492 The Poultry Industry in America. [nov., 



Almost invariably the poultry houses are small, and there is an 

 entire absence of the large structures seen upon the big poultry 

 farms. Very few incubators are used. Hatching and rearing 

 are almost universally natural, not artificial. This is possible 

 from the fact that early hatching is not attempted, because 

 there is no need to bring out chicks other than at the regular 

 time, generally in April, and the Rhode Island Red is an ex- 

 cellent sitter and mother. The houses are generally 8 ft. by 

 12 ft. and 6 ft. high, with gabled roofs, and are provided with large 

 windows in front, a 30-in. door, and the usual trap entrance for 

 the hens. Inside they are fitted with perches and nests, and 

 as they have no floor the earth is thickly covered with sea sand. 

 In the majority of cases cattle are kept on the same fields as 

 the fowls, and it is customary to put a rail fence round the 

 houses to keep the stock away from the water vessels and food 

 troughs. Each house is designed to hold thirty-five to forty 

 fowls, and the customary plan is to allow one such house to the 

 acre. But the whole farm is not thus occupied by poultry, for 

 portions are devoted to rearing and others to ordinary cultiva- 

 tion. A case is quoted of a man who had been engaged in the 

 business for fourteen years with satisfactory results. He owned 

 120 acres of land and kept 1,800 laying hens, so that forty-five 

 acres were used for laying stock. One field which had been 

 occupied by layers for 12 years showed no sign of taint, but 

 stock were fed on it or a crop grown annually. On another 

 farm of sixty-five acres, 1,500 hens were kept. It is considered 

 most important to change the rearing ground for chickens every 

 year, but under the above system no such change is needed for 

 hens. Very large numbers of chickens, however, are reared on 

 comparatively small areas, for instance i,coo chickens on a field 

 not exceeding 2| acres. 



The point which Mr. Brown emphasizes is that this district 

 proves the practicability of poultry-keeping by farmers upon a 

 much larger scale than has hitherto been attempted in England, 

 as part of the general work of the farm, and that it has proved 

 successful for a long series of years in a large number of cases ; 

 due care, however, has to be paid to avoidance of overstocking 

 and the prevention of tainted soil. It would be advisable to 

 move the flocks on to fresh ground every year or two years, and 



