The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1902-04-04
HALF A MILLION HENS.
A LIVELY TOWN IN CALlFORNI.
WHERE 500. 200 CACXLERs KIvE.

WHEkE OUU.UUU CACkLERS kIVE.
San Francisco Gall
The town OF Petaluma is ruled by
100000 hens. But for these half
million OF hens the town would never
Ihave been what it now is. and the evv
and poultry raising Industry VI Peta.
luna would never have matched. so to
speak. and reached its present i'm.
Inense proportions. The hens know
u, and hence there is no spot In the
place that is forbidden them.
They greet the visitor as he steps
from the train and they cluck az him
rs he departs-that is, II he doesn't
stay and W int0 the poultry business
10 this favorable spot, which many
0nally do. Twenty.tl'rec years ago
there we're not more than a hundred
or two chickens that could be
found In or around Pefaluma. Now
more eggs and poultry are shipped
from that point than from all the
other town Uf the State combined,
and the poultry ranches vary In size
from a. back yard tO a hundred acres
or more. M person having a scrap
OF land to spare is without a fock Of
hens. p is rt' >
The few figures iollnwing make the
egg business n very much more digni.
fed Occupatinn than it Is popularity
supposed tn be- gr tlf srfi
The shipments from Petaluma last
year were 100000 dozen eggs and
10000 dozen OF poultry. As many as
$4,000 dozen eggs have been shipped
out In one day from the Petaluma
market alone. fi 'l
Petaluma's proud position rs the
egv center 0f the Pacific Coast is not
the result ~ accident. but is due tn a
combination, viz: right soil, cOol
summers and favorable location.
Nearness to the San Francisco mar.
. ket and the extremely low freight
= rates afforded by reasOn 0f the com.
petiLinn between wafer and rail
r transportation are Othcr imp0rtant
/ factors in its deyelopement.
The poultry industry has been the
j. means OF making much otherwise
Q worthless land much more valuable
The biz Cntati ranch Of 10000 acres
It has recently been suh.divided anf
l. sold nut 10 small holdings. Tndriv
through It now Is 70 find a veritabl'
ls poultry city.
q The white leghorn fowls, amony
o the best layers known are kept /,
3 nearly the entire exclusion of Othe
!" breeds. for the egg business Is reall
= more promising here than the poultr
~ :. side of the industry.
III 1t is n pretty sight ut the fcedin
time Ut $500 nr 1000 hens IN a man,
= acred ranch. Perhaps the chicke
k h"nses. each with it's nearby col0ny q
ID 100 0r l50 chickens are scattered Ove
many acres. sometimes amid th
ts green OF Il f,M'thll orchard. I'll
re There is a rush and flutter Of
10 living cl0ud Of white as the ma
starts out from the ieed.house wit
= horse and sled to make the rounds
!. the tiers ~ houses. scattering fec
and gathering the harvest OF eggs
CO he vnes. The lenyth OF this trl
10 varies, OF c0urse With The amount I
Of land occupied. but the feeding sle
will sometimes. make . circuit of
." mile. i.
% The hens are fed generally on
he nuce a day, with the addition Of
lunch oi green feed e. piyht, II
srs sled IL loaded with four barrels
AL water, ave sacks Of wheat and
% mash composed of three sacks
cosrse lniddiIRea and forty pounds
- |sffksr cut erSen bone o. gFouod tres
4 ! s6v{which u. .mlxad Nh 9kim mil
y |tAakhas .beeQ, sllowsds y pops.a 20
W ! w fapSh y lnkep troy 4 q =. unl
r. | Il aclMA NiQ Nm! ~ ised & ln1'All
"a wsssSing = s'sat .aeAstl g =. q, Y