28 



THE CUBA R E V I E VV 



Poultry Wisdom. 



Some one has ligurcd that tlic Anuri- 

 can hen in a year earns enough to buy all 

 the silver and gold dug out of our mines, 

 all the sheep in the country and their 

 wool, and leaves a balance equal to tlic 

 entire year's crop of rye, barley, buck- 

 wheat and potatoes. Or, as a hen en- 

 thusiast writes us, "She pays the inter- 

 est on all the farm mortgages and pays 

 the entire state and county taxes of the 

 whole Union. 



Secretary Wilson says that she is pm- 

 ducing one-half billion dollars annually, 

 and she is a formidable competitor of 

 wheat for precedence on the farm. 



Thoroughbred Fowls Prontable. 



The reason a farmer should buy thor- 

 oughbreds for his parent stock is simply 

 because superior qualities in poultry can 

 be obtained in no other way. 



It is not because the feathers are white, 

 black, barred or bufif, or because so and 

 so's grandfather won the blue ribbon. 

 Chickens are not judged for their mar- 

 ket qualities in poultry shows. If some- 

 one would create a strain from mongrels 

 that would be uniform in appearance, 

 lay eggs of uniform color, size and shape, 

 and possess desirable market qualities, it 

 would make very little difference to the 

 farmer whether they were recognized as 

 thoroughbreds or not. 



The summary of the market situation 

 is that, with an average weight for adult 

 fowls, including mongrels, at four and 

 one-half pounds, it will pay better to 

 raise stock that will average six to eight 

 pounds, such as W'j-andottes or Ply- 

 mouth Rocks. 



Thoroughbreds will weigh more than 

 mongrels on similar feed rations and 

 bring a better price, say the commission 

 merchants and packers. 



The reasons are that the jneld of meat 

 is greater, with less bone, they sell for 

 more at retail, are more shapelj'. more 

 uniform, in fact in every way more de- 

 sirable for market purposes. 



All the leading packers agreed that 

 thoroughbreds would weigh more than 

 mongrels on similar feed rations. Some 

 estimated their weight at ~^ per cent, 

 more. 



A Pennsj'lvania egg-laying contest 

 some years ago brought out twenty pens 

 of chickens that produced over 200 eggs 

 a year per hen. The tirst six were as 

 follows : Eight white Plymouth Rock 

 pullets laid an average of 290 eggs a 

 year each; eight cross-bred Leghorn pul- 

 lets laid an average of 283 eggs per j-ear 

 per hen: nine white Plymouth Rock pul- 

 lets laid an average of 280 eggs per year 



'Ihe I'-irst Prize V\'liite Lcghoni lock at the 

 St. I-oui.s World's Fair. Sold for Two Hundred 

 Dollars. 



per hen ; eight single-comb Brown Leg- 

 iiorn pullets laid an average of 279 eggs 

 per year per hen; twenty-four single-comb 

 brown Leghorns laid an average of 277 

 eggs per year per hen. and twelve barred 

 Plymouth Rocks laid an average of 266 

 eggs per hen per year. According to 

 statistics, the ordinary mongrel hen in 

 the United States under ordinary farm 

 conditions will not average 75 eggs a 

 year. 



What you want is poultry of good 

 marketable size with the hens bred to 

 laj- eggs of uniform shape and color, 

 from stock that has an egg producing 

 record. Then get the paint brush, and 

 paint across the hen-house door — "Xot 

 prize winners, but bread winners." 



Alcohol from Sawdust. 



Consul-Gcneral Frank II. I\Iason, of 

 Paris, reports that in the south of France 

 is a new, up-to-date concern employing 

 a highl}' improved process for making 

 alcohol from sawdust. The ])roduct is 

 exposed to sulphurous acid gas, inducing 

 a chemical action which enables the al- 

 cohol to be generated and extracted 

 without being mixed with or contami- 

 nated b}^ the sulphur which always oc- 

 curred under older processes. It is 

 claimed that wood alcohol made by the 

 new method can be drunk or used for 

 any other purpose to which pure alcohol 

 is usually applied. 



One metric ton (2,204 pound'.) of saw- 

 dust yields by this process 100 liters, or 

 27.47 gallons, of alcohol, 20 kilos (42 

 pounds) of acetic acid, and the residue 

 or spent sawdust is pressed into 

 briquettes and used as fuel. 



