Mr. Warren- L elands Experience. 



and the planning of details, and the power to determine what shall be done, should all be in tlie 

 hands of the one who knows most about it, and who is most interested in the success of the whole. 

 The dogged, ignorant determination of some people on this subject is really ludicrous. A few 

 years since we had a letter from a retired army officer, asking advice about embarking in such an 

 undertaking. On inquiry, we found he had no previous knowledge of fowls, and we at once said, 

 "Don't," enlarging upon the stupendous folly of such a proceeding under these circumstances. It was 

 of no use ; he was determined to try, though our strong remonstrance did induce him to begin on a 

 very moderate scale : and, to make the best of what must be bad, we gave such hints as we thought 

 likely to be of service. Nearly all these ivere disregarded ; the birds were crowded into buildings 

 far too small, and without one quarter enough run, and the failure was of course miserable. This 

 is not the only such case we have known ; and the curious part of it is, that in all alike we were 

 evidently considered as in some sort responsible, merely because we have, as we do now, expressed 

 an opinion that if properly managed success might be obtained. All we can do is to repeat what 

 we have already said, that no one has any business even to attempt poultry-keeping on a large 

 scale, unless he thoroughly understands fowls and their management, and on a moderate or small 

 scale has made them succeed. If, in addition to this, he have the power of quickly seizing the 

 essential points of any practical subject, and of readily comprehending details, let him try by all 

 means ; but no one else has any business in this field. 



The most recent experiments in keeping poultry on a large scale have been made in the 

 United States ; and though the circumstances there differ in almost every respect from those in the 

 United Kingdom, so far as conclusions can be gathered they appear decidedly in favour of the 

 profitable result of such a business if judiciously carried on. Mr. Warren Leland, of the 

 Metropolitan Hotel in New York, has long reared large numbers of chickens for the supply of that 

 establishment, and gives the outlines of his experience as follows :— 



" I have found that for every hundred fowls you must give up at least an acre ; but rough land 

 is as good as any. Hens naturally love the bush, and I lop young trees, but leave a shred by 

 which they live a year or more. These form hiding-places and retreats for them. In such places 

 they prefer to lay. I have great success, and it depends on three or four rules, by observing which 

 I believe a good living can be made by hens and turkeys. I give my fowls great range. Eighteen 

 acres belong to them exclusively. Then the broods have the range of another big lot, and the 

 turkeys go half a mile or more from the house. The eighteen acres of poultry-yard is rough land, of 

 little use for tillage. It has a pond in it, and many rocks, and bushes, and weeds, and sandy places, 

 and ash-heaps, and lime, and bones, and grass, and a place which I plough up to give them worms. 



"When a hen has set, I take her box, throw out the straw and earth, let it be out in the sun 

 and rain a few days, and give it a good coat of whitewash on both sides. In winter, when it is 

 very cold, I have an old stove in their house, and keep the warmth above freezing. There is also 

 an open fire-place, where I build a fire in cool, wet days. They dry themselves, and when the fire 

 goes out there is a bed of ashes for them to wallow in. Summer and winter my hens have all the 

 lime, ashes, and sand they want. Another reason why I have such luck is because my poultry- 

 yards receive all the scraps from the Metropolitan Hotel. Egg-making is no easy work, and hens 

 will not do much of it without high feed. They need just what a man who works requires — wheat 

 bread and meat. Even when wheat cost two dollars, I believe in feeding it to hens. As to 

 breeds, I prefer the Brahmas, light and dark. I change roosters* every spring, and a man on the 



* In America, except among poultry- fanciers, cocks are always called by this name. 



