The Harrison times., 1914-02-21
CBy IRA p. wATsoNJ

(By IRA p. WATaON)
The reason 80 many fail in starting
in the poultry business is that they
do not start right. No man would
begin to breed trotting stock with
draft horses, but would get the very
best trotting stock to start with; and
no man who wanted to start a dairy
for butter would get Hereford or Dur
ham cattle, he would choose Guern.
5eys or Jerseys. Yet nine men out
Of ten in starting poultry to gst eggs,
will begin with fancy birds that have
been bred for the show room regard
less Of utility Some men say that
success depends upon the feeding, but
that Is not so, No amount Of feed
viii make draft horse good run
ner, Similarly one may feed the hen
anything and everything, but unless
she Is bred to lay, she viii never give
200 eggs In year Sunshine and
plenty Of fresh air with proper feed
ing and years Of practice Of the right
method Of breeding for eggs, will In.
crease egg production yory greatly,
The birds must have plenty OF exer
else, no matter what method one uses
have found It best In The winter to
keep my birds out Of the snow and
on the cL.d ground and to have them
busy In their houses Wheat and oats
fed In the shoat are daily before them
80 that they may be kept busy Cab
bago and beets are among the best
green winter feeds and these are al
ways at hand The most important
TEN, however, In securing eggs Is in
the ability Of the hen to lay, have
done a good deal to develop strain
Of heavy layers
Being q breeder and developer Of
some Of the very best Jersey cattle,
determined to see what | could do In
developing u strain Of laying hens,
Wishing to start with the best that
could get, wrote to some Of the
best breeders Of fancy poultry for
prices on their highest egg produc'
Ing hens. The universal reply was
that the breeder did not aim for eggs,
but for the show room, aud the state
mont was sometimes made that heavy
laying lowers the vitality OF the hen,
Knowing that this iB not 30 with Jer'
sey cattle, ! was determined to prove
It's falBlty with hens | bought the
best stock that could find and kept
A record Uf what the fowls lay In a
year. Tho FIRST year they laid 1870
eggs on an average,
By carefully studying out n system
Of breeding and feeding have de-
yelopcd a strain Of Rhode Island Reds
that has averaged 2iO eggs In flock
Of 30 hens, and one In this flock laid
2Ol ogga, or giAdogen In u yeNr
These eggs were very large, weighing
two pounds to the dozen, This is
half pound more dozen than the
average weight. The total weight Of
eggs was iSh pounds In year THIS
IL nearly seven times the hons own
weight OF ordinary sized eggs 3glA
dozen would be needed TO weigh this
lSA pounds At the ~ cents u d0S'
on average, the returns from this hen
would DO 1856 Allowing $3.50 for
feed would leave S50j gain, Such
oggs from this hen ~ were used for
Matching brought out large, strong,
VIGOROUS chicks, with the shape and
yigof Of their mother, showing great
propotoney The hen Ii an exceptions
ally strong and vigorous one, always
the Arat Of the rOost In the morning
and always on the go, ! have a fine
pen OF her pullelB, which ! think viii
mako some great records, aud ! also
nave some exceptionally nno coekrola
from her. enough TO mate gll my hens
this aoarou They also resemble their
mother
The $3.50 for feed mentioned above,
ID more than the feed actually cost
me, Az the system for feeding which
have practiced has reduced the cost
and yet doubled the production Of
eggs, AZ n cents a dozen for eggs,
tho noek averaged t5iO returns, or
$500 profit for each hen, thus making
the total tl0b, for the flock Of 90, |
made mueh more than this however,
because / sold large number OF set
llnga NJ prices varying from ~ 10
S5 Getting All these figures have
been with IVY strain OF Rhode H.