Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1880-02-07

severance until the weather becomes
quite cold. Breeds of poultry possess
ing these characteristics are very good
to rely on. Good treatment will be
promptly paid for. There are other
breeds that will lay almost the entire
year, with the exception of the time
spent in resting or in sitting. These are
the nearest approach TO perpetual lay
ers. and even the fowls of these breeds
will at times stop laying for no other
apparent reason than that they seem to
want rest-which is reason enough.
Some breeds of fowls seem to De more
apt to lay in winter, and Others will lay
only in spring. The natural tendency
of all fowls is to produce eggs only in
summer, and any improvement in this
particular is due to natural selection,
improvement in breeding ard good care.
1t is comparatively easy matter to OBJ
tain eggs in winter, if the proper ar
engagements are made beforehand.
Chicks of the large breeds that it is de-
sired should become winter layers,
should be Matched in March or April.
This is very essential, as it is necessary
that they should obtain good growth.
Leghorn and Golden Polands and the
smaller breeds will do well enough if
Matched in May or June. do not fancy
as winter fowls those that have large
combs, wattles and feathered legs; they
are much too apt to suffer from the
cold. All fowls require warm houses,
plenty of good food and constant care,
if it is intended that they should lay
eggs in winter There must be a va
riety ia the diet, with access to pure
water and broken oyster-shells. With
all the conditions perfectly favorable,
the farmer may have to feed his fowls
until he is quite discouraged before he
sees any prospect of fresh eggs. But if
the fowls are cared for in an intelligent
manner, the eggs are sure to come, and
eggs produced in winter command
fair price, being much more marketa-
BILE than those that have been sailed
from the summer before. do not mean
that eggs produced as they are on some
farms, one or two per day to every dozen
of the half-starved fowls, are profitable.
But / do mean if sufficient hens are
kept TO produce in eggs two or three
times the cost of their keeping, besides
furnishing one of the greatest luxuries
for the farmers own table. that no
farmer who has tried it will say that
such fowls do not pay. Hens that have
laid good share of the winter will usu-
ally want to sit pretty early, and this is
great advantage. The hen-house
should be ready for the hens it is desired
to keep over, early, at least before the
weather gets cold The fowls should
not be allowed to experience any ill
effects from cold or damp weather, as
sudden or severe chill exerts very in
furious effect upon any breed of poultry,
especially upon hens intended for winter
layers The house should not only be
made perfectly comfortable but should
be kept perfectly clean. 1t is a good
idea to whi,ewash the inside of the
building before the birds 60 into winter
quarters. They should have all the
stimulating and heat-producing food
they can consume. All that hens are fit
for in winter is TO produce fresh eggs at
a certain price per dozen, and they
must be fed and cared for with that end
in view. | find that hens will pay
much larger price for grain consumed
in winter than in any other season, and
therefore they can be made much more
profitable than at any other time
Forrest r. Moreldnd, in Rural NeU
Yorker