124 



THE LEGHORNS 



circle around the stove and about six feet from it. The 

 purpose of this fence was to keep the chicks from getting 

 back into the corners before they learned where the heat 

 was. About the second day this fence is taken away and 

 the chicks given the whole room to run in. 



The gentleman, 72 years of age, Mr. Carpenter by 

 name was raising 5,000 chicks at one time in this way, and 

 making his living by it. At three months of age the pul- 

 lets went to the farmer who furnished the eggs to the 

 hatchery. This is the second year Mr. Carpenter had 

 been doing this and when I saw him he was well pleased 

 with the result. Another gentleman, without help, was 

 raising 8,000 in this way. Others were following the same 

 special business. Quite a number of the farmers were 

 using the same brooder system. 



The special advantage of this system is the saving of 

 labor it makes possible. One brooder of this kind will 

 take care of as many chicks as 15 or 20 ordinary individual 



brooders. The distillate costs 9 cents a gallon, and the 

 stove will use from 6 to 9 gallons a day, depending on the 

 weather. Some think 1,500 is crowding the brooder a 

 little and do not put more than 1,200 in it. The stove 

 is kept hot enough so the chicks will keep back two or 

 three feet from it. At night they lie in a circle around 

 the stove and the larger the circle the less crowding there 

 is. If the fire goes down the circle contracts and there is 

 too much crowding. During the day they run all over the 

 floor, and they are a busy, spectacular lot. There is no 

 prettier sight in chickendom. They have no lack of ex- 

 ercise. They get it running foot-races around the room. 

 One problem is to feed them so as to prevent what a 

 cowboy would call a stampede or what a football fan 

 would call mass playing or bucking the line. If a bit of 

 meat were thrown in the room there would be a scramble 

 rivaling in intensity that of the football players in buck- 

 ing the line for a touchdown. 



E^^ Farming in Greater ISew York 



Profitable Results Obtained from Intensive Poultry Raising by the Pr 

 in the City of Brooklyn, New York. 



ipal of a Public School 



Rudolph P. Ellis 



THREE years' experience in poultry keeping does 

 not entitle me to speak otherwise than as a novice; 

 and I am induced to set forth what has been ac- 

 complished on our plant solely because I believe that an 

 account of our methods will prove interesting — and I trust 

 of some aid — to the many who, this year, will try their 

 hand at poultry raising. It is also because I am firmly 

 convinced that there are money and pleasure to be ob- 

 tained from poultry, worked as a side line, and that there 

 are very many who could add considerably to their in- 

 come by employing their leisure in well-directed efiforts 

 at poultry raising. 



My interest in poultry extends back many years. As 

 a boy I used to figure out profits on paper; and contrary 

 to the usual experience of those who try to realize on 

 their "paper profits," I have exceeded even my boyish 

 dreams. I will frankly admit, at the start, that I am an 

 enthusiast about the hen — as a commercial proposition. 

 Who would not be, if she showed a profit of $3.74 in 

 one's novice year, and does better each succeeding season? 



Where to Locate — Variety to Breed 



It is necessary at the start to determine which line is 

 to be followed — the fancy or the commercial. There is 

 a great deal of pleasure and honor, and a good income 

 for a number, to be obtained in the "fancy," but we chose 

 the "commercial" end because we knew there were a 

 number of well known commercial plants that were pay- 

 ing very well and the market for fresh eggs is practically 

 unlimited. All that is said in this article, therefore, is said 

 from the commercial standpoint. 



Once your aim is settled, the first problem that con- 

 fronts you is location. Where shall you start? Start 

 where you are. Our beginning was on a plot sixty feet 

 by fifty. Anybody, it seems to me, can secure that much 

 ground. To the city man, espec'^^lly, I would say: Do 

 not make the mistake of rushing i, the country to start 

 the poultry business. Try it in a city suburb — where you 

 can get a high price for your eggs, whether you have a 

 dozen or a case to sell. 



A great deal has been written about the merits of the 

 various breeds. Personally, I do not care for the poultry 

 (meat) end of the business — #iere is too much competition 

 with the cold storage product. We adopted the egg end 

 of the business as our main line, because of the high 

 prices that can be obtained for a fresh egg in the city. 

 If eggs are desired, few will dispute the claim that the 

 Single Comb White Leghorn is the bird to choose. Her 

 merits are briefly summed up as follows: 



1 — -She is smaller and costs less to maintain and 

 less to house. 



2 — She is active and stands confinement well. 



3 — When once raised she will stand rougher treat- 

 ment than birds of the American type. 



4 — She does not need the care in feeding just the 

 proper amount that a Plymouth Rock does to keep in 

 condition. 



5 — She matures six to eight weeks earlier than any 

 of the American class of fowl, which means she can be 

 hatched just so much later in the spring — a mighty im- 

 portant advantage on an egg plant. To secure winter 

 layers of the. Rock class, one must hatch them in February 

 and March, when fertility and weather conditions are not 

 at their best. An April or May Leghorn will lay by No- 

 vember. All these things we discovered before starting, 

 so we chose the Leghorn. 



It has been well said that the strain counts for more 

 than the breed. All Leghorns are not good layers. Prize 

 winning strains at the great shows are not necessarily 

 good egg layers. You can breed five points on a bird's 

 comb. You can breed shape and color. You can also 

 breed perforrhance — the egg laying habit. Therefore se- 

 lect your stock from a proven strain of layers. It is 

 mighty important to the commercial poultrymen whether 

 a certain amount of time and labor and money will pro- 

 duce a hundred eggs per year from a hen or whether the 

 same investment will produce one hundred fifty eggs. It 

 is not claiming too much to say there is that difference in 

 the performance of different strains under the same con- 



