PRACTICAL EGG FARMS 
Breeding-Laying Houses, Harris Egg Farm, Mansfield, Mass. 
returns are readily obtainable by those who are 
quick-witted enough to grasp the opportunity 
offered. 
Strictly fresh eggs are always in demand and 
always salable at a fair price. So soon as the 
market discovers the reputable egg farm special¬ 
ist, and he establishes his reputation for supply¬ 
ing goods that are strictly first quality, his 
chief concern thereafter will be to produce eggs 
in sufficient quantity to meet the demand and 
to avoid disappointing his customers. The 
first quality product, that is dependable and 
always as represented, will never go begging 
for a customer,—it practically sells itself. 
If one wishes to make a study of poultry 
specialties let him make a trip within a radius 
of thirty miles of Boston, Mass., and visit the 
many poultry experts in that section of the 
country. Boston market is well known, the 
nation over, as the most fastidious market in 
the world, for poultry and eggs, and while all 
sorts and conditions of poultry products may 
be found on sale, its special family trade is 
almost super-critical and demands the ultra 
fancy product in both eggs and poultry meat. 
So great is the demand for fancy quality 
poultry products, that in spite of the large 
number of specialists catering to this market, one 
seldom, if ever, is able to find the very best 
poultry produce displayed in the market stalls; 
it is practically sold, (engaged by the consumer) 
before it reaches the hands of the dealer. 
On a recent visit to New England the writer 
had a pleasant visit at the egg farm of W. S. 
Harris at Mansfield, Mass. Here we found 
Rhode Island Reds in exclusive possession of 
the farm, with the exception of a few buildings 
and flies devoted to Homer pigeons, of which 
some fine specimens were seen. After an all¬ 
round experience in poultry work, Air. Harris 
is now devoting himself to egg farming and 
Rhode Island Reds as a specialty. At the time 
of our visit, there were about 1,500 layers and 
some 1,500 or more small chicks, all Reds, on the 
farm. The buildings on the plant cover about 
20,000 square feet of ground. In the illustra¬ 
tions we show some of the poultry buildings, 
the laying and breeding stock, and some of the 
promising youngsters. Most of Mr. Harris' 
hatching is done in incubators and the chicks 
are raised in brooders. The chicks are fed 
exclusively on a dry-grain chick food. 
We leave it to Mr. Harris to tell in his own 
words his incubator experiences, quoting from 
a letter received from him in May, 1903: 
“ Plenty of straw for litter in winter and liberal 
grass range in summer, with a variety of whole¬ 
some food for hens, means a high percent fertil¬ 
ity. Proper exercise and food are essential. 
“To get the best results, eggs must be from 
properly kept breeders; the incubator will do 
the rest, provided it is built on the correct prin¬ 
ciple. So far, I much prefer the Cyphers Incu¬ 
bators, having hatched as high as 95 percent. 
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