346 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



What variety of fowl arrives at the earliest maturity ? At what 

 age ought a hen to begin to lay, in order that her eggs, moder- 

 ately produced, should pay for her cost previous to her laying 

 and afterwards ? To what age in general might hens be kept 

 for their eggs, before they cease to be profitable ? At what 

 period of their growth is it most economical to kill chickens for 

 their flesh ? What season of the year is the best for raising 

 chickens to supply a stock of laying hens ? What effect has 

 the rearing of two or more broods of chickens during the sum- 

 mer, on the productiveness of a laying hen for the remainder of 

 the year ? Will she make up by her fruitfulness in the autumn 

 and winter, for her rest in the summer ? Is the effect of stimu- 

 lants, like pepper, to increase the annual amount of eggs pro- 

 duced by the fowl, or is it merely to hasten the production of 

 them at a particular period ? The answers to these questions 

 should be learned by experience, since it is only by attention to 

 such minute details in the management of poultry, that they 

 can be made a profitable stock. 



8. The art of feeding other kinds of stock, though it has 

 received more attention from our farmers, is very far from being 

 well understood. It is doubtful if experiments with reference 

 to this art have ever been conducted very methodically in this 

 country. Some of the valuable and economical practices of the 

 European peasantry might be tried, and introduced to the atten- 

 tion of the public. The profitableness of stall-feeding for cows 

 has not yet been the subject of general experiment. This is not 

 a matter of so much consequence here as in Europe, though in 

 the neighborhood of our cities pastures are not easily obtained, 

 nor very accessible. Many families are deterred from keeping 

 a cow, which might be made a source of considerable profit to 

 them, by supposing that one cannot be well kept without a pas- 

 ture. In relation to this point it is important to ascertain 

 what is the influence of stall-feeding upon the healthy condition 

 of a cow ? Will she bear confinement in a stall and yard with- 

 out incurring disease ? Are there any means of supplying a 

 cow with that sort of moderate exercise, in a state of confine- 

 ment, which would compensate for the want of that which is 

 obtained in the pasture ? 



What are the effects of different kinds of food upon the quan- 

 tity and quality of milk ? The German peasants feed their 



