318 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



1-2 EDWARD VIV , A. 1902 



As to the quantities in which the mash should be fed, much depends upon its stim- 

 ulating composition or otherwise. As ordinarily made it is composed of ground grains 

 of different sorts with cooked roots or vegetables as a part. The mash as used by a 

 farmer in the vicinity of Brockville, and described by him in a recent letter may be 

 taken as fairly representative, viz.: — 



' Morning ration for 250 hens and pullets, one and a quarter bushels of roots, pulp- 

 ed and made crumbly with provender. When provender alone is used, boiled meat is 

 added.' The meat is presumably a form of waste. In many cases the soft feed is given 

 in the afternoon. Under any circumstances the hour of feeding may be varied with 

 benefit. 



As to quantity in which it is to be fed, the practice in our department has been, 

 when fed in the morning or at noon, to give enough to satisfy but not to gorge. Be- 

 tween the two extremes of too little and too much, as a morning or noon ration, doubt- 

 less lies the safety line. When fed as an afternoon winter ration, a large rather than 

 small allowance is permissible, for there is the following long night fast to permit of 

 leisurely assimilation. In some cases it is advisable, if the mash is fed in the early 

 afternoon, to throw si few handsful of grain in the litter on the floor, where the layers 

 may find it at that time, or, when daylight permits of search being made for it next 

 morning. 



A PEKTINENT QUEEY. 



Past observation has led to the conclusion that when the feeding of the mash, or 

 any other form of rations, has had an enervating effect on the layers that strong germs 

 are not likely to follow. This is more likely in the case of old hens of the heavy 

 breeds. Indeed, no hen out of condition is likely to lay an egg with a strong germ. 

 This leads to the query, are hens while in winter quarters and laying well during that 

 period out of condition? In a state of nature the hen is not likely to lay in winter 

 weather. We make the conditions of her winter life as like those of spring, or early 

 summer as possible, and we get eggs, but they are not as reproductive as desirable. Are 

 compromise conditions in the shape of l poultry house and scratching shed ' the correct 

 ones? And in this there is room for useful and interesting experimental work. On 

 this point it may be interesting to note the experience of Mr. William Moe, a farmer 

 living at Franklin, Que., where the winter is rigorous and snowfall heavy. He says : 

 ' We send our winter eggs to a Montreal grocer and receive 40 cents per dozen for them. 

 Our plan of feeding grain is to throw it on the floor of the " scratching shed," so that 

 the fowls will have to work to find it. We have the scratching sheds attached to our 

 poultry houses. We got the plans from Mr. A. F. Hunter, of South Natick, Mass.' 

 One objection to the scratching shed attachment, in certain parts of the country, has 

 been the exposure of the laying stock to the cold of winter, but Mr. Moe evidently does 

 not find this an obstacle to obtaining eggs in winter. Strong advocates of poultry 

 houses, constructed on similar plans, are Mr. L. H. Baldwin, of Deer Park, Toronto, 

 and Mr. J. M. Wilson, Manager of the Toronto Poultry Farm. Both have adopted the 

 principle in the construction of their poultry houses, the latter on an extensive scale. 

 The following diagram will show a poultry house with the shed attachment : — 



