Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-03-23

will pay to give range so large that
the fowls will not be able to eat all
the grass that grows on it. There is
no economy in restricting the range
and feeding grain. Grass is one of the
cheapest feeds that can be fed.
Just how large the range should be
will depend on many things. One Of
these is the richness of the soil and the
luxuriance of the growth Of grass on
it. We have seen new lands that had
just been redeemed from scrub oak
forest, where the soil was so thin that
a small flock of fowls would in few
weeks completely denude Of grass a
large yard. But if the land has been
cultivated and has good blue grass
sod on it, and is in thriving condition,
it is safe to say that the area will sus-
tain in fair condition three times as
many fowls as the yard spoken of, as
being reclaimed from a scrub oak
forest and left with nothing but the
original nondescript grass on it.
Suppose you give an acre Of land
to fifty fowls. Will it not pay? We
think it will. In the first place the re-
turns from it will be without cost to
yourself. There is no blowing. no SOW
ing, no cultivating, no reap1ng and
threshing. Almost the entire returns
will be profits. The grass that grew
on it will have been turned into meat
and eggs. The hens will keep healthy,
and the saving to the life of the flock
will be quite an item Then, too, most
farms are so situated that the giving
of an acre of ground for such pur-
pose is not a great matter. In many
cases it would remain partly vacant
anyway.
AS to fencing the yard, this need not
be great question in this age Of cheap
wire. The larger the lot the less will
it cost to fence it per square rod.
Thus, if lot be two rods long and two
rode wide it will take eight rods OF
fencing to go around it. But if the
lot be four rods long and four rods
wide it will take but 16 rods to fence
it. If it be eight rods wide and eight
rods long it will take only 80 rods to
fence it. On this presumption the first
lot will be 4 rods in area, the second
16 in area and the third GA rods in
area Four foot woven wire fence may
be purchased at 40 cents per running
rod On this basis the first lot will
cost for fencing each square rod, 80
cents, for each rod will require two
linear rods of fencing. On the lot that
is four rods square the cost for fenc-
ing each square rod will be 40 cents,
as each square rod is fenced by one
linear rod. For the third lot the cost
will be only 20 cents for each square
rod.
So we might extend the figures. II
the lot were 16 rods square the cost
would be 10 cents per rod. If it were
80 rods square the cost would be five
cents per rod square. If the lot
were GA rods square the cost would be
2k cents per rod. A lot 1913 rods
square would cost IA cents psr square
rod. Finally if the lost = o56 rods
square the cost would De ohi y 70 Of a
cent for every square rod OF land.
This shows the economy of great op-
erations. The big lot is the cheapest,
everything considered, and this is es-
pecially true in the fencing. OF course
we do not suggest that anyone build
hen yard 256 rods square. The figures
are given to impress the truth of
great principle that we cannot afford
to ignore.
This is one of the great reasons why
1t would be desirable to keep fowls in
large fiocks were it not that they are
more likely to become the prey Of
diseases of a contagious nature. A
large range is always desirable, but 1t
is difficult to have large range with
out having large flock of fowls.
In some yards the large range fur
nishes the fowls with a goodly supply
of fresh meat in the form of grass
hoppers. 1t Is astonishing what large
number of these insects inhabit
single acre. If the acre patch be ex-
hausted by the industry of the hens.
a few hours suffice to replenish 1t.
Not only grasshoppers but hundreds OF
varieties of bugs and worms infest and
journey through this field. falling a
swift prey to the feathered sentinels.
With the green grass and fresh meat
the fowls are kept healthy and happy
and continue to manifest their content
by a voluminous product of eggs.