The Penn's Grove record., 1909-05-14

POULTRY
WN@gENW
CULTURE
HOW TO MAKE POULTRY PAY.
BY. w. M. Kelly.

To start right we must have some
good hens and let us make a close
study of the various breeds and see
which one would be the best adapted
to the purposes that we desire to use
them for.
In the first place there are some
breeds that are adapted to but one
purpose, and that Is laying eggs;
among these breeds we find that the
poultry-men call the Mediterranean
breeds, such rs the Leghorns, Minor.
cas-, Hamburgs and others.
Now, these are very good breeds,
but what we are after is a hen that
will sit and hatch us some nice
young chickens and take care of them
in the best shape.
We also want to select a breed that
will be ideal for market, one that will
mature early, have a nice clean color;
they must be good layers; lay good
sized eggs; active enough to be good
rustlers after grasshoppers and
worms; be good sitters and mothers;
easily tanned and handled, and a
breed that will bear confinement we'll.
There are many excellent breeds
for this class found among what the
poultrymen call the American breeds.
These breeds are what we call a
general-purpose fowl, that is, they
are adapted to the farm or to the
poultryman who does not make a
speciality of any one branch of the
business.
The Plymouth Rocks, Rhode ISL
and Reds, the Wyandottes, and other
breeds belong to this class.
The Brahmas, Cochins, Langshans
and others Of the large breeds>of the
Asiatic class are not as good layers
as the smaller breeds; they are more
Inclined to be broody, and, as a rule,
are not as good rustlers as the Amer
lean breeds, and for that reason I
would not advise you to select your
foundation stock from that kind Of
breeding.
When we look the field all over,
there is no breed that stands pre-
eminently at the head of the utility
class like the Plymouth Rocks, and
I do not believe that we would go
wrong If we selected our stock from
some good flock of that breed.
Some will say, why not try Wyac-
dottes? They are good fowls, but
they r somewhat lighter than the
Plymouth Rocks, and that is against
them competing with the Rocks; they
lay smaller eggs, which is also against
them.
Some will say eggs sell by the
dozen, SO what's the difference? But
let me tell you when you sell your
eggs to your customers they like
good, big, fresh eggs, and you will
get more money for that kind than
you can for little, understood eggs.
/ have learned that large eggs are
The best to suit the private customer
every time, and they are the mes for
you to sell your eggs to.
The Plymouth Rocks lay good-sized
eggs that are of a nice shape and
color. OF the various breeds of
Rocks, / would choose the White
Rocks, as it is easier to breed them
true to color; they dress very clean
and white when killed for market.
A flock of this breed when care
fully bred and handled are a credit
to any poultry-man, no matter how
young or how old he may be.
The Buff Rocks and the Barred
Rocks are excellent fowls and are
fully as good in many respects as the
White Rocks, but you will find 1t
much easier to breed birds of a solid
color and keep them true to type and
markings than to breed the colored
breeds.
We must have-a chicken that will
grow fast and mature early and for
this purpose l know of no breed SUI
perior to the White Rocks. They
have a plump body and are attrac-
tive in the market and when full
grown it has the weight that makes it
bring home the money that 1t cost to
grow it.
The cockerels that are to be sold
In the fall make quite an important
item for us to consider, and the White
Rocks cannot be excelled in this
point.
When the hens are too old to keep
for reproducing purposes, It is quite
an important item to have them
weigh six to eight pounds and sell for
ten cents a pound.
There is an increasing demand for
dressed fowls, and If you have egg
customers, you should be able to
make arrangements to supply them
with dressed poultry whenever or
dered, and get the top price for your
surplus stock.
The Rocks are good s~itters, kind
mothers and will raise more chickens
than any other breed that we have
ever experimental with.
We should select our hens from
some good flock that Is well bred,
and where the hens have a uniform