The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-02-21
PRACTICAL POULTRY TALKS.
H.-Scrubs VS.. Pure BREEDS How to Get Eggs in
Winter.

Messrs. Edltors:-Every common hen on the
farm can be made to pay a yearly profit of 81 over
all expenses on an investment of forty cents for
a common hen, selling her product on the open
market at the then prevailing price.
But if you have a yard of pure-bred fowls and
sell eggs for Matching, the profit is from SIS to
$12 per hen according to price asked for setting
of eggs. And as it costs no more to feed a pure
bred hen than a scrub, you can see why it gays
to raise pure-bred stock. And even if you do
not wish to go into the business of selling eggs
for Matching purposes, the p~ure-bred fowl is the
best to have on the farm. 1t has been estimated
that the average common hen will lay about sew
~enty-fve eggs a year, principally in summer time
when eggs are cheap. while in the American class
of p~ure-bred poultry (Which includes the Plymouth
Rocks, Barred, White and Buff; Wyandotts,
White, Buff and Silver, and Dominique, and one
or two others) have an egg record of one hum
dred and fifty eggs, twice that of the common
hen Then the Mediterranean class embracing
the Leghorn family; White, Brown and Buff
and Black Spanish) have an egg record of from
210 to $50 eggs per year. And with proper feed
and housing, they can be made to yield up their
product at a time when eggs are highest in the
winter.
The whole secret in making the hen lay in win
ter is to give her summer conditions, and she
will be forced to lay whether she wants to or not.
It's nature, and if you will assist nature just a
little you will have a full egg basket all winter
and not have to go without eggs on your table or
buy fresh (O ones from the store-eggs laid last
May and June out in the West, or Middle West,
bought up by the large packing plants in Chicago
at about 1919 cents Per dozen, kept in cold stor-
age all summer and fall, and along in December
taken out and shipped South and sold on the city
markets at 80 to IS cents per dozen.
It's a regrettable fact there are more Western
eggs sold in the South year in and year out
than there is of the home product. Ask a store
keeper in a place like Wilmington, Greensboro or
Columbia where he gets his eggs and he will tell
you he buys all he can from the farmers, but
that is not near enough to supply the demand, so
he is compelled to order through the local agents
a few cases each week from the packing houses
in the West. But even with this supply in the
West, the demand is still greater than can be
met; therefore this country last year, 1904, i'm,
ported 100000 dozen eggs from abroad, 100000
dozen coming from far-away China and Japan
and 100000 dozen from Russia. That there is
something wrong with the American farmer can
be seen by the above figures. If these people can
afford to ship their eggs over 5000 miles and make
a profit at 20 cents Per dozen after paying about
92 cents Per dozen freight, why can't we make
this profit, with freight added?
According to the best posted farmers on egg
production, it has been estimated that the cost
per dozen eggs on the farm. when fowls have
free range is five cents, while a dozen from fowls
yarded is about seven cents. With eos now on
our markets at % and 80 cents, it can be readily
seen the handsome profit. Yet the writer of this
CITnclo .Iol rets 81 cents ner dozen the wear