Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-04-16

- -
VIII pay 10 give q range 80 hrxx rAn1
The fowls VIII mot DE able 10 eat A
The grass that grows On IL Therx d
no economy In -restrSrsanE tine rxzxs
and feeding grain Grass IL clz< q rhz
cheapest feeds 1hz1 GRE be fe1-
Jnst how large the range khouHs q
VIII depend On many thEnEs. One q,
these Is The richness Of the soll and tins
luxuraance of The growth u grass q
n. We have seen new lands rhz1 I'D
Just been redeemed from q scrub oak
forrest where the soil was So tain that
a small nock Of fowls would in . few
weeks completely 6enu6e q grass =
large yard But II the land has hen
cultivated and has a good blue grass
sod On il. and Is in thriving coaditioa.
II is safe 10 say that the area viii Eus-
tx1n In fair condition three tines As
many fowls as the yard spoken Of. as
being reclaimed from a scrub ozk
forest and left with nothing but the
original n0ndeseript grass On IL
Suppose yOu give an acre Of lana
10 hfIy fowlx- VIII IL not payz We
think il viii In the first place the re-
turns from IL viii be without cost 10
yourself There Is 10 blowing 10 SOW
ing. no euitiEating. 10 reapEng and
threshing- Almost the entire returns
VIII be profits The grass that grew
on il viii have bean turned into meat
and eggs The hens viii keep healthy,
and the saving TO the life Of the flock
VIII 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 great matter. In many
cases IL 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 wiII
1t cost TO fence II per square rod
Thus. IL lot be two rods long and two
rode wide il viii take eight rods OF
fencing 10 60 around IL But if the
lot be four rods long and four rods
wide Il VIII take but Is rods TO fence
il II il be eight rods wide and eight
rods long IL will take only az rods 10
fence IL On this presumption the first
lot will be rods in area. the second
1s in area and the third "a rods in
area -Four foot woven wire fence may
be purchased al 40 cents per running
rod On this basis the first lot will
cost for fencing each square rod. so
cents. for each rod win require two
linear rods of fencing On the lot that
is four rods square the cost for fenc-
ing each square rod will be 30 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 ge might extend the figures II
the lot were is rods square the cost
would be 10 cents per rod II il were
% rods square the cost would be Eve
cents per rod square. IL the lot
were 81 rods square the cost would be
III cents per rod A lot Iz8 rods
square would cost IL cents per square
rod Finally IL the lost were z56 rods
square the cost would be only 3 Of q
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 a
hen yard 256 rods square The figures
are given to impress the truth of a
great principle that We cannot afford
to ignore.
This is one Of the great reasons why
IL would be desirable TO keep fowls in
large focks were il not that they are
more likely to become the prey of
diseases of a contagious nature. A
large range is always desirable, but It
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. II is astonishing what a large
number of these insects inhabit o
single acre. If the acre patch be ex-
hausted by the industry of the hens.
a few hours suffice to replenish it.
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.