The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1919-01-30

met with some poultry problem for
which you have not as yet been able
to find any satisfactory solution?
Have you made a success of the poul-
try business and know just how you
did it? No matter what your exper-
fences have been let US publish them
in this column. They are bound to
prove beneficial to you and to others
similarly engaged.
Rev. F. L. Fraser, who has been
editing a series of poultry articles for
the Courier Reporter, is one of the
firm believers that the poultry BUSH
ness has great future in this Valley.
He believes, further, that much good
will come by the maintenance Of a
permanent poultry column in this pa
per. Such a column will provide a
medium by which the poultry raisers
can "get-together" each week. H You
agree with him jot down your poultry
experiences and mail them to us.
Never mind the editing. Give us the
facts. Well do the rest.
To insure success in anything one
must start with a clearly defined pur-
pose and pursue that purpose with an
unwavering determination and intelli-
gence born of experience. To make a
success with poultry these same prin-
ciples hold true. Make poultry the
leader in ranch work and let every
thing else fit in and success is bound
to come. The work is not lazy
mans job. 1t must be sanely gone into
and rightly conducted in order to be
profitable. But that it will be pro-
ftable for several years to come goes
without question. European countries
| will need to restock and will be heavy
buyers of eggs and poultry. Those
who get into the business now will
surely realize splendid profits, besides
they will be doing good work in help
ing to restock devastated European
countries.
In making a start with poultry the
cheapest and perhaps the best way is
to buy Matching eggs from some re-
liable dealer Of whatever variety you
have fancy for. No one variety can
claim all the good points. When you
have selected breed and raised your
pullets, mark your best layers and
breed from them the next season.
There are flocks that average as high
as 100 eggs each in one year and a
number of Individual hens have an ac-
credited record of over 800 eggs, but
these are exceptional layers and be-
ginner in the poultry business cannot
look for any such returns. He must
be able to make profit on hens turn
ing out ten dozen eggs each in year,
and all they do over this will be in
creased profit. Some, of course, will
do better than this and some will not
do nearly as well and the problem is
to find out and breed from the good
layers, wedding out the drones as
quickly as you can:
/ believe the poultryman who works
along these lines will get not only bet
results in egg production, but will
eventually develop laying strain
of fowls that will outsell on the
fancy market the kinds having the
very highest fancy points. The time
is coming when the people are going
to demand that the bird from which
they buy stock or eggs are bred to lay,
as well as for points of beauty. 1
believe in thorobred stock, but / would
breed for eggs first, for the hen that
lays is the hen that pays.
The quality of the feathers sand the
blue ribbons won Indicate nothing of
the egg-laying qualities of the fowl.
If you have developed good egg
laying strain of fowls, hold to them,
whether they are white or red, brown
or black or mixture Of all colors.
Of course do not mean to say that a
mixed flock is equal to flock of
thorobreds- birds all Of one type and
color. They are not as attractive or
as profitable in any sense as uniform
flock. But 1 do say that the only hen
that is worth her board and keep is
the hen that lays.
Hens do their best laying during
the period of lowest prices. In the
Kennewick district that means March
I to June. The thing to do is to get the
hens to lay when eggs are highest.
Early pullets will help to get over this
difficulty. The early pullet Matched,
say the last week in February or in
March will lay large percentage of
her eggs in the early winter and have