118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Question. Do you consider alfalfa an economical feed 

 for hens ? 



Mr. Davenport. The best quality of alfalfa or the best 

 quality of anything, at a legitimate price, is cheaper than 

 any cheap grain. I buy alfalfa meal, paying whatever we 

 have to, from $30 to $'3-i a ton for it. 



Question. Do you not find that the hens waste the dry 

 mash ? 



Mr. Davenport. I have never had any trouble ; but it is 

 all easily avoided by putting in a rack to prevent scratching, 

 such as I described in the lecture. 



Question. Do you uniformly keep your pullets over ? 



Mr. Davenport. The good pullets, those which I think 

 are layers, stay over ; the hen that moults in August, and then 

 takes a rest, — you can look at her comb and detect her, — is 

 not a hen which I wish to keep, and she goes to market. 



Question. How am I to tell whether I am getting a good 

 meat scrap ? 1 have no objection to paying $3 a hundred ; 

 but I cannot get a scrap that seems to satisfy me. 



Mr. Davenport. I solved the scrap problem by leaving it 

 to the hens. I was buying a high-priced scrap, and tried a 

 cheaper one that smelled soapy and did not seem good to me, 

 but which I found analyzed better than the others. The hens 

 seemed to like it just as well, and I felt that if they were sat- 

 isfied, I was. 



Mr. Daniels. My brother has devoted most of his energy 

 to hens, and he has found that ensilage is just as good for hens 

 as for cows, and clover ensilage particularly. Oftentimes when 

 you are cutting clover for the third time it will be six or seven 

 inches high, and a very leafy growth, if the season is right, — 

 not long enough to cut for the stable, but just right for ensil- 

 age for hens. I believe it is practicable to have a big hogs- 

 head, and pack the ensilage in that, — although we have 

 never tried it ; then use the mannre spreader, and you can do 

 for the clover top what the clover top would do for you. 



Mr. Davenport. I would as soon have that clover to feed 

 to my hens as the alfalfa, for which T pay from $30 to $34 a 

 ton. 



