The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-01-05
DO UL 7 R v:
I NOTES I
Paying Poultry.

We are living in an era of i'm
provement, and the agricultural
world has not been slow to catch
on" When we look back a score
or more of years, and compare the
condition of the farmer at that time
with his standing at the present day,
we can readily note that he has been
wide awake and is keeping abreast
of the times.
But in no branch has he shown
more progress than he has in the
poultry line. The writer remembers,
when he was a boy, the manner of
attention paid Chickens" and how
the theory seemed prevalent that it
was next to impossible to have hens
lay in winter, or during cold weather
generally. They reasoned that while
such thing was possible, it was not
probable. The erection of commodi-
Gus, comfortable winter houses was
considered a waste of good lumber
and money, and the possession of
pure-bred poultry was deemed all
right for a hobby, but all wrong for
business. Artificial incubation and
brooding was looked upon as a Wis
ionary affair, a regular pipe dream"
There no doubt was a good reason for
changed it all.
To-day we find farms on which are
erected large and substantial poultry
houses, on which a regular system
of feeding and care are employed,
on which the incubator and the
brooder are playing important parts,
and on which nothing but strictly
pure breeds are kept. What is the
result? The farmer has made the
poultry branch one OF the most i'm
portant adjuncts to the farm, and he
has secured winter income which
previously was practically unknown.
There was time when it was far
more prontable to use crossbreeds
for practical purposes than it was to
use breeds in their purity. The fan
ciers of that day, and there were but
a handful compared to the number
OF the present time, were so ambiti-
GUS to flourish in the showroom
that inbreeding was carried on to an
alarming extent. This was done at
the expense of hardness and egg
production, and it is no wonder that
farmers became disgusted with
fancy chickens and held on to the
common hen.
These facts led people to cross
breeds, and they secured birds
strong of constitution, activity and
vigOr, and birds that could be relied
upon for producing a good crop OF
eggs, or carcasses of tempting flavor
and size Had the farmer stuck to
the original crosses and not mated up
the cockerels with the pullets of the
same cross, all might have been
well; but when he recrossed those
birds the stock deteriorated and he
soon had worse than mongrels on
his hands, Crosses for profit are
really only half-breds, and beyond
that are worthless. They are good
for one generation only.
This failure with crosses led the
fanciers to improve the pure-bred in
order TO save the poultry world from
going quite to mongrelism. Instead
of breeding closely to standard re-
quirements, regardless of utility,
they changed the order OF things,
and began to pick out their best lay
ers and their best-bodied fowls, and
then each year, with utility as
foundation, paving the way for
practical pure-breds. They were
successful. To-day we have stronger
and better stock, and the mongrel
hen is annually growing less in
numbers and influence.
Properly bred pure bloods are
more prolific in laying, are producers
of better-siZed and more uniform
eggs, grow quicker and better car
casses, are more quiet in manner and
utilize the food eaten TO better ad-
vantage than could ever have been
credited to either the crossbred or
the mongrel fowl.
What is a mongrel? A mongrel Is
a mixed breed, conglomeration of
dicerent kinds. Use dunghill male
on pre-bred females and in one sea-