Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1903-08-11
Poultry, Stock and Dairy.

Mr.. Henry Van Dresser, director of
branch Of the Cornell Experiment Sta
ton of the State of New York, addressed
a large number of our farmers in the
courthouse here yesterday afternoon. -
The speaker was introduced by Maj. E.
H. Mcdonald, who has always taken an
active interest in farm matters. The |
subject of Mr. Van Dreaser's address
was 9 How to Make Money on the Farm"
He spoke of his originally small begin
ming. how he made a success with thor
oughbred cattle after falling with scrubs,
how, after succeeding with cattle. he
turned his attention to poultry, and after
succeeding in making it pay on small
scale he built hen house 400 feet long.
feet high in front and feet back. by
10 feet wide. This house is absolutely
alright and is divided by solid partitions
every 45 feet of length. 1t has cement
-four to prevent dampness, which he ex-
planned was death to hen. This house
is located on his farm at Cobleskill. NY,
and holds 1000 white leghorn hens. which
| lay the year round, and on a test have
averaged 2oI eggs apiece. Though the
thermometer frequently registered 20 de-
grees below zero outside of the house for
weeks at time, no artificial heat is used
inside. He explained that large white
eggs such as he produced 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 so chicks
each from the time they are Matched to
maturity. These birds are great toragers
and he said that all insects that attacked
the orchard came to the ground at some
period Of their life and that it ended there
because the chickens eat them up. He
said that his orchard this year was the
only one in his county that would yield a
full crop, 90 per cent. of which was per-
feet fruit. lie explained further that the
hen manure was collected on dropping
boards in the hen houses. which were
i first covered with ground South Caro-
lima phosphate rock to absorb the ammo
MIA, fllis fertilizer, without any further
ingredients. had been sown by him 800
pounds to the acre an 4o-acre field of
wheat and yielded an average of 43 bush
els to the acre. He also sowed it on his
corn and had produced 100 bushels of
shelled corn per acre. He called the far
mers attention to the location of Jeffer-
son county in relation tothe dense popu-
lation of the east and the exceptional adj
vantages of being able to ship farm pro-
ducts in IL hours to six millions of peo-
pie in New York. Philadelphia, Balti-
more, Washington and Pittsburg. This
commanding location, together with the
universal adaptability of our soil to fruit
raising, our short and comparatively
mild winter and dry atmosphere, should
great supply sources Of fruit, dairy and
poultry products-the latter being an adj
junct of fruit raising and of equal impor-
lance. He advised the farmers to get
thoroughbred poultry and either go in
for capons 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 address Mr. Van
Dreaser was closely questioned by the
farmers in regard to the details of carry
ing out his suggestions. One IN particu-
lar asked how he could make his hens
lay, and was told to move his 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 board floor feet up from
the ground. make the house IL feet wide,
feet back and feet high IN front, and
as long as he desired, according to the
number of hens he wished to carry for
laying purposes. Feed them we'll 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 prohted much by this
heart-to-heart talk with an experienced
and practical fellow farmer,