Smyrna times., 1877-06-20
The Largest Poultry Farm in the
World.

IL has always been supposed that poul-
try farm on an extensive scale, although
prohtable on paper, was impracticable in
fact. IE support of this hundreds of cases
are cited where many men have wrecked
their fortunes in the vain endeavor to
succeed in an undertaking of this descrip-
ton. We are surprised to find, however,
that a modest gentleman of Cresskill, N.
D., has succeeded where his competitors
have failed. Mr.. William G. Baker has ex-
pended in his numerous buildings and ex-
periments during the past few years $75,'
600 by means of which he has brought the
production of chickens, ducks and turkeys
absolutely under his own control, limited
apparently only by the number of eggs
which he can procure.
The chickens are produced by artificial
heat through an incubator of Mr.. Bakers
construction, the capacity of which is now
estimated at 100000 chickensper year, and
which the proprietor intends to double
during the next few months. This incuba-
| tor is the secret of success Of this enter
prise. 1t consist in number of cases of
shallow drawers or shelves upon which the
eggs are carefully placed. They are
hatched by means of heat from hot water
pipes running Immediately on the top of
each layer of eggs, which is supposed to be
nearly to that conveyed from hens
body. The eggs in the trays are turned
daily as their natural attendants would do
if on the nest. The heat is most atten-
lively regulated so as to maintain an even
temperature, the consequence of which is
that little chicks are pecking their way
out their shells all day long and every day
without the aid of "biddy." These
younglings are allowed to remain two or
three hours in their tray after they leave
the shell and are then removed to the
brooding house.
This is building divided into fifty com.
partments, covered with glass. In each
compartment one hundred young chicks
are kept until three weeks old, when they
make good sized broilers. Each of these
pens is provided with patent hen mother
Ia pan filled with hot water and lined un-
derneath with blanketing) fixed close to
the ground, underneath which the young
chicks creep for extra warmth, They are
transferred from this to the laying house
(unless killed or sold previously,) which is
a building nearly five hundred feet long.
divided into seventy-fve apartments,
glazed on one side, and provided with
nests, roosts, dust baths and all kinds OF
chicken ixings Each pen accommodates
about twenty hens. The whole building is
heated by steam, and constantly kept at
summer temperature. Everything is kept
scrupueously clean, and the result is that
Mr.. Baker is rarely troubled with sickness
of any kind among his fowls. All the eggs
produced in the laying house are given tc
incubators in addition to which large
number are bought to keep up the constant
,, demand made by the apparatus.
There is also an extensive system fol-
forcing fowls 20 become corpulent ever
; against their own desires. They are con
fined in boxes, each of which is large
enough to accommodate only one bird, anC
are fed by hand from a mess tub by means
of a flexible tube which forces the crop full
by single movement. By this process
the weight Of fowls can be doubled in three
weeks.
The magnitude Of this undertaking il
entirely out of the usual order of things
and is certainly unequaled in this countr,
,, or England. In France some extensiv,
operations are carried on, mainly, however
D by natural means. In Egypt the artificia
= incubation is managed more successful,
E than in any part of the world, and it ha
been supposed that some popularity o
! that climate enabled the professors of thi
art to succeed, but the eminent results al
|, tanned by Mr.. Baker lead US to hope tha
Yankee enterprise will take the lead il
: this as it has in everything else.-Ne,
q Jersey paper.
| ak-