Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-28

be found none the less
IL Il " enjoyment in a bust
ness which has recently
come 10 be recognized
highly scientific
branch OF agriculture. For hens, be it known,
are inseparsbly connected with farming. That
there is also profit in the pursuit may be
reasonably inferred from the fact that the
present Vice President. Levi P. Morton, has
within the last few months gone largely into
the breeding OF domestic poultry al his big
farm on the Hudson. He sends the birds 70
market, getting 20 cents a pound for every
fowl he sells and proportionate price for his
eggs.
As with any other kind of produce, the profit
In raising chickens lies In getting them to
market at the season when prices are high
owing to their scarcity. This Mr.. Morton ac-
complishes at Rhinebeck BY the use Of incuba-
tors OF the most improved pattern. Artificial
incubation has several advantages over the
natural method represented by the hen. There
is no trouble in persuading the machine to do
its work, and the percentage of eggs Matched
II they are fresh, may be. reckoned beforehand
by arithmetic. After they are hatched the
chicks are cared for bya system which pre-
cludes accidents. They are not exposed to
danger of being stepped on by the mother fowl.
and they are protected securely from rats and
other vermin. A single incubator will hold 500
constructed that it can be kept at an unvarying
temperature Of l06 degrees by means of a kero-
sene lamp and an automatic ventilator.
An ARTIFICIAL BRooDEg.
On the twenty-second day the chicks emerge
from their shells, whereupon they are removed
from the incubator and placed under artificial
brooders. Here again science steps in and
takes the place OF the mother hen. for the Young
ones must be kept warm. Each brooder ac-
commodities perhaps 200 little chickens. 1t is
nothing more than piece Of board held hori-
zontally about six inches above the floor, be-
meath which hot-air pipes run. Around the
edges of the piece Of board little curtain is
hung, and the chicks run beneath it for protec-
ton and warmth just as they would seek the
wing Of the maternal fowl The temperature
Is maintained constantly at q point near as
possible to that Of a hens body. Most COM
monty each brooder has a little house to itself,
in which the small feathered creatures peck and
scratch around most cheerfully. When they
are big enough to take care Of themselves they
are let out on warm days in small Enclosures,
and thus they grow to marketable size, fed on
fattening food ard happily unconscious of the
fate they are 30 soon TO meet rs early broilers
the tables OF those who can afford to buy them.
The chicks Matched early in the present
month at Mr.. Morton's farm on the Hudson
will be big enough for market in April. The
limit OF production is only set by the difficulty
has been very unfavorable for egg laying and
it has been hard to procure the requisite eggs
for the incubators. Unfort unatelv, no method
las yet been discovered whereby hen can be
forced artifcially TO lay, though some people
believe that something can be done in this di-
creased plank. At the same time the egg-pro-
ducing facility Of the domestic fowl represents
one Of the greatest achievements of man in
improving upon nature for his own advantage.
The original purpose of egg laying having been
merely to reproduce the species breeders of
poultry have so largely increased the capacity
and inclination of the female bird in this re-
gard that hrst-rate hens will now turn out an
egg day right along almost throughout the
year. actually producing their own weight in
eggs every sixty Gays. At such rate it is not
surprising that farmers should expect a profit
OF 81 per annum on each fowl kept, exclusive
Of rooster
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE &c.,
II is wonderful thing to consider that each
hen comes into the world with all of the eggs
she will ever lay already inclosed in little sac
within her body. They form a cluster some
what like a bunch OF graues and, when the bird
Is laying, they pass one after another out OF the
sac and into passage called the ''oviduct"
When thus discharged the embryo egg is moth
ing more than q minia ture yolk. containing the
germ of the future chicken. 1t rapidly grows
nous matter secreted by the '.oyiduct" Then
a delicate membrane forms around it. and finally
a coating of pure lime is deposited on the out
side, making the shell. The yolk itself is sur
rounded by membrane SO delicate that the eye
cannot perceive il, by which its contents are
held together and prevented from mingling
with tho so-called "white."
Stale eggs do not poach we'll. This is because
the membrane con tanning the yolk has lost its
integrity through decomposition, that the
white and yolk run together. On one side of
the yolk may be observed round yellow SPOT,
the germ of the chicken which might have been
If it had had a chance to be Matched. school
ma am who instructed the writer in tho primary
elements of natural history informed him on
one occasion that the bones OF the young chick
were made out Of the white Of the egg, while its
flesh and fuzz were composed out of the material
Of the yolk. The fact is, however. that both
yolk and white are food OF the unborn fowl,
which feeds first upon the volk and finally con-
sumes the white. The latter is almost pure
aibumen, whereas tbs yolk is made up Of q
variety Of ingredients, among which are A per
cent OF water, and . trace of iron and milk acid
The poultry farmer has been able by breed.
ing not only to increase the number Of eggs
laid by each hen about oue-fourth within the
last fifty years, bu. 1t is estimated that the
average egg Is One-qusrter bigger. OF course
this does not apply tddanghills, but only to
frst-rste stock. But the scientific propagator
has done more than this--he has even altered
the color Of the eggs laid. 1t seems strange
that the tint OF an eggshsll should have any
thing to do with the quality of the contents
and yet there Is unqusstionably a relation be-
tween the two. Dark-coiored eggs are richer
in flavor than hght-colored ones, and good
housekeepers know that they 60 farther in the
making OF cakes and many other dishes Owing
to a general recognition of this fact, dark eggs
fetch higher price in many markets than hight
ones do. Accordingly, breeders have made a
business of selecting the darkest eggs for set
ting. In this way Brahms hens, which used to
lay milk-white eggs, have been made to pro-
duce brown eggs Save for freaks, the eggs Of
all hens would be white were it not for the
adoption Of this artifce.
ALL YaoN COMMON STOCK.
Doubtless all Of the gallinaceous or so-called
domestic" fowls have been derived from the
same original stock. just - all Of the fancy
pigeons including the carriers the fan tails the
pouters, the tumblers, &C., have been bred
from the common blue rock pigeon. The odd
and ornamental pigeons all revert to the primi-
tive blue rock, II they are allowed TO interbreed
without human interference. Likewise, a.
quickly a. restrictions - TO breeding are re-
moved from poultry, thsy become nnsttractive
mongrels, reverting In the direction Of the an
cestral type. In the ordinary dunghill hen one
nnds what d presumably . fair Themes Of the
early progsnitors Of al the chickens Of today.
She lays fewer aud smaller eggs, does mot grow
n hiev nd has hvsxo vA nvs1itv "A p>eovn