BACON AND EGGS 333 



pounds of either meat meal or cotton-seed meal. 

 At noon they get 100 pounds of mixed grains 

 wheat and buckwheat usually with some green 

 vegetables to pick at ; and at night 125 to 150 

 pounds of whole corn. There are variations of 

 this diet from time to time, but no radical change. 

 I have read much of a balanced ration, but I 

 fancy a hen will balance her own ration if you 

 give her the chance. 



Milk is one of the most important items on 

 this bill of fare, and all hens love it. It should 

 be fed entirely fresh, and the crocks or earthen 

 dishes from which it is eaten should be thoroughly 

 cleansed each day. Four ounces for each hen is 

 a good daily ration, and we divide this into two 

 feedings. 



Our 1600 hens eat about 75 tons of grain a 

 year. Add to this the 100 tons which 50 cows 

 will require, 200 tons for the swine, and 25 tons 

 for the horses, and we have 400 tons of grain to 

 provide for the stock on the factory farm. 

 Nearly a fourth of this, in the shape of bran, 

 gluten meal, oil meal, and meat meal, must be 

 purchased, for we have no way of producing it. 

 For the other 300 tons we must look to the land 

 or to a low market. Three hundred tons of 

 mixed grains means something like 13,000 bushels, 

 and I cannot hope to raise this amount from 

 my land at present. 



Fortunately the grain market was to my liking 

 in January of 1898 ; and though there were still 



