The Red Cloud chief., 1900-05-04

One OF the experiment stations has
termine whether a dirt or board floor
is best for poultry. The belief ex-
pressed by the experimenters Ia aat
a dirt floor is as good as a board door
80 far as the health Of the hens is con
cerned. The suggestion is made, how
ever. that the floor should be built up
by placing on top Of the natural
ground a layer OF six inches of broken
stone and covering that with dirt. For
ourselves we can see no good In the
dirt floor, unless IL be its c~heapness.
II the floor Is compact there must be
a constant upward movement Of soil
moisture, which is not a desirable
thing In a poultry house. Then, too,
1t must be exceptionally we'll con-
~structed not to become damp In wet
weather. Too often when a dirt floor
10 used. proving animals dig under
and get at the fowls, which is not the
case where there Is a good board floor.
The use OF sand OF straw in the
scratching pens may have some effect
on the habits OF the hens, as to their
places Of laying. There is Il preference
to the cut straw II the hens do not get
into the habit of using 1t for laying
their eggs. Where old hens are ac-
customed TO nest boxes the chances
are that they will continue to use them
Tor that purpose. The trouble will he
with the young pullets. They do not
seem to be very well fixed in their
Ideas as to where is the best place to
deposit their eggs, and II is no I'M
Usual thing to find their eggs on the
bare hoor. Where there is n scratch
ing pen with a good lot of cut straw
they find 1t a very good place to drop
eggs. In that case remove the straw
for a few weeks or substitute sand
for IL.
We believe that as far as possible
old hens should be used for the pro-
duction of eggs for sitting purposes.
The result Of using eggs from mature
hens Is to grow birds that will be
naturally strong and healthy and nat
nraily able to overcome any bad sit
uation they may be forced to pass
through. With other animals the Off
spring of the mature individuals is
harder and generally larger in size
tina the offspring from immature in
dividuals. For instance, in the last
issue OF the Farmers Review. one
sheep breeder reported that one nine
year-old " had to be helped in her
iambing, but her lamb weighed II
pounds at birth. The mar that wants
to constantly improve his strain Of
fowls will find the using of mature
birds one OF the most potent factors in
obtaining his ends.
One method OF fattening geese in
france is TO put the birds in a barrel.
In which a number of holes are bored.
each large enough to permit the birds
to put their heads through. The
barrel keeps them confined and thus
prevents exercise, which is the object
OF the confinement. Outside of the
barrel food is placed in abundance. and
the geese spend most OF their time eat
ing. This food Is mostly a paste made
barley, buckwheat and sometimes
Indian cornmeal. Milk and potatoes
are also fed, where they are easily OBJ
tainable.
II is said that Paris restaurant
are drawing largely on stocks
of poultry In American cold storage
for the supplies with
which to feed the exposition crowds
that VIII soon throng their city. One
cold storage Arm in Chicago has al
sent forward five carloads of
for the Parish market.
The "wing-coverts" are the broad
covering the roots of the
secondary quilts.