Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-04-04
fruit, HENS and Dirt PROBLEMS
ARE THRESKED OUT AT FARMERS week

that the egg production of hens kept
in large tiOckS was equal to or great
err than when hens were kept in
small pens, and that it required sew
enty percent loss time to take care
of the hens kept in pens containing
one hundred birds or more than
when they were kept in pens of fifty
or less. The arrangement of the fix
lures in the hen house will have
much to do with the amount of time
and labor required in caring for the
birds and in cleaning the pens"
How An Egg Is Made" by l.. P.
Gardner. Associate Professor of An
imal Industry, L. of NJ, delivered at
Poultry School: The reproductive
organs of the hens are the left ovary
near the backbone in front of the
kidney. The oviduct is a whitish
much coiled tube extending from, but
not connected with, the ovary and
Joining the digestive track near the
vent. The egg starts development
i'll the ovary as a single cell and
reaches the size of the mature egg
yolk in fourteen days. AT this time
the follcle which encloSes the egg
yoll. is ruptured and the yolk passes
into the funnel of the oviduct where
fertilization takes place. From the
funnel the egg passes to the albumen
secreting section where it remains
three to four hours. There it takes
on from forty to sixty percent of the
albumen or white. The egg is forced
down the oviduct by muscular con-
traction. On reaching the iSthmus
the shell membranes are formed and
also 10 to 20co of the albumen is
taken on. The egg remains in this
section for about one hour. In the
next section the uterus or shell
gland, the eggs remain from five to
seven hours. 1t is in this portion
that the eggs receive the remainder
of the albumen and the shell and
also get in shape. In the vagina the
shell pigment and protective cover
ing are added. Twelve to sixteen
hours are required for the compile
ton of the shells and the laying of
the egg making a total of from twen-
ty to twenty-seven hours. This
shows the possibility of the hens
laying two eggs in one day"
More Strawberries for Maine" by
George A. Yeaton, State Horticulture
list. Augusta: I'VE are not growing
more than % percent of the straw
berries that are consumed in Maine,
the IS per cent is being brought in
from other sections of the country.
We ought to he growing this fruit on
the farms of Maine and keeping that
money that is being paid out for
them at home. This can be done in
a large measure by growing the right
varieties and those that are adapted
to our soils and conditions. Our first
berries come from the South, and as
the season advances we draw from
the states nearer home, and by the
time our fruit is ripe this supply is
nearly exhausted and the customers
appetite is whetted to the keen edge
where they are anxious to get the
luscious Maine grown fruit and are
willing to pay for it. For the local
market and family use we may grow
some of the earlier varieties, but for
the main crop we should plant the
medium to late, SO that we may ship
enough out of the state to compen-
safe for the dollars that We're paid
for those that came to us before it
was possible to ripen them within
our borders
"Our Soil Problems" by DR.. George
Z. Simmons. Professor of Agronomy,
University of Maine: THE soil is a
medium for crop production. 1t not
only functions as Il means of sup
port for the plant but it furnishes
from itself necessary nourishment
for the growth of the plant tissues.
1t, therefore, functions in a physical
way as well as in a chemical way.
In physical way the soil allows for
plant root space, opportunities for