Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-06-13

Simmons, who Is superintendent
Near the Marietta car line. between
Bolton and Cravenwood stations, ideally
situated on one of the numerous hills
in the neighborhood. is the home and
lchicken farm of S. f. Simmons. superin-
tendent OF the Georgia Railway and
Electric company. who five years ago
with two settings of eggs and couple
of aged hens as a nucleus. started what
will soon be one Of the most complete
lOrpington farms in the state.
Buff and Black Orpingtons comprise
the greater part of the farm, although
Mr. Simmons is experimenting with
Games and Buff Cochin bantams on the
side, and has a number of Indian Run
.ner ducks and quite a few guineas,
Mr.. simmons country place comprises
II acres, a portion of which is under
icultivation. 1t is just 80 minutes from
the center Of the city by trolley and
- minutes by auto, and is ideally To-
Gated in every way. Mr.. simmons
bought the place a couple Of years ago
as a summer camping ground Tie
same year Of the purchase ne decided to
build a summer home there, and the next
year he erected his pretty little house,
and now ne finds that he has no use for
his town house. summer or winter, and
accordingly that piece Of property went
under the hammer a few months ago.
Mr.. Simmons is another poultry breed
er who simply likes chickens, likes TO
have them around, and likes to work
with them. he started out with few
birds just to amuse himself, then saw
the possibilities of the industry, and
now his birds, together with the sale
of eggs. bring in a tidy little profit
each season.
i He has plenty of room for the fowls,
cares for them during leisure hours. AMI
generally finds them a good investment
as well as an amusement.
Besides his poultry, Mr.. Simmons has
quite a farm out there on the Marietta
lime. He has a little truck farm that
supplies his table with fresh vegetables,
raises his own chicken feed. has several
COWS and a few hogs besides. And
the hogs by the way, stand almost as
good a chance Of landing a ribbon in 6
stock show as the birds do in a poultry
exhibit
Besides being poltry enthusiast. this
man who has the many troubles Of
whole Obey system in a big city on
his shoulders, is strong for fresh air.
The home, which is truly remarkable
since ii is a wooden structure and every
piece Of timber in il is thoroughly cre-
Osoted. is at the top Of a hill, where
every breeze strikes it. Not content
with the breeze, Mr.. Simmons and his
the house. during the summer months,
so really he has his camp after all.
On the farm there are six pens of
Buff Orpingtons, one OF Black Orping-
I tons. and in all about $50 chickens. AL
though he has the greater number Of
Bluffs. Mr.. Simmons prefers the Black.
II like the Blacks best" he says, be
cause there is seldom any trouble about
their color 1 think that my Bluffs have
as good a color. and retain the same
ness OF color about as well az any Bluffs
1 ever saw. still they cause trouble. They
\ fade to a certain extent with age, and
I when they are in the sunshine very
much. And with those two troubles 1T
l is difficult to raise them the same
color. For this reason 1 am constantly
culling my stock, and have to be very
I careful in the mating.
''The Blacks seldom cause any trouble
at all in the color line, all of my
\ fowls having and retaining the same
shade Occasionally / will get a Black
with a few copper colored feathers near
I the tail, but very few come that way"
Mr.. Simmons has never shown his
Bluffs, but has a number, which he ex-
poets TO enter in the coming show. and
many of them bid fair TO give Orpington
! breeders a strong run for first money.
I The pen OF Blacks was purchased only
last year by Mr. Simmons. He saw them
I IL a local show and bought them on the
spot. A few minutes later the pen won
7 the fourth prize for him.
The different pens on the farm are not
I of a regulation size and at present are
scattered about the place. Next year,
! however. the owner expects to erect
4O-foot chicken house along the most
/ modern lines. and at the same time he
/ will construct an incubator house and
large brooder.
1 At the present time he has running two
I incubators and a number of small brood
ers In raising his birds this year he
has had really remarkable success. There
!, are now about $50 frying size" chicks
running about the place, and out of that
number he has lost only two birds by
natural causes.
MY luck has been so unusual this
/ year that the statement is hard TO be-
/ lieVe," he says.
However, he goes on TO add that never
before has he succeeded in raising such
large number Of birds with so few
/ deaths. and last year his luck was ex-
/ actly the reverse of the count this
l time, and he lost large number Of birds.
GIVES THEM FREEDOM.
Mr. Simmons believes in plenty of free
/ dom for the birds. and while the pens
| themselves are large. each year he lets
the fowls roam about in the winter,
when he stops selling their eggs to other
breeders Naturally in breeding season
he has TO keep them in their pens in
order that he may keep his stock sepa-
rated. and try for prize fowls from
certain strain.
Mr. Simmons, unlike quite few poul-
/ try breeders, does not believe that the
\ two varieties. which he carries practi-
cally exclusively. are the only good
chickens on the market
h However, he does state that taken al
\ together he hasn't found variety
which he likes better than Buff and
Black Orpingtons.
ct carry only the two varieties" he
saws, Sin the first place, because 1 was
afraid OF crossing breeds and getting
mongrel fowls in the lot. 1 have raised
chickens practically since was child
and have had some experience with al
most every variety. / like the Ameri-
can breeds better than the Asiatic OF
the American breeds, the Orpingtons are