The Republican journal., 1886-11-11
A Poultry Farm In Nt0ckt0n.

journal representative last week accompanied
Mr.. Granville J. Paul to Sandy Point, Stockton
and while there looked over the extensive hen es
tabliShmcnt of the French Bros. The farm has al
elevated position on the main road overlooking tn,
old steamboat wharf The land slopes towards
the river, giving an eastern and southern exposure
The view from the building is fine The majesti,
Penobsrot river rolls down before you as you fac,
the east, while a few miles south is Fort Pon
standing as a sentry at the mouth of the river
To the north is the high land which shuts off the
view from Bucksport; to the east looking acros.
the river is Orphans Island dotted thicklv witt
handsome farm houses.
When we aghted and made known the object O.
our visit to Capt. II. W. French, he said, eyes,
know the journal, am subscriber to it, and shall
he pleased to show ycu over the premises" lie
took us down to building where his son FREQ
was busily at work painting and introduced us
INC enterprise is conducted by Capt. French's
three sons-Frcd Y, f. II. and A. Is. French. While
they have not had personal experience in the bust
ness, 4 residence OF a number of years in Boston
and inspection and study of some of the best hen
hcres Of Massachusetts, has given them large
amount Of information on the subject. Certainly
they have one of the best arranged lien establish
ments in Maine, and if the business is not success
tul 1t will be fer the want of market. As to the
latter they say they sure to sell all the poultry
they can raise rs they have an arrangement with
the markets and hotels of Boston Tie enterprise
i in its infancy ana will not I've in fun wo,Lina
order until next season. Work was begun Hast
spring and already $1,000 have been expended on
the premises.
The main house, or LAYING house rs they term it
i LOG by Is feet. This is divided into twelve scp
atate apartments. From this building extending
southwark arc twelve separate runs each en-
closed by base boards two feet high sulmounteu
by four feet Of poultry wire. Here are kept the
breeding fowls. The families consist OF twely,
mems and one cock each. There i no rommumica
ton between the families, either inside or outsid,
the building. Each apartment Is furnished with
all the modern impro,em As to roo,t> and
nesting boxes. In the winter season the hoor, of
the apartments are given liberal coating Of soll
and gravel ovcrlain with cut straw This forms
an artificial soil in which the hens can scratch and
take aust bath. The hens are fed five times a
of whole wheat, whole corn, cracked corn, >hort,
mdllings, corn meal, and Give parts" This lat
ter feed i made up in equal parts Of five ingred
meal. The morning feed consists of cracked corn
the mid forenoon feed five parts, the noon meal
mddlingS, the middle afternoon feed is varied
sometimes boiled potatoes, meat, etc, and the last
feed is Wholc corn. Powdered oys and clam
Shells Lime, etc. provided in liberal quantities
Au abundance of water is supplied from spring
through 200 feet of pipe. A fire is kept in the lay
Ing house whore temperature of forty-tivc de
grreo is maintained and particular attention Is
given to ventilation. In the basement Of the build
ing Is the slaughter house But two varieties Of
hens are kept, the Wyandottcs and the Light Brah
mas, these being considered the best for poultry
one Light Brahma cock Matched last April weigh
cd ten pounds A smaller building arranged like
the main one, is principally used for ducks, as
some attention win be given to this fowl The
Pckin Is considered the best duck for the market
y third house los by 10 feet is called the broodng
house. Here the Young chicks to be reared
This building j. heated by a furnace and kept at
temperature of eighty degrees. The walls o.
the building begin three feet underground and q
tine wire netting is placed beneath the surface as
protection against rats. The chicks are Matched
by incubatoiS and at the proper age are carried L,
the irooding house where everything is done fol
the young chick which the mother hen could No.
Three incubator~ with Il Matching capacity Of
900 eggs each, Will be employed The Rankin
Monarch i, considered one of the best incubator>
and it is 50 adjusted that an even temperature o
los degrees is kept. In twenty one days the egg,
will hatch. Care must be given to this operation
and the eggs must be turned twice i'll twenty -foul
hours. After Matching the chicks are kent in tn,
incubator thirty sin hours the first twenty .fou
without food or water. At the end of this tim,
they are taken to the hrooding house before men
uonCd. December 18th, the incubators will ht
hlled With $500 eggs and the Matching process be
gin. The French Bros intend to hatch ont an.
keep 5000 chickens. When the chicks weigh tive
pounds each, which will he in early March, they
VIII bc killed, dressed and shipped to the Boston
market, They are then termed hrolers anu IN,
worth from forty to fifty cents rcr pound. Til,
fowl Will be handsomely and neatly packed in ice
1t i estimated that twenty cents per pound ON al
average, will be realized throughout the year
Ducks Will be shipped at three pounds weight an,
will fetch forty cents per pound, Another sourc,
Of revenue will be the eggs and feathers Brcas
feathers from chicks are worth forty cents PEI
pound.
Last spring when the French Bros. began opera
lions they used common barn yard fowls for hatch
ing purposes the eggs coming from the boo,tvr
varieties before mentioned They now have 3OC
mems and N ducks. In constructing the houses an
runs 5000 feet of poultry wire was used. In tn,
spring they propose to extend the runs until the
whole Will cover five acres of land The building:
present 4 very attractive appearance from tn,
street. en- the main building is a weather van,
Wlth the points of the compass, surmuuntrd 10y /;
Large gllcd rooster, The joiner WORK was done by
The Dung Bros. of stockton