1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 263 



manure, and when it is removed this dry earth will afford the 

 hens a good opportunity to dust, and the building will be 

 kept clear of vermin. 



■ Now, as to this question of overproduction, farmers raise 

 the question almost everyAvhere, — " Well, supposing every 

 farmer goes into the business, wdiat is going to be the re- 

 sult ? " I know farmers who have been debating the question 

 of the expediency of going into the poultry business for five 

 years, and have not dared to do so because they feared there 

 Avas going to be overproduction ; and yet we import sixteen 

 million dozens of eggs annually, for which we pay about 

 fifteen cents a dozen, amounting to some $2,400,000. Now, 

 until we can meet the demand at home, let us not cry 

 *' overproduction." What we want to do w'ith our hens is 

 just what some farmers have succeeded in doing with their 

 cows. We want to shift them from summer production to 

 winter production, as cows are shifted from summer to 

 winter dairying. We want to shift our hens so as to get the 

 largest number of eggs in winter. I believe it to be possi- 

 ble to do this by a system of breeding that w^ill bring our 

 hens to laying in November, and then feeding them for the 

 production of eggs during the w^inter months. There can Ije 

 no such thing as an overproduction of a choice article ; it is 

 practically impossible. The choicest Avill always be wanted, 

 w'hether it be eggs, butter, or brains. 



Secretary Sessions. Can you recommend any particular 

 date for the hatching of chicks for early eggs ? 



Dr. Tavitchell. A pullet comes to laying usually Avhen 

 it is fiA^e months old ; some earlier and some later, but that 

 would be about the average. The Leo:horns would come a 

 little earlier, the Asiatics a little later. You want, then, to 

 hatch your chickens in May for fall layers. Chickens 

 hatched in May should come to laying in October or the first 

 of November ; at least, if they are kept in good condition 

 and if the buildings are kept fairly comfortable, — not over- 

 heated. I should dread that more than I should the cold. 

 If they are kept in good, comfortable condition, and atten- 

 tion is paid to feeding, they should lay right along for two 

 or three months. By that time the hens that you haA^e sum- 

 mered over (and almost everybody keeps a fcAv) Avill take up 



