——— EE te I Hn CA ty Cay Er TRAIN flaw (ipo a RT SL La al IRR The Bureau of Animal Industry has: Just prepared a short bulletin embody- 'ing a number of useful hints to poultry raisers. In submitting the text to Seecre- tary Wilson, Chief Melvin of the Bureau stated that the article was pre- pared with the special end in view of furthering the purpose of his Bureau to give the raisers of poultry, especially the general farmer, the best informa- tion” possible in @ very concise form. The article is written by G. Arthur Bell, Assistant Animal Husbandman of the Bureau of Animal Industry. “*® Selection of a Variety. Pure breeds are desirable, says Mr. Bell, as with these one has a flock of "THE STANDARD BIRD. - GUY ELLIOTT MITCHELL should be placed against the end of the house opposite the door or under the roost platform, and should be darkened. It is well to have several small boxes for shell, grit, beef scraps, etc., against he walls about 16 to 18 inches above the floor. If cement or wood floors are used, a dust bath should be provided for the fowls. The Feeding of Hens. { In order to obtain eggs, it is mneces- sary to have healthy, vigorous stock, properly fed, To do their best, hens should be fed grain, animal, and green food. They should be fed enough to keep them in good condition but not overfat, and should be induced to take (Greatest Profit in Pure Br Fowls.. pd Abe. (r— f \ PLYMOUTH ROCKS—A PAIR OF PRIZE WINNERS. fowls which will produce carcases and eggs of a much more uniform shape, color, and size than will mongrels, all of which aids in finding a ready sale. If one already has a flock of mongrel fowls and cannot afford to buy pure- breeds, he should choose a purebreed male bird of the breed preferred and mate him with a few of the best mon- grel females, This system, if carefully followed for a few years, will give a high-grade flock that will be practically as good as purebreds, so far as market conditions for dressed fowls and eggs are concerned. Choice of variety will depend largely on the purpose for which the fowls are kept—whether eggs alone,botheggs and meat, or meat alone is the chief object; whether white-shelled or brown shelled eggs are desired; and whether sitters or nonsitters are wanted. Egg Breeds.—Nonsitters and produg- ers of white-shelled eggs—Leghorns and Minorcas. General purpose breeds.—Sitters and producers of brown-shelled eggs—Ply- mouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Orphing- tons, and Rhode Island Reds. Meat Breeds. Sitters and producers of brown-shelled eggs—Light Brahmas, Cochins, and Langshans. What Kind of Houses, Location—Select an elevation hav- ing a natural drainage away from the building, a dry, porous soil, such as a sandy of gravelly loam, being prefer- able to a clay soil. Erposure—As sunlight and warmth are essential to the best success with poultry, the buildings should face the south, A southeastern exposure is pref- erable to a southwestern one if a direct southern exposure cannot be op- tained. Size of House.—The size of the house will depend almost entirely on the mumber of birds to be kept. If in flocks of forty to sixty, about 5 square teet of flour space should be allotted to each hen, The building should be high enough Tor the attendant to avoid bumping his head against the ceiling. A House for Fifty to Sixty Fowls. The best house for fifty to sixty fowls is 20 by 14 feet; front elevation 6% feet, back elevation 51 feet, with double pitch foof of unequal span, The roof, if shingled, should have not less than one-third pitch. If roofing paper is used, one-quarter pitch will answer, In the front, or south wall there should be placed two windows about 1 foot from the top and 3 feet from the ends; 8 by 10 inches is a good-sized pane to use in a twelve-light sash, making the sash about 3 by 9 inches high, and 2 feet 5 plenty of exercise. No set rules can be given for feeding, as conditions vary, and there are different methods of feed- ing different breeds. A good system to follow for winter feeding is mash once a day and grain scattered in the litter twice a day. The mash may be fed dry or slightly moist- ened. When the former, it is usually put into a trough or hopper hung against the wall and the fowls allowed access to it at all times. The mash fed at the Maine Experi- ment Station is as follows, in the pro- portions indicated: 200 pounds wheat bran. 100 pounds corn meal. 100 pounds wheat middlings. 100 pounds linseed meal. 100 pounds gluten meal. \ + The Great American Hen. Rightfully comes she by the title, for according to statistics the Ameri- can hen yields more money annually than any other one farm product. With eggs as low as a cent a piece—a very cheap and nutritious™ food—a well bred hen laying about two hundred eggs @ year has a value of $2. An estimate is made that $1 a year will keep her in comfortable if not luxuri- ous, quarters. The trouble is that milijons of barnyard scrubs do not yield a hundred eggs a year. According to Government authori- ties the earning from the egg and poultry industry amounts to about $280,000,000. Cotton, the king of crops with a value reaching up to $259,000, 000, is thus dethroned by the magnifi- cient earnings of the fowl. During 1905 the total value of all the gold, silver, wool and sheep produced in the United States was $272,000,000. The wheat crop, considered the most valuable of all agricultural products had a value in the same period of $229,000,000. The great American hog, consumed at home and abroad, was valued at about $186,529,035. The sugar production of the country was only $20,000,000. The combined value of the oat and potato crops was only $160,000,000, The industrioup little gallus domesticus profluces enough eggs to require a train of refrigerator cars 900 miles long filled with 43,000, 000 crates, each of which holds 360 eggs. The value of the ezg as a food product is equal to that of any food stuff of its size. ~— & -~ & Winter Egg-Laying Contest. A novel egg-laying competition at the Lady Warwick's Ladies’ Agricul- tural College is reported by Consul Daniels at Sheffield, England. ‘The conclusions reached are that breed does not govern £0 much as the laying strain or families of a breed highly de- veloped egg producers. The pen of four Buff Orpingtons led from October 16 to November 16 by producing 49 eggs, and again November 16 to Decem- ber 16 with 120 eggs. One thing the present competition shows is the little help it is to birds to be what show enthusiasts call “beautifully marked,” for as often as not it is the ordinary looking competitors, birds a show judge would laugh at, that have the biggest total of egge to their credit. In the winter laying competition what stands a bird in good stead is not that its father was the winner of a medal, but that its mother and grandmother 100 pounds beef scrap. GROUP OF YOUNG Another mash may be mixed as fol- lows, in the proportions indicated: 100 pounds corn meal. 100 pounds ground oats. 100 pounds wheat bran. Young chickens should be fed a Iittle at a time and often. If they are given ground food alone, there is a great danger of overfeeding. Very good re- sults may be obtained by the feeding entirely of cracked grains from the time the chickens are hatched until they reach maturity, There are on the market many prepared chick feeds, con- sisting of different mixtures of suitable cracked grains, After the chickens are five or six weeks old, the prepared chick feed may be dropped and cracked corn, cracked wheat, hulled oats; ete, fed to inches wide. A door 21% by 6 feet r""v be made in one of the end walls, ana also a small door in the front wall, for | Pee E Go SINGLE COMB BUFF LEGHORNS. Cock was Awarded First Prize, St. Louls Exposition. ths fowls to pass in and out building, Interior Arrangement, Ths roost platform should be placed in the rear of the house and extending ite whole length. The platform should be about 3 feet wide and 3 feet from the floor, with the perches arranged shout 8 or 10 inches higher. The nest No. nin. - \ of the oy EE rE LF them instead. If the chickens can not get grass, provide green feed such as lettuce and RSE) . 2 Sy cabbage which are very good fu. ais purpose. Some kind of meat, such as green cut‘bone or meat scraps, is valu- able as a food and 1t is well to keep in a box where the chickens can help themselves at all times. Water should be provided from the start, placed in wera wonderful layers, snd that iis WHITE LEGHORNS, ™™ male parents also come of & goad 1ay- ing strain som I sane Ducks don’t need water to thrive. There are many farms in this country, where thousands of these fowl are raised each year for market, and where there is not even a puddle for them to flounder in. One of these establish- ments #s gaid to furnish 20,000 ducks a yeare gi... St AR —— Net the Laying Kind. A few days ago a rather bashful young woman went into a Southern grocery store with some chickens to sell. She inquired the price of fowls, and at the same time put hers on the counter. The clerk didn’t notice that the chickens’ feet were tied, and asked her if they would lay there, She bit her handkerchief, turned her head, and sald, “No, sir, they are roosters.” N—-— -PF S HE F P ° 7 E E EP .- -P Ez WNLLL.ws L..bpop Extending thc Weather Service. In order that the work of the Weather Bureau may be of greatest possible benefit to the people of the United States, and especially to that class which Is dependent upon the weather, Prof. Willis L. Moore, the chief, has been making arrangements by which such agriculturists as have telephones and want the service, may obtain weather forecasts within a few minutes after the announcement of telephonic advice as to the state of com- ing weather, This iS operating in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and other states. Recently the Weather Bureau made arrangements for an ex- tension of this service in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Rn The bloodhound is generally thought to be very ferocious, while, on the con. trary, it is really as gently as almost any other kind of dog. EE The Pennsylvania Railroad is con- templating cutting a tunnel through the Allegheny Mountains, and the South. ern Pacific will eventually tunnel the Sierre Nevada range. ” Tall persons usually live longer than short ones, while those born in the such a dish that the chickens not get into it and get wet. you, cm spring have sounder constitutions than those born during the other seasons. WORTH GUESSED WRONG. LORG Missed ths Opportunity to Get Fam- ous Horse Named After Him. When a man becomes famous, all the incidents of his past life are laid bare. There is a great story going around of how Nick Longworth came near to attaining to fame some years ago, in connection with horses. “The story runs,” according to a prominent horseman, “that some years ago H. M. Ziegler, of Cincinnati, the noted owner of thoroughbreds, and an intimate friend of Mr. Longworth, took the latter down to his Kentucky thoroughbred farm to show him his collection of fine yearlings, “All of these yearlings were as yet unnamed. “ ‘I.ongworth,’” sald Ziegler, as they strolled about the stalls, ‘you'd better let me name one of these yearlings after you. They're a swell bunch, and almost all of them are well-nigh bouna to do something big in the world.’ “