REPORT OF MR. THOMAS A. SHARPS 379 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



PIGS. 



The stock of pigrs consists of seven pure-bred Ijerkshircs and eight pnrc-bred 

 York.sliires. A number of both breeds have been sold as breeders and the surplus to 

 the butcher. 



HORSES. 



Since my last report another of the old horses has died. Of the original lot 

 brought here in 1889, three geldings remain; as they are all over twenty years old and 

 have done a great deal of very hard work, they are nearly worn out. Two very line 

 teams of young horses, a driving mare and the three old horses are our present horse 

 force. 



BEES. 



The past season has for some reason been a poor one for bees, several swarms not 

 having stored enough honey to carry them to the end of the year. There are seven 

 swarms now, all well supplied with stores to carry them through to another honey 

 season. 



POULTRY. 



There are on the farm this year Wliite Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons, Barred 

 Plymouth Rocks, Black Minorcas and Rose Comb Brown Leghorns. 



The R. C. B. Leghorns have been the best layers, bvit their eggs are rather small. 

 Black Minorcas come next in number of eggs — which are large. Neither of these 

 breeds make good table birds, but they malve pretty good broilers at from ten. to twelve 

 weeks old, if well fed. 



Of the heavier breeds, this year the Buff Orpingtons laid best, the B. P. Rocks and 

 Wliite Wyandottes being about equal. 



The White Wyandotte chickens matured a little the earliest, but the Buff Orp- 

 ington and B. P. Rocks make larger birds at maturity, and the Buff Orpingtons with 

 us, put on more breast meat than the other two breeds. 



A good strain of any one of these three breeds of fowls make good layers, also 

 good table birds. Our hens are kept in breeding pens — with yards attached — from 

 January 1 to July 1, and they are at large during the rest of the year. 



They are fed mixed grain, about J wheat, ^ oats, and ^ pease, and in the antumn 

 they get some sunflower seed, also a few ears of corn occasionally during the winter. 

 While they are confined we give them as much variety of food as possible with 

 what we have on hand. In the coldest weather in winter they get a mash of boiled 

 roots mixed with chop of any kind which we have. A cabbage head or other vegetable 

 is always before them, also grit or finely crushed clam shells, and a box of sifted coal 

 ashes to dust in. 



We have not had any disease among the poultry this year, except a few cases of 

 rheumatism, which was probably caused by the wet weather in the autumn, but as in 

 previous years, crows, hawks and skunks have been very troublesome, carrying off a 

 great many chickens, even after they were well grown. The chickens were hatched ami 

 reared by hens. The percentage hatched and raised has been about the same as was 

 had with an incubator and brooder. The only advantage in using an incubator and 

 brooder is that a large number of chickens can be hatched and raised early and at one 

 time. The henhouse is sprayed with whitewash in which is mixed some carbolic acid, 

 and the yards are dug about once a month. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH OATS. 



Thirty-seven varieties of oats were sown in the test plots this year, the size of the 

 plots were one-fortieth of an acre each. The soil was a sandy loam that had produced 



