Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-01-27
CHICKEN INDUSTRY.
The Citizens Poultry Editor Gives
His Views.
TOUCHING

Inc chicken industry has been sadly
neglected in New Mexico. No farmer.
gardener, ranch owner and resident
with a little lot of ground should not
be without a flock of chickens. They
are not only good to lay eggs and pro-
duce meat, but are useful in a great
many other ways. To the city resi-
dent they are health officers to a GER
tain extent; they pick up all the
crumbs that are swept off of the table;
they consume all the refuse around the
premises, and keep your lawn, fruit
and shade trees free from insects and
vermin. A hen is as good around the
barn as a good cat to kee paway the
mice and reaches. They also pulver-
ize and refine the manure for the
garden and ave all the grain wasted
by the stock. A small flock turned in
a garden plot in the spring will not
only rid the ground of insects but will
fertilize the soil. The territory inn
ports every year something like twen-
ty thousand cases of eggs and fifteen
thousands pounds of flesh. Statistics
show that the Kansas hen produced
more wealth in the last ten years than
has the wheat crop. Eggs sell as low
there as six cents a dozen, while here
ranch eggs are never worth less than
twenty-five cents a dozen. We pay in
the winter thirty and thirty-ive cents
for eggs that are bought in Kansas in
the summer for six and seven cents.
The produce business in Kansas has
become one of the leading industries.
Cold storage and ice plants are found
in all the large cities. These institu-
tions send buyers to the country towns
where they establish shipping stations.
These shipping stations send buyers
into the country to gather the produce
from the farmers who get cash or
grocery scrip in exchange. In a great
many cases the farmers wife keeps up
the table with the proceeds from the
flock and has enough over at the end
Of the year to buy Christmas presents.
The farmer has realized a good profit,
the country buyer gets a good commits.
sion. and sub-station agent gets a good
salary. When the eggs reach the cold
storage house they are tested before
being put away to keep until they can
be sold at a good profit They are
tested again and shipped to their final
destination. At each test eggs show
ing the least speck are culled out and
sold as seconds. BY the time the eggs
reach this territory they have passed
through a half dozen different persons
hands, and each one has made a rea.
sonable profit.
INCUBATION.
The incubator has proven equal to
the hen in only a few cases, and in
these cases no expense has been spar
ed in preparing for the Matching and
brooding of little chickens. At st.
Joseph, Missouri, the Armour people
have a chicken ranch which is said to
be the finest in the United States. 1t
is not so dinficult to hatch the eggs
IL they are healthy, as it is TO brood
and raise them to a sturdy age.
The brooder of a small scale which
has proved the most successful is a
cemented cellar with glass on the
south slant Of the roof. The heat is
furnished by an oil lamp or stove
which are easily regulated.
CAPONS FOR PROFIT.
This branch of the chicken business
has been found to be the most profit
able. A capon is a castrated rooster.
The operation "a be performed by
anybody with good eyes and a little
practice. Instruments can be had at
most any of the large eastern cities
at a cost of about SO a set. A book of
instructions car be obtained with each
set of instruments. The operation Is
best performed when the cockerel is
about six weeks old and weighs about
n and a half pounds. The chicken
then grows to an extra large size. gets
very fat. The flesh of the capon is
finer than that of a hen and brings a
much better price.
The Plymouth Rock is considered
the best all purpose chicken because
of its quick growth, size, qualify OF
flesh, quiet manners and are sturdy
when young. The L%angshang breed is
considered the best for caponizing pur
poses, because their bones are promin
ent and they have very few feath
ers at the age for operation.