336 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



POULTRY KEEPING ON THE FARM. 



BY AUTHUR A. BRIGHAM, PH.D., KINGSTON, R. I. 



When requested to write "an article that will give hints 

 to beginners and be a help to those who are about starting 

 or thinking of starting in poultry and egg production," my 

 thoughts immediately we'nt back to some of the experiences 

 of my boyhood days on tlie old farm in Massachusetts. My 

 memory recalls very vividly how one of my attempts to com- 

 bine horticulture and poultry culture was brought to a sorrow- 

 ful end, because of rats. As an ambitious young gardener, 

 I had constructed a hot-bed, made two sashes to fit it, and 

 had woven of rye straw a thick mat to cover the whole during 

 cold nights. My early farming under glass prospered, and 

 the plants had been transplanted to the open garden, where 

 they were all, with the exception of the cucumbers, thriving 

 finely. A severe frost one night destroyed the cucumbers 

 completely, thereby teaching the young gardener a season- 

 able lesson, and perhaps saving several members of the family 

 from the dangers of " summer complaint" later. 



The early hatched chickens were doing finely in their reg- 

 ular quarters. A neighbor had that spring obtained some 

 nice Buff Cochin fowls, and later in the season kindly fur- 

 nished me with a sitting of their eggs. These were given to 

 the care of a motherly sitting hen, and in due time four little 

 golden puff-balls showed themselves. Where to place the 

 yellow-feathered treasures was a puzzle, until the empty hot- 

 bed was thought of as just the place to keep them safe and 

 happy. Here for several days they flourished, to the great 

 satisfaction of their young owner ; but pride goes before a 

 fall. One day the four pretty creatures were found stark 

 dead. The youthful poultryman had forgotten that as a 

 gardener he had sought to poison the rats which invaded his 



