R. I. RED EGG FARMS 



79 



in boxes containing pasteboard fillers, the outer rows of filler 

 spaces being left empty. After the exoelsior-wrapped eggs 

 are placed in the fillers the whole is packed tightly with chaff, 

 hay seed or out hay to insure the eggs against breakage, and 

 to provide more perfect insulation from extremes of tempera- 

 ture. Eggs packed in this way are oertain^to arrive in good 



condition and give the most satisfactory results when in- 

 cubated. 



Formerly, all watering done on this plant was accomp- 

 lished by means of a large barrel water carrier on wheels by 

 means of which the water was carted about the plant from, 

 the well. At the time of our visit, however, town water 

 was being put in and piped to the poultry buildings. 



EGG FARMING IN RHODE ISLAND ' 



HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF RHODE ISLAND REDS GROWN FOR EGG PRODUCTION 

 IN THE LITTLE COMPTON DISTRICT— $1000 TO $1500 A YEAR FROM POULTRY AND 

 EGGS— DESCRIPTION OF RED FEATHER FARM,' TIVERTON FOUR CORNERS, A TYPI- 

 CAL SUCCESSFUL RHODE ISLAND EGG PLANT-SOME OF THE APPLIANCES IN USE 



p. T. WOODS. M. D. 



EVERY little while we are asked "Can a man make a 

 living in the poultry business?" and recently we 

 received a letter from one of the R. P. J. subscrib- 

 ers substantially as follows: 



"Editor of R. P. J.: I notice that Dr. Woods claims 

 one man can clear from $1000 to S1500 per year in the 

 poultry business on what he calls a one-man plant. Now I 

 am only getting about $800 for my labor and if he will show 

 me (and I believe there are others who will be interested) 

 how I can make even $1000 per year above expenses, he will 

 receive my everlasting gratitude. I have been handling 

 chickens more or less for 15 years. I have ten acres clear of 

 incumbrances. Eggs here reach 40 cents and drop to 15 

 cents; broilers reach 40 cents and drop to 12^. Soil is a 

 sandy loam. Please have Dr. Woods tell us how the trick 

 is done. J. W. B., New York." 



The best answer to this, or at least the^best way to show 

 J. W. B., is to advise him to make a trip into the Little 

 Compton district of Rhode Island. There he will find a 

 number of poultry raisers who are making about $1000 a year 

 or better profit per year out of their poultry to pay them for 

 their own labor. In the first place we would not advise any 

 man to attempt to make a living from poultry on a farm 

 containing no more than ten acres. The farm. is altogether 

 too small for good results except in a small way. We should 

 want at least three times that much land, and more if we 

 could get it, if we were going into the poultry business to 

 make a living from it. On so small a plant one would need 

 to combine truck farming and small fruits with poultry 

 keeping to do well. 



These egg farmers of Rhode Island are not men who 

 dabble with the poultry business for a few years and handle 

 chickens "more or less." They learn the business young 

 and make it a life work. The poultry farming in this section 

 is a" practical money-making branch of farm work and looked 

 upon as a legitimate industry, one that pays well when 

 seriously considered and given proper attention. This is no 

 pastime poultry culture or playing at theoretical poultry 

 keeping, but a business built up on sbund common-sense 

 and practical experience. It is the real thing, and that 

 poultry keeping for profit is a success the prosperous egg 

 plants of Little Compton district furnish ample evidence. 

 It is always diflicult to estimate statistics of private enter- 

 prises or details of income, but there is ample evidence in 

 sight in this poultry section to show that these egg farmers 

 are earning a profit of $1000 to $1500 per year on their "one 

 man plants" to pay for their own labor. Everywhere in 

 Little Compton district one can see well kept prosperous 

 ooking farms with thousands of good fowls and nearly every 

 arm assuming the appearance of a village of colony poultry 



buildings. There is no better proof that egg farming pays 

 than the fact that the greater part of the farming population 

 of this southeastern shore of the state are actively engaged 

 in the work. During the chicken season hundreds of thous- 

 ands of Rhode Island Reds may be seen enjoying free range 

 and housed in colony houses on these farms, all within a 

 drive of not more than fifteen miles. 



Practically all of these Little Compton district plants 

 are one-man plants. Egg production is the chief business 

 of these farms and the method of managing the fowls is ex- 

 ceedingly simple. 



Bed Feather Farm 



A description of one of the successful egg farms of Little 

 Compton district will, we hope, answer Mr. B.'s question 



VYlJ1li£??°PflK5T PULLET. NEWYoRK . 19'^5^ 

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