The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-04-23
Gyrsning State SnarnaL
TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 90, 1872.
AGRICULTURAL.
American Institute and Farmers Club.

nle
i most profitable, all things considered?
ID Mr.. Bruen-I repeat what | have been
soving. off and on, for the last fifty years,
hat it is more in care than in crosses. /
have kept fowls almost from myyouth up,
losing few by disease, and having always
nlenty of spring chickens, and omelet tim
Der in abundance. My hens bring me each,
on an average, 147 eggs year. From 81 !,
in one year, | got s67 dozen and eight
eggs. have never bothered my brains
about breeds. | fight shy of the fowl
dealers in eggs at So dozen. Feed well,
keep clean quarters, give plenty of range,
give water three times a day, supply
founded oyster shells, in winter dust
heap, fumigate with sulphur, if by any
chance lice appear, and my word for it you
will have eggs enough and to spare. |
have neighbor who keeps nothing but
white Leghorns, and when he wants
chickens he puts their eggs out to be
hstched by Dorking, or other good set
ting breed. He has no trouble about
deterioration, but he feeds well. The
reason people do not make chickens pay is
because they make them shift for them
selves.
Mr.. Stewart kept Dorking hen set
ting steadily till she Matched out 100 chicks.
This took her about three months. At
the end of that time / moved away from
that part of the country. My successor
NAV have kept her at the same business
till this day for all l know to the contrary.
DR.. Crowell-When certain things are to
be accomplished certain requisites are me-
cessary. The white Leghorns lay great
many eggs and are good to eat; they are
tender and juicy. The poultry raisers of
Monmouth prefer cross of some English
breed with the BTahma. Some think the
Dorking is the best extant they give good,
rich eggs. IL it is intended to raise capons,
Dominiek is the best.
Mr.. Dodge-My 'pennyworth of OBJ
servation," backed by experience, leads
me to conclude that for eggs, the best breed
is black Spanish and white Leghorn for
the table, Dorking and Bolton Grays Tor
| market, coarse, fast growers, as Cochins or
Brahmas.
Mr.. Ely took great pains to have all
breeds, and keep them, as the sexes at the
Shaker Community are said to live, ''striet-
" apart" This was troublesome and
didn't pay, so let down the bars, and
since this amalgamation have had good
success. But / follow brother Bruen's
practice, and give care and good feed and
oyster shells and dust, and so forth.
DR.. Smith-Dr. Trimble has accomplish
| ed notable results with poultry on city
lot. Let us hear from him.
DR.. Trimble-I keep poultry but for one
object-unmistakably fresh eggs all the
year round-and in this I have satisfacto-
ry success. With some breeds the setting
propensity is great annoyance, and |
have been trying many breeds, so as to
find the least of this propensity. The
black Spanish, the Hamburgs, and some of
the French varieties answer we'll, but for
the last two years have had several we'll
bred white Leghorns, and so far | prefer
them to all others. keep a pretty exact
account with my hens, and | find they av-
i erage bushel of grain each year, and give
me near 100 eggs in return. Corn and
wheat are the chief food; sometimes buck
! wheat, cracked corn, or barley are given by
i way of variety. The grain is always sound
and sweet. | do not approve of giving
hens damaged grain because they will eat
it. never feed them; they feed them
selves from feed-boXes always plentifully
supplied. have now thirty hens, and du-
ring January, February and March they
supplied us about 60 dozen eggs. Ofcourse
they are comfortably housed, and the floors
Of the stables are covered about a foot deep
with earth-here they can dust themselves
in all weathers. once took home from
this club continuance for watering poul-
try. 1t is perfect and saves much trouble.
A constant supply of broken oyster shells
is another requisite of a well-managed
poultry-yard. AS to the setting instinct,
i certainly should not keep hens at all if
we had none but the old kinds. have
tried many ways of breaking up this pro-
pensity. | have placed snow balls in their
nests they would patiently melt them
away, and be thankful for fresh supply.
Lately, / put them in old fruit crates--slats
all round--and by placing the crate so as
to stand at an angle Of 45 degrees, they
cannot set. Biddy is really out-generaled,
and shows temper.
MORE OF OIL MEAL.
William Erwin, Bourbon, Ind, asked
about oil meal, and will it increase the milk
of ewes with,lamb.
Mr.. Curtis-This feed is suitable for any
kind Of stock in any condition if fed spar
ingly. 1t keeps the bowels and pores of
the skin open. 1t is also nutritious. A
gill a day to each sheep is enough. Oil
meal with oats or wheat-bran would be ex-
cellent to produce flow of milk. No
stock will thrive for length of time on
dry concentrated food. The bowels must
be fed as we'll as the stomach, or they will
get out of order. Food must not be select
ed solely on account of its nutriment.
There must be waste or there cannot be
health, hence some coarse feed like bran
should be mixed with the oil meal.
HOW TO IMPROVE A PASTURE.
H. w. Field, Duchess Co., N. Y, has
50 acres of rolling clay land; it has pro-
duced fine crops, but has had no seed for
i p years, and the grass is good deal run
out. He wants to bring it up but can't get
manure, and is advised as follows First,
oplow it early in spring, and seed it down
with rye in fall second, to cut what grain
/ 1t produces in July, and then pillow and
seed with rye in fall third, to cut in July,
and then harrow it over four times with a
sharp-toothed drag in place of blowing, and
then seed down. 1t is held that the latter
course is best for clay soil, and that the
drag will kill the weeds, moss, &c. Would
/ fine pulverized stone divided by the wealth
er into minute cubes, or leaf mold from
the woods, help the land? If not, what is
the cheapest fertilizer for clay soil?
Mr.. Stewart would advise that this
pasture be plowed when the soil is in good
condition, say the fore part Of June-plow-
ing under everything growing on it that il