232 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



Ration 2. 



Morning. — Cut green bones in quantity of 5 lbs. to every fifteen hens. Follow as 

 in previous ration, by throwing a little grain in the floor litter to keep hens busy. 

 Noon. — Scatter a little more grain to keep hens going. 

 Afternoon. — Send layers to roost with crops full of wheat or buckwheat. 



Ration 3. 



Morning. — Ground corn, ground oats, bran in proportion of 10 lbs. each ; linseed 

 meal 1 lb. ; salt 1 oz. Mix this intimately and put 1 quart of it into a bucketful of 

 dry cut clover hay, or any kind of cut hay and mix with boiling water. This is calcu- 

 lated for thirty laying hens ; enlarge to suit a greater number. 



Noon. — As directed in previous rations. Keep the hens active, but do not over- 

 feed at this time. 



Afternoon. — Give a liberal grain ration, for reasons given. 



Ration 4. 



Morning. — Two quarts bran ; one quart middlings ; one quart cornmeal ; half pint 

 oil meal. Mix four pounds of this with 16 lbs. small potatoes boiled and a small 

 quantity of ground bone. Dust a little pepper in the mess. The foregoing will be 

 enough for 100 hens. 



Noon and Afternoon. — Rations as in previous ones. 



Ration 5. 



Morning. — Small potatoes, turnips, or other vegetables boiled and mixed with 

 one quart of cornmeal and the same quantity of bran, to which may be added the table 

 and kitchen waste, and a couple of handsful of coarse sand, or fine gravel with a small 

 quantity of ground bone. The whole fed warm for a morning ration offers variety. 



Noon and Afternoon. — Rations as dii'ected. 



Ration 6. 



Morning. — A correspondent gives the following in Farm^Poultry as a good winter 

 egg-producing ration : 3 lbs. oatmeal, 1 lb. dried blood, 1 lb. cut green bone, 4 lbs. pea- 

 meal, 1 quart skimmed milk. Enough for forty or fifty hens. 



Noon and Afternoon. — Rations as directed. 



Objection may be made to the last named, on the ground of expense, but there is 

 plenty of room for choice in the other rations named. 



The Other Essentials Necessary. 



Green Food. — In every case vegetable or green food of some kind should be sup- 

 plied. In previous reports the hanging of a cabbage from the ceiling of the hen-house 

 to within three feet of the floor has been recommended as an excellent means of furnish- 

 ing green food and exercise. And it certainly is so. Mr. D. J. Lambert, an authority 

 on poultry matters, says : — " Green foods, as has been often said, are too sparingly 

 given. The majority of poultry-keepers feed too much grain. Less grain and more 

 grass should be the watchword. Cabbage, turnips, cut clover, onions, or anything of 

 a vegetable nature, cheapens the cost of feeding, tends to keep the fowls more healthy, 

 and that means increased egg production, and consequently more profit." It is a fact 

 well known to poultrymen that hens and chickens enjoying free range will fill their 

 crops nearly half full with grass and greens every day. 



