Nevada County picayune., 1889-12-11
HAY FOR POULTRY.
ys Makes Hens Healthy and Vigorous
 and Produces More Eggs.

ys Makes Hens Healthy and VigorouS
 and Produces More Eggs.
 There is undoubtedly much good sense in the belief which many of our readers are rapidly adopting, that poultry can use more or less preserved grass to advantage. Some are using II in ensilage and others in it's dry form. When it is dry it may readily be chopped fine, soaked in hot water, and thrown into the heu-house or mixed with meal, bran, etc. In summer hens can secure a large quantity Of green fodder if they have range, but iu win ter, although there may be no restric- tions to their liberty, most States in the Union prevent the birds from ob- tainiug that which k of such vital necessity to good production and thrift
 Bulk appears to be necessary with the concentrated grain food which poultry require. If, as it is asserted over 100 grains of lime are needed for each eggshell, the bones of the chick, etc, and as 1000 lbs of wheat or corn contains less than l h. of lime, the hen Is starving for lime Because the hen can not extract lime from food which does not contain it, she is ofteutimcs condemned White clover cured con tains 20 to 30 times as much lime as wheat or grain, supplies the hens needs, and being a perfect al1umen producer is equal to corn or wheat, pound for pound, as a ieshforming, nitrogcnous food. Corn contains SC per cent of heat clements and clover B per cent Of the phOsphates, clover contains : times as much as corn, 10 times as much as sulphur or magnesia, 4 times as much as soda, and fully as much dry matter. With clover hay, hens can be fed for egg production in the most perfect and economical way, provided, of course, it be accompanied by the usual ration of grain perhaps a little less. F. A. Mortimer, of Potts vile, Pa, who keeps 1000 birds and feeds with great intelligence and profit, says that if he had known Of the value of clover hay for hens four years ago he could have saved S1.OOO.
 The hen has a disadvantage in not being allowed to roam, even if grass be brought her, for she can not nat uralIy eat food in long form. One end of the stalk must be fastened 10 the ground. She can go into the field and pull leaves from the standing grass, but if it be mown she can not eat it. This causes her to become crop bound. Hay, to be valuable. must be chopped into very short lengths, The proper way to prepare clover Is to cut it in the afternoon, scald it in tub by pouring over it boiling water and then allowing it 10 stand covered with an old carpet or blanket over night. In the morning 1t will often be still warm and possess a fresh odor To every bucketful of dry hay, add one quart of the following: Ground corn, ground oats and bran, 10 pounds; linseed meal, pound; salt, 1 ounce. Mix this well and feed it iu a trough, giving the hens all they will eat, morning and afternoon, A single bucket of dry clover scaldcd at night and treated to grain will feed 30 hens or more, and DO other green food will be necessary. The great advantage of clover hay lies in the fact that the lime it contains has all been prepared. ready for as similation by the hen through it's com bination with the vegetable acids. One hundred pounds of clover digested produces pounds of soluble lime pre- pared by nature for immediate use. - P. H. Jacobs. in Farm and Home.