The Question Box. 339 



hatching the chicks. This breed of hen will stick to the nest till the 

 last chick comes out of the shell, while no better or more devoted 

 hen mother ever clucked or cackled. Then, too, when she has done 

 laying eggs and rearing chicken families, she will be found one of 

 the best of fowl for the table. But do not attempt to hatch 

 chicks by using a white Leghorn. She will start in with a great 

 deal of hurrah and preparation, but in a few days will leave the 

 nest and begin laying eggs again. In that respect, she is quite 

 like some men who are never contented to stick to one sort of 

 work more than a week at a time. But the Barred Plymouth 

 Rock is not built on that plan nor along that line. When it 

 comes to going on the nest and hatching chickens she will always 

 be found a " stayer." 



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What breed of poultry pays best on a small farm? 



The Reporter. — The one that pays best on a large farm. Why 

 not? 



.Air. Ward. — Mrs. Hollister recommended, yesterday, the Buff 

 Leghorns and gave statements of very extraordinary yields. Of 

 20 breeds she has found this one the best. 



Ave oats a good food for hens? If not. what are the best foods for 

 laying hens? 



Mr. Wall. — Oats are best when ground with corn and fed in a 

 mash, to which may be added equal parts of bran and middlings, 

 vegetables, cut clover or clover meal_, and some animal food. Grit 

 in some form and pure water are essential. Wheat is the best 

 whole grain for all seasons. Corn in moderation is a good ration 

 for the evening feeding in cold weather. It pays to warm whole 

 grain and feed in a litter. 



What is the comparative cost of a pound of chicken with other meats 

 on the farm? 



A Farmer. — I have found that, one year with another, a pound 

 of chicken can be purchased as cheaply as a pound of any other 

 meat on the farm, and I am satisfied that a pound of it pays twice 

 as well as does a pound, of pork. I began a few years 

 since with fifty hens, and have increased the flock to 

 500, and find I can make |1 net per hen. It does not 



