Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-26
DEMAND roa sPnING CHICKENS.


Where 8. Broilers - Come from and
What They COst-Artiflckal Hatch
ing.
From the New York Tribune
The toOthsome ''broiler' Is q luxury of the
New York market, and no amount of labor or
care has yet been able to surround the early
days OF young chickens with sufficient safe
guards against accidents and death to produce
them in numbers to meet the demand The
first that reach the market in the early spring
come about March LIST. They cost from 90 to So
pair and weigh about two pounds and half q
pair. These chicks are usually raised in bed
rooms or cellars on farms or in the small houses
OF workingmen on the outskirts of villages.
Usually only the male birds are Sold the puets
being kept for early layers in the fall During
the months of March. April and May. though the
conditions for raising young chickens are at
their best, the appetite for "broilers" among
those who can afford to eat them keeps pace
with the increased supply.
A member OF the firm of A. d E. Robbins of
Fulton market. said recently to Tribune re-
porter: ut has long been legend with poultry
dealers that the best eating fowls of the country
came from Philadelphia which meant Bucks
county, Pa The demand of the trade soon ex-
ceeded the supply from Bucks county, but the
fiction was kept alive by calling all well-bred,
well-fattened and dry-picked chickens that came
to market 'Philadelphias,' so that this name has
now become merely a brand and is applied to
quite as many fowls raised in New jersey Long
Island or Delaware as to fowls from Pennsyl-
vania. AS Philadelphia is glorifed Long ISL
and is condemned. for any fowl that Is injured,
poor in flesh, scalded for removing the feathers
is called a Long Island though its home may
have been in Philadelphia or Bucks county.
Scalding Injuries the sale of the chicken fully
ten cents pound. and epicures claim that they
can tell after it is cooked whether chicken was
dry-picked or scalded. All 'broiiers' must come
to this market dry-picked and not drawn, and
must not weigh less than twelve nor more thar
twenty-fOur ounces"
Mr.. Robbins was of the opinion that New York
was better supplied with fowls than either Paris
or London and cited in proof of the fact that
steamships plying between New York and French
ana English ports buy the great bulk of their
poultry supplies in this market.
''What is the range of prices for broiers ?"
when they first come, about March LIST, and
for month afterward, we often pay as high as
So pair for them. AS the season advances the
price gradually falls to 81, and finally to 50
cents pound. until the seaside and summer
resort hotels close and stop the demand from
hucksters. At that season chickens are in their
best form for roasting. and the broiler is worth
but 10 or 20 cents a pound until the winter de-
mand begins again."
"Have you handled chickens raised from in
cubators p
''We have handled few but did not like
them. They were not fat enough Very few
have come to this market. There was large con-
Germ started in New jersey by Mr.. Baker to
raise incubator chickens, but it soon broke
down. Poultry In large numbers never do
WELL"
Mr.. Darling Of the Fifth Avenue hotel, said:
II have never handled many fowls Matched in
incubatOrs, but those have seen were good /
am anxious to encourage the raising OF 'broil-
in inn It'll
how to do it, and now the demand is far ahead
OF the supply. We use few all through the
winter for private parties. but the full supply
does not come until April. The highest price is
paid about February l. There is always de-
mand for twenty-Ounce chickens ut about one
dollar pOundin winter. There Is no reason for
objecting to 'broiler' Matched in an incubator.
we always put them on our tables as soon as
we can get 100 day. The clubs pay the high
est price for them"
the supply was fully up to the demand. ''Spring
chickens" he said. ''are like asparagus-only
wanted in the spring. We have no use for
them in winter. Paris is not so well supplied
with poultry as New York. The big
stories about embarrassing near Paris are
not true
Captain s. A. Day. Of the United States army,
was found by The Tribune reporter at Fort
Hamilton, surrounded by chickens and ducks of
all sizes. He exhibited the incubator that he
has been experimenting with during his leisure
moments tor the last thirteen years. The can
tam Is a man of scientific attainments He was
ON the board appointed to select the firearms
for the army. and is now on q similar board to
select proper lamp for use by the soldiers.
he Is chemist and practical machinS as we'll
by means OF the pyrOneter and an ingenious
mechanical continuance of his own invention he
has made perfect heat regulator The great
difficulty with the incubator ALWAYS has been
to get perfect distribution of heat. The
amount of moisture and fresh air which the
egg should have at certain stages of the em-
bryonic development is a matter for future de-
termination.
What are the hard points about the incu-
bator!" the captain was asked.
The Incubator must be SO arranged that the
amount OF oxygen absorbed by the egg during
incubation can be carefully regulated and ample
provision made for carving off the residuum or
waste. in the shape Of carbOnic OXIDE"
with the aid of the incuber can chickens be
raised for the market at proft?'
~ have no hesitation in saying that 1 could
raise chickens at profit, but the incubator has
not yet become sufficiently automatic for any
but the most skillful to succeed with it,
There seems to be as much trouble with the
chick after he is Matched as before"
Eyes, the incubator does only half the work
and the incest skill is required to raise the young
and tender brood. If it is intended to make
STOCK chickens OF them they are fed some meat
and given free exercise and sunlight. If intend
eu lot market at the earliest possible moment
then they are forced with corn meal and pure
wheat, and are put on the market as soon as
they reach pound weight. have at odd times
and with many accidents caused by the interfer-
ence of other business raised about 800 chick
ems this spring. With proper surroundings and
correct management l can see no reason why
'broilers' could not be raised to any amount de.
manded by the market, but it would require
expert management"
Has Vulcan Left the Skies!
From the New York Sun.
1t seems, from the report Of the astronomers
who went to the South Pacific ocean to observe
the total eclipse of the sun on May g. that there
is no planet Vulcan after ALL
The story of this supposed planet is very
curious. Many years ago LIE Verrier. the
famous French astronomer, after it had become
certain on account of irregularities in the
motions of the outer members of the solar
system that there must be another planet be-
yond Uranus, figured out the spot where this
planet should be, and then sent word to the
men who handled the big telescopes Of Europe
that if they would look in that spot they would
see new world. They looked, and 10! the
round green disk of the n1anot Npptnno slnwlv