MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 33L 



whether you love the work or not. Do not deprive your family of 

 these luxuries which nature so freely lavishes on those who are will- 

 ing to give thought and labor sufficient for the harvest. 



Poultry and Horticulture. 



M. J. Rountree, Springfield, Mo. 



IJntil within the last few years, little or no effort was made toward 

 adopting such methods as would result in the improvement of farm 

 poultry. A few fanciers in some of the eastern states, by adopting 

 scientific and systematic methods, succeeded in producing some of the 

 best foundation stock that we have at this time. The Barred Plymouth 

 Eock, both single and pea-combed, and also the white, is the result of 

 a series of judicious crossings of the Black Java and old-fashioned 

 Dominique. This breed in all of its varieties has upon its own merits 

 fought its way to the front, and now bids fair to rival the Light 

 Brahma, which, up to this time, stands without a rival. The Silver- 

 laced Wyandotte is also a living witness of American art in the suc- 

 cessful application of such methods as succeed in solving the difficult 

 problem of judicious crossing. But it is becoming more and more a 

 question as to the advisability of depending upon what are termed all- 

 purpose breeds for the greatest profits. The Spanish or Mediterra- 

 nean varieties (which, by the way, have been greatly improved by 

 American fanciers ) are purely non-setters, and will produce more 

 eggs with less cost than any other variety. 



The Minorca and the Hamburg are also non-sitters and are equally 

 good for layers, the Minorca having the merit of producing the largest 

 eggs of all the so-called perpetual layers. But all these non-sitters re- 

 quire the most scrupulous care to keep them warm enough to enable 

 them to lay through the winter season. They are much better adapted 

 to a southern latitude than to a northern. It is the Asiatics in all of 

 their many varieties which flourish and develop into their finest forms,^ 

 and which produce the best results, in the northern latitudes. In 

 Canada and Manitoba the Brahma and the Cochin areas fully developed 

 at eight months old as the same varieties are at twelve months old in 

 southern latitudes. But the question for us to consider at this meet- 

 ing is, can poultry, in connection with horticulture, be made to pay ? 

 That depends entirely upon the scientific and practical knowledge 

 brought to bear by the party engaged in the enterprise. Can horti- 

 culture alone be made profitable? The most casual observer can, in 

 many instances, find persons engaged in horticulture who fail signally* 



