154 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



has been ultimately followed by disaster. Even 

 official reports of a sanguine character have been 

 published and circulated broadcast concerning 

 operations carried on for an entire year on such 

 lines; but the promise in those reports of a 

 similar one for the second year, was never ful- 

 filled, and upon inquiry we were officially in- 

 formed that it could not be issued, "as the 

 experiment was not brought to a satisfactory 

 conclusion." It is simply impossible, in any 

 moist climate at least, to succeed permanently 

 in poultry-farming without adequate run. 



In every case of failure in egg-farming known 

 to us — and we have investigated every one we 

 could hear of — the failure has plainly resulted 

 from neglect of one or the other of the essentials 

 here stated, and generally of more than one of 

 them. The thing has been rushed into; or there 

 has been inadequate run to keep sweet ; or 

 nothing has been done to secure a high laying 

 average ; or a good market has not been 

 secured, or a location whence the product could 

 be got to market with facility ; or things have 

 been carried on in a lie-a-bed, take-it-easy 

 fashion, which never pays in managing fowls. 

 But in spite of what is so often alleged by 

 people who really know nothing about it, cases 

 of more or less success are not 

 Examples. wanting, even in this country, if 

 people really look for them. A 

 small scale is, of course, most common. Years 

 ago, we published one of a tenant near Chester- 

 field, who had an acre and two roods of land, 

 and the run besides of two acres of wood. The 

 two roods were used for fruit and vegetables, 

 kept going by the manure, and fruit trees were 

 also planted in the acre divided into runs, a pig 

 being also kept. The wife looked after things, 

 and from this holding, as nearly as possible 

 50,000 eggs per annum were sent to London, 

 mostly to direct customers, with whom a con- 

 nection had gradually been built up. Other 

 somewhat similar instances, both on a somewhat 

 less and also somewhat larger scale, have been 

 reported from time to time. 



Another case that might be cited is that 

 of Mr. Simon Hunter, mentioned presently 

 in connection with a poultry-farm of quite 

 another kind. Previously to that, he had occu- 

 pied another farm in Wensleydale for fourteen 

 years. On this, he informs us, he bred and 

 kept flocks of hens especially to lay eggs for 

 market, and found them pay reasonably well, 

 though less profitable than the line into which 

 he was gradually led. From the first he bred 

 his birds from selected layers, and got his 

 average up gradually to 160 or 170 each, and 

 after allowing for labour, he reckoned the profit 



at about 5s. per bird : it was, in fact, the repu- 

 tation of these birds which gradually led him 

 into the other line presently described, and it is 

 manifest that a stock which is known to give 

 such results, will as such have a value, and fetch 

 enhanced prices for stock, quite apart from show 

 points. He had a stock on this farm of 70 to 

 80 birds per acre, and at the end thought the 

 land was getting rather foul, which could, how- 

 ever, be easily prevented by the systematic rest 

 and crop on which we have been insisting. We 

 have no definite figures of the results, but we 

 have the significant statement that the farm 

 presently described, at Northallerton, was " pur- 

 chased out of the profits of the other farm," 

 which is tangible enough in regard to the 

 question of success or failure. 



There are some examples, even in England, 

 on quite a large scale, though from the nature 

 of the case few and little known, for the simple 

 reason that the owners very much object to be 

 either pestered with useless correspondence, or 

 to have their methods and markets and arrange- 

 ments discussed by press-writers, who have 

 often done much mischief. However, an 

 interesting example is the poultry-farm of Mr. 

 T. W. Toovey, at King's Langley, in Herts. 

 Since this establishment was described in the 

 last edition of this w^ork many changes, sug- 

 gested by experience, have taken place. The 

 whole farm has been re-modelled, perhaps twice 

 or thrice. And Mr. Toovey declares that if he 

 were commencing now he would build only two 

 types of houses — the apex and the new type 

 of small lean-to for hens, and long sheds for 

 ducks. The farm at King's Langley is a 

 poultry farm pure and simple ; and when it is 

 intended to keep poultry solely on the land, 

 Mr. Toovey considers that the plan in vogue 

 there is the only possible one. Large runs, each 

 a quarter of an acre and containing twenty-five 

 birds, or small runs of about 550 square yards 

 containing a dozen to thirteen fowls is the 

 system adopted. The apex houses are now 

 built of one type only, i.e. g feet long, 'j\ feet 

 at base with 7-foot sides. 



At King's Langley nearly 2,500 birds, in- 

 cluding about 250 stock ducks, are kept, while 

 there is ample accommodation for the rearing 

 of 1,500 chickens. But a much greater number 

 is hatched and partly reared, since these are 

 despatched direct from the coops to Mr. 

 Toovey 's other farm, where, on the fields and 

 pastures, some 3,000 chickens are run. The 

 chickens are roosted mainly in the new houses, 

 of which there are some 312 altogether. The 

 special feature of these houses is that they are 

 so constructed that the birds cannot crowcl into 



