Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-02-10
THE HEN on THE FARM.

We regret to observe that the Ameri-
can hen does not funu her entire funo-
ton on the farms Of this state,
From the enormous amount OF poultry
and eggs consumed here and the la &c
and Increasing importation OF these
articles. II would seem that more at
tention should be paid to the chicken
industry
Ii viii probably be admitted that
poultry tends to supplant certain coars-
err articles Of diet The consumption "
eggs is said to be nearly twice as great
ns it was 20 years ago. At ali events,
the annual value of the poultry prod
ucts OF the country ls now placed -
$500 1000. 600 This value Is exceeded only
by corn. which comes first, and dairy
products. Wheat and poultry noW
stand third and of equal value, In the
production Of poultry, Kansas sets q
good example of progressi eness, her
product having increased $50 per cent
IN the last 20 years
The bulk Of the chickens and eggs
OF Kansas are produced by farmers VINO
own their own homes, whose farms are
of moderate size, and who follow mix
ed, intensive and permanent line of
farming. The shifting man, who hur-
riedly robs the soil of it's accumu atai
wealth. win never develop the indus
tries upon which the permanent pros
perlty of the state depends, In many
cases exclusive poultry farming has not
proved a success in Kansas, hut II must
not be inferred that the poultry of the
state is produced at loss. Poultry
as it exists on the average Kansas
farm, requires little care, and expense
for the feed used Is largely that whicn
would otherwise be wasted, while the
labor is generally done at such time
and by such members OF the family
that it does not interfere with other
farm work. Hence the income from the
Yarn poultry of the state is nearly all
profit.
To increase the earnings of chickens
there are three lines of poultry-keeping
which may be followed. one is the
production of standardized chickens
which, for those who understand the
breeding of high-scoring specimens, is
both fascinating and profitable. A sec
ond line OF poultry work is the produce
ton of varieties that shall excel In quail
ity, rapid growth and profitable fatten-
ing. This work will be encouraged by
the crate-fattening system that is be-
ing introduced into the east. The third
line of poultry work is breeding for
increased egg production This should
be the most important of the three. for
the value of eggs sold In the state Is
about twice that of the chickens mar
keted. Breeding for egg production Is
tedious work, but the gain derived for
producing better-laylng strains we'll
pays for the efforts spent,
Poultry was bred in the early Baby
lonian and Egyptian periods, and arti-
fetal incubation was developed. in tn s..
distant times. II is believed, hove or,
that all domestic fowl have been bred
from single jungle bird, the bankiva,
of India.
This wild chicken is smaller than the
common varieties and is colored In a
manner similar to the Black breasted
Game breed. The habits OF this bird
are like those of the quail and prairle-
chicken, both of which belong to the
same geological family,
From It's natural home In India the
chicken spread both east and west,
Chinese poultry culture is ancient In
China, as we'll as in India, the chief
care seems to have been to breed very
large fowls, ana from these countries
all the large heavily feathered hreeds
have been imported.
In 1900 there were $4,000 farms in
Kansas. Ninety per cent of these re-
ported chickens. The large farms and
ranches do not yield SO great alue
OF poultry products, when compared
with their total inuome, as do the
smaller farms, Renters and exclusive
lgrain-farmers raise few chickens.
Truok-farmers near the larger towns,
whose chief crops are vegetables, pro-
duce very little poultry.
We have no doubt that Utah garm-
ers could make an equal success by
carefully following the approved meth
obs