

Pullets and Cockerels in Summar Quarters in Orchard, Elm Egg Farm 



CHAPTER VI 

 A SUCCESSFUL NEW ENGLAND EGG FARM 



PRODUCING FANCY FRESH EGGS FOR HIGH CLASS MARKET— 1500 HEAD OF R. I. RED LAYING 

 STOCK— A HAPPY COMBINATION OF BEAUTY AND UTILITY— PRACTICAL METHODS OF HOUS- 

 ING, FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT AS EMPLOYED AT THE ELM POULTRY AND EGG FARM 



p. T. WOODS, M. D. 



ELM POULTRY and Egg Farm, Mansfield, Mass., is 

 almost ideally located. It occupies a generous 

 acreage on both sides of the main road between 

 Mansfield and Norton, Mass., about 30 miles from 

 Boston. The land while nearly level, or with only a very 

 gentle slope, is well adapted to grass and poultry, having a 

 fine sandy loam soil of good depth, with a deep sub-soil of 

 clean, bright, coarse sand. This farm maintains a good grass 

 so.d with little diiBculty, yields generously with all the usual 

 farm crops, and is always well drained. As evidence of the 

 character of the soil, we were shown a field of a little over 

 an acre which had been liberally fertilized with poultry 

 manure and seeded down to rye to supply straw for litter 

 material for the coming winter. The growth was remark- 

 able and we were told that the yield, according to season, 

 would range from 3 to 5 tons of good straw per acre, the last 

 n£|,med quantity being the amount generally required to 

 supply litter material for the breeding and laying houses for 

 the entire season. The rye is allowed to ripen, is cut and 

 cured, then as needed is thrown to the fowls to thresh. Rye 

 is preferred to oats for this purpose. Another field is devoted 

 entirely to strawberries and at the time of our visit, in spite 

 of the dry season, was giving a heavy yield of exceptionally 

 fine berries — a source of profit not to be overlooked. Straw- 

 berries in New England, if well cared for,* yield about $400 

 to the acre. The strawberry beds are fertilized almost ex- 

 clusively with poultry manure spread broadcast in the fall 

 and winter, and the results are remarkable in heavy crops 

 of fine luscious strawberries. A new bed is set out each year 

 early in the season. 



1500 Rhode Island Reds 



Elm Poultry and Egg Farm carries an average of about 

 1500 head of Rose and Single Comb Rhode Island Reds, all 

 thorough-bred stock. These rich red birds make an attrac- 



7G 



tive picture against the green of the grass and foliage, which 

 unfortunately the camera cannot reproduce. The bulk of 

 the eggs goes to supply a large wholesale and retail grocery, 

 and one of the leading high-class hotels in Boston, Mass, 

 Rhode Island Reds produce a fine large brown egg, par- 

 ticularly well adapted for high-class table use. We under- 

 stand that the farm sends regular shipments of two cases, 

 or sixty dozen, selected, fancy, fresh brown eggs per week 

 to the fashionable hotel where, because of their attractive 

 appearance, they are. used largely as boiled eggs or otherwise 

 served in the shell. A flourishing private nearby trade keeps 

 the proprietor busy in the endeavor to secure a sufficient 

 number of brown eggs to meet the demand. He finds the 

 Reds very prolific producers. 



The prices received for the^roduct of this plant are a 

 little in advance of the regular market quotations for the 

 strictly fancy high grade article, usually ranging from 3 to 5 

 cents per dozen above the highest quotations. These eggs 

 are put up in substantial cases of 30 dozen each, and in 

 smaller cases, with clean pasteboard fillers and are labeled, 

 "Fancy Fresh Eggs Laid and Shipped the Same Day." The 

 farm has built up a reputation for fancy fresh eggs which 

 makes this label the equivalent of a guaranty of purity and 

 freshness. 



In addition to its fancy market egg trade, this plant also 

 sells large numbers of eggs for hatching, making a specialty 

 of large orders for incubator use. Thousands of small chicks 

 are hatched annually for sale direct from the incubator at 

 15 cents each. These day-old chicks are hatched in six large- 

 sized, modern, standard-make incubators which are located 

 in a cellar under one of the poultry buildings. In season sales 

 of breeding stock are also considerable, as this plant has been 

 established a long time and has a reputation for high-class, 

 thoroughbred stock producing large brown eggs. In addi- 

 tion to the poultry, about one thousand head of Homing 



