72 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



health to the blood — shall circulate in the delicate 

 tissues of the brain, and aid, by entering into some 

 new combination, in educing the thoughts which 

 are now being uttered by the pen. It is but an 

 atom of charcoal — it may dwell one moment in a 

 stagnant ditch, and the next be flushing on the lip 

 of beauty — it may now be a component of a lime- 

 stone rock, and the next moment an ingredient in 

 a field of potatoes — it may slumber for a thousand 

 years without undergoing a single change, and the 

 next hour pass through a thousand ; and, after all, 

 it is only an atom of charcoal, and occupies only 

 its own place, wherever it maybe. — Fam. Jour. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A SECOND EXPERIMENT IN POULTRY. 



Mr. Brown : — I sent to the Farmer, last Janu- 

 ary, an account of the profits of my poultry-yard 

 for 1850 ; and as experiments need to be followed 

 up in order to conduct us to safe conclusions, I send 

 you the results of 1851, with some deductions from 

 the facts. The year began with 60 fowls, mostly 

 crosses, natives and Polands, and some half-dozen 

 Shanghaes, the value of which I was more particu- 

 larly desirous of testing. The most of the old stock 

 were killed off by June, which accounts for the 

 falling off in the laying. They laid in 



January, 



February, 



March, 



April, 



May, 



June, 



EGOS. 



420 

 276 

 432 

 492 

 480 

 252 



July, 



August, 



September, 



October, 



November, 



December, 



EGGS. 



204 

 216 

 60 

 48 

 144 

 192 



Making in all 3216 eggs, or 268 dozen. On the 

 31st of December the account stands thus : 



To 60 fowls, valued at 



Interest on the same, - 



Eggs bought and freight on fowls, 



16 bushels corn and cob meal, 



18 bushels corn, - 



10 bushels barley, - 



26 bushels screenings from grain store, 



2 bushels oats, - 



1448 lbs. ship-bread, - 



61 fowls sold and used, 

 268 doxen eggs, - 

 5 loails of manure, - 

 £6 fowls on hand, mostly Dorkings and ) -■ -, Q nn 

 Shanghaes, - 5 lld ' UU 



Dr. 

 $50,00 



- 3,00 

 1,50 



- 13,34 

 13,65 



- 8,50 

 10,22 



- 1,00 

 18,85 



$120,06 

 Cr. 

 $26,55 

 - 48,76 

 5,00 



$188,31 

 120,06 



$68,25 



Deduet old stoek and expenses, 



Profits, 



1 . Assuming the mean of the number of fowls at 

 the beginning and close of each year as the average 

 number kept for the year, the expense of each fowl 

 to 1850 was about 92 cents, and in 1851, 89 cents. 

 As much the larger portion of my fowls this year 

 are Shanghae, it is quite evident that it costs but 

 little more to keep this kind of fowls than the na- 

 tives. My experiment would prove the Shanghaes 

 the easier fowl to keep. But it will be noticed that 

 I have used screenings and ship-bread as articles of 

 food for them, which I did not use at all last year. 

 But making all allowance for this, there cannot be 



much difference in the expense of keeping the na- 

 tive fowl that will weigh 8 or 10 lbs. to the pair, 

 and the Shanghaes that will weigh 18 or 20 to the 

 pair. This may seem an erroneous conclusion to 

 those who judge of the gormandizing propensities 

 of the Shanghae from the size of his body rather 

 than from actual experiment. They are not extrava- 

 gant feeders, but will give you a much larger quan- 

 tity of flesh and eggs upon a given amount of food 

 than any native stock I have ever tried. At any 

 rate if this stock can be kept for any thing less than 

 a dollar a head a year, they will prove a very valu- 

 able accession to our poultry yards. 



2. I think the experiment shows the economy of 

 using screenings from grain stores and ship-bread 

 as feed for fowls. I have somewhere read accounts 

 of experiments upon grain, and the annual average 

 of each fowl in several instances reached about 

 $1,10. In all seaports and places near the large 

 cities where these articles are to be had, they will 

 prove cheaper food than corn at the common pri- 

 ces in New England. The screenings contain a 

 great variety of grain, which is an essential to suc- 

 cess in raising poultry. They will not thrive in 

 the best manner upon one kind of food. The 

 screenings cost from 25 to 37£ cents a bushel, ac- 

 cording to quality. The ship-bread is cooked food, 

 and there is probably some advantage in this. It 

 costs generally in the New York market $1,12£ per 

 hundred pounds. 



3. The experiment shows that it is entirely prac- 

 ticable to have eggs in winter without artificial 

 heat. The fowls had a barn cellar for their roost, 

 and the range of a sunny yard, well sheltered from 

 the north winds during the day. It will be ob- 

 served that the laying during the coldest months 

 compares very favorably with April and May, the 

 months in which fowls usually lay the most eggs. 

 Eggs in winter command a much higher price than 

 in the spring, and make a great difference in the 

 profits. 



4. It pays well to take agricultural papers. — 

 The profits of the yard last year were $43,40; 

 this year $68,25 ; showing an increase of $24,85. 

 This increase is owing principally to skill in the 

 management of fowls derived from the reading of 

 agricultural papers and books. Without these I 

 should have had no faith in the economy of keep- 

 ing fowls, and should not have increased their 

 number. Without these I should have lacked the 

 requisite knowledge to make them pay their own 

 way and pay me for the care of them. The papers 

 cost but a trifle in comparison with the ' ' material 

 aid" they bring to every tiller of the soil or grower 

 of stock. The mightiest sinews of war, in man's 

 battle with the clods, is agricultural science. Give 

 him this, and he will pursue man's primitive voca- 

 tion of subduing the earth with the highest plea- 

 sure and profit. The farmer's stock in papers is 

 altogether the most profitable he can keep, for it 

 will not only pay its own way, but make every- 

 thing else worth keeping, follow the example. 



w. c. 

 Stonington, &., Dec. Zlst, 1851. 



Antipathy of Plants. — The vine is wont to 

 catch hold of anything nearest, except the cabbage, 

 from which it will turn away, as if in strong aver- 

 sion, and trail on the ground, rather than seek 

 support from such a neighbor. 



