The Forrest City times., 1891-06-12
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
HOW TO MAKE THAT EXTRA
 uNE HUNDRED DOLLARS.
One Farmer Says 1t Can be Done with Eggs-Many Pointers for Agricul- turists and Points for
 Housekeepers, Etc.
Money in Poultry.


 Many farmer would come out more than 'even' if he only had made $100 more during the year. The want of that $l00 will be keenly felt all through the year to come-yes the years to come-for if farmer once gets behindhand in settling his bills they seem to accumulate in remark able way. While he pays cash he buys only what he actually needs; so soon as he runs an account" his judgment is blinded by visions of the good crops and the good prices to come in the future, and he banks on an un- substantial capital and buys according to his expectations. Need I say they are never realized3 says farmer in the Chicago Herald Well, how can 1 get that hundred dollars?" he asks. That is what I wish to tell him. 1 am not certain, but have a strong impression that many farmers do not read the poultry department because they have contempt for the poultry business generally and an extra con- tempt for fancy" poultry. They for get the fact or they never realize it, that all we have in the way of good stock, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs or chickens is owing to the labors O; fancy" breeders; without them we should still be keeping scrubs of low degree and receive but precarious profits from their keeping.
 For the past few years 1 have been keeping an accurate account with my hens. l thought, as many farmers do, that maybe they were costing me more than they were worth, and I said if they wouldn't pay for their feed and care it would be better to get rid of them and buy what chickens and eggs we required for family use. Here is the result: For the first year we kept sixty hens and they paid net profit over cost of feed of $l.S0 per hen. No fancy prices were received for eggs or chickens sold-just regular market prices, such as any one within reach of a good market can get. But few chickens were sold. The next year we had 100 hens and they paid net profit over cost of feed of $131, ,0l, or an average of $1.31 per hen. The to- tai receipts were $1ss. 52 and the feed, etc., cost $57.50. The hens laid 10, 2S9 eggs an average of only 102 per hen, which is very low average. and was owing to the fact that I had so many old hens.
 One thing Surprised me very much, and that was we used 5000 eggs and my family is D small one, too. This shows that many farmers who say that the hens don't pay are not aware of what they really get from them. If they sell dozen of eggs occasionally they charge all the feed against the eggs sold, and the large quantity used they do not take into the account My eggs cost less than : cents per dozen for feed, but of course they cost me to use exactly what they would have sold for.
 Now here was the sum of $131 I re- ceived from my hons as profit; not a very large sum 'tis true, but large for the hens, and almost any farmer. can do as well or better The chief reason why farmers do not pay more attention to poultry is because they think there is no money in the busi- ness and there isn't as it is usually managed on the farm. 1 have no fancy poultry or poultry houses; my hens are Plymouth Rocks and American Domi- niques and grades of both breeds. use no fancy feed, no continental food, no patent egg producer, but just what is grown on the farm, except pork cracklings which I buy but do not feed much of them. My hens are confined in yards the year round, so the objection can't be urged that they destroy more than they pay for We have fresh eggs every day in the year, and the skinned milk fed to the hens pays better than if fed to the pigs; for the amount invested. hens pay larger profit than any other stock. My profit per hen is small as compared with what many poultry-keepers make, and 1 merely give it to show that any farmer can easily add $10o to his in- come by the aid of the hens if he will only go about it in the proper way. Distance from market will of course make a reduction in the profit but any farmer can make arrangements to ship tO the commission man direct.