112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



asked him if his hens got any grain. And I tried to impress 

 on him the fact that snow and a httle grain was not a balanced 

 ration, and that it was necessary, if he would have his hens 

 lay, to give them a well-balanced ration. Give them enough 

 to eat snow will not hurt them. I have experimented with 

 that and I think that is correct. He claimed that the snow 

 would not make good eggs, that the eggs would be all yolk, 

 but I do not think there is anything to that. I have found 

 that the poultry get along very well by eating snow. We want 

 to get rid of as much of the drudgery of poultry keeping as 

 possible. I am satisfied that snow properly given with a bal- 

 anced ration does not hurt them. I doubt very much if I would 

 let a man water my hens in the winter if he would do it for 

 nothing. 



Now most of us before engaging in any new enterprise very 

 naturally want to know if there is any money in it, or whether 

 it can be made to pay. I presume there may be some men and 

 women here who would like information on that question. I 

 presume there may be also some fruit men here, and I think 

 they would tell you that a hundred acres of fruit would net 

 anywhere from one hundred to two hundred dollars per acre. 

 One hundred dollars per acre would be a very conservative es- 

 timate. Now you can do a little figuring yourselves. One 

 hundred acres at one hundred dollars per acre from fruit would 

 give a pretty good income, or enough to buy a pretty good 

 farm in old Connecticut. But what of the poultry ? There are 

 ten thousand White Leghorns on that fifty acres. If a hen 

 will not net one dollar per head there is some fault in her 

 keeper and not in the hen. One dollar per head is a moderate 

 estimate. A farmer told me the other day that he had fifty 

 hens, and that their product at the ordinary market rate netted 

 him about two dollars per head. Well, ten thousand hens, at 

 one dollar each, does not make a bad income. If you make it 

 two dollars each you can see where it goes. I do not dare to 

 give these figures. Figures will not lie. I will let the boys 

 in the audience do the figuring. 



Then again for my breeding stock. I should expect to sup- 

 ply all my neighbors far and near with eggs for incubation, 

 and I would get fancy prices for those; that is, I would get 

 above the market price, and I should expect to have some fine 

 specimens for the shows. I would not show myself, I would 



