Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-13
. RiicEnnonR
AUTOMOBILE DEALER; Pro-
]. TO HOLD Cox
State Meeting Ammo haen'hes anu
phys ,Anditorjid Know When
~.+,csday. Jse-Facts Which
la Poultrymen.

--ncsdnp. ,J,e-Facts Which
In Poultrymen.
PROGRAM ALI
r ARMSTRONG.
Rcp,esentotivrym and Writer.
mobile ,r.s have long appreciated
Al, Ply, .bor-sA, - devices Our
M "id engineers have con-
i.yncho;ny, if not most. OF tho
ock\ of useful appliances.
ON Wne telegraph. the telephone.
.udt,or.stinE machinery. the tractor,
ing machine. the typewriter.
''VTndreds of other appliances too
less Gus to mention. We have had
Nir,provisc these things because our
cir power was more or less limited.
..iesire for greater economy of pro-
.ction was the incentive for our in
entions. Not only have we sought
30 save human labor, but we have en-
dearored to cut down the toll of our
animal labor. Or rather we have in
sisted upon getting the most from our
animals. There is no better example
OF this fact than the incubator. without
which our poultry industry could not
have attained its present magnitude
and importance.
We have in this country close to
500.000O0o domestic fowls. Each year
the greater part of these fowls are
killed off as meat and Il new genera
tion is reared to take the place Of
the old. The energy involved in this
reproduction is enormous. 1t is 20
stupcndous. words and numerals fail
to measure it. 1t is done by two pro-
cesses: natural and artificial. In the
former. female birds are used to ha tch
and brood the young; III the latter
machines are employed to do this work.
which they perform almost as success
fully as the birds themselves.
Incubators Versus Hens.
Matching is not so much question
of which method produces the greatest
number OF chicks-the hen or the in
cubator? 1t is question OF economy.
The hens greatest value lies in the
eggs she produces. If she is kept in
laying trim. she is n money maker one
Of the best assets on the farm. If she
fails TO lay proliticly. she is an expense.
especially during these times of high
prices for feeds.
- Very we'll. the hen cannot be expected
to lay and reproduce her young at the
same time. If she raises a brood. il Is
mt least a two months task. and then
another month before she is in physical
condition to commence laying again.
which she seldom does. because by the
time she has wcancd her brood the hot
weather is at hand. and more than like
~ she enters the mott. The mott keeps
her busy for another three or four
months. and then winter weather is
ut hand.
This ia the way of the average farm
hen. 1t is the natural way. And it is
the reason why the farm hen seldom
produces over sixty eggs n year. Five
dozen GEES year, unless they are pro-
duced as by-product, with little or no
expense to the keeper. will not show a
profit. Hence farmers aver that chick
ems do not pay.
OF course, chickens do not pay under
such circumstances. Neither would
cows pay if they were allowed to fol-
low their own inclinatiomS. 1t is
doubtful If any farm crop would pay
if it was neglected so much as chickens
are ignored on the average farm.
- Snvc tho Hens Time.
The single pillow was superseded by
the double pillow: the double pillow was
replaced by the three and four-horse
gang plow: the gang pillow has been re-
placed by the tractor, which hauls a
number of gang piows. Why? Because
too many men and too many horses
were required by the old methods. 1t
was too expensive; it cid not pay. The
draft animals and the mems wages alb
sorbed all the profits. They were more
productive in other lines of work. The
machine was made TO take their place.
And SO II is With the hen.
The incubator matches hundreds or
thousands of eggs. ,'hile the hen
matches n dozen or fifteen. The ma
chine Is attended by one man. and
only a portAoA OF the mans time. while
the hens Required to hatch an equal
number of eggs. would require the at
tention Of three or four men, The in
cuo2tor can be run on Il few gallons
OF oil or ton OF coal, while the hens
energy measured in the eggs she faile;
TO lay by reason of her being on the
nest, would run into hundreds OF dol
lars.
There is still another factor. and "A
highly important one. when you deal
with hens. you deal with mighty per-
verso creatures. You may want to
bring off some early matches in order to
have early pullets for fan laying, but
IT there are no Droody hens YOU are
helpless. Again you may find some
bfoody mems, sitting on nests in some
obscure. place, and when you try to
make them sit on "A setting Of eggs in
the place YOU Arovide for them. they
VIII have none OF il. Or, they NAV
accept. the proncred eggs and sit on
them for week, then abandon them.
II there IL no other hen to take the
eggs promptly, the partly Matched eggs
must spoil Any one who has had any
experience with chickens knows only
100 well how oNasperating broudy
hen can be. She is the last word in
obstinScy. She viii sit when il pleases
her' where II plcascs her, and as long
as II pieascs her. and no amount Of
coaXiEg VIII alter her views i'm the
matter.
Machine Means Control.
The Incubator is the reverse OF tho
foregoing troubles. II can be starred
IN late winter in order 10 produce early
puiicts. perhaps months before the hens
would even think Of becoming broodv
and 1t can be run as long as desired
ana Whenever II is desired II is al
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