THE DOLLAR HEN FARM 
stand and are threshed by the hens. As soon as the corn crop 
is ripe the houses are run back and the corn cut up or husked 
and the wheat planted in the corn field. 
The next year the lots are transposed, the young stock be- 
ing grown in the lot that had the hens the previous year. 
If the ground is inclined to be at all damp when the fields 
are broken up the plowing is done in narrow lands so as to 
form a succession of ridges, on which are placed the coops or 
houses. The directions of these ridges will be determined by 
the lay of the land—the object being neither to dam up water 
or to encourage washing. The location of the ridges are al- 
ternated by seasons, so that the droppings from the houses are 
well distributed throughout the soil. 
This system with the particular crops found that do best in 
the locality, give us an ideal method of poultry husbandry. 
We have kept hens and young stock supplied with green food 
the year round; we have utilized every particle of manure 
without one bit of labor. We have a rotation of crops. We 
have the benefits to the ground of several green crops turned 
under. We have raised one grain crop per year on most of 
the ground. We have no labor in feeding and watering except 
the keeping of the grain, beef and grit hoppers filled, and the 
water system in order. 
The number of fowls that may be kept per acre will be de- 
termined by the richness of the soil. The chief object of the 
entire scheme is to provide abundant green pasture at all 
times and to allow the production of a reasonable amount of 
grain. With one hundred hens per acre on the entire tract, 
and with houses containing eighty hens each, it will be neces- 
sary to set the houses ninety-five feet apart. This will give 
the flock a tract of 95 by 330 feet in which to pasture. 
The above estimate with a little land allowed for house, 
garden, orchard ané a little cow and team pasture, will permit 
the keeping of two thousand hens on a twenty-five acre farm. 
In regions where grain is to be raised most farmers would 
want more land. They may also wish to own a few extra 
cows, hogs, etc., or to alternate the entire poultry operations 
with some crop that will, on such highly fertilized land, give 
a good cash profit. Forty acres is a good size for such uses. 
The cost of land when purchased in large tracts in Virginia 
is very small, but the cost of clearing is often much more than 
that of the land. Twenty-five to fifty dollars an acre should 
secure such a tract of land and put it in shape for poultry 
farming. 
The cost of the farm home, etc., will, of course vary alto- 
gether with the taste of the occupant. If they are construct- 
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