No. 4.] MODERN POULTRY CULTURE. 115 



make such bountiful returns as poultry. You can turn it 

 every three months. It is a cash product, a concentrated 

 product. I can grow a pound of chicken or duck just as 

 cheaply as I can grow a pound of beef or pork, and a little 

 cheaper, and it will command three times as much on the 

 market. We grow a surplus of wheat and corn, but we do 

 not grow enough poultry for home use. We import large 

 quantities of eggs from Sweden. We ship corn to Europe, 

 and they return it to us in eggs. 



In regard to the number of fowls to be kept in one build- 

 ing, I think Mr. Cushman went hardly far enough. If one 

 is an amateur, a pair of fowls is all that he should be en- 

 trusted with ; if he is an expert, he can easily keep fifty in 

 one building. I do not like the word " disinfectant." They 

 should be kept clean enough without disinfecting. 



Question. Are not Black Leghorns a good fowl ? Are 

 they not hardier than the White Leghorns ? 



Mr. Cushman. I think any black fowl is hardier than a 

 white fowl, other conditions being equal. The only reason 

 I prefer White Leghorns to any other Leghorn is that a 

 yellow-legged fowl will sell best in market. For myself, 

 I had just as soon have a black-legged fowl to eat, if it is 

 plump. We do not know but the market will change, and 

 call for black-legged fowls. The Black Leghorn will lay 

 more eggs, but smaller, than the Black Minorca. A Leg- 

 horn does not amount to much when you kill it. If one 

 eats his own fowls, it does not matter what the market calls 

 for. But if fowls are raised for the market we have to 

 change as the market changes, no matter how unreasonable 

 the fancies and fads are. I do not believe there is a man 

 living who knows all the good and all the bad qualities of 

 all the different breeds. They will act differently in differ- 

 ent climates. I would not say I could describe six breeds, 

 and not be wrong. I bred White Leghorns for ten years for 

 exhibition, and perhaps I am a little in favor of White 

 Leghorns, for that reason. I think the Black Leghorn is 

 hardier than the White Leghorn. 



Secretary Sessions. The president of the Massachusetts 

 Fruit Growers' Association requests me to state that there 

 will be a meeting of the directors of the association to- 



