130 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



progress. Why ? Because there is no other branch that will 

 pay so large a per cent profit on an investment when prop- 

 erly managed. I have questioned many intelligent gentle- 

 men and ladies in relation to their opinion of poultry raising 

 and egg-production in various parts of the country, and in- 

 variably they allow a profit of from one to three dollars to 

 a fowl when properly managed, and due regard is paid to 

 selecting varieties for particular purposes. 



The most profitable branch of poultry-husbandry is the pro- 

 duction of eggs ; and there is no danger of its being overdone. 

 I have given my attention to this branch in particular, keep- 

 ing always in view the fact that a really first-class article 

 brought the best profit ; and my experience of many years 

 has proved that to get the best profit, and do it the easiest, 

 fowls must be always confined, as also that a thorough-bred 

 fowl was as much better than a mongrel as was any other 

 thorough-bred animal. * 



THE EGG. 



The quality of the egg for table or breeding purposes 

 depends, first, upon the condition of the fowl that lays it, 

 and, second, upon the quality of the food from which it is 

 made. I can keep my fowls in better condition when closely 

 confined ; for then I mn control the atmospheric and all other 

 surroundings and quality and quantity of food, also their ex- 

 ercise. The temperature should not fall below forty degrees, 

 nor rise above seventy-five degrees ; and the atmosphere 

 should be dry at all times, as should the floors of the poultry- 

 house. They should have enough material furnished at 

 regular intervals to keep up the waste of their systems, and 

 to manufacture what .eggs we expect them to lay, with a 

 little to waste by the process of digestion. The farmer who 

 knows how to feed cows to make milk will know what to 

 feed his hens to make eggs ; for the substance of the egg and 

 of milk is very similar. Where most farmers fail is in feed- 

 insT their fowls too much Indian corn. It will fatten mature 

 fowls, but is poor material to make eggs of. 



CHICKENS. 



I have for several years used my sitting hens as constant 

 incubators to hatch my chickens. Can hatch as many chick- 

 ens with twelve hens now as used to take fifty for, and, as 



