4 AN EGG FARM. 



try by thousands, only a proper regard for original 

 nature will prevent failure. According to this nature, 

 they live during the breeding season in distinct families 

 under polygamy. Each family group has, by tacit 

 agreement, a part of the forest for its beat, and the 

 exclusion of strangers of the same species secures privacy 

 and tranquillity. They have their freedom, and in that 

 word are comprehended the needful exercise, sun, pure 

 air, shade, and varied diet. 



Some plans upon a large scale have comprised small 

 separate flocks without freedom, and others have 

 embraced large ' flocks in freedom without separation ; 

 a third plan, and better than either of the foregoing, 

 being to Keep small flocks separately, yet in full freedom. 

 Small flocks at liberty on distinct farms have been kept 

 successfully during centuries, because the owners were 

 unconsciously imitating the natural groups of the wild 

 jungle fowls. It has been found that when a flock of 

 twenty, in free range on the farm, gave a handsome 

 profit, and the number has been increased to hundreds, 

 all in one flock, with the idea of correspondingly multi- 

 plying the gains, an unnatural mob has been formed, 

 the hereditary instincts violated, and laying checked. 

 The confusion has not, however, lessened the amount of 

 feed consumed, and pecuniary results have been the 

 wrong way. When it is attempted to divide the num- 

 ber, and place them in separate inclosures, the results 

 are still far from satisfactory. Small flocks kept yarded 

 may be multiplied on the same farm to any desired 

 extent ; but their wants can be all supplied only through 

 an amount of labor that eats up the profits, unless the 

 mechanical apparatus we shall describe in the following- 

 pages is used, the invention of which was the most 

 important step ever taken in poultry culture since fowls 

 were first domesticated. In this land of high wages, 

 the expense of attendance determines, to a great extent, 



