Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-03-14

This is the way IF. j. X. ntimidates
the poultry men, and "sends in the re-
turns from his hen precinct to the Nus
SachuSetts Ho0gbma3, and some Of the
other (hen) party, objected to his count
when he read the item ut the Calais meet
ing, and said the box had been stuffed,
and no such amount of egg ballots were
ever legally deposited by any one hen; in
short, that it wasn't true. Let the matter
be referred;
have tried the famous Light Brahmas
and Plymouth Rocks and many more less
noted, and will but up 100 of my
Brown Leghorn chickens when Matched
against 200 of any other variety, and get
more eggs in five years from the 100 Leg
horns. than any man can from 200 of amy
other known breed.
The great majority of poultry writers
here and in Europe say hiJ all hens be-
fore they are two years old. say it costs
too much to raise pullet, especially one
that has got to be six or seven months old
before it lays at all, and then sis half
of the rest of its natural life, to kU it
erer, where eggs are the most profitable,
and have yet to learn OF place where
they are not.
1t may pay to make poultry, but it will
pay better to make eggs. say that my
pullets commence laying, ON the acreage,
at four months, with my care, and the
goose quilts bristle like the quilts on the
fretful pocnpinc, and l get talked about
severely-and then because | have hens
ten years old that have laid 1000 eggs or
more, and dare to say it, the porcupine
hides his head under some nom de platnIe,
and his quilts rise to wrath again.
The first hen | owned that lived to be
nine years old and laid 1900 eggs, was an
accident, like the Concord grape, the Will
sons strawberry, and many other good
things. But the hens l have now, S,G tc
ten years old, are not accidents, but arc
bred from the accident, and | expect to
live long enough to have hen lay 5000
eggs.
1t is but few years since our greatest
naluralists claimed that no hen could lay
more than 500 eggs in Il lifetime. Agas
siz thought so until he disseGted ont
of my old hens that had layed twice thai
number, and found that she might have
layed rs many more.
We can produce great change by care
full breeding in any variety of poultry
can increase or diminish the size at will
as also the sitting proclivites of fowls.
There are great many Asiatics tina
are almost non-sitters now, and a few
years careful breeding of such keeping
the fowls thin in flesh at the same time
and no doubt the Asiatics might be breC
in close confinement till they would thrive
there, though they are rather too ndolent
| keep leaves or straw in coops, rooms
and runs, to scatter my grain amongst t.
make work for the fowls, rs also to in
crease my manure heap. | have seel
arstrocratic fowls dying of cleanliness
1t is absolutely necessary that fowls Il
well rs children have something to do.
Our hen manure american guiano) i
very important item. save it in
good many different ways, but mostl,
now by mixing charcoal dust mo Wool
ashes or coal aSheS) and dry loam,-roat
dirt is the very best-and any road com
missioner ought to thank people fo
gathering it up to keep it from BLOWN!
into the eyes of the travelling public
Plaster is good to strew about in small
quantities, fine ground oyster shells, n,
lime, fine ground bones, etc.
An egg of itself is II small matter, bu
it represents to average in our market two
cents, and it is the one thing that farmer
Gan always get the cash for. The supply
of eggs has increased with giant strides
still the demand is far in advance
When farmers shake off the whim tina
fowls must forage and destroy more thar
they are worth, and confne them as the,
do their hogs, then the business of keep
ing fowls for profit will look better.
A veteran farmer was ut my place to
day, and said his "pullets Matched in Junt
commenced to lay in November, prett,
smart. but he neglected to get them undei
the barn and they all got frozen little
so his fifty pullets had been moping aroun(
all winter and hadn't laid an egg an(
wouldn't till March or April. If he live(
another year he would have q hen house
and keep his hens in it," Amen! hope
he may live and that his neighbors will
take pattern from him and build OF fix ur
some comfortable place for their fowls
and then keep them IN IL, and do another
thing as he has, make arrangements Ia
set few strawberry plants and other