Ake. /

5.

ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

The Gift of
DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY

AND IMMUNOLOGY

Cornell University

Library

The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924089554731

COMMON SENSE

IN

THE POULTRY YARD.

A STORY OF FAILURES AND SUCCESSES.

INCLUDING A FULL ACCOUNT OF

1000 HENS AND WHAT THEY DID.

WITH A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF

The Houses, Coops, Fences, Runs, Methods of Feeding,
Breeding, Marketing, etc., etc. And Many New
Wrinkles and Economical Dodges.

BY

J. P. HAIG.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK:
THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY.
1909,

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Entored According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1888,
BY JOHN PHIN,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D C.

CONTENTS.

Punlisher’s Introduction, - -
Preface, -
How it Came About, - -

Old Experiences and New Plans,
Trying to Improve the Old Stock,
Facts and Fancies, - -

Working Out a System. -
House Building, - -

Broods Increase and Troubles Begin,
Preparing for a Start, :

An Episode, - -
Yards and Fences, -
Breeding Pens,

Making a Start, - -

Under Way at Last--~More Help Needed,

Feeding, . -

Fall Broods,

Our First Winter, -

Nests and Nest Eggs, : :
Marketing, .

Vermin, -

Enemies,

Early Chickens and High-Pricea Eggs,
Retrospective—Profit and Loss, -
Conclusion, -

PREF ACH.

‘TRIFLING as chickens and eggs may, at first sight, appear, it is, never-
theless, a fact, that the output from the poultry of the United States exceeds
in value that of all the silver mines therein. Therefore, whatever will add
even a trifling percentage to the profit derived from our poultry must he,
not only of individual, but of national importance, and it is by the hope that
he might accomplish something in this direction, that the author was in-
duced to prepare the present work.

T have put the subject in the form of a story, in the hope that some who
would be repelled by a mere treatise may find the work sufficiently interest-
ing to read it through. But although the principles and methods are
strung ona slender thread of fiction, they are none the less true. Every
house described, every device herein detailed, every method practiced, has
been successfully used as related, so that the reader need not hesitate to
put up coops and use them after these patterns. I have given the best
practical results of years of experience, and not the mere imaginings of a
theorist or a novelist.

In some of the chapters, notably that on feeding, I have been obliged to
abandon the story form, and to give my results in a general form, otherwise,
this chapter would have expanded into a book. And in other chapters, for
the purpose of giving the practical information more thoroughly, I have
frequently anticipated the course of events as they actually occurred.

T firmly believe that the methods herein detailed are the very best for
all those who do not aspire to the refinements of the business—incuba-
tors, etc. While these are no doubt valuable aids to the extensive and experi-
enced poulterer, I am afraid they are not the thing for the ordinary chicken
raiser. I must confess that I have never owned an incubator, but I have
entrusted eggs to men who claim to be professionals in their use, and I
have not been so encouraged as to be induced to try it again, unless some
new and more powerful inducements are offered. I have always been able
to command enough brooding hens to meet my wants, and my success with
them has been far greater than anything that has come under my observa-
tion from the incubator. But of course this is only my own experience, and
under different circumstances that experience might have been very differ-
ent; so that I hold that in this matter each man must decide for himself.

In the earnest hope that my readers will derive as much pleasure and
profit from their poultry as I have done, I place this little book in their
hands.

J. P. HAIG.

Ferniebield, May 1st, 1885.

PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION.

Ir is an old saying, and one very generally accepted, “ figures can-
not lie.” If by this is meant that two added to two always make
four, it cannot be denied. But, two and two do not always make
four. Sometimes they make twenty-two, sometimes they make
z, and sometimes they make 0, so we see that it is not the figures
alone, but their position as well, that governs the general result.
When Captain Bobadil proposed to exterminate an opposing army
by kiling them off at the rate of ten every half hour; twenty an
hour—ten hours a day, two hundred men—a hundred days, twenty
thousand men—the figures did not lie though the Captain did.
‘The growth of numbers under the potent spells of the arithmetician
is something marvellous. No matter how small the profit, if the
number of articles on which that profit accrues is only great enough,
a fortune of any desired amount may be achieved. No better illus-
tration of this occurs than that of book publishing. If the ordinary
profit on a book is 25 cents, we have only to sell ten times the
number at a profit of 5 cents, to obtain twice the income; and
as low prices bring increased sales, here is a road to fortune.
And so strongly did this idea take possession of one publisher in
this country, that he attempted to:sell books at a profit of only 1
cent apiece, in the hope that by selling millions, the aggregate
profits would be larger than by the usual plan. Unfortunately for.
his scheme, a profit of one cent is not difficult to wipe out. It
does not take many spoiled copies; not many minutes wasted by
clerks; not very much postage, to throw the balance the other way.
At any rate the man who tried it soon found himself a. bank-
rupt.

Perhaps in no case is the power of multiplication and. the

VI PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION.

consequent certainty of a fortune more strongly presented than in
the poultry business. In the first place the number of chickens
which can be raised*from one healthy hen in a few years is some-
thing astounding. Let us begin with one healthy young hen; let
us suppose that she and her female progeny will live for seven
years, (which is greatly within bounds) and rear two broods of
13 each, every season. Let us also suppose that half her chickens
are cockerels, almost all of which will be killed, except those re-
quired for breeding, and therefore let us make no accouut of them.
‘Then it will be found that

At the end of the first year we have the original hen

and 13 chickens, making 14
At the end of the second year we have 196
i " third i a 2,744

e fourth “ i. 38,416

“ 6 fifth c “ be 5377824

: “ sixth 7:529,536

8 e seventh “ ‘ - 105,413,504

Here then is a chance for a fortune. Jet us emigrate to some
western prairie, where we can find unoccupied land which we can
use for a few years—just as do the great cattle robbers—we beg. their
pardon, we mean Cattle Kings—and let us take with us a single
hen. At the end of seven years we will be the happy possessors of
one hundred and five millions of chickens, which at the very low.
price of ten cents each, would make us worth over ten millions of
dollars. At the end of that time, therefore, we can sell cut, come
‘east and enjoy ourselves. -

Of course, in such an extravagant statement as this, the fallacy
becomes too obvious to allow of its deceiving any one, although
in this, as in other casés, the figures do not lie. But, when men
come to talk of thousands the impossibilities seem to disappear and
it does not seem that propositions which are backed by such clear
calculations, and are sustained by apparently well known facts, can
be anything but feasible. Thus, some man reports that, from his
flock of thirty hens he has made an annual profit of thirty dollars; and

PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION. vIr

the question at once arises: Why cannot $3,000 be made from
3,000 hens? In the first place, it is rare to find in such calculations
that anything is set down for labor, the care of thirty fowls being re-
garded as mere pastime and occupying, we will say, only three-quar-
ters of an hour per day. But, let suppose that our flocks increase
to 600 birds—a comparatively small number. We now find that
instead of three-quarters of an hour per day we have to give
fifteen hours per day—a demand upon time and strength which
would soon break down any ordinary man,

Somebody, claiming to have 3,000 fowls, tells us that we ought
never to let a day pass without examining personally each bird, so as
to see if it is in health, and he further declares that ouly in this way
can we be sure of success. Let ussee. Suppose it takes just half a
minute to examine a fowl carefully; then, to examine 3,000 fowls
will take just 1,500 minutes, or 25 hours, which is a Zé/e more time
than we have ever been able to put into a day’s work. The fact
is, that very few people have any idea of what a thousand is, and
none have any idea of what a million is. One man wrote a book
of recipes, etc., and has advertised it as “A Million of Facts for the
People.” His book consists of about 1,000 pages; there are 53
lines to the page, and about 10 words to a line, or 530,000 words
in the book, so that if his claim be well founded, every word must
embody the statement of at least two facts!! It is needless to say
that the claim has no foundation in fact.

The same unsound calculations which seem to infest poultry
keeping are found to affect almost every other business, and suc-
cess is only to be attained in any undertaking, by intelligence
industry, economy and perserverance. As soon as we get beyond
a very narrow limit, the influence of personal work becomes a
trifling element, and we have to depend upon the help of human
beings quite as much as upon the good qualities of our fowls.
And every one knows how uncertain and unreliable most human
help is.

We do not make these statements for the purpose of deterring
any one from entering upon the raising of poultry on a large scale,
provided they bring to the undertaking the requisite amount of

vit PUBLISHER’S INTRODUCTION.

experience, skill and capital. But, without these, failure is almost
certain, and we should be sorry to aid in distributing a work which
would lead enthusiastic but inexperienced persons to lose what little
capital they may have. As for the keeping of poultry on a small
scale, that is always to be commended. Poultry are the scaven-
“gers and save-alls of the nation. The aggregate savings of the
little flocks of ten to a hundred fowls that are scattered throughout
the country amounts to a greater sum than the value of the cattle
and horses pitt together, and to more than the output of our much
lauded silk industry, with all its huge mills, imposing warehouses,
and aristocratic mill owners. And yet, with all this, six hundred
and sixteen thousand dozen eggs passed through the Custom
House in New York during the months of October and November
of last year—showing plainly that the market for eggs is far from
being glutted. Poultry when kept in small numbers on any place
can, in general find a considerable share of their food in scraps
that would otherwise go to waste, and in insects, seeds, etc. “They
are therefore always profitable, and as pleasant as they are profitable.
It is only when this and similar -rural pursuits are taken up as a
business that any danger of failure exists, and in such cases failure
generally arises from the fact that those who embark in the under-
taking make the great mistake of supposing that because they have
a love for birds therefore they must have the ability to care for
them.

COMMON SENSE

IN THE POULTRY YARD.

fjow it Came Abont.

fg has been said that every man thinks himself competent
to edit a newspaper. With much more truth might it be
said that every man thinks himself competent to invest
money to advantage. And it is hardly necessary to say that in
both cases a large proportion of the men who think thus are mis-
taken. ‘Thousands of men have found, by sad experience, that one
of the most difficult things to do is to invest money to advantage
and yet securely. I never suppused that I was specially gifted in
this way, but having occasion to invest the saviugs of many years—
a small sum after all, by the way—I supposed that as good a plan as
any would be to follow in the footsteps of those who might be re-
garded as experts at the business. I do not now speak of specula-
tion or investment in enterprises which promise large results, with,
of course, a corresponding risk, but of those investments which are
supposed to be permanent and secure, and upon which a man
may rely for a certain income for himself, or for his family if he
should be taken away.

‘The prosperity of the country was at high tide at the time of
which I write. Every species of investment promised security and
a liberal income, and the values of real estate were constantly in-
creasing. Nor did this increase seem to be a speculative one.
‘The people were growing richer, and-could afford to pay more for

12 COMMON SENSE

home accommodation; the number of those who wanted dwellings
seemed to be constantly increasing, and consequently there seemed
to be absolutely no reason why prices should ever fall. Not only
were private individuals lending liberally on bond and mortgage se-
cured by real estate, but those professional experts who are retained
by vast monied corporations—insurance companies, savings banks
and the like—were investing the capital of their principals in these
securities, City property always commanded liberal loans, and farms
in good condition were considered very desirable security. And on
what is known as suburban real estate loans to a large proportion
of their value could be obtained. When, therefore, my friend
Brown applied to me for a loan on his new house and grounds, I
had no hesitation in entertaining his proposal. He had _ paid
$1,500 for eleven acres of land, and had spent $8,000 more in
building a substantial and comfortable house upon it, and, in im-
proving the grounds, When, therefore, he applied to me fora loan of
$3,500, I regarded it as a very fortunate occurrence for me, and after
the necessary formalities and searches had been made, I gave him
my check, took the bond and mortgage, and had the latter recorded.

Brown was a Scotchman of more than usual intelligence and
energy ; he was in a good business, and as his family was growing
up he decided to own a place in the country. He had bought a
somewhat wild piece of land near a large country town, but his
taste, knowledge and skill had transformed it into a marvel of
beauty, and a source of many comforts. It was situated on a hill-
side, commanding an extensive and beautiful view, and on the
northern boundary the land rose in a rather steep and rocky slope,
the face of which was covered with ferns, while along the top was
a strip of evergreens which afforded a perfect shelter from the
northern blasts. This rocky and ferny shelter had struck Brown’s
eye from the first, and decided him in choosing, or perhaps I should
rather say in making, a name for his place. He called it Fernie-
bield, which he told me signified in Scotch ferny shelter, and well
did it describe the locality. The name always seemed to me quite
a poetical one as well as an uncommon one, and many a pleasant
hour did I spend there enjoying the romantic walks and splendid

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 13

views, but, above all, the intellectual converse of my friend Brown,
who was not only a highly educated man, but a man of great
natural ability. 3

For a time all went well. Business was good, the interest was
paid promptly, and Brown even thought of reducing the mortgage.
But, alas, for human hopes and plans. One of those commercial
cyclones which seem periodically to shake the very foundations of
society, overtook us; business became as dull as before it had been
prosperous, and Brown with the rest found his income reduced
beyond anything which he had deemed possible. Economy was
tried on every point, and his family aided him in every way to cut
down expenses and make both ends meet, but without success.
There is a point beyond which economy cannot be carried, if we
would continue business at all, and Brown’s business expenses were
actually greater than his income. As a necessary consequence he
defaulted on his interest, and matters daily grew worse. He then
tried to sell, hat found it impossible to get even the amount of the
mortgage, for ieal estate had probably suffered a greater reduction
than any other species of property. ~The speculation in real estate
had run high; the opinion had been universal that real estate pos-
sessed a solid and almost unchangeable value ;. that if it went down
a little now and then, owing to local causes, it would soon rise
again, and that at any rate it could never go very much below the
prices at which it was held.. When, therefore, those who had held
these opinions saw it go down, down, and never .rise; saw it go
far below what they had always regarded as the lowest possible
limit, they became panic stricken, and would no more have bought
real estate as an investment than they would have bought Keely
motor stock. And as for selling suburban residences, that was out
of the question. AH who could afford to buy and to live in such
places were supplied, and many who had made such investments
were forced to give them up, since their diminished incomes no
longer enabled them to support the expenses that were absolutely
necessary. The market was easily glutted, and buyers with cash
were able to obtain the most beautiful and comfortable homes:
almost.at their own prices,

14 COMMON SENSE

Things Iooked. discouraging indeed, and for two long years
Brown struggled on, hoping against hope and looking for a change.
But the change did not come; or at least it came so slowly that:
the “hope deferred made the heart sick.” Meantime the interest
accumulated, and the want of it cramped me, for my regular income
was also diminished. I had no thought of foreclosing, and yet. it
would never do to let the matter run on until the property would
be lost to us both. I did not hint this to Brown, but he saw it as
clearly as I did, and at last approached me on the subject. The
result of our conversation was that we both resolved to make a de-
termined effort to sell it, even if it brought no more than the amount
ot the mortgage and interest. But after six months hard effort we
found that we could not get a buyer even at this low price.
Thoroughly discouraged, Brown suggested that I take the place
myself, He had an offer from a western firm to take’ the manage-
ment of a department of their business at a salary which, even if.
moderate, would at least enable him to live, and he suggested very
sensibly that ‘to close out by resorting to law would only involve
expense without any real benefit. He had an opportunity to
close out his business in the city for asum which would enable him
to get settled comfortably in his new home, and he had decided to
take this course provided he could arrange with me.

To fight against the inevitable is folly, Even if I had refused to
accept his offer, and had held on to my mortgage and foreclosed it
by legal measures, I would have gained nothing but a loss, as the
Irishman said. It seemed hard to take property that had cost over
$10,000 in exchange for a mortgage of little over one-third that
amount, but both Brown and myself saw that it was not our doing.
so much as it was in obedience to the “inexorable logic of events.”
So far as I was concerned, all I wanted was the amount I had put
into the investment. Brown had taken chances; I had taken
none. If the property had increased in value to double its cost
Brown only would have been the gainer, and so as I had no share
in the possible profits it was only just that I should have no part:
or lot in the losses.

And so, in order to avoid all litigation and expense, Brown made.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 1S

out to me a deed of the property, and agreed to give me possess‘on
as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made. I must
confess that I felt no pleasure in my new property. Although it
was certain that I would gain by it in a few years, yet when I saw
the deep sorrow which settled over the family when they found
themselves obliged to give up their beautiful home, any satisfaction
which I might otherwise have, felt was destroyed. In order to
relieve Mrs. Brown’s mind as far as I could, and infuse a hope
which might console even if upheld by a very slender prop, I
agreed to restore the place to them at any time within three years
on payment of the ‘original mortgage and interest to the date of my
taking possession, the rent after that time being considered a full
offset for the interest.

It is unnecessary to enter into further details. of the change. IT
have given these facts in order to explain why it was that I came
to select such an expensive place for a poultry experiment: I did
not select it; it selected me, and though now, after some years,
neither Brown nor myself have much cause to regret the change,
yet at the time it was a pretty severe trial. As I have already told
my readers, Brown was a man of great ability, and in his new posi-
tion he rapidly made himself invaluable to his employers. Rival.
firms were not slow to see that the great success of the new man-
agement was due entirely to Brown, and so persistent were their
efforts to secure his services that the firm he was with admitted
him to a partnership, and he is nowa very wealthy man. He occa-
sionally visits us and enjoys his old home. The best of feeling
exists between us, as may be readily supposed, and although he
was well able to buy back the place before the limit of time had
expired, he did not consider it wise to do so. He could not return
to it and live in it without making an altogether disproportionate
sacrifice; to rent it would be to allow it go to the dogs, and as for
selling it, that was yet out of the question. There is therefore no
danger that my possession will ever be disturbed.

There were quite a number of useful animals and articles on the
place which were now of no use to the original owner. In order
to get at a valuation of these we made out a complete inventory,

16 COMMON SENSE

and employed an experienced auctioneer’s clerk who affixed to
each article the price which he thought it would bring at auction.
The aggregate sum was beyond that which I cared to invest, and I
suggested that the goods had better be actually sold at auction.
Mrs. Brown strenuously objected to this, however, and with her
woman’s sense suggested that if we would dispose at private sale .
of some of the articles that I did not want, and deduct from the
valuation of the remainder the expense of selling, the amount might .
probably come within my limit. Taking off auctioneer’s fees,
advertising, time, etc., reduced the latter sum very materially, and
I bought the goods at their reduced estimate. ‘Amongst the new
acquisitions were a fine old mare (Madge she was called), an excel- ,.
lent cow—almost pure Jersey, though not registered—a covered
buggy, spring wagon, dirt cart,-harness, and the usual supply of
agricultural tools. There were also over fifty hens. and some
pigeons, but the latter were not inventoried. At one time Brown
had some very fine poultry, but during his troubles the flock ran
down until now there was nothing but some fifty or sixty old hens
of a rather mixed breed, and a solitary cock. At this time, how-.
ever, I did not care much about the kind of poultry, and although
I was familiar with the different breeds and knew a good bird
when I saw it, yet I had no intention of doing mofe than merely
securing eggs enough for family use.

All this occurred in early spring, and, of course, it was necessary
that I should take possession as soon as possible, so that the ground
might be put in order for spring crops. But meanwhile it was
found advisable for Brown to visit his new home, not only to make
arrangements for moving and establishing himself there, but also to
consult personally with his employers. All this was going to take
time, so I suggested that’ they give us possession at once and re-
main as our guests until they found it convenient to move. Under
other circumstances‘this would have been anything but an agree-
able arrangement, but under the present conditions it was thought
best todo so. So Mrs. Brown commenced packing and soon
cleared rooms enough to give us an opportunity to move in. We
accordingly gave up our house in the village—a tenant having

IN THE POULTRY YARD. a4

been already. found—and moved all our goods and chattels on to
the place. Some were stored in the barn, others were put to im-
mediate use, and others were stored in vacant rooms. I was
enabled to aid my friends materially in packing up; the work on
the place went on smoothly, and ere long it was time for the
Browns to depart for their distant home. Mr. Brown had returned
and finished packing: Most of his goods had been sent to the
railroad depot and others stowed away in the barn until it suited
his convenience to send for them. At last the day arrived’ when
I was to drive them over to the depot, and that day I shall never
forget. As may readily be imagined the children had become
deeply attached to every animal and almost to every plant on the
place. The horse, the cow, even the chickens, were all old friends,
and the parting was painful to the last degree. But it ended at
last, and we left Ferniebield in anything but a joyous mood. A
short drive brought us to the neighboring station; the train rolled
ott of the depot and I returned to my new home—sad, it is true,
but with a very different feeling from that which I had hitherto
entertained. I now felt that I was absolute master and owner of
the place. So long as the original owner remained I could not get
rid of a feeling that I was subordinate to him. But now I was not
only sole possessor but sole occupier, and after unharnessing the
mare and tying her in her stall, I walked over the grounds and ex-
amined them as I had never done before.

The weather had become settled and warm, and the plants were
developing with spring-tide vigor and rapidity. The garden, which
had been the pride of Mrs. Brown’s heart, was as yet almost un-
touched by spade or hoe, for the pressure of. other things ‘had pre-
vented attention to aught exc2pt the useful. A few early vegetables
had been planted, but that was all; but the o.a plants were spring-
ing up everywhere, as if looking for their lost mistress, and wonder-
ing where was the careful and tender hand that had always hitherto
guided their wayward growth. It was late in the season to begin
gardening; the buds on the vines had swollen, but the rampant
growth of the previous year still hung untouched upon the. trellises.
Other plants showed the same neglected condition, and I turned

18 COMMON SENSE

away with saddened steps and went towards the animals. The
pigeons and hens had been the special pets of my little friend,
Nettie, the fourteen year old daughter of Mr, Brown, and she
had fed and petted them that morning amongst the very last
things she did. ‘Ihey now looked’ upon me with a curious eye,
as if to say “What are you dcing here?” ‘The horse and cow
seemed to miss their former owners less, though I fancy that
Madge has not yet quite forgotten her old friends, and still looks
about and wonders when they will return.

Returning to the house, I sat down under the veranda to think
over the situation, for, I confess, I did not feel altogether satisfied,
and sometimes I doubted the wisdom. of my accepting Brown’s
offer. Still, if the worst came to the worst, I could sell it yet for
whatever it would bring, and then I would be better off than if I
had forced a sale by law and diverted a large portion of the pro-
ceeds into the pockets of lawyers and sheriffs.

After making a very close calculation, and as accurate an esti-
mate as my knowledge of the facts in the case would permit, I
came to the conclusion that our expenses in our. new home would
be from six to eight hundred dollars per year more than they had
‘usually been. In making this estimate I charged taxes, insurance
and interest as rent; repairs I did not include, for I fully believed
that the steady rise in the value of property would more than
offset this item.

Our increased expenses were due to the fact that we would have
to keep a man, a horse and a cow, and that the house being much
larger than was really necessary for our family, would alsp entail
extra expense in the way of fuel, help, etc. The place, too, would
require to be kept up, so as to present at least a decent appearance,
or it would soon become less valuable.

It is-true that for all th's we had our returns in the shape of.
increased advantages and pleasures, lut this did not lessen the
amount that had to be paid for them. I had fully allowed for the
saving that might be effected by having a full supply of such arti-
cles as eggs, milk, butter and vegetables, and had even estimated:
certain receipts from orchard and garden as possible income; but,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. IQ

after all, I had found that our expenses would be greatly increased,
and how were we to meet them without interfering with other obli-
gations that were imperative? ‘This was the question that pre-
sented itself to my mind in such a clear and definite shape.

‘Iwo ways presented themselves: Either I must find some extra
business which would yield the required amount, or the place itself
must be made to yield enough to pay the deficit.

‘The first plan was out of the question. I had already withdrawn
as much as possible from active business, and I had no* idea of
again saddling myself with its cares and anxieties. And to accept
a subordinate position would now be exceedingly distasteful to me.
If I engaged in any pursuit to make this money the business must
be very congenial, and it must leave me entirely independent,
otherwise it would be wiser to sell the place at a sacrifice and live
more cheaply.

It seemed, therefore, that there was no alternative but to make
the place produce the required extra amount. Let me therefore
describe it in detail.

The house was, .as I have said, Jarger than was necessary for a
small family in moderate circumstances. It contained twelve
rooms, was heated throughout with hot air, had water-tanks, bath
room, water-closets, etc., etc. In short, it was as complete in its
appointments as most city houses. It is with the grounds, how-
ever, the productive part, that we have chiefly to do, and therefore
I shall say no more about the house itself.

The land lay along a road which led from a large and thriving
village into the country. The village almost aspired to be a city,
and would have been one long ago if the good sense of the ma-
jority of the inhabitants had not restrained the ambitious vanity of
afew. ‘The road ran almost straight until it reached the foot of a
somewhat precipitous bill, when it turned sharply to the west and

-went round the foot of the mountain. My land was bounded by
this road on the west and by the mountain on the north. The
“mountain,” as it was generally called, was a steep and barren hill
about 200 feet high,.reckoning from the plain at its base. Just
above the base there was a rocky cliff, and above that the line of

20 COMMON SENSE

evergreens to which I have alluded as giving the place a portion of
its name. My line ran along the top of the cliff, but did not
include much of the evergreens. ‘Ihe mountain itself seemed to
belong to nobody. It was almost barren; cattle would find no
pasture on it, and sheep could not be kept in that region on ac-
count of the village curs, which were constantly prowling about,
and would soon have destroyed any sheep that might have been
kept. It had been sold for taxes several times, but no bidder had
ever taken possession and kept it. My line ran along this cliff for
a few hundred feet, and then turned straight down the hillside.
When half way between the cliff and the plain the line turned to
the east, and ran in this direction for some distance, after which it
descended to the line of the next property, and then ran in a wavy
westerly direction till it met the road already mentioned. If the
reader will follow this description, marking the outhme on paper
with a pencil, he will see that the property had almost the form of
a boot, with the toe lying towards the morning sun. And, indeed,
“so strong was the resemblance to a boot, as seen on some plans
and surveys that had been made, that it had actually been called
“The Boot” before Brown bought it and gave it a more poetical
name.

Such being the general “lay of the land,” an account of its vary-
ing character will now be more easily understood. I say varying,
for even on this small plot of ground varieties of heavy and light
soil were found, as well as black vegetable mould. Under the
cliffs the ground was mostly covered with rocky debris, which was
entirely barren and irreclaimable. In spots the broken rocks were
covered with sandy loam which had gradually washed out of the
very thin soil above. On these spots, however, nothing grew,
because they dried so very quickly, except where they were kept
moist by perennial springs, several of which trickled down the cliff,
their course being marked by the exuberant growth of ferns which
sprang out of the rocks, growing in little pockets filled with rich
black mould. A few yards from the base of the cliff the soil
became richer and deeper, though still very stoney, and the further
down, the better the land became, On this ground was formed the

IN THE PQULTRY YARD. 21

vegetable garden. By great labor and much care the rocks had
been removed, and even the small stones picked out to a great
extent. A plentiful supply of good stable manure had been added,
and a very rich and fertile soil was the result. = =

Between the vegetable garden and the house was a strip of grass
land, used generally for laundry purposes, the back of the house
facing this way. At the front of the house was the carriage drive,
which was carried round a large oval grass plot, at one time laid
out as acroquet ground. Beyond the drive was the lawn proper,
and along the edge of this were numerous flower beds, while beyond
that stretched an unbroken field of green grass with a few orna-
mental trees scattered here and there. The house was distant:
about one hundred feet from the road, the approach being under
two rows of soft maple trees, which now gave promise of soon
forming a dense leafy arch overhead.

The lawn was bounded on the south and west by an irregular
row of evergreens, which gave an air of seclusion to the grounds,
the land south of the evergreens being either used as a pasture
field or cultlvated, as circumstances might direct. This was the
lowest part of the grounds and the richest.

Returning to the eastern boundary: At the point where the
line, descending from the hill, turned towards the east, were placed
the barns and stables, and between these and the lawn was the
orchard. ‘The toe of the boot formed a nice little paddock of
about three acres, which had always been used as pasture for the
horse, cow, calf, etc. ;

A little above the barns, and within a few yards of the eastern
boundary, there gushed from the hillside a sparkling spring of as
_pure water as I ever beheld. The water from this spring formed a:
good sized stream, and flowed straight down through the grounds,
-passing directly into the land of our neighbor on the south. It
furnished all the water necessary for cattle, and various other
purposes—washing, sprinkling, etc., and was never-failing. By
means of a hydraulic ram a supply was forced to a tank at the top
of the house, so that the supply there was constant and abundant.
-For drinking purposes we used the water from a well, which was

-

22 COMMON SENSE

so deep and clear that ice was a wholly unnecessary luxury, even
for the care of milk and butter.

As regards the area that was covered by the several divisions
which I have described, it was about as follows: The house,
garden, drive, barns and barnyard covered about two acres; the
Jawn about an acre and a half; the orchard about half an acre,
and about two acres were occupied by shrubbery and barren ground.
This left the paddock of three acres and about three acres more of
good tillable land. ‘The question now was, “What can I do
with it?”

My first thoughts ran to the raising of “truck,” as it is called,
and I studied several works which professed to give the detailed
experience of men who had made money in this business. I con-
cluded that I had about three available acres, the rest being
required for the support of the horse, cow, etc. What crop should
I raise? My object was not + much to establish a highly profit-
able business as to clear a certats mount—say $1,000 per year—
with certainty, and without an immense amount of labor and care.
On reading the books alluded to, I found that in the hands of
skilful gardeners, in the neighborhood of our large cities, a single
acre was quite sufficient to yield this amount as profit. Neverthe-
less, I doubted my own ability to succeed in such an attempt.
True, I had had some experience in gardening, but not as a busi-
ness, and while I had no doubt about my succeeding in raising fair
crops, yet whether I could do it and make it fay was another ques-
tion, The raising of cabbages was carried on quite extensively in
the neighborhood, and at a good profit, as the land seemed to suit
them, and plenty of manure could be had by the car load; carrots,
celery, cauliflower and on? or two others generally commanded
good prices, and when not saleable in our market could be sent to
the city, where the demand was always good. Asparagus struck
me most favorably, and I determined to put out at least one acre
of this plant at any rate. I knew by my own experience that

asparagus always commanded a high price, and even if the general
“demand fell off, good bunches would always sell well. The city
*would always take all I could raise, and after the first work of start.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 23

ing the bed the labor required seemed to me to be less than that
needed for any other crop. Moreover, my thoughts were turned
in this direction because I had always believed that the land south
of the lawn was particularly well adapted to asparagus. There was,
in the vegetable garden, a small asparagus bed which had always
yielded a fair crop, but nothing extra, and this had given the im-
pression that the land was not specially adapted to its culture.
But wandering one day about the grounds, during the previous
season, I came across an asparagus stalk yrowing in a corner of
the fence near the boundary line. I was astonished at its size and
vigor. I dare not state the height to which it had attained, for
few of my readers would believe me; they would certainly think
that I had mistaken some other and unknown plant for asparagus.
It brought me in mind of the scriptural description of the mustard
plant, for verily I beheld the birds of the air lodging in its branches.
So here I marked off my asparagus bed, and I have never had
occasion to regret the selection.

One of the difficulties with asparagus, however, is the length of
time which is required to bring a bed into good bearing condition.
It was now too late to establish a bed that season, and as I had to
allow the plants at least three years to become established, the
prospect of returns seemed rather distant.

Up to this time I had never thought of poultry, and if any one
had suggested these useful animals to me as a source of income I
would have regarded the proposition with considerable: disfavor.
I had great faith in the profits that might be made out of a
small flock of hens, and I had even speculated on the pos-
sibility of keeping poultry on a large scale successfully, but in
my previous calculations the poultry had been used rather as
mere concentrators than as direct sources of profit. In other
words, by converting corn, wheat clover, etc., into poultry and
eggs, I believed that much freight might be saved, the fertility
of the land not only maintained but increased, and thus a
fair profit secured. And-I believe all this to-day with even more
steadfastness than I did then. But to make poultry a paying busi-
ness on three or four acres, even with a few extra acres of: orchard

.

24. COMMON SENSE

and shrubbery for them to range over, was foreign to the previous
train of.my thoughts. Of course there was one -branch of the
poultry business that might be made to pay even on a single. acre;
I refer to so-called fancy or pure-bred fowls, but this was a branch
of the business for which I felt myself totally unfitted, and for
which, owing to certain previous disagreeable associations, I had a
most intense dislike. :

| In previous years, wherever I had had a home with even a
garden attached, I had always kept a few hens and . always with
success, and now as I have already stated, there were in our barn-
yard quite a flock—some fifty or sixty hens—left by Brown. We
had even gone so far as to set a few hens, and already there were
several small broods wandering about the orchard. For experience
had taught me that young fowls whose flesh had been accumulated
in the open air, with all the freedom of the hillsides, and the health
which plenty of exercise and the ability to select natural food con-
fers, were infinitely to be preferred to the birds usually brought to
market, most of which had been confined in dirty coops for two or
three weeks before being killed. It does not require, one to be
much of an epicure or a judge to tell the difference. I had, there-
fore, taken steps. to raise enough for our own table at least, and
thus far we had had tolerable success, though not at all what I
expected, from my previous experience. ‘The young chickens did
not seem very strong, and they certainly were of no particular
breed, for the flock was rather a’ motley one. With the exception
of a few old white Leghorn hens it would have been difficult to tell
what.they. were. Amongst the rest, however, was a very pretty
Seabright’ bantam hen—the especial pet of little Nettie; and here
I cannot forbear-to digress a little and give the reader her history.
This bird was the last one of a trio that had been given to Nettie
by a-friend, and she made me promise that when she got settled in
her new -home I would pack up “Bright Eyes” and send the bird
to her, either by express or by some one willing to take .charge of
her. -As Nettie was a favorite of mine, and very fond of me, I was
only too glad to make the promise. The other hen of the trio had,
during the previous season, hatched out seven beautiful little chicks,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 25

and was rearing them successfully through all the perils of chicken-
hood, when one unfortunate day they strayed off their own grounds
on to those of the neighbor on the south, and, as there was not the
best of feeling between Brown and the other man, the latter set his
dog on them and killed the mother and all her brood. He then
tossed the dead bodies over the fence. It was a brutal action—but
no, I must not say that; it would be a libel on the brute. Brown
might have shot the dog a dozen times, for the animal was fre-
quently on his grounds without permission, but he was too much
of a man to revenge himself on a dumb creature. Moreover, the
dog was a very fine one, and a great favorite with others besides
the wretched master whose instigations he had obeyed. Nettie
was terribly shocked by the death of her pets, and the remaining
birds became more than ever precious.

One day, not long after this, Brown found the dog on his
grounds. He coaxed it to him and tied it up. He then wrote a
note and sent it to the owner, asking him if he should shoot the
dog, or if he would come and take it away. He did not reply ;
but his wife, a lady who had been very much chagrined at her
husband’s churlishness, and who had sent Nettie a beautiful mock-
ing bird with a note of deep regret and apology, came over and
begged to be allowed to take the dog home. To such a woman
few requests can be denied, but my. readers will not wonder that
after all this we called our neighbor on the south Nadal.

The little Seabright rooster met an untimely fate in a different
way. Pugnacious beyond all expression, he would fight anything
that wore feathers, no matter what its size, color or previous condi-
tion. One day, however, Brown bought some live chickens for table
use, and amongst them happened to be a thoroughbred game cock,
a very handsome and powerful bird. The little Bantam attacked him
as soon as he was set free from his coop. At first the game cock
would hardly notice him, but the Bantam persisting in his attacks,
and probably hurting the other so as to rouse him up, was killed in
less time than it has taken to tell of it. Brown saw at once that
the conqueror would .¢ a val able addition to his yard, and I
suspect that this new and thoroughbred blood did a great deal to

26 COMMON SENSE

produce the fine quality of half a dozen of the hens which I found
on the place, and which were marked exceptions to the rest.

So the little Bantam hen was left alone by herself, and it occurred
to me that I would give Nettie a surprise. ‘The hen was laying,
but of course her eggs were not fecundated. A friend of mine, at
some distance, however, had, as I knew, some very fine Seabrights,
so I drove over to his house, taking the little hen with me. I
I explained what I wanted and what I wanted it for, and as a
matter of course I left the hen behind. In a few weeks I received
from my friend ten little eggs, which I set under a quiet old hen,
and in due time had nine of the prettiest, smallest chicks I had
ever seen. Nettie had already written for her hen, but I excused
myself on one ground and another. Now, however, I had no
excuse. The hen herself had been sitting on eggs for ten days, so
I drove over and brought her home, nest and all. The same even-
ing I took away her eggs and gave them to another hen, while I
slipped the nine little chickens under her and left her in darkness.
Next morning she came off the nest, quite proud of her little flock
and taking very kindly to them. I therefore packed her up ina
nice crate, and sent her by express prepaid to her mistress, and
will leave my readers to imagine her astonishment and delight.

But although the little Bantam: rooster had ignobly perished in
the struggle for the survival of the fittest, he had evidently Jeft his
impress on the flock. There were several hens of very small size
in the yard, and their plumage showed that they were related to
him. I therefore saw that if the Bantam eggs I had now Setting
should hatch, it would never do to keep the cocks except in a cage
or aviary. They did hatch, and I had five pullets and six cock- -
erels. ‘Two of the pullets I kept; the other three I paired with
cockerels, and the little beauties were a source of great delight to
some young people to whom I gave them; the three remaining
cockerels J afterwards exchanged for birds of a less beautiful but
more useful breed.

*

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 24

Olds Experiences and New Plans.

AIROWN had never given any personal attention to his
poultry; the selection of the stock that was to be kept
was left pretty much to the servant girl, and she thought
she was doing a wise thing when she killed and cooked the game
cock and allowed one of his sons—a larger and more showy bird—
to take his place. As the mother of this bird was of no particular
breed, he, himself, was a mere mongrel, and as: he was related, on
the father’s side, to all the young pullets of that year, the conse-
quence was that the flock lost stamina; and this, and the fact that
there was only one cock to over fifty hens, explained the small
hatches—many of the eggs proving sterile.

Now, I had resolved that as soon as I got fairly under way I
would make everything on the place profitable in every sense. If
we grew vegetables, they must be the best of their kind and pro-
duced at a moderate expense. Carrying this rule into the poultry
yard, I determined to procure a good cock from some neighbor
and put him with half a dozen hens, and so raise a new flock of
hens that would be vigorous and prolific. I therefore killed off
the rooster and looked about for another, it being my intention to
raise a sufficient number of pullets to entirely replace the old stock,
with, perhaps, the exception of about a dozen hens, which struck
me as being specially fitted for mothers.

I therefore visited my neighbors and ‘examined their flocks, for
the purpose of procuring such a bird but, I ‘must say, with very
oor success. The farmers, as a general rule, had allowed their
poultry to breed after a sort of hap-hazard method; the conse-
‘quence was that their stock, not being very superior in the first
‘place, soon became worse; and I found that Brown’s poultry, run
-down as it was, was better than theirs. Several villagers claimed
to keep pure breeds, but, as a general rule, they were not what I

28 COMMON SENSE

wanted, and in many cases it was easy to see that from in-and-in
breeding the strain had lost stamina.

At first I felt a little discouraged, and thought my only course
was to buy a setting of eggs of some vigorous strain of game birds,
and raise a few roosters in this way. Of all the breeds in use the
games have been bred upon the most correct principles, and, as a
rule, these principles have been rigorously applied. ‘The result is
that there are hundreds of flocks of game birds throughout the
country that bear the same relation to the ordinary birds that
thoroughbred racehorses bear to scrubs. ‘The breeders of game
cocks know that second-class birds are of no use, and conse-
quently those who wish to be successful are compelled to
breed for health, strength, stamina and pluck. And these are the
qualities that tell, whether it be in man, beast or bird. Now,.it is
well known that there are certain external signs, such as hardness
and glossiness of feathers, shave, carriage, etc., which enable the
breeeder of game cocks to choose his breeding birds almost with
certainty, while many of the points which the “fancier” estimates
so highly he ignores altogether. I felt, therefore, that here at least
was ground certain and substantial, and I almost came to the con-
clusion to procure such eggs. Another motive in this direction -
came from the fact that I knew by experience that of all fowls the
game are the best, both as regards flesh and eggs. A young game
cock cannot be equalled on the table—except, perhaps, by a game
pullet; and the killing of a fine pullet has always appeared to me
a crime which should be punished without benefit of clergy.

The chief objection to the games is sail to be their propensity to
fight. I have had oe game cock in a flock, and his descendants
were splendid birds, and as he had nothing to fight with he was
very peaceable. Now, as a single pen of say six hens would fur-
nish all the eggs that I needed for hatching, there would be no
necessity for keeping more than one cock, so this objection would
be done away with. I tried to find a good cock that I might use
at once, but without success, so I procured some eggs from a noted
breeder and thus hoped to be ready for next year.

Meantime I determined to get a good cock of some other

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 29

breed so as to have eggs for raising chickens at once. What
breed should I get?

It is a curious fact that the books tell us very little about the
breeding, and especially the crossing, of different breeds of poultry.
Even ponderous octavos, which would seem from their bulk to be
exhaustive, do not touch upon the subject. I was therefore left to
work it out myself as best I might.

It is a well-established rule in breeding, that the male should
always, if possible, be a thoroughbred. It is true that in fowls it
is sometimes difficult to say what varieties are thoroughbred, and
even the question, “ What is a breed?” has elicited long discus-
sions, as witness the nonsense published in the London ied, and
quoted approvingly in Tegetmeier’s large work. There is little
doubt but that the different breeds now in market are thoroughbred
in very different degrees. The game cock is undoubtedly the most
emphatically thoroughbred bird of any that we have, and it will be
difficult to find a cock of any breed that will so quickly and clearly
impress his own characteristics upon a flock as will a really well-
bred game cock ‘This quality he evidently owes to the fact
that the breed is very old, and for ages it has been re-enforcing
certain qualities to the exclusion of others, until now it possesses, to
an extent not exhibited by any other breed, the power of projecting
these qualities into its descendants, even though the mother be of
a different stock.

The second rule is, that when two breeds are crossed the hen
ought always to be the largest. As a general rule the small breeds
are the most finely bred, and have the most highly nervous organi-
zation. This holds with all animals, including man. Who would
cross a fine blood mare with a cart horse? The progeny would be
worthless. Ora small, fine-boned Alderney cow with a Durham
bull, or even with a scrub? While by reversing the cross and put-
ting a large well-formed mare to a thoroughbred, a most useful
animal would probably be the result, and a fine Alderney bull of a
- good milking strain, will probably produce a calf that will grow into
a first-rate milch cow, even though the mother be a coarsely bred
animal, And yet I have seen men who would not have violated

3° COMMON SENSE

these principles in their‘horses and cows, and yet would put a
Brahma, Cochin or Plymouth Rock cock amongst a flock of half-
blood Leghorns or Hamburghs.

Previous experience had taught me the value of these facts and
principles, and I determined to secure a purely-bred cock of either
Hamburgh, Leghorn or Black Spanish, and mate hiin with six
of my largest and best hens.

If I had been smitten with the “Hen Fever” I would have been
a reader of the poultry journals, and would soon have found out
where my wants could be supplied; but as it was I had to. hunt
about for information as to where such a bird could be found.

One day I heard accidentally that there was actually a-poultry
farm near a village about seven miles from my place, and thatthe
owner had several different kinds of pure-bred fowls. With the
usual exaggeration of ignorance, my informant told me that he had
ailkinds; that he had thousands of chickens of every kind that
could be named, and that he got enormous prices for his eggs and
chickens, with much more to the same purport. I did not have a
great deal of faith in the details of this account, but having nothing
special -to do that afternoon, I harnessed up Madge and drove out
that way. It was a road over which I had never travelled before,
but fortunately there was little opportunity to go astray, and ere
long I found myself near the village and opposite what appeared to
me to be extensive greenhouses. Inquiring of a passer by where
the poultry yards of Mr. Thompson were situated, I was told that
these glass structures formed part of his establishment, and of -
course I at once tried to find the owner. I hesitated at first
whether to make my errand known at once or not. I suspected
that if I told him that I_had driven seven miles for the sake of buy-
ing a rooster he would conclude that I wanted the bird pretty
badly, and he would charge accordingly, so I said that I had been
taking a drive, and having heard that he had some fine poultry for
sale I had called to look at it—all of which was strictly true.

I found that he had some very good poultry on hand, though he -
had disposed of most of his stock, having concluded to give his
whole attention to anew breed that had recently been brought

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 31

out—the Plymouth Rocks. He was quite genial and communica-
tive, and showed me freely over his yards, especially when he
found that I was not a dealer. He also gave me a history of the
place and of his connection with it, a condensation of which will
no doubt interest my readers.

I learned that the place had not bei onged originally to him, but
that he had merely adapted the buildings, etc., erected by a former
owner. ‘This I was glad to hear, as it relieved from the stigma
of ignorance or stupidity a man who was evidently intelligent
and well-informed in regard to poultry, and the buildings and ar-’
rangements were evidently not those which an experienced poultry
breeder would ‘have adopted. It seems that a few years previous
to my visit, the place had belonged to a tailor whose business had
been just sufficient to give him a subsistence. This man was
obliged to take, for a trifling debt, a small tract of rather poor
land, a piece of property which did not add to his income, but, on
‘the contrary, tended to make him “land-poor,” as the expression
is. But, by one of those strange turns of fortune (which certainly
may be called luck) some large manufacturing establishments were
erected! near it; they extended until the tailor’s property becaine a
necessity to them, and he was enabled to obtain his own price.
With the several thousand dollars now in his possession, he looked
about’for an investment, and as he was disgusted with the tailoring
business, he determined to go into something else. Like many other
men, during his days of poverty and struggling he had often turned
his eyes toward some of the smaller rural pursuits, and chicken rais-
ing had taken a wonderful hold of his fancy. He already had a few
dozen fowls, from which he derived great comfort and profit, and the

_golden promises which the possession of a few ‘housand of such
money-producers seemed to lay before him, had often formed the sub-
ject of his day dreams, and had frequentiy consoled him in days of
dark adversity. No wonder, then, that when his barren acres had
been converted into golden nuggets he thought he saw an oppor-
tunity for the realization of all his hopes. Four acres of land on
the outskirts of his village happened to be offered for sale at a
very low figure; he bought them and erected the extensive glass

32 COMMON SENSE

structures which had attracted my attention. Unused to building
contracts and undertakings, he made the common mistake of lay-
ing a foundation Jarger than he could cover, and by the time his
houses, etc., were finished, his capital was nearly exhausted, But,
he persevered, bought several thousand fowls (three thousand, I
think it was) and obtained his food, etc., for them on credit, in the firm
faith that the eggs would more than pay for everything. On his little
yard in the village, he had kept twenty or thirty hens in a’small in-
closure, but, then they were fed on a great variety of food, much
‘of it waste from the household, and they were allowed an occa-
sional run through the entire lot, so that they throve very well,
When the same dense fowl population was transferred to small
coops, with no opportunity for an occasional run over a larger
area, and where they were fed on grain, and nothing but grain,
day after day, they soon ceased to lay eggs; the outgo continued
but the income was cut short.

Moreover, the great extent of glass roofing on such a small place
(for four acres is a very small chicken farm) prevented the utiliza-
tion of much of the ground for culture and plant growth, and
these are always essential, The enterprise was a failure; the feed
bills became due, without any means to pay them, and the sheriff
closed out the entire concern.

The present owner had begun in a different way. Possessed of a
small independent income, but afflicted with an incurable disease, he
had taken up poultry keeping as an amusement, and had devoted
his attention to pure-bred fowls—chiefly the Light Brahma, These
he had so improved and cared for that his birds became noted
amongst his neighbors for their excellence, and he found a ready
market for all the eggs and chickens he could supply. At first his
prices were very low—merely the retail market rates, but having
been induced to send some of his fowls to the county fair, he was
awarded the first prize, and then, orders poured in faster than he
could supply them, and with offers of greatly advanced prices. So
he raised his terms, from fifty cents per setting, to $1.00, and then
to $1.50, and $2.00, and still he could not meet the demand.
His. poultry became a source of income, and when the tailor’s

IN THE POULTRY VARD. 33

place was sold he bought it, intending to rebuild the houses and
rearrange the whole affair. But when he had obtained possession
he found that the buildings had been put up by carpenters who
had followed the designs given in the books, and had not been
guided by a man of extended practical experience in poultry keep-
ing. So he arranged part of them as breeding houses for raising
young chickens, and some of them he rented to a neighbor who
used them as greenhouses. This neighbor had a small peach
orchard of about five acres, adjoining the poultry yard, so he gave
Thompson the right to pasture his chickens in this orchard in ex-
change for the privilege of using the greenhouses—a most judicious
arrangement for both.

Thompson’s business now became larger than ever. He soon
became known to certain city dealers who had a wide connection,
and they bought from him large numbers at very remunerative
prices, because they knew that they could depend upon every bird
being strictly as it was represented. After a while he added other
varieties to his collection, being always careful to maintain the
strict purity of his stock. At present he had White and Brown
Leghorns, Spangled Hamburghs, Black Spanish, and he had just re-
ceived a new breed which has since become famous—the Plymouth
Rocks. These facts I gathered partly from his own lips and partly
from subsequent information from others, but so well was I im-
pressed with the sensible, and apparently honest character of the
man, that I did not hesitate to explain to him what I wanted and
to ask his advice. ‘

After showing me over his yards and explaining his methods and
describing the characters of the different breeds, he led me to a
small yard where, in a series of separate pens, he had about
twenty of the most beautiful Brown Leghorn cockerels I had ever
seen. These he recommended as the best birds for my purpose.
Mated with good common stock of fair size he guaranteed that
they would produce chickens which would give satisfactory results
both as regarded eggs and flesh. As-his price seemed. very
moderate—$2.00 for a cockerel, I paid for one, had it put in a
light crate and took it with me. These crates were quite ingeni-

34 COMMON SENSE

ous, being simply a frame covered with very cheap bagging on
sides and bottom. ‘The top was made of slats and after the
bird was put in, these were fastened with nails. Thompson kept
these crates on hand ready made, and he told me that they were
so cheap that he could afford to give one with every bird he sold.

As I drove home that afternoon I could not help thinking a
good deal about what I had seen and heard. I had always been
a reader of the journals devoted to country life, and was fully aware
that the attempts to raise poultry on a large scale had been numer-
ous, persistent, and in many cases carried out with great intelli-
gence.and enterprise, and with abundant capital. And yet, so far
as I then knew, all these attempts had failed, and I have not
learned to the contrary yet.* And the question then arose and
pressed itself upon my attention: Is failure a vecessary sequel to all
such attempts? It argued, of course, even to my own mind, that I
had a good deal of self conceit when I decided that success could
be attained; that there was no absolute obstacle in the way, and in
all the plans that had come under my observation I could see that
there were glaring defects that must of necessity cause failure.
Some had failed because their quarters were too cramped, I
called to mind one man—and, strange to say, a medical man at
that—who attempted to keep nearly 300 fowls on a space that
should barely have accommodated -fifty. He was thoroughly
“scientific,” and fed his fowls on rations whose composition was
determined more by chemistry than by common sense, and he
failed.

Another, a business man in a large city, felt that he nad a call to
raise poultry and eggs, and so he established a poultry yard. But
although (perhaps this word should be Jéecause) he purchased
liberally of all kinds of food, and procured fowls that were the very
best that the dealers would recommend he failed, and the reason
was obvious. He knew nothing about poultry, and could not meet
emergencies as they arose, but supposed that a hen was a machine,

* Since the above was written we find in a recently published work—Beale’s
“Profitable Poultry Keeping "the following statement: ‘There is little talk
now of establishing poultry farms pure and simple, which never have, and we
do not think ever will, succeed.” :

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 35

and: that all you had to do was to wind her up three times a day
with a little corn and the eggs would roll into the hopper.

These are not imaginary instances, but actual cases. Of minor
instances the number is innumerable, and I myself have known at
least a dozen people who have been smitten with the hen fever and
have sunk money. But all this did not fully convince me that
poultry could not be kept, or that Z could not keep it profitably.

I have been told that in the famous “ Warwick Woodlands,” so
well described by Frank Forrester, there is a poultry farm managed
by a colored man who keeps 3,000 fowls and makes a hanilsome
profit. There is also the poultry establishment of Mr. Baker, in
New Jersey, in which eighty thousand dollars have been invested
in houses, incubators, etc., etc. In regard to the financial success
of this enterprise I am not informed. ‘he gigantic establishments
of De Sora, Don San Fuentes, etc., etc., so graphically described
by Burnham, Lewis and others, are mere myths, and have no
existence,

Looking back over an experience of many years I could recall
my first acquaintance with the poultry yard, where the hens were
always a source of ready money at times when other crops were
not available. And even now I could recall from that long-past
experience facts and methods which seem to be forgotten, and yet
are well worthy of being kept in use. In those days there were no
stolen nests—no lost eggs, and yet our poultry had free range over
many acres—those places from which they were to be excluded
being carefully fenced so as to keep the poultry out. Well do I
remember how we depended, with a trust that I never remember
to have been betrayed, upon the hens returning to their own roosts
at might. Although they numbered some hundreds, and during
the day spread themselves over a wide expanse, they always re-
turned at eventide. In those days no laying hen ever left her
house in the morning until she had laid her egg It is the easiest
thing in the world to tell whether or not a hen is going to lay an
egg during the next twelve hours; and well do I remember out
old hen wife examining each hen, and letting those without eges
go, while those that were going to lay. were kept in. When a small

36 COMMON SENSE

boy I used often to be pressed into the service of catching the hens
in the hen house during the operation of “trying the hens.” And
the hens being always kindly treated and frequently handled were
not difficult to catch.

‘Then, I remember, how, years ago, when we first went to house-
keeping in our own home, we resolved to have fresh eggs for our
table, and not be disgusted with occasional stale eggs, which pre-
vented all further enjoyment of that meal. And so I made a small.
house that two men could easily carry about, and with portable fenc-
ing, almost the same as that described in. this book, I made a small
yard in which I kept half a dozen Light Brahma pullets, that kept
us in eggs nearly the whole year round. And, I had not forgetten
the success with which I raised some of the handsomest birds that
had been seen in that locality—birds, to which people walking
past our city lot, would give no mere passing glance, but would
stand still to admire. This was the first ‘instance I had ever
seen of a movable coop designed to enable us to give the birds
fresh ground whenever we desired to do so, and to raise crops on
the soil which they had at the same time both enriched and de-
filed.

These things I looked back upon with pleasure. Not that
they had been very profitable—they were on too small a scale for
that—but, because I felt that I was not without a certain familiarity
with the subject, and, consequently, I would probably be able to
steer clear of any glaring mistakes at first.

Such thoughts occupied my mind as we jogged along, and [
suppose Madge often wondered why her old master did not keep a
tighter rein, and watch for her stumbling. It was dark when I got
home, so I put the little rooster in Madge’s stable and left them
for the night.

During my waking hours, poultry occupied my chief attention.
The barren soil along the cliffs; the unoccupied land on the east,
the use of which I could have for the asking; the necessity for
something to profitably occupy my time and effort, all passed he-
fore me in vivid and earnest thought. I saw the uselessness of this
land for everything else, and: its great value for a poultry range,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 37

and the idea impressed itself upon my mind that, while poultry keep-
ing could not be expected to lead to fortune, it might afford a very
pleasant and very efficient means of adding to a slender income.
But so much had been attempted in this direction, and always with
failure, that, after all, I could not help regarding the project with a
good deal of doubt. The “hen fever,” the “poultry craze,” and
the “chicken mania,” well-known forms of speculative dementia,
had ruined thousands, and therefore I resolved to banish it
from my mind. With this I fell asleep, and when I woke the sun
was shining brightly through my bed-room window.

38° ‘COMMON SENSE

Erving to Improve the Old Stock.

WAS up betimes next morning, and my first errand was
to the stable, where the new cock had been left. I
found him roosting quietly on the side of Madge’s stall,
and as he rose up when I entered, I got-a very good view of ‘him.
I could see that he was just what I wanted. Plump, yet not logy;
clear eye, and bright comb and wattles; firm, bright, springy
feathers, that felt wiry, yet not harsh—just the opposite to the soft
fluff that hangs round the necks of weakly-bred fowls; bold, erect
carriage, seemingly fearless of anything. He was just the bird I
had been looking for. I-knew little about “ standard,” and cared
less; a “Judge” might have cut down his “points,” so that he
would not score “40”: out of a possible “100,” but according to
my way of judging he scored over “go” at least, and, joking aside,
IT believe he was a good bird, even according to the standard; for,
as I afterwards learned, Thompson’s stock was noted amongst the

dealers for careful breeding. From my talk with him the day,
before I found that he was a: judicious, conscientious breeder, and
that I ran little risk of getting a bird with a bar sinister on his
escutcheon. And this is an important point, for crosses are very
apt to crop out in after breeding, while so various are the different
shades of plumage of dunghill fowls, that amongst even common
birds some are occasionally found that show many of the points
of thoroughbreds. But while these individual birds may show
great excellence, their progeny are sure to be mixed in color, aid
with every variety of shape and quality as layers and meat-pro-
ducers. :

Some of my friends were a little surprised that I did not select a
larger breed, so that by crossing with some of my large hens I
could get good-sized fowls for the table. But my experience had
been that the size of the cock is not of so much importance. Some

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 39

years ago a friend had a game cock which he did not wish to part
with, and yet could not very well keep, so he Jet me have the bird
for a time. He was a very handsome, vigorous fellow, but small—
less than 5 lbs. I mated him with some hens that were’ part
Brahma, part Dominique, and looked a good deal like the Plyin-
outh Rocks of to-day. They were fine large hens, and the progeny
of these fowls and the game cock were very handsome and very
large. Most of them had pencilled necks, and iooked like what
are sometimes called “ Pheasants.” Others were of various colors,
but all were well-shaped, vigorous fowls, and the pullets proved to
be good layers. The cockerels were heavy and of delicious flavor.
The finest became the pet of our servant girl, and as she had taken
great care of the poultry I allowed her to keep him, although
against my better judgment. At two years old he-weighed 12%
pounds, and was universally admired for his fine looks, but his
progeny (although breeding in-and-in was carefully avoided) were
very inferior to the chickens of the previous season when the game
cock was at the head of the yard.

Now, the Brown Leghorn is as nearly a thoroughbred as can be
had, and as. this breed is noted for laying qualities I felt certain
that my choice had been a judicious one. But, like many other
men, I had secured the bird without having a place to put it. To
have let him loose amongst the large flock of hens would have
ruined him and done the hens very little good. Where could I put
him ?

In one corner of the barn was a small room which had been used
for a storeroom, but was now empty. It was about ro feet by 12,
with a good-sized window. So I sent to a saw-mill for a barrel of
sawdust, with which to keep the floor clean, provided troughs for
food and water, nests for the egg layers, and placed a stout pole,
about 3-inches in diameter, across one corner asa perch. With
my present experience I would not have used sawdust, but would
have taken dry sand, which is far better and much cheaper, as it
can be had for the cartage. Dry earth is better still on brick,
stone or earthern floors, but on wooden floors it is apt to produce
decay, since, no matter how dry it may be when it is put in, the

40 COMMON SENSE

bottora of the bed of earth will become damp, and in time will rot
the floor.

The nest boxes were simply small packing boxes, not less than.
12 inches in any dimension. They were prepared by removing all
the top or covers except about 3 inches at one edge; this was
firmly nailed on, and when the box was laid on its side the strip
‘formed a ledge which kept the straw and eggs from rolling out,
Such nest boxes are cheap, easily moved, easily cleaned, and, when
set with the opening about ten inches from a wall, they afford that
secrecy which hens love so much.

Meanwhile, the hens in the large poultry house had been kept
shut up all morning. I now examined them, selected three that I
thought would mate well with the Brown Leghorn, and placed
them in the room I had fixed up. As there had been no cock in
the large yard for over two weeks I felt pretty sure that any chick-
ens that might be hatched would be the progeny of the Brown.
Leghorn, and I also knew, from former experience, that after these
hens had’ been with the Leghorn for a week the eggs would be
fertile.

The next step was to prepare a proper coop out doors. On.the
place was a packing case which had been sent from the city with
an organ. The organ had been sold by Brown just before he
moved away, and was purchased by a party in the village, and as
the case was not needed for such a short journey it was probably
forgotten. At any rate it was mine now, so. I removed the bottom
and used the boards to increase the height of the case, and with a
little extra lumber I soon had-a very comfortable little house, amply
sufficient for seven hens and the rooster. The door was a small
affair, just enough to let a good-sized boy or small man creep in,
‘but as the eggs were reached from the outside, and as the house
was never cleaned except by moving it, a door was perbaps not a
necessity.

The next thing was'the fence. I made several lengths of port-
able lath fence, the same as that hereafter described, and enclosed
a space 32 feet long and 16 feet wide at one end, and 16 feet and
the width of the house at the other. The hens were large, with a

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 41

good deal of Brahma blood, so that a low fence ‘easily kept them
in; but the cock would have required a ten-foot fence, and, indeed,
I doubt if even that would have confined him against his will. So
I just shaved off the feathery part from the quills of one wing, and
after that the height of fence necessary to restrain him was limited
by his power of jumping, and which, by the way, was by no means
contemptible.

It did not take long to get the new house in order. Laying
plans and getting material consumed more time than did the actual
work, but on the evening of the second day we had the three hens
first selected, safely in their new quarters. As they had been two
days in company with the cock I was satisfied that the eggs would
soon prove fertile, so I selected two more hens and placed them in
the storeroom, and next day I added two more, thus making seven
breeding hens in all. On the fifth day I placed the cock in the
out-door coop with the three hens first selected, and as soon as the
hens in the storeroom had laid four eggs each, I placed them in
the coop and gathered all the eggs for hatching.

The time which it takes to produce fertile eggs depends, of
course, upon circumstances. If the hens are not laying, and do
not lay for a week after they are with the cock, then every egg will
probably be fertile. -But if they are laying, then every egg that is
developed to a certain extent will be sterile. After the filh egg it
is safe to depend upon them. ‘These hens were all laying. This
is an easy matter to determine, and we took care to examine the
hens before selecting them. During the first seven days we’ got
thirty-five eggs from the seven hens, and these we used for cooking.
After that we set the eggs as fast as circumstances would permit.

Subsequent experiments threw this little venture entirely into the
shade, but it may not be out of place at this point to give the
reader the results, and this Iam able to do, because I kept this
little flock and their progeny separate for several seasons, having
regarded it with a good deal of interest, since it might be supposed
to serve as a test of the correctness of my plans and theories.

My object at this time was merely to establish a new flock of
about fifty hens for my own family use, and perhaps the sale of a

42 COMMON SENSE

few eggs and chickens every year—the sales being expected to
offset, to a slight extent, the money actually laid out for feed, etc.

As already stated, I had only one rooster—the Brown Leghorn—
and on taking stock I found that I had just 57 hens. After select-
ing seven for breeding purposes this left exactly fifty for laying.
Most of my neighbors would have had five or. six roosters with
these hens—a useless expense, as I have found that hens lay quite
as well when. alone as when with a rooster.

‘By confining the attentiom of the rooster to seven hens, the bird
was not exhausted and enfeebled, as he would have been if he had
been put with the whole flock. ‘The eggs were therefore more
likely to be impregnated, and the progeny more certain to he
vigorous. I have found, by experiment, that a single attention
from the cock is just as good as a dozen, and perhaps better, pro-
vided he is in vigorous condition, Weak chickens do not come
from’ the fact that the hens have not had attention enough, but
from the fact that.owing to too many efforts in this direction: the
vitality of the cock is lowered. Of course the influence of the
cock disappears after a few days, and must be retiewed, but while
it lasts there is no diminution of its potency.

By selecting choice hens, and breeding only from them, I was
enabled to control the kind of chickens I-should have, and by
keeping them in a coop by themselves I lost no time selecting eggs
and trying to find out which hens laid them. It may be possible
for a poultry keeper with five or six hens to distinguish the eggs of
each individual bird, but where there are thirty to fifty this becomes
impossible. By keeping the breeding hens by themselves all trouble
in selecting eggs is avoided.

The result of the experiment-was all that I could desire. We set
the hens of the main flock as fast as they became broody, and ina
little while we had quite a number of young broods scattered over
the place. Some of the breeding hens wanted to set; we gave
them eggs and let them bring out their broods. Meanwhile, four
more hens were selected from the main flock: and shut up with the
rooster in the room first prepared. After two days he was returned
to the out-door flock, which was now reduced -to four, and again,

va

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 43

after two mote days, he was replaced in the small room. Two
days after that he and the hens were placed in the out-door coop.

‘The chickens from this cross showed wonderful uniformity.
Nearly every ‘one had a pencilled neck, the feathers being reddish
with a black stripe down the centre. The bodies of the birds were
a dark reddish-brown. In shape they were excellent—legs not too
long and plenty of breast. They matured early, and the pullets
were most prolific layers. A few showed a most decidedly dung-hill
origin, evidently having “cried back” to some long prior ancestor.

‘Altogether we set 37 hens and raised 271 chickens—an average
of a little over seven to each brood. S.me poultry keepers will
probably think this a poor hatch, but the reader must remember
that many of the setting hens were small, and not very good
mothers... Of these 157 were cockerels, which we killed, and either
used or sold, and r14 were pullets, of which go were considered
good enough to keep. At the close of the season we sold most of
the hens that were in the old house and yard, together with the 24
culls. The price received was quite satisfactory, and in this way
we got rid of all this old stock. In the winter we placed the go
young pullets in the house, but without any rooster. As they were
late birds they did not begin to lay as early as we would have
hiked, but they continued laying all through the summer months,
and, in order to see what the result would be, we selected seven of
the best, mated them with a Brown Leghorn from another yard,
and raised enough chickens to supply us with fifty good pullets.
These pullets were three-quarter Brown Leghorns, and showed their
origin very ‘clearly. They were smaller than their mothers, but
were good layers.

It is astonishing how rapidly a cross can be brought back to any
breed simply by using thoroughbred males. Thus—

The first cross produces half-bloods.

The second gives us three-quarter blood.

The third produces seven-eighth.

The fourth produces fifteen-sixteenths.
_ The fifth brings it to thirty-one-thirty-seconds,
which’ is so nearly pure-bred that few people can tell the difference.

44 COMMON SENSE

My experience, is, however, that after the first cross the: purer
the progeny is the worse it is, until we pass the fifth, at which point
it again begins to improve quite rapidly.

The cross between Brown Leghorn and ordinary speckled hens
is most excellent in every point except one—the plumage is a little
too dark for a market bird—and as fully half our young stock will
be sold either dressed or to be killed, this is a very important mat-
ter. I feel now that it would have been much better to have
selected a White Leghorn cock, but as the question of marketing
did not occur to me at this stage of my experiment, I made the
selection I did.

In selecting the hens I had tried to pick out those that had just
commenced laying after having been broody. ‘There were several
of this kind on the place; some we had “ broken up,” others had
brought out a few chickens, which had been taken away and united
with other broods, and of some the chickens, from weakness of
constitution and want of care during Brown’s moving, had entirely
disappeared. I do not regard it as a settled point by any means,
but I am inclined to believe that the eggs laid by a hen just before
she wants to set neyer produce quite as strong chickens as those

-that'she lays previously.
I have always had a fondness for a lot of chickens: uniform in

color, and yet, pethaps, I have been less successful in securing this.

than other breeder that I know of. Brown’s chickens were of all
sorts, sizes and colors; pure black and pure white; mottled, red, pen-
cilled necks, and so on to the end of the list. It was with great
difficulty that I was able to pick out four or five hens that were
‘anyway nearly alike, but I thought that next season, seeing that I
must have a goodly lot of chickens from the same mother as well
as the same father, I would be able to pick out seven pullets for
breeding ; and by getting a new cock from some other yard, so as
to avoid in and-in breeding, I would be able to gradually build up
a flock that would do me credit. And here let me say a word
about breeding too closely. I am perfectly well aware that a new
breed cannot be established without very close in-and-in breeding.
This. has been the practice of all the great poultry breeders, and it

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 45

has held equally in other departments—even in insects. In the
“ Dictionary of Practical Apiculture” I find the law laid down very
clearly under the word “ Breed.” ‘The author says:

“Tn attempting to establish a new breed or to improve an old
one, we must, contrary to the usual opinion, pursue a reletitless
system of breeding in-and-in, and it is here that the skill and judg-
ment of the expert breeder will be most fully shown. We have on
the one hand the danger of weakening the constitution of our
stock, and on the other, the danger of producing a lot of mongrels
without any fixed characteristics. The experience of all great
cattle breeders has shown that it is only by in-and-in breeding that
the tendency to “cry back” can be eliminated, and these men have
also shown that when sufficient care is exercised in the selection of
the breeding stock, the danger of weakening the constitution is not
to be feared. In this connection it should be remembered that all
the well-marked native races of bees must have been produced by
a series of in-and-in breedings, combined with a system of natural
selection, which allowed the survival of none but the fittest—all
the weak and non-prolific, and all the poor honey-gatherers being
killed off during severe seasons. It is the same here as with the
great herds of cattle and horses which roam at large in various
countries. The most powerful and active bull or stallion obtains
the leadership of the herd and breeds in-and-in with his own
cousins, sisters, and even daughters, until one of his progeny, more
powerful than he, displaces him in turn. But here we have the
weak and feeble calves an foals selected by the forces of nature
with better judgment than ever man exercised, and killed off by the
inclemency of the weather as surely as ever butcher’s knife did its
work.”

But my object was not to build up a new breed, but merely to
improve an old flock. Therefore I could not afford to make such a
study of my birds as would enable me to work out such matings as
would successfully counteract the evils of in-and-in breeding. Bu:
so far as mere uniformity and excellence of the individual birds
were concerned, my success was all that I could wish. By using

46 COMMON SENSE

the purest Brown Teghorn males that I could: find, I kept gradu-
ally getting nearer and nearer to pure Brown Leghorn hens, with
this disadvantage, that I could not sell their eggs for hatching.
It is true that they were slightly larger, and more hardy, than any
thoroughbred fowls of their kind that I could. get, but, on the other
hand, they were not as large as a first cross between ‘Leghorns and
Brahmas, or Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks. After the fifth sea-.
son I discarded them entirely, and sold them to a farmer who
wanted Brown Leghorns, but did not care to give the price of
thoroughbreds. How they will turn out in his hands remains to
be seen. IT understand that he is taking. great pains with them,
having set off four pens which he. keeps entirely separate, and-uses
cockerels from one, and pullets from another, for breeding, so as to
avoid, as much as possible, all very close breeding, and thus keep
the strain pure and in all its vigor.

For myself, for reasons which I have fully explained, I have
abandoned this cross, as well all crosses from pure bred females.
I get better results from females of mixed blood, than from those
that are pure, but in all cases the males must be thoroughbred.
The potency of the male in transmitting the qualities of his breed
is in exact proportion to his pedigree; if mated with a hen of
equal potency it is. difficult to tell what the result will be; some-
times the hen, and sometimes the cock will govern the character of
the progeny. Use hens of less potency—that is, less purity of
breed; in other words, use cross bred hens, and the character of
the male will be more fully developed.

IN THE POULTRY. YARD. 47

Facts and Fancies.

JHE balmy days of June were fully upon us, and as I sat
one evening watching the increasing rows of brooding
coops with their tiny population, I could hardly help
dreaming of the future possibilities which they enfolded. I had
already fully discussed in my own mind, the subjects of truck farm-
ing, or gardening; of the keeping of cows, and selling milk; of the
raising of small fruits, and of some other branches of country work
which I thought might help me out, but, after the most thorough
and fair consideration that I was able to give them, I was com-
pelled to decide that they would not suit my purpose. At the
sight of so many young broods, I again reverted to poultry-keep-
ing, and could not help running over in my mind the ordinary cal-
culations upon which the profits of this business are based.

The usual calculation is, that a hen can be supported for one
dollar a year, and that, if of a good breed, she will lay twelve
dozen eggs, which sell at various prices from 20 to 60 cents per
dozen. Assuming an average of 35 cents, the twelve dozen would
bring $4.20, leaving a profit of $3.20. The manure, etc., is sup-
posed to offset the labor and interest on house, etc., and as the hen
ning, TH CARRS aL altos DET oe, it is argued
that the profit ought to be’ quite equal to the amount named.
Now, it seemed to me that, if this were anywhere near correct,
people would have found it out long ago. Still, it no doubt re-
quires skill, tact and knowledge to produce such a result, and it is
not every one that can command these. But, the point which
impressed me most strongly was, that if there was any basis of fact
in these calculations, then 235 hens ought to yield $750 yearly,
the amount I needed to make ends meet, and as I had already on
the place nearly half as many hens and chickens as was demanded,
the fact stared me in the face, that, with very little more expense
and labor, the experiment miglit be tried.

48 COMMON SENSE

I doubted the accuracy of both the elements of the above calcula-
tion, however. I suspected that no hen, even of the smaller breeds,
could be supported. on one dollar a year, wiless under very special
and favorable circumstances, and I also doubted the amount of the
receipts. An average of ten dozen eggs from each hen of a large
flock, even with a judicious selection of the birds, and with very ex-
cellent care, would be as much as could be expected. I had myself
realized more than this, but the flock was small and exceptionally
good. Allowances must be made for sudden invasions of disease
and accident, but these I did not greatly fear.

But, even at these reduced estimates, the profit ought to be
considerable, and 250 fowls-is not by any means a number be-
yond what can be easily handled. Three, or at most, four houses,
would accommodate them, and the labor would not be more than
could be spared from other things by the hands already on the place.

My first thought was to see what others had’ accomplished in.
this direction, but the records were very meagre, many of the most
important data being omitted. I could find only two books in mar-
ket that professed to describe the best systems and methods of man-
aging large numbers of poultry, one being the “ Poultry Breeding

‘in a Commercial Point of View,” by Geyelin, andthe other,
“An Egg Farm,” by Stoddard. Geyelin’s system was altogether
too artificial for my purposes, and as report said that it had not
proved a-success in the hands of the originator, I did not feel very
much encouraged to adopt it. Neither was the system described
by Mr. Stoddard adapted to my circumstances. The extent of
ground and “ plant” necessary to fully carry out his system was
more than I could command. Moreover, I never could quite
make up my mind that the system described in that book had
been actually carried out in practice. It always seemed to me that
Mr. Stoddard had “evolved it from the depths of his inner conscious-
ness.” And, indeed, the chief point upon which the system is
based, viz., the alleged fact that hens will not stray far from their
own homes unless led away, contradicted my own very emphatic
experience, for my fowls have often wandered away to a distance
quite equal to half the breadth of his farm.

IN THE- POULTRY YARD. 49

Now, it so happened my wife had kept accurate accounts of all
our income and outgo in regard to the hens, and although the con-
ditions were not quite th2 same as now, yet they were sufficiently
so to enable me to get at the figures I needed.

I found that in former years it had cost $1.25 per bird for
the year’s sustenance. But, in this case, the cost had been diminished
by various little items, such as waste from our own table, etc.
But, as we had previously bought all the food, whereas now we
could easily raise a considerable portion of it, these two differences
might perhaps be allowed to offset each other, and [ therefore put
down $1.30 as the cost of keeping one hen ‘n food for a year,
The receipts from eggs alone ought to be at least ten dozen eggs
at 30 cents per dozen, which would be $3.00, and this would leave
$1.70 for labor, interest on houses, fences, etc., and for profit.

So far the calculation was quite simple, and the data not diffi-
cult to get at, for even if I had had no record it would not have been
difficult to tell what it cost to keep for a week the seven hens anda
rooster which I had now cooped up, and then a very simple sum
in arithmetic would have given me the information I needed.
But when it came to the cost of housing, attendance, range, etc.,
the exact figures were not so easily got at. A dozen or twenty
fowls may be housed by means of makeshifts which may be said to
cost nothing, because even the labor is merely pastime, and the atten-
dance is mere amusement. One thousand fowls cannot be cared
for in any such way, and I had no data, and did not know where
to look for any. Geyelin’s work is very explicit on the subject, but
the conditions are very unusual, while Stoddard is singularly deficient
in those statements of time and cost which are so important in a
matter of this kind, and which are so apt to creep into a record of
actual experience.

After much thought and figuring, I came to the following con-
clusions :—

1. That if the cost of housing and attendance were left out of
the calculations, I could make a clear profit of $1.70 per hen.

2. That with my present help and facilities, I could take care
of about 250 hens and their young. To do.this work there was

50 COMMON SENSE..

part of the time of one man and a girl, and so much of my own time
as was not occupied with the oversight of the rest of the place,
and such other calls as are usually made upon a man in a similar
position.

3. My present accommodations would enable me to care for

about 125 fowls.
1 4. That by hiring a good, steady, elderly woman, who would
give all her time to the fowls, I could easily increase the number
to 1,000 birds. I proposed to oversée and direct; as well as to aid
in actual work; the man would do the heavy work, and the girl could
find time for a little general assistance, and as she was very much
interested in the hens and chickens, she was always very willing to
do so.

These points being reached, several important questions pre-
sented themselves, amongst which were the following:—1. How
many birds can I keep successfully on the land that I have available
for such a purpose? 2. How much extra house room must I pro-
vide? and, 3, How should I arrange the houses and yards ?

I calculated that the paddock must be reserved for the horse
and cow; one acre was already devoted to asparagus, so that this
left about two acres of arable land, two acres of . shrubbery, and:
half an acre of orchard, making about four and a. half acres, to
which might be added the barnyards for the older fowls in winter,
and the lawn for small chickens in summer. How many chickens
could I keep in this space ?

Upon no subject did I find such great diversity of opinion as
upon the extent of ground that should be given to the flocks—in
other words, in regard to their range. The author. of the “Egg
Farm,” allows 624% acres to 5,000 birds, which is at the rate of
544 square feet to each bird; Wright, the author. of “The Prac-
tical Poultry Keeper,” in his own yards, allows 44 feet to each
bird, and tells us that they thrive well. He also tells us that he has
known of “fowls” being kept on a space of 12 feet by 3. This
is at the rate of 36 square feet for several birds—say 3 to 5—or
with an allowance of from 12 to 7 square feet for each.

Geyelin in his “ Poultry Breeding in a. Commercial Point of

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 51

View,” describes his “poultry homes” intended for 6 hens and
1 cock, for breeding, or 12 laying hens, as being 21 feet by 3.
This is 66 square feet to 12 hens, or 5%4 square feet to each
bird.

Warren Leland, a very successful poultry keeper, alows four and
a half acres of land to each thousand birds. ‘This is at the rate
of 196 square feet to each )ird.

The editor of the Massachusetts Ploughman allows 6 acres of
rocky land to each 1,000 birds. This gives 261 square feet to each
bird.

In former years I had kept twelve birds in good health and un-
usual productiveness in a yard 16 -feet long and 8 feet wide which
gave very little over 12 square feet to each bird. It is true that
they were given the liberty of the whole garden occasionally for a
short time, and this would of course break the monotony and enable
them to gather insects, etc.

Allowing 100 square feet to each bird, an acre would serve for
435 fowls, and this seemed to me to be about the right amount to
secure health and contentment. On this basis, I ought to be able
to keep at least 2,000 fowls on my place—about twice the number
that I at present thought of keeping. So much the better for
the fowls.

As my present accommodations were fitted for at least 125 fowls,
about 8 times the present amount of house-room would be required,
and this was perhaps the most serious question of all, because
it concerned an investment which would prove an almost total
loss if the enterprise should prove a failure. Land could be de-
voted to other purposes, and fowls could always be sold for nearly
what they cost, but chicken houses would be worth jusi so much
kindling wood, and from even this value must be deducted the cost
of chopping them up. My next step, therefore, in making my cal-
culation was to fix upon the arrangement of my yards, and the
number of birds in each house.

I searched carefully the records of what others had done, chiefly
with a view to finding out how many hens had been successfully kept
in one house and yard, I found plenty of descriptions of houses

52 COMMON SENSE.

calculated to hold from one hundred to three. hundred fowls,
but no account of the success with which the birds had been
kept. I was, therefore, compelled ‘to fall back on my own experi-.
ence.

Turning back to my earliest memories connected. with poultry,
there was presented to me a most distinct mental picture of a
rough poultry house in which over one hundred birds: found a
nightly lodging, and in which they Jaid their eggs. . ‘They throve
well; I never remember to have seen disease among them; eggs..
were abundant, and the labor of caring for them was not very
great. During the day they wandered over a large area. of farm
land, but always returned at night.

Coming down to later years, I had in mind a former poultry
yard of my own. We had a house which accommodated about
fifty hens very nicely, but we raised about two hundred chickens
from which we saved fifty pullets, and for these,- quarters had to be
found elsewhere. We put up a cheap house of rough boards, bat-
tened, and kept them in that. They laid well, maintained good:
health and proved quite profitable. But the special Jesson which this
later experience taught me was, that, although the two flocks wan-
dered over the entire place (about 334 acres) and. mixed with-
each other freely, they always returned to their own houses to roost
and to lay, and no quarrels were ever occasioned by the two differ-
ent sets coming in contact.

T felt sure therefore that I could place as.many houses as I chose
on the grounds with seventy-five birds to each house, and that so long
as the general range was sufficiently extensive I would find no diffi-
culty. I therefore fixed upon . seventy-five hens as the number
which my houses ought.to accommodate, and resolved: to build
one, intending to add house after house, until I had as many fowls
as I wanted.

And thus, after much thought, and no little actual. work in inves-
tigating the subject, I came to the conclusion that in my peculiar
circumstances, aiid with my tastes and training, poultry was. the
only rural employment that offered a way out of the difficulties.
that beset me.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 53

.

Working Ont a Spstem.

AVING decided to make the attempt to add to my in-
come by the keeping of poultry, I ‘set resolutely at
work to arrange my plans, and work out a thorough

system, so that success might be assured with at least a reasonalle

degree of certainty.

It was my purpose to have ultimately in my yards 1,000 laying
hens. I concluded to dispense with cocks, as an expensive and
useless addition, so far as these hens were concerned. Of these
1,000 hens, I intended to have, on the first of January every year,
500 birds of about nine months old, and 500 that were a year
older, the intention being to get rid of the latter during the follow-
ing season, as soon as they ceased to lay. This involved the
necessity of raising 500 choice young pullets every.year, and as,
more than half the chickens raised would be cockerels, and one-
third of the remainder might prove culls, it was necessary that I
should raise every year from 1,500 to 2,000 chickens. Allowing
that each breeding hen, during the season in which I wanted to
hatch my chickens, would lay 40 eggs, it would be necessary for
me to have 50 breeding hens. These would have to be kept in
small pens, of say 6 or 7 each, with a carefully selected: cock—re-
quiring about eight breeding pens. Allowing an average of nine
to a brood I found that I should need about 250 sitting hens with
accommodation for them.

As it was now nearly tlie first of July, it was too late to do
much this season, but after mature deliberation I decided to pro-
cure during the next three or four months, about 500 young hens and
thus make a fair beginning for the coming year. Next season I
intended to raise my full complement of 500 pullets, so that at
the end of a year and a half from this time my system would ue In
full operation.

54 ‘COMMON SENSE

The breed that I should adopt occupied my first thoughts, be-
cause on this depended to some extent the kind of houses, coops
and yards that I should build.

I had had personal experience with Black Spanish, White and
Brown Leghorn, Dorking, Light Brahma, Dominiques and mon-
grels, or so-called barn-yard fowls, but was not quite satisfied with
any of them. Still it was upon these that I determined to place
my chief reliance because, I would then know what I was about
and all my former experience would be available. My former ex-
perience, however, had not been gained under circumstances which
led to a very close consideration of the best variety for market, and
as iny present experiment looked to the market for its success, it
was important that I should keep this feature prominently in view,
and make no’ mistake. The following points occurred to me as
being essential :— : ;

1. The hens should be good layers of fair sized eges. The
color of the eggs I did not care so much about, because I was sit-
uated between two large markets, at one of which white eggs
were all the fashion, while at the other the preference was for dark
eges. I found that those who preferred dark eggs did so under
the impression that they were richer, while those who chose white
eggs did so because.they looked prettier. I also found that deal-
ers would not give any more for one than for the other, though
they would buy more freely of tie eggs which they preferred.

Now, it was my purpose to secure as many private customers
as possible; these I proposed to furnish with eggs direct from my
yards, thus saving all middlemen’s commissions, and sending, the
surplus to the general market, only when it became inconveniently
large. I therefore trusted to the fact that eggs which were guaranteed
to be not more than oné to three days old would command a
ready sale whatever. the color. :

2. Since a poultry yard of the size of that proposed must de-
pend upon its own resources for raising young fowls, and since
fully half the young birds thus raised: would be cockerels, for

‘which the market would :be. the only outlet, it was: necessary that
whatever breed I adopted should be a good table fowl. That:is to

IN THE POULTRY YARD, 55

say, they should mature early, reach a good size, and present a
fine appearance when dressed. This excluded all dark varieties,
such as Black Spanish, Minorcas, Black Hamburghs, Javas, etc.
‘These varieties rarely look well when dressed. On the other hand
full grown, and well-conditioned birds of the Light Brahma va-
riety always look well, but the young birds look “leggy” and poor.
The Leghorns look well and mature early, but are too small.
Dominiques mature early and look tolerably well when dressed.
At this time the Plymouth Rocks had not been generally intro-
duced, or I should certainly have used them, as I have since done.
In the common strains of this breed, the cockerels are generally
light and the hens dark.

And here let me note the absurdity of the fancier’s rules, which
demand that for exhibition purposes the cocks and hens ought
always to be as nearly of the same color as possible. ‘lo a sen-
sible poultry man, the fact that the cockerels are always light and
the pullets always dark is one of the greatest advantages and for
these reasons: In the struggle for existence the dark will always
supersede the light. White fowls never have the stamina of the dark
ones, and perhaps it was a knowledge of this fact which led me to
-select the Brown Leghorn in my recent experiment. Now the
dark hens of the Plymouth Rocks, are to be kept for breeders and
layers and with chem strong constitutions are of the utmost impor-
tance especially for winter layers. But, if the cockerels were dark,
it would -be a great drawback in marketing those that must be.
killed, and fortunately the cockerels in common strains are quite
‘light.

And let me here add in favor of the Plymouth Rocks, that they
reach a good size, and if reared in a good run, have a most ex-
cellent flavor. As layers, the hens do not equal the Leghorns
and Hamburghs in summer, though they are quite the equals of
these famous breeds during winter, and as I have had an average of
137 eggs per year from a flock of thirty Plymouth Rocks, it is evident
that they are not so very far behind the best,

‘But, not having the Plymouth Rocks that season, I. was forced
to adopt some other breed, and weighing carefully the good and

56 COMMON SENSE

bad qualities of all the breeds with which I was acquainted, I
decided for the present to adopt a cross-bred fowl for laying and
marketing. ‘The cross that I now selected was that between a
White Leghorn cock and a Light Brahma hen. I also resolved
to experiment with crosses between White Leghorn and: Spangled
Hamburgh cocks, and Light Brahma and Dominique hens. Of
the cross between the Brown Leghorns and good common hens I
already had a large number. :

Having decided what kind to get, the next question was, Where
can I get them? Five hundred fowls is not a large number for a
poulterer to handle, but is so large that it would be dificult to
secure that number of select breeding birds at moderate figures.
Three methods suggested themselves to me: £. To procure pure
bred birds from reliable dealers and stock my yards at once. 2.
‘lo procure eggs from pure bred fowls:and hatch them in an incu-
bator and by the aid of common hens. 3. To buy a sufficient .
number of common hens—say four or five hundred—and cross the
best of them with pure bred cockerels, thus gradually raising.up a
flock that would be especially adapted to my wants.

The first plan was out of the question on account of the ex-
pense. On corresponding with a large number of prominent
dealers I found that I could not secure fair birds for less than
$2. goeach. This would make the flock cost $1,250—a sum ‘greater
than I cared to invest in hens at that stage of the experiment,
though I now look upon a stock which is worth four times that
figure as a really good investment.

‘lo the second plan there were equally strong objections. «To
produce 500 pullets would require the incubation of, at least, 2,000
eggs, allowing for cockerels, infertile eggs, loss of chicks, and: culls.
Now, dealers in pure bred fowls asked from $1.50 to $7.50 per
setting for eggs; $3.00 was a usual price, but taking the lowest
figure, $1.50 for 13 eggs, they would have cost $231 for eggs
alone. The incubator and its attendant would have cost a con-
siderable sum, and the only immediate return would have Ween:
from the sale of young cockerels, which in such. numbers would
only have brought the price of dressed poultry. But the most

IN THE POULTRY YARD. (457

serious objection was, that at that time, [ knew nothing about in-
cubators and therefore the risk was too great,

IT was therefore compelled to-fall back on the third plan which
was to purchase common hens in open market, and build up my
flock by degrees. The great advantage of this plan was that the
risk was small, since 1 could at any time get as much, or more, for
my stock than I paid for it, provided it was judiciouly selected in
the first place, and well cared for afterwards. - I could, also, secure
a few pens of choice pure bred fowls at no very great expense, and
from these I could raise small flocks which would enable me, not
only to improve my stock of laying hens, but to carry out my ex-
periments of crossing, etc.* I therefore, resolved to buy a suf-
ficient number of fowls in open market, using in their selection all
.'the skill and knowledge of ‘which I was possessed, and taught by
former experience, the great danger of introducing even a single
diseased fowl into a large flock, I determined to subject every lot
to a most rigorous quarantine before giving it the freedom of the
place.

‘But, in this case, it was necessary to provide accommodations
for the birds before they were bought. It was well enough to buy
one rooster before I had a coop to put him in, but it would not do
to buy 500, or even 100 hens, without first erecting proper houses
and fencing in suitable yards, I estimated that I would need at
least six large houses and yards for layers, and eight small houses and
pens for common breeders, besides at least three or four pens for
small flocks of such pure breeds as I might wish to. keep for the sake
of improving my stock. I intended to begin with White Leghorn
and Light Brahma, and I felt very strongly inclined to give the
Spangled Hamburghs a trial. It also occurred to me that in my
miscellaneous purchases I might find some special strain or variety
that it would pay to preserve. 1 therefore set out to build one

* It is surprising that we do not see more flocks of fowls bred for special cir-
cumstances when we consider the ease with which a large flock can be raised in

a short time from even a single hey \ fort of 50 fo 75 in one season, from a
good hen mite! i boop " ‘ve ne’ hing wonderful and in the
second years ‘ot to a thonsand provided a

sufficient uwduce ve Cus ava... 4. vv ded to hatch and rear the chicks.

58 COMMON SENSE

house and yard of each of these models and try‘it fully. I-knew
well enough that the first of July was in some respects a bad time to
begin poultry keeping, but I also knew that.I had much to learn,
and that it was more easy to experiment during the warm days of
summer and early fall, than during the frosts of winter. Indeed, I
afterwards found that if I had put off making a beginning until late in
the fall, I would have lost just a year.

Meantime our little broods kept coming out and were grad
ually being dotted all over the grounds. The warm nights and
pleasant days made it easy to provide shelter for them, and they
were so far apart that, at first, we lost very few chickens by their
straying into other coops than their own. I felt greatly encour-
aged, for things went on swimmingly, but after a time I found that
the business of rearing chickens ‘is not altogether made up of suc-
cesses.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 59

fjous: Building.

T write, I had built and used movable chicken houses, and
was greatly prejudiced in. their favor. At first, therefore,
‘I:decided to have all my houses movable, so as to avoid any ne-
‘cessity for cleaning the floors. If made movable, the ground on
which they stood, might be cleaned by simply plowing it and plant-
ing crops. But, on working out my plans, I soon found that houses
which would be readily portable, would be too small for my present
purpose, and that if made large enough and movable at the same
time, they could not be properly fixed up so as to resist the winter’s
cold without a great-deal of trouble. Morever the glass leanto shed,
‘upon which I set so much value, would be a very difficult thing to
move without taking it all apart.
OF course I might have adopted houses built on a model slic
~would allow me to take the entire house to pieces, move it to its
new location, and put it together again. This, however, would
stake too much time and labor, so I decided to make my large
houses stationary and with sufficient capacity to hold 75 to -100
fowls each. The houses and glass shéds were to have clay floors,
swhich I intended to clean frequently, and the yards were to be
‘moved from front to rear, or from side to side, as might be found
desirable.
>: For breeding pens I would need a smaller house—one that would
accommodate comfortably seven fowls—six hens and a cock. For
sucha small flock, a large house, unless artificially warmed, is cold
.. and cheerless, and to warm a house for seven birds would be a waste
of fuel.and labor. 1 theretore decided to make the breeding houses
“small and very warm, but this could be done and still have them
easily portable.
: ‘In. addition ‘to.pens for strictly breeding purposes, I would need

60 COMMON SENSE

occasionally a small pen for experiments, or to keep a cock by
himself, or to keep two or three hens that I wished to test. . The
ordinary breeding houses and yards would, however, answer all
these purposes very well, and I determined not to multiply models
and patterns if I could help it.

My first work, therefore, was to design suitable houses of these
two kinds; and to construct one of each as a model. If this
model worked well, then more could-be made like it, and- by mak-
ing only one of each, I left myself an opportunity to introduce any
improvement that experience might suggest. Fortunately, I had
as a study a very excellent model, though one that was rather too
elaborate for the end that I now had in view.

Amongst other buildings erected by the former owner, was a poul-
try house of moderate dimensions, and no great cost, but the most
perfect in its design and appointments that I have ever seen, and I
have examined'some very-costly ones. It was intended as a “ fainily”
poultry house, calculated for fifty hens and ‘able to accommodate an
additional one hundred young birds during the fall and winter,
while they were waiting to be drafied into the fattening coops.
Mr. Brown told me, that it was designed by a friend: of his, an
engineer of considerable talent and broad scientific knowledge, and
he placed in my hands the drawings, specifications and descriptions,
‘so that I might fully understand its construction and the best
method of managing it. It certainly differed radically from all the
poultry houses described in the books (and I have quite a collec-
tion of works on the subject) and as the designer gave his reasons for
everything he did, it was easily seen that in every. point it adapted
itself to the nature of the fowls, and to the dictates of true Science.
I will, therefore, give a detailed description of it, and to make this
more clear will add an engraving.

Just behind the barn and on the edge of the woodland. there
was a very pretty knoll the slope of which was quite steep, r in 4,
as our engineering friend put it. The slope faced directly south,
and ‘the house was built on the side of this knoll, the enclosure
stretching along the wood. ‘The house itself was 16 feet rby 14,
and contained 100 lineal feet of roosting poles which gave an average

‘GSNOH AULTIAOd JO NOILOAS—'T ‘BA

IN: THE. POULTRY YARD.

vistival)

61

62 . COMMON SENSE

of about 8 inches each, to 150 birds. In the engraving, Fig, 1, I
have given a “section” of the house, that is to say, if the reader
will suppose the house to be sawed across in the middle, it weuld
present the appearance shown in the cut. ;

In the figure, the natural slope of the ground is indicated by the
heavy dotted line. ‘The back wall and also that on the north side
are built of stone, of which there is an abundance on the place.
The back wall was 5 feet high in stone, and the front wall of the
house proper was of matched boards and g feet high. ‘The roof
also, as well as the south end were of matched boards. Parallel
with the back wall, and 2 ft. 6 in. from it, ran a light partition
extending to the roof, so as to provide ‘an alley way on this side.
In this partition, however, was a long horizontal opening, closed by
several doors or traps, 12 inch wide, and hinged as shown at p.
The object of this was to allow of the inspection of the nests and
the removal of the eggs without the necessity of goittg into the
house. ‘The nests were on the floor, and consisted of a good
thick bed of the fine grass used for packing glass-ware. The front
of the nésts was a simple board 5 inches high and the nests were
protected from defilement -by the slanting’ board c. The roosts
were rough poles cut to the same length as the width of the
house, an flattened on two sides at each end. They were sup-
porte by cleats nailed fast to the walls, two, cleats forming a
wedge-shaped recess in which the poles rested firmly and securely.
Nothing annoys fowls more than a rolling perch; a rocking one
they can get along with, as when they roost on the branches of
trees, but to a -perch that rolls over they cannot cling with any
confidence. ‘The plan shown in Fig. 2 makes a fastening which
is as firm as the wall itself, and yet all the roosts may be picked '
up in a few seconds and laid aside while the floor is cleaned.

The only glass used in constructing this house was the small
window of four lights, shown in the end view, and this could be
covered on wintry nights, so as to prevent the escape of heat
from the building. The greatest mistake in poultry architecture is
the use of too much glass in the houses. We see houses with
glass fronts, glass roofs, glass sides, and windows wherever there is

IN ‘HE POULTRY YARD. 63

a chance to get them in. Now, it is quite true that on. bright,
sunshiny days such houses are very warm; indeed during bright
sunshine the air in such a house will often rise to summer tempera-
ture while the thermometer outside is nearly down to zero. ‘The
glass acts as a “heat-trap”; the sun’s.rays pass freely through, and
warm up everything on which they fall, but the heat from the
interior does not pass out through the glass so readily, as its inten-
sity is greatly lowered. ‘The consequence is that more heat passes
in than can pass out, and the whole house be-
comes warmed up. But, as soon as the sun’s
rays are cut off by clouds or night, there is no
more heat passing in, while the out-going heat is
as muchas ever. ‘The house then becomes rapidly
cold, and the fowls will be frost-bitten in such
houses when they would have escaped if kept in an
old lean-to or even in a large cask. Therefore, if
we would keep our fowls warm during ‘cold winter
nights, without too great an expenditure of fuel, we must shun
glass and keep them in houses with thick walls and roof. ‘This
does not seem to be understood by the designers of poultry houses,
and even where a glass shed is merely attached to the house pro-
per, they make the opening leading from one to the other so large
that the two might as well be in one.

The designer of the house we are ‘describing knew better. He
made his house complete in itself and quite tight. Even the holes
through which the fowls passed from the glass shed to the house
were provided with doors, which could be shut from the outside by
means of a cord. In cold weather, there is no danger of not
enough ventilation. A keyhole, on a cold winter night will admit
air enough to fully supply the wants of three men, and the cracks
in the best made poultry house will always give air enough. As
for the carrying off of foul exhalations from droppings, etc., the
best plan is to neutralize all such by means of proper absorbents.
Fully impressed with these facts, the designer made his house
close and with walls prepared so as to be the best of non-conduc-
tors. Of course the stone walls always maintained a moderate

64 COMMON SENSE

temperature, and wherever the walls consist d of boards they were
carefully lined with tar paper.. This lining. was applied - by first
nailing to the: walls strips an inch thick. The paper.was then
tacked to the strips, and thus a dead air-space was enclosed_be-
tween the wall and the paper. This, as every one knows, forms
one of the very best of non-conductors, provided the air does not
circulate in this space. To prevent this the strips were placed hori-
zontally—not vertically, as is usually done, and thus all up and down
currents were prevented.

But, in order that the full benefit of a glass house might be had
for clear cold days, there was a glass shed, the same length as the
house,. but only twelve feet wide, built against the south side.
This was constructed-in a very simple, but very efficient manner, as
follows: ‘The wall on the east side was stone, about 30 inches
high, and after that of boards. The front was of stone, and the west
side of boards. The rafters were narrow inch boards, tongued as
if for matched stuff; and these were placed just so far apart that
the glass lay snugly between the tongues. The glass was then_
puttied in, beginning .at the bottom, and allowing each light to
over-lap the one below it. From such a roof. snow slides off as
soon as a thaw comes, and.it is very cheap. Large ventilators,
which could be opened or closed at pleasure, were placed in the
east and west sides, as outlined in the figure, and in the front wall -
(that facing the south). there were openings whereby the fowls
could go out and in, to the large enclosure, or to the open fields,
-when it was so desired. Directly over the front wall of the glass
shed, and running the entire length of the house, was extended’ a
wire netting which effectually-prevented the fowls from getting on to
the roof and yet was almost invisible, so that it did not detract
from the appearance of the building. The outside of the south
wall of the house proper, (that which formed the north wall of the
glass leanto) was painted a very dark reddish brown. This en-
abled it to absorb the heat of the sun’s rays, whenever they fell on
it, and this heat they imparted to the air, so that even on cold days
the air-in the shed was quite warm so long as the ventilators were

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 65

kept closed. When the ventilators were opened a very strong cur-
rent was established at once.

In .such a house, without any further additions, hens would
have done well the whole year round, and with 100 birds on the
roosts we doubt if one of them would ever have been frost-bitten.
Under the glass shed our hens found dryness and warmth on
bright days. A few barrowfulls of dry earth placed in one corner
furnished one of the very best dustbaths—such a one as fowls
do not ordinarily get during winter—and when dry warm days
came, they could go out and enjoy themselves in the open
air. But the designer was not satisfied with this, and therefore he
provided means for ‘procuring artificial heat during very cold
weather. In this, as in everything else, he studied efficiency first,
and economy afterwards, but in all cases the latter received due
attention.

Warmth, during the cold months of fall, winter and early spring,
is well known to be a most important point in the keeping of
poultry for eggs, and the one most frequently neglected. Breeds,
food and cleanliness are all essential, but without warmth they will
be merely wasted. Much can be done by the construction of the
houses in whch our poultry are kept, and if the house be small,
.the birds will keep each other warm, and little danger need be
feared on the score of ventilation during the cold seasons of the
year. Much has been written on ventilation, and the general prin-
ciples are perhaps sufficiently understood by most people, and
-yet, but few have any practical idea of the subject. Those who
have not studied it experimentally have no idea of the great dif-
ference which a slight change of temperature makes in the ventila-
ting power of an opening. On warm days, when the temperature
outside is nearly the same as that of the inside, the air has scarcely
any motion out or in, and we might leave small cracks or wide ones
without any danger of “drafts.” Under such circumstances, if we
want to change the air in a house rapidly, we must open large win-
dows, or.even remove the whole side of the house, and so convert
it into a shed.

~But,,in very cold weather, all this is changed. The inside of

66 COMMON SENSE

>

the house is then warmer than the outside, from several:causes. It
may be that the walls and floor are giving off the heat they took
‘in during warmer weather, or the birds themselves warm. up the
air, or heat is derived from some artificial source. In any case
the greater the difference between the outside and inside tempera-
tures, the more rapidly will the cold air try to get in and displace.
the warm air. Hence, the closeness with which this house was
built, so that in winter these drafts might be stopped, while in sum-
mer, by opening the window and the large ventilator at the other
end, and removing the straw or leaves from under the roof, a free
current of air would be established.. ,
In addition to the earth-heat derived from the bank in which the
house was built, and the warmth of the fowls themselves, the heat
required for cooking was utilized in the following manner: On
the outside and near the front of the house was arranged a 15
gallon boiler or kettle. It was “set” in brick with a large grate
beneath it, and the smoke and hot gases were carried through a
horizontal brick flue which passed across the house along the front
wall and about six inches from it, as seen in the engraving. The
chimney was on the opposite side of the house, as shown. ‘The
brick setting of the boiler was enclosed .with a small wooden
porch provided with a door, and there were openings from this
porch into the building, so that the heat might be allowed to pass
in when desired. ‘These openings could be tightly closed by shut-
ters when this was thought best. In order to start the draft.
through such a long horizontal flue, the bottom of the boiler was
lower than the floor of the house, the whole path from the porch
to the front of the glass house being made lower also. In this
way no difficulty was found in getting the flue to draw, especially
as we always commenced the fire by burning a lot of brush, which
gave a large flame and quickly heated the air all through the flue
and chimney. There was also a flat piece of sheet.iron which we
used as a blower. This brought the opening into the fire-place as
low as possible. When the fire was once started the draught was
excellent. :

Now, as a horse, cow and several pigs were kept on the place,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 67

besides the fowls, it was found very advantageous to have a large
kettle for cooking their food. In doing this the flue in the poultry
house was thoroughly heated, and from the large amount of material
it contained, this heat was not all gone until morning. A sheet iron
pie would have cooled in ten minutes; this remained warm for as
many hours, and since the cooking had to be done anyway, all the
heat thus saved was so much clear gain. ‘The food was cooked but
once a day, the fire being started after dark. ‘The animals then
had a warm supper, (except the chickens, which had whole grain)
and the kettle was again filled and allowed to. stand till morning.
Even after a cold wintet’s night the contents of a well covered 15
gallon kettle will be warm in the morning, and every animal on the
place can have a warm breakfast.

It will be seen that the flue runs close to the front wall, and con-
sequently crosses the path of the chickens when they come in to
roost. Two passages were therefore made through the brick work °
and under the flue so that they might go out and in at will.

The floor was a solid plate of adode, constructed by first spread-
ing over the ground a thick layer of coarse gravel and broken
stones, and then covering this with moistened clay which had been
well worked. The clay was then beaten solid and forced down
amongst the gravel and its upper surface was smoothed off. When
dry it was so firm and hard that a blow from the heel of a coarse
boot made no im. ression on it. ‘This floor was covered with dry
earth finely powdered Dry earth at once absorbs the Croppings of
the.fowls, and prevents their becoming a nuisance. Every day or
two the surface is well raked over so as to mix the droppings with
the dry soil, and a thin coating of the same fine earth is scattered
over the surface. Fifteen minutes suffices for this operation, and
when the accumulated earth and droppings are wanted for any of
the crops, they can he easily removed and the whole house
cleaned.

The entrance to the house was by means of a door on the west
side, opening directly out of the alley way that ran along next the
-back wall, and just. behind the nest boxes. . This brought the roof
rather low, perhaps, but we never found it inconvenient, and the

68 ‘COMMON SENSE

lower the roof, the better for the hens in winter: The roosting
place was reached by a passage from the alley way, and there was
a small opening (about 2-feet square) through the wall, through
which dry earth could be thrown in, and the soiled earth removed.
This opening was of course provided with a substantial shutter.

The shed was entered by a separate door, which served, not
only as an entrance for the attendants, but as a way through which
clean and soiled earth might be passed. .

Such were the construction and appointments of this model
poultry house. I made a careful study of all its features and
workings, and found in it the germ and suggestion of my future
buildings.

My first efforts were directed towards simplifying and cheapen-
ing the structure. ‘The house could not have been called an ex-
pensive one ;\indeed, when compared with many that I had seen,
it was a cheap affair, but when multiplied by fifteen (the number
that I expected to build), the cost was too much. And, besides, it
was larger than I needed. I expected to get rid each year of all
my surplus stock before very cold weather set in, so that each
house would have to winter only its complement of 75 hens.
For this purpose 60 feet of perch or roosting poles would be
ample, and this could easily be put-into a space 8 x 14 feet—just
about half the size of the large house. Moreover I determined to
do away with the passage at the rear of the nests, and allow the
latter to be entered directly from the outside. If poultry was to
be made a dusiness, somebody would be on the ground all the time,
an: consequently there need be no fear of sneak thieves.

I therefore designed my houses 8 X 14 feet on the ground, and
quite low—partly to save lumber and partly to economize heat.
After making careful working drawings of all the parts, I sent to the
mill and procured the necessary lumber, and my man and myself
went to work. As we were both unskilled, to a certain extent, we
adopted very simple, and what carpenters would probably call, ab-
surd methods. Instead of making a frame, we sunk four posts in
the ground, sawed them off to the right height, connected ‘the

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 69

tops with pieces of scantling and nailed pieces of the same scant-
ling between them at the proper places. ‘Ihe rude frame thus con-
structed was covered with cheap matched lumber placed vertically,
and the roof was formed of the same material and covered with
tarred paper. There was one small window at the end, and the
whole of the interior, except the door to the nests, was lined with
tarred paper in the same way as the large house, and as the
board cover to the nests fitted snugly to the walls, both along
its edge and ends, the amount of cold that got in by this
way was but small. The roosts and other arrangements were
the same as in the large house. ‘The figure on page 70 will give
a clear idea of the construction of this poultry house, which, when
finished, was snug, strong and tight,

The front, which was 8 feet high, was placed facing the south,
and against it was built a shed, but instead of a roof of glass, such
as was used for the large house, I contented myself with two
sashes such as are used for green-houses or hot-beds. The advan-
tage of these was that no ventilators were needed—the sashes
themselves serving for ventilators when the weather was warm. At
the season at which the house was built, there was no need of this
glass covered shed, except for rain, and for that a common board
or brush shelter would have answered quite as well as one
that was glass covered, but I wanted to test the working of a
complete house before I went on to multiply them, and so I
finished the entire structure—glass shed and all. Keeping poultry
at certain seasons and under favorable conditions is mere fun.
When the air is balmy and the fields are green, almost any shelter
will answer for even the most tender little chicks, but when the
storms of winter and early spring are upon us, and snow, sleet and
frost cover the earth, then even the old birds find it hard work to
maintain their existence. These difficulties I had fully experienced
in former days, and I knew that while comfortable houses were a
necessity, roomy sheds were no less essential. For this reason I
had put a cheap roof over the manure pile, so that on wet and
stormy days the hens might have a dry, warm place in which to

COMMON SENSE

7o

‘SURAVI YOd ASAOH—'E “Fly

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 71

roll and scratch ; but although this might serve very well for fifty
hens, it was but a meagre allowance for five hundred, not to speak
of a thousand, or, as I hoped to have at times, 3,000. I therefore
saw that each yard must have its own shelter and its own sheds.
The glass-covered shed served on very cold days for a dusting
place, and a sort of warm room, but it was not large enough to ac-
commodate 75 fowls. I therefore felt that a plain shed, open to
the south, and enclosed on at least the rear and one side, would be
almost a necessity, and so I put up one that was 10 feet long and
8 feet wide. The height at the back was 2 feet and at the front
6 feet. During the summer, when the sun was nearly vertical, this
afforded a nice cool shade at noonday; and in winter, when the
sun was low, even at noontide, his rays lighted up every part and
made it warm and dry. On wet days the hens used these sheds
very freely, and so much comfort did they seem to take in them
that I put up two for every house. These, with the glass shed,
gave nearly four square feet of shelter for every bird, and to this I
attributed a large part of my success.

After the house was finished, the next thing was to surround it
with a proper fence, stock it with hens, and test its working. ‘This
I did, and I could find no point in which the house itself could be
improved without greatly increasing the cost. Of course I could
not, at this season, test it for cold weather, but I had no misgiving
on that point. I had successfully kept fowls during severe winters
in worse houses than this.

The only point in regard to which I did not fully test it was in
regard to the number it would hold. The market price of hens
was rather higher than I thought they were worth. I therefore
contented myself with thirty birds, which I purchased in ‘the mar-
ket and transferred to this yard. After ten days I gave them their
liberty, and although they roamed all over the place during the
day, and mixed with the old stock freely, yet they always returned
to their own yard at night, and I believe very few of them laid
away. One or two hens stole nests in the shrubbery, and as there
was no rooster amongst them the eggs proved worthless, so that

.

92. COMMON’ SENSE

the hens lost their labor and we lost:the eggs; but the amount lost
in this way was but small, and became gradually less. I was per-
fectly satisfied with the work thus far, and would have at’ once
turaed my attention to the construction of breéding pens if my
thoughts had not been directed to another branch ofthe business,
as I will detail in the next chapter:

IN THE POULTRY YARD, 73

Broods Increase and Cronble Begins.

HEN, under ordinary conditions, a hen steals her nest
and brings out a brood, the owner rarely has much
trouble with the chickens. The mother cares for the

eggs, generally hatches out a goodly proportion—often the entire

lot—leads her young progeny along hedgerows and through cop-
pices, and brings to the barnyard a fine lot of strong, healthy little
birds. And even when the farmer’s wife sets her dozen hens in
different nooks and corners, and lets them wander at will along the
roadsides and through the orchard, there is rarely any trouble.

The hens easily keep so far apart that there is no danger of their

babies getting “mixed up,” consequently there is seldom any dan-

ger of their fighting, or of chickens getting killed by straying to the
wrong coop. At first, therefore, we had no trouble to speak of.

We lost some chickens from different causes, but this always hap-

pens; one got its leg broken by being caught in the cleft of a split

board, and another had a fracture from a small stone which was
loosened by the scratching of a hen and rolled down a bank. In
both cases a good cure was made by simply wrapping the broken
limb with a narrow strip of muslin which had been smeared with
very thick paste. The paste soon dried, and held the bones firmly
in position until they had united. In both cases the chickens be-
came useful fowls. In another case, however, the little thing wan-
dered off and was not seen until it was too late. The leg healed
up, but the foot was turned the wrong way, and the poor little
chicken found it difficult to walk, and impossible to scratch. But
some one has said that everything—even evil—has its uses, and.as
an instance he names diseases, without which he claims that we
could not have wise and learned physicians!* So this poor little

* To which some irreverent Phillistine has replied by asking, which, in this
case, was the good, and which the evil?

74 COMMON SENSE - :

lame chicken had its uses, for it taught us how implicitly the lower
creaturés will confide in us if kindly cared for, especially when
they are in a measure helpless. This helpless lame one had no fear
of humanity; it would stand quietly and allow us to pick it up,
expecting to be carried where fresh grass might be had, and as it
fed out of our hands and looked up in our faces it seemed to look
upon us as its natural protectors. Some one has said that to’ the
dog, man appears as God, and, in truth, it may beso. ‘To this little
chicken we no doubt seemed an all-powerful Providence, from
whose hands came food, and who provided shelter and protection.
She grew to be a good-sized hen, and laid almost as well as those
that were perfect in their limbs.

But when our broods multiplied, so that lawn as well as barn-

yard was dotted quite closely all over with them, then trouble
a The chickens would run to the wrong coops and get
quickly pecked to death; the hens would fight, and in their strug-
gles the chickens would be scattered and sometimes seriously hurt. .
Another difficulty arose: Amongst so many coops the hens
seemed to lose the power of finding their own individual dwellings ;
two would try to get into one coop, and then fighting and destruc-
tion of the chickens would follow. By the time we had forty coops
occupied we had our hands full, and more too.

I suppose that if the grounds had been of far greater extent, so
that the coops could have been placed further apart, this difficulty
would not have arisen. But to avoid it, the space occupied must
have been enormous. .

Now, it is well known that one of the great secrets in the rearing
of strong, healthy chickens is the giving of freedom and all that it.
implies. Open air, grass to pick, leaves to scratch, dry earth to
dust in, and ant-hills to explore—these are what go to make healthy
chicks and vigorous fowls.. But if the mothers fight and kill each
others progeny when this freedom is allowed, what are we going
to do?

The present broods had been hatched in all sorts of contrivances
and make-shifts. Old barrels laid on their sides; boxes with and
without bottoms; old dog houses; a heap of broken straw laid in

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 75

a corner, and half protected by a short board laid slanting against
the wall; an old basket with a piece of sacking partially covering
it; these, and such as these, had been utilized as the occasion
arose. After we had used up such loose odds and ends as came
to hand, I bought a lot of cheap barrels, which had no heads, and
fixed them up as follows: A square hole was cut in the side, as
shown in Figure 4, and the hoops were carefully fastened by means

Fig. 4.

of a few wrought nails, which were neatly clinched, so that they
might hold firmly and yet leave a smooth surface. The barrel was
placed on the ground open end down, some fine grass or broken
straw placed inside and moistened, and the eggs laid on this. A
sitting hen was then put on the eggs, and the opening covered
with an old sack. The hen would rarely return to this nest for the
first few times, after she had left it for food and water, but by
placing her back once or twice she soon learned which was her
own nest, and returned to it regularly.. The darkness seemed
pleasant to her; the roomy barrel above gave her plenty of. air,
and, altogether, these nests were as good as any that we had for
single nests.

46 COMMON SENSE

After the chickens were hatched we kept many’ of them in the
old “tent” or triangular coops—a form which is, perhaps, one of
the: oldest and one of the best where there are not many broods:
It has several advantages; it sheds rain perfectly, keeps the hen
confined and allows the chicks to roam, and when the chicks
return they can get away from the trampling of the hen by retreat-
ing under the corners. But it is a mistake to suppose-that the
young chicks of several broods can be placed close together and
allowed to roam about. ‘They will get into the wrong coops, and
then wo betide them unless the hes are very old and motherly.
At any rate, our time was sadly broken up and our tempers sorely
tried by hens that would not allow strangers in their coops, and
after a few weeks’ trial of this system the loss was so great that ne-
cessity compelled the invention‘ of something different and more
systematic.

I saw that a hatching room and brooding house would be a
necessity, and I set out to plan and construct them. By the time
I had fully realized the necessity for’ all this, however, and was
prepared to go to work, most of our chicks were'so large that they
were past the most: dangerous period. The: dangers we have de-
tailed are most fatal to chicks about a week old—just when they
can run about freely and yet do not know enough to run away
from danger. But as it was my intention to hatch considerable
numbers of chickens in the near future, I concluded that I had
better experiment a little and get my system into good. working.
order, so as to be fully ready when the time of necessity came.

First, then, for hatching. Although it was the poorest time of
the year for bringing out chickens (the end of July), yet I had
several hens wanting to sit, and I thought I could afford to‘risk a
few eggs and chickens for the sake of learning by actual experi-
ence.

At first, I thought of building a small house specially for hatch-
ing purposes, but after thinking the matter over I decided to ex-
periment in a room, or rather two rooms, that were in the. barn, and
so were ready to my hand. One of these I had already used as a
temporary pen for a rooster_ and hens, the other opened into it, but

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 17

had only-a clay floor. ‘The latter I decided. to use for a hatching
room, while the other was to be used fora feeding room.

‘The hatching room was 12 feet by 10. ‘his gave 44 feet length of
wall, and as I could have two rows of nests through the middle, I es-
timated that I could have between fifty and sixty hens sitting in it
at one time. Of course, in order to crowd this number into such a
small room, it would be necessary to have nests made on purpose;
old barrels, boxes and baskets would never answer. ‘Ihe nests
might be made either fixed or movable, and the latter had many ad-
vantages. Fixed nests would soon get infested with vermin, and
could not be cleaned except by clearing out the entire house, and
this might not he always convenient. So I set to work to de-
vise a simple, portable nesting box that would give each hen
her own nest separate from all the others; from which she could
not escape when once she was in; which could be easily cleaned,
and which would give the birds plenty of air. ‘This was how I

did it.

Fig. 5.

I made a box, or rather a crate (for it had no bottom or front),
4 feet long, 14 inches wide and 14 inches high. Fig. 5 shows a
-perspective view of this box with the door partially open, and Fig.
6 gives a section of one of the compartments. The top of the
box is entirely.covered|; there is no bottom, so that the nests rest
on the ground; across the front, at the lower edge, is nailed .a
strip.4 inches wide, which not only serves to strengthen the: whole,
-but keeps the. eggs and straw from falling out; along the lower edge

78 ‘COMMON. SENSE

of the back is nailed a strip 5 inches wide whicn answers the same
purposes as that at the front, and in addition has the door hinged
to it. The door consists of a single board which is hinged
to the back strip, and when raised up may .be hooked to the

top. In very warm weather, instead of a hook, we use a loop of
cord, which is so long, that, when slipped over the peg or nail in
the top, it still allows the top of the door to stand out one or two
inches from the edge of the top of the box. This allows plenty
of ventilation, and to prevent the loop from slipping off the peg,
thus allowing the door to fall down, we push a. rough wooden
wedge between the door and the. top of the box, so as to-k {> the
cord taut. There are four compartments in each. box, Se ney
12 inches wide, and when such a nesting box is: placed within two
or three inches of a wall, the hens have: plenty « of air and yet are
securcly held as prisoners. “Iwo boys. can. carry these boxes any-
where, so that they can be easily taken out to be cleaned.

I made seven.of.thése boxes, holding twenty-eight hens. Along
one side of the room I placed three, and along the middle I placed
two rows of two each. The middle rows were placed back to back—
that is, with the open sides facing each other and about five inches
apart. Between them was placed a board 8 feet long and 14
inches wide, which completely concealed the birds from each. other
and yet left sufficient space for ventilation.

Every evening I looked over the laying nests and other places
which the hens were most likely to adopt for nests for sitting, and
marked such hens as were decidedly broody. ,I had learned. _by
experience not to trust a hen on her first attempt | to sit, for. some-

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 79

times they will sit for one or two nights and then abandon the
nest. But a hen that has occupied a nest for three consecutive
nights has probably made up her mind to incubate, and may be de-
pended upon. Such hens I transferred to one of the compart-
ments in the hatching room, gave her a setting of eggs and shut
her in. Over the compartment was tacked a card on which was
written the date, when set, the kind of eggs, and the date when
due. By pursuing this course, I very soon had every compartment
filed with faithful sitters.

At first, I let all the doors down every morning and waited until
the hens returned. Some of them delayed coming off for some time,
others came off at once. The same diversity appeared amongst them
in their habits of returning. At this time of the year a few minutes
did not make much difference to the eggs. With the thermometer
at 80° even one or two hours did not signify, but during February,
with the thermometer down to zero, it would have been fatal to the
unhatched chicks. It is true that the hens would probably return
sooner in very cold weather, but probabilities would not answer
my purpose. Could I control this matter completely without too
much labor? I determined to try. I therefore attended to this
part of the work myself, so that I might learn all about it. ‘The
hens were regularly let off at seven o’clock in the morning, and if
any delayed to come off voluntarily they were lifted off. All were
driven into the outer room, so that they might feed and defecate.
All who have had anything to do with sitting hens know what a
horridly offensive smell is emitted by the retained faeces of a sitting
hen Therefore every précaution was taken to have this confined
to the outer rooms, the floor of which was well covered with dry
sandy earth. A hoe stood conveniently in one-corner and at once
enabled me to put an end to any nusiance. The ventilation was of
course ample. Food and water stood in convenient troughs and
dishes, and the hens were never allowed to go outside. In this way
no trouble in catching them was ever experienced. When they had
been out half an hour, they were driven back tothe hatching

‘room, and allowed to return to their nests. Many of them did

this without guidance or assistance, and this was so much trouble

80 COMMON SENSE

saved. Others tried to get into the wrong nest—one already-oc-
cupied by another hen; it was easy to notice this, pick up the
wanderer and place her in the first compartment that came to
hand. Others seemed reluctant to go on; these we caught, placed
them in a box and shut them up.

The success of this system was complete. The time required to
attend to the hens was small; there was no danger of the hens
going wrong when the attendant was absent; no danger of eggs
getting chilled; no danger of hens remaining too long on the
nest without being fed. It is evident that it made no difference
whether each hen returned to her own compartment or not; .so
long as each compartment had a hen, it was all that was wanted.
It is true, that if the hens had had different periods to sit, it would
have made some difference, but I saw that, in that case, I could
readily classify them, say, into one, two and three week hens, and
let each class out by itself. I was, therefore, perfectly satisfied with
my system, and resolved to make preparations for carrying it out-on
a larger scale.

But when the chicks were hatched the work was only half
done—perhaps not even that. ‘The next thing was the care of the
young chickens. Of course I wanted a system which would work
not only in fine summer weather, but during cold, damp days and
with Jarge numbers of chickens—not less than two hundred and
fifty broods. Long before the chicks were due, therefore, I set to
work to devise a system which would meet my needs, and as usual
I turned to the books to see what others had done. I found
plenty of coops for single hens and their broods; indeed, the in-
ventive genius of poultry keepers seemed to have expended its
whole energies in this department. ‘The number of such coops that
I found figured was simply astonishing, but as I had enough of my
own, many of which had never been figured anywhere, I did not
want them. I was surprised, however, to see that while nesting
boxes and other arrangements for haéching chickens in large nun-
bers received a great deal of attention, very little information was
given in regard to their after-treatment in large numbers. I almest
came to the conclusion that most of the “ practical” men.had..got

IN: THE POULTRY YARD. 81

“stuck” at this point, and failed to carry their expériments any
further. But this was just the point that interested me; I could
readily hatch out chickens in any numbers, and, under my own
system, with very little trouble, but when it came to rear them the
problem underwent an entire change. ‘The fact that I had had a
pretty good training in the difficulties of the case encouraged me
in the belief that I could achieve success. So far as the broods
now in the hatching room were concerned, I did not feel uneasy,
for by the time that they would be off, the older ones now on the
lawn would have wandered off to the shrubbery, and I had enough
single coops to take care of twenty-eight broods. It was the next
season to which I looked forward with anxiety.

I saw, after very little consideration, that each brood must be
kept by itself, and that for the first four to six weeks it must be
confined to its own coop. I therefore set to work to devise such a
coop.

The first question that presented itself was in regard to size.
How much room does a hen and say twelve chickens require until
the chickeus are, say, six weeks old ?

On this point I could find very little information, and I had
never kept chickens in such a bird cage before. I thought, how-
ever, that a coop 5 feet long, 15 inches wide, and 13 inches deep,
ought to hold them, and I adopted this as the size of my experi-
mental coop. It was evident, however, that by using light lumber,
not more than half an inch thick, five or six of these coops might
‘be made in one block, and thus nearly half the lumber would be
saved, while the whole coop would still be movable. I therefore
procured a few half-inch boards of cheap stuff, 10 feet long and 6
and 7 inches wide. Two of these boards put together would make
just the right depth—r3 inches.

Having cut the boards in two I made a box, without bottom or
top, 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, 13 inches deep, and divided into six
:. equal-.parts by means of divisions running across it. Across one
end, and 12 inches from the edge, was nailed a strip 3 inches wide.
To this was hinged a board 12 inches wide and 1o feet long, so
that 15 inches of the rear ends of all the divisions were tightly

82 COMMON. SENSE

covered. The 12-inch board could be lifted up so as to expose all
the divisions. The other part of the top of the coop was covered
with wire netting of one-inch mesh. The part under the board
cover had a bottom or floor of light wood, and the-passage between
the net-covered and the board-covered portions could be closed’ by
a sliding door. For the purpose of feeding, etc., there was also a
hinged door 8 inches wide at the opposite end from the brooding
apartment. By raising this up food could be introduced in saucers
or other vessels.

This simple coop could be easily moved to any part of the
grounds. If empty it was simply. picked’up and carried off. If
there were broods in it they were first driven into that part which
had both top and bottom and closed in by means of the sliding
doors. The entire coop, hens, broods and all, might then be-car-
ried to any place. Thus we set them down on the grass and they
could pick to their heart’s content. When they had soiled this
spot we moved them to another, and towards evening we washed
the grass thoroughly with water, for which. purpose I had a simple
watering cart made. It consisted merely of a barrel. mounted on
wheels and furnished with a short piece of hose.

I was surprised at the ease with which we cared for broods and
raised them with the aid of these coops. My man said that it was
as easy to take care of twelve broods in these coops as to care for
one in the ordinary way.

We kept food constantly before them, but varied it at least four
times a day, so that they did not become disgusted with its con-
stant presence. As they could not get out to pick up worms and
insects, we tock good care to see that they had plenty of.meat and
crushed bones. For drink they had chiefly buttermilk. Our cow
was in full flow of milk and we churned twice a week. We also
bought all the buttermilk that one of our neighbors could-spare,
and I never saw anything make chickens grow like this feed. ' In
the morning they had bran mixed to a stiff dough with buttermilk ;
at ro A.M. they had chopped meat—waste scraps from the butcher ;
at 2p.M. they had ordinary “feed,” and corn meal made into a.
dough with water; at 6 p.m. they had cracked corn. Buttermilk

IN THE. POULTRY YARD. 83

they had before them all the time. I never saw chickens thrive
better than ours did under this treatment.

For feeding I bought a lot of chipped saucers at the crockery
store for a cent apiece. ‘These chipped pieces are unsaleable, and
quantities are thrown away by every large importing house. By
offering to take a@// they had fora month I got them at a very
cheap rate. a

I made but two of these coops before trying them, and by the,
time I had fairly tested the system the other broods were so far ad-
vanced that they did not need them. I kept them in the common
tent coops and similar contrivances, fed them well, and they throve
apace. My motto was that every chicken I could raise brought
me nearer to the fulfilment of my ambition—the possession of 1,000
laying hens. The twenty-eight broods averaged nine chickens
each when they were one week old. I divided them into broods
of about fourteen each, and the ease with which this could be done
in my new coops, showed me that the advantages more than _ bal-
anced the cost.

84 COMMON SENSE

Preparing for a Start.

wea] UL this preliminary work had merely been for the purpose
M| of educating myself in the best mode of managing and
handling chickens in flocks which might be multiplied to
any extent. I was perfectly satisfied with my house, hatching
nests and brooding coops; it only remained to arrange the places
for the houses, put them up, procure the hens and go to work.

First of all, then, about the location of the houses. If I had
studied neatness and order, I would probably have placed them
in a symmetrical row, so that they might look as if some person of
“refined taste” had had the ordering of them, and many a scolding
I got from my wife for the hap-hazard way in which I: scattered
them over the ground. But to have arranged them in a row
would have rendered impossible one of the ma‘n objects I wished
to attain, viz., the possession by the fowls of a sense of ownership
of a distinct home. By placing a house in a corner by itself, put-
ting a fence around it and confining its quota of fowls to this yard
for a few weeks, I felt that I could easily “domicile” each flock
by itself. After this, so great was my faith in the desire of the
fowls to keep to one roosting place, and in their power to find
their way back to it, no matter how far they might stray, that I
had no hesitation in allowing them their freedom over the entire
place. Of course it was necessary to prevent their trespassing on
‘the property of others, and in order to insure this, I proposed to
fence in those portions of the grounds that were not naturally pro-
tected. Thus, on the north the ground was left open, because there
was nothing but barren rocks above me on that side. On the east”
there was a piece of woods in which they could do no possible
damage, but rather good by destroying insects. The owner was
an absentee, and the land lay in commons, so I had _ no hesitation
about letting the hens go there occasionally, as it was impossible
for them to do any actual damage.

AAPAdddDAB

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 85

But on the south side [ had my very agreeable neighbor, with
whom Brown had had so many quarrels. As I have alreacly stated,
his Jand along my line was unimproved woods, left just as it came
from the hand of Mother Nature, and it would have been impos-
sible for the hens to do any harm there. Knowing my man, however,
Terected a fence along the whole of the division line and alittle be-
yond, so as to prevent any possibility of the hens “turning the cor-
ner.” As I was anxious to have this fence perfectly secure against
even my best fliers, I used wire netting three feet wide, placed on
a tight fence 2 feet high and surmounted by a single wire raised 10
inches above the wire net. ‘Ihis excluded everything. ‘The little
chickens could not get through the tight fence, and the wire on
top very effectually prevented the hens from flying over. ‘They
always aimed for the top of the wire netting, and striking against the
single wire, which was almost invisible, they fell back into their
own grounds, and arose wiser if not happier fowls.

On the west there was a public road, and I have never known
our hens to cross it, especially as our own orchard and garden lay
between their’ houses and the land on the other side. While the
garden crops were growing, the garden was fenced in with portable
fence, which was removed in the fall, so that the birds might pick
up the waste. In the orchard they were always supposed to do a
great deal more good than harm. ‘

It was very obvious that by giving each bird the range of the
entire place it had a freedom and a chance for exercise which it could
not have ina small yard. A thousand fowls on four acres, each
bird having the entire range of the whole place, are far less
crowded than 250 birds on one acre, and these again are less
crowded than ten birds would be on 1-25th of an acre, just as a
man confined to a single house is more of a prisoner than any one
of a million of men confined in a large city, about whose streets
he can wander at his pleasure, his “range” being bounded by
miles. But if this city were divided up into squares—one for each in-
habitant—and every man was confined to his own square, the prison.
life thus forced upon the people would be unendurable. If my pres-
ent stock of poultry were divided off into small lots, each lot in a per

86 COMMON SENSE

by itself, I am satisfied that the number of fowls now on my place
would completely destroy all the grass and “ vegetables” thereon in a
very short time if they were kept constantly on it. Not that they
would eat it, or even scratch it up, but they would trample it down,
and their droppings would so defile it as to breed disease and ruin,
But my hens spend three-fourths of their time under the feeding
sheds and in the dust baths, and in bright dry weather they impro-
vise dust baths for themselves all along the northern and eastern
line, where the Jand is light and the aspect sunny. And all along the
line the bushes are so planted, or, when the bushes were there
already, so thinned out as to form little sunny nooks and alcoves, as
it were, where they are completely sheltered from wind and. always
find a dry dusting spot. At first, I found the tendency very strong
to scratch up the ground and make a great hole just at tne trunk
of the young trees, thus injuring them very seriously, ‘Chis I soon
stopped by laying a few good sized: flat stones on the ground
around the trees. I also trimmed up the evergreens on the south
and east sides, so that the sun could get under their branches and
dry the ground and the fallen pine needles. This was no doubt a
barbarous proceeding in the eyes of all“landscape gardeners, but
the hens enjoyed it.

The grass land is heavy, and they go there only to feed on the
grass and insects, but their eagerness for green food led them on to
thé grass land so often, that I found it necessary to provide other
food, and to keep it in good condition. ‘This point gave me a
great deal of trouble. The problem was to keep a plot of green
food of some kind constantly.fresh and attractive to from 1,100 to
3,000 fowls—allowing them to “pasture” it at will. After care-
fully studying the different plants with ‘which I had had experience,
T could think of but two that would answer my purpose—Rye and
Clover. Clover was my favorite, but it was difficult to keep’a
supply all the time; rye made a good preparation for the land for
clover, and .at the same time furnished green food during early
spring, and even during the winter when the weather was open. The
trouble with rye was, however, that it did not seem to stand the
tramping, etc., of the birds. It is true, that I could fence them

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 87

out at times and feed them with cabbage, and I did so with good
results, In winter I use clover hay cut very fine in a hay cutter,
steamed and mixed with meal of corn and oats, ground together.
Ihave been told that I cannot grow clover many years, how-
ever; that in time my land will get “clover sick ’"—whatever that
may mean—and the plants will die off. Perhaps this is so, but
as I see no signs of such a calamity at present, I shall not
trouble myself. “ Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,” and when
my land refuses to grow clover, I will try something else. I am now
experimenting with the Southern Cow Pea and with Prickly Com-
frey, and I think that if necessary I may possibly be able to do with-
out clover, but as yet it is the best plant I have found—requires the
least labor in proportion to the amount of valuable green food ob-
tained.

I therefore set out to provide a plot of very rich gréen food
for my hens, and I laid off a strip 200 feet long and 75 feet wide
along the edge of the paddock, to which I have already alluded.
This I proposed to plow up in the fall, manure heavily and sow to
winter rye. The following spring it would be top-dressed and sowed
to,clover, so that after the rye was gone, its place would be sup-
plied by another plant. ‘lhis plot of land I intended to fence in,
and I also intended to run two dividing lines of movable fence
across it, so that I could feed it off in strips of about 48 feet wide.
‘Thus, after the plants had got a fair start, the fowls would be ad-
mitted to a strip at one end, 48 feet wide. As soon as this strip
showed signs of giving out, the fence would be move@, the hens
excluded from the 48 feet on which they had been feeding, and
another 48 feet would be given them. I chose 48 feet because
this was the length of three fence panels each 16 feet long.

I found that it took three weeks for the hens to clear off such a
plot, and that by the time the rest of the plot had been gone over,
the grass and clover had become taller than was necessary. ' We
sometimes had to mow it and give it to the cattle. When-
ever a good rain came shortly after the fowls were shut off a plot,
the growth was very rapid, and we took the hint; and if a dry

88 COMMON SENSE

time ensued, we sprinkled it heavily with water, which was by no
means a laborious operation.

T now arranged the location of the houses; one was alréady up,
and I made arrangements for putting up seven more immediately,
so that I might procure my fowls. In arranging: the location of
the houses, however, I found that it was difficult to supply thei
with water, and experience had taught me that good water is‘one- of
the most important things in the care of all-kinds of live stock. ‘Ihe
only water on the place was the well, and the spring frorn which a:
.stream flowed directly into “ Nabal’s” grounds. I worried 4 gooé
deal over this, and had almost determined to sink another well and
procure a wind-mill, when, by a singular episode, I was rélieved-
from all trouble on this score.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 89

An Episode.

AEANWHILE the season was gliding past, and the first
4) days of August were fully upon us. Everything looked
well, the crops were good, the animals in good health,
and we were all enjoying country life, or would have done so, had
it not been that my wife’s health failed, and she showed strong
symptoms ofa malarial attack. At this I was rather surprised, for
the atmosphere was so clear, the water so pure, and everything ap-
parently so conducive to health, that when our family physician
told me that it was a veritable attack of marsh fever, my heart sank
within me, and I said to myself, “Is it possible that no region is
free from that scourge of our country?” The hired girl, too, showed '
symptoms of an attack ; she was a strong, fresh-looking girl when
she came to us, but she had fallen away wonderfully both in health
and looks, and now showed constant signs of weariness, against
which she bravely fought in vain. My own health-continued unaf-
fected, but then I believed myself to be ague-proof.

I was sorely puzzled over this new development. ‘The land all
round us was pure and wholesome, and yet I was convinced that _
some unseen marsh must be the source of our illness. ‘The Browns
had never been troubled in this way, but then the present season
had been unusually hot and dry, so that ponds which in other
years had been filled with clear, wholesome water, were now stag-
nant and putrid. But none of these ponds lay near us, and so the~
problem remained unsolved.

One day, however, when passing along the lower part of my
grounds, I heard somé ducks quacking and making that’ peculiar
noise which ducks do when they'stick their bills in mud. Like a”
flash it struck me that here was the cause of all our troubles, and-
in an instant I was on the other ‘side of the fence on an exploring
expedition. I saw enough to con ince ine that there would be no’

go COMMON SENSE

health at Ferniebield until that little marsh of a quarter of an acre
or so had been drained, and I also saw coming towards me witli
hurried step the irate proprietor.

“What do you want here?” he asked in his loudest and most
. churlish tones. “ Don’t you-know you are trespassing ?”

“JT want to see you,” I replied very quietly. “I see that the hot
weather has reduced this pond to a marsh, and-it has given chills
and fever to my wife and servant, and endangers the health of my
children, and I have come to ask you to drain it.”

“ Get off my premises. I want none.of your sneaking here... I
dont propose to drain my ponds for you or any man.”

“Pardon me,” said I, “I will go if you wish me to do so, but if
I go away under present conditions I may return in a way that
you will not like. If you object to drain the marsh, for it is not a
pond, yourself, will you allow me to do it at my own expense ?”

The answer was too rough and savage to repeat, and I left him,
but not until I had used my eyes to good advantage.

Now, the origin of this pond and marsh, as I after wards. learned, :
was as follows: The land which was now the source of malaria
had in former years been quite dry, and was underlaid with a deep
bed of clay. But on the grounds of Ferniebield, gushing from the
bosom of the mountain, there was the beautiful spring. which I have
already mentioned, and which yielded as much water as would fill
a two-inch pipe. The spring was almost unvarying .in its flow.
Wells might go dry and streams shrink, but this little spring always
seemed to be full. Not many years back, however, it had flowed
across Ferniebield in a diagonal direction, and the old water-course
was still visible throughout its entire length. But a violent. “ thun-
der spate” had sent a torrent down the hillside—a flood the like
of which no inhabitant could rememlber—and this flood had passed
over the spring, and opened for it and for itself a. new and wider
channel, through which the waters of the rivulet had ever: after
flowed. Formerly they, had flowed past “ Nabal’s” property ; now
they flowed directly into it, and he had taken advantage of. this
fact and constructed costly ponds and fountains, which. were sup-
plied by this new accession to his property. Now, if he had been

IN THE POULTRY YARD. gt

a:wise man, knowing that. the spring arose on my land, he would
have met me more than half way, but being a churl he was likewise
a fool.

Lhad three plans open to me whereby the nuisance could be
abated. 1. I could apply to the Board of Health; they would
very quickly rectify matters if they did their duty. 2. I could
commence a civil suit for damages, and procure an order from the
court to abate the nuisance. 3. I could abate it myself a¢ once by
turning off the water. I chose the latter course, partly because it
was the speediest. A good spade in the hands of a stalwart
man generally goes straight to the point, and knows nothing of
the “law’s delays.” First of all, however, I consulted a lawyer of
great experience and sound knowledge in regard to my rights in
the case. I was informed that I had a perfect right to restore the
water to its original course, and, moreover, that inasmuch as it arose
wholly on my land, I had a right to do what I chose with it.

Tat once employed three good stout laborers, and we went to
work and cleared out the old channel most effectually. It had
been entirely filled in in some places; these we dug out and re-
opened. Amongst the property which Brown left with me, but
which I did not purchase, merely held awaiting his order, was one
of Gurley’s Architectural Levels. This admirable little instrument
enabled me to make sure of my course, and I found that when the
water passed off my land the bed of the stream would be so low
that there would be no possibility of bringing it back to Nabal’s
property except by means of a force pump. So we worked away,
and in forty-eight hours I had the old channel cleaned out, and the
present one very effectually filled up. As the sparkling stream
dashed. over the pebbles and rushed into its old bed I could not
help thinking of my little friend Nettie and her murdered pets. I
knew that thousands of dollars had been spent on the ponds and
fountains of our unneighborly neighbor,.and that these were now
all.useless. The fountains were now nothing but dead lumps of
iron and dead blocks of stone, and the pond, instead of being
“a thing of beauty,” would be a noisome, stagnant pool, sickening .
and disgusting its owner, until in self-defence he would be obliged

92 COMMON SENSE

to drain it. Truly, Nettie was well avenged, and I did not feel
sorry.

But I knew that for a week or two, things would get worse in-
stead of better, so I sent my wife and children off to a distant rela-
tive, and gave the girl a vacation, telling her to stay away until I
sent for hér. -

It was not long before our friend missed the water, and rushed
up to my door in a perfect rage. He wanted to Know how I had
dared to change the natural course of a running stream, anid threat-
ened all sorts of vengeance. I quietly ordered him off the prémises,
telling him that the spring was mine, and I coukl do with it what
I pleased. He refused to go, telling me that I could not put him
off. Of course he meant physically, which was quite trué, but
there were others on the premises that could. It was to me a
matter of no consequence how long he staid; he could not undo
what I had done, and I felt satisfied. So I simply shut the door
in his face and walked into the house. I knew that if he did any
damage he could be made to pay for it.

After a few minutes he walked away, and next day I received a:
letter from his lawyer, notifying me that if I did’ not restore the
stream to what he called its proper channel, he was instructed to
begin suit at once. As his adviser had the reputation of being a
very able lawyer and a perfect gentleman, I thought it best to call
on him and explain. He was evidently a little surprised when I gave
him the facts in the case, though, with a lawyer’s caution and shrewd-'
ness, he would not acknowledge that his client had made a mistake.
Next day I received another letter, asking me to call if convénient.
I made it convenient. The lawyer explained to me the great ex-
pense to which his client had gone to fit up his place, the beauty
of which was greatly marred by my action. He stated that his
client had directed him to institute a suit for damages, but wishing
to avoid troublé he wanted to know if I would not restore the water
to’ its former channel, provided guarantees were given that no nuis-
ance ‘should be allowed. I positively refused. I told him that I
wanted the water for my own use, and that I would not trust his
client under any circumstances. In due time I was served’ with

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 93

the papers in the suit, and also a notice to show cause why I
should not be “enjo‘ned” from diverting the stream, as they put
it, but I noticed that the attorney in the case was not the one
with whom I had had an interview. He had evidently advised his
client not to enter the suit. It cost me a small retainer to my
lawyer, who put in an appearance for me, but the case was aban-
doned and I never heard any more of it.

One most gratifying circumstance through all this ight was the
sympathy and good feeling extended towards me by all the neigh-
bors. ‘These rude dwellers on the hillsides had little sympathy
with any man that “put on airs,” and when it went so far as to
make his neighbors sick, they were “down” on him, as they ex-
pressed it. ‘This little episode brought me into closer connection
with the people around me than anything else could have done.

The stream now flows through my neighbor’s ponds and foun-
tains, but “ Nabal” is not my neighbor. “ Nabal” was so deeply
chagrined over his defeat, that he took matters greatly to lieart.
He who had lorded it so over all the hillside was now beaten.
But worse than that; securities which he considered as sound
as United States notes went from above par down to the tens.
He sold out, and the loss so curtailed his income that he could
not maintain his country-seat. He disposed of the property
ata great sacrifice, and another now occupies his place. That
other is a “ Nabal” only in one particular; he has a most excellent
wife.

When I gave Nettie an account of all this she was greatly
pleased, although she felt very sorry for “ Abigail.”

We divide the water between us; there is enough for both when
properly managed. And so it came to pass that a never-failing
stream of clear, pure water flows past my coops and through my
yards, and this I regard as one of the most important of the many
items which .go to form the elements of my success.

94 COMMON SENSE

ards and Fences.

ALY first thought was that fences, except for the breeding
pens, would be an unnecessary expense, seeing that the
birds were to be allowed the range of the entire grounds
during the -greater part of the season. I soon found, however,
that I could not dispense with a well-fenced yard around each
house, as it would be necessary at times to confine the birds ‘to
their own domicile for various purposes.. ‘The most important of
these was the training of the hens, so that each might know its
own roosting place. I had found, in former years, that when a few
hens and a cock were confined for some weeks in a breeding ‘pen,
and became accustomed to roost in there, it was almost-impossible:to
“change them, except by a repetition of the same process.. On one
occasion we had aout twenty hens whose roosting place we wished
to change. For several weeks we carried them nightly from the
old to the new house, and at the end of that time fully two-thirds
of them returned to the old place. I then shut them yp, day and
night, in their new quarters, for about three weeks, and we had no
more trouble. Now, every season we would have 500 young pul-
lets to accustom to a new roosting place. They would be divided
into Jots, each lot would be placed in its own house and yard; and
fed there and compelled to roost there, and I knew that they would
almost all come back after they were given their liberty. In this
way, and this only, could I obtain the benefits of the system which
TI had adopted.

But, in addition to this, there were various other occasions on
which a well-fenced yard would ‘be of great advantage. ‘Thus,
every fall the young cockerels would have to be separated and
placed by themselves, and various other necessities would arise.
Movable fencing was therefore a necessity, or at least a great con-
venience,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 95

The permanent fence round the yard alréady on the place was
made of what are called’ “shingling laths,” the pickets being 9 feet
long (an 18 foot lath cut in two). These laths are x inch by 1%,
and may be obtained of certain lengths—z2, 14, 16, 18 feet, etc.

Of portable fencing there were various kinds described in the
books, but the choice lay between the simple lath fence I had used
years ago and a fence of wire netting. ‘The great objection to the
latter, however, was its cost. It is very neat, almost invisible, and
for small runs answers admirably. But it costs 134 cents per
square foot, which on a running foot 7 feet high, as is necessary for
most of the non-sitters, amounts to 10% cents per running foot.
The 16-foot panels which I used cost about half that sum per foot,
or less than a dollar each, and the labor of putting up the lath
fence is greatly less than that required for the wire netting. I had
two kinds of lath panels ; one for fences where there were birds only
on one side, and the other for division fences where birds were on
both sides.

The engraving, Fig 7, shows the style and construction of an
ordinary panel. There were three horizontal rails, consisting of
shingle laths, each sixteen feet long. These laths being 1 X 1%
inches, were placed with their edge towards the upright plastering
laths. This gave a greater depth of wood for the lath nails to sink
into, and also greater strength against the bending of the fence side-
ways by wind or the pressure of birds flying or running against them.
-The wind, however, does not seem to take much hold of such a
fence, although they.act as valuable shelters. The two lower rails
were connected by a diagonal brace which was firmly nailed to
to each rail at the end. The diagonal was simply an 18 foot
shingling lath, cut to the right length and the proper shape at the
ends. :

The end slats were also made of shingling lath—a 16 foot lath
cut in two. They were laid flat against the horizontal rails, and
nailed firmly with wrought nails, which were clinched. As the
length of an ordinary lath is 4 feet, and as the ends of the laths lapped
past each other on the middle bar only a very little, the fence lacked
only an inch or so of being 8 feet high. The upper laths were

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COMMON SENSE

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Fig. 7.—PORTABLE LATH FENCE.

IN THE POULTRY YARD 97

pointed, so.as to prevent any bird that might fly on to them from
resting there. None of our birds, however, have ever got over
these fences, as we are in the habit of trimming the quills of the
wings of our Leghorns and Hamburghs.

When my man made the first few panels, he pointed the lower
laths also, and placed their tops several inches above the middle
rail. ‘This formed one of the best traps for chickens that I ever
saw. ‘They would jump up, their heads would slip into the wedge-
shaped opening between the laths, and there they would hang by
the neck. J lost several fine hens in this way, until I had the tops
of the lower laths sawed oft square.

At first we had some trouble, owing to the tendency of some of
the lath to split. We soon remedied this difficulty, however, by
wetting the lath. When thoroughly wet they are not easily split.

The lath were pointed by means of a draw-knife and a carpen-
ter’s woodeni vise. A small circular saw would no doubt have done
the work better.

After the panels were completed, they were placed against some
straight fence or wall to dry, which they did very rapidly. They
were then painted with crude petroleum, and panels so treated have
been in use five years without showing any sign of deterioration.

Such panels are very strong. I have heard complaints of lath
fences being weak and liable to be broken down by the birds, in
which case, of course, mischief would result. In my own yards
no breakage has ever occurred. I have no doubt but that if a cow
or a horse ‘were to attempt to pass this fence they could succeed,
but that any bird short of an ostrich could break it down I do not
believe. I have seen heavy birds—birds weighing twelve pounds—
throw themselves against this fence in their fights without produc-
ing any bad effect on it, and even good-sized dogs have rushed
against these fences without injuring them. It will be seen that
the lower rail is about a foot from the bottom, so that the shock
given by dogs and birds comes at the strongest part of the fence,
and the diagonal brace is also a great help against any local blows.
T have therefore come to the conclusion that lath fences that break
down easily must either be badly constructed or made of very

98 COMMON SENSE

poor materials. A great point is to place the rails flat, so that a
good size nail may be driven wholly into solid wood.

With a supply of panels like this, and a proper Humber of stakes
or posts,a yard can be put together in a very short time. The
first thing, for those who are not used to the work, is to roughly
lay out the yard, marking the corners with small stakes or mark-
ers. If there is to be a gate, the place where it should come ought
to be marked, and the house ought to be in position before the
yard is laid out. My houses had strong “screw eyes” at the cor-
ners where the fence joined them, and to these the outside picket
of the first panel of fence was tied either with strong cord or with
wire.* The panel was then held in position, and a hole made
with a crowbar just at the place where the post should be set. Thé
post or stake is then driven into the ground to a depth depending
upon the character of the soil. This work is done by means of a
wooden mallet or maul with a long handle. We made the mallet
ourselves out of a piece of a tree, using an old hoe handle for a
handle, With such a mallet a man or stout boy can drive a stake
3 inches in diameter into the ground so deeply that no common
animal can push it over. The untied end of the first panel is then
placed against one side of this post, and the end of another panel
against the other side, and both are tied to the stake either with
tarred cord or soft wire. The second panel is then placed so that
it and the first panel form a straight piece of fencing, and the point
where the second post should come is marked with a crowbar of
“hole opener,” as we call it. ‘This hole opener is of peculiar
shape. It consists of a long bar of iron or steel, with a pear-shaped
ball at the lower end, as shown in Figure 8. Such a crowbar,
if pointed with tempered steel, can be driven two feet into hard
ground with great rapidity and ease, while a common crowbar would
require hard and protracted, labor. The heavy point is first driven
in, and the bar rocked a little in two or three directions. It is
then raised and again driven into the hole with as much force as
possible, and again rocked. This operation is repeated until the

. *The wire that comes off baled hay answers very well for this purpose, and
may be had for almost nothing from those that use this kind of hay.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 99

hole is deep enough, and it is surprising how rapidly the work can
be done. We always started the holes in this way, but in soft
spots it is best to drive the stakes wholly with the mallet.

After a little practice it becomes unnecessary to mark off the
boundaries of the yards. ‘The eye becomes a good enough
guide for the direction, and the panels being all 16 feet, the
size can be told at a glance.

When there is to be a gate, the gate is treated like a
panel, except that the tie which serves for the gate does not
tie the panel next it. ‘Ihe gates were made just like short
panels, but there was a diagonal brace above as well as be-
low. ‘The gates were quite light, easily lifted and moved,
so that no hinges were used. The tie was made of several
turns of wire, instead of two, as used for the panels, and
one of those three-cent wire hooks and eyes, of good size,
was used for a fastening. This was not as convenient as a
proper hinge, but it anvtered every purpose for the breeding
pens. The gates for the large stationary yards were, how-
ever, made more substantially. The gate posts were nicely
squared, and the gates had a special picket for receiving the
hinge. This picket was made of so-called inch boards
(nearly 7-8ths thick), 3 inches ‘wide, and carefully selected Fig. 8.
for soundness and strength. Loose butt hinges were used,
and as the post was held upright by the panel on the other side
there was no sagging, and the gate always worked smoothly.

There was another form of panel used for division fences. In
division fences, that is, fences between two yards, it is necessary to
have the lower part close, so as to prevent fighting. This was
done by nailing half a lath between every one of the lower row of
laths. These Jaths did not quite fill up the space, but the openings
were so narrow that n> fighting could occur. ‘The half laths were
firmly nailed to the lower rail, and a line of selected Jath was run
horizontally about 2 inches below the top of the half laths. These
horizontal laths were nailed to the half laths, and also to the others,
with small- wrought nails that clinched. ‘These division panels

100 COMMON SENSE

‘

were surprisingly strong. We doubt if any animal, short of a horse
or a cow, could have broken-them.

The panels were easily and rapidly made by using proper facili.
ties. Four posts were sunk in the ground, so as to make the legs
of a sort of bench 16 feet long, 8 feet wide, and the usual height of
aworkbench. Along the front a good plank 18 feet long was laid.
It was braced in the middle by nailing it to the edge of another
plank 14 feet long. Of course the latter plank was on the under
side, and, as it presented its zédth against any force tending to
bend the upper plank, the bench was pretty stiff. ‘Two pieces of
plank, each 8 feet long, were laid across the end posts, so that the
bench was a sort of skeleton affair closed on three sides, the other
side being open, and the middle also quite free. Six feet trom one
end of the bench two other posts of the same height were set, and
across the top was laid a plank 8 feet long. This was intended to
support the panel when it was shoved off the large bench when
nailing on the top row of lath. Having the material all handy and
prepared, the three rails were laid down, their ends resting on the
end planks of the bench, ‘The two stout end pickets were then
nailed to them, the proper position of the rails being shown by a
rod, properly marked. All the panels were, therefore, precisely the
same. ‘his framework of the panel being now held square, the
diagonal brace was cut to fit accurately, and then firmly nailed in
its place. Then the first lath was nailed on, a thin board, 6 inches
long and 13 inches wide, and having a block nailed to its upper
surface to serve as a handle, being laid between it and the
first picket so as to get the space right. The rail into which the
nails were being driven rested on the long plank, and all the laths
were nailed at one end before an attempt was made to nail the
other. Then the middle rail was lanl on the plank and the other
ends of the lath nailed to it. Then the diagonal brace was laid on
this plank and the lath nailed half way up. The panel was then
turned round, and standing between the top and the middle rail the
upper half of the diagonal was nailed.

Everything was now finished except the nailing of the lath to
the upper half. The panel was strong enough to resist much bend-

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 101

ing when laid flat and supported in the middle, but to avoid any
bending I had put up the support previously described, The
workman now stood between the top and middle rails with the end
of the panel resting on the end plank of the bench. ‘The first top
lath was nailed at both ends and the panel shoved along. Asa
matter of fact, however, the plank was 12 inches wide, so that three
lath could be nailed before moving the panel. This process was
carried on until the space between the last picket and the lath be-
came too small to admit the workman, when he stepped out and
nailed the last half dozen lath without difficulty.

Ihave been astonished to see how quickly an expert workman
can nail up a panel. I had one workman whose labor on the
panels did not exceed 18 cents each, and yet he was earning fair
wages.

It is also surprising to see how rapidly those who are accustomed
to this kind of work can move one of the breeding yards and
houses to another spot. The process is as follows:

Catching the hens: To do this they are all driven into the
house, gently but quickly, through the ordinary hole that admits
them. An empty crate is then placed with its open door against
this hole and the hens are easily driven into the crate, which is
closed and allowed to stand where it is until wanted. The wires
or cords fastening the panels to the house on either side are cut.
It does not pay to spend time untying them. A sharp knife for the
cord, or a pair of cutting pliers (found in every hardware store) for
the wire does the business instantly. ‘Two men then pick up the
house by the handles and walk off with it to the new location. As
the house has no bottom or floor except the ground, the old nests
and all the dirt are left behind. The house is then properly
located, and to those who have done the job before, that is all the
marking off that is needed.

The panels are then all cut loose and laid across two poles, each
about ten feet long and lying on the ground about 34 inches apart.
These poles serve for a hand-barrow, and the panels must be laid
so as to balance. As soon as a load is laid on, two men pick
them up, using the ends of the poles for handles, and carry them

102 COMMON SENSE

to the new place. When there are four men at work, it is better to
place the poles further apart (say 6 feet) and lay on twice the load.
There is then one man to each end of the poles.

The posts or. stakes are then drawn out of their holes by means
of a leyer and chain. A lever, 12 to 15 feet long, is used, and a
small chain or stout rope fastens it to the post. Of course the lever
\s horizontal, and is supported at the short end by a block of wood,
‘30 as to prevent it from sinking into the earth. A lift on the long
end brings the post up so far that it is generally quite loose, and
can be drawn out by hand.

All this is done with a rapidity that would astonish those who
are not accustomed to such work. ‘The process of putting the
fence up again has been already described.

My first undertaking, therefore, was to construct a sufficient
number of fence pavels to enclose yards for seven houses for layers,
and ten breeding pens. I saw that ¢hzs could not be done in time
by working at it “at odd spells,” so I hired a carpenter and two
-assistanis and set them at work on the houses and fences.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 10-

Breeding Pens.

HAVE already described the simple pen in which I placed
the Brown Leghorn cock and seven hens. It answered
its purpose admirably, but having but one box of the

_kind there used, I could not make any more like it. Nor, indeed,
do I think I would have done so, if I had had them, as I felt sure
that I could improve upon it. Again, therefore, I ransacked
the poultry books, and general works on architecture. I even
found books specially devoted to this branch of building (it
scarcely deserves the name of architecture) and I studied them,
but after all I found nothing that seemed to meet my presents wants
so well as the small movable houses I had used a quarter of century
before. ‘They were made of matched boards, and entirely without
flooring. They were 4 feet 6 inches long by 3 feet 6 inches wide.
The front was 5 feet 6 inches and the back 4 feet high. There
‘was a door 20 inches wide and 4 feet high at one end, and a small
window consisting of a single pane of glass 8 X 12 at the other.
The latter might be covered during cold nights with a shutter,
which was attached just below the window by small hinges, so that
during the day time it could be turned down and at night it could
be turned up, so as to cover the window, when it was held in place
by a small button.

There was a hole in the front, through which the birds entered,
and this hole could be covered by a board placed on the inside and
sliding over the opening.

There were two roosts, made of young trees, each 3 inches in
diameter and 3 feet 6 inches long. They were placed so as to
divide the ground space equally. This gave 84 inches of roost—
sufficient for ten fowls of the largest size. The roosts were mov-
able and when it was deemed desirable to enter the house, they
could be lifted out without trouble. At the same time they were

104 COMMON SENSE

perfectly firm, being held in V-shaped spaces between cleats—the
same as those used in the large house.

The nests, or rather nest boxes, were a part of the house. In
the figure is shown a section of the house, where it will be seen
that the nests form a row along the back, being covered with a
slanting board. ‘Ihe nests are simply a little fine marsh hay laid
on the ground. The hay and eggs are kept in place by a 4 inch
board which runs along the front of the nests. Each nest is a
compartment by itself, divided off from the one on each side of it
by a board which reaches up to the under surface of the slanting -
board. Indeed, the latter rests on the tops of these division
boards. ‘The nests are accessible from the outside, so that the
poultry keeper need never enter the house. ‘The way to get at
them is to let down the board which runs across the entire back of
the house, and is hinged to the stationary board below it. Both
the side door and the door giving admission to the nests are pro-
vided with hasps, so that they may be locked by means of one of
those cheap cast iron padlocks known as “jail locks.” Such a
contrivance is proof against sneak thieves. A burglar would break
the whole house up in half a minute, so there is no use in putting
on strong and costly locks.
~ Along the front is a row of pickets, to prevent the birds from
flying over. The pickets are 16 inches long, being simply laths cut
into three parts.

On each corner there are handles consisting of pieces of boards
shaved into such a shape as to be easily grasped by the hand.
They are firmly secured to the front and back by means of wrought
nails, clinched. Four stout boys have no difficulty in picking up
one of these houses and moving it wherever it is wanted. Indeed,
two men can do it.

The inside of the house—sides, ends and roof—are lined with
tarred paper, nailed to cleats one inch thick, which are fastened to
the house as detailed in our description of the large house. This
makes the house very warm, and the matched boards make it per-
fectly rain proof. To protect it from the’ weather it was coated

105

IN THE POULTRY YARD.

Fig. 9._HOUSE FOR BREEDING STOCK.

106 COMMON SENSE

with crude petroleum laid on like paint. Of all the preservatives
that we have ever tried, this is the cheapest and best.*

Another important point—ventilation—was not forgotten. In
cold winter weather, very little ventilation is needed, and I depended
largely upon the cracks round the door and other openings to
supply it. But cracks and openings are bad things, and to have
left a crack at the bottom, and made a hole at the top, would have
passed such a current of cold air over the fowls as might have
produced frozen combs and wattles. To avoid this, three holes—2
inches in diameter—were made along the front—that is at the
highest part of the house. Under these holes was placed a thin
board shelf, 14 inches wide, and during cold weather the space be-
tween the shelf and the roof is packed with straw. ‘This, of course,
puts a complete stop to all currents, but every chemist knows that
through such porous packing the foul air will pass off by a process
of “diffusion,” and pure air will enter from the outside even
against a considerable current. Moreover, the straw acts like the
“regenerator” in Ericsson’s first caloric engine, and absorbs the
heat from the outgoing air to give it up to the incoming.

I have described the house, as. we finally made it. . Before com-
mitting myself to a particular pattern I made one myself, and hav-
ing surrounded it with a yard of portable fencing, I put seven hens
and a cock into it and tried it for a couple of weeks. I found a
few points to modify in my first model, but the final outcome was
as I have described and was very satisfactory.

* Crude petroleum may be obtained at a very cheap rate by the barrel, and is
easily applied. If too thick and sticky it may be thinned with benzine or gaso-
line. When using it, great care must be taken not to allow a light to come
near it, or the whole house would be in ablaze. We painted our houses out-
side and in before we lined them with tarred paper, and one of them got pretty
badly scorched, by a workman, who struck a match neat one to light hie pipe.
Tt was a windy day and he stuck his head in to get shelter forthe match. It was
the only time any one struck a match near these houses, as he got badly
burned, the petroletim having been thinned with gasoline. After a few days
the volatile matter passes off, and the petroleum sinks into the wood, rendering
it hard, durable and very difficult to set on fire. Crude petroleum is death to in-
sects. It will be along time before houses painted with this material will be
infested with lice. i

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 107

Making a Gtart.

WAVING completed my plans for houses, pens and fences,
and made one of each, so as to test its working and
convenience, I set to work to construct a sufficient num-
ber of yards to hold 500 birds, together with those, old and young,
already on the place and coming forward. I intended to send all
the old fowls and culls to market, as soon as it would be advisable
to do so, and after some inquiry and a comparison of old market
reports, I believed that the best time to sell would be the spring.
Thus, I found that during the preceding fall what are known as
“fowls” sold for 1214 cents per Ib., while in the spring they had
brought 20 cents. On a hen 6 lbs. weight, this allowed 45 cents for
her keep during the winter, and as many of the hens, if properly
cared for, would lay during, at least, part of the time, it was evi-
dent that spring was the most judicious time to sell. As I pro-
posed:to buy about 500 hens, and as I had about 60 on hand and
expected to have 300 or goo young pullets out of the broods now on
the place, I calculated that I would need, at least, eight houses,
and about ten breeding pens, in addition to those now on hand.
So I made my calculations, ordered the lumber, and kept the car-
penter and his ‘assistant at work.

I was anxious to take advantage of the market at once, and to
procure my hens before cold weather came, so that I might not
only have them in good health when I got them, but be able to
‘get them into’ good condition to withstand the winter. I also
wished to guarantine every lot that I purchased in market; that is
to say, I wanted to keep it by itself for a few days before letting it
Tun with the others. While the breeding pens were under way,
therefore, I interrupted the work and had a large shed put up. It
was 40 feet long and about 16 feet wide, and was constructed in a
‘very simple manner. Stout posts were sunk at the four corners,

108 COMMON SENSE

and ‘lighter posts between at distances of 8 feet. The back row
was only 3 feet high, and the front row 8 feet, and rails of scantling
were nailed along the top and also near the bottom at the back and
ends. To this scantling rough boards were nailed vertically, and
narrow strips were tacked over the joints. The roof consisted of
boards 18 feet long, with the joints covered in the same way.
These boards were supported in the middle by a suitably arranged
beam, so as to bear the weight of any ordinary snowfall, as I in-
tended to leave this shed up all winter. Eight roosting poles ran
from end to end, being placed as near the back as possible, and all
on the same level, so that there might be no fighting for the highest
place. About half an acre of grass land was enclosed around it by
means of the movable fence. When a lot of fowls were purchased,
they were first placed in one of the breeding yards, or in two yards
if the number was large. Jf no disease showed itself in a week
they were transferred to the large yard around the shed, and kept
there until the houses were finished. If disease had shown itself,
I was prepared to “stamp” it out by well-known methods—the
slaughter. of the birds and the disinfection of the house and yards—
but fortunately I had no occasien to resort to any such measures

I was now ready to go inte market and buy my hens. For
several days I visited the dealers’ stands without seeing anything
that suited me, but at last perseverance was rewarded, and I found
two crates containing some very nice common hens—compact
bodies, bright eyes, red combs, and with feathers hard and clean.
‘There were twenty-two birds in one crate and seventeen in the
other, but several of them were cocks. I tried to buy the hens
only, but found that at wholesale prices I had to take the entire
lot or none. I therefore bought them all and sent them to my
yards. They weighed 159 Ibs., or a little over four pounds each.
The cocks (of which there were thirteen) were separated and
placed in a pen by themselves, while the hens of each crate were
kept separate and placed in pens. I tried to sell. the cocks by the
crate, but found that the loss was considerable. Birds wltich cost
me fifteen cents per pound would only bring twelve cents when I
tried to re-sell them. As I did not want this first lot anyway,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 10g

however, I sold them for what they would bring, and let them go.
But even on this basis I found that it paid better to buy the entire
crate than to ask the dealer to let me pick.

Next day I found a crate of beautiful White Leghorns. ‘There
were seven pullets and nine cockse They brought no more than
the most common stock, and I bought them all. ‘The dealer said
that he had no doubt that if he had marked them up, and offered
them as breeding stock, he could have secured a far higher price
for them, but then the expense and trouble of keeping them in the

“narrow quarters of a city store would have more than offset the in-
creased price. His rule was, therefore, to sell all such stock at
regular market prices and at the earliest possiblemoment. I found
out afterwards that they came from a party whose strain of Leg-
horns was really good. The birds were very fine, and I concluded
that the cockerels were good enough for my breeding pens. I also
found another crate of large birds of somewhat mixed blood, but
very handsome, and apparently very healthy. In this crate, strange
to say, there were no cocks, so that I regarded the purchase as a
very happy one.

On talking with the dealers, I found that the crates were filled
in various ways. Sometimes a farmer or country gentleman, wish-
ing to lessen his stock, would fill a crate with fowls and send them
in. Most generally these lots were the culls of the yard, and pre-
sented a sorry appearance, but occasionally, where the owner had
fine blood in his stock, the crates were filled with pure bred, hand-
some birds. Crates of the latter kind were rare, but I managed to
secure two such crates of Dominiques, one of Light Brahmas, and
one of Brown Leghorns, besides the crate of White Leghorns
already mentioned. Other crates were filled by hucksters, who
bought up fowls from farmers and others, put them together in lots
of fifteen to twenty-five, and offered them for sale on the streets.
Buying such crates was a good deal of a lotiery; frequently two or
three very good birds would be found mixed with a lot of the veri-
est trash, and sometimes a country henwife would have a lot of
sick chickens, and they would find their way into these lots, the
owner being anxious to sell them and get the money before the birds

110 COMMON SENSE

died or wasted away. I generally gave such crates the go-by, but
on one or two occasions I made some fine additions to my yards. ©

I pursued this course until I had secured 537 hens and about
300 cocks. The birds, as purchased, were’ cagefully looked over,
and all that seemed to be in the slightest degree out of health were
placed in quarantine in one of the yards, and kept there until I
was certain that all was right. I was very fortunate, However, and
did not lose a single bird.

The mongrel cocks were placed at once in large coops and liber-
ally fed—soft food forming a large part of their diet. “Two weeks
of such treatment made a great improvement in most of them, but
on some of them it had no effect whatever. They were killed,
dressed and sent to market as fast as they could be got ready, and
brought fair prices, but I doubt if the results paid for the time, feed
and labor expended. If I were to stock another yard'in the same
way I would send the cocks to market at once and get rid of
them, charging the loss to the cost of the hens.

1 was now ready to take stock. I found that I had 537 hens,
which cost me to date $302.23 for birds, food, etc. This allowed
for the money received for the cocks sold, but I had on hand a
small quantity of food (perhaps $15 worth) the cost of which is in-
cluded in the $302.23, and which I have not taken into considera-
tion.

The hens were a motley lot. When a number of hens of even
pure-bred fowls of different varieties are mixed together, they are
apt to have a mongrel look, while even a lot of real mongrels, pro-
vided they are all nearly alike in size, shape and color, may present
a very attractive appearance. My first work, therefore, was to sort
them into lots that were tolerably well mated. :

Out of all the cocks, I savéd only a few White Leghorns, a
Spangled Hamburgh and three Dominiques. I was satisfied that
they were sufficiently pure and good to enable me to experiment
with them. Meanwhile, I obtained from different noted breeders,
one Dark Brahma, one White Leghorn, one Sparigled Hamburgh,
and three Light Brahma cocks, and I set aside the ten small coops
to accommodate them, and two White Leghorns, one Spangléd

IN THE POULTRY YARD. IIl

Hamburgh and one Brown Leghorn, from my general purchases.
Then, beginning with the Dominiques, I picked out all the best hens
that I could find of this breed, and when I got through, I found
that I had three very respectable breeding pens of this variety.
Indeed, I confess, I was somewhat surprised to find them so good,
and as the cocks were all first class, I looked forward to having
come excellent results.

I then took the pens containing the Spangled Hamburgh cocks.
I did not find a single hen to match, so I filled each of them up
with four of the best Dominiques T had left and two very fair
Brahma pullets. In this case, too, I had no reason to feel dis-
satisfied.

Next came the White Leghorns. There were quite a number
of very excellent Leghorn hens amongst my purchases, so I filled
one coop with the best I had. ‘This was a very handsome pen.
In the other pens I placed Dominiques and Brahma hens. T had
great faith in this cross and resolved to give it a fair trail.

With the Brown Leghorns, I did not have such good luck. I had
no Brown Leghorn hens that could be called pure, and my
Dominiques were now getting down to culls. However, I made up
two of the best pens I could, and awaited results.

The ten pens drafted sixty hens from my flock. With those I
had at first and what were left of the 537 hens I bought, I had
just 523 left over. The problem now, was, to dispose of these
birds.

My experience has been that to change the roosting place of a
hen is a difficult matter. A setting hen is a stubborn thing, but she
is gentleness itself, compared with a hen that is determined to
roost where she is not wanted. I have never been able to change
the roosting place of a hen, except by shutting her up in her new
coop for two or three weeks, and even this plan does not always
work. Of course, when a hen is removed to such a distance that
she loses all knowledge of her locality, she may be made to roost any-'
where. ‘This was the condition in which my hens were at this’
time, so that all I had to do was to sort them into lots of about 75
each, place each lot in its own house and yard, and leave them

§

112 COMMON SENSE

there for two or three weeks. At the end of that time they were
to have the freedom of the entire place.

For the first lot, then, I carefully examined my flock and selected
75 birds, all as nearly alike as possible, and as near like Dominiques
as I could get them. We now tried to transfer them to their own
coop, but in so doing some serious accidents occurred—one fowl
had a leg broken, and another had a wing dislocated before we
had captured a dozen. I acted as looker on, while younger and
more active legs and hands did the work of catching. The young
men that- I employed were not rough or thoughtless in regard to
the pain inflicted . upon animals, but I could see that to handle
four or five hundred birds, catching them by hand, was a task that
no one could perform without great risk of accident to the fowls.
I therefore ordered the wounded birds killed and stopped all
further proceedings. ‘The men were set at work on the next
house, while I went to town to procure a good net. In my
younger days I had had considerable experience catching fish with
a landing net, and I felt that with a good instrument of that kind I
could catch any fowl in my flock, without ruffling a feather or hurt-
ing a limb. So before I went I told the carpenter to get me out a
pole of the lightest but straightest grained pine he could find, 7 feet
long, 124 inches in diameter at the butt and 1% inches at the top.
When I returned I brought a bag net, 30 inches in diameter at
the mouth, but very considerably less at the bottom, and 40 inches
deep. I also had a tough, dry hoop pole which was passed
through the upper meshes of the net and then tied firmly to the
pine pole. It was, in fact, a huge landing net with 14 inch
meshes, and I proceeded to try it. Selecting a bird, I walked
gently up to it, and by a sudden movement, I placed the net over it
and had it. If I had used a dag, the bird would have dodged
under the hoop but as the net seemed to offer no obstruction, the
bird ran right into it, and was caught. It was no trouble at all,
and thereafter I needed no help in catching the fowls. But I
found that after they were caught it.took too much time to carry
each bird singly to its new yard. I therefore had a transier coop

———

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 113

made, It was simply a light but strong frame work, two feet
high, rour feet long and three feet wide.

The bottom was closely slatted, and the sides and top were made
of lath cut in two and nailed on. ° In the top was a door which
lifted up and through which the fowls were dropped. ‘This door
was Close to one side, and when we wished to give the birds their
freedom the coop was placed on its side, the door opened, and

_the birds allowed to run out. I could easily put twenty hens
into it, and two men could then carry it to any part of the grounds.
I soon filled it, carried it into the new yard, and gave the birds
their liberty without a single accident.

By this time, however, the hens had be-
come pretty wild and somewhat difficult to
approach. I therefore arranged some
portable fence, so as to make at one corner
of the large yard a small enclosure some-
what of the form shown in Fig. ro. b

At the corner, a, the two fences ran
quite dose to each other; at 4 the space
was much wider; at ¢ the outside fence
and the portable fence came together

a

again, and another length of fence e
stretched from ¢ to d, so as to make a
wide throat to the enclosure. It was easy
to drive any particular fowl into @, and ad
when once there it could be driven
through ¢, where a boy stood with a pole Fig. 10.

and kept those that were in from coming

out. If some got in that were not wanted it was no matter, as they
need not be caught. When enough were in it was easy to close the
passage at c, and by means of the net select the birds that were
-wanted. It is possible that other poulterers have better methods
of catching birds than this, but I have not seen any. Where there
is but a small number of fowls together it is an easy matter to catch
any one at night on the roost, and I have done this very often,
But where 75 hens are to be selected and caught out of 500, and

114 COMMON SENSE

carried to a new coop, the hand net saves a great deal of trouble
to the owner, and many a twisted leg and wing to the birds.

_ ‘The first yard made quite a respectable appearance after all.
Although I had found it difficult to complete my third breeding
pen of Dominiques, yet when I had got together all the hens that
resembled Dominiques they formed a very handsome flock, their
very numbers seeming to cover and excuse any slight irregularity.

The second yard I filled with birds that were as nearly white as
possible. Amongst them were quite a number of pure Leghorns
and some very light Brahmas. Most of them, however, were evi-
dently mere mongrels. After I had sorted out 75 white birds of
pretty good quality I had nearly 30 white ones left, but many of
them were quite inferior.

Those for the third yard were selected to match, as nearly as
possible, a hen which was in the lot that I found on the place,
and which my little friend Nettie used to call Dame Parten. She
resembled somewhat a Brown Leghorn, and was a most excellent
hen, though rather small. She Jaid a good-sized egg and plenty
of them, and she herself we had placed in a breeding coop with a
Brown Leghorn cock, but we adopted her as a model for yard
No. 3, and we succeeded in getting over 60 hens that nearly re-
sembled her. Rather than break the uniformity of the yard, I let
it go with this number.

It now began to be difficult to find enough birds that would
match in color to fill any one pen, so I adopted a somewhat differ-
ent plan. I now matched them for size and shape.

The hens that were originally on the place were of all shapes,
sizes and colors, but as they knew the old coop, and the old coop
only, as their home, it was not best to try and make a change. I
therefore let them remain as they were, merely adding enough birds
to make up roo—a number which I considered it possible to ac-
commodate comfortably. ‘The hens that I selected were the best
of odd colors. Some of them were very handsome birds, but the
lack of uniformity told greatly against their appearance.

In making up the other yards I now began with the poorest. I
picked out all the smallest and least promising of the birds that

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 115

were left and put them together. The remainder were then simply
divided amongst the other yards according to size.

Towards the last I found it necessary to use the movable fenc-
ing used for the large yard. I therefore finished all the houses and
put a yard round one of them. All the fowls not already provided
for were transferred to this, and then the large yard was disman-
tled, the fence taken down, nests, etc. consigned to the manure
heap, and the fence posts pulled up. With this material at hand
it was easy to enclose the other yards in a few hours, so that the
birds were not kept very long in confined quarters.

The birds seemed to take kindly to their new homes, and as the
entire place was new to them all, at the end of four days I let one
lot out and gave them the freedom of the place. Every one re-
turned to its own house—perhaps because they could not go any-
where else. Next day I let another lot out. After four days I let
two lots out together, and as soon as all the lots had been out I
opened all the gates and gave them all their freedom. When this
had been done and the birds, on a fine day, were scattered over
the place, I was considerably surprised at the small show that they
made. The place looked as if it could hold ten times as many
with great ease. This seems to be always the feeling when a
thousand or less birds are seen together. ‘The flock does not ap-
pear as large as we expected.

116 COMMON SENSE

Under Wap at Last— More Help Needed.

SMHE enterprise was now fully under way. More than
|) half the laying stock was on hand; a goodly number
of young chickens were coming forward for next year, and
I felt that twelve months from the time of which I write I would
have my poultry farm in full working order, and that the question
of success or failure would have been decided. Already we began
to get some returns in the shape of eggs, although, of course, the
number was small—about six dozen per day from all our hens.
Still this was quite as much as I expected, for experience has
taught me that hens which have been worried and frightened, and
probably kept on short allowance of food and water while passing
from the hands of the seller to that of the purchaser, cannot be
expected to lay for some time. Hence, I have always found that
for the time being, other things being equal, birds reared on a
place are much more valuable for chat place than those that are
pnrchased. After a time, however, the birds pick up and begin to
lay, and it is just possible that the stoppage caused by moving may
throw the laying period into a later and more profitable season.
This was my case precisely. The hens kept laying more and
more as the season grew later and eggs grew dearer, and this was,
of course, to my advantage.

| A great deal of nonsense has been written about egg laying which
it would be well if poultry breeders would get out of their heads.
One of the most erroneous and yet most plausible theories is that
advanced by Geyelin in his book “ Poultry Breeding in a Commer-
cial Point of View.” He gravely tells us that “it has been ascer-
tained that the ovarium of a fowl is composed of six hundred
ovulas or eggs; therefore, a hen, during the whole of her life, can-
not possibly lay more eggs than six hundred, which, in a natural
course, are distributed over nine years in the following proportion ;.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 114

First year after birth............. 15 to 20
Second “ Biers dues 100 “ 120
Third = « OD peer cena 120 “ 135
Fourth “ EE PIPE a tae eer loo “115
Fifth Bee ss B eal oyan eeneneonc 60 “ 80
Sixth =“ Me ape then See emer 50 “ 60
Seventh “ Go Ailes avalos 35 “ 40
Eighth “ ES Seale oat aan os rs 20
Ninth “ BE ae laitisgarteen nse h ace, 1 “ 10

It follows that it would not be profitable to keep hens after their
fourth year, as their produce would not pay for their keep, except
when they are of a valuable or scarce breed.”

This theory is evidently a mere modification of that popularly
held in regard to seeds. Many believe that the huge oak lies
coiled in miniature in the acorn, and that the process of growth is
amere unfolding. It is needless to say that in the sense here ex-
pressed this is untrue. And so with the ovaries of the hen. Geye-
lin’s theory is that even in the little chick the future eggs all exist
in microscopic embryo, and are merely “ unfolded” as the months
roll by. No man, having a sound knowledge of physiology, could
hold any such opinion. The same power which originated the
most microscopic of the egg-embryos that we see in the ovaries:
of a laying hen, when we kill her and cut her open, exists with all
its potency in every healthy hen; and may go on developing new
eggs ad infinitum, provided other conditions do not interfere.
‘These conditions are the exhaustion produced by rapid egg-laying ;
the decay of all the powers by age; the accumulation of fat when
the bird is highly fed, and its weakening when food is stinted;
these and similar causes limit the number of eggs produced by
any one hen, and not the fact that her store of embryo eggs is
exhausted. Hence, the number of eggs laid by different hens
varies very much; some are quickly exhausted by a small num-
ber, others go on laying freely, and it is for the poulterer to
determine what the character of his flock shall be in this re-
spect.

118 COMMON SENSE

The hens now in my yards were in pretty fair condition. Some
of them were, evidently, quite old and showed no signs of moult-
ing; some of the younger ones were already beginning to moult.
I took care that every morning they all had a liberal feed of rich
soft food, and instead of the number of eggs that were laid decreas-
ing, théy actually increased—an unusual thing for this season of the
year. But this involved extra work and care, and I soon saw that
more help was needed to do the birds justice.

In restricting the number of fowls the first year, I was guided, in
a measure, by the amount of help at my disposal. My own
time I considered equal to half that of one man; the servant girl
rendered us some valuable assistance, and the man gave perhaps
one-third of his time to the poultry. With this amount of labor at
command, it was difficult to give more than ordinary care to the
number of fowls on hand, together with a few broods, so that I felt
the need of some person who would give his whole time to
carrying out the details of the work, while I devoted myself to
superintendence, marketing, etc. Having a stout man to do any
hard work or heavy lifting, it occurred to me that an honest, care-
fal woman would prove the best assistant, if I could find one willing
to do the work.

I made quite an extended inquiry, and had a great many offers,
but without any favorable results. ‘The objections to those who
applied were obvious and numerous, and I was about to give up
in disgust the idea of employing a woman, when I received a visit
from the pastor of a German Catholic church, in a neighboring city.
It seems that he had heard of my want, and that amongst his
parishioners was a woman of about forty-five, who had come to
this country a few years ago, from Switzerland, with a husband and
step-daughter. The husband had died and the daughter had got
married, and the poor woman was alone ina strange land. In this
country, those who are willing to work need rarely be idle, and
she found enough to do at odd jobs to keep her fully employed, but
she wished to find a home where employment would be perman-
ent. On inquiry, I found that she had been accustomed to work
out of doors, when she was in Europe; she was strong, healthy

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 119

and had been accustomed to the care of animals. Her pastor re-
commended her very highly for honesty and steadiness, so I gave
him what we thought would be her expenses in coming to see me,
and arranged a time when she should meet my man with the
spring wagon. She came and after she had seen the coops, houses
and yards, and had her duties fully explained, she thought that
she would like to try the place at any rate. So I engaged her and
set her to work at once, sending my man that afternoon for her
trunk, etc.

Her duties were to be the care of the fowls of which she was to
have entire charge nader my directions. ‘The man was to perform
certain definite portions of the work, such as cleaning out the
houses, cracking corn for the young chickens, grinding bones and
oyster shells, carrying tood and water, and similar jobs, and of
course when the coops were to be moved and work of that kind
to be done, she was not expected to do much. But I found that
that she was as strong as an average man, and a great deal more
willing, so that it was impossible to prevent her helping us with
everything. Her name was Margaret and she proved indeed a
“ pearl,” and to her faithfulness and intelligence much of the suc-
‘cess of my experiment was due

As soon as she came she entered earnestly upon her duties.
The various yards were kept open or shut, as required, with great
regularity; the breeding coops were visited regularly, the eggs re-
moved and the nests kept in good order, and all the birds, old and
young, were carefully fed. She did not profess to know anything
about the different kinds of food, and had no special notions about
feeding and management. She had fed her chickens in the old
country upon whatever she could get, and occasionally gave them
alittle pepper and old mortar pounded up, but beyond this she
had no nostrums, and was ready to do anything that I told her. This
made her invaluable, for it left me-free to be guided by my own
knowledge, and assured me that my plans and experiments would
not be secretly thwarted by some one that thought she knew better
than I did.

I fully realized that the financial results of my present stock,

120 COMMON SENSE

would depend, somewhat, on the way they were managed, as re-
gards feeding. I looked. upon the birds now in my possession as a
mere means to secure a better flock next year, and therefore I had
no hesitation about getting all I could out of them, and as soon as
I could., After that I proposed to let them go.

If.I had known much about their ages and qualities, I would
probably have adopted a different principle in separating them into
lots. I would have put those of the same age and the same time
of moulting together, but as I had no information on this point, I
was obliged to employ an entirely artificial classification. Here-
after, however, it would be easy to have all the hens in each yard
of the same age, and they could be disposed of at once and to-
gether.

In talking with poultry keepers, I find the most diverse opinions
prevalent in regard to the requisites for securing an abundant sup-
ply of eggs. Many hold that it is entirely in the breed; others
-place more dependence on the kind of food that is given.

I could not change the breed of birds now in my possession,
but I could regulate their feed carefully, and I resolved to pay
great attention to this point. My opinion was then and is now,
that the best breed in the world will not give satisfactory results
without special attention to the feed, but I also believe that a great
deal of good food is wasted on worthless fowls.

IN THE POULTRY YARD, 121

Seeding.

OME writers tell us that the hen is a mere machine for
producing eggs—taking in corn at one end and turning
out eggs at the other. Although this is rather a coarse

view of the subject, there is a good deal of truth in the statement;
and therefore it is very obvious that a hen cannot produce eggs
unless her food is of the right kind, as well as right in quantity.
Now, chemistry enables us to tell exactly what is wanted to pro-
duce an egg; it is simply the materials of an egg, and by chemistry
we can easily find out what these are. Almost any ordinary food
will keep a cock in good health and condition, but unless we give
our hens the right kind of food, the supply of eggs will grow less.
To produce an egg the hen must take in the material required for an
egg, and unfortunately there is no form of food which will exactly
represent an egg and no more. Now, whatever is over is waste, and
must be got rid vf, and if there is too much of this waste the
system gets clogged up and disease or unfruitfulness is the result.
Thus, if we feed our hens nothing but corn, in a short time they
will become so fat that they become diseased, and egg laying
ceases. But, if for part of the corn we substitute other forms of
food, such as flesh, bones, cotton-seed cake, clover, etc., the num-
ber of eggs produced is greatly increased. All experience confirms
this, and in our experimental coops we have seen it proved over
and over again.

What, then, are the materials required to form an egg? In ad-
dition to the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which are found in
large proportions in all forms of food, there is needed principally
nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and lime. It is not difficult to
supply plenty of these at a cheap rate, and in good form, if we only
know how. Instead of a dissertation on chemistry, however, let us
have a talk about eggs, and see what is needed for the different

122 COMMON SENSE

parts, these being the shell, the white and the yolk. The shell of
the egg is made up chiefly of carbonate of lime. Our readers will
find a full analysis in any work on organic chemistry, but with this
we need not concern ourselves at present. ‘The practical question
is: Can our fowls get a sufficient supply of this material in their
ordinary food, and if not, where can we find it? It is more than
probable that those birds which are not fed by man, obtain in
drinking water a large porportion of the lime used in the formation
of egg shells. Almost all the water of streams, ponds and wells
contains a small percentage of lime. And where the number of
eggs is not large, lime in sufficient quantity may also be obtained
from ordinary food. But where we want eggs in large numbers, it
will not do to depend upon theses sources, and lime must be sup-
plied as a regular article of food. It will not do to give the caus-
tic lime used for whitewashing, however. We have known fowls
to be killed by eating such lime. ‘The lime must be rendered
“miJd” as it is called, by exposure to the air for months or
years. Hence old mortar answers well, and all the better from the
sharp gravel which it contains: By mortar we do not mean plaster
or “hard finish,” but the mortar used for building. A pile of
this, if placed in one corner of the yard, will be constantly frequented
by the hens.

Another excellent source of lime is found in oyster shells. They
supply not only lime, but a small percentage of phosphorus* as
well, and the fowls pick them up greedily. ‘They can generally be
had in any quantity for the asking, and are easily reduced to
coarse powder or roughly broken by a hammer or stamper. In
using a hammer, the best way is to place a heap of the shells in a
shallow box and hammer them—the hammer having a long
handle—or they may be pounded with a pestle made like a pavior’s
rammer. ‘his is a very efficient way. Or, if the fowls have access
to a wagon road leading through the grounds, the shells may be
simply laid down thickly all over the road way. The wheels and
hoofs soon break them up and they make a very good surface to
the road.

* Vide Watt’s Dictionary of Vhemistry, article Oysters.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 123

These ate all makeshifts, however. The best way to reduce
shells to powder is to pass them through a mill made for the pur-
pose. Such mills are manufactured at Easton, Pa., by Wilson
Bros., for $5.00 each, and will easily grind enough shells in ten min-
utes to supply twenty hens for a week. A large portion of the
shells is reduced to a very fine powder, and this should be sifted
out and kept by itself’ The coarse chips are greedily picked up by
the fowls, while the fine powder may be mixed with their cooked
food in the proportion of a gill of powder to a gallon of food.

We have seen writers in the agricultural journals recommend
burné oyster shells for fowls | Oyster shells consist almost wholly of
carbonate of lime, and when burned this is converted into caustic
lime. ‘To give a fowl solid pieces of caustic lime to swallow is not
a very prudent proceeding, to say the least of it.

Another important source of lime is bones. Bones contain both
lime and phosphorus, and form one of the very best additions to
our poultry food. The directions usually given for using them,
however, are exceedingly wasteful. Most writers direct us to burn
them, so that they may be pounded easily.* ‘To bur bones that
are intended for food is a good deal like burning corn and feeding
the ashes.t We prefer fresh bones, which are fed either cooked or
raw. To cook them we fill a good-sized pot with water, put in the
bones with as much flesh on as possible, and let the whole simmer
gently, just as if making soup. When thoroughly cooked the bones
are taken out, and the “soup” is made into “mush” with Indian
meal. Such mush is very nutritious. The flesh is now cut ‘from

* Since bones are composed chiefly of phosphate of lime, with a very little car-
bonate, they are not rendered caustic by being burned, and consequently the
objection which holds in the case of burned oyster shells does not apply to them.
The process of burning is simply a wasteful one.

+ Parched or charred corn is, however, a very different matter. One of the
best tonics for fowls, especially if they show & slight tendency either to consti-
pation or diarrhoea, is charred corn. We have a large kettle, which we bought
for old iron because it was cracked. in which we occasionally parch corn for our
chickens. The kettle was roughly ‘‘set” in brickwork by our man, and the
chimney is simply two lengths of old stove pipe, the whole being out of doors.
A wooden cover keeps rain and snow out ofthe pot. A fire of brush soon heats
the kettle so that it will char corn. Halfa bushel is then poured in and con-
stantly stirred until it is quite dark—partially burned, in fact. The chickens eat
it greedily, and we feel certain that it does them good. Of course we feed but

“small quantities of it. Occasionally, however, we find chickens that will not
touch it. In that case moisten it and roll it in ‘‘ feed.”

124 COMMON SENSE

the bones, and the latter are passed through a Wilson mill.
This grinds them up into a coarse powder, which may be either fed
directly or mixed with the cooked food. As a general rule, the
quantity of fine powder is not very great, and as the moist bones
are difficult to sift we let the chickens do the sorting. ‘They are
greedy for bones or any animal matter, so we throw the ground
Ibones into shallow boxes or troughs, and after they have eaten all
they can pick up we dump the rest into the kettle of cooked fuod
and stir the mass thoroughly.

There are several establishments that grind bones and offer the
“bone meal” or “ground bone” for sale. Most of this stuff is in-
tended for manure, and is fit for nothing else. It is made from

‘bones of all kinds—most of them so putrid that they ‘smell to
heaven.” Such material is; of course, totally unfit for food for ani-
mals, Some manufacturers, however, profess to prepare bone meal
expressly for food for cows and poultry. The bones are fresh, they
are ground at once, and the meal is thoroughly dried, so that any
adhering flesh is prevented from putrifying. Sonye samples that we
tried were quite sweet, and the fowls relished them and throve on
on them. Other specimens seemed to make the birds sick very
quickly, causing diarrhoea, drooping, and general ill health. We
found, however, that a thorough boiling for at Jeast an hour ren-
dered them quite wholesome, probably by destroying the putrefying
agents. But in all cases it is best to get sweet fresh bone medl, and
the best test for these qualities is to filla saucer with the stuff,
moisten it thoroughly, and see if it remains sweet after the lapse of
two or three hours, Fresh meat will hardly putrify, even in a warm
room, during an hour, but if it has been tainted already, and then
dried so that it gives off no smell, and merely appears fresh, this
test will generally bring out its evil qualities. Of course it should
be kept in a moderately warm room; if exposed to a temperature
below the freezing point it will not develop its evil features. ‘The
only simple and handy test that we know of is a good nose. A
good nose is a most invaluable piece of chemical apparatus, and
those who spoil it with snuff, tobacco, etc., do not realize what they
“lose.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 125

There is also found in market a very clean, fresh ground bone
which is made from the bones after they have served the bone
boiler, who subjects them to boiling under great pressure, and thus
extracts every particle of fat and soluble matter. Such bones fur-
nish phosphate and carbonate of lime, and not much else. Where
ground bone of this kind is used the birds should have a good deal
of flesh during the winter months, when they cannot get insects
and worms. :

Passing from the outside towards the centre of the egg we next
come to the white, which is a well-known glairy liquid, consisting
chiefly of what is called by chemists a/bumen, which is merely the
Latin for whiteness. ‘Yo produce the white of one egg per day the
hen must be fed with material which can be converted into- that
substance, and this must be furnished in a somewhat concentrated
form. ‘The question then comes up: Where can we find this in
the cheapest and most available form? On referring to any good
work on organic chemistry we will find that the different grains,
etc., are valuable from this point of view in the following order :*

Decorticated Cotton Cake........-..... 41
Linseed Cakes ozs sess cece neeccies 28
Beans ecke.s tas cae Meise cee seceea es 26
Undecorticated Cotton Cake....-.-....- 25
Malt Dust. ceist ac ee dae ea Gee ee 23
Peas v2 cases eee eede eine tes on cee 22
Wheat: -Braty sc:igcis sacle pee Sales 14
Oise cig dere cievine eee ae ee See Cates 13
Clover Haya. as 2s: se ee Soe tieeotias 12
Wile biects aves idiot cu See oe cee eee II
Barleyicwse xis eed bees eewe aces eee ee II
Indian: Cotisisecc ais aherisesecetea ees 10
Brewer’s Grains, as ordinarily sold........ qi

*This table differs materially from those given in most poultry books, but it
will be found to embody the most recent and accurate conclusions of science,
and since I followed its indications the results which I have obtained have been
markedly improved,

126 COMMON SENSE

On leoking over this table it will be seen that the foods ordin-
arily given to hens are not exactly those best calculated to produce
eggs. Even wheat, which is usually thought to be one of the very
best egg-producing foods, is lower in the scale than clover, and costs
much more. The oats named in the table are the heavy English
oats. Whether an average American sample would give as poor
results we cannot say. Oats have never been a favorite food with
us, except for very young chickens, though in Great Britain they
are very highly esteemed for this purpose. Cotton cake, when it
can be had, is most excellent, and either cotton or linseed can be
had in most places. In my locality cotton-seed cake is not known
in market, but linseed cake, reduced to meal, is common. Of
course these “cakes,” from which the oil has been expressed, are
comparatively poor in heat producing elements, when compared:
with corn, wheat, or barley. The true way, of course, is to mix
them, as we shall describe when detailing our practice,

Last of all, we come to the yolk or yelk. ‘This is a rich, oily
emulsion, containing a liberal supply of phosphates. It also con-
tains sulphur in a state in which it is easily set free, as is seen
by the action of eggs on silver.

As is easily seen the egg contains within itself all the material
necessary for the building up of a perfect bird; bones, flesh,
feathers, claws, and. every part of the complete animal is found in
an undeveloped condition in the egg.

Such being the theoretical requirements, it was evident that if
there was any truth in the principles accepted by chemists, I must
provide these materials abundantly, and of course in the cheapest
manner consistent with the health and vigor of the fowls.

For the great staple food—that which to fowls is the staff of
life—the various kinds of grain are ordinarily the most convenient,
and, perhaps, when we take into consideration the peculiar digestive
apparatus of the fowl, such forms of food are indispensable.
Amongst the purchased food, therefore, grain of some kind must
always form a large part, and I was, unfortunately,’so situated that,
I could not always take advantage of those opportunities which in
other localities present themselves for getting damaged grain,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 127

sweepings, etc., at a low rate. “What is known as “refuse” grain
or screenings, I found to be the poorest purchase that could be
made. But in some localities, especially near great grain transport-
ing centres, slightly damaged grain can be had at quite a cheap
rate, and, if it has not Jain too long, and is. properly cared for when
received, it is quite an economical article. It matters very little
what the kind of grain is; every kind of grain contains enough fat,
heat and force producing elements to keep the fowls in good
health, and the necessary materials for eggs I could readily find in
much cheaper and quite as good a form.

And by grain I mean whole grain—not ground. Meal, flour
and grain that has been reduced almost to a pulp by steeping and
fermentation, will not answer as a steady diet for fowls. ‘his, I
soon found out for myself, by experience, but others have dis-
covered the same thing long ago. Ask any one who is in the
habit of fattening poultry, and he will tell you that nothing adds
to the weight of fowls like cooked meal, but that if confined to this
diet for more than two or three weeks, the animals begin to lose
flesh as rapidly as they took it on, and finally they fall sick.
When fowls are taken from a wide range and penned up for fatten-
ing, the first effect is to make the birds lose flesh. ‘The cause of
this is evidently the excitement and worry produced by the un-
usual confinement. As soon as this wears off, and the birds be-
come reconciled to the new condition of things, they begin to take
on fat rapidly. And here lies one great difference in value, in dif-
ferent individuals and breeds, as regards fattening. Some become
speedily quieted down and quietly take to their food and rest.
They doze away their time and grow fat. After a while, however,
their digestion becomes impaired. The soft food causes no action
of the gizzard, its secretions fail, and the bird begins to lose flesh.
It should then be killed at once. For ourselves, however, we have
an intense dislike to coop-fattened poultry. No bird that has been
penned up for weeks and fed on soft food can equal in flavor the
flesh of one whose juices have been freshened by hillside breezes
and the fresh seeds, grasses and insects of the roadside and copse.

128 COMMON SENSE

And we have never found any difficulty in getting -our birds fat
enough for our own taste and that of our friends.

In estimating the actual value of different kinds of grain for feed-
ing purposes, we must remember that it is weight only that tells.
One hundred pounds of one kind of grain may measure greatly
more than one hundred pounds of another kind, and yet be greatly
inferior to it in feeding value. Thus,as an egg producer, roo Ibs.
of oats would be better than roo Ibs. of corn in the proportion.of
13 to ro, but a bushel of corn would be more valuable than a
bushel of oats, because it would weigh nearly twice as much, thus
more than making up for the larger percentage of egg-forming ingre-
dients contained in the oats. Indeed, I found that, taken as a
whole, corn was usually the cheapest grain in market, and in buy-
ing, therefore, I confined myself chiefly to corn. I found that when
it was supplemented with other matters which were not expensive
it was probably the best. But corn alone did not answer well..
The hens got fat and ceased laying. What I wanted, therefore,
was phosphates and albuminoids; and the best and cheapest source
of these, when they had to be purchased, was flesh and bones, and
clover. I therefore made an arrangement with one or two butchers
for a supply of bones and refuse meat, and continued to Jet the
fowls have some of it for “dessert” at least every other day. The
small bones were simply cleaned of their flesh with a knife, so far
as it could be done without too much trouble, and then chopped
with a cleaver into pieces that would go in the mill. The Wilson
mill ground them rapidly and thoroughly, and when offered to the
fowls it was fun to see them rush for the feast. The meat from the
bones, and also other pieces of waste flesh, were passed through a
chopping mill, which cut them into small pieces, so that a fowl
could not drag off a large lot at once and run all round the coop
chased by its companions—each one trying to steal a piece from
another. ‘his happens only when the pieces are too large to be
immediately swallowed. Nothing of the kind happened with meat

-cut by means of our chopper. The fowls swallowed it readily, each
one got its just share, and all were happy.

Perhaps the cheapest form of flesh that I was able to obtain was

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 129

young calves. In my district the farmers carried on dairying to a
considerable extent, and as milk was too valuable they did not care
to raise any calves, except promising young heifers. And as it was
a criminal offense to sell very young calves, they were compelled
either to keep them until they were some weeks old or knock them
on the head and bury them in the manure heap. When it became
known that I would give from fifty cents to a dollar apiece for
them, at any age, I had as many as I could use, and this at a time
too when they were needed—that is, just as my spring chickens
were coming forward. The bones of these young calves are easily
cut up—indeed, our meat chopper sufficed for much of them—and
an ordinary calf made two very nice desserts for 500 birds.

But in addition to these articles fowls need green food. My lay-
ing flocks, which were allowed to wander over a large range, did
not suffer for want of this in summer, but during winter I found
it necessary to give them a regular and abundant supply, and at
first I fixed upon the cabbage as the best vegetable for my purpose.
At first I did not succeed very well in growing cabbage, the land
not being rich enough, and the former owner not having paid suf-
ficient attention to the saving of manure. Mrs. B. was so neat and
orderly that the sight of a lawn coated with manure in the spring
would have thrown her into hysterics, or some other womanly non-
sense, and she would gladly have allowed all the manure to be
given away, merely to get rid of the sight’and smell of it. As may
be readily supposed, therefore, the arrangements for saving manure
were none of the best. My views, however, were very different.
Brought up in a country where the motto was “No manure, no
crops,” I looked upon the manure pile as one of the most 1mport-
ant things about the place, and to me a grass field covered with a
rich coating of manure was by no means an unsightly object, be-
cause the intellectual beauty of the “eternal fitness of things” was
more agreeable than the sight of a plot of ground thinly occupied
with starved plants. One of my earliest “jobs,” therefore, was to
construct a good manure bed. This I began by staking off a piece
of ground thirty feet by forty. ‘The soil from this plot was removed,
so that I-had a pit four feet deep along one of the 40 foot sides, and

130 COMMON SENSE

sloping up to tne surface on the opposite side. Along the 30 foot
sides the ground was cut nearly perpendicularly—the angle being
only sufficient to keep the banks from caving in. The whole bot-
tom was then puddled, and rammed hard and smooth with a ram-
mer. The manure was thrown into this as fast as taken from the
stable and cow house, and to it was added all’such. things as old
nests, leaves, etc., etc.; in short, every kind of material that is valu-
able in making manure. It was astonishing what a pile we had ac-
cumulated by spring. The pit was not only full, but heaped up
above the general level, and all except a few inches on the top was
thoroughly rotten and fit for the land. It may easily be imagined
that with so much purchased food of the richest kind coming on
to the place the land was soon fit to grow anything, and after a
year or two my vegetable crops were entirely satisfactory. But for
the first two or three years I was compelled to buy my cabbage.
Now, cabbages in that part brought a very high price though they
could be grown very easily, and even at very moderate figures were
about as good q paying-crop as could be found. It was here, as
everywhere else, however—it cost a good deal to sell them. Isaw
this point, and thought that perhaps I could make some of my
neighbors see the point too. So I approached one of them, an in-
telligent young farmer and asked him what he would undertake to
‘let me have 3,000 late cabbages for next season. He at once
named eight cents, which was about the figure they had brought in
the market near us last season, when cabbages were pretty dear.
I at once pointed this out to him, and suggested that as he ran no
risk of losing the sale, and would lose no time in peddling them
out, but would simply have to. grow them and allow me to cart
them away he ought to be able to sell them much. cheaper. But
he could not see it; cabbages were worth so much in market, had
been sold for that, and he did not see why he should not get the
market price. As for my taking them away, that did not matter
much to him. There would be but a few loads anyway, and his
teams might.as well haul cabbages as stand idle. Of course such
a price placed them beyond my reach, and I at once turned my
attention to something else. But as the previous year had been an

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 130

exceptionally good year for selling cabbages, and the price was very
high, everybody planted a patch this year, and several of my neigh-
bors planted quite extensively. The result was that the market was
overstocked, and I bought my neighbor’s cabbages and had him
deliver them fov less than I had offered him in the spring, $35 per
1,000. When he drew the last load and got his pay for them, he
remarked that he was done with cabbage growing; would never
grow another one except for his own use. I then asked him what
he would grow me the same quantity for next year, I to take them
away as wanted? He said he would think the matter over and let
me know. In a few days he came to me and offered to grow 3,000
heads for the same price that I had offered him the year before—
$42 per 1,000. I closed with him on the understanding that all
the heads were to be good saleable heads, any poor ones to count
at the rate of two for one. This gave mea head of cabbage for
every bird I raised that year, and I found it none too much. But
this is anticipating.

Meantime I had determined that if I could not grow cabbages
I would grow something else, and I fixed upon clover. Experience
had shown me that this plant formed one of the very best foods for
fowls, and as it could be made to produce a very heavy crop per
acre I believed it to be one of the most profitable. Thirty-five
bushels of corn, which, at 58 Ibs. to the bushel, would give 2,000
Ibs., may be considered a fair yield for an acre. I have raised four
times this amount of dry clover from an acre, and the percentage
of egg forming elements in the clover is greater than that of those
in the corn.

I therefore resolved to raise clover as an egg producing food and
as green food. ‘There were some other plants that suggested
themselves, but as clover and I were old friends, and as I saw
several vigorous plants growing on the place, I felt sure that I
could grow clover, and I did-not care to try any “side” ex-
periments at this stage of my venture. I had neither the time, the
money, nor the inclination.

The reader may, perhaps, have noticed that in speaking of my
manure pile, I said nothing of the hen manure—by far the most

132 COMMON SENSE

important article on the place. In order to fully explain my plans
and the reasons for this admission it will be necessary to digress a
little

It is a well known fact, that many of the parasites and diseases
which afflict man and the lower animals, are propagated and dis-
seminated chiefly, if not wholly, through their excrements, and in
many cases the parasite adheres.to the vegetable which forms the
food of the animal, and is swallowed with it. A curious instance
of this is the fluke, which is so fatal to sheep that are fed on marshy
ground. ‘he fluke is a parasite whose history we may trace ‘from
the time when it makes its home in the snail; the snail crawls out
on the damp grass and is swallowed by the sheep. In the body
of the sheep, the parasite matures, forms its eggs and discharges
them—a single fluke originating as many as 40,000 eggs. These
eggs are carried by winds, rains, the hoofs of animals and other
means into ponds, ditches, etc., where each one develops ‘into
a free-swimming embryo, that, after some changes, passes into
the body of a snail, there to pass through further changes, ‘and
again take up its journey through the circuit of its existence.
From this it is obvious that’a single “rotten” sheep—that is, one
afflicted with flukes—is capable of infecting an entire field, and of
carrying disease and death into a large’flock.’ ‘he same is true of
a diseased chicken. In the-chicken the “ gapes” are known to be
caused by a parasite. ‘The eggs of this parasite, passing through
the chicken fall on the ground and are picked up by other
chickens when they are taking their food or swallowing gravel.
The same is the case in regard to true chicken cholera. This dis-
ease is caused by minute organisms which infect the intestinal
canal of the chicken, and which are voided in millions in the excre-
ments of ‘birds so afflicted. It is easily seen that any other
chickens feeding on such soiled ground, or eating the green plants
grown thereon, will become infected in the same way. And, yet,
one writer actually tells us that chickens should be made to
scratch over their own excrements and pick out: the gravel con-

tained therein, so as to save the trouble and expense of providing
fresh gravel !!

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 133

In all my chicken raising, disease has been my great dread, and
perhaps it has been on account of my dread of it, that I have suc-
ceeded so well in avoiding it. With me the “ounce of preven-
tion” has been always greatly preferred to the “pound of cure.” I
believe that, for man, it is exceedingly dangerous to eat raw vege-
tables that have been raised on ground manured with night soil, or
sewage, or even the excrements of pigs, and it is my belief that
many obscure cases of disease in our large cities arise in this way.
And if possible, I would never allow any animal to feed directly off
ground that had been manured with the excrements of others of
of its kind.

Especially is this true of chickens. The proper crops to grow
on ground that has been manured with night soil or sewage are
the cereals—wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc. Lettuce, cabbage, tur-
nips, etc., should never be grown on such ground.

‘The reader will now appreciate my reason for keeping all the
chicken manure by itself. ‘To utilize it I determined to grow corn,
while my stable manure I applied to the clover crop. It was evi-
dent that while these minute but destructive parasites might readily
. adhere to the moist and succulent clover, or even to the foilage of
com grown for soiling purposes, they could hardly reach the ker-
nels of the corn. The washing rains of spring, the scorching
suns of summer and the drying winds of autumn, would give them
but a slight chance compared to that which they would have on
the moist clover, always moist from its proximity to the ground.

And, here came in one great advantage of the portable fence.
I could plow up a corn patch of any size and allow the chickens
to revel amongst worms and grubs to their heart’s content. ‘Then
it could be fenced in, planted to corn and cultivated until the corn
was high enough to admit broods of small chickens which were
easily colonized in it. As soon as the corn was harvested, the
fence was removed, and the hens allowed to pick up all that was
left and rummage the whole patch for bugs and worms.

There is no manure, that I know of, that will produce a better
crop of corn than will hen manure. We always had plenty of it,
and we tried to put in as much corn as possible, for in addition to

134 COMMON SENSE

the grain for our fowls, we had the stalks for the cow, and the cobs
for kindling—a most useful article in our position, and there is'no.
better kindling than dry corn cobs.

My experience with the artificial foods, or so-called “ egg-foods,”
has been so limited that I have little information concerning them
to give the reader. At one’ time I tried 25 Ibs. of an egg food
that is extensively ailvertised and highly recommended, but the re-
sults did not warrant me in repeating the experiment. It must be’
borne in mind, however, that it is exceedingly difficult to deter-
mine questions of this ‘kind. The individual characteristics of the
members of any fleck may have quite as much to do with egg pro-:
duction as has the food given to them, and there are so many other
conditions which it is exceedingly difficult at all times to observe
or to control, that the results must always be somewhat uncertain.
The experiment in my hands was not carried out with that atten-
tion to details that would preclude all error. The way I did it was
this: I selected two coops and yards of exactly the same size and
similar location. I then chose fourteen hens as néarly alike in
age, size, breed and general appearance as possible. ‘This flock
was then divided into two lots of seven each, the best hens being
drafted alternately for each coop, just as boys used to be drafted
under their several captains for some contest. The best went into
coop A; second best to coop B; third best to A; fourth best to
B, and so on until all were drafted. These two lots were then fed
and treated in all respects as nearly alike as possible, except that
one lot was fed with egg food, and the other had what was sup-
posed to be an equivalent in wheat bran. The experiment was con-
tinued until 25 Ibs., of the food had been used. At first the fowls
that had the egg food produced considerably more eggs than the
others, but after a time they fell behind, and at the end of the ex-
periment the two flocks were very nearly even.

The coiclusion that I reached was that “ egg-food” consists chiefly
of stimulants, and that the use of these, beyond a very limited extent
at the beginning of the season, is an injury rather than a benefit to
the hens. The high price of most of the “foods” in market
precludes their use as food, while for a stimulant we have never

’

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 135

found anything better than a little red pepper. Even this, however,
we used sparingly with our laying flock, and still more so with our
breeders; warmth, both in the way of food and housing, together
with good nourishing food, are the best stimulants, and if the breed
of fowls is right, they will, under such conditions, satisfy any reason-
able person.

The water used on the place was of the very best quality—clear,
cold, spring water, with just enough mineral matter in it to remove
the bad effects of rain or snow. It came, of course, from the
spring which I have already described, and as a general rule the
fowls got nothing but this water to drink, but when confined in
very small coops and yards I used the famous Douglas mixture
with great satisfaction. This consists of

Sulphate of iron.......2.2..---. 1 lb.
SUIPhUNG AE sac nea ee: BOR
Wiatel aig ieis certs somes le ee eee Sue 4 gallons.

The sulphate of iron was dissolved in the water, the sulphuric acid
added, and the liquid put up in quart bottles kept tightly corked.*
A teaspoonful of this mixture to a pint of good water -seemed to
have a most excellent effect.

I found, however, that by lessening the sulphuric acid to one
ounce, and adding two pounds of soluble phosphate of lime, I got
a mixture that was far superior. The phosphates that I used were
those sold by the Rumford Chemical Works, of Providence, R. I.,
and being intended for consumptiom by human beings, were no
doubt more expensive than was necessary. I presume, however,
that if a demand should arise for this compound, the firm named
could furnish it at a price which would render its use profitable.

One of our great difficulties in feeding was the distribution of the

* Sulphate of iron, when exposed to the air, is apt to absorb oxygen and prob-
ably ammonia, The iron, which is the really valuable: part, then becomes in-
soluble, and is not taken up by the fowls, but adheres to:the sides of the vessel.
Hence, the reason for keeping it in small packages securely corked. The use
of the sulphuric acid is simply to keep the iron in solution. If the iron rust be
mixed with scalded bran, meal, potatoes, etc., it will be eaten and will do the
birds good. Too much of it is injurious, but a teaspoonful of red iron rust in
the food of six large or ten small fowls once or twice a week is very good.

136 COMMON SENSE

food; some hens would get more than their share, others would get
less. I was astonished to see the difference between fowls in this
respect. ‘lake any two dozen fowls, throw down a pint of corn,
and after it has disappeared examine the crops of the birds and you
will find that half of it has been picked up by half a dozen fowls—
the remaining half being divided amongst the other eighteen, Still
worse is this in cases where the birds are called off the perch by
throwing down food. Some wide awake, early risers will get all
they can eat, while others will remain on the perch and get nothing,
or they will come down in such sleepy fashion that breakfast is over
before they are reddy.

After a good deal of. observation I found that the more widely the
food was scattered the better was the chance of each individual
bird. I therefore arranged it so that when grain was fed it was
sown broadcast over a considerable space, and when the food was
soft it was placed in a great many smull dishes or troughs, so that
weak birds were never in danger of being crowded away by the
stronger ones.

It is very evident that if there were no objection to giving every
bird a that it would eat, the matter could be arranged very sim-
ply. All that we would have to do would be to keep food con-
stantly accessible to the fowls in well-protected feed boxes and the
work would be done. And this, indeed, is the method adopted by
many. One book on poultry, now before me, has. page after page.
devoted to the description of self-acting feeding hoppers, and dozens
of amateurs that we have met have pointed with pride to feed boxes
of marvellous ingenuity and utter worthlessness—* made. with ther
own hands,” and supposed to be a convincing proof of their tith
to the honor of being considered skilful poultry keepers. Observ
ant poultrymen have long since found out that hens may be alto.
gether, too fat to lay; that they must be kept on suchi a scale of
diet as will maintain them in constant activity—always, ready for
more, like Oliver Twist. In fact, one of the secrets of successful
poultry keeping consists in striking this golden mean between ex-
cessive fatness and starvation. A very excellent system, one which
has been in vogue for many years, though frequently described by

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 137

recent writers, and often claimed as original by them, is to mix the
grain with cut straw, leaves, or other light rubbish, and make the
hens “scratch for their living.” It is a most excellent plan, but
requires special arrangements to make it succeed in practice. All
such scratching grounds must be protected from rain, snow, etc.,
and must be separate from the dusting baths. My feeding grounds
were simply sheds, cheaply constructed of stout poles and thatched
with evergreen boughs, obtained in thinning the belt of evergreens
which protected our northern boundary. If properly laid, such a
roof is almost perfectly rain-proof, and the birds can always find
plenty of room. In summer, therefore, we relied upon these feed-
ing places, of which there was one to every 100 hens. In locating
them we chose the most barren and driest places we could find,
made them a good size, and liberally strewed them with chaff, pine
shatters, leaves, etc. ‘The food strewed on these places was gener-
ally cracked corn or whole wheat; anything of a smaller or darker
grain was apt to be lost, while whole corn was too easily found,
and at any rate 1 did not feed much whole corn, except on
winter evenings and very cold days.

The feeding sheds were placed so as to face south-south-east,
so that they always caught the early morning rays, and by
afternoon they were partly in shade. The early rising hens
always made for these places the very first thing, as soon as they
had their liberty, but we found that this would not do; these early
risers would clean the whole food out before the others got a
chance. All the hens, therefore, were kept in their own. yards,
until the entire flock had come off the roosts, and to expedite this,
_a little grain was scattered on the ground and the birds called to
it. As soon as all were down the gates were opened, and those
that wanted further feed scampered off to the sheds. They
lay about these sheds and scratched, went to the dust-baths, rum-
maged the leaves for insects and wandered about freely until evening,
when they were again fed all the grain they would eat. ‘This was
our usual summer routine, and it was very rarely that they did not
return to their proper houses to lay. In addition to. the nests in
the houses, we had special boxes scattered over the. grounds for

138° COMMON SENSE

their convenience, but we did not get many eggs in them. Ninety
per cent. of the eggs were laid in the houses.

In winter the programme was, of course, considerably varied.
When the snow was deep many of the sheds were inaccessible, but
when the ground was clear they were all frequented during the
day. Instead of sending the hens off hungry to their feeding.
grounds, however, I gave them soft feed, well cooked,.and consist-
ing of corn meal, bran, ground oats and rye, flesh, bone dust,
finely powdered oyster shells, etc. Of course the proportion of the
latter ingredients was small. A little salt, and sometimes a little
red pepper were also mixed with the food. This was made into a
very stiff paste, being, i in fact, worked like baker’s dough, and was
then placed in troughs, which were made in very simple fashion

Fig. 11.

by nailing two narrow boards together along the edges, and closing
the ends by means of two square pieces, as shown in the engraving,
Fig. rr. In order to prevent the birds from getting their feet into
these troughs and defiling the food, I nailed a strip across the top as
shown in the figure. It answered the purpose admirably. All our
birds, without exception, would rush for these troughs, so that even
the slowest feeders got theirshare. ‘They then went to scratching in
the feeding sheds of their yards, and in this way got plenty of exercise.

When the snow was on the ground, and no green food was to be
had, we hung cabbages all around the sheds and Jet them peck
away at them. We also mixed some very finely cut dried clover
with their feed. By passing it through a feed cutter and also
through a mill, we got it down almost toa powder.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 139

Fall Broods.

BIN many departments of agriculture, it is a good rule to
find out what others are doing, and then do the oppo-
site. If everybody is planting potatoes, then plant no
more than you need for your own use; if nobody is setting out
cabbages, set out all you can. Now the great bulk of the chickens
that are raised in this country are hatched in May and early
June; too late to bring the highest price for spring chickens, and
yet so early that by next season they will have eaten more than
they are worth.

While sitting in the shade of our porch one afternoon, I re-
called an experience which I had had a few years previously.
We, at that time, occupied a beautiful place of about 3% acres,
and kept a number of hens. Of course we did as others did,
and every spring- we ra’sed enough chickens to supply our table
during fall and winter, and to furnish pullets for next year. One
day, late in September, one of our hens came into the barnyard
leading fifteen beautiful chicks. She had stolen her nest and
hatched this brood, and as she led them up to where we stood
she seemed to say, as plainly as if she had spoken in good English,
“Is not that something to be proud of?” Well, I thought it
was. So I fed the little flock, gave them a nice warm berth in the
‘stable, and made every provision to bring them up. Several
friends wha called to see us, and who professed to be well versed
in chicken lore, advised me to kill them at once. They never
could amount to anything, they said; the cold weather Would
come before they were fledged, they would probably die, and it
they should survive, they would only be scrubs ; therefore better kill
them now and be done with it.

Killing animals in cold blood, merely for the sake of getting
rid of them, is not my forte. I have killed a good many animals

140 COMMON SENSE

in my time, but to deliberately kill a nice little flock of chickens,
and throw them in the manure heap was a kind of killing rather dif-
ferent from anythmg I had ever done before. So I let them live;
their food, poor little things, did not amount to much, and for the
present, at least; they seemed supremely happy. ‘They grew
apace; when the cold weather came, the mother abandoned them,
but we stretched an old blanket on a frame which supported it
about three inches from the floor, and they crept under this and
kept warm. We gave them specially rich food and all the tid-bits
from the table, but the older chickens robbed them, so I made
a coop with a hole through which they could easily pass, while the
older ones could not, and we placed the food under that and
they could eat whenever they wanted to. We lost five by various
accidents, but when I went to the stable on Christmas morning to
give my animals a Christmas greeting and a Christmas breakfast,
there were ten as fine young birds as I ever saw—four cockerels
and six pullets. They throve well in spite of the cold weather,
and in March the pullets began to lay, and kept on laying when
eggs began to grow scarce and other birds ceased. The cockerels,
were plump and delicate—far different from the previous spring
birds, which had ngw become somewhat rank and tough. At this
time common poultry was selling for 20 cents per Ilb.—3o per cent.
higher than it'had brought in the fall—but for these birds we
could have got more. And so I concluded that the best paying
brood on the place—that which had given least trouble and had.
brought most profit—was the brood that came from the stolen nest.

Now, I had noticed that several hens in the different houses
‘wanted to sit, so I decided to hatch out three or four hundred .
young chickens this fall and see whether or not the operation
would be a profitable one.

I therefore filled out my former hatching room with hatching.
boxes, similiar to those previously described, and gradually filled
them up with hens. I managed to place in it twelve boxes, hold-.
ing forty eight hens. In expectation of the young broods, I had
a lot, more of the brpoding coops made so that I could care-for the
chicks under any circustances,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. {41

As I had taken great pains with my breeding pens, and the
weather had been quite favorable, the hatches were, what I called,
very good. They averaged nearly ten to each hen, giving me 473
chicks. These I divided amongst thirty seven hens, giving an
average of thirteen chicks to each.

Our system of caring for the chicks was as follows: The date of
setting and the date when due being clearly marked on a card
tacked to each nest, there was no room for mistakes. When a
hen was due she was not removed from the nest for food, but was
allowed to sit until she came off of her own accord. I allowed
-very little meddling—the only thing that was permitted being the
removal of the empty shells. Young chickens need no attention
for twenty-four hours after they leave the shell, and if left forty-
eight hours they will not suffer. ‘This is no doubt a wise provis-
ion of nature, whereby the birds that do not come out as soon as
the others are not left to be chilled. When the hen led the young
brood off, they were fed with cracked corn,* from which all meal
and dust had been carefully sifted. An hour or so after this they
had all the chopped meat they could eat with plenty of clear
water. At this time we unfortunately hadno milk, and could not
get any conveniently. ‘his was a mistake, as I soon found, and
ever afterwards I contrived to have plenty of milk on hand when
I expected to hatch out many broods. But on water, corn,
meat and bones they throve very well. When set on the grass,
they could pick plenty of green stuff, and by the time the
weather got too cold, they were able to peck at a cabbage with
good effect.

A favorite morning food was made by scaldin-y horse feed, allow-
ing it to stand until stiff, and working it into stiff dough with more
dry feed. ‘This they ate greedily, and throve well on it. I found
that by keeping the hens from wandering about and leading the
chickens with them, the latter got along much better. Meat

* Most writers advise soft food for the first meal. I have found that we have

_ better success when we use.a hard food. The young chickens naturally do not

‘find soft food; they need something hard and sohd to excite the gizzard to
action, and after that give them the richest and moat nutritious food possible,

142 COMMON SENSE

scraps well chopped up seemed to be quite as good as insects.
We also gave them liberally of fresh ground bones, which we pre-
pared ourselves in one of the Wilson mills. This was before these
manufacturers had brought out their small mill for grinding fresh
bones; but by cooking the bones thoroughly they were easily
scraped clean and ground up, and the soup was mixed scalding
hot with feed into a stiff dough which was fed to old and young. |

Before very cold weather came these chickens were well
feathered and quite large. I found occasional customers, at good
prices, for a pair of cockerels for some invalid, and though this
was an uncertain market, yet I was surprised at the number that
I sold in this way. When spring came I went to a noted res-
taurant in a neighboring city and induced the proprietor to put
up a sign:

“ FALL REARED CHICKENS—TENDER AND DELICIOUS,” |

and in a few weeks they were all gone,

I kept the pullets by themselves until the end of February.
With an unusual degree of forgetfulness, I had neglected to pre-
pare two yards for them in the fall when the ground was soft, so
there was nothing for it but to keep them in a loft during the very
cold months. I had 187 of them, and they were rather a mixed
lot, as I had taken the eggs just as they came from the breeding
pens without much care in selecting them. But early in March
some of them began to lay, and I saw that it was necessary to get
them into regular houses and yards with proper sheds, etc. I
therefore had two more of our regular houses put up. I had
plenty of fence panels, but I could not drive stakes as the frost
was not yet out of the ground. So I tied the panels together, and
put them up zig-zag fashion, like an old Virginia rail fence. J
‘found that they stood quite firmly, and answered every purpose {6
a temporary expedient. I then divided the pullets into two Its,
and put one in each house, and fed for eggs. During the next
month or so they did not do any better than the other hens, if as
well. But after that time they went on increasing, and when eggs

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 143

began to grow scarce, these two pens supplied us with twice as
many as any other pens containing the same number of birds.

I was therefore very well satisfied with my experiment, and
every year since that time I have always raised a large number ol
fall chickens. I now keep them in a large house until the price of
the old fowls goes up. I then sell the latter, and replace them
with the young pullets.

144 COMMON SENSE

Onur First Winter.

f8)N northern climates it is the wintering of his stock that
tests the ability of the stock raiser, and decides his
profits, and this whether it be cattle or poultry. A few
dozen hens can easily be kept in a lean-to shed next the cow
stable or barn, and they may be kept warm and. well fed and
prove a success. Every shed on the premises will be frequented
by the birds, which will thus find plenty of shelter and dry spots
without any necessity for the owner putting up special buildings,
but, when the number of fowls is large, these resources fail, and
the usual results of crowding and discomfort make their ap-
pearance. I had had a very unpleasant experience ‘in regard to
this matter at one time, when, after raising two or three hundred
chickens, I attempted to winter them, without providing the
necessary shed room. I had, therefore, been careful to attach
large commodious slreds to all my houses, and to make the access
to these sheds so convenient that the fowls would have no snow
and sleet to pass over in order to get to the feeding grounds and
dusting baths beneath them. I also allowed the large temporary
shed to remain, as I knew that it would be a great boon to the
young chickens until they were properly disposed of.

The nights had now began to get chilly, and frosts had come
with the October days. Our latest broods were too delicate to
stand the chill autumn night air, though on bright days they en-
joyed basking in the sun. We still kept many of them in the wire-
covered brooding coops, but to the older ones we had given the
liberty of the place. I provided very warm comfortable places for
them to nest at night, although most of these were rather of a
make-shift character. My standard coop for this purpose, how-
ever, one that I could obtain easily in any quantity, consiste.| simply
of one of the cheap barrels used for packing ap les, etc. ‘This was

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 145

laid on its side and steadied with stones or blocks on each side,
and the open end was covered to within four inches of the ground
with a curtain made of the matting that comes round tea-chests.
‘This matting can be had for almost nothing’ at the tea stores, and
three thicknesses of it make a screen that is impervious to wind, rain
and snow. ‘These barvel coops were placed in different spots about
the grounds, but always where the shelter was good. On wet and
cold days the little flocks used to stay in them a large part of the time.
Food and water were placed near them, and with the number that
I now had, it was not very difficult to attend to them. On bright
sunny days it was no trouble at all. On rainy days it was rather
an uncomfortable job. I had heavy rubber boots and a rubber
coat, and I provided similar garments for Margaret, so that she
could always keep dry, and we managed to get along, but I saw
that if my experiment of fall broods proved a success, I would have
to erect a cheap board house with green-house sash in the ‘roof,
and attend to the chickens in that. One writer ridicules the idea
of protection being required for the attendant, but he seems to
forget that human beings are not made of cast iron, and that even ~
chickens suffer from wet and cold. ,

The early hatched chickens were now full grown, and the
cockerels gave us unmistakable hints that it was time to separate ‘
them from the pullets. So I had some more portable fencing
made, enclosed the large shed, and kept them in that. They were
well fed on rather fattening food, so as to prepare them rapidly for
market, and we got rid of them as soon as possible by methods
which the reader will find detailed in the chapter on marketing.
To the pullets we allowed the range of the place, but we found
that although the nights began to grow cold, and even alter snow
came, they would persist in roosting in trees and on fences, and it
was almost impossible to get them into the houses. Night after
night we carried them into a house and placed them on the roost,
but next night they would be found in their own place the same as
ever. The worst of it was that they were excellent fliers, so that
nqne of our fences would keep them in.

I got over this difficulty by catching them one by one, shaving

146 COMMON SENSE

off the feathery part from the quills of one wing, and placing them
in the old house where there was most room. We had to lock up
the entire flock for ten days, but at the end of that time when we
let them out we had no trouble.

I was anxious to leave the poultry at liberty as long as possible,
so though Noyember brought wet and dreary days. and a few
flurries of snow, yet the chickens did very well. Many of them
moulted and consequently stopped laying, but I was, surprised at
the. number of eggs that we got every day. _The number of hens..
on the place was a little less than 600, and of these two-thirds
must;have been laying for many days; we got twenty and twenty-
five dozen eggs. At this time it was our practice to shut the hens
in every night, and keep them in until late in the morning. As
soon as they were let out, they had a warm feed of dough made
by scalding a mixture of corn meal and. oil-cake, and adding a
little of the siftings of ground oyster shells, and a little red pepper.
At noon they had wheat, as much as they could eat.’ At night.a
good feed of whole corn. On fine days they had free access to.
the patch of clover and grass, and on wet days they had cab- .
bages, as much as they could eat. Twice a week they had all
the meat and ground bones they would eat after their. dinner. of
wheat.

Under this regimen they throve well, and became very bright,
and vigorous. The egg crop increased to thirty dozen per day,
and as eggs were bringing a good price (35 cents per dozen) we
much more than paid expenses. At this time (Nov. 25th) we had
on the place over 1,200 head; some of them, however, quite
small. The feed cost about $4 per day, besides labor, and the...
returns were over $10, so that the result was on the whole quite.
satisfactory. As we were disposing of our cockerels quite rapidly, _
the amount of food required was also lessened.

This expérience, however, was somewhat exceptional.” Under
ordinary conditions the egg crop would have kept growing less and .
less until the revival in February and March, and it was evident
that under the stimulus of more liberal feeding than they had been
previously accustomed to, and also the influence of red pepper and

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 147

bones, their latent powers were being developed. How long they
could stand this, however, was a question.

Real cold weather did not set in until after the middle of De-
cember, and then it was ushered in with a rather heavy fall of snow.
This prevented all access to green stuff growing in the fields, and
confined the hens to their houses and sheds. And here the glass
roofs came into play with striking effect. While all was cold, wet
and dreary outsile, these glass covered sheds were dry and warm.|
We made a stout snow plow, and with Madge’s aid we opened up
paths all round the place, so that Margaret could reach’ every
house without any trouble.

As there was but little outside work for the man now, we kept
the boiler going all the time, and we ground up bones quite liber-
ally. As the birds were somewhat crowded, we picked out a few
that we thought the poorest, and fattened them up, and got rid of
them. We also got rid of the last of the cockerels, except the
very young ones, and in this way we made more room for the
rest. But in spite of all our efforts and extra feed, the egg crop
diminished; the cold snap produced a remarkably sudden and
great change in the birds, and our receipts frequently fell from
thirty to Jess than ten dozen. But, as the number of eggs produced
grew less, the price increased; forty, fifty and at last sixty cents was
reached.

Thus far our fowls kept ‘in good health, but then, as we well
knew, the worst was to come. It was the cold of February and
March that I dreaded worst.

In the large houses the hens kept very comfortable. But in the
breeding pens the birds began to suffer with the cold of January.
‘The snow left us about the 8th of January, and we had some very,
fine weather about that time. In a few days, however, it grew
cold again, and was much more severe that it had previously been.
The birds in the breeding pens, having no glass sheds, were com-
pelled to go out in the open air whenever they left their coops,
and. the -combs and wattles of the hens got frozen, so that laying
entirely ceased. And as I was very anxious to get eggs from these
coops, so as to be able to raise some very early pullets, that would

148 COMMON SENSE

lay next winter, I confess I was taken quite aback at this new ob-
stacle. Indeed, so serious was the pL oe that I almost gave
up all hope of success that season.

It was an awkward recicaent to be sure. What could be
done? ae

I saw at once 'that all hope of intelligent crossing and breeding
from these hens was at an end, so far ‘as early chickens this season
were concerned. I, therefore, decided to rearrange some of my
yards, and make up one almost entirely of laying hens, and in
this I put several of my best ‘cocks, I know that this is not an
advisable system, but I could not very well ‘do otherwise. To
have more than one cock in a coop is very unwise. They prevent
each other from paying attention to the hens and this causes many
of the eggs to prove unfertile. But I could not very well hetp it,
and so I had to arrange as best I could.

The neglect to provide for my breeding stock was my first great
blunder, and the one that did more than anything else to retard
my progress. It was a mere oversight; I knew better, but I did
not realize the necessities of the case.

The laying: liens, placed in one of the large houses with glass
shed, etc., soon supplied us with eggs for setting, and as we always
had hens ready to set, we soon had our early broods under way.
Of course they would be a mixed lot, but as they were all good,
we had considerable hope of fair results.

So far as our sixty breeding ‘hens were concerned, there was
nothing for it but to give up one of the warmest houses to them,
and keep them in that. So I picked out the most ‘convenient
house, distributed the hens amongst the other houses, and transferred
all my breeders to their new house. ‘They were left there without any
cock until they began to Jay: again freely,-which was not till late in
February. Meantime I put up small glass covered sheds against
the breeding coops, made everything still more snug and warm,
and, in short, made the small-coops as much’ proof against the
weather as the large ones. I then gradually transferred the hens
back to them, and although I did not raise my earliest chickens

t

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 149

from the eggs of my best hens, yet I was able to get several very
fine broods in April and May.

It is a well known fact that a hen that gets her comb or wattles
frozen, will cease to lay until the sores are healed. I found that
fowls with rose-combs, as they are called, were much less liable to
freezing than those with large single combs, and one of my greatest
objections to the Brown Leghorns, is their enormous combs, which
are not only long, but very thick and-fleshy. But I found that a
young bird that had been “ dubbed,” as the cock-fighters call it,
stood the frost much better than even the: rose-comb. After the
first winter, therefore, I “dubbed” all my fowls—that is to say, I
cut the combs and wattles off with a pair of shears. The pain can-
not.be very: great—not nearly.so much as the large sores caused
by ,being frost-bitten, and the operation is easily and quickly per-
formed. A single cut removes the entire comb, and the wound is
then dusted, with a powder made by roasting one part of sulphate
of iron, and three parts of alum in an old -pot. This mixture is
then reduced to a-fine powder, and kept in a closely corked bot-
tle. A little is put in-a small -box, and used as wanted. It is an
old and famous styptic (a: medicine for stopping bleeding), and was
in great request amongst the warriors -of old, who were often com-
pelled to be their own surgeons. Care must be taken that it does
not get into the eyes of the birds, or bad results will follow.

While hens frequently stop laying in very cold weather, it was
long ago proved by Reaumur that mere warmth will not induce a
hen to keep on laying during winter. In laying, as in all similar
physiological processes, a period of rest is needed, and without this
ordinary breeds of hens cannot lay. Knight proved this law, even
in regard to plants, and showed that if we want to force plants
successfully, we must first give them a season of rest, and this may
be done by shading, cold and dryness. I have always thought
that a large part of my success in getting eggs the first winter, was
due tothe fact that the hens stopped laying after I got them, and
hence had their needed rest at that time.

That cold alone ctoes not prevent hens from laying was clearly
shown this spring. In February and March the weather was

“£50 COMMON SENSE

colder and more severe than during any other time, yet it was
during this period that we got most eggs from the hens that were
on the place when I got it.

As the season wore on, the eggs to began to increase again, but
the price fell until it scarcely paid for the tear and wear of. the
hens. The price got as low as 16 cents per dozen, so that it‘took
25 dozen to pay for feed alone.

When the first days of April came and the snows of March had
disappeared, we were all impressed with a feeling of ‘great relief.
‘The birds could again wander over the entire place, and the prospect
of green food and plenty of insects was encouraging, even if the
reality had not come. Our losses had been but slight, considering
the motley composition of the flock—all ages, sizes and con-
ditions. We lost twenty-six old birds—a little over four per cent.—
and this, I thought, was not a bad showing. ‘They died with
various symptoms—all evidently caused by severe weather. In
the matter of chicken diseases, I do not profess to be an expert.
When one of my birds shows signs of. ill-health, we place it in
warm quarters, give it pills made of cayenne pepper, butter and
bread, and then: feed it on soft food and clean water. If it im-
proves (and they generally do) in three or four days, all right. If
not we chop its head off and bury it where the other chickens can-
not get at it.

The farmers, and especially the “suburban ” residents, now began
to buy chickens for laying, and paid good ‘prices for them. They
thought in this way, to save the labor and cost of wintering them,
and perhaps they did. But I had no objection to sell those of. my
fowls from which I had taken as much good as I was likely to
get, and so I made up a few crates selected from the different
houses, and in this way I reduced my stock very considerably.
The broods of last spring and summer were now laying, and
the fall broods were coming on quite rapidly, so I thought it as
well to dispose of some of the least valuable of my stock.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. ist

Nests and Nest Eggs.

SALE nest of every bird is primarily designed for hatching
and rearing its young. The use to which we put the
laying nests is not one designed by nature. This being .
the object, the bird likes seclusion, and always plays at “nest-

hiding” when it can get achance. No one ever found a stolen

nest exposed to the full glare of observation ; it is into dark corners

and out of the way places that nature leads the bird. And yet I

have seen otherwise intelligent men place the nests of their laying

hens so that they were fully exposed to view.

During the height of the laying season the nests in the houses
did not give the birds quite room enough, and I never like to see
two birds on one nest, so I had an extra lot of the hatching boxes
made and placed them in the sheds and against’ fences, but at
such a distance from the latter that the hens could walk in between
the box and the wall and so reach the nest.

To examine these nests, or to collect eggs, it was not necessary -
to go in front of the boxes; all we had to do was to let down the
hinged board and everything was within reach. If, on first open-
ing the door, a hen was seen on the nest, the door was gently
closed again, and she was left to her own meditations.

In making nests for both the laying and sitting hens, we used a
fine kind of grass or hay that is used for packing glassware, and
can be obtained in moderate quantities from almost any crockery
store. Common straw is too coarse; if chopped short the cut ends
irritate the hen, and if left long her feet get entangled in it, and the
eggs get broken. Pine shavings make a fair nest, and the turpep-
tine keeps away lice. But fine grass, dusted with sulphur, cannot
be excelled.

The nests of both our laying and sitting hens were made directly
on the ground, or, if on a floor, a sod with the grassy side up was

152 COMMON SENSE

placed on the bottom: On this was placed a layer of fine grass,
and the whole well dusted with sulphur. As soon as the chicks
come off, the nests should be removed, and either burned or buried
deeply in the manure heap. The sod keeps the eggs damp, but
if on a floor it gets too dry, and after a time the eggs should be
_ sprayed with water when the hen is off. Our spraying apparatus
consisted of a pan of water and a small whisk broom, Some wise-
acre has asked: ‘Who sprays the eggs of the wild bird and the
stolen nest?” to which sapient conundrum the “answer.is obvious.
The hen herself does it. Wild birds rarely make nests until the
grass begins to grow and the morning dews begin to fall. ‘Then
when she leaves her nest it is generally in the early morning, when
nocturnal enemies have retired, and while as yet the animals that
prey during the day have not come forth. She steals along through
the grass, fearful of being observed, picking up stray’ seeds, worms
and bugs, and when she returns the eggs may not have been
sprayed, but she has been, and that amounts to the same thing.

Concerning nest eggs great differences of opihion exist. We:

have heard successful poultry keepers ridicule them most’ unmerci-
fully, and we have known others of equal experience who believed
them to be of great advantage. Our own view is that hens will not
lay quite as many eggs without nest eggs as with them. It is true,
when the egg is fully formed, the hen must Jay it or lose’ her life.
So that if hens are confined in small pens, and are thus’ prevented
from laying away, nest eggs would seem to ‘be really of little or no
use. But hens, as is well known, have a strong propensity to lay
in each other’ $ nests, and wherever there is an unoccupied nest with
one or more eggs, there will the nest egg be laid. Therefore, where
the hens have considerable range it is always well to’ place nest
eggs in the nests. ‘We have known a hen to lay regularly in a nest
; with a nest egg in it, and then to forsake this nest when-the nest
_ egg was removed. But we believe that nest eggs have a-further
use. It is well known that in the case of wild birds, egg laying
_ may be stimulated to a great extent by the presence of one egg and

the removal of all the others. The high-holder, which usually lays
but four eggs,’ may be thus stimulated to lay’ fifteen ; ‘why may not

=

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 183

this principle hold good in the case of the common hen? We be-
lieve that it does, and our rule has been to have plenty of nests,
each provided with a nest egg, and to remove all eggs, as fast as
this can be done without disturbing the hens.

What shall we use for this purpose? Some poultry keepers use
any old or stale eggs that may be on hand—a very filthy and fool-
ish habit, as such eggs when broken defile the nests and disgust the
hens. ‘lo disgust such owners by any amount of filth would of course
be impossible. Some English writers recommend a stall lump of
chalk, and this is no doubt very good when chalk is easily pro-
cured, but, unfortunately, it was not available in my neighborhood.
At first, therefore, we used the common white glass nest eggs, and
during warm weather there can be no objection to such eggs ex-
cept on the score of cost. Dealers ask from threé to six cents for
them, and this is altogether too much to pay for nest eggs, though
perhaps glass ones cannot be sold for less. In cold weather, how-
ever, the hens seem to dislike them. ‘They easily become very
cold, and being comparatively poor conductors of heat they are
very chilly to the touch. Our little German maiden ‘thought,
therefore, that she would get up a better nest egg, and so she emp-
tied a few shells of their contents and filled them with dry corn
meal. ‘This would have answered adniirably if the rats and mice
had not soon found them out and destroyed them. Perhaps if she
had used sawdust the rats would have let them alone. “But any
kind of powder is bad, although the device was a very ingenious
one. We were therefore driven to adopt another plan. We made
a very small pinhole in one end of an egg, and in the other end we
cut a hole three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The contents were
‘blown out of the egg through the large hole, and the shell was then
filled with plaster-of-Paris properly mixed with water. As soon as
the plaster hardened we had a most excellent nest egg at a cost of less
than half a cent, for it must be borne in mind that the egg itself
could be used for ‘Cooking’ purposes.

The plaster uséd-for this ptitpose may be obtained at any paint
store. The proper way to mix it is as follows: Pour into a bowl
as much water as you think you will need to fill the egg-shells you

154 COMMON SENSE

have prepared, and shake into it the powdered plaster until the
whole is like good cream.: It should be just thin enough to pour
very easily. Before mixing the plaster, everything should’ be in
readiness, as the mixture sets, or becomes quite stiff in a few minutes,
and consequently it should be used as soon as mixed. Prepare the
egg-shells by blowing them as we have described, and then paste.a
small piece of paper over the small hole. ‘Phis should be done long
enougl: beforehand, to allow the whole to dry. Place the eggs
in a pan of sawdust, earth, sand or ashes, so that they will stand
firmly with the large hole up. Then mix the plaster, and with a
funnel, made of tin, or even of card, or stiff paper, fill all the eggs
as quickly as possible. If the plaster is too thin, it may shrink i in
the eggs, and leave a vacancy at the top. Watch for this and
keep filling up.

‘Afterwards, however, we adopted wodden nest eggs as being
still better. Such nest eggs can be turned out of any soft wood
for a few cents per hundred, and when dipped in whitewash and
dried, they form the best nest eggs to be had. If first soaked in a
strong solution of carbolic acid and then whitewashed and dried,
they will effectually drive away all vermin from the nest.

Wooden nest eggs can be made by any wood turner out of the
cheapest and lightest wood. Willow, chestnut, poplar, etc., are all
good. An expert wood-turner can make three or four a minute,
and any boy can turn up very good ones in the cheap little lathes
that come with scroll saws. A few dozen nest eggs would be
a nice Christmas present for any friend that has hens. The
wooden eggs should be dipped in common lime whitewash, and
allowed to dry. As often as they get dirty, souse them in a pail of
whitewash, tumble them about with a stick and spread them on the
ground to dry, first laying down some old newspapers to keep them
clean.

There is a small variety of gourd, the fruit of which is. almost
exactly the size and shape of an egg. Such little gourds make
capital nest eggs, and they are now cultivated by some poultry
keepers for that very purpose. ‘They, too, may be cleaned by
whitewash,

‘es

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 165

We made it a rule to keep nice clean nest eggs in every nest,
and the wooden eggs had this advantage, that they were so light,
that, even in the dark, they could be readily distinguished from the
real eggs. On one occasion, when we were using glass eggs, we
were surprised at the enormous number of eggs reported as being
laid by our half dozen hens—something like two to each hen—and
our hired girl was in ecstasies. She had collected the whole contents
of the nests—nest eggs and all !

156 COMMON SENSE

Marketing.

NS the mild days of spring approached, eggs began ccme in
quite rapidly—thirty and forty dozen per day—and
it was necessary to find some method of getting rid
of them profitably. I tried to sell all I could to private parties,
and the rest I was obliged to get rid of at the stores, though the
price was at this season very low—even down to 18 cents per
dozen. As I expected next year to have twice the number of
hens in my yard, and to get more than twice the number of eggs,
it was necessary to get up a system of marketing which would re-
lieve me somewhat from the danger of glutting the stores, and I
saw that this could only be done by offering extra inducements in
the way of freshness; neatness and convenience to tie consumer.

I had always had a great horror of “ middlemen” and “job-
bers.” As a general rule they are mere parasites on the body
social, standing between the retailer and the producer, and fleecing
both. I concluded, therefore, that I would have nothing to do
with them. I found, however, that the “egg business” was in a
most singular state. The retailer paid almost as much for his eggs
as he got fer them, and those large establishments (restaurants,
hotels, etc.) offered prices a good deal less than the groceries paid.
At first I was puzzled over this condition of things, but I soon saw
through it. The hotels and restaurants in our large cities never
buy fresh-laid eggs. When I could get forty cents per dozen for
eggs in the groceries, they offered twenty and twenty-five! What
eggs could they buy at that price? Chiefly imported eggs,
brought from Belgium, Denmark and Germany, where money is so
scarce amongst the wretched inhabitants that their crops are sold
for whatever they can get. No wonder that such eggs differ
widely in flavor from what are called country eggs. I have always
been suspicious of eggs in restaurants, but since my investigations,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 157

when I was trying to find a market for my own eggs, I have never
touched an egg in a restaurant.

On the other hand, the grocers gave the country people full value
for eggs, because they expected| to pay for them in trade, although,
perhaps, such a condition was not always expressed. A’ country
woman comes to the grocery with a few dozen eggs; she sells them
for money, it is true, but she turns right round and buys her tea,
coffee and sugar at the same place, and the bill for these probably
exceeds the amount she receives for eggs. One who did not buy
as largely as she did in proportion to her sales could hardly be ex-
pected to meet with the same favor.

‘The marketing of the eggs was therefore a problem that gave me
a good deal of anxiety. I finally resolved to work up a local trade,
if possible, and secure regular customers, who would be supplied
with my best eggs, guaranteed to be not over two days old. The
following is the plan which I ultimately adopted, and am now car-
tying out. ‘Ihe first season our methods were of necessity rather
slipshod and imperfect, and it is unnecessary to detail them.

I had a few boxes made, twenty to begin with, each holding

three dozen eggs. As our eggs were quile large, the boxes were

8 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 8 inches deep. They had a nice
lid, and a wire handle or bale, which folded down over the box and
out of the way when packed in the spring wagon. On the top of
the lid was a label, a copy of which will be found on the following
page, and in each crate we generally placed a few spare labels, loose,
as circulars.

The price was given by writing it in the blank. When the price
was changed a slip of paper was pasted over the old price, and the
new price written thereon. ‘This was some trouble, it is true, but
I believe it paid in the end.

The following is a copy of the label:

.

158 ‘COMMON SENSE

FRESH EGGS

FERNIEBIELD POULTRY YARDS.

'

Each egg is stamped with the date on which it was gathered, and
is guaranteed to be not over two days old when delivered.

As these eggs have not been fertilized they will not hatch, and will
therefore keep longer than ordinary eggs. —

“The utmost care has been taken to obtain the very best breeds.
of fowls, and to so feed them. that the eggs will be of large size and
of the finest flavor.

A tainted egg in our crates is simply an impossibility.

ORDERS SOLICITED.

Figes suitable for hatching supplied on application. Fostat cards
addressed to
J. P. HAIG
Ferniebield
promptly attended to.
Prices according to the market rates. This week the brice per .
MODEMS ia ie wie vais tg mae: Seat FS lg OVS s iote He des Ble Sees be Ses

I also had a neat little rubber stamp made, with the following
inscription:
Eccs FROM FERNIEBIELD.

Fan. 5, 18...

The date was changeable, and with this stamp a boy could mark
the eggs at the rate of about five per minute, or three and a half
hours to 1,900 eggs,

IN THE POULTRY YARD, 159

At first the new system was the subject of a good deal of
laughter and quiet ridicule. This very ridicule and laughter helped
me, however. I went to’ a number of the best families in town,
and left a crate containing one dozen eggs, with the following note
which I had manifolded on a gelatin pad:

“T take the liberty of leaving with you a few eggs, the quality,
etc.; of which you will find fully described on the enclosed circular.
If, after-trying these eggs, you are.pleased with this method of ab-
solutely insuring your table against the presence of a stale or
tainted egg, f shall be pleased to receive your orders for any quan-
tity, however large or however small. Please preserve the crate,
which will be called for. Our system is to leave the crate with our
customers, exchanging full for empty ones when we get orders..
Trusting that you will pardon this intrusion, I remain, etc.”

Now, when we lived in the village we were supplied with eggs
by our milkman, a very honest, careful fellow. Yet with all his
care it had sometimes happened that a stale egg would slip into
the lot—obtained, I suppose, from some nest that had been over-
looked. Under our system it was difficult for such nests to exist,
and when we did find eggs -in a stolen nest they were broken,
cooked and fed to the chickens*. In this way we could abso-
lutely izsure our customers against stale eggs, and every one
knows how a single stale egg will spoil the breakfast of a dozen
people.

The idea took, as I thought it would. When we called for our
crates we found in every one an order, of which the following may
be taken as a sample: °

“Having tried your eggs we like your system very much.
Please bring us 3 dozen on Monday. Mrs. J. Ropinson.”

* We knew that they could not hatch, and so it would have been a waste of
gallinaceous time and effort to leave them with the hen. But bens that steal
their nests generally bring out strong clutches. We therefore placed in the
nest.a-sitting of. good, eggs, and: we were always rewarded with a lot of fine
strong chicks.

160 COMMON SENSE

At first these orders seemed a small business, and we were com-
pelled to sell our surplus eggs at the stores, but we had faith that
our ‘customers would increase rapidly, and we were not disap-
pointed. ‘Yhe novel mode of putting them up, the large size
and excellent flavor of the eggs, and the fact that every egg was
guaranteed, all combined to increase our business, especially as the
prices were not higher than those asked by the best grocers. Eggs
could be had much more cheaply than from me, but not Sresh
eggs from respectable houses. ‘T he loose circulars were distrib-
uted freely as a novelty ; postal cards began to come in, and visi-
tors soon began to make their appearance at our yards to examine
the poultry of which they had heard so much. My twenty crates
were nowhere, and I at once gave an order for 250. Before I re-
ceived them I had orders for over three hundred dozen eggs, for
which I had no crates. I therefore bought a lot of cheap but’
pretty little baskets, and here again the gelatin pad came to my
rescue. I wrote a short explanation and apology for not sending
a crate, and tied it to the handle of each basket.

I made it a rule never to expose guaranteed eggs. in the stores.
I sold eggs to the storekeepers, but unstamped ‘or with the stamp
washed off. For this reason I used a greyish kind of ink for stamp-
ing the eggs, and it was so prepared that asponge and a little
warm water obliterated the stamp completely. I never could quite
remove the séain, and these stained eggs soon became known to
buyers and were preferred—partly because they were larger and
partly because they came frorn the now famous ‘Ferniebield yards.
And although an “egg is an egg,” and large eggs and small ones
sell for the same price, yet I found that most housekeepers had a
decided preference for large eggs, and that small ones would re-.
main unsold long after the large ones had been bought up.

I sold eggs for hatching purposes too, and as it was known that
I had very superior fowls, I had a good many orders. But this
subject placed me in rather a difficult position. Everybody
thought that the eggs from my laying hens would produce pullets as
good as the mothers, and when I advised them. not to buy these
eggs, they thought that my reason for so advising was that I did

1

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 161

not want to sell—that I wanted to keep the breed to myself.
When, therefore, they found that eggs which were fresh and cer-
tainly from my yards, could be had in the stores, they felt jubilant
over the supposed fact that they had outwitted me. Remember
that these people had not seen my labels and circulars. I have
since learned that quite a business was done in my eggs for hatch-
ing purposes. Indeed, I had several orders from grocers which I
filled without hesitation, and it always puzzled me to know why
men should take a roundabout way of getting these eggs, when
they could have come to me and got them without any trouble.

But alas! the eggs never hatched! And then it became current
report that I applied a certain chemical to the eggs to prevent their
hatching, and there was the proof in the curious stain found on
each egg!! It is often in business as in lovers’ walks; people
prefer a crooked and roundabout road to a straight one.

Some of my neighbors, however, took a different course. They
came to me frankly, and said that they would like to get rid of their
present stock of fowls, and get some from me if I would sell them
eggs or fowls. I at once explained to them that my laying fowls—
my best hens for practical purposes, and those that gave the eggs
which I furnished to my customers—were cross-bred birds, and
that they could not keep up the breed, as a breed, but that I was
perfectly willing to let them have eggs every year to keep their
yards up. I also explained that these eggs actually cost me double
what my marketable eggs cost; that I had to raise or buy specially
fine cockerels every year, and keep the breeding pens carefully at-
tended to. ‘That my price for such eggs, eggs giving a first or
second cross, was just double the market price, whatever that
might be.

Some of them saw the reasonableness of the system, and bought
eggs from me quite freely. Some tried to breed again from the
birds thus raised, but it is needless to say that their flocks did not
show the same uniformity and excellence that they did the first
year, and every succeding year they became worse.

My sales of pure-bred fowls were very limited. To carry on ba
successful business in this branch, requires careful management,

162 COMMON SENSE

special plant and considerable advertising. I did not know
enough about it to warrant me in going into it extensively, and be-
sides that, I did not want to let anything interfere with my main ex-
periment; but as I always had more pure-bred fowls and eggs than
I wanted for my own use, I had no objection to selling the eggs at
fair prices. I charged $2.00 per setting for my choicest eggs, and
as I always purchased a few choice breeding birds and raised a few
first class cockerels every year, this price was not high. I always
had in my yards cockerels that had cost $10; young birds from these
certainly ought to have been worth $2.50, which was my standard
rate. And I readily got it, for Madame Rumour exaggerates
everything, and it was soon bruited abroad that I was such a fool
as to give $50 or even $100 for a cock, and that whatever money
I had would soon be all gone at that rate. When the yards be-
came a success, the word “fool” was left out, and I was called
“an enterprising fellow” and a thorough judge of poultry, who
was determined to have the best, even if it cost a hundred dollars.
In all which the followers of her aforesaid Ladyship were greatly mis-
taken, but, nevertheless, it helped to sell my eggs and birds, so
that I have no special reason to complain, and have no intention
of suing anybody for slander or libel.

As soon as the crate system became fully known, I had orders
for all the eggs I could produce, and none were left for sale in the
groceries. By-and-bye, however, my production began to: fall off,
and this was the critical period in the business. It is true that, as
production fell off the price was raised, and so the number used was
slightly less. A crate which in the height of the season lasted but
three days, now lasted four or five, but, even then, the demand
did not fall off as rapidly as did the supply, for my customers
were of aclass that cared but little for a few cents more or less
per dozen for eggs. If they chose eggs they had eggs, whatever
might be the market price. Now, in failing to supply these cus-
tomers, I ran great risk of losing them, for most of them had a
high sense of their own importance, and indeed, I suppose some of
them thought that if their support were withdrawn Ferniebield
would be sold at auction. I therefore prepared a circular explain-

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 163

ing why I could not, at this time, always supply as many eggs as
were wanted, but promising to divide, pro rata, with all my cus-
tomers. I assured them that in quality and freshness there would
be no falling off, and ended by suggesting that, while there could
be no substitute for Ferniebield eggs for table purposes, others might
perhaps be used to good advantage for baking, ete. This plain
statement held all my customers, but I made a firm resolution that
if I lived I would have eggs as’ plentiful in December as in Apri,
and my progress towards that very desirable consummation has
not been inconsiderable.

To save my customers as much trouble as possible, I procured a
quantity of postal cards with my address printed thereon, and on
the side appropriated to messages was an order in blank, as follows:

Deliver ....-..--..- dozen eggs on .......2.22.------ to
(NOME) ce cil Seon aa eae dels
(Street and NO.) vc o2 80 eee eee es tx eave ose eee

These cards were left with all our customers, so that if at any
time they wanted eggs they could have them, and, as I had a box
in the post-office and always called there, eggs could be had every
morning by simply leaving a card at the post office early enough.
I never sent the wagon to town without a few extra crates to
supply this casual demand.

The marketing of the surplus -chickens gave but little trouble.
For the prime table chickens, which we sold during the fall and
winter, we found customers enough amongst those who bought
our eggs. From some, we had regular orders to deliver one or
two pairs of dressed chickens every week, on certain days, and it
did not take many such orders to clean out our entire stock.

The old hens, we found it most profitable to sell in open
market. ‘They brought a certain rate per pound, and were pretty
sure sale. We could not sell them to our regular customers as
dressed chickens, and neither would we sell them to those who
came to us wanting laying hens for a poultry yard, and stating

164 COMMON SENSE

exactly what they wanted. But, when sold in market, without any
representations as to character or quality, we had no hesitation
about taking the highest price we could get.

‘The stock that required the greatest care in selling, was our
very early chickens. They were worth most—weight for weight—
sometimes bringing as high as seventy cents per pound. We found
that there was considerable difference in the quality of these very
early chickens, according to the kind of food given to them and
the manner in which they were kept. We did not force ours as
rapidly as some breeders did; we fed more cracked wheat and
corn—particularly wheat—and less meal. The birds, therefore,
showed firmer flesh, and did not waste as much in the process
of cooking, and the flavor was higher. Our birds soon became
known to the keepers of a few of the first class restaurants in the
city, and we could always dispose of all we had at good prices.
They were altogether the most profitable stock we raised, and after
we got fairly under way and had our houses, coops and yards
fixed up for them, they were not difficult to raise.

We sold a few of them in the village, but not many. Very few
of the villagers—even those who were comparatively well to do—
cared to give 75 cents for a little queen : weighing a pound anda
half. ;

But, in the city, this price was not thought extravagant. Chick-
ens heavier than a pound and a half did not sell well, per-
haps, because people suspected that they were simply old chickens
of a small breed. We, therefore, tried to bring them to this
weight as rapidly as possible, and as soon as we saw that they. were
large enough, we sold them out. We soon learned to estimate
their weight, by the eye, quite accurately.

We found a great difference in the rapidity with which different
breeds reached this size, and still greater differences in the appear-
ances of the different breeds at this age. The great egg layets—
Leghorns, Hamburghs, etc-—had to be kept too long; Brahmas,
Cochins, etc., looked sprawley and skeleton-like; a cross between
the two matured rapidly and looked “ splendid,” as the little girls
say. . :

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 165

Dermin.

Why |-L during the summer and fall we never saw any parasites -
NM} on our chickens, though perhaps this was because we
a= did not look for them. One day, however, we were
horrified to see a number of lice crawling over the eggs of a hen
that had left her nest for feed. ‘The hen had been set about the
end of January, so that the weather was quite cold and the fowl
did not seem to use the dust bath as freely as during warmer
weather. When we caught the hen and examined her she pre-
sented a sorry sight; lice all over. What was to be done ?

First of all, we put the hen in a barrel with a little fine straw,
for the present, and placed her in another building. The eggs
were then removed from the nest one by one, wiped, and put in a
clean basket. Fortunately we had another hen just ready to sit.
She was carefully examined, no lice were found, and so we placed
the eggs under her. The old nest, box and all, was then taken
away, carried to an open place, dusted with sulphur and set on
fire. When that fire died out there were no lice in that nest, and
the slightly charred box was as good as new.

Our attention was next given to the hen. She was carefully dusted
with insect powder and returned to the barrel, a fresh setting of eggs
being placed under her. Next day she was again dusted, fed and
placed in a clean barrel with clean straw. She was too weak to
make much resistance to these changes, and settled down on the
eggs very peaceably. ‘The barrel in which she was first placed was
carried out doors, the straw dusted with sulphur and set on fire.
We had the most orthodox faith in purification by fire and brim-
stone.*

* A recent writer expresses a doubt in regard to the efficacy of sulphur, but as
he tells us to ‘“put two or three pounds of brimstone or sulphur in an iron pot,
in such a way as not to endanger the building ; apply a match; shut it [the

166 COMMON SENSE

After the third dusting the hen seemed to be quite free from
parasites, but still weak. We knew, however, that the powder
would not injure the eggs of the vermin, and so in a few days we
might expect a fresh brood. We therefore kept dusting and feed-
ing plenty of nourishing and easily digested food—oat-meal mush,
meat scraps, milk, etc. ‘The hen throve, and we soon had the up-

Per hand of the vermin, ‘As, however, it would have been asking
too much of her to'sit double time, we gave her half-a dozen cliick-
ens, and placed her eggs under a fresh hen. We now greased her
with a mixture of lard and sulphur. This did not injure the little
chickens, but might have injured the eggs. She was not troubled
with parasites after that.

This incident taught us a lesson. After that we always exam-
ined our fowls with a special eye to lice. It is true: that we rarely
find them, but itis also true that hens are at all times liable to
suffer from them if they get weak and unhealthy. ‘They then ne-

_glect to take their dust bath regularly and thoroughly, and although
Iam no believer in spontaneous generation, yet I am pretty sure
that lice will make their appearance if the hens fall off in health
and strength.

The hen that gave us so much trouble was a pure Light Brahma
that had been recently bought, and in every case in which lice have
made their appearance in my yards-it has been in the case of fowls
brought from other places. And'1 have found them on birds that
I have obtained from dealers of high standing. With these men,

house ?] closely, and let it burn slowly,” we conclude that he has never tried it.
Sulphur in large quantities cannot be set on fire by applying a match, as those
who have used it for fumigating or bleaching purposes know very well. The
old bee-keepers used to dip heavy paper or stout shavings in melted sulphur,
and burn these, and this is a very good plan. Or the sulphur may be thrown on
a small heap of shavings or straw, and when the latter is fired the sulphur will
burn too. The plan adopted by bleachers is, however, the best and safest. Take
a heavy iron vessel, the shallower the better, and put the sulphur init, Heat
this over a fire (out of doors, of course) until the sulphur melts and easily takes
fire on the approach of alight. Then place the vessel in the house and let it
burn. Sulphurous acid or the gas from burning sulphur is the most deadly
agent known. Persian insect powder, carbolic acid, and other destroyers of the
lower forms of life, are nowhere at all compared with it. It is the only thing
that is relied upon by the National Board of Health as a perfect destroyer of the
germs of yellow fever, and if properly applied, no living thing~whether it be

ird or beast, insect or disease germ—can possibly escape. But we must use
enough of it, and the sulphur must be burned, not merely vaporized,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 167

however, space is a matter of great moment, and they are apt to
keep their birds confined in close quarters. And if lice once get a
foothold under such conditions they are apt to spread. Whether
or not it would be possible to absolutely stamp out lice from any
yard I do not know. I have come very near it several times, so
near that the most careful search failed to show a single parasite
on any of the birds; but when cold weather came, and any of the
birds failed to take their regular bath, lice would again appear.

The best remedy that I have found is insect powder, and where
this is not handy, lard and sulphur may be used on laying hens,
whose eggs are not to be hatched, as in this case there can be no
objection to it. It is a general belief, however, that grease will
prevent eggs from hatching. I have not tried it myself, and as
there seems to be some doubt on the subject, I have not cared to
risk it on valuable eggs. Major Cock, in his little book, published
about 1843, tells us that he has “known eggs laid in Hamburg to
be hatched in, New Jersey, by covering them with lard and taking
care not to handle them roughly.” This is contrary to the general
opinion. But for sitting hens the Persian insect powder answers
admirably.

Mixing sulphur with the soft food given to fowls is also not only
an excellent preventive of lice, but a capital tonic.

But the great means of preventing vermin is good health and
plenty of dry earth for a dust bath. So long as fowls can roll in
dry ashes or earth, lice cannot multiply.

There is but one kind of parasite on fowls, and this is peculiar
to gallinaceous birds. It cannot thrive on other animals—not even
on ducks or geese, far less on horses, cows or pigs. I have often
heard it said that if poultry are kept in a stable the horses will get
lousy. This is very likely to be the case, because any man who
will keep his poultry in his stable is probably so slipshod that his
horses will run down in health and so become lousy. But the lice
from the hens will never remain on horses or cows.

eter et i,

168 COMMON SENSE

Enemies.

AE lost but few chickens by disease, but the battle
against winged and four-footed enemies was constant.
Large hawks took off some of our best hens—hens that
we thought were perfectly safe, on account of their size and
strength. Cats would come miles to steal our little chickens, and
weasels and skunks killed a few. But the greatest enemy was the
common rat, and he was, also, the most difficult to circumvent, if
we except certain bipeds who were evidently possessed of all the
cunning and none of the honesty, that ought to distinguish hu-
manity.

The hawks were not very troublesome, that is to say, they
did not kill many. We shot them without nrercy, whenever we
had a chance, but I must confess they did not always give us a
good chance. As for traps on poles and all such contrivances, we
found them - perfectly: useless, so far as these marauders were con-
cerned, though we sometimes caught birds that we would rather
have seen escape. I, therefore, had them all taken down and de-
pended upon constant vigilance and a good breech-loader. I
chose a breech-loader, because it could stand with the cartridges
ready prepared and tied in a bag to the trigger guard, and thus be
almost as ready as a loaded muzzle-loader, and the latter, when
standing in a barn, is altogether too dangerous. I kept a muzzle-
loader at first, but, on one occasion, a carpenter, who was at work
on the place, picked it up, discharged it through pure meddlesome-
ness and nearly killed a fellow workman. After that, I adopted
the breech-loader. I generally used very heavy shot, so that
we might be able to do execution at long ranges, and I studied
carefully the rules for “loading so as to kill” laid down in a
little work called “Shooting on the Wing,” and found them ad-
mirable, so that the hawks and crows began to consider our

IN ‘THE POULTRY YARD. 169

locality rather unhealthy. Occasionally, when a hawk was seen
sailing over the place at a great height, we fired a shot at him from
a rifle, taking good care that the bullet went in a direction where
it would do no damage. We never succeeded in hitting a hawk
in this way, but they did not seem to like the whiz of the bullet,
and speedily took their departure for safer regions.

They did not seem to like to attack the poultry in the small
breeding coops, probably taking the coops for some kind of
trap. Amongst the large flocks we placed a few game cocks, and
the hawks did not trouble us much after that.

Only on one occasion did the pole traps serve a good purpose.
One morning in the fall we were awakened by a tremendous com-
motion in the yard—dogs barking, ducks quacking, hens cack-
ling, and all the signs of some terrible calamity. On looking out of
the window I saw that one of our pole-traps had caught a large owl
by the feet, and his criés and motions had attracted an immense
number of crows, hawks, etc. Hastily donning a few garments,
I seized my breech-loader and a belt of cartridges, and rushed
down stairs. Getting quietly into the barn, I opened a narrow
side door and commenced firing. At every shot I brought down
a hawk or a crow, and at first the firing did not seem to deter
those that were left. Even after I had picked off a hawk from
within a few feet of the owl, tumbling him head over lieels to the
ground, another would make a swoop, just as if nothing had hap-
pened. Of course, I took care not to shoot too close to the owl,
and in a short time the ground was strewed with birds. Then
they began to get wary. ‘Ihe crows were the first to abandon
the field, and after them the hawks went too. As at was, how-
ever, I had a piece of rare sport, and revenged myself on enemies
that, otherwise, I never could have reached.

I have heard it said, by old poultry keepers, that hawks will
not attack poultry, if there are guinea hens around. I know no-
thing of the accuracy of this statement, but it certainly is “ impor-
tant if true.”

Against most four-footed vermin, including cats, we found that a
good Scotch terrier was the best defence. We had cats of our

170 COMMON SENSE

own, and they were never injured, neither did they attack the: little
chickens, but strange cats generally-came to a speedy end at tlie
hands, or, rather, the teeth, of our dogs. And it was curious to
notice how thoroughly acquainted’the dogs and fowls became. If
a strange dog came into the yards, there was a commotion at once,
and all the hens were up in arms, but our own dogs might go
about amongst the flocks, and quite close to a hen and her brood
and never disturb them. Weasels and skunks were not very com-
mon. ‘The latter is said to be a very useful insectivorous animal,
but it is out of place in a poultry yard. It kills chickens, and
should, therefore, be killed. When we had any indication that a
skunk was around (and our noses were a pretty good indication of
such an occurrence) a little vigilance and a charge of snipe shot
generally prevented all damage.

But, for all four-footed creatures, the best preventive is a good
trap. The trap must, of course, take them alive, or it will be liable
to destroy some of the animals belonging to the place, and it must
be large enough to catch a small clog, and sufficiently sensitive to
be sprung by a weasel. I, therefore, had four large box traps
made, and took great pains with the tables and: triggers, making
the latter myself out of fine tempered steel. These traps were dis-
tributed about the place, baited with a little meat. At first we
caught our own dogs and cats, but they soon learned to give the
traps a wide berth; the hens were not so easily taught, and would
persist in being caught, when the traps were set during the day.
We, therefore, set them only at night, and in them we caught;
strange dogs, cats, rats, weasels, squirrels and snakes, but never a
skunk.

But although we occasionally caught a rat in this way, these ro-
dents were too cunning to be caught in any numbers in such a con-
trivance. And as poison was out of the question, we found it very
difficult to guard against their depredations. Of course the dogs
did a great deal to protect the chickens, but they could not be
everywhere, and at night the rats would actually take the young
chickens from under the mother’s wings. We felt ready to adopt
any remedy, however cruel. In fact, no one can look at the mean,

*

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 17t

cruel, cunning and ferocious face of a. rat and hesitate about de-
stroying him by any possible means. ‘The loss of an occasional
chicken would always rouse up my ire, and after such occasions I
would vow vengeance against the whole race. A few would be
shot; one or two would be trapped ; but the work was too slow
and: uncertain, and we would fall back upon the dogs and cats.
Finally the rats increased to such an extent, and became so bold,
that one night they carried off an entire brood of my most valuable
chickens. I thought, then, that it was time to do something.

I then built a small house, 8 feet square and 6 feet high, with
just enough roof to shed the rain. -It was made of inch stuff, and
had a door but no windows. ‘There was a good floor, covered
_with old tin roofing that I got for almost nothing. ‘The tin was
carried about six inches up the sides.

This house was filied with straw, in which was placed some
wheat, corn, etc., and a handful or two of meal was also scattered
over the straw. On every side was a hole .3 inches in diameter,
which entered just above the tin. Four men could easily move
this house to any part of the grounds. ‘he first night we placed
it néar the coops in which the young chickens were kept and
awaited results. ‘The rats soon found it out, and, as we could
easily see by their tracks, made it their home, A remorseless war
was then carried on against them in every other part of the prem-
ises. ‘Tobacco smoke was blown into their holes; their breeding
places were disturbed; their runs were filled with broken glass, and
life made as uncomfortable for them as possible in every place ex-
cept “Rat Castle.” ‘here they were left in peace and quietness.
At the end of a week, however, we went over the ground again,
and drove tobacco smoke into every hole we could find. This
was done by means cf a piece of rubber hose and one of the most
powerful “smokers” used by bee-kcepers. With one of these
smokers and a few feet of rubber tubing we could, in a few min-
utes, fill all the space between the floor and the ground, and’ be-
tween the wall and the lathing of any building, and drive the smoke
out at holes twenty feet away. ‘The effect of this tobacco smoke
was most surprising. We know of no animal that can stand it.

142 COMMON SENSE *

The rats and mice left the premises on the double quick, and many
of them fell a prey to the dogs and cats that were on the watch,
keenly enjoying the fun. But no tobacco smoke had ever been
allowed to profane “Rat Castle,” and thither they allran. We
could hear them fighting and squealing inside, and when we got
through with the other buildings we just closed the four little doors
of the house and they were all prisoners. Then we changed our
tactics. Instead of tobacco we used sulphur, and by means of a
simple furnace, made out of an old pot, with a wooden cover, and
using our “smoker” as a bellows, we soon filled the little“ house
with sulphurous acid—a most deadly gas. Being determined to
make thorough work of it, we blew in gas at the bottom until it
passed out in a steady stream at the top. We then closed every
opening up tightly, and left the house till next morning. When
we opened the house next day we found one hundred and fifty-
seven rats in it—every one dead!! I thought, then, that this piece
of work paid'me for the expense and trouble of the house, etc.
It was nearly a year before another rat was seen about the prem-
ises, and we have never been badly troubled with “them since.

The reason for building the house was this: If I had killed the
rats in their holes and runways in the barns and outhouses, which
I might perhaps have done by means of sulphurous acid gas, they
would have putrefied where we could not get-at them, and this
would have been insufferable. On the other hand, if we had driven
them out with tobacco, and had not provided a retreat for them,
we might have killed a few, but the greater part would have es-
caped only to return after a little while. The plan that I adopted
obviated both these difficulties.

My reasons for covering the floor and a few inches of the sides
with tin was this: A rat will never gnaw his way out into the
light; but if the floor had been left unprotected they would have
cut their way down, and would have burrowed in the ground and
underneath the floor. When the final act in the tragedy came these
rats might have escaped. As it was, we made a clean sweep, and
destroyed or drove away every one. One hundred and fifty-seven
rats make quite a pile. What could we do with them? Bury

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 173

them? That would be waste. We passed them through our meat
chopper and cut them up, bones, meat, hair and all. Since rats
are the great trichina-carriers, it would shave been dangerous to
feed this meat to dogs, cats or pigs, but to fowls it is perfectly
harmless. But to make sure, we boiled it thoroughly in our large
pot, exposing it in four lots to a boiling temperature for four hours.
At the end of that time every trichina, if there were any present,
must have been as dead as the rats themselves, so we just made
the soup into mush with a little corn meal and fed it to the chick-
ens. The rats had eaten our chickens, and now the chickens ate
the rats—a just retribution.

As we have already stated, from that day to this we have never
been troubled with rats, and the “rat-house,” as we call it, serves
very well occasionally for an extra coop; of late, however, we have
been told that one or two rats have been seen about the place. If
they get troublesome we will set “ Rat Castle” in operation again.

When it is necessary to use poison instead of other means, great
care should be exercised in the selection of the kind of poison, and in
the methods of using it. Arsenic, whether in the ordinary form of
“white arsenic,” or in the various patent mixtures that are sold, such
as “ Rough on Rats,” should never be used. ‘The reason is very sim-
ple and obvious: Arsenic, no matter into what combination or form
it may pass, is always poisonous. <A rat or a mouse poisoned with
arsenic will, if eaten by a cat, dog or chicken, still act as virulently as
ever, and cause sickness or death. There is another poison, how-
ever—phosphorus—which loses its poisonous qualities when it be-
comes oxidized, and hence is far safer. Phosphorus is poisonous only
in the pure state; when in combination it is generally harmless, and
frequently very wholesome. There is as much phosphorus in a
pound of bones as would poison a whole flock of chickens, but
when fed in the form of bone or phosphate of lime, it is quite the
reverse of hurtful. Indeed, when bones are properly dissolvecl
they form one of the most pleasant and wholesome drinks for
human beings, as is seen in Horsford’s Acid Phosphates, so gener
ally used.

Now, when phosphorus is eaten by an animal it soon becomes

174 COMMON SENSE

oxidized and rendered harmless, but when arsenic is so eaten it
never loses its virulent character.* Phosphorus paste, properly
prepared for poisoning vermin, is sold by most chemists, and the
recipe for preparing it may be found in any good book of receipts.

* An account of the different poisons, and the proper antidotes for them, when
accidentally swallowed by human beings, or by the lower animals, will be found
in ‘‘ What to Do in Case of Accident.” The-book is issued by the same house

that publishes this volume.

Seba e. meee

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 175

Earln Chickens and High-Priced Eggs.

May, is one of the oldest problems in the “ Chicken
Business.” If we could only get the hens to accom-
modate us in this respect, the making of a fortune would be an
easy thing. But out of every 1,000 eggs that are produced during
the year by an ordinary flock, it will be found that

45 are produced in January.

56 ‘ “February,
132 os “March.
TYG: ge 1H “April.

150 “May.

96“ s “June.

87 ee «July.

54 ou “August.

83 OS Be “September.

84 et “ October.

26 es “November.

in. * me “December.

Consequently, while eggs bring 50 cents per dozen in Decem-
ber, they fall in price to 18 to 20 cents in May. What can be done
to effect a change in this respect ?

At first sight, it would seem that the advent of cold weather is the
chief cause of the stoppage in the production of eggs, and to test
this, Reaumur kept his hens in artificially warmed houses and tried
in this way to get eggs in winter. But he failed. We might have
expected this when we observe that one of the coldest months,
March, is also one of the most prolific. Others have hoped by
stimulating food to make the hens keep up egg-laying. We lave

176 COMMON SENSE

tried it, and met with a small measure of success, but food alone
will not accomplish a great deal.

Others, again, depend upon the breed. It is well known that
some bfeeds—Leghorns, Hamburghs, etc.—are known as summer
layers, while the Asiatic fowls—Brahmas, Cochins, etc.—are win-
ter layers. ‘here is a good deal in this, but not enough to turn
the tables. ‘

Others try to get eggs in winter, by raising very early chickens,
and this is the most efficient method of all, provided other con-
ditions are favorable.

The fact is, that it is useless .to depend upon any one or two of
these conditions; we must bring them all into play if we would
have eggs in winter. We must have hens of a suitable breed;
they must be properly houséd and fed, and they. must be of the
proper age. A failure -in ay one of these’ conditions will be fatal
to success. “These three things are like food, clothing and air
to a human being: No amount of elothing will make up for
want of food, and no amount of food will énable us to do without
air. We must have-all three together if we would keep in good
health.

As regards the best breed, I had long ago made up my mind that
a cross between the Hamburgh or Leghorn and some heavy Asiatic
fowl was altogether the most promising in this respect, and in
making up my breeding coops, I had this in view, though not
quite as clearly as I would have done, if at that time I had had
more experience. When I came to fairly face the problem of
producing eggs in December, I mated White Leghorn and
Spangled Hamburgh cocks with good hens having a large propor-
tion of Asiatic blood. Some of the latter were pure Brahma,
others were apparently Cochin crossed with Dominiques, and I
found that I got better results from these: crosses than from any
other breed.

Raising chickens in January is oublesame work, and unless the
poultry breeder has good facilities and considerable experience,
the outgo will exceed the income. Of this I was well assured, but
I resolved to try the experimeiit, : ands

’

§

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 177

There were plenty of hens wanting to sit. After, their summer
crials and autumn laying they had stopped producing eggs, and
wanted to take the next step in hen-life. So we cleaned out the
rooms that we had formerly used for hatching, and packed into it
as many nest-boxes as it would hold. We succeeded in placing
12 boxes, containing 48 hens, lut as the weather was cold, we
gave each hen only 10 eggs, making 480 in all. ‘This was not
quite enough, so I placed ro more boxes in different parts of the
stable, and filled them all with hens. With these 4o hens we
expected to have some trouble, but we thought, that, as they did
aot have much temptation to run about at this time of the year, we
might be able to control them.

It was during the progress of this experiment that I found out the
mistake I had made in not taking better care of my breeding hens,
so I was obliged to take such eggs as I could get. By making tem-
porary arrangements with greenhouse sash, and by selecting some
of the best laying hens from the general flock, and putting them
with suitable cocks, I managed to secure eggs enough to gradually

‘fill all the nests; but of course the hens were not all set at the
same time, and some of them had been brooding for some time be-
fore they were set. The latter circumstance was unfortunate, as
hens that have brooded for some time before eggs are placed un-
der them are apt to leave their broods too soon. Our success in
managing the sitting hens was, however, very fair. ‘They were at-
cended to every morning; fed and watered, and then shut up until
siext morning. We had three lots which had to be let out at differ-
ent times; the chickens of the first lot was due the first week in
February; those of the second Jot during the second week, and
those of the third lot during the third week. It made no difference
whether the hens of the same lots returned to the same nests or
not, but it was important not to mix the lots. We had very little
trouble, however. It took about two hours to two hours and a
half every morning to attend to the sitting hens, but all this time
was not occupied. After the hens had been driven into the outer
room, the doors of the latter were locked, and the attendant had a
good half hour to devote to other wark while the hens took -their

178 COMMON SENSE

food and drink, and dusted themselves in the dry earth and ashes.
provided for them.

Our first little chicks found themselves in a “cold, cold world”
when they burst their shells. But the old hens kept them warm,
and during the first thirty-six hours they were kept shut up under
their mothers, the only attention.that the hens got being the re-
moval of the empty shells. At this time of the year one of the
greatest mistakes that can be made is to get the chicks out of the
nest too soon. They need warmth and rest, rather than food and
exercise, for when they leave the shell they have just had a full feed

_ of the richest food, and, as any one can see, nature did not intend
that they should run about immediately after leaving the shell.
Partridges and some other birds do this, but chickens never. We
have lost many chickens by meddling with them too soon; never
a one by letting it alone. On the second day, however, we took
the hens off the nest, placed the chicks on the floor, and offered
them cracked wheat and warm milk. The latter they drank quite
greedily, and the wheat they soon learned to pick up. After they
had been fed they were returned to the old nest for the present.

The weather at this time was very cold—occasionally down to
zero—and it was hard work to keep the little things warm. We
had 88 hens sitting; these would probably produce 600 chickens,
and I intended to give each hen 10 chickens, so that 60 brooding
coops would be needed. I found that the coops we had used dur-
ing the fall would take up too much room, and, as they would re-
quire a house to cover them, I might as well divide the house itself
up into coops. Having all this in view, I had put up a rough
board shed, 40 feet long and to feet wide. It was just high
enough to allow one to pass easily up the middle. The roof was
of matched boards, except where six greenhouse sash were inserted
to admit light. The floor was divided off as follows: A walk 16
inches wide was left through the middle, and the spaces on each
side were divided into 30 compartments each, making 60 in .
all. The divisions were simply boards 14 inches high, and the
compartments were covered with wire netting of 1-inch mesh.
Four stout stakes were driven into the floor at the end of each di-

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 179

viding board and next the middle passage. These stakes held the
dividing boards in place, and the end boards stood between them
and could be. easily lifted out; in fact, they formed doors to the
compartments, ‘To keep the house warm I banked it up with
leaves, which were kept in place by brush, and I put in an old
cook stove with a lot of old pipe which ran the entire Jength of the
building. This kept out frost, even in very cold weather. At
night the sashes were covered with old matting.

As soon, therefore, as we had a few clutches out we arranged
this brooding house, started the fire,:and got it well warmed up.
In this we were aided by a few days of bright sunshine, so that
when, one afternoon, we put ten hens with their chicks, amounting
to roo in all, in ten of the compartments, they' seemed to be enjoy-
ing a summer atmosphere. The broods now began to come out
very rapidly, and we soon had one side of the house full.

‘The care of these chickens involved a good deal of labor. It is
true that it was not labor of a very hard kind, nor did it require a
great deal of intelligence to follow the rules which I laid down.
We had very few sick chickens; indeed, we lost more by accidents
than by sickness. To give an historical account of our method of
management would occupy too much space, but the following will
be enough to guide the intelligent reader.

The great points in rearing early chickens are suitable food and
warmth. The latter condition involves dryness as a special feature ;
animals that are kept dry can resist a good deal of cold, but if once
the feathers get wet and matted the bird becomes cold and chilled,
-and it does not take much to chill the life out of a young chicken.
To keep the chickens dry we found to be one of our most difficult
tasks. If a saucer of milk or water was placed in the coop for:
them to drink they were sure to get into it, and the hen would
upset it and make the whole compartment wet and uncomfortable.
The poultry stores keep on hand fountains like large bird fountains,
by which this difficulty may be in a measure avoided, but these
fountains are too expensive, are difficult to clean, and where milk
is used they require too much to fill them. So for milk I used
saucers, which I protected with a netting of wire; lor water J used

180 COMMON SENSE

large soup plates, in which I-placed an inverted bowl filled with
water. The bowl was first filled with water, the plate placed on
the top, and the whole quickly turned. over. The water was now
retained in the bowl by atmospheric pressure, and gradually de-
scended as the chickens consumed it. ‘To get sufficient depth of
water in the plates I chipped a piece out of the edge of each bowl.

When milk was used, and we had not a wire protector for
the saucer, we simply inverted a small bowl and placed it mouth
down in the latter.

The food that we used during cola weather, was plain, but
nutritious. For the first day or two, cracked wheat given dry (see
page 14 ), and milk to drink. Then, in the mornings, they had a
mixture of bran, corn meal and ground oil-cake. The oil meal
was thoroughly scalded with boiling water, and allowed to stand
some time, when it formed a thickish soup. This was then worked
into a stiff dough with a mixture of equal parts of bran and corn
meal, and fed to the chickens in small Jumps. This mixture we
found to be exceedingly nutritious. As the chickens had no access
to gravel, I had a small quantity washed and sifted, and we kept a
little wooden tray full of this material constantly before them.
‘They seemed to enjoy picking it.

Every day we gave them a very little meat and some finely

chopped cabbage. For both they were very greedy. Cracked
wheat we kept before them all the time. We preferred it to corn,
though it cost a little more. On this feed they kept in good
health and grew rapidly.
' One of the greatest difficulties in the care of chickens is the
watching of individuals. It is impossible to give attention to each
single bird; they are attended to in small flocks, and an individual
of this flock may get quite sick before even a very faithful atten-
dant notices it. Still, by watchfulness, a good deal was accom-
plished, in this direction, and we kept two or three old and very
motherly hens for the express purpose of taking care of weak and
sickly chickens. About half of those that we transferred to these
hens came through all right. When a chicken is very sick, the
most profitable and merciful course is to kill it at once.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 18t.

The plans that Ihave described gave us better results than I
had ever had before with chickens in winter. It is true, that, pre-
viously, I had only raised a few clutches, mere for experiment than
‘anything else, as it does not pay to fuss with one brood of
chickens in winter. It is just as easy and far more profitable to
attend to a hundred.

Out of 880 eggs, we hatched 637 chickens and of these we
brought 543 to maturity. In April and May they were worth 75
cents to $1.00 per pair, making, at least, $250. The food had
cost very little, but as it had been taken from the general stock,
Iam unable to give the exact figures.

We sold the cockerels and the culls of the pullets, and this paid
for all labor and expenses, and left a handsome profit. We had
150 very fine pullets left, and they supplied us with many eggs
during the following winter.

The success of this experiment led me to repeat it the same sea-
son. As soon as the hens.were all off the nests, we had the hatch-
ing room thoroughly cleaned, fresh dry earth put down, new nests,
etc. ‘Then, calculating the time when our brooding house would
be vacant, which we placed about April ist, we filled the boxes
again with sitting hens. If we had had sufficient brooding room,
we could easily have brought out three or four sets of broods from
our hatching house, but as it was, we could only manage two dur-
ing the very cold weather. But thjs was enough to show the
profitable character of the system, and next season I tore down the
temporary structure that had served us during the first winter, and
put up a cheap but substantial house.

182 COMMON SENSE

Retrospective.—Proft and Loss.

MIT has been said by high authority, that in Agriculture, he
who buys 5 per cent. too high and sells 5 per cent. too
AH) low, loses his entire profit. If this be true, it shows that
the profits in most agricultural pursuits are not as large as some
would have us believe, and indeed, it is the opinion of those who are
best informed on the subject, that the wealtlt of our’ farmers does
not come from profits arising after the manner of those from mer-
cantile transactions or contractors’ undertakings, but is simply the
wages of labor, close economy having been exercised in disposing
of it. And so, I found that a good share of the outcome of my
poultry yard was due to.me as wages for the labor I had per-
formed. When, therefore, about. the’ first of the year, I began
to calculate where I stood, I was a little surprised at the extent of
my investment, and at the very considerable part which was due
to the labor of my own hands, for I had far exceeded the propor-
tion of my own time which I had first allotted to the enterprise, and
instead of half time, as I had at first calculated, T found that I had
‘given to it pretty long hours.

While my beginning had actually been made in June, the first sea-
son had really closed with December, so far as that year’s stock was
concerned, so that when early in January I turned my attention to
the hatching of new broods, I felt that I was entering upon dan-
other season’s work, and was really commencing a new year in
the poultry yard as well as in the calendar. But since it was the
yearly results that interested me most, and as my experiment
commenced in June, I have regarded the years as beginning in
that month.

The first season J regarded more as a sort of apprenticeship,
than asa fair sample of what the business would be, but on ex-
amining the accounts, and allowing a fair value for stock and per-

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 183

manent plant, I felt that I had not lost anything. It is in the
valuation of the stock and plant, however, that the fallacy of
most statements in regard to financial undertakings lies concealed.
If we only have the opportunity to adjust this feature, it is easy to
show a good balance sheet, and this may perhaps be one reason
for the prevalent tendency to “water” stocks. If the stock of any
enterprise has doubled in amount, it would seem to the unsophis-
ticated, that the property has actually doubled in value while in
fact it may have depreciated. A very slight addition to the
valuation of each of 3,000 chickens would change the bal-
ance from the loss side to that of profit, and this is easily done
on paper. :

In the preceding pages, I have given my plans, methods and
many of the ultimate results. To give a minute detail of all the
haps and mishaps would swell this work into a large volume, and
I will, therefore, merely offer a summary of my progress each sea-
son, and give the balance sheet of the third year, at which time I
had my yards and system fully under way.

On the last day of December of my first year, I found that I
had more than half the number of hens that I had set out to keep,
and in addition, I had a great many birds that might be converted
into cash as soon as the spring came. It was not, therefore, a difficult
matter to make the number up to 1,000 first class hens during the
next six months. My earliest hatches of the following season
gave me 150 good pullets; from my second hatch, at the end of
March, I had 213, so that I needed only about 150 more to com-
plete.my quota. ‘These were raised in May without any special
effort, so that when the 1oth of June came again, [ had 1,000
good birds, though, of course, one half of them were quite young.
Besides these, I had a large number of cockerels and culls, which
could be disposed of in the fall.

The supply of eggs usually begins to fall off towards the end of
May and the first of June, but my fall-reared pullets were now in
the full tide of egg-laying, and as I was now just commencing my
new system of crate-delivery, this came very opportunely.

Although the supply of fresh-laid eggs undoubtedly diminishes

184 COMMON SENSE

after May, the price does not rise very rapidly. This is probably
owing to the fact that the demand falls off somewhat during
the early summer months, but after a time the price adapts itself
to the supply, and it was to meet this state of things that I de-
pended upon my fall broods.

During the spring, I sold off all the old fowls and all the culls,
reducing my stock very considerably, and making room for the
young pullets. ‘hese I endeavored to colonize in lots having
special characteristics—each lot being placed in its own house, so
that a record might be kept of the results derived from it. ‘Thus
in one house and yard we kept pullets which were a cross of
White Leghorn and Light Brahma, and of a certain age, and no
other birds of a different kind and age were admitted to this yard.
‘This made the numbers in the different houses vary, it is true, but
it enabled us to get the real average results from the different
breeds and crosses, and this was what I wanted.

Early in the second season, I erected enough houses to make
up seventeen, besides the old house and the breeding coops. ‘Ihe
latter were all brought together and a glass shed erected in
front of them. This shed was divided into as many compart-
ments as there were coops, and the yards radiated in a fan-
shaped form, from the coops as a centre. In this way the coops
and sheds sheltered each other, so that the hens were kept com-
fortable, and many of them kept on laying well on into the winter.
But with all my efforts, I found it impossible to get enough eggs of
the second cross to supply my needs for my very early hatches,
and so I was obliged to use those of the third cross. But by using
a thoroughbred male of a different strain, I succeeded very well.
‘The amount of eggs to be had from these breeding coops, how-
ever, is merely a question of management, and after the second
season I was not troubled on this score. And since I obtained a
good strain of the Plymouth Rocks, I have had no trouble at all.
The Plymouth Rocks are comparatively a new race, and have not a
great deal of potency. ‘The hens, mated with vigorous White Leg-
horn cocks, give remarkably fine results, and we are always able
to get as many early chickens of this cross as we need.

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 185

Some of the early hatched pullets began to lay in September, and
they were all laying by October, so my supply of eggs kept up
very well into the winter. I placed 125 of these pullets in the old
house, which was kept warm by the fire used to heat the large
kettle. For the purpose of testing the possibility of keeping these
pullets laying during the winter, we gave them the utmost care and
attention, and they repaid us very well. So that by the end of the
second December I had attained the object at which I had aimed,
and not only had my 1,000 hens, but had found that they actually
yielded me a profit, as against interest, labor and food. ‘The profit
may have been small, but still it was on the right side of the
ledger, and the extent of it was a mere question of judicious man-
agement.

Ths third January came with brighter prospects, as we had
greater experience, more skill, and better facilities. Our hens of
the fall broods, and even some of the very early hatches of the pre-
ceding January ceased laying and showed a disposition to sit, and
this was also the case with many of our choice breeders. So we
got our hatching room and brooding house in order, and prepared
to raise'a. goodly lot of little chicks. In this we succeeded without
difficulty; the hands knew just what to do, and under my super-
vision it was thoroughly done. I found it no “halfday’s” work,
however, but that full time was demanded. There is no eight-
hour law in the chicken business.

It was this season that I regarded as the test of the soundness of
my plans and of the possibility of actual success. Fortunately for
me real estate had again improved in value, and I found that if my
scheme for ekeing out my income proved a failure I could at least
dispose of the place without loss, and curtail expenses by moving
into a smaller house. During this season, therefore, I kept very
careful and accurate accounts of all expenditures and receipts, and
the following is the balance sheet of this season:

186 COMMON SENSE

EXPENSES.
Interest on cost of buildings, plant and stock fowls-..-....- $120.00
Labor Account—1 woman at $15.00 per month and board... 310.00
1 boy at $2.00 per week and board...--.--- 200.00
Man—half time... - - 250.00
Food—900 bushels of corn at 56 cts-- - 504.00
800 bushels wheat at 87 cts. - - - 696.00
2,000 Ibs. oil cake meal.----.------------+-2-0eeeneeee 37.50
2,000 lbs. corn meal at $1.25.-....------------ eee enon 25.00
2,000 lbs. wheat bran at $1.10 per 100.- = 22.00
3,000 cabbuges. ..-------- 02-2222 e nee eee ee eee ee eee 126.00
Meat, bones, calves, etC.-.--------------- ee eee eee e ne 57.00
Puelic sesiesicnies nose shen tes sta ceonane sationmsd cia 15.65
$2,363.15

BECEIPTS.
Eggs, 116,197 or 9,683 dOZ..--.--------2-0 ee ee ee cence acne eee $2,557.48
* Broilers". ossernse cere cersecnsas oa veaseeseceneeen ew wareene 383.75
“¥Fowls ”—or old hens--..----------- eih’a ame eareaeiateins 287.25
Cockerels and inferior pullets. 473.15
Pare WIS CUCKEEEIS 1a nnn ccdaens eo ted nad tendaonees xe 27.50
Egvs of thoroughbreds.......-.-.-.. setate aratetetpedite eepels orctciareictatee 123.50
$3,853.23
Expenses as above 2,363.15
Bclt lh emamioabaaukongubbierakanis ep tuagaeieatens $1,490.08

At the close of the year (June roth) I had 1,126 hens in the lay-
ing yards; 439 young pullets, and between 7oo and 800 young
chickens. ‘The old hens and the “broilers” had all been sold off,
thus reducing my stock to a minimum, and consequently making
the feed bills of the year appear quite large in proportion to the
actual number of birds on hand. But it must also be borne in
mind that the food here charged had reared and fattened the cock-
erels of the previous fall. ‘The prices of both the wheat and corn
are very Considerably less than the market rates, simply because I
happened to procure a considerable quantity of both in a slightly
damaged state, but perfectly good for chickens.

In addition to the food charged in the bill as such, however,
there was a considerable quantity which was really represented in
the labor account. Thus we had about 120 bushels of corn of our
own raising, besides milk, potatoes, turnips, clover, grass, some

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 187

sun-flowers, etc., etc., and the chickens picked up during the year
a great deal of food in the shape of seeds, insects, worms, etc., off
the cultivated land. None of this could be taken into the account,
and yet it was all of importance, but it is very obvious that what-
ever it cost is fully represented in the charges for labor and interest.

It was amusing to notice the eagerness with which the chickens
followed the plow, especially in grass land newly broken up. Such
land would be full of the Jarvze and pupze of cock-chafers or May-
bugs, and the way the chickens, old and young, feasted on them
was gratifying on two accounts: ‘he chickens were fed and the
insects were destroyed.

‘The first year we were on the place the cow had a very beautiful
heifer calf, which we raised. ‘This calf was now a cow in full milk,
and consequently our supply from the two cows was considerable,
though none too much. We churned all the milk except the small
quantity used in the house, and fed the buttermilk to the young
chickens. It paid better than selling the fresh milk at market
rates. ‘his was an important item, but is fully covered by the
charges for labor and interest. Whiie the feed bill may appear
heavy, the labor account probably appears light, for in addition to
the hands named in the statement there was my own labor, which
amounted to fully as much as that of any man that I could have

‘hired, and the house girl gave us a great deal of assistance in pre-

paring food and in other ways. And perhaps I have underesti-
mated the amount of work demanded from the man, though, as I
would have had to have him anyway, his wages might be fairly left
out altogether so far as my particular object was concerned. But
in a thoroughly organized poultry establishment, run as a special
business, his whole time would have to be charged to the poultry.

The same is perhaps true in regard to the horse. Her keep and

- expense of shoeing, harness, wagon repairs, etc., would all have to

‘a

be charged to the expense account, if poultry were the sole source
of income; but as it was, I obtained nearly $1,500 per year that I
would not otherwise have had, and this so turned the balance in

favor of Ferniebield as a residence, that I have no present intention

- of leaving it.

788 COMMON SENSE

Conclusion.

HAVE now given the reader a history of my methods
failures and successes, and I have endeavored to answer
practically the question: Can a living be made from
‘poultry alone, the entire dependence being upon eggs and fowls
sold at ordinary market rates? My experience tells me that it can
be done by any one that has the capital, industry and knowledge
that are needed. The market for eggs and table fowls is always
good; better sometimes than others, but still always remunerative.
Stocks may go up or down; banks may break and business men
may fail; bur old Mother Earth always pays her dividends
promptly. And the amount of business done.in eggs and poultry
is so large—over $265,000,000 per annum—that there is no dan-
ger of the business being overdone. ‘Ten thousand new poultry
farms could not perceptibly affect the market.

If reasonable care be-taken, there need be no danger of disease
carrying off our flocks and ruining our prospects, and we know of
no other accident that can greatly imperil our success. But there are
certain points upon which-we must insist, or failure will be certain.

In the: first“place, the individual must be adapted to the business.
It is no child’s play to take proper care of a thousand fowls, and if
that number is doubled or trebled very good executive ability will
be needed. ‘The care of a small flock: may prove a profitable and
pleasant pastime for invalids and ladies who have no employment,
but, unfortunately, a small flock will not yield the owner a living,
and a large flock will require not. only the care, but the labor of a
strong man, and of one who is not afraid of exposure to storms and
cold. Do what you will, there will be times when sudden storms
will overtake some of your poultry, and if you are too delicate to
take care of them, good-by to profit.

But industry, strength and hardihood are not the only require-
ments. Many a man, who bears amongst his neighbors the repu-
tation of a Job for patience, will fail when he attempts to tackle.an
old hen that persists in sitting where she is not wanted. Kindness,

IN THE POULTRY YARD. 189

patience and thoughtfulness are qualities which cannot be dispensed
with. And, moreover, the successful poultry keeper must have a
taste for the business and a fondness for animals. If his duties are
performed as a mere matter of duty, and not coz amore, we would
not give much for his chances.

‘The next requirement is abundant capital. In a book published
a year or two ago, in which various occupations are described and
recommended as suitable for women, the writer names $300 as the
amount of capital required for a poultry establishment! ‘Three
hundred dollars would no doubt set up a very nice poultry yard
for some one who got her /ving from other sources, but we venture
to say that if any woman, having $300, puts that amount into
poultry, and depends upon them for a living, she will fail. ‘My
experience tells me that $3,000 is nearer what is required, and with
less than this at command success cannot be attained. We assume,
of course, that the person who undertakes the business intends to
make a Ziving out of it, in which case he will have to ‘give his
whole time to it, and consequently will have to get his support out
of it (or out of his capital) from the start. Less than 1,000 hens
would not give even a moderate living, and they alone would be
worth $1,000. It is true that hens may be bought in market for
much less, but we speak of that we know when we say that 1,000
such hens will not yield a living to their owner. The hens must be
select birds, and are most cheaply and satisfactorily raised by the
poultry keeper himself.

A thousand hens cannot be housed properly for less than $1.00
eacly. Unless properly housed the results will be on the wrong
side of the ledger. ‘his, therefore, requires another $1,000.

Food must be bought by the car Joad, not by the bushel, and
cash must be paid for everything. Any other system will so cut
down the profits that the result will be anything but satisfactory.

To do this needs a working capital as large as that named by
the writer referred to. Now, if to the requirements we have named
we add the cost of living until the returns come in freely, the rent
of the land and the cost of improving the same, it will be seen that
our demand for $3,000 is not by any means extravagant,

190 COMMON SENSE

I am aware, of course, that with persons who already have some
other business, and merely wish to work gradually into poultry
keeping the case is different, Such a person might begin with roo:
fowls, and by investing the profits from these in new houses and
more fowls, he might soon work up to a business of respectable di-
mensions. And this would certainly be a very judicious course, as
experience would be acquired: just as it was needed. But by the
time the poultry yard is yielding a fair Jiving, the owner will find
that he has invested in it a sum not far from the amount named,.
and Lam very much. mistaken if he would take that amount for
his establishment.

Another error commonly made is in getting the wrong kind of
land, and too little of it. Although I managed to succeed tolera-
bly well with 1,000 laying hens on about nine available acres, yet
I am satisfied. that less than an acre and a half to each hundred
fowls is not good economy. On Jess than an acre it is difficult to
carry out that proper rotation of crops that is absolutely necessary,
and the fowls, from want of range, do not acquire that vigorous
health which I found so desirable. Less than fifteen acres for one
thousand birds is not desirable. Attempts have been made-to keep
poultry in comparatively small coops, but it has never paid, except
in the case of fancy birds, where time and labor were no-object.

The Jand should be all capable of cultivation, and should be as
productive as it is possible to get it. Heavy clay and light sand
are to be equally avoided ; the former because the birds rarely keep
in good health on such soil, and the latter because it is so unpro-
ductive. A good deep gravelly loam is the kind to select. Such
land does not remain wet long after a rain, and it retains manure
and gives good crops. If we allow fifteen acres of such land to
each 1,000 fowls, we can raise on it a very large proportion of all
the food that is needed. It is supposed that five acres are occupied
by coops and yards, and ten acres in cultivation—growing clover,
corn, cabbage, etc. Under our system of high cultivation and
abundant manure the corn ought to yield at Jeast 40 bushels to the
acre, or 400 bushels if the whole were devoted to this crop. This
would be about half the corn reyuired. But since clover and cab-
bage give larger yields than corn, and as a portion of the ground

IN THE POULTRY YARD. Ig!

will be in these crops, the proportionate amount of food raised
would be increased.

It is often difficult to find land at a moderate price near the
market, and it will require good judgment to strike the happy mean
between land that is very cheap because it is a long way from mar-
ket, and land that is so near market that it is very valuable. In
the latter case the temptation to confine the fowls to small yards
is very strong, and is sure to result in evil. Land suitable for poul-
try raising ought to be had for $100 per acre. A higher price
than this will load down the enterprise too heavily with interest on
capital. At this figure it should be all under cultivation, and should
not be in any sense run down. Some have recommended wild
land for poultry keeping. By this is meant land that is covered
with brush or rocks, and is so poor that it will not pay to cultivate
it. Such land may be obtained very cheaply in some parts} but
would make a very imprudent investment. We must bear in
mind that the manure from 1,000 fowls is worth a good deal per
annum, and on such poor Jand it is all lost, whereas if the land be
good the increase in the crops due to this manure will soon pay for
the entire investment.

At the same time, if there should be a piece of such wild land
laying close to the yards, and for sale at a low figure, it would not
be a bad investment, as it would form a grand range for the birds.
It would not yield much, but then the young birds would scratch
in it and find plenty of insects—just the thing they want. The
best use to make of such land, would probably be to plant it’ in
timber. The fowls would keep down the insects. Whether some
kinds of vines or fruit trees, might not be grown on it with profit,
would be a question worth considering.

In previous pages, we have stated that money made from the
sale of pure-bred fowls, must not enter into our calculations.
There can be no objection, however, to the poultry keeper turn-
ing an honest penny in this way. If.he would keep his own stock
up, he must rear pure bred birds, and as he will always have
more than he will care to keep, it would be foolish in him not to’
get the best prices possible for them. And, if he will confine him-
self to two or at the most three pure varieties, and take great pains

192 COMMON SENSE

with his stock, he may soon acquire a reputation for these breeds
that will bring a handsome sum annually into his pocket. But he
must bear in mind that the breeding and selling of fancy fowls,
as they are called, is a somewhat speculative business. J’ashion
seems to have more to do with this matter than has real merit,
and the bird which would have brought a large sum yesterday,
and which has cost much to rear, may be unsaleable to-day.

In closing these pages, allow me to say that they have been written
as much with a view.to warn people of the difficulties ahead, as
to encourage them to go into poultry keeping. ‘he tendency to
adopt some one of the various minor rural pursuits as a business
is decidedly on the increase, but we see everywhere, that, where one
succeeds, ten fail. ‘That this is due to the character of those who
go into it, and not to the nature of the business itself, is easily seen
from’ the mere fact, that one succeeds, but we hold that one of the
greatest wrongs and injuries that can be inflicted upon the strug-
gling classes, is to present a dazzling picture of success, claiming
that any one may attain it. And yet we see daily paraded in
various journals, the promise that if a person will only get, a few
good hens, and take care of them, he may soon build up a busi-
ness that will lead to fortune. And these promises are backed by
such an array of figures and statistics, that there seems to be no
possibility of disputing them. The eager but inexperienced novice
is, therefore, led to invest his time and money in a business of
which he knows nothing, and in which he finds out, when it is
too late, that failure is the rule and success the exception.

Of one thing I’ am satisfied: Experience on a small scale,
with a few dozen hens, although undoubtedly valuable, will not
enable any one to undertake poultry-keeping on a large scale at
once. The difficulties as well as the opportunities which arise when
a Jarge number of fowls are kept, are entirely different from those
which present themselves on the small scale. But those who will
bring an ordinary. degree of intelligence to the work, and who
have the qualifications we have already named, may soon acquire
the necessary experience and skill, and they will find that where
there is capital, industry and common sense in the poultry yard,
there is money in poultry-keeping.

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which will prove of great value to the beginner in the painting business.

Success with Recipes.—A practi-
cal guide to success in the use of recipes,
formule, etc., with hints on chemical
and mechanical.manipulation. Intended
as a supplement to all books of recipes.
By Joun Puin. 44 pages.

While it is an undoubted fact that many of the
recipes published in the ordinary collections are
erroneous, either from original blunders on the
part of the authors, or from mistakes in copy-
ing, failure in the use of others frequently arises from defective information and
vicious methods on the part of those who attempt to put them into practice. The'ob-
ject of the present book is to give such hints and cautions as will enable the worker to
secure success where success is possible, and where the products are intended for sale
it gives valuable advice as to the best methods of putting them on the market.

Useful and Precious Miuerals,—How to
find them; how to test them and how to estimate
their value by simple methods and easily ob-
tained appliances. Intended for the use of non-
experts. Edited by JoHn Puin. 172 pages; illus-
trated by 4 engravings.

This book was prepared to meet the wants of the non-
expert so that they may, by simple tests, know if their
“find” is valuable or only useless dirt. ‘to this end the
book gives general hints on the examination and testing of
minerals ; eee pee characteristics of minerals; asim- _

.ple method of finding specific gravity; scale of hardness,
malleability, color, luster, crystallization, chemical compo-
sitiion; prospecting or searching for minerals, etc.
‘

How to Become a Good Mechanic.
—Intended as a practical guide to self-
taught men, telling what books touse; how
to begin; what difficulties will be met;
how to overcome them; in a word, how to
carry on such a course of self-instruction
as will enable the young mechanic to rise
from the bench to something higher. By
Joun Pun. Second edition, revised and
greatly enlarged. 68 pages.

This book is not a@ text-book, but rather a guide to the use of these books. The
author briefly outlines a course of study for mechanics who wish to advance them-
selves. The notes and instructions given are of a kind that appeal directly to the good
sense and reason of the young student, and cannot fail to act as a stimulant to greater
efforts in obtaining the knowledge sought. The difficulties which may be expected b

the student are dwelt upon, and valuable suggestions as to the proper method of
overcoming them are given.

6 USEFUL INSTRUCTIVE BOOKS AT 25c. BACH.

The Pistol as a Weapon of De-
FENCE, in the House or on the Road.
50 pages.

This work aims to instruct peaceable and law-
abiding citizens in the best means of protecting
themselves from the attacks of the brutal and the
lawless, and it is the only practical book published
on this subject. Its contents are as follows: The pistol as a weapon of defence; the
carrying of firearms ; different kinds of pistols in market; how to choose a pistol ;
amunition, different kinds; powder, caps, bullets, copper cartrjdges, etc.; best form
of bullet ; how to load; best charge for pistols; how to regulate the charge ; care of
pistol ; how to clean it ; how to handle and carry it; how to learn to shoot; practical
use of the pistol ; how to protect yourself and disable your antagonist.

Shooting on the Wing.—Plain direc-
tions for acquiring the art of shooting on
the wing. With useful hints concerning
all that relates to guns and shooting, par-
ticularly in regard to the art of loading so
as to kill. To which has been added several
valuable and hitherto secret recipes of very
great practical importance to the sports-
man. By AN OLD GAMEKEEPER. 88 pages;
illustrated.

This book tells how to choose the gun, about ammunition, gun cases, how to load
the gun, how to clean it, how to handle and bow to carry it, how to learn to shoot,
finishing touches, useful hints, recipes and miscellaneous matter. The book contains
@ novel and most valuable feature found in no other work on this subject. This isa
series of graduated lessons by which the self-taught young sportsman is enabled to
Advance step by step from such easy marks as a sheet of paper nailed on a fence to
the most difficult trap-shooting and the sharpest snap-shots.

What to Do in Case of Accident.—
A book for everybody. 96 pages.

This is one of the most useful books ever published.
It tells exactly what to do in case of accidents, such as
severe cuts, sprains, dislocations, broken bones, burns
with fire, scalds, burns with corrosive chemicals, sun-
stroke, suffocation with foul air, hanging, drowning,
frost-bite, fainting, stings, bites, starvation, lightning,
poisons, accidents from machinery, gun-shot wounds,
ete.,etc. It ought to be in every house and workshop,
for young and old are liable to accident, and the directions given in this book might
be the means of saving many a valuable life.

The Sun.—A familiar description of
his phenomena. By Rev. Tuomas WILL-
1am Wess. Author of ‘Celestial Objects
for Common Telescopes.” 80 pages; illus-
trated by 17 engravings.

_A book for every one interested in Nature, as it
simply and fully describes the sun, tells about spots,
eclipses, etc., in a very attractive style, so that the
ordinary reader who does not understand astronomy 2
may thoroughly comprehend and enjoy the subject. A reading of this book will give
a fair idea of the wonderful universe of which we are 4 part. ¢

Rhymes of Science: Wise and Otherwise.—By OLiver W.
Hotmegs, Bret Hart, Incoutpssy, Prof. ForBes, Prof. J. W. Mc.Q.

a

. Rankine, Hon. R. W. Raymonp and others. 66 pages ; illustrat

A collection of scientific rhymes that will form pleasant reading for any one inter

’ ested in science.