97= THE POULTRY 



"^ RUN 



they are floorless, and are moved frequently, 

 either by team or by a pole-pr5\ By this 

 method the droppings are distributed directly 

 on the soil without the usual laborious work 

 of scraping the dropping-boards. 



In the poultry field some green crop is kept 

 growing as much of the year as possible. As a 

 general rule a crop cannot get a start in a poul- 

 try range, and so a plan of rotating the chickens 

 in two or more fields, is desirable. No more 

 profitable combination of "small" farming can 

 be found than that of rotating poultry with 

 the leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, 

 etc.) which utilize to the greatest advantage 

 the rich, nitrogenous manure. Under this sys- 

 tem, the hens are fed grain, chiefly corn, and 

 beef scrap in hoppers, and water is supplied in the 

 simplest way possible, preferably from a running 

 brook. The chief point to be kept in mind is to 

 cut down the number of necessary visits to the 

 poultry houses, thus reducing the labor cost. 



The custom of raising chickens on fresh 

 ground every year is of value to the farm, 

 but the one disadvantage has always been the 

 expense of fencing. In a recent issue the 

 Rural New Yorker told of the plan of one 

 wide awake chicken raiser which can be fol- 

 lowed by anybody. His plan is to sow sun- 



