The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-18

SCR would SAY unhesitatingly this is
I true
love gardening and ] love poultry
raising Life would be robbed of much OF
I ITS pleasure and its zest II I could not have
I az 4e1st NAH dozen hens and a rooster.
iNather than have none ] would have one
I men a4'd "A rooster. Ncsi / would have The
rooster by himself or the hen by herself
rather than have none. The crow of the
COCK ana the cackle OF the hen is almost
( mus enstble to our existence, u seems.
but, thank the givcr of all things good,
it.ls rarely necessary that We should have
such o slim dependence for cur pleasure
ana Weii-beins. II We can keen one We
can generally keep dozen or a hundred.
ana u We manage il properly We can make
the Keeping Thereof "a matter of actual
gam lScuniarily instead of d mere matter
Of pleasure and luxury
hen is worth so much We can feed
50 much food and get 80 much returns
u Is mere matter OF good judgment
II Is only an idiot that will feed q hes a
dollars worth Of food and get IN return
ohly % cents or 70 cents worth Of food. We
Keep poultry ordinarily for the purpose
ol setting food in one shape or another
II may be fried chicken, or boiled IT
baked, or eggs, but ia Is one or the other
that We are after. 70 IS very few that
Keep them for mere ornament II we are
eHtheically inclined, there are other
1hiAss We can keep to somewhat better
dLNaitaSc- such as pea fowls. swans
ana birds cf paradise and the like We
may raise a beautiful specimen Of Polish
Java and even Langshau that We lust
'cannot consign 70 slaughter but this
must be the exception always rather than
the rule. Tho pot must be- its fate. uIti-
mately
Ia the matter Of food. now what is
better than l-months old chicken, fried
or Oreiied d Il months-old hen or roost-
or hal
Is certainly not beef or mutton or Kid. or
duck, o. goose or turkey. All these things
may he are good, but certainly no bot
ter
AS long as time lasts civilized man will
nave broiled chicken, and ham and eggs"
ana poached esss and omelette, and eggs
ih the other 1913 ways that Prof DelnonicO
claims that they can be served.
The millionaire does not care how they
are raised they come to his table, but the
practical meu Of the farm take another
we" OK the matter. He must make he
question one of dollars and cents
Let US discuss the matter of poultry
Keeping from this practical standpoint
say we take The average price of eggs
Tor toOd TO be 20 cents. what should be
the produce of eggs be valued at Shall IL
be - cents or 80 cents? That depends
hens hfe Of value is put down at 3 years
Beyond that she is not worth keeping Tor
.
! for two years. ought to be worth twice
as much as one that lays only 100 eggs
In year, ought she not? How many eggs
Will hen lay in her life time? II is
claimed that hen that can be induced TO
DO all her laying in three years is worth
more than one that takes years to pass
out this number. In theory it requires so
much food daily to sustain her life,
whether she is given it or not.
We keep hens for one OF two purposes
either to lay eggs or to reproduce her kind
IN the former purpose we want what Is
! termed layers, non-sitters. For the latter
purpose We want moderate layers only.
and a disposition to set. The age has Wen
| developed these two features in hens
some are steady layers ard rarely want
to set. Others again after laying their
clutch Of 10 to % eggs, must set, or be un-
happy If denied the privilege.
Which do you want? DO you want TO
raise eggs chiefly or exclusively? II you do
choose tho Leghorns-white brown or
black-Black Spanish Ainorcas wy
andotttes. Hamburgs.
If you want medium layers and good set
ters choose some Of the other breeds such
as Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks. Games
Dunghills. A hen that will lay $50 eggs in
a year Is above the average fowl. IL is
said a hen has laid 80 eggs in a year.
We can hardly believe il. There are very
few that will lay 200. OF the good layers,
we doubt If $50 has been averaged from a
coop of fifty fowls. One hundred and fifty
yearly is an egg a day for five months
and this must be esteemed as good work
We would be glad TO get pen OF 200 hens
that would average 14-twelve dozen.
It is we'll known that there is a vast diff
ference in poultry keeping i'm the extreme
south and that in the northern part of
this country. In the former very little
food is required, compared to what is
pacagg.4F-Ar n latter II Eapppia and
Florida the expense of feeding poultry is
hardly one-half of what is required in New
York, Vermont or Maine. 1t is not near so
easy in the latter states to provide green
food in the winter and early spring as it
is in the south In the south the food OBJ
tanned lin the range is shut off but a
little while-a few weeks-when it may be
SO many months in New York and New
England. bushel of wheat, or its equi-
Vaient i'll value will keep hen, without
question, in the south when two bushels
will be required north of the forueth de-
gree of latitude. The practical poultry
keeper soon finds out what is necessary
for his fowls, as much so as to cartman
what his horse needs. AS a rule, every
where, fowls IRE ovcr-fed-are We doubl
what is really best for them. ] have salts
fed myself fully on this point and would
be glad to satisfy others, where 1t would
be of any benefit to them A bushel OF
wheat contains you ounces. DiNlucu DS ooo
davs. it will give SPOUT two and two-thirds
ounces for a daily ration.
Weigh out this quantity and compare 1t
with the weight of the fowl. Watch an
average fowl, hen or rooster eat this
quantity in two meals. Add to this the
possible and probable supply on insects
and other food obtained on the range, and
YOU can readily see how amply fed sin
gle hen will be On the allowance of 90
pounds OF wheat grain or it's equivalent
In the south this may be regarded as eX-
travagant feeding.
If fed on d single grain, wheat, of course.
is much the best, and probably cannot be
improved upon, so far as the supply Of
dry food is concerned, but poultry like
milk cows, must have some green or suceu
lent food if you would have them yield
their best returns. In this respect It is
easier to supply this in the south than in
the north Even as high up as Middle
Georgia there are but few days, prob
ably not two dozen altogether, when
hens cannot get their pluckings of col
lards or barley or oats or wheat. and fur
thermore, their grit and gravel all dur
ing the winter
other things being equal, it does seem