85 



manure is gypsum or land plaster, which may be bought for 50 

 cents per 100 pounds. Scatter a few handfuls of plaster over the 

 droppings before you remove them in the morning, and see that 

 it is thoroughly incorporated. The result is a compound as valu- 

 able as any commercial fertilizer. The droppings from a fowl 

 in one year, when treated in this way, are worth one-half what it 

 costs to feed her. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE END OF THE TWO HUNDRED EGG HEN. 



The poultryman who keeps from 300 to 500 head of laying 

 stock will have a good deal of poultry to dispose of, especially if 

 he follows my advice in this book to keep pullets, principally, for 

 layers. It will be quite a problem to dispose of this stock to the 

 best advantage. In passing I would remark that the poultryman 

 should keep his own table well supplied. Plump and juicy 

 broilers and roasters are just as good for him as they are for any 

 one else. There is no reason why the poultryman's table should 

 not rejoice once a week with broilers or roasters. During the 

 summer there is in most towns a good market for poultry. The 

 poultryman should steadily cull from his flock, and about moult- 

 ing time have a grand "round up," selling the fowls for what 

 they will bring, except those he wishes to keep over for breeders. 

 Quite a number of live cockerels may be disposed of among the 

 farmers in the fall if the poultryman keeps a popular breed and 

 will sell for a fair price. 



KILLING AND DRESSING FOWLS FOR MARKET. 



i. Take the bird from the roost at night, 36 hours before it 

 is to be killed, and shut it up in comfortable quarters. The next 

 morning give it a good breakfast, but nothing more to eat after 

 this until it is killed. Let it have all the water it will drink. The 

 water will add greatly to the fowl's comfort and assist in evacu- 

 ating the bowels. The confinement is for the purpose of having 

 the fowl at hand and of emptying the crop. 



