Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1913-08-15
UNCLE SAM ISA
CHICKEN FARMER
Experiments Made BY Government
Employees In Maryland Are Proving
Helpful to Poultry Industry.

''NifENt ~ SAfNiJ hbAsSh
The poultry bus ness of the United
States has been called a billion dol
lar industry. One of the favorite
questions asked in our poultry jour
nails at times gone by has been what
is Uncle Sam doing for the poultry
man? Uncle Sam is do ng something
for the poultryman, and although the
work is comparatively new, results of
value have already been attained
Down in Beltsyille, Md, few miles
from Washington. d. G., is located
the experiment farm of the Bureau
of An NAL Industry. This farm CON
sists of about 500 acres, about 60 of
which are set aside for poultry ex
Fermentation. That part of the
tract reserved for poultry work is
ideal for the purpose, being wood
land with a good elevation and well
drained. The poultry experiments are
in charge of Harry NJ. Lamon, senior
animal husbandman, Bureau of Animal
Industry, United stare Department
of Agriculture. Mr.. Lamon is an eX-
perienced poultry breeder and emf
nently fitted for the work. He is max
ing the many and varied problems
associated with successful poultry
culture the work of the farm and is
going at things in pract cal way
Here we find duplicated the conditions
that prevail with the farmer, the
back lot poultry man, the commercial
egg farmer and the broiler man.
Exhaustng studies of breeding
problems and problems associated
with incubators and broding are made
and experimental from a practical
standpoint. All stock is kept under
natural conditions thus the work is
bound to prove of very great value
to the poultry world at large
Special Coop For Hens.
An experiment which has already
proven of value to the farmer who
raises his chicks by natural methods
is that of keepig the hen confined
while her chicks are permitted to
range by themselves. For this work
there has been perfected a very prac
teal coop, known as the Bureau of
Animal Industry Brood Coop, that
keeps the hen confined in this coop,
so that she cannot lead her chicks
all over the farm. By themselves
they roam only short distances.
Mr. Lamon has learned that by this
method chicks are much more quick
ly matured, the reason being that the
food consumed is allowed to be made
into bone and flesh instead of being
run off by long distance jaunts with
''Biddle." Chicks of various ages are
kept in different divisions of the farm
so that all may have an equal chance
and the big fellow" is not allowed
to monopolize the feed or bully the
little one.
In the broiler work we find extreme
attention to detail Broilers are
Matched by both natural and artifi-
Cial methods. All are marked and
careful records kept of gain in weight
amount of food consumed and neces-
sary labor. In this manner it is pos
sible to know at killing time the ex-
set cost of production and the amount
of profit or loss as the case may be
Studying Artificial Incubation.
The quest on of artificial incuba
ton is being made an exhaustive
study. Mr.. Lamon and his associates
c'rptns to find cut the exac
conditions of incubat on under the
sitting hen, and in this way expect by
application of their d scoveries to i'm,
prove the Matching ability of the in
cubator. Each day all eggs are test
ed Careful records are kept of the
increase in size of the ar cell and
the increase in the weight of the egg
A diagram is made of the daily posi-
ton of the egg in the nest. with a
note of the variation in temperature,
according to the position. The turn
ing of the eggs by the sitting hen is
noted. The temperature of the body
OF the hen and its variations careful
ly recorded. When we remember
that there are in this country hatch
cries running from the smallest sizes
to the giant ones with a capacity as
prove of great value.
Methods of breeding are being care
fully investigated The question OF
see that these experiments must
be mated with good results is reeeiy-
Ing careful consideration and careful