The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1903-01-23

thing approaching perfection, but once
attained the reward is well worth the
effort. Single birds have sold in this
country for as much as $500, while in
England 81 900 las been paid for a
single specimen. The breeder does
not depend for his returns altogether
upon fancy prices for his individual
birds, however. He profits by the in
creased productiveness Of his flocks.
For instance, in the matter of egg lay
ing it may he cited that the average
American hen lays about 100 eggs
year. The practical poultryman goes
in for better results and gets them.
Numerous instances show whole focks
with an average of 200 to the hen per
year-an increase of 100 per cent. If
this increase of productiveness could
be taken advantage of all along the
line by people raising chickens. the
sum realized annually would add mil
lions of dollars to the national wealth.
Furthermore, the benefit derived would
not cease with the additional cash in
hand. Natures two natural foods are
milk and eggs. Egg is everything
that goes into flesh and bone. These
e1e facts worth noting as We take
an invoice of the possibilit' 'es of tt e
American hen.
"a poultryman of Sidney, Ohio, has
contract with a Cleveland commits
sion firm to furnish 100 dozen eggs
each day, with the date stamped. on
them. The contract price is 90 cents
a dozen. 1t is certainly worth this
mans while to have his hens attend
strictly to business, and they are evil
IDENTIFY looking after the firms interest,
for no Cleveland cook has yet had to
delay dinner on account of the eggs
being late. The man is filling this
order as regularly as clockwork.
"This same man has different con-
tract with another firm. He agrees to
furnish daily 800 young chickens
weighing II pounds each for eating
purposes. He gets 50 per dozen for
these young broilers, and the way he
manages to keep up with this very big
undertaking is story well worth re-
lating. He bas lao acres devoted to
the use of his poultry plant. This
tract is covered with structures Of
various Sizes The main building is
480 feet long, and there is row of five
pens $50 feet in length. He uses 80
improved incubators, whose individual
capacity is 800 eggs each. These
machines are not all filled at the same
time, but proportioned so that some OF
them can be discharging fresh chicks
each day. A large and competent
flock of Barred Plymouth Rock biddies
are kept constantly on duty laying
eggs with which to stock these hatch
ing machines, and 450 eggs are placed
in them each day, including Sunday.
In connection with the incubators
there is row of pens numbered from
l to 80. Each day the little chicks
from the machines are turned into the
first pen. They are advanced one pen
each day, and when the last one is
reached they are 80 days old, weigh l }
pounds and arc ready for the market.
They are herded from the incubators
through all of the pens without being
touched. They are not handled until
tile cook wrings their necks and
dresses them for the frying pan. A
certain proportion Of the eggs do not
hatch, nor do all that are hatched live
to make the trip through the 80 pens,
but the percentage of loss is compara-
lively small, and the breeder finds that
the $50 eggs which 90 into the incu-
bators every day easily net him 800
perfect broilers at the coops, which
are shipped to the city daily from pen
No. 80. In order to carry out this
system and meet his contract it will
be seen that the poultryman has some
thing like 10000 chicks constantly on
hand. to say nothing of the hundreds
of doz ms OF eggs tied up in the incu
bators or of the great fl ,ck of laying
hens that supply the eggs. But he
gets to market with his daily order
just .he same. He is cleaning up a
profit of $25 900 annually. And there
are many others who are succeeding
spendidIy at the business.
NINETY per cent. of the professional
poultry men use incubators exclusively,
for the reason that they can hatch
chickens out of season. THIS means
to them just what it does to the florist
to he able to produce the tender flow
ers of summer in the dead of winter
The old hen goes hand in glove with