116 



THE LEGHORNS 



that are in operation on successful and well-known plants. 

 There are a great many long laying houses, most of them 

 being divided into pens. In some cases these pens are 

 small; but the majority of them hold 100 birds each. In 

 houses that are wide as well as long, some of the pens 

 hold four and five hundred birds each. One of the large 

 houses measured 100 feet in length and 36 feet wide. This 

 was divided into three pens each 33 by 36 feet. 



On some plants colony houses are used, the Tolman 

 house being the favorite. Because of the heavy winds 

 from the sea, a small and high colony house cannot stand 

 long before being blown over. The long laying houses 

 are seldom less than 15 or 16 feet deep and have canvas 

 fronts, in order that the birds may be protected from the 

 winds. The Tolman houses, wide open in front, are often 

 elongated for the same reason and so little snow falls 

 in the winter that the roof flattened with the added depth 

 easily bears up under the light weight. 



On page 115 we show a long laying house on the 

 plant of E. R. Hutchinson, Vineland. It is 15 by 100 feet 



A VINELAND, NEW- 



FLOCK OF WHITE LEGH 



poultry pi 



)f Paul 



A view of a flock of White Leghorns on the 2 2-3 

 Van Deusen, Vineland, N. J. In 1910 Mr. Van Deusen's gross receipts were 

 $3,733.02 from his poultry and grarden and his feed hills totaled $1,283.22, leaving 

 the balance as the income on his investment and as recompense for his ye '" 

 labor. For the type of Leghorn grown at Vineland see cut page 117. 



in size and is divided into five pens, IS by 20 feet, each 

 holding 100 birds. Mr. Hutchinson was the first to use 

 the hood-roof which projects over the front of the house, 

 but recently several houses like it have been built. It is 

 essential if the roofs of the buildings are covered 

 with roofing paper that the best quality be used, as the 

 winds from the south coast soon tear oflf cheap paper. 



Dry Mash is Hopper Fed to the Layers 



The methods of feeding at Vineland do not vary as 

 much as the contents of the feeds which vary with the 

 individual. In every pen on every farm you will find 

 dry mash. It may be fed in a Boston hopper, or in a 

 home-made wooden hopper or in an open wooden box, 

 but it is there before the layers constantly and they have 

 free access to it. Vineland poultrymen will tell you that 

 this hopper fed dry mash is so vitally important to suc- 

 cess that it may be laid down as the first principle of feed- 

 ing for egg production. 



J. W. Scull, one of the pioneer White Leghorn egg 

 farmers of the Vineland Tract, generously gave me his 

 mash formula, which is as follows: One portion each of 

 bran, cornmeal, rolled oats, white middlings and beef 

 scrap, one-half portion each of charcoal and grit. This is 



thoroughly mixed and fed dry by being placed in hoppers, 

 which are accessible to the birds at all times. At night 

 Mr. Scull feeds cracked corn and oats in the proportion 

 of two parts of the former to one of the latter. These 

 grains are mixed and fed in the litter, allowing one quart 

 to every twenty hens. By far the majority of poultry- 

 men on the Vineland Tract feed v/heat at night. Mr. 

 Scull does not, however, as he aims to feed the wheat 

 in his dry mash in the form of white or flour middlings. 

 The white middlings, he said, cost him $1.80 per 100 

 pounds. As it is not unusual on the Vineland Tract, 

 Mr. Scull does not feed his birds any breakfast, so it 

 will be seen that he feeds his birds but once a day, which 

 is about 4 P. M. when the grain is scattered in the litter. 

 Of course the birds have access to the dry mash at all 

 times. 



Vineland poultrymen aim to minimize labor. This 

 economy of labor does not arise from an indifferent or 

 lazy spirit. They are economical at every turn — in the 

 construction of their poultry buildings and in their feed 

 as well as in their labor. A poultry- 

 man should not be too busy. He 

 needs time to watch his birds, to con- 

 sider, to plan and he should not be 

 carrying food and water all through 

 the day. 



Past and Present Vineland 



As I stood in Mr. Scull's yard, at 

 the outskirt of the city, I could see 

 two other poultry plants across the 

 commons, another was on my right, 

 and I said to Mr. Scull. "How many 

 Wliite Leghorns are there within a 

 radius of a mile from your home?" 

 .\fter carefully enumerating the 

 flocks of his neighbors he replied, "I 

 can safely say there aie 15,000. Mr. 

 Scull said further that when he settled 

 in Vineland ten years ago there were 

 but two flocks of White Leghorns on 

 the Tract. Five years ago the birds 

 numbered 7,000 to 9,000. Vineland, 

 as a great White Leghorn community, is of recent 

 growth. Its rapid development has been made possible 

 by its 100-mile distance from the New York market and its 

 sandy soil and mild climate. While it is true that these 

 three factors, so necessary to successful egg farming, 

 existed, nevertheless the development of the Vineland 

 Tract as a Leghorn country should be attributed to the 

 real estate operators. A real estate man in Vineland told 

 me that his firm is spending $50 a week advertising Vine- 

 land and that it has been doing so for several years. The 

 Tract is advertised as a great poultry, fruit and garden 

 truck country and I was told that lately nine out of 

 every ten people who buy a place in the district raise 

 White Leghorns for egg production. 



Those who are already in Vineland have a remu- 

 nerative market for stock males, for yearling hens for 

 breeding purposes, for ten-week old pullets, for eggs for 

 hatching and for baby chicks. The new comers buy them 

 and their sale adds to the "commercial income" and gives 

 the owners a handsome profit, but those who are going 

 into the district should figure their profits as the differ- 

 ence between the cost of production and the selling price 

 at the New York market. I am especially interested in 

 those beginners who, perhaps leaving the city and the 



