206 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



The writer has invariably found, from actual recorded results, 

 that there has never been less than one hundred per cent, profit 

 realized upon the capital involved ; and it has often gone as high 

 as one hundred and fifty or more. Of what other stock kept 

 can such a result be shown ? Although this state of things is 

 freely admitted, yet there is a very general feeling that it is a 

 small business, can only be pursued on a small scale, and will 

 do for women, children, and a class of men whose time has but 

 a limited value. There is also a very prevalent sentiment that 

 poultry in any considerable numbers canirot be kept upon one 

 farm, and therefore the subject is unworthy of serious attention. 



It is quite true that poultry in large numbers together have 

 never permanently succeeded ; but it is also a fact that a family 

 of say a dozen in number can be kept in perfect condition, and 

 with profitable results, while partially or entirely confined to a 

 movable or even a stationar}^ coop. This is frequently to be 

 seen in villages, where the fowls are necessarily kept from rang- 

 ing at all. If a single dozen of fowls will succeed under such 

 circumstances, there is no plausible reason that can be urged 

 why another dozen cannot be kept at a small distance, and still 

 another, and so on indefinitely ; the only question to be deter- 

 mined being the smallest space to which each family can be 

 limited, and entire success follow. To make the keeping of a 

 dozen or a score of hens a satisfactory operation under these 

 conditions, we must become familiar with their habits and re- 

 quirements. A few hens running at large over a farm, will get 

 a fair living with little or no feeding, but will not yield the best 

 results. There are two great essentials so far as their food is 

 concerned. One is that they shall have all that they can con- 

 sume in quantity, and the other is that they shall have a variety 

 sufficient to supply all their needs. It is evident that if they are 

 to be confined to a larger or smaller space, it is feasible to sup- 

 ply them with food in unlimited quantities, and that it is en- 

 tirely possible to give them all the variety necessary, if we only 

 know what that is. The failures in feeding almost always grow 

 out of the failure to supply an adequate variety, rather than a 

 sufficient quantity. 



A hen should be looked upon as an egg-factory, or as a 

 machine for producing eggs. If the machine is in a proper 

 state of repair (i. e., if the hen is in good health), tlien the 



