Evening star., 1914-08-01
A Foundation for knowledge.

l remember that when I was a bo,
read Gibbons Rome. waded through that
ponderous. heavy volume. with hardly a
glimmering of understanding. I was "cul-
tivating my mind" If any single sprout
of erudition took root 1t perished long
ago, because the soil was too shallow to
sustain it. In the months Immediately be-
fore we came to the country 1 read lot
of agricultural text books and other farm
literature. 1t was much like my boyish
perusal of Gibbons Rome. / hadn't the
rudiments of farm knowledge necessary
to comprehension of what l read. This
fall and winter, when the evenings
lengthen and there is less outside work
to do / am going over those books again
and with a seed bed prepared by what
have learned this summer, they ought
to help a lot toward the realization OF
my ambition to be a farmer.
Some of the most successful of our un-
dertakings l was opposed to and fought
against them until forced by circum-
stances-or by Jane-to take the step. The
COW Is an illustration. l didn't want
COW. didn't want to undertake the care
OF one. But Jane used moral suasion
and employed stratagem and finally had
her way. Today the COW is our ''one
best bet" wouldn't any more think Of
trying to farm without her than without
soil. She promises to be the best Gus
toner I'll have for anything l can grow,
and, above all. she isn't a soil robber
Every bit of fertility used up in growing
stuff for her to eat will go right back
to the soil. The same is true. of course.
of chickens And when 1t comes to cor
vert!ng raw materials into finished prod
ucts cows and chickens are world beaters.
Stock Farm in Miniature.
I realize that eight acres is an absurd
ly little patch of ground to be utilized
along stock-farming lines, but am com
ing more and more to believe the prin-
ciple is the correct one, no matter how
small the acreage l have been strongly
disposed to the growing and sale of
vegetables as source of income from
the place, but the COW and chickens are
gradually winning me over There is just
as ready sale for milk and butter and
eggs and table poultry as for vegetables,
and their manufacture means continual
enrichment instead of depletion of the
soil.
AS have said before. no one can make
me believe poultry farming is any royal
road to wealth. On the other hand sue
cussful poultry farmers certainly do make
money. We suffered this year from both
hard luck and inexperience and the Iva
BILE baby chicks we Matched cost US an
outrageous sum. But the three and four
months old pullets ard cockereis look
fine now and we have a flock that gives
promise of being. a good one to build
from.
Jane has never swerved from her de-
termination to make a business of keep
ing chickens and since the way the COW
project panned out l am less than ever
inclined to argue the matter with her
Men are not often willing to credit wom-
en- with Judgment. We call it their in :
tuition. But what matters the name it
goes by SO long as it gives results.
Chickens to Be Watched.
Jane has today 135 pullets, part white
leshorns and part white rocks, besides
fourteen of the twenty hens we bought
from Mr.. Brown. When the pullets get to
laying, the hens will have finished their
careers of usefulness. and will go into
the pot this winter to help keep down the
| to make the basis of strict test of the
possibilities of poultry. They will be fed
| and cared for in the most approved man
| ner. l am going to build trap nests and
! we will keep a record of the perform
ances Of each individual.
| Not only do we want to know which
| breed of hens and which individuals lay
the most eggs, but we want to know
which ones lay the eggs when eggs are
| bringing the highest prices in the Wash
| ington markets. We will find private
| customers for the few eggs we shall have
| to sell, but we are going to do our figur-
| ing on the general market. that we may
| have line on the possibilities of profit
| able sale for the output of from $40 to
| 1.OO0 hens. II our bookkeeping shows
that hens are more promis ns Of profit
than truck gardening. It's hens for us.
| Wen switch our program and plan our
planting with view to growing the
| largest possible amount of chicken feed
E. S. M.