158 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



the sale of eggs from pure breeds of poultry 

 for incubation purposes, and also in pure-bred 

 fowls. His &g% sales alone range between 

 7,000 to 10,000 sittings per annum. These eggs 

 vary in price, accordmg to quality and season, 

 but average about 6s. 6d. per dozen. The 

 number of fowls sold is also considerable, and 

 prices range from 7s. 6d. to 20s. each for good 

 stock birds, while occasionally as much as i^io 

 each is made on the choicer specimens for ex- 

 hibition purposes ; but the bulk of the business 

 IS at moderate prices. A really exhibition stan- 

 dard is not indeed aimed at, laying qualities 

 being the cardinal object ; but true type and 

 purity of breed are maintained, and high prices 

 are paid for suitable birds for a change of 

 blood or to renew the shock. Mr. Hunter has 

 devoted much time and an immense amount of 

 money for the purpose of securing good laying 

 strains of fowls, and he has travelled far to 

 inspect such stock, having visited nearly every 

 noted utility breeder, not only in Great Britain, 

 but in America and Australia, who is devoting 

 attention to this class of stock. The farm, in 

 fact, comes nearest of any we know to the large 

 American breeding farms. 



From the point of health and accommoda- 

 tion, this farm sets a high standard. There 

 are forty-three acres of land, the fields near the 

 house being devoted to chicken rearing, for 

 which coops are arranged in long lines, 

 widely separated ; Wyandottes chiefly are 

 used as mothers, but about half the chickens 

 are hatched and reared artificially, while 

 many chickens are also raised by neighbour- 

 ing farmers. There are 150 breeding pens, 

 each containing from ten to sixteen birds, 

 and from these the main part of the farm 

 is divided into 150 runs of about a quarter of 

 an acre each. To keep the grass short about 

 fifty sheep are kept and grazed in one or another 

 of the runs ; and when the breeding season is 

 over, two or three of the pens are put together, 

 and the grass in the vacated runs is allowed to 

 grow a few weeks and then mown for hay, a 

 mower being used, and a length of fence made 

 movable for passage of the mower and carts. 

 The hay is reckoned to be worth fully ;{;'ioo 

 annually. After mowing the birds go back to 

 the clean and sweet ground. The runs are 

 boarded all round to the height of three feet 

 with three feet of two-inch mesh wire stretched 

 tight on top to keep all taut, the height over all 

 being six feet. There are about seven miles 

 of this fencing on the farm. Another special 

 feature is the water supply, which is laid on 

 all over the farm by pipes from a spring and 

 tank, running into deep wells ; the drinking- 



troughs are below the surface and sheltered by 

 boards above, so that they rarely freeze. The 

 cost of this was considerable, but it keeps all 

 sweet and saves much labour. 



But it is in the attention given to shelter 

 that this farm specially excels. We have 

 always upheld the great importance of that 

 point when many runs are involved, but 

 know no case where it has been studied as at 

 Sowerby Grange. Each pen has a house 7 feet 

 by 7 feet with a pitch roof, which is double- 

 boarded, and the space in winter padded with 

 hay. Near each house is a low, open shed, in 

 which is kept half a load of dry peat moss dust 

 for dusting ; but the shed never faces the door 

 of the house, so that the birds must go round 

 into the open. In the centre of each run is an 

 octagonal board fence, 3 feet high, closed on 

 all sides except for the one by which the fowls 

 enter, the diameter of the octagon being 16 to 

 21 feet. In each of these is planted from seven 

 to nine spruce firs or Austrian pines, which give 

 complete shade and shelter to the fowls. One 

 of these " spinney " shelters is shown on the 

 preceding page. 



Five men are in constant work on the farm, 

 with extra assistance at times. The fowls are 

 fed twice daily, with mash in the morning and 

 grain at evening, animal food being fed freely 

 in winter and early spring, for which a horse is 

 used weekly, the flesh being well boiled and 

 minced, and mixed in the mash with the broth. 

 In the afternoon the five men start round, each 

 with two pails of grain, bringing the eggs back 

 on their return. 



The houses on this farm cost about £}, each, 

 and the fencing of each run, including " spin- 

 ney " shelter, about £b. The money sunk in 

 fitting up, draining, and stocking was reckoned 

 at about £3,000, but additions are always being 

 made, about ;£'2,ooo being spent in extensions 

 during the years 1902 and 1903 alone. All that 

 is beside the original purchase of the farm, 

 while in 1908 J\Ir. Hunter purchased a larger 

 farm in Devonshire, which it is intended to 

 devote to the production of high-class exhibi- 

 tion stock. All through, dating back to the 

 former Wensleydale occupation, the fowls were 

 made to pay as they went, and gradually pushed 

 and extended as they did pay ; and the whole 

 has been bought and paid for, besides a good 

 balance at the bank, out of poultry-farming. 



Success like this can of course not be very 

 frequent. Besides thorough practical know- 

 ledge and industry, there is in this case to be 

 easily seen a strong individuality and power of 

 organisation and management, which are never 

 common ; ability to see an opening, and quick- 



