28 REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 



COSSETS. 



^d premium to N. B. Reed, Princeton, $1 00 



J. P. Reed, Princeton, gratuity, 1 00 



HUMPHREY HARRIS, /or the Committee. 



POULTRY. 



The labors of tlic Committee on Poultry were by no means ex- 

 hausting. As usual, there was but very little competition or inter- 

 est. It would hardly seem worth while to offer premiums, Avere it 

 not that this class of farm stock is deserving of more attention 

 than it receives. It has been demonstrated over and over again 

 that no animals kept upon the ' farm are capable of yielding so 

 great a return upon the capital employed. 



The writer has made something of a study of this matter for a 

 series of years, and has invariably found, from actual recorded 

 results, that there has never been less than one hundred per cent, 

 profit realized upon the capital involved; and it has often gone as 

 hii:h as one hundred and iifty or more. Of what other stock kept 

 can such a result be shown? Although this state of things is 

 freely admitted, yet there is a very general feeling that it is a small 

 business, can only be pursued on a small scale, and will do for 

 women, children, and a class of men whose time has but a limited 

 value. There is also a very prevalent sentiment that poultry in 

 any considerable numbers cannot be kept upon one farm, and there- 

 fore the subject is unworthy of serious attention. 



It is quite true that poultry in large numbers together have 

 never permanently succeeded ; but it is also a fact that a family of 

 say a dozen in number can be kept in perfect condition, and with 

 profitable results, Avhile partially or entirely confined to a move- 

 able or even a stationary coop. This is frequently to be seen in 

 villages where the fowls are necessarily kept from ranging at all. 

 If a single dozen of fowls will succeed under such circumstances, 

 there is no plausible reason that can be urged why another dozen 

 cannot be kept at a small distance, and still another, and so on 

 indefinitely ; the only question to be determined being the smallest 

 space to which each family can be limited, and entire success fol- 

 low. To make the keeping of a dozen or a score of hens a satis- 

 factory operation under these conditions, we must become familiar 



