The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1904-12-29
AGRICUL TURE.
Easiest Profits EorFarmers.

faImtr reader IN sOutbefn New HAmp'
shire axis what line OF POULTRY work will
pay the easiest profit to q farm,r, ard the
answer is eggs for the Bostod market, with
mar ket poultrys secondary consideration
Grow ing doe soft ROSTERS for market will
pay much greater prof par hen kept, but
| 1t IL q much more txacting business, and
must be the end and ain OF the poultry
work. Eggs, on the contrary, may be a
source Of goodly profit without taking the
time and attention from the othsr farm du.
ties to a great extent. Thisis the story Of
the liberal profits made by the Lincol n
county, Me-, farmers, Of which we told in
these columns 10 the Farmer for August 20
last. Those farmers get their living chief.
" from the farm, Just Is do all the farmers
we know, but those Lincoln county farmers
take up egg production as an extra, as the
cash. producing end Of the farm work, and
they make clean profit Of 81 so to 81 each
on every hen kept. II they want $500 or
$500 or $500 cash a year they 90 ahead and
build up flock Of good laying hens, 100,
200 or 300 In number the hens produce the
eggs, which the farmer sends up to a Bos-
ton COMM ssion merchant and the checks
come back by return mail. It's true that
not all hens, as KEEP. by the average farmer
y i'll lay the good sizad, brown eggs that
the Boston narketmen pay good premium
for, nor will hens kept in "any old way"
as kept by the average farmer. lay eggs In
November and December when they sell at
the highest prices OF the year. To have
eggs then they must be planned for, which
means that the bulk Of the birds must be
pullets, which must be Matched by May
first, and must be kept growing steadily SO
hey will come to laying maturity In Octo-
Der, and then kept lay log by good care and
good food.
This program may look formidable to
come. but 1t is comparatively simple end
easy. II only calls for the doing Of what
commonsense tells US 1t is for our best in
,erest to do. 1t Is just as easy to hatch the
chickens In April as In June and July, and
The ference 10 that the April Matched pull
lets will be fully mature and begin laying
before cold weather over,akes them, while
the June and July hatch,d pullets will be
but half grown when cold weather comes
on, and they seem to step growing then,
and do not come to lay Ing till well towards
spring, when eggs have dropped away
down 10 price and there Is little pr FL l.
them.
Neither do the farmers common hens lay
good sized brown (fr br0wnisb) egge, such
40 the Boston dealers want. The Maine
farmers who do so well with their poultry
keep good, pure bred stock, Rhode Island
R,ds, Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Ply
mouth Rocks, White Wyandottts, that lave
been bred for brown eggs and by teltctlo
has come to lay good s!z:d eggs IL lie jlst
rs easy and costs no more In food and labor
to grow good stock than the common
"scrub" stock Of the farma, and the good
stock 10 naturally better laying stock be.
cause 1t has been bred for hyiDg-and 1t
naturally lays larger eggs because 1t has
been selected for good tized eggs, and
brown eggs because 1t has been bred for
generations for brown eggs. II farmer
will select out his earliest ard best laying
birds to breed from, and select the largest
md browbish eggs to hatch his chickens
rom, be will, In few years, build up the
lie and color OF the eggs and the laying
habits Of the birds, built Ia much easier
and very much quicker to tuy stock from
! breeder who hss already done this, snd
.hus take advantage OF the work already
lone; in other words, by buying good,
,ure bred stock, Of q good laying strain,
se get several years start over what We get
we start with the average stock OF The
arm yard, which has been deterioratipg
or many generations and now has the late
and late laying habit 30 fixed 1t
will take half dozsn generationf, at least,
o breed II out.