The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-01-16
Hen and Egg
Farming Pays
North Dakota Offers UnexceIled
Chances In the Poultry
Business.

A 49,
The demand for prime chickens and
leggs has never been fully met lin this
country, and it will not be in the life
time of the present generation that it
Twill be. We often hear OF the discoy-
Iery of substitutes for8eggs, but eggs are
lstill in demand. Calico; printers use
millions of dozens, So do coffee roasters,
photographers bakers, tanners. various
chemical trades and makers of patent
foods. All kinds are utilized, from the
| astrictly fresh laid to the kind that
once were popular for throwing at titi-
popular orators. Chickens have been
1.-THE saving clause in the career of many
| a farmer whose good wife has always d
little ready money from the sale of eggs,
pullets and foosters to pay the interest,
and buy the baby dress, or school
books for the. larger children
One of the most common mistakes
THAT people make is that .of keeping
Iscrub stock. stock that has neither been
bred or selected for a purpose. This
ipractice is one of the most inexcusable
mistakes person can make, because it
lis Just as easy and just as cheap to
keep pure bred birds after the first start
| 1T made, and much more profit can be
made with birds that have been bred and
selected for the purpose for which they
are used. Every fair test that has ever
been made along this line has confirm
ed this statement. The best way we
know of to get a good, even flock is
to select the breed you like best. one
that is suited to your needs and condi-
tons, and then improve them by good
care and selection, year after year.
Another mistake that people some
times make is to come. to the conclusion
that they know the business and SO
stop studying or searching for new ideas
before they have learned even the rudi-
rnents of the art of poultry keeping. No
one should forget that poultry keeping
isa science and requires Just as much
thought and study to make success of
it as any of the trades or professions.
No one should attempt the business
without having poultry paper, in which
suggestions and good advice can always
be found. The Poultry Herald, pub
lished at St. Paul, Mimi, is adapted to
northwestern conditions. besides the ag-
ricultural college at Fargo supplies val
liable information.
M. F. Greeley, the popular and pro-
gresSive editor of The Dakota farmer.
is an earnest advocate of hen farming,
and note. the following:
From personal experience we know
there is some good, clean money in it.
A moments thought will convince any
one, that if there is money in it for any
one there must be for the farmer. as
there the hen cannot only pick Tip much
of her living in the summer time, but
in the winter can be kept largely on
the waste and Gull grains of the farm.
utilizing much the year around, that
must otherwise go to waste.
With properly constructed and con-
veniently located quarters the presence
of reasonable amount of poultry on
the average farm need not add material
ly to the chores and these are pleasant
chores most gladly done by the children
or the women of the family, and when
the profits are left there. they should
be, with them and the home.
When beginning on my farm in Da-
kota the possibilities of we'll cared
for flock of live business hens was very
forcibly impressed upon me- For years
the poultry on my farm clothed my
family; paid all my grocery bills and
also furnished fora time, even my tax,
money. This left the profits Of my 9TH
er farming to go towards more acres
and better buildings. We had so many
dry, discouraging years and so much
sickness and other drawbacks when be-
ginning here. i sometimes wonder if we
should ever have had the farm home I
am so proud of today, had it not been
for the poultry. 1t takes so little to
begin with in this business. almost any
one, however situated can, and ii the
|care and room and feed are correspond
[ingly expanded as the flock expands, the
business can soon be built up into a
good one with scarcely any capital al
all.
With good live going hens Of busis
ness breeds, well handled. it should not
be difficult tofclear a good dollar a head
every twelve months. To- do this of
course, one must have all hens, a good
lot of them; must have good lot of
pullets hatched out early iii the spring
so as to have them begin laying before
cold weather sets in. "A variety Of cheap
food must be provided and an ample
range in summer with cozy, dry, roonly
quarters for the cold weather, and kept
clean and free from dfaughts and damp
ness. Never make the mistake of keep
ing some of the very large breeds that
mature very slowly; eat great deal and
day very little. Also never keep lots
Of useless roosters. and the hens until
altogether too old. lf in addition to
|4his they are bred in-and-i1 and seldom
Or never fresh blood IS introduced, the
birds allowed to become covered with
lice and mites, one is fortunate indeed
Eff he can clear expenses.
RAINFALL IN NORTH DAKOTA.
The snowfall in North Dakota IS light
compared with the Atlantic; and lake
states, and when measured as melted
i9cuts but little figure in considering the
annual precipitation The following
gives the average for the past ten
Wears MI varif,us narts of t11e state and.