The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-02-17
Our Grandfather's DAYS.

Our grandfathers never expected
their hens to lay during winter. 1t
was unnatural, to their way of think.
ing. Such ideas were visionary-they
laughed at what they thought was
mans foolishness. What would they
think to-day, were they able 10 rise
from their graves and visit the large
poultry farms, and see the immense
egg yield-and eggs at time of the
year when they thought it impossible
for q hen to lay? ID llyM
What would those grandfathers say
If they could step into the large incu-
bator rooms, and see fifty or more
boxes - called incubators - Matching
chickens by the hundreds, right in the
heart OF winter.
Yes, we have improved on the meth
ODDS and ideas of our grandfathers, and
the next generation will know consid-
erably more than we do now.
But why all these changes and inn
provementsP Why should we be more
successful than those who have gone
before? We have studied the subject,
and made our practical tests, and with
this study and those tests naturally
came great reformation.
Our grandfathers had no hen. houses
they were either small, uncomfortable
coops, or the hens were compelled to
to roost on tree.tops, shed.roofs,
wagons, plow-handles, etc.; while we
have not only provided warm comfort
able houses, but added the scratching
sheds to give the fowls the same exer-
else indoors during bad weather that
they would get on free range on
bright sunny days. sw sssA
The scratching sheds are a big i'm
provement on that free range. While
the ground is frozen hard, and the
winds are piercing, the free-range
fowls must hunt fence corners, and
sunny sides of buildings to keep warm.
They cannot exercise, for every inch of
ground is as hard as a rock. There is
no inducement for them to forage, as
the green blades of grass have been
killed, the worms have sought their
winter quarters, and the gravel-grit-
is fairly glued to mother earth. They
therefore can do nothing but lounge
sition they only change to feed on corn,
or go to roost. That was the exact con-
dition of the fowls of our grandfathers'
days. Layer after layer of fat, and no
eggs, was the verdict.
With the march of improvement,
with the progressive spirit of the pres
ent generation, came the invention of
the scratching shed, and to-day we
find the fowls busy ali day long. With
the shed floors thickly covered with
leaves or cut hay, or straw, and with
grain scattered among this litter, the
hens are working full time. They
scratch for hours at time, picking here
and there and if they sit down at all, it
| is but TO snatch brief rest. Then to
the dust bath, and soon there is a wal
lowing and a shifting of dirt through
the feathers that would do credit to the
best summer hen. And all thisAwork
is performed in cheerful way-the
merry song and the happy cackle of
the hen as she adds to her egg record,
and the lusty crow of the cock which
seems to tell of happiness and pros
perity-are all the signals of profits to
be derived from eggs in winter-pro6ts
our grandfathers dreamed about, but
which We now see in reality.
Our grandfathers, too, had one line
of feeding. Such a thing as mashes, or
variety of grains, was unknown. If
corn, or wheat, or oats were fed, it
would be the one grain morning and
night. The result was bowel troubles
and other ailments, that soon ended
the fowls with mysterious Diseases"
or cholera "-generslly the latter.
Talking of "cholera," brings to
mind the fact that more deaths of fowls
were attributed to that cause than any
other; and, if the truth were known,
not one-fourth of the fowls that died
had cholera or even forerunner of that
disease. To-day, the poultrymen, hav-
ing become wiser in the nature of all
ments and diseases, are better able TO
diagnose a case.
So we could refer to many more i'm.
provements of the present, over the
plans and practices of our erandfathers.
They know nothing about poultry
papers, the only poultry information
coming from departments in the agri-
cultural press. They had no poultry
shows in those days-merely exhibits
of few fowls at the county fairs-but
the days of Shanghais and Chittogangs
are past, and we are in an era OF
Brahmas, cochins, and many smaller
varieties. Farm Poultry.