The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1874-02-06
JIle aelarietta 9oarnal.
POULTRY RAISING IN coNNEc
TTnTTT

looks poultry, may as well put up his
pencil 1t is no longer an unimpor-
tant interest handed over to the wife
and children, but the special charge
of he head &c the household, watch
ed with as much solicitude rs the
beef, pork and mutton. Many farms
produce more poultry than pork for
the reason that it pays SO large profit,
while pork pays little or nothing,
and Il the truth were known runs
many a farmer in debt. The pro-
duct is declining every year, and
will decline faster when farmers CT
uher more, learn the cost OF produc-
ing pork, and demonstrate to their
own satisfaction at least, that every
pound dfpork they raise makes them
poorer, while poultry pays fair
profit. Not even the plea that the
pig is a good manufacture OF minure
win save him, for the same grain led
10 fowls makes a fertilizer quite as
rich in. all the elements Of plant food,
and almost as concentrated as ,uano.
The plea that he is a saver OF The
wastes of the family will not help him
for fowls deligh, in garbage, econo-
mize potato parings, drink sour milk
and whey, gobble bits Of refuse meat
and ofal, and swallow bones when
cracked, which piggy eschc"s.
They revel in the insect lite genera
ted in a dead carcass with more gus
"a than swine. and on the whole are
better scavengefs, The only pre-
eminencc OF the swine IN any point
Of view is his snout, and of what ae-
count is this in land where sub
sellers and deep-tillers are in every
agricultural warehouse, and upon ey-
cry mans farm that has any faith IN
the utility Of thorough stirring OF
the soil9 The pig goes henceforth to
the lands Of cheap corn and distant
markets "a mere animal sack IN
which twenty or more bushels OF
maize can be choapiy stored and
sent to market, siih smallest cost Of
transportation. Glimpses OF this
are getting into the minds of our IN
telIigent farmers. The tons Of pork
that used to be raised on our farms
and supplied the Providence and
Boston markets, have been supplan-
ted by tons Of poultry. Farmers
who used to fatten from twenty to
fifty hogs, now only raise enough to
fill their own pork barrels, and the
excuse for this is that they make
sure Of better article than they are
likely to find in tho market. 1t is
not claimed that they can make pork
so cheap as they can buy IT, The
turkey, to great extent, has taken
the place of the pig as a paying in
stitution. All summer long he roams
10 woods and pastures, feasting on
crickets and grasshoppers, and keep.
ing down the superabundant insect
life Of the farm, and in autumn fat
tens partly upon the mast in the
apcds. and when that fails, upon
botled potaoes and Indian corn,
Imported mainly from the South and
West. Nearly all the seaport far
mers buy more corn than they raise,
and vessels are kept busy in treieh>
ting corn from New York until ice
blockades the harbors, Corn is
purchased by the carload in Toledo
or Chicago, and without breaking
bulk, is put down at the depot in the
land of steady habits, to the utter
discontinue Of the farmer who
moves in the ruts and only knows
how TO raise corn oats, potatoes and
hay. Grain by the hundred bush>
els is fed out TO poultry, turkeys,
geese, duck, hens. and the clean,
handsome earcasses go to the eastern
markets bringing just about three
times as much per pound as pork, and
paying very handsome profit upon
the skill. labor and capital invest
ed.
There is great improvement in
breeds. We have distinct breeds
Of turkeys, geese, ducks and hens,
Of foreign and homo origin, each
having its good qualities aud hosts
of admirers. The turkeys, as the
noblest bird, receives the largest
share Of attention among farmers,
who alone have room enough to give
them the free range which is essen
,ial to their profitable cultivation. -
At least third has been added to
the weight of this bird in Eastern
Connecticut in the last twenty FIVE
years. We have the Bronze, the
Narraganset,, the Black, Slate or
Blue, the White, the Wild and its
descendants. Turkey
raising is fast becoming one of the
fine arts, and the fine binds which the
skillfal breeder produces come to
more sure and lively market than
the products of the chisel or the
pencil. Farmers vie with one anoth-
er in sending to market the heaviest
lots Of well fattened turkeys
w. Gin ia Country Gentleman.
Al one of the ragged schools in !
ireland clergyman asked the guess
lion. What is holiness Z" A pupil
..s..a.. $4,000 rrr.c -, ~, r..,l ~, naA