1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



L517 



the tent in otder to cut otf drafts and cold winds. 

 I notice that the chickens (like my poor self) can 

 stand cold very well if there is not a breeze, or, 

 worse still, a strong wind; therefore these cloth 

 houses ought to be as nearly air-tight as possible, 

 for plenty of air percolates slowly through the 

 cloth at all times and under all circumstances. 

 Have the opening made for access so it will shut 

 up as nearly air-tight, or, rather, wind-tight, as 

 possible. If an opening is left for the chickens 

 to go out and in at pleasure, this too should be 

 closed up absolutely tight during zero weather. 

 Now, in order to prevent this opening admitting 

 a draft of cold winds I would suggest having an 

 underground tunnel, and I have already used 

 such a device quite satisfactorily. To do this 

 your tent should be on sloping ground, so no 

 water can by any possibility collect in their tun- 

 nel. Some years ago I had such a tunnel leading 

 from the poultry-house to a string of cold-frames, 

 and the fowls greatly enjoyed themselves in win- 

 ter weather, scratching and dusting under the 

 glass sashes. Now, please be sure, if you use 

 glass at all, to give the chickens the privilege of 

 running out from under the glass whenever it be- 

 comes too warm. If you do not do this, the 

 overheating during the middle of the day, even 

 in winter, may do the chickens positive harm. 

 My impression is that cloth instead of glass would 

 be much better for poultry the year round, and 

 we should be sure that even the cloth tent does 

 not get too warm inside when we have a spell of 

 warm weather in winter. 



In closing let me remark that, if you have not 

 seen Suburban Life, you should at least get a sam- 

 ple copy. It is one of the most beautiful works 

 of art that our nation or any other has ever sub- 

 mitted to the people. The pictures alone are 

 worth its price — 25 cents for a sample copy. For 

 the address, see their advertisement in our last 

 issue. 



While on this subject a newspaper clipping was 

 sent me by some friend, so I can not give credit 

 to the paper from which it was taken. Here it is: 



POULTRY-HOUSE IDEAS. 



A poultry-house should not be built on the plan of a dwelling- 

 house. It is impossible to retain the heat in the house by the ex 

 elusion of fresh air, and have the house dry, without the use of ar- 

 tificial heat. At the Maine experiment station it was found that 

 hens confined in a cold or curtain-front house consumed 15 per 

 cent more food than a like number kept in a warmed house when 

 the temperature was just above freezing. It took four tons of 

 coal to heat the warmed house, which cost considerably more 

 than the extra feed. The egg yield in the two houses was about 

 equal; but the eggs from the hens in the cold houses hatched by 

 far the best. 



It is very true that, under the circumstances 

 mentioned, we had better give the chickens an 

 extra amount of food rather than buy coal for 

 fuel. But I feel sure that, if the cloth tent is 

 properly fixed and managed, we can save a large 

 part of the " fifteen per cent" and still get the 

 same number of eggs and the best kind of fertile 

 eggs. 



"nothing to do but gather the eggs." 

 The above quotation is not exactly as it ap- 

 pears in Edgar Briggs' new book, "Profits in 

 Poultry-keeping," but it comes pretty near it. 

 What we do read is this: After having described 

 the automatic feed-boxes, those that will contain 

 enough to last the fowls a week or two, he says, 

 "If your plant is built on a stream, and inclosed 



with a good wire-netting fence, all the work you 

 have to do during the week is to gather your eggs 

 every night." 



Whew! wouldn't that be a bonanza? "nothing 

 to do but gather the egqfs! " Of course, at the 

 end of one or two week you would have to take 

 a horse and haul an.i ■ .! grain to replenish the 

 hoppers; but if the he.iS really laid eggs enough 

 to make a profit after paying for their feed, what 

 a gold mine we should have! for when you get 

 one pen in running order you could get right at 

 it and establish a second pen, then a third and a 

 fourth, and so on, ad libitum, ad infinitutn. 

 Brother Briggs admits, however, that you would 

 get a better profit by bestowing a little more la- 

 bor besides gathering the eggs; and the next 

 chapter describes this matter and tells how to get 

 the most profit by the least expenditure of labor. 



Of course, this is an old story that has been 

 gone over again and again, and my poultry ex- 

 periments down in Florida were made particular- 

 ly with that end in view, to see how near I could 

 make the whole thing automatic and still have it 

 pay a profit. Well, it did very well when I was 

 there to keep an eye on things; but when I came 

 away and turned over my poultry-ranch, with 

 something like a hundred laying hens, to my 

 good friend and neighbor E. B. Rood, then came 

 the test. Suppose we grant, for illustration, that 

 a poultry-ranch of moderate size could be so 

 managed that there would be practically nothing 

 to do but to gather the eggs daily, and fill up the 

 hoppers, say once a week; can we still make the 

 institution pay if we do not live on the poultry- 

 farm, but employ somebody to gather the eggs 

 and keep the chickens supplied with food? Well, 

 with this end in view I left my chickens with 

 neighbor Rood. Several times during the sum- 

 mer I have sent him a postal card asking him 

 how the speculation turned out. For a little 

 time he said the chickens were doing very well. 

 Pretty soon there was no report; and finally when 

 I urged a little the following came: 



Dear Mr. Rett: — I am very sorry to be compelled to state to 

 you that the chickens are not laying as well as I think you will 

 get them to after you come down. In fact, I have about decided 

 that chickens are social creatures, and do better when there is 

 some one about with whom they can commune once in a while. 

 This may not be true of all chickens, but it seems to be true of 

 Mr. A. I. Root's chickens at least. Possibly they were brought 

 up under such social surroundings that society is necessary for 

 them. I know that their food has not enough variety, and I 

 thought that I would feed them ground meat, but after trying it 

 for a while I got lazy and quit. You learned long ago that a 

 lazy man had better leave chickens alone. Eggs are 30 cts. a 

 dozen. I get from five to twenty a day from both yours and 

 mine — as many some days from mine as from yours. I hope to 

 have lots of lettuce, cabbage, and cauliflower lor them after a 

 while, and then they may do better. Your little rubber-tree is a 

 beauty, and nearly every thing has done well. We shall be 

 glad to see you. E. B. Rood. 



Bradentown, Fla., Oct. 5. 



Now, friends, there is a big moral right here. 

 It looks to me as if chickens really do crave the 

 companionship of human beings. They want to 

 be petted and complimented occasionally. They 

 need to be in close touch with somebody who 

 knows them by name and loves them. Do you 

 know what the dear Shepherd said about the 

 sheep? Well, it is true of chickens also. By the 

 way, Mrs. Root thinks the idea of having noth- 

 ing to do but gather the eggs is a big joke; and 

 she says if any of the readers of Gleanings think 

 / had nothing to do but gather my eggs down in 

 Florida they ought to have been around when I 



