The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-27

Hc eSS SeTM
 pendence for increasing the supply of
 white meat and eggs on a farm. but she requires the aid of turkeys, guneas, geese and ducks just as, on dairy farm, the COW requires the aid of pigs, sheep and goats. The setting of the standard at 100 hens per farm is safe, but such arbitrary standard can be set for the other kinds of poultry. The small farm, with grain fields Of reighboring farms in proximity to the barn and dooryard, would, perhaps, be better without turkeys The farm through which no streams run and which has no large pond would perhaps be better with
 out ducks. But the circumscribed farm
 on which turkeys would be a dsadvan- tage may be well supplied with streams and ponds so that ducks would be un- usually profitable, and the farm that has no streams and ponds may have large
 range for turkeys. Each farm family will have to determine for itself what poultry can be profitably kept in addi- tion to 100 hens, bearing in mind always that an adequate number should be kept
 of all the kinds for which free range can be found
 Turkeys range far afield and prey upon insect forms that escape hens. From the time the young old enough to begin fcraging for themselves, perhaps early in June,, until near frost, turkeys take the bulk of their food from field insects, de- vouring millions of grasshoppers and other injurious forms in meadow and pasture,
 In regions where wooded areas are still
 fairly extensive mast is an important item in the diet of the turkey. When the insect stores begin to fail, the mast 1ard- CTS are beginning to be filled. Feeding on acorns. chestnuts, beechnuts and the like, turkeys will go long way toward fattening themselves for the Thanksgiv- ing or Christmas market. and will not require much feeding of corn other
 grain to finish them. Generally speaking, turkeys will require a larger feeding of grain than chickens to fit them for mar ket, but, as they utilize forms of waste that hens and their broods would not reach, the keeping of fair number of turkeys is good economy.
 Fowls for breeding purposes should be strong healthy, vigorous birds The comb. face and wattles should be of a bright red color eyes bright and fairly promi- nent, head comparatively broad and short and not long or crow-shaped, legs
 set well apart and straight, plumage clean and smooth ~ Eggs from "stolen" nests should not
 
 and quality and should be used at home. Market white-shelled and brown-shelled
 eggs in separate packages Eggs irregu- lar in shape, those which are unusually long or thin-shelled, or which have shells . otherwise defective, should be kept by the producer for home use, so that break age in transit may be reduced as much as possible.
 The Mediterranean or egg breeds are best suited for the production of white shelled eggs Representatives of this
 class are bred largely for the produce tion of eggs rather than for meat pro-
 duotion. Among the popular breeds ot
 this class are Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona
 and Andalusian.
 When taking eggs to market. protect
 them from the suns rays in warm wealth
 CT. Ship or deliver eggs twice or three times weekly.
 A standard-bred male at the head of a mongrel flock will improve the quality of the stock materially. X mongrel male will produce no improvement in quality. Notice the candler has places for the good eggs as well as for checks (cracked esgs). dirty eggs and ''rots." When sG>.-
 ing eggs insist that they be bought on a
 quality basis.