IVIio Should Keep Hens? 115 



every egg that they lay will carry part of his skill in the shape of "pedi- 

 gree," which we may call condensed performance. It always happens that 

 when a careful man develops a flock of poultry so that they can earn more 

 than the average, others are willing to pay extra for the stcck. This repu- 

 tation helps the sale of everything else that is grown on the farm. 



BREEDING BUSINESS HENS.— The experience of C. H. VVyckoff, 

 who became famous as a White Leghorn breeder, makes this point strong- 

 er. He started as a dairyman on a poor farm. There were 18 hens on the 

 farm, which did little besides scratching up the garden. Mrs. Wyckoff 

 had these hens put in a house with a yard and kept an account of eggs and 

 food. They paid a profit of 75 cents a hen, and this gave Mr. Wyckoff an 

 idea of what 500 good hens would do. He became satisfied that White 

 Leghorns would pay him better, and so he got good specimens and began 

 to study them and their needs. His case was quite different from that of 

 Mr. Cosgrove. While the latter was an elderly man in poor health, Mr. 

 Wyckoff was a young man, strong and vigorous, and with great capacity for 

 work. While Mr. Cosgrove could raise no grain, Mr. Wjxkoff could grow a 

 large part of what was needed on his farm. I refer to this to show that the 

 Business Hen suits all, the young, the old, the strong and the weak, pro- 

 vided they "love the hen." Six years after the 18 hens were put on record 

 Mr. Wyckoff had 600 hens, which gave him a yearly income of $2,140, with 

 a net profit of $1,070 after charging labor at $30 a month and interest on 

 investment. 



Mr. Wyckoff kept his hens in long yards or parks, growing plum or 

 other fruit trees therein. This gave a double crop and left the farm free 

 for a rotation of grain, hay and potatoes — the hens furnishing a good share 

 of the manure required. Mr. Cosgrove also keeps his hens in yards, but 

 makes no effort to cultivate the remainder of the farm. Mr. Wyckoff 

 became a poultry expert. His careful study of the hen made him in time 

 one of the most capable judges of Leghorns in the country. He never 

 intended to go into the business of selling eggs for hatching; in fact he 

 was quite annoyed when, after the story of his success was printed in The 

 R. N.-Y., people wanted to buy eggs and stock. The hens were paying well 

 at providing eggs for eating purposes, but this very fact gave them an 

 added value as breeders, and Mr. Wyckoff found that his hens had made 

 him famous. Even the best of the young roosters, which were formerly 

 sold as broilers, were easily sold at a dollar or more for breeders. This 

 is always the experience of those who develop a good strain of poultry. 



THE ENTIRE FARM.— Thus far we have discussed the plan thought 

 best by many of yarding the hens on a small part of the farm and leaving 

 the rest of the land idle or to be devoted to crop growing. The reverse 

 of this plan is followed by O. W. Mapes, who tells us elsewhere about one 

 day's wnrk. Mr. Mapes has a pasture farm, rocky and in places quite thin. 



