The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-08-10
A TALK ON POULTRY RAISING
By g. o. Brown at Mr.. VIM II. Wight's
Farm, Near Cockeysville, in the
Presence of the Governor,
Club Members and
nthar0

Club Members and
| Others.
Ladies and Gentlemen when making talks on
poultry do not usually have such an intelligent
audience nor have before been honored with
the presence of the Governor of Maryland.
Therefore If show little case of stage fright
you will please overlook it. While I may say
something about what the average farmer does,
or does not do with poultry, of course it is case
of present company excepted. Theaverage far
mer. perhaps, is not aware that poultry pro-
| ducts" annually excel in value any other single
| agricultural product. The q. s. census report
Is the authority for this fact. When it is thus
known that every year hundreds of millions of
dollars are spent for poultry products every far
| mer should ask himself if he Is getting proper
share. Does he embrace the grand opportunity
the resources of the farm affords? Does he give
his poultry the same intelligent care he does his
! other live stock Or does he simply let the flock
| exist on the farm and then wonder at the money
| town-lotters get for poultry products? Does he,
when he sees man taking pains with his poul-
! try, getting a good house for them and keeping
some pure breed, sneer and call him poultry
crank?" 1 we'll remember some years ago when
! people commenced to call me poultry crank
1t didn't annoy me in the least. AS soon as
u0drQ 1t went around DeQlQQ the OlQ r6Q Ddrn
and shook hands with myself. 1 knew had
reached degree Of success where 1 was envied.
l knew it took crank to make anything go.
! Wasn't there the grindstone, the cutting box,
the corn-sheller. Wasn't cranks their power
had heard men who had made great inventions
called cranks. Therefore, 1 just felt proud
| enough then and there to sign my letters, &c
o. Brown, Poultry Crank
| Farmers do not seem to realize the value of
poultry on the farm, not only as an everyday
source of revenue. but as pure food or health
diet. City people justly class fresh eggs luxu-
ries and poultry also. There are farms where
these luxuries rarely ever appear on the home
| table. If they have any they are sold. On one
| occasion was in a well known eating house in
| Baltimore and two farmers SONS came to the
| table where l was seated. 1 knew by their
bronzed faces they were farm boys. One re-
marked: George, I'm as hungry as though I'd
been pitching In hay and want something good
to eat" l became interested to know what the
boys would consider good, coming as they did
from farm where about all the real goodies we
have in the city come from. One wanted fried
chicken, the other fried eggs. Then l was still
more interested and entered into conversation
with them and learned they were on good sized
farms, but no attention was paid to poultry, and
an egg hadn't been seen for months. When both
ordered red raspberries and cream admired
their choice OF products; put pltlea me condl-
ducts for home use Is it any wonder, under
such farm management, that the boys leave the
There are fowls and fowls. breeds and breeds
of poultry-over one hundred breeds-plenty to
suit anyone's fancy Pure bred fowls like other
and that purpose is mainly for utility to insure
profit in rearing them. People are often mis-
led by the word fancy regarding poultry. The
so-caled fancy points of pure bred fowls are the
typical requirements that denote purity of the
respective breeds and the disqualihcat1ons are
generally marks or defects that indicate i'm
purity or crossing, or features that are not de-
sirabie to perpetuate. With many there is
poultry, but simply a hereditary adoption from
what we might call the dark poultry ages.
If we will but look facts sQuarely in the face
hardly comparison between the pure breeds of
poultry and the so-called scrubs, !" "mongrels"
SSy these fowls so crossed are inherted from
some pure bred ancestor. Go to the markets
and note the select specimens OF dressed poul,
try; their plump bodies, full broad breast and
backs; deep sides and meaty thighs. Invariably
you will find these uniform specimens are OF the
pure breeds of poultry. The american p STANDARD
Quires all the essential characteristics which
give utility to fowls. Not only are plumage con-
breed, type and weight prominently figure in the
requirements. No one denies there is ditrer-
ence in breeds OF poultry mat some ne years ago
of other countries. devoted too much attention
| to the mere fancy points need not be denied.
That past history in the poultry world. Its the
present time we must consider. The American
fancier poultryman is of too practical q nature
to be satisfied with beauty alone in poultry. he
is like the Jersey COW men; he wants beauty
| and record-utilty to be an inseparable combi-
| nation-hence the evolution Of the so-called
| American breeds of poultry.
Trap nests were the means of further improv-
| ing egg production by enabling the poultryman
to select the best layers to breed from. IL was
nests SO to secure the number of the leg band Of
/ each hen to keep the record through season /;
but it was patiently accomplished, and today the
| hens that will produce annually over 2O0 eggs
lercfsa evidence. When it is known that less than
| half that number was once considered good 1T
| will be seen that poultry cranks have become
| public benefactors, as much as they have secur-
| ed. without increase of food, double the egg
| production. Is not this fancy" good thing
Let us 70 still further. When a cockerel,
months old, will weigh 8 lbs, and another OF the
same age about half as much, both having been
| fed and cared for the same, isn't that another
good fancy departure? When you know there
is as much difference IN strains OIL any any OF Ine
ask yourself why this difference. You Will IND
| intelligent selection to perpetuate desirable
| attention another. You will soon recognize that
| there are no dependable qualities In scrubs or
cross bred poultry: You may m49 0y crossing y;
sense the first season, but it rapidly runs OUT 1t
| is more trouble to make such cross than to
| raise SCOCK IrOm b bUrlCJly pure UIOCus 1AdlhOb
| the cross bred products side by side with pure
| breeds and you quickly realize the difference IN
value by the returns you get: The pure breeds ds
| of the same age will be uniform in size, shape
| and color of skin, and the grades will greatly
vary in all these essentials. Eggs Of the pure
breeds will be uniform in size, shape and color !;
those of grades will vary in size shape and color
1t is needless to tell you that uniformity is not
alone a good indication of quality, but an i'm
portant factor In selling any commodity, ana es-
pi Farms are always suitable for poultry raising
and Maryland sltuateo between tne :; colu MSaIn
| adapted for poultry raising. The best city mar
| kets can be easily reached. On farms conditions
q fbe Welfare Of the ocks. There the fowls find
| the various shady hooks they delight IN, fresh
pure air. green food, insects anai at + GeItain
| yet with all the encouraging conditions or OPP
| portunities some farmers complain that their
| mo comes without some cause Methods that
bring success are not haphazard ones in any call
| ing, When the farmer knows the so-called poul-
| TRUMAN who has in great degree been obliged
to create artifcally, as best he can, the natural
Conditions the farm affords and then under such
| handicap can make money with his flock, is 1t
not time to INQUIRE into the faults of the farm
| method or utter lack of it? When such inquiry
is thorough there will be many reasons found
| why the village poultryman is more successful
let MS suppose, for illustration. a farmer and
sta start with n al OF ne
Sc. the farmer may have number of hens
with broods, or If he Is more up-to-da num-
her of incubator broods, growing and coming
along nicely. Along about camp-meeting time,
when he wants, perhaps, little ready cash and
ali other ready money bringing crops are little
shv what does he do2 He consults his better
half Then they go and ascertain that the old
speckled hen has chicks in her brood that have
Greatly oyergrown the others and are big enough
fo 90 to market. The dominique hen she has
the white hen has 5, and so on: Or in such a
brooder lot there is so many and so on. These
are collected and sent to market. This method
of selection is followed through the season
What then has the farmer left for breeding pur-
noses for improving his stock? Is it any won
der his pulets won't lay till next spring? He
has disposed of his best and kept his runts and
weaklings. Is it any wonder he soon complains
that poultry does not pay2 Still he won't learn,
but talks about getting new blood" being me-
cessary, and swaps ROSTERS with farmer Slowgo
who has been following the same rundown
method The farmer likes fresh eggs and home
made hams Who does not I've heard farmers
wives complain that they were begrudged grain
enough to properly feed the hens. Were it not
for the women on many farms the poultry would
indeed have a most miserable existence. I Ell
there are thousands of farms where the poultry,
through the care of the women, produce eggs
enough to buy all the groceries and often pro-
vide pin money enough to buy many other
things that would never be enjoyed were it not
for the poultry and the faithful wife who came
to their aid. Poultry products are always good
as cash in town or country.
| NOT long since read that in Missouri a small