REPORT OF THE POULTRY MANAGER. 245 



hens per day to a farmer could be reduced to five cents, if not to four cents. I calcu- 

 lated, that as prices go, four cents would buy five pounds of sound grain, say buckwheat 

 and oats mixed, or wheat and oats. I would give half of the quantity in the morning, 

 and the remainder for evening ration. Meanwhile the hens have had opportunity to 

 find insect life, grit and green stuff, and would return with their crops well filled, and 

 the 2| pounds of grain would be quite enough for them. He said that under the cir- 

 cumstances he did not think the cost would be any more. I further explained that my 

 object was to show that the production of a dozen eggs, in such a case, should not cost 

 more than four cents, and that a greater number would likely be laid by the fifty hens, 

 during the day. Speaking on the subject to a friend who lives in the neighbourhood of 

 the city limits, and who successfully manages a flock of Barred Plymouth Rocks, he 

 remarked that he thought he was doing something very like what I stated. I asked 

 him to give me his figures, and he did so in the following letter which I submit to you : — 



Ottawa, June 8, 1897. 

 Mr. A. G. Gilbert, 



Experimental Farm, 



Dear Sir, — My answer to your question, " How much does it coat me per dozen to 

 produce eggs in the summer months 1 " is — two and a half cents. I find that twenty of 

 my hens (Barred Plymouth Rocks) will lay an average of one dozen a day from 1st of 

 March until 1st of September, on the following rations : — 



1^ pounds of shorts, mixed with cooked vegetables, in the morning, 1^ cents ; 



2 pounds of buckwheat in the evening, at 25 cents per bushel, 1 cent. 



Making together 2^ cents. 



The vegetables used are culls, of no market value, and when not available, skimmed 

 milk is used to moiaten the meal. My hens are at liberty to forage about the pastures 

 and yards, and the abundant supply of worms, grubs and insects make up any deficiency 

 that I do not supply. 



Yours sincerely, 



S. SHORT. 



I would not use skim-milk as Mr. Short does, because skim-milk with us is, to a 

 certain extent, costly. I consider such a letter important. It goes to confirm my point 

 and to show farmers that no matter how low prices of eggs have been, there yet remained 

 a margin of profit. 



