Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-12-04
A GREAT eco FARM.

stein cattle, 10 poultry geepin9, 10 Tn
extent Of carrying this year thirty-tw'
hundred White Leghorn hens, especial!
for egg production.
By dairying with Holsteins, Mr.. Val
Dresser had paid of the heavy mortgag
that WAS placed on his farm st the tint
Of It's purchase. He sent Q hoy whom h'
had brought up, to Cornell University 4
take the Poultry Course, and when TIT
young man returned he was so interest
ed and enthusiastic about the business
that Mr.. Van Dresser caught the spirit
aud they built moderate sized building
and got somapure White Leghoru stoci
TO start with.
This WAS seven years ago, and thu
business has grown to be the speciality
Of the farm, aud Holstein cows are nov
kept more rs an aid In furnishing skim
milk for chicken feed, than cream fo'
butter msking.
The investment, In buildings, ma
chinery and stock now amounts 70 about
eight thousand dollars.
The energies Of the farm are now de-
voted 10 growing feed for birds, where
formerly Il produced feed for the cows
The poultry manure isa great source
Of fertilizer for the farm, and the large
crops Of corn, wheat, oats, barley, millei
and sunflowers are largely fed by 1t.
We were much interested In his de-
scription of one Of the large houses. 1t
IL three hundred and sixty feet long and
fifteen feet wide. The back wall just
clears ones head, and the front 10 little
- - atrx ~~rtIl nm from
the iron roof.
A trench Was dug for the walls, and
filled in with stones, gravel and cement,
thus securing g good foundation for the
sills. Thin, fat stones were laid sll
over the ground floor, and cemeuted over
with Portland cement and ssnd--one
part OF the former 70 three OF the latter.
This gave q hard, smooth floor that the
rats, which are very troublesome there,
could not work through. Nine and a
half tons OF cement were required. with
US here In Maine, with our low priced
lumber. the cement floor would be but
little more costly than the wooden one,
and much more durable.
The walls were boarded with half
inch thick. planed, hemlock boards,
pspered and clspboarded, and the roof
was boarded, pspered and covered with
iron roofing. The studs and rsfters were
six inches wide, and were pspered and
boarded on 10 the inside, aud the six
inch space was stuffed with soft hay,
well rsmmed down. Tue stuffing con-
tiuued from the walls, up overhead, and
Mr.. Van Dresser said, water had never
vet frozen In It."
The building Is divided into pens, each
fifteen feet square. Each pen has two
twelve lighted windows In front. Ven-
tilation Is given At the windows only.
Fifty birds are put In each OF these fif-
teen feet square pens, and Kept there,
without gong OUT OF doors, from No
vember frst until the ground Is dry In
the spring, when they are all let out to-
gether, there being no yard fences for
separation anywhere.
Think of IL. Eleven hundred hens all
running together In one flock, and then
going back into their own sections st
night, TO roost; but they do IL, or Mt
least most OF them do.
That these quarters are adapted TO the
health OF the birds Is shown by the fact
ths; not a case Of roup has occurred In
the house, since II was built.
la order TO secure an even egg yield
he year around, TO oil the contract that
= based on continuous supply, about
half the stock Is pullets and half year
ling hens.
To have the old hens laying through
he fall, before the pullets commence,
.bey are forced 10 moult early In the
,esson, and get feathered ready for work
oy September.
This condition Mr.. Van Dreser brings
about by shutting the birds into the
house In July, and giving them just food
enough 10 keep them alive. On this half
ration, they stop laying and
are pretty well reduced In about two
weeks. when they are let out, and fed
on food which is rich in fat,
nitrogen and ash, and the result 10, that
,n this stimulating food the birds begin
% thrive, throw of their feathers, and
zrow new ones. la this way the moult-
ng season is over nearly two months be-
'ore IL would be, II nature WAS allowed
% take It's course, and the birds are lay
ng eggs when most hens are In the
noult.
This plan Of procedure Was suggested
,y the fact that cattle and horses, whose
growth has been checked by low feeding,
shen put on generous rstions commence
% thrive and shed their hair simults-
It Is the same plan that Mr..
Gay OF Milbridge 10 this state, has
orscticed for several years. IL Is simply
IN application Of common sense TO busi-
ness.
Mr.. Van Dreser's yearly egg yield is
veil up towards two hundred, and testi-
les most loudly in favor Of these meth
IDS Of housing and treatment, when ap-
Piled 10 Leghorn hens.
The chickens are raised entirely away
from the hens, and are given the utmost
liberty.
The land all about the houses and on
he nearby range Is plowed In alternate
strips and seeded TO some grain that will
,iesn the ground and supply green feed
Tor the birds. 10 this way a dense
poultry population Is maintained 10
health and productiveness, where under
the old order Of things everything would
20 TO the dogs.-rurf, Farm and Home.
cOMeORT FOR THE PIGS.