Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1903-08-13
Poultry, Stock and Dairy.

Mr.. Henry Van Dresser, director OF
q branch of the Cornell Experiment
Station of the State of New York, ad-
dressed a large number of our farmers
in the courthouse here yesterday at,
terpoon. The speaker was introduced
bv Mai. E H. Mcdonald, who has al
WAYS taken an active interest IN farm
matters. The subject Of Mr.. Van
Dreaser's address was How to Make
Money on the Farm" He spoke OF
his originally small beginning, how ne
made a success with thoroughbred
cattle after failing with scrubs, bow,
after succeeding with cattle, he turned
his attention to poultry, and after sue &c,
ceeding in making it pay on a small
scale he built hen house 400 feet
long, 9 feet high in front and 8 feet
back, by l6 feet wide. This house is
absolutely alright and is divided by
solid partitions every As feet Of length
1t has a cement floor to prevent damp
ness, which he explained was death to
a hen. This house is located on his
farm at Cobleskill, n. Y, and holds
1000 white leghorn hens, which lay
the year round, and on test have
averaged POI eggs apiece. Though
the thermometer frequently registered
90 degrees below zero outside OF the
house for weeks at time, no artlh-
cial heat is used inside. He explained
that large white eggs such as he pro-
duced are much sought after by the
New York hotels for boiling purposes,
and bring so per cent more than the
highest market price. He raises these
hens in focks of 5000, in his orchards
where they are quartered in little
wooden houses containing 90 chicks
each from the time they are Matched
to maturity. These birds are great
foragers, and he said that all insects
that attacked the orchard came to the
ground at some period of their life
ard that it ended there because the
chickens eat them up. He said that
bis orchard this year was the only one
in his county that would yield full
cro2, 90 per cent. Of which was per-
feet fruit.
He explained further that the hen
manure was collected on dropping
boards in the hen houses, which were
first covered with ground South Caro-
lima phosphate rock to absorb the am
monia. This fertilizer, without any
further ingredients, had been sown by
him 800 pounds to the acre on a 40,
acre field Of wheat and yielded an av-
erage of 10 bushels to the acre. He
also sowed it on his corn and had pro
duced 100 bushels Of shelled corn PEI
acre. He called the farmers atten'
ton to the location Of Jefferson county
in relation to the dense population Of
the East and the exceptional advau-
tages of being able to ship farm pro
ducts in u hours to six millions o.
people in New York, Philadelphia
Baltimore, Washington and Plttsburg
This commanding location, together
with the universal adaptsbility Of ouI
soil to fruit raising, our short and com
paratively mild winter and dry atmos-
phere, should make our county even
tually one of the great supply sources
of fruit, dairy and poultry products
the latter being an adjunct Of fruit
raising and Of equal importance. He
advised the farmers to get thorough
bred poultry aud either 60 in for ca
pons and poultry for fattening Pur-
poses, or else get the strains that lay
large white eggs and get the premium
paid for this product. After the ad.
dress Mr.. Van Dreaser was closely
questioned by the farmers in regard to
the details of carrying out his sug-
gestions. One in partil ular asked how
be could make his hens lay, and was
told to move bis hen house to the
north or west side Of his barn yard
have it face south or east, make it air
tight, put small glass windows in the
front, put in a board floor 3 feet up
from the ground, make the house y
feet wide, 5 feet back and s feet high
in front, and as long as be desired,
according to the number of hens be
wished to carry for laying purposes.
Feed them well and they would lay
or burst. He talked for two hours
earnestly to the farmers, and they no
doubt all went home feeling as though
they had profted much by this heart
to.heart talk with an experienced and
practical fellow farmer.-Spirlt.