16 



POULTRY FARMING 



two hundred to five hundred together, in long, shed-roof laying 

 houses. The soil is very sandy and the winters mild, thus offer- 

 ing ideal conditions for such large flocks. The district comprises 

 about ten square miles. It is estimated that over one hundred 

 thousand adult Leghorn fowls are here kept under these inten- 

 sive conditions. 



FIG. 14. Each house is a 200-bird unit (Vineland). 



Hunterdon County. There is another section in the same 

 State which comprises the whole of one county, namely, that of 

 Hunterdon, in the north-central part of New Jersey. It is pri- 

 marily a section for general and dairy farming. But upon each 

 farm there are usually kept from two hundred to one thousand 

 laying hens, white Leghorns predominating. The object is white 



FIG. 15. A house holding one thousand birds at Vineland. 



more general use. 



Large units are coming into 



eggs for the New York City markets. This county alone winters 

 over three hundred thousand laying hens. The methods practised 

 in this district are noticeably extensive, the farms being large and 

 the birds being given unlimited range. This is one of the oldest 

 egg-producing sections of note in America, and the extensive 

 methods practised for years are still proving the most profitable 

 under the existing conditions. 



