The Value of a Garden in Keeping Poultry — By J. Mace And ress, r 



ossa- 



M'llS 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF MAKING A GARDEN OF ANY SIZE A SOURCE OF PROFIT IN POUL- 

 TRY KEEPING — THE VALUE OF GREEN FOOD — HOW TO RAISE AND HOW TO FEED IT 



NO ONE who professes to keep poultry 

 for profit can expect to be successful 

 unless he makes a careful study of foods. 

 Green food is one of the essentials for 

 healthy fowls and for satisfactory egg 

 production, and the problem of getting the 

 right kind of green food in reasonable 

 quantities is easily solved if one has a 

 garden. 



Map out pretty definitely, early in the 

 spring before the planting begins, what 

 is to be done in the course of the season. 

 Keep in mind in the planning the relative 

 positions of the hen-yard and garden. 

 Have the hen-yard border on the garden, 

 so that the vegetables can be easily trans- 

 ferred. 



Whether the garden pays or not in an 

 incidental way depends largely on utiliz- 



lnff nrrrn 



■,A +V,of 



seldom eaten, but the tops are greedily 

 devoured. Lettuce is particularly well 

 liked by chicks because of its tenderness. 

 If the garden plot is large enough sow more 

 lettuce than will be needed for table use 

 and feed it daily to the hens or chickens 

 until it is all gone. Frequently, too, in 

 thinning out beets, those, that are not 

 wanted may be fed to poultry. Instead 

 of doing the thinning all at one time, do 

 it gradually so that the poultry may con- 

 sume it all without any waste. Late in 

 the summer and in the autumn, give them 

 cabbage leaves. Turnip seed sowed be- 

 tween August ist and 15th, will furnish 

 tops that may be fed until the late frosts. 

 Often cabbages or turnips may be planted 

 in ground where early potatoes have been 

 dug or string beans or late peas have been 



A few thousand copies of this magazine were printed 

 with pages 260 and 261 transposed. The error was dis- 

 covered too late to correct it without unduly delaying the 

 edition which we regret. 



iiCCll iCCU. 



Even if no more chard can be planted than 

 is needed for table use, it will be found 

 that many of the leaves will become dis- 

 colored, wormy, or tough, and would be a 

 complete loss unless fed to poultry. 



After lettuce and radishes have lost 

 their first delicious flavor, give them to the 

 chickens. The radishes themselves are 



oes 

 ye, 

 It 

 ,11s, 

 rly 



for 



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as 

 nd 

 lto 

 ns. 

 es, 

 ;et 

 cum mat nas Decome narcl may De nusked 

 and put away for winter use. 



Last year I was able to add to my 

 winter food supply almost by accident. 

 I was anxious to have a screen for my 

 garden and I finally decided to plant sun- 

 flowers for an outer border. The seeds 

 were planted about May 10th. By the 

 middle of July the plants had grown so that 



the garden was a secluded spot. Before 

 August ist, they had grown to the height 

 of six or ten feet. The abundant crop of 

 seeds which they bore was gathered and 

 fed to the hens during the winter. 



In feeding green food to poultry, we 

 should see that it is not wasted or con- 

 taminated. A few handfuls of green stuff, 

 if thrown loosely into the ordinary hen 



Sunflowers in the bonier served as a screen for the garden, and gave food for poultry in winter 



260 



An ingenious hopper that keeps green food off the 

 ground. (References in text.) 



yard speedily becomes so befouled that 

 hens will not eat it. A man who is hai.dy 

 with tools may construct a green food 

 hopper in a short time in this way: Out of 

 rough strips of board make two frames 

 (A and A) 12 by 20 inches, and cover 

 each one with ordinary chicken wire. 

 Frame A should have its sides projected 

 so that they meet the cross pieces B and 

 B. The cross pieces should be 12 or 14 

 inches long so that the holder may not 

 easiiy be upset. In joining the various 

 pieces of wood, screws will usually be 

 found to be more satisfactory than nails 

 as they are less likely to split the wood. 

 Frame A should then have two pieces of 

 straight iron or heavy wire (c and c) 

 driven into its sides about two thirds of 

 the distance from its upper edge so as to 

 project through holes in the frame A. 

 This will allow one frame A to be pulled 

 or shoved away from the other. Bend 

 heavy pieces of wire or iron into a V-shape 

 (d and d) and drive them into the frame 

 A so that they project six or eight inches 

 beyond the sides. Strong springs (e and 

 e) should then be fastened at one end to 

 the bend in the V-shaped piece of iron or 

 wire and at the other end to the frame A 

 as indicated in the drawing. Soldering 

 is the best way of fastening the spring to 

 the wire. Chard, beet tops, slices of 

 cabbage or beets may then be put between 

 the frames which will hold them safely 

 until devoured. 



