The Republican journal., 1898-03-03
Kansas Hens.

So many persons have looked upon
Kansas as lone crop State' that it is
worth while to go further into the analysis
of what she produces. One of the most
noteworthy items of her resources is that
Of poultry and eggs sold. To show how
great is the value put upon this item, let
me insert here quotation from the report
of the secretary of the Board of Agricul-
ture on this topic, dated March 81, 1897.
Mr.. Coburn says, in his interesting West
ern way of grouping statistics:
''In the year ending March l, 1896, the
value of Kansas poultry and eggs sold
was So, COS, SIS, or 10 per cent. more tn an
the entire value of the rye, barley, buck
wheat, castor beans, cotton, hemp, tobac-
CO, broom corn, milo maize, Jerusalem
corn, garden and horticultural products
marketed, wine, honey, sheep, and wool
of the same year. No field crops, with
the exception of wheat, corn and hay,
equalled in value the surplus sold from
the Kansas hens, ducks, turkeys, and
geese in the year named.
ut was a sum sufficient to pay all the
State and city taxes of the preceding year
and leave on hand the comfortable nest
egg of S175, 900. Its value was nearly
twice Tor IS per cent greater than the
same years output of lead and zinc from
our mines, conceded to be of great rich
ness, and within % per cent. of the value
of all the coal mined during the proceed
ing year. 1t was % per cent greater
than the total paid in the State for teach
ers' wages and school supervision: more
than three times as much as the total
combined amounts paid for school sites,
buildings, furniture, rent, repairs, dis
! trict library and school apparatus, fuel,
incidentals, and all other school purposes
except salaries. In fact, the poultry
came within about IA per cent. of paying
the entire cost of the public schools
The poultry and eggs in 1897 brought
$3.50, 900 more to the State than in 1896,
and much of it may have been due to the
| fostering care of the Department of Ag-
riculture. Here it is proper to call atten-
ton to the work that this department does
| for the farmers of the State. Not only
| has it a system of correspondence probab-
| ly unmatched by any other State in the
| Union, but it keeps constantly in touch
with all sorts of farmers, and notifies
them frequently as to the results in i'm
portant experiments. 1t issues its reports
quarterly, and they are not the cut and
dried affairs that such documents usually
are. They not Only contain information,
but entertainment. They are prepared
by Secretary Coburn, whose work is so
valuable that he is the only Republican
official of Importance that the Populists
did not oust when they came into full
possession of the State government. Mr..
Coburn is man of decided sentiment,
which is mixed up in picturesque way
with the practical method he employs in
looking after the affairs of his depart
| s,,1r !,
titles as these: "Cow- Culture 1.-THE
Helpful Hen" 1.-The Beef Steer and
Sister,
These reports contain not only a "breezy
introduction by Mr.. Coburn, but mis-
cellany of all sorts relating to the subject
dealt with. There are not only long
tables Of statistics in them, but excerpts
from newspapers, and also essays and
pictures. SO desirable are these reports
that on the morning of my visit to Mr..
| Cohnrn he asked me to lift basket full
of letters and guess the weight There
were twenty five pounds of letters that
had just arrived, and all were requests
for copies of the "Helpful Hen Illus
trating the sentiment that lies under the
surface in Mr., Coburn, one may find
| printed in red ink on the cover of this
book, and directly under its title, these
words, which, being without quotation
marks, and also being snme~ hat senti-
mental and eloquent in Kansas way, |
take to be the output of Nh Coburn:
''While everything else was going to
rack and ruin, she (the "Helpful Hem }
increased and multiplied; she supported
herself and the family, too. The very in
sects that would have despoiled the farm
she fattened upon, laying her daily egg
the blessed egg that took the place of
beef and milk, mutton and portland in
good time, after all these services, sur
rendered her toothsome body to the cause
of humanity. Franklin Matthews. in
Harper Weekly.