Evening star., 1914-08-22
them through any drought we are likely
to have next year.
Small Fruits and Chickens.


We are very anxious to get small
fruits under way, especially berries, cur
rants. grapes and plums. because the
ground they occupy can be utilized for
chicken runs. This isn't true Of straw
berries. which grow close to the ground,
and would be eaten by chickens before
they were ready to pick, and for that
reason we have our strawberry bed In
the garden proper, which Is inclosed
against chicken depredations.
What a blessing it would be If useful
plants were as tenacious of life and
| are useless! 1 have pondered on this
proposition good many times this sum
mer while fighting wild morning glories
| ton this week. In order to inclose a
piece of ground which I am going to
use for chicken run it became neces.
sary to take down about fifty feet of
ago. At first it was of cedar posts with
heavy telegraph wire stapled into them.
Later the fence was reinforced with
! ordinary chicken netting. Still later
vines. That was years ago. and the
wistaria had fourished like the pro-
verbal green bay tree When l tackled
| the job of tearing down the fence 1t
was an intricate mass of telegraph and
chicken wire and wistaria vines, and
no Chinese puzzle ever offered more
difficult solution. Finally, after sweat
ing hours under broiling sun, got
the wire and vines cleared away only
to find that the job was barely begun.
tangled mass of roots. some of them
thicker than my arm. extended for ten
feet on each SIDE of the fence line.
They had to be grubbed out. for to have
left them there would have meant the
growing of vines that would have
| wrecked my new fence in short order
It took two days and patience sur
passing that of Job to clear them away.
Two hundred and fifty raspberry
plants shriveled up and died, but the
wistaria thrived on drought.
Going in for Chickens.
This fence 1 am now building marks
the beginning of definitely worked
out poultry plant. Yes, the decision has
been made, We are going to have a
try at commercial egg farming.
Had last weeks showers, which part
ly broke the drought, been suf-
ficient for the needs of crops. the deci-
sion might not have been made at this
time. But the drought, to all practi
it's continuance, added to James argu-
ments. brought me into line with the
program.
We have become convinced that If
we are going to make chickens pay
the plant must be large enough for
real business. We want enough eggs
SO that they can be marketed economi
cally and to the best advantage. and
stock enough to justify us In buying
feed at wholesale; So we have deter
unit of our plant. We will not realize
that goal next year, but our buildings
and yards will be planned with the
| thousand hens in view.
Our present plan is to have half our
hens White Plymouth Rocks and hal
White Leghorns. The Plymouth Rocks
we will breed ourselves. For the Leg
horns we will buy either Matching eggs
will enable US to devote all our breed
ing attention to the building up, of
profitable strain Of Rocks, and we think
it will be much more practical, on
small place and with limited help. than
to breed two entirely distinct varieties.
After we have mastered the breeding
Of Rocks and have a flock that will lay
plenty of eggs and lay them at times
when eggs are high we will be free
to turn our attention to the Leghorns.
May Drop One Variety.
It may be, and We hope, that we will
i find the Rocks so satisfactory that we
| will abandon the Leghorn entirely
Or. If the little white birds show up
too well to be dropped, but we are not
entirely satisfied with the imported
stock, we may try our hand at Leg
horn breeding.
We plan to keep our laying hens con-
fined the greater part of the time.
There will be outside runs from the
laying houses. but as they will be
small we shall let the hens into them
only now and then for exercise. Our
breeding hens will have the year round
the run of three-acre field which will
be under cultivation and another three
acre field will be fenced for the young
stock, part of which will be in small
fruits and part in alfalfa-provided I
succeed in getting a stand of the latter.
latter.
The plan of keeping four or five cows
has been abandoned. at least for the
the present the notion of acquiring
any land in addition to our eight acres.