1876.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



9 



VorTHK I,ANr.\sTEB Farmeu. 

 WHY DON'T MY CHICKENS LAY? 



Tlial is tlie (luestion I have been askiii<; my- 

 self witli iiiiiisual fie(iiiency as tlic lioliclays 

 draw iiigli, and in view of tlie e(inally iinpui-- 

 tant fact tljat I am asl<e(l .'i") or 40 cents a 

 diizen for efr^s every tinn- I go to market. 

 The solntion of this eonmulrum lias fjiven nie 

 no inconsiderable anionnt of eareful thonfjlit, 

 and I am apiiarently ;is far from a satisfactory 

 explanation of the riddle as I was in the be- 

 ginniiij;, and feeldisiiosed to "fiive it up." In 

 the hoi)e that some reader of TllK F.MtMlcu 

 can see further into tlu^ question than myself, 

 and make plain what is now obscure, 1 will 

 state the facts bearing; on the case. 



Jly object in kee])in)i chickens being the pro- 

 duction of egfis and poultry for household use, 

 and not for sale or ;;'ecnlative pm-poses, I 

 limited myself from thi' bcixiinnnf; to twelve 

 hi'iis and one male bird, and by sodoinj; 1 have 

 been enabled to compare each year's results 

 with its laedeces.sors. I have never kept any 

 of the so-called "fancy" varieties, but have 

 cultivated the unpoetieal, old -fasliioned 

 "diuiRhills." I am free to say that these 

 have never yielded the seeminuly fabulous 

 number of e,ufj;s which hens are said to lay 

 .sometimes, nor have they come n|) to the liij- 

 ures which the scrupulous care and attention 

 I have given them would reasonably lead me 

 to exjiect. ('ompared with theaccomits given 

 ■ in poultry journals of iirolilic bens, mine make 

 il rather jioorshowing ; liut what is.slill worse, 

 the long period during the autumn and early 

 winter when they drop no eggs at all, makes 

 the kei'ping of them very unsatisfactory. 



Without having a regularly built hennery, I 

 nevertheless oiler such indncenients to my 

 chickens as should insure mo better returns. 

 My hen-house is a nice, warm and well-venti- 

 lated one, amply large to comfortably accom- 

 modate twice or thrice the number of fowls I 

 keep. 1 never shut them uii in it ; the small 

 door for ingress and egress is always ojjen, 

 and they avail themselves of this circum.stance 

 by never staying in the house except during 

 the night. I have a large, dry stable to which 

 they can resort dining the heat of sunuiier, 

 and where they are always found during the 

 cold days of winter or in rainy weather. They 

 have, besides, the nm of an ample grass lot, 

 and a liock of geese could not crop the young 

 grass more industriously than they do. In a 

 small yard there is a patch of open ground 

 wherein they can dust themselves when so iu- 

 eliued. To afford them the ojiportnuity of 

 doing the same in winter, I have fixed up a 

 corner in the stable whT're the}- can enjoy 

 themselves in a bath eomiiosed of street dust 

 and sifted coal ashes, and it is matter for 

 astonishment to see how constantly they avail 

 themselves of this luxury. 



In the matter of food, T depart .somewhat 

 from the regime laid down in the books. I do 

 not keep corn lying about the yard and stable 

 all the time ; I feed them twice a day, morn- 

 ing and evening, but never throw down more 

 at a time than they can eat. I exercise a wide 

 latitnte in the kind of food I give them, and 

 this is constantly varied. Every refn.se .scrap 

 of the kitchen is scrupulously saved ; a large 

 jian is generally on the kitchen stove, into 

 which apple, turnip and potato parings are 

 thrown, and whatever else in the way of bits 

 of meat, bread or mush that may be left at 

 meal time ; often a few handtuls of cracked 

 corn are added to render the eoinjionnd .still 

 more aceei)table. In the fall and winter, 

 when brewers' grains are to be had, I mix 

 them quite freely witli the contents of the 

 ])au, and I lind this mixtiue more acceptable 

 to them than anything else I can oiler them. 

 S)metinies I boil mush, and mix it with the 

 Virewers" grains; this is generally their morn- 

 ing nu'al in winter. In the evening, corn in 

 its natural state is given them; occasionally 

 this order of feeding is reversed. At all sea- 

 .sons pounded oyster shells are thrown to 

 them, and if they for some reason do ikjI get 

 them for a short time, they eat them with as 

 much avidity as corn when they are again 

 thrown dovvu. Two or three times a week i 



either ])cp]ier or [lowdered sidphur is thrown 

 into the pan on the stove and boiled witli 

 their food. In lieu of wood-charcoal. I burn 

 corn in a pan initil it is virtually turned into 

 charcoal, and give il to them ; this they eat 

 re.idily, while they object to lailural charcoal. 

 Owing, as I believe, to theplentilul feedingof 

 sulphur and pepper, my chickeus have never 

 beeji afTe<t<'d by any epidendc disease- ; they 

 are, besides, remarkably free from vermin ; 

 occasionally 1 have lost one, but that was 

 rarely. They at all times during the sumnu-r 

 have access to fresh water, and in winter 1 

 take care that they have all they need. 



Theabove, I think, is very lair treatment for 

 hens, and makes nic all the more cm iuus to 

 know why they stopi>ed laying <in Septeud)er 

 •JOtli, of this year, and have not, up to this 

 writing, Deceinber 2(ith, laid a single egg. 

 Last year they ipiit laying on October 1st, and 

 one hen, a spring pullet, began to lay on 

 December 28th and some of the rest towards 

 the close of January. None of my (■hickens 

 are more than tbrei; years old, while fully one- 

 half were raised last year; so this long "ces.sa- 

 tion from laying does not arise from the age of 

 the fowls. Last smunier I raised a brood of 

 pure 15lack Siianish, out of which I selected 

 four choice birds; they are now nearly or (piite 

 full grown, hut. so far have shown no symptoms 

 of going into the business for which they are 

 so noted. 



Notwithstanding the fact that such long 

 intervals have occurred during which my hens 

 did not lay, yet all things considered, they 

 have iiaid me well for my care. My twelve 

 hens laid during the year TSS eggs aiui 1 raised 

 forty young ones; at the market price of eggs 

 during the siiring and sunuuer, the i)roduet 

 would have been §15.00 at the very lowest, 

 while my yomif; chickens at twenty-iive cents 

 each were worth $10.00 more ; the food I imr- 

 cliased amounted to about $12.00, leaving a 

 very handsome profit. Last year I got oidy 

 V")4 eggs from the same number of hens; this 

 is an average of oidy O.'i eggs to each one, a 

 mmiber entirely to(( small. I had fowls, how- 

 ever, both dnring the i)ast and the iiresent 

 year, that laid as many as 75 and 80 eggs before 

 they wished to sit. 



But after all. the old difficulty still remains; 

 if it pays me to keep these hens, even with the 

 long holiday they allow themselves, it would 

 have paid me stiil better if they had laid con- 

 tinuously; as they did not do so, the query 

 arises, would any of the fancy breeds have 

 done better? Why, with all the care and 

 attention I give them do they not lay between 

 September and JanuaiyV jirewcr's grains I 

 was told would correct that defect ; I am satis- 

 fied it does not eontril)Ute to that result, but 

 it is admirably adapted to fattening ])()ultrv, 

 and the chickens that come on my table are 

 far superior to any I sec on market. There 

 yet remains one remedy imtri<'(l. which, unless 

 my cpiery is satisfactorily answered, I will put 

 into practice next fall. Once, on the far off 

 ))lains of Kansas, seeing an honest granger's 

 wife with a huge basket full of eggs, curiosity 

 tenqited me to ask how she contrived to get 

 so many eggs from the few liens that were 

 rniniing around. " I give," she said, while a 

 merry twinkle played about her laughing eyes, 

 "I give them plentv of corn and run tlieiu up 

 hill."—/'. H. n., Lmuwtcr, D«: 20, 1S75. 



For TiiK LANCASTEn Fahmkr. 

 ALL HAIL! CENTENNIAL YEAR, 1876! 

 The vear 187(1 has come iu and brings with 

 it the centennial birthday of our independent 

 nation. It will be an eventful one in the his- 

 toiy of our republic. It now rests with our- 

 selves to render it illustrious or flu' n-verse. 

 \ hundreil years ago the i>eo])le ot the original 

 thirteen Stales which were then settled, clam- 

 ored for self-government. A congress of .sages 

 assembled iu I'hiladeliihia, and after full con- 

 sultation, they madi' out a "Declaration of 

 Independence " and unanimously signed it. 

 That, with a conflict of arms in the field by the 

 lieroes of the tijne, .secured for us the inde 

 pendent republican governmeut which we now 

 enjoy. 



We lia ve resolved to commemorate that event 

 this year by an international exhibition, that 

 our country may step u](on the platform of 

 nations, and he recognized a.s an eipial with 

 others. Our National Congress is now in ses- 

 sion to sign asecond "declaration of indepen- 

 dence" iu the form of an aiipropriation sulti- 

 cient to lii'lp defray the expeiKse of preparing 

 ftn- the Kxposition. We fain hope that every 

 member of the present Congress is a patriotic 

 g<'utl<inan, and has (he honor of the nation 

 and his own manly digrdty at heart ; anil that 

 all of them will siiow their loyalty in voting 

 for the appropriation as promptly and unani- 

 mously as did the gallant heroes" and siiges of 

 a hundred years ago. 



Will any free-born Amerieati sell his birth- 

 right now, when the nation is at the height of 

 its glory? Will any adopted citizen seek to 

 demean the land which has rais<'d him from a 

 sxihjfH to a Sdvi n iijn .' Was ever there a wiuni 

 so noble and grand as ours is'? It lias »ur- 

 mouutecl all ilillicullies that have come In its 

 way, and withstood all a.s.saults tliat Lave 

 sought to .sever it. 



Oil ! cl'irify the I'liUm, wlileli palrldU fnrnic<l ; 



(illd the rciimls of the past, the preiii'iit uiiil nil ; 

 Oil ! wihdoiii ptill guide iib ami virtue prcborve us, 



Dear brotherly-love liiiid us — ward oil uurduwurull. 

 — lla/fcr KliUr, riiilailelpliia, Jan. 1, 1870. 



For TllK l.ANrAHTKIl Fahmeb. 



LOOK OUT FOR CANADA THISTLE. 



Eastera Pennsylvania is likely to be over- 

 run with '"Canada Thistle " (Cirsiwn nrvense). 

 Lancaster county, as well as the rest of the 

 counties ot Kastern I'emisylvania, are receiving 

 hay in bales from Rochester, New York, and 

 other western jiarts of that Slate. It exi.sts 

 in abundance from Eliuira to (ii'iieva and 

 Rochester, and iu all the surrounding coun- 

 ties from whence hay is shijiped to the ea-st. 

 The hay is bought by county towns and coun- 

 try villages, from whence the manure is haul- 

 ed out among the faniiei-s, scattering the seeds 

 broadcast among them. When once on a 

 farm, it will take years to make it clean again, 

 as they are not easily destroyed. We may 

 feel assured of this, else we would not (iud 

 them growing in all Western New York. — 

 L. S. I{., Ornjiiii, ]'a.. Junmu-ii '.\, 1870. 



[We hardly think that Canada thistle conld 

 be brought here in baled hay. especially not in 

 the "fust crop," because that is cut before 

 the thistle is in .seed, or "fniil," as the Hotan- 

 ists say. In "second ero)! " it would In- more 

 likely; but we have had ihis noxious weeil in 

 this county long since. AlMiiit fifteen years 

 ago we noticed a most niagniliieut held of 

 Canada thi.stle north of Lancaster, and not 

 more than half a mile beyond the city boun- 

 dary.— jE('.] 



SUCCESSFUL ORCHARDS. 



The Rochester /fura/ //omf gives an account 

 of the orchard of S. C. Davis, in Orleans coun- 

 ty, N. Y. He has ill) acres in orchard, con- 

 taining 2,50') apple trees, 500 of which were 

 planted iu 1858, and the remainder in 18(i2 

 and 181)8, The young apple orchards <-over 

 .55 acres, and are chielly eompo.sed of the Raid- 

 win. Rhode Island, (ireeuing and Roxbury 

 Russet, with some autumn apples. He ha.s 

 besides these 2.7IHI trees or hushes of the Or- 

 ange quince, covering 10 acres, and planted 

 six and ten yeai^s ago. The crops from these 

 quinces the last two sea.sons were .">0 and 5:{ 

 barrels. Resides these, there are 2,<KH1 pcadi 

 trees, 350 planted in 18.58, the rest in 18(;5 and 

 18()8. The lirst ."(50 have vielded in all vears 

 over S4,(HM). There are iilso 2,(KHl slaiidard 

 pear trees, LiHHl of which are Hartletts. 

 From the first planted (UK) in lS(i4) UK) bar- 

 rels have been picked. We are not informed 

 what the apple trees yielded, nor what the 

 quinces sold for. 



SrBSCRinEn!» will jilease renew their sub- 

 scriptions for 187(i. (Jannot each oue send us 

 au additional subscriber ? 



