264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



the work, with the August and Septeml)cr chickens. I think 

 that is the most profital)le way to grow tliem. 



The Chairman. There is one gentleman present who is 

 largely engaged in raising broilers for the market, — Mr. 

 Hines of Townsend. Will he give us some light on the 

 question ? 



Mr. HiXES. Our worthy chairman says I am largely en- 

 gaged in raising broilers. He is rather mistaken in that, for 

 I am only a child in the lousiness, as yet. I have raised a 

 few the past two or three years, and am preparing to engage 

 in it on a little larger scale. I think it is the most profitable 

 part, of the poultry business ; it has been to me, so far as I 

 have gone into it. There are two or three points in this 

 early-chicken business which I want more light upon. One 

 is this : If a hen has laid several litters of eggs for hatch- 

 ing, does that have such an effect on her next eggs that they 

 will not produce as vigorous chickens as the first litter? 

 Another question which I would like to have answered is 

 this : Does the feeding of hens to produce a large number of 

 eggs tend to made them incapable of producing strong, 

 vigorous chickens? If I could get light upon those two 

 questions, and also upon the question of using artificial in- 

 cubation, I should feel that the poultry business was a pretty 

 good business for me to engage in. ]My trouble has been, 

 in attempting to get early chickens, in getting a good per 

 cent of my eggs to hatch. I can get them earl}", my 

 chickens grow from one to two weeks, some of them up to 

 eighteen or twenty days, and then they die in the shell. If 

 any man will tell me what the cause of that is, he will help 

 me considerably. I have been led to think that that depends 

 largely upon the feed we give our hens, and upon the quan- 

 tity of eggs they have laid previously, as well as upon the 

 temperature and moisture of the incubator. I think all 

 these points come in largely in this early-chicken business. 



I will give you the benefit of a little experience I had last 

 spring, which perhaps will illustrate this point as well as 

 anything I can say. ]My hens commenced laying in October 

 and November last fall. In February I commenced filling 

 my incubator. My first hatching did not give me a very 

 good percentage of chickens. I had a neighbor who had a 



