Evening star., 1915-01-17

keep it up all winter. Pullets Matched
in January and February should begin
to lay by August or September.
Lots of poultrymen are able to run
an incubator SO as to bring off good
matches, but fall down when it comes to
brooding the chicks properly. OF what
avail Is it to hatch ninety chicks out Of
100 fertile eggs, and then lose half Of
them through carelessness, lack of at
tention. improper feeding. etc? Chicks
Matched by artificial means are wholly
at the mercy of the poultryman. They
can't take care of themselves, and they
have no mother hen to take care Of
them.
In these days of multitudinous poul-
try periodicals, free government bulle-
tins, and the poultry departments of
newspapers and magazines almost with
out number. ignorance on the part OF
the poultryman as to proper methods Is
absolutely inexcusable. To this mex
cusable ignorance. rather than to luck"
whatever that is-ShOuld be laid the
failure OF most of those who. after
single trial, declare there's nothing in
the chicken business"
A few big yellow turnips or ruta
bagas, or sugar beets, if you have them,
stuck on nails at the proper height for
layers a good deal of exercise and
amusement, and at the same time lots
of mighty good. juicy green food.
Small heads of cabbage, firmly fixed
in the same way. SO that the hens may
them around in the dirt. help out the
winter rations amazingly. Either the
big turnips or beets or the cabbages
keep the hens busy and interested
while the biddies are getting their
salad course; and a busy hen is always
a profitable one. It's the lazy ones.
that stand around or remain on the
roosts the most of the day, that are
the drones and non-producers.
In rainy weather take careful look
through the henhouses to see that
roofs or walls are not leaking. Leaky
roofs mean damp or wet floors. litters,
etc, and often wet. draggled hens.
These things in turn mean colds that
may easily develop into roup. and then.
pouf, away go the profits and even the
results of years of labor.
A dry house. open front facing the
south. with the roosts placed far
drafts, and with plenty of deep, clean,
dry litter and abundant clean. dry dust
for dust baths-these are the housing
requirements for keeping the flock
well, busy ana pTOuLdDle.
Poultry keepers who own kodaks will
find that photographs of particularly
fine fowls in their hocks are interest
ing features of their records. A photo
graph of a fine male bird in a charac-
teristic position; hen or pullet;
mother hen and her brood, or bunch
of incubator chicks, pasted into a
scrapbook and properly labeled and
dated. will add much to the interest
of otherwise dry figures and records.
Furthermore, such a Photographic rec
ord. well kept. will serve as a pow
erful incentive to constant improve
ment of the flock. besides giving an
accurate record of the appearance,
markings and points of individual
birds, to be used as a basis for COM
PARSONS.
There is little use in trying to build
up a strain of heavy layers without
keeping cases on the hens and pu1lets
in your flock. Pullets that molted
late and quickly, that laid heavily as
shown by the trap nest, and that
showed bleached legs and skin after
the height of their lay was past, are
the ones from which to breed. Mate
such pullets with male birds that were
Matched from eggs laid by heavy-lay-
ing mothers. and the egg average OF
your flock is bound to increase.