New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-18
Given a Back Yard, Broilers
Are Within the Reach of
the Slimmest Purse.
sy Martha MeculIoeh Williams.

,or the high cost OF living. notwithstand-
,rg It appears TO me might indicate sun
dry mak!ngs and mtigat!ons Of It. Beyond
question the lure OF the city, which draws
50 large an element from production to
consumption, has much to do with it. Fur
Their. the concentration OF population makes
the business Of feeding folk enormously
nroAtablo-particularly in the matter Of
transport Cost and carriage set side by
eide would show the heavier weight on the
side Of carriage. This is partly because of
a benevolent unwi sdom which binders easy
distribution-because, forsooth. ease OF dis
.rlbution would mean increased profits 20
the carriers.
For example, q railway line which Is ore
Of New York towns main feeders runs
sundry express freight trains, whose car
goes are perishable things, yet valuable
enough 70 bear a higher freight charge
than other things. These trains make runs
of several hundred miles in twenty to thir-
ty-six hours, yet after reaching the pro-
,1sional terminal have often to wait FOX
sixty hours TO seventy why,
the inadequate centre Of distribution is so
clogged nothing else can get in Now. this
delay is costly to shippers. freighters and
especially to consumers. When things spoil
In carload lots there is bound to be loss
eli round. Somebody is certainly going to
make up that loss-and usually 1t IS made
VI by higher prices. There are, OF course,
such things as pools against breaking the
market l recall yet with anger the two
carloads Of fine cherries. sound and mer-
charitable which some years back were
lowed out to sea and dumped-to keep the
price at 80 cents the pound From such un-
wise seed springs much OF the present
popular unrest, the cutlery against comb
nations and all the rest of II. But that
sort Of thing is outside my purview-this
screed began with no more ambitious pur-
pose than to say that. having set forth a
gospel Of homemade chickens heretofore, l
have gone and proved my faith by my
works
Three live and lively witnesses attest the
fact. They ave William Taft Brown Orp-
ington Champ Clark Rhode Island Red.
and Pretty BOY. who like other beauties,
carries his pedigree in his feathers. This is
written upon their birthday-they are five
weeks cd. In three weeks more they will
be stout and lusty broilers. Even now they
are full fsathered and so well hedged they
fy upon my shoulders. Tomorrow they
90 hack to the farm. Then they will be
only chickens. Here they have been peo-
ple-;n fact, The People. More than half
their living has been grass-fresh grass
plucked for them out in the park and cut
tc inch lengths l mention the fact 10
show the economic side. Taking them as
exenplars. pretty we'll all chicken flesh is
grass. et least at this time OF year. And
grass grows Of itself, so a brood of chicks
may be at once haTvesters and vernal
savings banks Aside from their grass
they have not even quite consumed table
scraps from one person. Yesterday we
went out to the park, where It was pretty
and touching to see them run about, and
stopped at the butchers to spend penny
for meaty bone. which will, Of course, be
cut small for them.
Kept 10 the estate OF broilers there would
be a profit hardly dare calculate on their
cost. Time has been turned TO Joy in the
care Of them-which eliminates all mention
Of trouble. The best Of all comrades.
shall be desolate indeed without them. But
three months at the longest they will be
Growing Eating them IS still more en-
tirely out OF the question, even though I
oid sacrifice to their accommodation my
very biggest bsndbox, AND. TO their print
tive instincts. my morning nap.
testing aside-though my chick-a-b bits
have been a delight from first to last-I
undertook the keeping Of them for some
thing more substantial than pleasure. I
wanted 20 prove 20 myself II II were truly
possible 20 raise chickens newly Matched
70 edible size within very confined space
have found out that It is. not only en-
trely possible but potentially profitable
don't say TO other apartment jewellers GO
and do likewise" but 10 the hundreds on
hundreds OF folk in the suburbs, in villages
and near villages: Try II. You will find
Il worth while" II you have even twenty
square feet Of earth you have space for
chicken run. Keep II clean-dry sand every
morning is a great help. BY the use Of II
and a weekly scraping your chicks viii
thrive. The sand IL not only clean, but
helps to thrift by not holding moisture.
Cold, damp, mouidy food and foul water
are the enemies you must guard against.
Have your run wired. sides and over the
top, keep a dust bath in one corner and
provide plenty Of litter, in the shape Of
chopped hay or grass. and. OF course. night
Shelter. The shelter roof must be tight.
and see that the slope Of It turns rain away
from the run. not into il. Thin boards
nailed TO cleats make the best floor; 1t can
b set on edge for cleaning. There must be
something to keep the chicks warm unless
you provide a mother hen. My chicks
have had square OF cheesecloth, thickly
Nadded. with the corners lightly folded up
and sewed together double half across two
SIDES This let's II spread rather in hen
Shape. while the ridge Of the doubling is
exactly suited TO little nesting heads. II
looks like a grotesque and very untidy
Tea oosey. Under II lies an old cloth, crum-
pea with paper under that The whole
goes into a round splint basket, the sort
CHINA Is packed in at the stores. There
would be room for half a dozen in it-but
am glad l have only three partings
ahead. Grass and unthinking folk may say
chicken is just a chicken II they had
ever studied chickens at close range. as
have they would know they we're chicken.
and then some
Whoever has house and yard and tiny
Garden should make himself in a manner
Independent. He can, II he WILL -aise
chickens in the yard and feed them in
large measure with the refuse of his gar
otn, added 10 what would go 10 waste in
nN kitchen. Manure from the fowls Will
Keep the garden in heart-indeed. make 1t
iieh and richer every year. And If II
pcasts an asparagus bed, as any self-re-
'pecting garden certainly should do, there