater increase of profit from the farm flock than from most any other branch of poultry raising. Although the bulk of the poultry products will always come from the 13 INTRODUCTION flocks kept on general farms where the range is unlimited, good opportunities to keep poultry profitably exists for families which have only a small amount of available space. These families can keep fowls profitably for their own use and in addition sell any surplus products in their immediate vicinity at the highest retail price. Garbage or table scraps or waste products from the garden will materially aid in keeping down the cost of feeding hens kept under these conditions. Most of the farms devoted entirely to poultry are lo- cated in the northeastern section of this country within easy shipping distance of the large cities and in central or southern California. Enough eggs are produced in Cali- fornia so that during the past few years a considerable number of carloads of eggs have been shipped to New York City during the winter. The constant and growing demand for a high quality of fresh eggs has made it pos- sible to operate these poultry farms at a good profit al- though not over 10 per cent of the poultry and eggs pro- duced in this country come from such farms. The most essential factor in the location of these commercial farms is nearness to a good market where goods of high quality are appreciated and paid for. The soil, climate and other factors must be considered but are really secondary in im- portance, 14 PART I PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING bonates, nitrates, chlorides and silicates. Phosphates are present in the leaf cells and in the proteins of seeds and sulphur is found in plant proteins. PRODUCTION OF CARBOHYDRATES AND VEGETABLE FATS The carbohydrates consisting of carbon and water is the term used to cover all the starches and sugars including the celluloses and pentosans. Chlorophyll which gives the green color to plants, assisted by light and sunshine, trans- forms carbon dioxid and water into compounds resulting in the formation of these starches, sugars and mineral matter, all of which represent stored up energy. Carbohydrates constitute the bulk of all the dry matter of plants. The sugars are soluble in the plant juices and pass freely to all parts of the plant while starch is not directly soluble in plant juices but is stored up in the dif- ferent parts of seeds and roots. Starch is subject to change by a ferment or enzyme called diastase which works with water and changes the starch to sugar, in which condition it can be passed freely throughout the plant structure. The walls of the cell constituting the framework of the plant are made of cellulose with which is also found some mineral matter or ash. The pentosans are found with the cellulose in the more fibrous or woody parts of the plants and make up a considerable part of the roughages and feeds containing a high per cent of fiber. Vegetable fats and oils which are stored especially in the seeds of certain plants are made of these same elements as the carbohy- i8 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY drates but with a larger proportion of carbon and a larger number of atoms in the compounds. They give off more heat or energy than the carbohydrates on account of their greater carbon content. PRODUCTION OF NITROGENOUS AND MINERAL COMPOUNDS The carbohydrates and fats are combined in the plant with nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus, elements obtained from the nitrates and mineral salts in the soil, to form more complex compounds called crude proteins. Crude proteins consists of two general groups—proteins and amids, and include all nitrogenous compounds of the plants. There is approximately 16 per cent of nitrogen in crude protein. The amids are the simpler forms of crude proteins from which the more complex proteins are constructed. They are soluble in plant juices and circu- late freely throughout the plant. Our knowledge of the proteins is still in the experimental stage but we do know that they are very complex and many consist of a large number of different combinations. Recent feeding ex- periments with rats, guinea pigs and rabbits tend to show very great differences in the feeding value of the different proteins while some of the proteins have been found far more essential to life than others. The proteins and amids may be changed one to the other, the same as starches and sugars are changed, according to the needs of the plants. Crude protein is found mostly in the leaves, seeds and 19 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING reproductive parts of the plants and very little of this material is contained in the plant fiber. All changes in the plant depend primarily upon their nitrogenous or protein compounds. Mineral matter or ash is also neces- sary in this changing of food materials and in the growth of young plants. It is found especially in the leaves and fibrous parts of the plants. Thus plants which furnish the feed for animals, form these compounds from the earth and air through the energy of the sun, and supply animals with the sun’s heat and energy through plant life. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FEEDS The value of feeds is somewhat affected by the climatic and soil conditions and also by the preparation of the feed. Feeds produced in different sections of this country show somewhat different analyses while the value of roughages and green crops are especially influenced by their stage of maturity. The crude protein content of cereals is quite variable in different sections as is also the fat and fiber content while the nitrogen free extract is less variable than these other constituents. Because of this variation it is advisable whenever possible to know the analysis of grains and feeds as it effects their feeding and purchase value. In general, grinding, cracking and rolling of grains does not increase their digestibility except in the case of very hard feeds which would otherwise pass through the body in a whole form. Fowls are provided with a very 20 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY powerful grinding organism (the gizzard) and can utilize most hard grains very efficiently. Their digestive organs need some hard grains to keep them in the best of condi- tion. Roughage and fiber are not utilized nearly as effi- ciently by poultry as by most livestock for which reason sprouting, soaking and steaming of grains and roughages may be especially advantageous for poultry. Fermenting is not considered advantageous in poultry feeding as it shows no marked advantage over soaking or sprouting and may furnish ideal conditions for the growth of un- desirable and harmful organisms in the feed. The sprout- ing of grains, especially of oats, and to a less extent of barley, is carried on extensively to supply palatable green matter for fowls. Some poultrymen soak all oats and barley before feeding but the usual method is to feed all of these grains without soaking or sprouting. Exceptionally hard grains, such as the ordinary field or pea bean used for human consumption, should be soaked before feed- ing. The steaming of clover and alfalfa hay renders these substances much more palatable for fowls but if these feeds are used in a finely ground form it does not pay to steam them. In general it probably pays to steam, sprout or soak grains or feeds of which the palatability for fowls is materially improved. Chickens to be fat- tened for a brief period can be fed to advantage entirely on very finely ground grains on which they will make greater gains than from feed which is more coarsely ground or that is in a whole or cracked condition. Cooking usually 2I POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING lowers the digestibility of feeds except of potatoes and other starchy tubers, but may improve their palatability. These are the only feeds used by poultry which it pays to cook. The use of salt and the addition of lactic acid (the chief acid of milk) does not directly improve di- gestibility but has a beneficial effect on the fowls’ appetite and may stimulate greater consumption of feed. 22 CHAPTER II COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE FOWL AND OF EGGS Composition of a Fowl and of Eggs. Animals and poultry are composed of water, protein, fat and mineral matter which elements also make up plants, but protein and fat make up most of the animal body. The amount of carbohydrates present in animals is very small, while they make up most of the dry matter in plant life as plants contain only a small amount of protein. The average analysis of fowl and eggs is as follows according to analyses made at the New York Experiment Station and by the U. S. Department of Agriculture: TABLE | Composition of Poultry and Eggs Water | Protein Fat Ash Shell Leghorn Hen ........ 55.8 21.6 17.0 3.8 Leghorn Pullet ...... 55.4 21.2 18.0 3.4 Mature Capon ....... 41.6 19.4 37.9 37 fer Total Egg (with shell) | 65.7 11.4 89 0.8 11.4 Eggs (dry matter aside from shell.......... wae 49.8 38.6 3.5 Egg Yolk ........... 49.5 15.7 33.3 LI Egg Albumen ........ 86.2 12.3 0.2 0.6 Dry Matter of Fowls’ Body seccseasee cans wslels 48.9 38.5 8.9 Dry Matter of Entire Egg with Shell..... re 33.3 20.5 35.6 23 « POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING The ash of the egg aside from the shell, contains 53.7 per cent of phosphoric acid. The analysis of the dry mat- ter of the egg, aside from the shell, is very similar to the dry matter of the fowl. The difference in analysis be- tween the capon and the hen is largely due to the larger per cent of fat inthe capon. The high per cent of protein in both poultry and in eggs shows the necessity for sup- plying protein in a considerably greater quantity than is furnished by plants. Protein is found throughout the body in the blood, muscles, connective tissues, etc. Fats are found in fowls as body fat, in the bones and in eggs. The same ash materials found in animals are also present in plants. PARTS TAKEN BY MINERAL SALTS The mineral salts in addition to building up bone struc- ture, play an important part in connection with the diges- tive acids and changes in the nutrients. Sodium and chlorine are absolutely essential to animal life as the gastric juice in the body contains free hydrochloric acid. Common salt (chemically one part sodium to two parts chlorine) supplies this sodium and chlorine and its use improves the appetite and increases the flow of digestive juices. Lime and phosphoric acid are the two minerals present in the greatest amount in the body as they make up the skeleton and constitute about 80 per cent of the mineral matter. Over 35 per cent of the dry matter in eggs (shells included) is ash or mineral matter while 10 per cent of the body of the fowl is mineral matter con- 24 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY sisting largely of phosphate of lime. Potassium and iron are two other essential mineral elements, the former being found especially in the cell walls, muscles, and blood, and the latter in the red coloring matter of the blood. The feeding tests which have been tried with animals usually show sufficient minerals in their normal feed, but animals are fed largely on forage crops and all such plants containing a considerable amount of minerals. Many poultry, especially those kept confined, are fed more largely on grain with a very limited amount of green or forage crops, and therefore the relative importance of sup- plying mineral matter is much greater with poultry than with animals. Common salt (sodium chloride), ground bone (phosphate of lime), oyster shell (carbonate of lime), are the mineral matters commonly supplied directly to the fowls. Milk, meat scrap containing bone, and green feeds all contain considerable mineral matter and are ex- cellent constituents of a poultry ration. ANATOMY OF THE FOWL The digestive process of poultry is rather similar to that of animals with some minor exceptions. Fowls have a beak but no teeth, so have to swallow grains whole, but can tear some kinds of feeds into fragments. The esophagus or gullet is large and can be greatly expanded. Fowls have a distinct reservoir or crop attached to and acting as a part of the esophagus while ducks and geese have no distinct crop but are provided with a dilated sec- tion of the esophagus. The food passes directly into the 25 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING crop in fowls where it is temporarily retained and softened with water and a very small amount of saliva. The sali- vary glands of poultry are very small and are thought not 1, Skall. 10. Ulna. 18. Ischiam. 2. Eye cavity. 1. Radius. 19. Pygostyle. 3. Nasal cavity. 12. Humerus. 20. Femur bone.’ (bone. 4. Upper dibl 13. Backb 21, Sternum or breast- 6. Lower mandible. 14. Ribs. 22. Tibia. 6. Vortebra of the neck. 15. Scapula. 23. Terso-metarsus. 7. Digit. 10, Clavicles (memy- 24. Spur. B, Bones of hand. thought). 25. Back toe. O» Digit. 17. Acetabulum. 26. Toes. Fic. 1. ANATOMY oF THE FowL 26 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY to have any very important influence in the digestion of food. The crop in pigeons of both sexes is divided into two parts and secretes a milky fluid for a few days after their young are hatched which is used to feed their squabs. DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION OF FOOD The food passes from the crop into the preventriculus or true stomach where it is acted upon by a gastric or stomach juice. Gastric juice is an acid fluid which con- tains enzymes and acids. The chief ferment of gastric juice is pepsin which in the presence of acids changes the protein into soluble nutrients. Thence the food goes into the gizzard which is a powerful grinding organ. This has a strong, rough lining in which the food is finely ground by the action of small pieces of sharp sand or gravel called grit. The small intestines continue the digestive system from the gizzard and are looped around an elongated gland called the pancreas. Next comes the liver and the bile, the former being quite a large organ. The pancreas secretes juices which are essential digestive fluids and these act upon the protein, fats and carbohydrates, reduc- ing them to simpler food forms. The liver has very im- portant functions in regulating and assisting the digestive processes by acting as a regulator on the carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are stored up temporarily in the form of glycogen through the action of the liver and supplied to the system when needed for nourishment. The food 27 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING after being digested, changed and regulated by these various organs, passes into the blood directly from the in- testines and is circulated and used to repair waste and rebuild tissue throughout the body. These blood veins cover the intestines and thus draw their nourishment di- rectly from the intestines. The nitrogen is probably ex- creted almost entirely through the kidneys as urine. Water is given off both through the urine and through the lungs. Carbon is eliminated largely by oxidation in the lungs as carbon dioxide. The droppings consist of indi- gestible food nutrients which pass out through the body. The bile is a secretion of the liver which does not contain any ferments or have any direct digestive action, but co- operates with the pancreatic juices in the digestion of food by providing the proper medium and necessary conditions. STRUCTURE OF THE EGG An egg consists of about 57 per cent albumen, 33 per cent yolk, and 10 per cent shell. The yolk is supported near the center of the egg in dense albumen which is sur- rounded by a layer of finer or more liquid albumen. All of this is enclosed in two thin membranes commonly re- ferred to as the skin of the egg which lie directly under the egg shell. These membranes separate at the large end of the egg and form a small air cell, which increases in size with the age of the egg. The egg shell is a hard substance consisting largely of lime. The size of the eggs from different breeds and from different strains of the same breed varies considerably. It is not influenced by 28 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY the feed unless an abnormal ration is used, but is de- pendent entirely on the individual and its breeding. The average hen’s egg weighs 2 ounces, making a dozen eggs weigh 1%4 pounds. In size the egg is about 2.27 inches long and 1.72 inches in diameter at the widest point. The first eggs laid by pullets are under the normal size, but the size increases materially during the first few weeks of laying. Yearlings and older hens lay slightly larger eggs than do pullets. Eggs laid in the spring are slightly heavier than eggs produced at any other season of the year. 29 CHAPTER III ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION OF EGGS AND OF POULTRY FLESH Poultry ranks high as an economical producer of food for human consumption, both in the production of eggs and of poultry flesh, being next to hogs, far better than either sheep or beef cattle but not as good as dairy cows. Poultry produce flesh and edible solids much more eco- nomically than sheep or steers but not as economically as the pig, partly because of the lard produced by the pig. Eggs are produced as economically as cheese and consid- erably more so than butter. The following table gives the amount of animal food produced by farm animals and poultry from 100 Ibs. of digestible matter consumed: Tas_e II Relative Production of Animal Food by Animals and Fouls Marketable Edible Animal Product Solids Cow (HIIK). cc cs nas caecscrimaaiis oa BROS 139.0 18.0 Pig (dressed) ......-.-2--.see eee e eee 25.0 15.6 Poultry (eggs from Leghorn pullets)... 41.2 9.6 Cow: (cheese): 4.2 swesseecson sage eves sees 14.8 9.4 Poultry (dressed) ............c eee ee ees 28.1 9.3 Poultry (eggs from general purpose pul- lets) i ccuks dana coxumomueataaeeceens 29.5 6.9 Cow (butter) 2. cveaciescis cove ee eeivng 6.4 5.4 Steer (dressed) ........... eee cece ee eee 8.3 2.8 Sheep (dressed) ................0.0 000. 7.0 26 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY The figures on eggs used in this table are based on the results secured by the U. S. Department of Agriculture on their experimental poultry farm. The figures on dressed poultry are based on experiments reported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in their bulletins on fattening poultry. The rest of the table is from the book entitled, “Feeds and Feeding” by Henry and Morrison. Eggs rank quite high in marketable products but not so high based on their edible solids, which relative condition is also true of poultry but to a less degree. Considering that the bulk of the poultry in the country is raised on the general farm where they are able to secure a considerable part of their living from waste products and also that poultry like live-stock, restore fertility to the soil, the economical production of poultry products in this country is readily apparent. Poultry easily holds first place in the production of ani- mals products for home conditions, being adapted to a great variety of conditions where live-stock cannot be kept economically. These products are raised as a side issue in villages and cities where considerable waste feed is utilized and where the labor item is negligible. They are not only most easily kept but their products are also best adapted for use in the home in a fresh condition. Eggs are also high in the soluble fat product now recognized as being essential to life and growth, and which is only found commonly in eggs, milk and certain glandular or- gans of animals. Figures kept at the Government poultry farm by the 31 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING U. S. Department of Agriculture at Washington show that Leghorn pullets consumed 4.8 pounds of feed in pro- ducing a dozen eggs, and general purpose pullets ate 6.7 pounds. The feed consumed by older hens was much greater, being 5.5 pounds for the Leghorn yearling hens and 9.6 for the yearling hens of the general purpose breeds. Tests by the same Department on fattening chicks or producing flesh in the Central West show that it took 3.26 pounds of grain to make a pound of gain in weight. Buttermilk was used with this grain at the rate of one and a half pounds of buttermilk to one pound of grain. In arriving at the figures used in the table on poultry and eggs, the grains were considered 76 per cent digestible and the milk 82 per cent digestible. Of edible solids 23.3 per cent were secured out of eggs while poultry gave 33 per cent of edible solids, PLACE AND IMPORTANCE OF POULTRY FARMS Poultry farms for the production of market poultry products are gradually taking a more important place in this country, and are a factor of considerable impor- tance. It is conservatively estimated that 90 per cent of the poultry and eggs are produced on the general farms and from small flocks kept in the villages and cities in this country, leaving only 10 per cent produced on poultry farms. Both poultry and eggs can be produced more cheaply under general farm conditions than is possible on poultry farms. The general farm poultry products, however, rarely reach the consumer while they are in a 32 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY strictly fresh condition, especially where they are shipped to the more thickly settled parts of this country. For this reason commercial poultry farms devoted to the pro- duction of high class eggs are able to operate profitably. While strictly fresh eggs have a value and quality considerably exceeding eggs which are not fresh, poultry produced on the farms can be marketed through the ordi- nary channels, put into storage and sold in any section of the country and at any season in direct competition with fresh goods. Many chickens and hens are shipped alive from the farming sections to the larger eastern cities. Therefore the production of poultry flesh as a specialty on poultry farms only offers in a few local sec- tions the opportunities that exist in the production of mar- ket eggs. The market poultry farms producing eggs have been developed largely in the northeastern section of this country within easy shipping distance of New York, Boston and Philadelphia and to a less extent near some of the larger cities of the eastern part of the Central West and and northern part of the Southeast. Another section in which egg farming is a big industry is on the Pacific coast, especially in central and southern California. Climatic conditions appear to be especially favorable for egg farming there and the industry has been developed to the point where hundreds of thousands of dozens of eggs are shipped annually to New York, while a few go to other eastern cities. The constant growth of the larger cities in this country gives the egg farmer assur- ance of a constant demand for eggs at profitable prices. 33 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING MEAT VERSUS EGG PRODUCTION ON POULTRY FARMS A large amount of broilers and of roasters are produced as a side issue on poultry farms in the rearing of pullets for egg production and these sell at a fair price, especially those produced early in the season. Many people have been attracted by the high prices paid for broilers in the winter months and have tried to make the rearing of chickens, at other than the natural breeding season a suc- cess, but without permanent results. Undoubtedly the reason for this is the high cost and difficulty of rearing chicks during the winter months, the competition with the broilers produced as a side issue on egg farms and es- pecially the competition with cold storage broilers and roasters. Chickens are produced on general farms during the spring months at low costs, are fattened and dressed in an attractive manner and kept in cold storage until needed for consumption, and when sold are in first class condi- tion and compete directly with freshly killed stock. Chickens can be kept in cold storage at very low tempera- tures so that the depreciation in their quality is very slight while eggs cannot be kept in the shell at any such low temperatures and do not compete to anywhere near the same extent with the strictly fresh product. THE SOFT ROASTER INDUSTRY The soft roaster industry as developed in the South Shore of Massachusetts, and in Pennsylvania and New 34 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY Jersey near Philadelphia, and the growing of green ducks are the two exceptions to the general lack of profit in pro- ducing poultry meat as a specialty. Both of these indus- tries have proved very profitable in a limited way and have been more profitable than most other lines of poultry raising. The opportunities and markets for both of these industries are very limited. The soft roaster industry involved the rearing of chicks in the fall and winter, the caponizing of the males and the sale of both males and females in the late winter and spring months. The Bos- ton market handled the bulk of this product at high prices. During the war period of 1917 to 1919 this business was practically discontinued and it has not been developed much since. A similar industry was conducted around Philadelphia but the rearing of the birds was on a smaller scale in that section. DUCK FARMING The production of “green ducks” on Long Island, N. Y., and somewhat in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, involves the rearing of young ducks for the market during the late winter and spring months, these ducklings being forced for rapid growth and sold when they are 10 to 12 weeks old. At that age with these conditions, these duck- lings will weigh nearly as much as an ordinary duck 6 or 7 months old. New York is the only big market for this product, although a considerable number of these ducks are sold in Boston and some other eastern cities. 35 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING COMMERCIAL POULTRY FATTENING Commercial poultry fattening has been developed to a large extent in the poultry producing sections of this country where the chickens are raised largely on general farms and have to be shipped long distances to market. This work has been developed at a considerable profit in the Central West and somewhat but to a less extent in the northern section of the South. Many of the poultry fattening stations now have a feeding capacity of over 20,000 chickens at one time. The possibilities of profit depend on a great many conditions but the general farm chickens usually come to market in a thin and unfinished condition making a brief fattening period in a fattening station reasonably profitable. The fattening stations may be developed in connection with the purchase of eggs alone or small stations are often developed in connection with the purchase of eggs and of milk products. The object of fattening chickens is to increase weight and improve quality. The fat in growing chickens is de- posited as tissue between the muscular fibres making the meat tender and juicy as well as improving its flavor and digestibility. This fat on an especially highly fattened chicken will be deposited directly beneath the skin, es- pecially on the back, while in mature fowls, more par- ticularly hens, body fat is also freely stored about the in- ternal organs. The percentage of gain in weight in fat- tening chickens is in inverse proportion to the weight of the chickens; the smaller chickens easily making the great est percentage gains. The most profitable gains and 36 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY those greatest in proportion to the size are made in the younger chickens weighing from 1% to 2 pounds apiece. Hens which have been reasonably well fed are usually in good flesh and are therefore not especially fattened. The gains made by hens are much less than those made by growing chickens as the latter gain weight both by putting on fat and by the growth of the body structure. Rations containing a greater percentage of carbohy- drates and less protein are used in fattening the hens, the chicks requiring a larger per cent of protein because of the growth that occurs during the fattening period. But- termilk or skim milk is used in mixing all fattening rations and is the one ingredient considered absolutely essential to commercial success. Milk makes up from 50 to 70 per cent of the fattening ration. It is easily digested and contains all of the elements essential to the maintenance of life and to growth. Its use stimulates the appetite, aids digestion and keeps the digestive organs of the chicken in good condition. The milk bleaches the flesh of the chickens, especially those on this feed for two weeks or longer, and the bleached appearance adds materially to the market value of the chicken. The rest of the ration consists of grains very finely ground to make them readily digestible. Usually the chickens are fed a very forcing ration for a couple of weeks to get them in a prime mar- ket condition. The greatest gains are made in the early stages of fat- tening, the gains usually decreasing toward the end of the fattening period. Increase in weight is greatly influenced 37 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING by the size of the chickens and the weather conditions. Hot weather in the summer makes conditions in the fat- tening stations unfavorable, while wet, cold weather in the fall is also undesirable. The fattening season usually runs from August 1 to November 1, depending upon the size of the chickens and the market demand. DRESSED WEIGHT OF POULTRY The shrinkage after killing and picking without draw- ing (only blood and feathers removed) averages about 11.5 per cent in the fattening stations for the broilers, the shrinkage increasing gradually with the size of the chickens to 15 per cent for those averaging about 314 pounds in weight. With hens the shrinkage is greater than on smaller chicks, averaging 13 per cent. Chickens which are especially fattened show a slightly lower shrink- age when killed and picked than do those not fattened. In experiments conducted at the Pennsylvania State Col- lege (Bulletin 87, Pennsylvania State College) White Wyandotte Cockerels gave 60.99 per cent of their live weight as flesh and 8.97 per cent as feathers, 7.78 as head and feet; 7.42 as bones of the body; 6.78 as intes- tines; 4.49 as giblets and 3.57 as blood. White Wyan- dotte Pullets gave 65.45 per cent of flesh, 6.07 as feathers, 7.75 as head and feet, 6.29 as bones of body, 6.62 as in- testines, 4.64 as giblets and 3.20 as blood. White Leghorn Cockerels gave 56.75 per cent flesh, and White Leghorn pullets 58.67 per cent flesh. Pullets have a larger per cent of edible flesh than cock- 38 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY erels of the general purpose or medium sized breeds. The per cent of flesh from poultry is lower than from hogs and beef cattle. Wyandottes dress out considerably bet- ter than do the light egg breeds (Leghorns). 39 CHAPTER IV FEEDING STANDARDS AND THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT NUTRIENTS Measuring Feed Values for Animals. The usefulness of different feeds for animals is measured by determining the per cent of total crude protein, nitrogen free extract, fiber, and fat digested by the animals. [Feeding tests have been made, and quite complete feeding standards have been prepared for animals to determine the amount of digestible nutrients required to maintain the life processes and in addition to provide for work, for the production of milk, for growth and for fattening. The first feeding standard was based on total rather than digestible nu- trients and was proposed in 1859, and the first complete standard based on digestible nutrients was proposed by Dr. Wolff in 1864 which resulted later in the Wolff- Lehman feeding standards. Numerous feeding experiments conducted since that time have led to the use of several other standards which are more accurate. Experiments with a respiration ap- paratus and calorimeter by Kellner and Zuntz and also by Armsby show that the energy required in eating and di- gesting feed must be subtracted from the total available digestible energy to secure the true net value of the feed. These tables show the amount of total dry matter, diges- 40 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY tible protein, and energy value in feeds; the amount re- quired for different animals and are apparently more cor- rect than the old standards. All these standards and the various multiplications while not absolutely accurate, have proven to be of great value in the feeding of animals. HOW FEEDS ARE ANALYZED The chemist finds how much water there is in a feed by using and drying out at a high temperature all the water from a finely divided sample of the product. This sample is then burned and only the ash or mineral matter re- mains. In determining the crude protein, the nitrogen content of the feed is found and the result multiplied by 6.25 since about 16 per cent of plant protein is nitrogen. The fiber is the product that remains after a sample of the feed has been boiled successively in a weak acid and in an alkali and the dissolved matter washed out. The part of the feed which will dissolve in ether is called the ether extract or fat. The carbohydrates are made up of the ni- trogen free extracts and the fiber, the nitrogen free extract being determined by securing the difference between the total dry matter in the feed, and the combined amount of the ash, crude protein, fiber and fat. DIFFERENCE IN VALUE AND IN THE USE OF FEED NUTRIENTS While the nitrogen free extract and the fiber together make up the carbohydrates, the nitrogen free extract is more digestible and has a greater feeding value than the 41 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING fiber. Protein of animal origin has been found to have a greater feed value for poultry than vegetable proteins while in experiments with animals, proteins have been found to be very different in their feeding values. The flesh forming material in the feed is furnished by the protein which is essential in the production of lean meat, eggs, feathers, muscles, etc. It may also, if fed in excess, be used as fuel or energy but is much more expensive than carbohydrates as a source of energy. Carbohydrates supply fuel and energy and aid in forming fatty tissue after they are transformed into fats. Fats perform the same function as the carbohdrates and are 2.25 times as valuable as the latter as a source of heat and energy. PRODUCTS ESSENTIAL TO LIFE AND GROWTH Experiments conducted with pure chemicals to discover what elements are absolutely essential to life and growth show that the diet must contain protein, carbohydrates, fats, inorganic salts, namely calcium, sodium and chlorine, and two unidentified substances called for convenience by McCullom, “Fat soluble A’’ and “Water Soluble B.” Fat Soluble (A) is associated with fats, especially with but- ter fat, egg yolk fats and fats of the glandular organs of animals, but not in fats or oils of vegetable origin. Water Soluble (B) is not associated with fats or oils but is widely distributed in various products from which it can be secured by extraction with water or alcohol. It is found especially in milk and leaves, fruit juices and in the liver and kidneys. 42 ‘WIA ‘Ol !SLVQ aaLnowds ‘6 !TIEHS waISAQC ‘g ‘Nvug ‘Z SIvayW NuO0d ‘9 ‘sonra eanyw ‘S$ favag Ivay{ ‘v SslvO ‘€ ‘1vaH MY ‘2 SNYOD ‘I: NOLLVY GSONVIVG V df) ONINVJ Saad ‘Zz ‘OT ‘SLATING Gay ANvVIs] adOHY Of 4O Nag V 40 GIaIA OO UNV NONdWASNOD GIs aovuIAy “E “ONT PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY SOURCES OF THESE ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS All seeds resemble each other closely in properties and are largely deficient in the same substances. Leaves com- bined with seeds supplement all the nutritive deficiencies of the seeds but do not usually furnish the essential nu- trients, in suffhicent quantities. The dry leaf contains 3 to 5 times as much ash as the seed and is especially rich in calcium, sodium and chlorine. It is also richer in Fat Soluble A and contains a supply of protein. Milk is a complete food containing both Fat Soluble A and Water Soluble B. It is deficient in iron but most water contains sufficient iron to make up for this deficiency. Muscle tis- sue is lacking in minerals and is relatively poor in Fat Soluble A as compared with milk and leaves. The glandular organs, especially the liver and kidneys contain more of both (A) and (B) than the muscle tissues. Eggs are a complete food but used alone do not produce the best results. The yolk is especially rich in these two desired factors. The effect of heating or drying on these products is not yet clearly established but Fat Soluble (A) in milk does not appear to be affected either by dry- ing or canning, and both (A) and (B) in leaves are not affected either by drying. Feeds supplying Fat Soluble (A) require special selections but Water Soluble (B) is widely distributed in feeds and it is not nearly as likely to be deficient as (A). Milk, eggs and leafy vegetables should be regarded as protective feeds especially high in Fat Soluble (A) and in minerals. Fruits are high in salts and have a beneficial effect on the system. A bal- 43 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING anced ration requires supplementing seeds, tubers, roots and meat with milk and leafy vegetables. FEEDING STANDARDS FOR FOWLS Very little satisfactory work has been done in prepar- ing feeding standards for fowls. Some digestive experi- ments have been conducted but the results have not been particularly satisfactory and the number of feeds included in this work is comparatively small. One reason why digestive tests with fowls is difficult is because the urine and dung is voided together and not separately as with animals, making it much more difficult to study the differ- ent elements digested in feeds. For these reasons the digestible nutrients of feeds which apply to animals are practically the only complete tables available for use with poultry, but the digestive experiments conducted with poultry so far, would indicate that the animal digestion tests do give somewhat similar results to tests with fowls. While the digestive tests which have been made with fowls are very limited in number and the use of nutritive values and ratios is of an indefinite nature, they still furnish our best available data and the nutritive ratios worked out in this book are based on digestible com- position as worked out for animal feeding. Table (II) in the rear of this book gives the total composition of feeds and also the digestible composition of feeds for animals. NUTRITIVE RATIOS The proportion of the protein to the nitrogen free ex- tract plus the fat reduced to terms of nitrogen free ex- 44 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY tract, is called the nutritive ratio. The fat has a feed value two and a fourth times as great as the nitrogen free ex- tract so the fat is multiplied by 214 and added to the nitro- gen free extract and the total of these two products, di- vided by the protein, gives the last figure of the nutritive ratio. The following example of a complete ration is given to show how this nutritive ratio is figured. In this example the scratch mixture and the mash have been com- bined on the basis that the same number of pounds (300) of scratch mixture are fed as of mash. The mash as given in this ration totals 300 pounds to equal the 300 pounds of scratch feed (corn, wheat and oats), making a complete balanced ration. Table (II) gives the number of pounds of digestible feed constituents (protein, nitrogen- free extract, and fat) in 100 pounds of each of the grains, so that in order to get the number of pounds of these TasceE III Example of Nutritive Ratio Carbo- Pounds of Feed *Protein hydrates Fat Jo % % TOO COMM sisida ex geaaiey ie oere 7.5 67.8 4. 100 wheat ...........+005. 9.2 67.5 1.5 100 oats ... 9.7 52.1 38 196 cornmeal . Gens 13.5 135.1 6.9 80 meat scrap ..........- 39.8 adie 14.8 P2cbran: uxivssstieie wesc as 1.5 5.0 4 12 middling .............. 1.6 5.5 5 Totaleiscecca cs 82.8 333-0 32.5 *Digestible nutrients POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING constituents in 196 pounds of corn meal the composition as given in the table is divided by 100 to get the amount in I pound of corn meal and this is then multiplied by 196. A similar process is gone through in the case of the meat scrap, bran, and middlings. The amount of con- stituents in the corn, wheat, and oats are the same as in Table II, since exactly 100 pounds of each of these feeds is used in this example. The fat, 32.5, is multiplied by two and a fourth, giving 73.1, which is added to the carbohydrates, 333.0, making a total of 406.1. This, divided by the protein, 82.8 gives a nutritive ratio of I to 4.9 for this ration. The value of a nutritive ratio in actual poultry practice is limited but it has some value where new feeds are being used to make a combination which approximates the mix- tures ordinarily advised or which have been used success- fully. It has never been determined just what nutritive ratio is best for egg laying, for fattening, or for growth and different rations having considerable variation in nutritive ratios have given good results in every line of feeding work. The nutritive ratio for laying rations should be about 1 to 4% or 5, and a growing ration should have about this same proportion or it may be a slightly wider, that is, 1 to 434 or 6. The fattening ration should be still wider, the ratio being about 1 to 7. In figuring nutritive ratio the proportion of scratch mixture and mash used for poultry is very important as ordinarily the mash has a low nutritive ratio and the scratch mixture a wide ratio. The nutritive ratios in this book are figured on the 46 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING POULTRY basis of an equal consumption of mash and of scratch feed for the year which is the proportion advised for average conditions. The composition of the feeds which directly affects the nutritive ratio of a mixture, is not in itself an absolute test of their feeding value for poultry. For instance, cer- tain feeds are high in protein but if the protein is of vege- table origin it is not nearly as valuable for poultry as a feed in which the protein is of animal origin. Feeds high in crude fiber are undesirable in a poultry ration even though they contain considerable protein and other ele- ments useful in poultry feeding. Therefore, it is impos- sible to work out satisfactory rations based on the analysis only, and the palatability and actual feeding practice of these feeds for poultry must be taken into consideration. FEED REQUIREMENTS OF CHICKS AND MATURE FOWLS A table showing the approximate feed requirements for chicks and fowls was worked out a number of years ago at the New York Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y., by W. P. Wheeler. The actual working value of such a table is open to question but it does have a value in show- ing the approximate amount of feed required for chickens of different ages. Chickens cannot be fed by a table of any kind with success and the feeding practice must be successfully handled by the actual feeder who judges the amount to give by the appetites of the chickens. Some lots of chickens will consume considerably more feed than 47 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING another lot of the same breed and of the same age. The table as worked out by Mr. Wheeler is as follows: — TasBLe IV. Feed Requirements of Chickens per Day for Each 100 Pounds of Live Weight Digestible nutrients (pounds) a a ifs 62 te 2 5 i ev om = v u — Hoss ene ee ee ee ae 5 o as o ops 398 Bog 0 i On < BoE | Bel | ane Growing chicks: First two weeks... | 2.00 0.40 7.20 0.50 10.1 18,800 Ito 4.1 Two to four weeks! 2.20 -50 6.20 -70 9.6 17,830 | 1 to 3.4 Four to six weeks. | 2.00 +40 5.60 .60 8.6 15,640 I to 3.3 Six to eight weeks} 1.60 -40 4.90 -50 7.4 13,780 I tO 3.7 Eight to ten weeks| 1 20 +30 4.40 -50 6.4 11.680 1 to 4.3 Ten to twelve weeks| 1.00 +30 3-70 -40 5.4 10,000 { 1 to 4.4 Adults (maintenance only) Capon, 9 to 12 pounds ....... +30 +20 1.74 06 2.3 4,600 | 1t07.5 H { 5 to 7 pounds +40 +20 2.00 +10 2.7 5,300 | 1 to 6.2 en) 3 to 5 pounds +50 +30 2.95 15 39 7,680 1 to 7.4 Egg production: Hen { 5 to 8 pounds 65 +20 2.25 -20 3-3 6,240 I to 4.2 3 to 5 pounds} 1.00 +35 3-75 +30 5-4 10,300 | 1 to 4.6 PART II DESCRIPTION OF FEED STUFFS CHAPTER V CEREALS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS USED IN POULTRY FEEDING Indian Corn and its By-Products. Corn is the leading cereal produced in this country and is the grain most ex- tensively fed to poultry. According to the Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture 2,917,450,000 bush- els of corn were produced in 1919, valued at $3,934,- 234,000 and 2,502,665,000 bushels in 1918 valued at $3,416,240,000. The average yield per acre (in the United States) was 28.6 bushels in 1919 and 24.0 in 1918. This crop equals in acreage and value all the combined principal grains together with several of the minor crops. The bulk of the crop is produced in the Central West where the land is wonderfully fertile and where the nights are warm during the growing season, but corn can be raised in nearly every State in the Union. Corn is the great heat and energy producing grain, being composed largely of carbohydrates and oil, but being rather low in crude protein and especially deficient in mineral matter. The crude protein of this grain con- sists largely of a single protein called zein, which is thought to lack some of the amino-acids considered neces- sary for animal growth. This deficiency in mineral mat- ter is made up by feeding the corn with bran, middlings, 51 POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING meat scraps and green feed or grass secured on range. There are two kinds of corn used in feeding poultry, dent and flint. Flint corn is much harder than dent corn and the starch is more bonelike and flinty. This kind of corn is especially preferred for feeding pigeons, but both flint and dent corn are fed extensively to poultry. Corn on the cob is frequently fed to hens on general farms, but hens are not able to eat corn on the cob freely and it gives no opportunity to use the grain in the litter as a scratch feed. Feeding corn on the cob to fowls is not advised, as it undoubtedly pays to have the corn shelled. It takes about 70 pounds of the average quality well dried dent corn on the cob to make a bushel (56 pounds of shelled corn). Flint corn has a larger proportion of cob to corn than has dent corn. Freshly husked corn contains a considerable per cent of water and in the early fall 75 to 80 pounds of dent corn on the cob are considered equal to a bushel of shelled corn. Shelled corn does not keep well in bulk, especially in the summer, and is usually kept as long as possible on the cob. Old shelled corn contains about 12 per cent water, and corn containing over 20 per cent water will not keep well in storage in large quantities. Soft corn is the result of corn being frosted before it is matured, and such corn will not keep well. If used for poultry it should be carefully watched to see that decomposition has not begun and that it is neither moldy nor musty. Corn meal correctly refers to the ground whole corn grain, but this term is also often applied commercially to 52 DESCRIPTION OF FEED STUFFS finely ground siftings and waste from corn meal prepared for home consumption, as well as that secured in making cracked corn. This waste meal has a feed value about equal to ground whole corn. Corn chop usually refers to ground whole corn, although other ground corn by- products may be included in it. It is usually a much coarser product than corn meal. Ground grains have no more feed value than these same grains in their whole or cracked forms, but the best results in feeding poultry are secured where about one half of the feed is given in the whole or cracked form called scratch feed and the rest in the form of finely ground grains and meat feeds which make up what is called the mash. Corn and cob meal, which is the corn and cob ground up together is not adapted to poultry feeding on account of its high fiber content and fowls are not able to digest or utilize crude fiber as well as live stock. Commercial starch and glucose are manufactured from corn by soak- ing the corn in water containing some acid and separating the desired constituents. Four products are secured in this process; the germ, used in making corn oil and germ oil meal or corn oil cake; the bran made up of the hulls; the gluten, and the starch. Corn gluten feed contains the gluten and the corn bran to which is added the residue from the water used in soaking the corn, making a rich concentrated food. It is rich in crude protein and fat and contains considerable carbohydrates. The composi- tion of this feed is quite variable, depending on its manu- facture, but the protein usually ranges from 18 to 29 aK POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING per cent and the ash from 1 to 6 per cent. Both yellow and white corn are used which gives a corresponding color to the product. Artificial yellow coloring matter is sometimes added to the white product. The gluten meal is now practically all used up in making gluten feeds. Most of the oil is pressed out of the germ, leaving a cake that is called germ oil cake or corn oil cake. This is higher in fat than gluten, but lower in protein. Hominy feed, also called hominy meal or chop, con- tains the bran coating, the germ and some of the starchy parts of the grain obtained in manufacturing hominy grits for human consumption. It is similar to corn in composition, but is slightly lower in nitrogen free extract and higher in fiber and in fat. It is sweet and clean and usually keeps better than corn meal. Corn bran con- tains slightly more nitrogen free extract and fat than wheat bran, but only about three-fifths as much protein, while it is higher than wheat bran in fiber. It is rarely sold as a separate feed and is not nearly as good a poultry feed as wheat bran. Corn and corn meal are the grains most palatable and best liked by poultry. In the experiments conducted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., where bran, middlings, meat scrap and corn meal were kept in separate hoppers before the fowls they consumed much larger quantities of corn meal than any other prod- uct throughout the year. The average consumption of these products for a year, for White Leghorns, was 66 per cent corn meal, 26 per cent meat scrap and 4 per cent 54 DESCRIPTION OF FEED STUFFS each of bran and middlings. A mash containing a con- siderable percentage of corn meal is very palatable to fowls and if properly balanced with meat scrap is not too fattening. Corn or corn meal alone are too fattening un- less balanced with a high protein feed. WHEAT AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS Wheat is ranked next in importance to corn as a poul- try feed and is especially well liked by most poultrymen, but on account of its extensive use for human consump- tion and its present relatively high price it is not being used so much as a poultry feed as it has been in the past. From 10 to over 40 per cent of the wheat crop is usually exported from this country while only 1 to 2 per cent of the corn crop is exported. Considerable of the wheat produced, especially that handled under unfavorable weather conditions, is of a low grade and not well adapted for making flour, which wheat is available and largely used in feeding poultry. » aS Aonad MONA TH MATH HO DOOD NOH + Cia ee fea: E|2 Pq Be wnno HO TNS OARTACNRBAGTN GH ois “ ojo w wiag |gneed: Spaeth tee roroma wy « apn Joe gaa TTR AMOS OGRE A SRR RR SS oman HAOMANN RDO ACAMHARMTMOAD THEN |e oedes wohadede aoccd eoae wad de 41g HH QO BD O00 COO LOH AADAAG ARADO AH : a it 7 ¢ te 5 tie ob Bihan a ew oO Dib gS igi ll iii ii lig eget tg: Pili: gm ieiiiiiiiisig@i re: ij Sn Scene PS LPP Tie Lek bap: sees Rte age Mae eS ees ar erers: Weare 3-1-7 . ow rs) tog uh ae Cee saa 7. § iT: a] 23:3 276 oar o simi os ee lat uwaT oe - bob Ff ? a ar 2%. BZ:ie: & tee twecil gic: Be . ‘nod wt oe ee ae . _ Sots. = aaa 15°09 (a5 2.88 BAG BSE EB svg gid eoE saso8 legs! HoDog & ae +OU | Gai, BS. s0go Vm oO Ass . b = WADA Do Foe, Bone Se mae on GE pune ee Sa, Ee S eeegy Rot SSESSEW MS Sa Seuss AH Seay dse ke ees boc zs ogee Soden SogR eS SoS SRS EES DA Se aAnRAA SB Ems qOOMOUOCUMmaRMOA PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY a TAQ Oo -OmMtNMNM.: -OO AtPTOMNGH AONTtTHDO tee TO EMOH OHH SOM WHC StAeMdhadN s ano cme eHOO TH OND TITAH ATO NAW MMH AMA TE MAMNDAA - -OO RONRARNKRHHOOTMNRO SS Be NY or rl RWMMH He OO +00 TA +MOWO HAs IMA MOAN ENO ADO yemmM - wn :OtemaNoo:: Sdoccodosccsacds: ° 4 = Ou 2 Ss TROWMONOnNMTONT an es rtwn sc ctw ONSH VN AH ASS TS ” nat ny OmmMMae a) Te PMO TN TO: IDS DWODARAOONO MOAR 00 66 “A SONNDOMM-> OS Orn GHA TOO R ann an "Oe NWWH » ® ”m Ata 0 By RON RSD A COANHD MOON TNAN und Horas reoormew BH OnNOMD ARNHEM otH Nan on danaoven H MAH MAMO HM OW = oS nueo: Ostumnnoowmdd SOSSSSSONNMLOS: nKNM ODDO 4 NO NDWODD CAOTHO MO N+t1O0 00 WON NTA MNMHAM TH RN FON 1900 600 HG VAs ago r=) mM a a 8 toe tAAMH MOM WM - ww a fa RHR OODDOMNAN: ‘ 3 & = 3 oto AMANMTHODNNRWO ATANNAAmMDANHATH nao MAN IATSO MMMNAGO eo ee kn! w+rtN wWNDO 4 NNO mu oF eel act AMAGQNOO TFTAVPON AWMNA AO TAH IN ON 50 ANOMAAHAAATOOH SOn KO eA Rind At AARD AAG ta ROAM AKAWAAKN 2 5 = : : i ari a é : oot o : G . . oe . v . . 7+ = GLE Se Sea ee ee 3s emer gitoted $3 eg.) ae Rt eg ray Rte Te inks GPa Mee nega ais a ate Su Se PIGS. 20 ee ee Se goa arenes 5 é ; a ee oes S m: Ot $ BU ae Ag IS Gent g. Scie ts PG = ‘wo 10 BOE are Sk epee ages EG ya Says ae ene : v 2 gs o eae Ags Be Sree teh Seb ae BRE eke eg ta SOE joe Lee he Tene ts. BS ae Ts = ee 2a eh Naas By A ae oO a . ie . pes He a One he ee ne BPs ee eo ae : se wiSg8 so veo = pe a It + pss bo 7 Stim | $2 g OASMSS REE ET OF hae wha. oo ets ie = vo 2? oO he - 5A g g LOaD 89 wesola mH ge a & 8 & geaheutiese oe of Sabb esas sages SaS mM Soeeseseg Sr Se Ps SES assessor aus paras) SREEARAANASA G6 AMBOROM<<4O0eaNe iS) BSS a INDEX Acorns, 94 Alfalfa, use of, 97, 102, 128 Value of, 101, 128 Meal, 102, 103, 128 Anatomy of fowls, 25 Iilustrated, 26 Backyard flock, management of, 142, 143, 144 Balanced ration explained, 43, 117, 147 Barley, 62 Malt, 62 Feed, 63 Meal, 63 Beans, 72 Cooking, 114 Pea beans, 73 Soy beans, 72, 151 Soy bean meal, 72, 73, ISI Velvet bean meal, 151 Beets, 106, 127 Pulp, g1 Blood meal, 82 Bone, fresh, 84 Preparation and preserving, 85 Use of, 85, 150 Bone meal, 85, 96, 150 Composition, 96 Ground, 86 Bread, 58 Brewer's grains (wet), 63 Dry, 62 Malt sprouts, 63 Buckwheat, value of, 68 By-products, 68 Cabbages, 108, 127 Capons, 212, 213 Fattening, 213 Feed standard, 48 Carbohydrates, how produced, 18 Function of, 42 Starches and sugars, 18, 53 Carriers for feed and litter, 235 Carrots, 107 Charcoal, 132 Chicks (feeding), 157 Amount feed to grow, 160 Cost of growing, 219 Green feed for, 160 Johnycake for, 158 Weight of growing, 222 Chick feeds, 153, 158 Mash and growing feed, 159 Chlorophyll, function of, 18 Cleaning poultry house, 183 Clover, 103, 104, 128, 129 Cocoanut meal, 75 Color of yolk, 156 Commercial feeds, 121, 144 Chick feeds. 158 Selection of, 152 Use of, 151 Value of, 122 Composition of eggs, 23, 24 Composition of feeds (table), 230, 240, 241 Composition of poultry, 23, 24 Condimental feeds, 94, 95 Corn, 51, 52 Bran, 54 Gluten meal, 53 Oil cake, 53, 54 Corn meal, 52, 53, 54 Corn and cob meal, 52, 54 Costs, 215 Feed for eggs, 215, 216 Growing chicks, 219 Labor producing eggs, 221 Cottonseed meal, 75, 151 Cake, 76, 77 Grades of, 76 Hulls, 77 Cramming poultry, 173 Crate fattening, 166 Best time for, 167, 172 243 INDEX Gains in, 167 Hens, 168 Length of period in, 170, 171 Milk for, 169 Management in, 173 Plan of battery for, 165 Rations for, 168, 169 Tallow in, 169 Crops for poultry farm, 225 Culling, 188 Shank color in, 189 Digestion, 25, 26 Elimination of waste products in, 28 Function of organs in, 27 Of foods, 27 Tests, 148 Distiller’s grains, 93, 94 Dressing poultry, 38 Drawn vs. undrawn, 178 Per cent parts in, 38 Shrinkage in, 38, 178 Duck farming, 35 Feeding ducklings and breeders, 194, 195, 196 Feeding for market, 195 Feeding laying ducks, 197 Green ducks, 196 Early hatching, 182 Egg yield by months, 218 Eggs, 28 Composition, 23 Feed per dozen, 32 Per cent edible solids, 30, 32 Per cent of parts, 28 Production of vs. poultry, 12 Size, 28, 29 Structrue, 28 Emmer, 64 Epsom salts, 98 Exercise, 138, 182 Farm flock management, 140, 141 Farming (poultry), 14 Duck, 35 Meat vs. egg, 34 24. Soft roaster, 34, 35 Fats, function of, 42 How produced, 18 Fattening, 36, 37 Feed per pound gain, 32 Hens, 164 How to, 161 Milk in, 37 Pen, 163 Season for, 38 See crate fattening, 166 selection stock for, 162 Feather picking. 169 Feed, 41 Amount consumed per hen, 218 Amount required to produce eggs (table), 216, 217 Amount required to chicks (table), 220 How analyzed, 41 Standards, 40 Value of nutriments, 41 Fish Meal, 86, 87 Oil content, 87 Where produced, 87 Fresh Fish, 87 For ducks, 196 Flax seed, 77 Feed, 78 Food, 27 Digestion of, 27 Production by poultry vs. ani- mals, 30 Value of poultry and eggs, 11 Forcing, effects of, 191 grow Garbage, 142, 143, 144 Geese, 108 Fattening, 200 Feeding goslings, 199 Noodling, 201, 202 Preparing for matket, 200 Grass, Care of range, 100, 226 Varieties of, 100, I01 Green Feeds, 97 Growing of, 227 4 INDEX Grit, 131 Composition of limestone, 95 For turkeys and fattening, 131 Hemp Seed, for pigeons, 79 Hominy, § Hoppers for Mash, 230, 231, 232, 234 Outdoor feed, 233 Jewish ee affecting prices, 17 Kafhr, 64, 67 Kale, 109 Lactic Acid, 22 Labor survey, 224 Cost of Producing eggs, 221 Saving devices, 230 Lights, 185 Effect on breeding fowls, 186 Evening lunch, 18 Linseed Meal, 77, 78 Testing, 78 Use for moulting, 79 Live poultry shipping, 180, 181 Description of cars, 180 Malt sprouts, 63 Management of poultry, 214, 215, 223 Back yard flock, 142, 143, 144 Breeding hens, 185, 190 Broody hens, 191 Exercise, 138 Farm flock, 140, 141 Land required for grain, 223 Laying hens, 185 Males, 190 Proportion of grain to mash, 137, 138 Marketing Poultry, 174 Age to market hens, 178, 179 Hens, live and dressed, 175 Prices for live chickens, 175 Prices for live and dressed fowls, 177 raising Mash, use of, 118 The amount to use, 119 How mixed, 123 Wet versus dry, 118, 119 Meat (fresh), 84 Horse meat, 84 Meat Scrap, 82 Amount to use, 83 How produced, 82 Meal, 82 Tests for quality, 83 Milk, 88, 89 Composition, 89 Skim Milk, 88 Use in fattening, 37 Whey, 89 Milk (dried), 90, 91 Milk (semi-solid), 90, 91 In fattening, 169 Millet, 67 Minerals, 24 Amount in plants, 17, 19 Feeds, 95, 96 Lime Stone Grit, 96 Per cent in poultry and eggs, 24 Rock phosphate, 96 Source of, in feeds, 25 Molasses, 92 Beet molasses, 93 Feeds, 93 Mortality in chicks, 219 Moulting, 187, 188 Nitrogenous Compounds, duction of, 19 Nutrients (essential), 42 Affected by origin, 47 Effect of drying, 43 Fat soluble (A), 42, 43 Sources of, 43 Table of digestible, 239, 240, pro- 241 Water soluble (B), 42, 43 Nutritive Ration, 44, 147 Balanced ration, 43 Examples of, 45 245 INDEX For laying, growing and fat- tening, 46, 47 Table of, 230, 240, 241 Value of, 46 Oats, 58 Clipped oats, 60, 61 Ground oats, 59 Oat dust, 60 Oat groats, 60 Oat middlings, 60 Rolled oats or oat meal, 50, 61 Value as a feed, 58, 61 Oyster Shells, 129 Amount to use, 130 Compared with clam and mus- sel shells, 130 Composition, 95 Palatability of feeds, 21 Peanuts, 74 Peanut Meal, 74, 75 Use in fattening, 75 Peas, 70 Canada peas, 70 Cow peas, 73 Garden peas, 71 Soiling crop, 71 Use in pigeon ration, 70, 71 Pigeons (flying), 211, 212 Feeds for, 211, 212 Pigeon loft, 210 Pigeons (squab breeders), 210 Analysis pigeon feed, 2 Bathing for, 211 Feeding, 207, 210 Grit for, 132, 211 Quality of feed for, 208 Plants for food, 17 Elements in, 17 Fibrous structure of, 18 Poisonous plants and feeds, 113 Polyneuritis from rice feeding, 80 Pork Cracklings, 84 Potatoes, 107 Cooking, 114 Dried, 107 Feeding, 107 Poultry, 11 Composition, 23 Edible solids in, 30, 32 Feed per pound gaii, 32 Importance and value of, 11, 13, 31 Production of, 13 Preparation of feeds, 20, 114 Effect of cooking, 21, 22 Proteins, 19 Animal protein feeds, 148, 149, 150 Composition of, 19 Feeds, 147 Function of, 42 Vegetable protein feeds, 150 Puliets (feeding), 120, 137, 182 Management different from hens, 190 Pumpkins, 110 Quality in feeds, 139, 140, 145 Effect on products, 154, 155 Quantity to feed, 135. Amount consumed, 136 Rape, 108 For soiling crop, 108, 109 Rations, 236 Table of egg laying, 236, 237 Rice, 80 Products, 80, 81 Roasters (Production of), 164 Roots, 105 Rye, 63 Rutabaga, 106 Salt, 22 For pigeons, 132 Scratch feed, 118, 120 Mixtures for, 120 Selection of feeds, 146, 147 Commercial feeds, 151, 152 Silage, I10 Soiling crons, 105 For feed, 124 46 INDEX For yards, 125 How to use, 123 - Value and use, 110 Sorghums, 64, 65, 66, 67 Broom corn, 67 Durra, 67 Egyptian corn, 65, 67 Feterita, 66 Kaffir, 65 Milo, 65 Shallu, 66 Sprouted grains, 126, 127 Changes in, 112 Mould in, 127 Sprouter, 227, 228 Care of, 229 Standards feeding, 40 Energy values, 40 For chicks and fowls, 47 Method of measuring for ani- mal and fowls, 40, 44 Stock feeds, 94 Sunflower seed, 69 Oil cake, 69 Tankage, 82, 83 Turkeys, 202, 203 Feeding poults, 204, 205 Fattening, 206 Water, 133, 183 Automatic devices for, 133, 235 Use on range, 133 Weights of growing chicks, 222 Wheat, 55 Bran, 56 Flour, 57 Middlings, 56, 57 Screenings, 57 Shorts, 57 Yeast, 112, 113 247 SENT FREE ON APPLICATION Descriptive Catalog of Rural Books CONTAINING 128 8v0 PAGES, PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED, AND GIVING FULL DE- SCRIPTIONS OF THE BEST WORKS ON THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS Farm and Garden Fruits, Flowers, etc. Cattle, Sheep and Swine Dogs, Horses, Riding, etc. Poultry, Pigeons and Bees Angling and Fishing Boating, Canoeing and Sailing Field Sports and Natural History Hunting, Shooting, etc. Architecture and Building Landscape Gardening Household and Miscellaneous PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS Orange Judd Publishing Co., Inc. 461 Fourth Avenue NEW YORK Books will be Forwarded, Postpaid, on Receipt of Price The New Egg Farm By H. H. Sropparp. A practical, reliable manual on producing eggs and poultry for market as a profitable business enterprise, either by itself or connected with other branches of agriculture. It tells all about how to feed and manage, how to breed and select, incubators and brooders, its labor- ihe devices, etc., etc. Illustrated. 331 pages. 5x7 inches. oth. F t ¥ e ee Re Poultry Feeding and Fattening Compiled by G. B. Fisxe. A handbook for poultry keep- ers on the standard and improved methods of feeding and marketing all kinds of poultry. The subject of feeding and fattening poultry is prepared largely from the side of the best practice and experience here and abroad, although thr underlying science of feeding is explained as fully as needful The subject covers all branches, including chickens, broilers, capons, turkeys and waterfowl; how to feed under various conditions and for different purposes. The whole subject of capons and saponizing is treated in detail. A great mass of practical infermation and experience not readily obtainable elsewhere is given with full and explicit directions for fatten- ing and preparing for market. This book will meet the needs of amateurs as well as commercial poultry raisers. Profusely illustrated. 160 pages. 5x7% inches. Cloth. Poultry Architecture Compiled by G. B. Fisxe. A treatise on poultry buildings of all grades, styles and classes, and their proper location, coops, additions and special construction; all practical in de- sign, and reasonable in cost. Over 100 illustrations. aes pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth . . ..... . é Poultry Appliances and Handicraft Compiled by G. B. Fisxe. [Illustrated description of a great variety and styles of the best homemade nests, roosts, windows, ventilators, incubators and brooders, feeding and watering appliances, etc. etc. Over 100 illustrations. Over 125 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. hd ke bao Say oo Turkeys and How to Grow Them Edited by Hersert Myrick. A treatise on the natural history and origin of the name of turkeys; the various breeds, the best methods to insure success in the business of turkey growing. With essays from practical turkey growers in different parts of the United States and Canada. Copiously iJlustrated. 154 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. eRe 8 (183 Farm Grasses of the United States of America By Witi1am Jasper SpiLtMAN. A practical treatise on the grass crop, seeding and management of meadows and pastures, description of the best varieties, the seed and its impurities, grasses for special conditions, lawns and lawn grasses, etc., etc. In preparing this volume the author's object has been to present, in connected form, the main facts con- cerning the grasses grown on American farms. Every phase of the subject is viewed from the farmer’s standpoint. Illus- trated, 248 pages. 5x 7 inches. Cloth . .... The Book of Corn By Hersert Myrick, assisted by A. D. SHamsia, E. A Burnett, ALBertT W. Futton, B. W. 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A practical handbook on the most approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing, packing and selling tobacco, with an account of the opera- tions in every department of tobacco manufacture. The contents of this book are based on actual experiments in field, curing barn, packing house, factory and laboratory. It is the only work of the kind in existence, and is destined to be the standard practical and scientific authority on the whole sub- ject of tobacco for many years. 506 pages and 150 original engravings. 5x7 inches. Cloth . . .... . @) Feeding Farm Animats By Professor THomAs SHAW. This book is intended alike for the student and the farmer. The author has succeeded in giving in regular and orderly sequence, and in language so simple that a child can understand it, the principles that govern the science and practice of feeding farm animals. Professor Shaw is certainly to be congratulated on the successful man- ner in which he has accomplished a most difficult task. His book is unquestionably the most practical work which has ap- peared on the subject of feeding farm animals. Illustrated. 5% x 8 inches. Upward of 500 pages. Cloth. Profitable Dairying By C. L. Pecx. A practical guide to successful dairy man- agement. The treatment of the entire subject is thoroughly practical, being principally a description of the methods prac- ticed by the author. A specially valuable part of this book consists of a minute description of the far-famed model dairy farm of Rev. J. D. Detrich, near Philadelphia, Pa. On the farm of fifteen acres, which twenty years ago could not main- tain one horse and two cows, there are now kept twenty-seven dairy cattle, in addition to two horses. All the roughage, litter, bedding, etc., necessary for these animals are grown on these fifteen acres, more than most farmers could accomplish on one hundred acres. Illustrated. 5 x 7 inches. 200 pages. Cloths a 5 arise ee. oh eS het Seen "UR, She ewe Practical Dairy Bacteriology By Dr. H. W. Conn, of Wesleyan University. A complete exposition of important facts concerning the relation of bac- teria to various problems related to milk. A book for the classroom, laboratory, factory and farm. Equally useful to the teacher, student, factory man and practical dairyman. Fully illustrated with 83 ea aia nee 340 pages. Cloth. 5% x 8 inches, . ey ge eel Py Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Milk Products By L. L. VanSriyxe. This is a clear and concise discussion of the approved methods of testing milk and milk products. All the questions involved in the various methods of testing milk and cream are handled with rare skill and yet in so plain a manner that they can be fully understood by all. The book should be in the hands of every dairyman, teacher or student. Illustrated. 214 pages. 5x7 inches. . . . . ‘ (12> Animal Breeding By THomas SHAw. This book is the most complete and comprehensive work ever published on the subject of which it treats. It is the first book which has systematized the sub- ject of animal breeding. The leading laws which govern this most intricate question the author has boldly defined and authoritatively arranged. The chapters which he has written on the more involved features of the subject, as sex and the relative influence of parents, should go far toward setting at rest the wildly speculative views cherished with reference to these questions. The striking originality in the treatment of the subject is no less conspicuous than the superb order and regular sequence of thought from the beginning to the end of the book. The book is intended to meet the needs of all persons interested in the breeding and rearing of live stock. Illustrated. 405 pages. 5 x 7 inches. Cloth. . . Forage Crops Other Than Grasses By Tuomas SHAw. How to cultivate, harvest and use them. 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This is the first book published which treats on the growth, cultivation and treatment of clovers as applicable to all parts of the United States and Canada, and which takes up the entire subject in a systematic way and consecutive sequence. The importance of clover in the econ- omy of the farm is so great that an exhaustive work on this subject will no doubt be welcomed by students in agriculture, as well as by all who are interested in the tilling of the soil. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 337 pages. Cloth. Net. . {13) Land Draining A handbook for farmers on the principles and practice of draining, by MANLY MILEs, giving the results of his extended experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the laying out and the construction of tile drains will enable the farmer to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and the disap- pointment that must necessarily follow. This manual for practical farmers will also be found convenient for referencé in regard to many questions that may arise in crop growing, aside from the special subjects of drainage of which it treats. Illustrated. 200 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . Barn Plans and Outbuildings Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valu- able work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers. Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of barns, grain barns, horse barns, cattle barns, sheep barns, cornhouses, smokehouses, icehouses, pig pens, granaries, ete. There are likewise chapters on birdhouses, doghouses, tool sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root pits, etc. 235 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth . .... . Irrigation Farming By Lute Wiicox. A handbook for the practical applica- tion of water in the production of crops. A complete treatise on water supply, canal construction, reservoirs and ponds, pipes for irrigation purposes, flumes and their structure, methods of applying water, irrigation of field crops, the garden, the orchard and vineyard, windmills and pumps, appliances and contrivances. New edition, revised, enlarged and rewritten. Profusely illustrated. Over 500 pages. 5x7 inches; ‘Cloth: « « « «© 4 @ SS sf ¢ = « os Forest Planting By H. Nicuoras JarcHow, LL. D. A treatise on the care of woodlands and the restoration of the denuded timberlands on plains and mountains. The author has fully described those European methods which have proved to be most useful in maintaining the superb forests of the old world. This expe- rience has been adapted to the different climates and trees o¥ America, full instructions being given for forest planting of our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on mountain or valley. Illustrated. 250 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. AY ie A i 4 pe Si gee ci ee i 4 lb ; boston asaya ak i heal ini is i nt GN Babe : i cng : He zs) Lainey io fit Mi Hiei Caan aa i Nit, ‘ Ns ti : " ie ith ae tn a StS: -——