1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



303 



The highest price is about 32 cents, and eggs were 

 retailed in New York city for nearly double that 

 amount during the early part of the winter. The 

 average price received by F. B. Atherton in 1908 for 

 eggs was 32^ cts. per dozen, from which was de- 

 ducted express charges, commission, breakage, and 

 return of empty cases. This amounts to about 5% 

 cts. per dozen, making a net average price of 27 cts. 

 (see " Kgg-farm that Pays .?130() per Year," lieliable 

 Poultry Journal, December, 1908i. 



I should like to ask the reader what price he 

 thinks he can obtain for eggs when selling upward 

 of 20,000 dozen per year. 



The Comings are credited with selling 1900 hens, 

 although they are called pullets, for two dollars 

 each, when sixteen months old. These hens were 

 starting to moult, and could not be of much use for 

 the next six months. The reason given for the high 

 price received is that they were sold for breeding 

 purposes. It is univer.sally admitted that .yearling 

 hens make good breeders: but hens kept in confine- 

 ment, and forced for eggs, have lost a great part of 

 their vitality, and never can produce strong healthy 

 chickens (see Prairie State Incubator Catalog, pages 

 5, 15, 24). The inexperienced (or otherwise) persons 

 who purchase such birds for breeding purposes get 

 "stung:" and whose reputation suffers in the end? 

 Personally I should like to get two dollars each for 

 yearling hens in large quantities, or even that 

 amount for pullets a year younger. According to 

 the advertisements that have come under my ob- 

 servation, the poultry-raisers are very glad to get 

 two dollars apiece for their .young surplus stock 

 when .sold singly, and are glad to accept 81.25 to SI. 50 

 each when selling b.y the dozen. Even at that they 

 do not advance their prices until December. If the 

 would-be egg-farmer figures that he can get 75 cents 

 per head for yearling hens (especially I^eghorns) he 

 will be high enough. 



On page 21 the Comings speak of their original 

 and economical laying-houses. In the first place, 

 houses just as good could be built for half the money. 

 The only original principle employed is to build 

 these houses .so as to house one large flock. The ob- 

 jections to this kind of house are drafts and disease. 

 In order to get out of the wind blowing through 

 this house, the hens have to crowd back under the 

 dropping-boards (.see middle of page 361. Disease 

 can be kept under only by eternal vigilance. The 

 chief criticism I have to this hovise is the small 

 amount of opening there is in front, especially as 

 the hens are allowed only in the scratching-room in 

 warm weather (see bottom of page 36) . The.se 

 houses are almost identical in size and shape with 

 mine, an illustrated description of which was pub- 

 lished in the Reliable Poultry Journal for .lanuary. 

 1909. Many poultrymen. including m.vself. use the 

 dr.y method of feeding. The hens get a large feed at 

 night, consisting of a quantit.v of the best commer- 

 cial scratch feed and a varying quantity of cracked 

 corn and oats scattered in the littei\ At the after- 

 dark inspection more grain is buried in the litter if 

 deemed necessary. Water is given them every 

 morning — hot in winter. At noon, sprouted oats 

 and table-scraps are fed. A hopper containing dry 

 mash is placed before the birds in the afternoon. 

 Mash consists of com meal. bran, middlings, red- 

 dog, ground oats, beef scrap, cut clover, charcoal, 

 etc. Hoppers containing grit, shell, and charcoal 

 are placed before them all the time. The hens en- 

 joy picking cinders out of the coal ashes that are 

 spread upon the dropping-board.s. 



West Xutley, N. J., March 30. A. W. Flemin'G. 



Thanks, friend F., for your criticism of 

 the Corning egg-book. 1 still think the 

 book a valuable contribution to our recent 

 poultry literature, even if it does give an ex- 

 travagant idea in many respects. In fact, 

 I think it very much superior to most of the 

 books written to show up a particular sys- 

 tem. In looking over the book hastily I 

 was especially pleased with the footnotes 

 from Boyer. 



The Farm Journal folks may have 

 something to say in regard to your criticisms 

 of the book; and if so I shall be very glad to 

 receive them, for God knows we want to 

 give the great hard-working public the real 



unvarnished truth in regard to the poultry 

 business. 



While on this subject I wish to say some- 

 thing more about the book I mentioned on 

 page 167, March 1 — " the Kellerstrass way of 

 raising poultry" — the book that "one can 

 read through in 35 minutes, but which took 

 S6 years to write." In the very opening 

 chapter of the book Mr. Kellerstrass says, 

 "Remember, I have been a good many 

 years writing this book, and it is all from 

 actual experience — no hot-air dreams, but 

 actual experience." I have before pointed 

 out to you that a great part of this dollar 

 book, with only 91 pages, is devoted to ad- 

 verti.sing extravagantly his eggs at $2.00 

 apiece. Now, one of our poultry-journals 

 has recently pointed out that this is not all 

 of it. Another great part of the book is 

 made uji of directions for work during every 

 month in the year, from January to Decem- 

 ber. When I read over these instructions 

 it seemed to me they did not refer parti cn- 

 larly to the " Kellerstrass way " nor to the ' 

 Crystal White Orpington chickens. Well, 

 this poultry-journal calls attention to the 

 fact that nearly all of these instructions for 

 each month in the year are copied, the 

 greater jiart of them,' word for word, from 

 Park & Pollard's Poultry Almanac, Boston, 

 Mass. This almanac (for the years 1907, 

 1908, 1909, and 1910) and the Kellerstrass 

 book are before me. How does this condi- 

 tion of things correspond with the para- 

 graph I have quoted about "no hot-air 

 dreams but actual experience " ? What 

 explanation has Mr. Keller-strass and his 

 numerous friends (including many of the 

 poultry-journals) to make about it ? 



High-pressure Gardening 



By A. I. Root 



TESTING SEED CORN IX OUR SCHOOLS. 



The Dej)artment of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, has just done a wonderfully wi.se thing 

 in i)reparing a pamphlet, dated A])ril 9, 

 1910, for use in our schools, and especially 

 our country schools, instructing the teach- 

 ers and children how to test seed corn be- 

 fore it is planted in the field. I can not 

 think of any thing more valuable in the ed- 

 ucation of a child than to interest him in 

 seed germination. This method, if followed 

 out, would not only add thousands of dol- 

 lars, but perhaps millions, to the income of 

 the farmers of our nation. I^ast, but not 

 least, it would tend to put the parents and 

 teachers in touch with each other better 

 than almost any thing else; and it certainly 

 should give the parents confidence in regard 

 to the value of the schools by getting the 

 children to be on hand promptly on every 

 school day. Apply to the Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask for 

 Circular 96, entitled "How to Test 8eed Corn 

 in the Schools." 



The"* plan is about the same as I have 



