FOODS AND FEEDING. 
Eggs of “Quality,” the Kind for which a Good Premium is Paid. Black Minorca 
Eggs, Raised by C. C. Pape, Fort Wayne, Ind. 
“balance” the over-supply of 
starch in the grain that is 
thrown to them. Fowls rang¬ 
ing at will, however, lay de¬ 
cidedly fewer eggs than those 
kept in semi-confinement and 
given only so much range as 
promotes reasonably good 
health. For fowls kept in 
houses and yards it is neces¬ 
sary that we consider variety 
in the food given them, and if 
we want them to lay eggs we 
must give them in the food the 
materials of which to make 
eggs. It is not at all neces¬ 
sary for the beginner to bother 
about the chemical elements 
of food, or worry over the 
exact proportions of carbohy¬ 
drates or nitrogenous matter, 
if he will see that the fowls 
get enough to eat without 
their getting too much, and 
that they get a variety of 
food-elements in different 
grains,with green food (“ rough- 
age”) and animal food in 
place of the insects, worms, etc., they get 
when ranging at will. 
We give below a feeding method which was 
worked out by the writer on a farm on which 
300 or 400 fowls were kept for eggs, and the 
materials used were ordinary farm-grains, etc., 
supplemented by what could easily be obtained 
at a feed mill in town. This ration was not 
weighed in ounces and decimals of ounces; the 
proportions were to be from the grain bins or 
barrels in scoopfuls, as stated, and this food 
ration gave excellent results both in egg yield 
and the healthfulness of the flocks. This feed¬ 
ing method was quoted by Mr. John H. Robin¬ 
son in his book “ Winter Eggs, How to Get 
Them,” and is there recommended to be “one 
of the best ever devised; aud has probably been 
adopted with gratifying results by more poultry 
keepers than any other ever published. * * * 
The method as a whole is a good one, adapted 
to a wide range of circumstances, and anyone 
who follows it closely may know that if he does 
not get eggs it is not the fault of the ration. 
Another endorsement of this feeding ration 
came from the Rhode Island Agricultural College. 
Prof. A. A. Brigham had it compounded and 
analyzed by the Poultry Class there, and said it 
was “a very well balanced ration, probably as 
near perfect as could be made with the materials 
available on the average farm.” This ration, 
we ought to add, has been given to the public 
many times from Farmers’ Institute platforms, 
and in various papers and books. 
“ Five mornings in the week we feed a mash 
made up of about a third cooked vegetables 
mashed fine, or cut clover cooked by being 
brought to a boiling heat in water, an equal 
amount of boiling water added, a heaping tea¬ 
spoonful of salt to a bucketful; a heaping tea- 
spoonful of ginger two days, then cayenne one 
day, ginger two days, then powdered charcoal 
one; and into this is stirred mixed meal until 
the mash is as stiff as a strong arm can make it. 
“ This mixed meal consists of one part each of 
corn meal, fine middlings, bran, ground oats 
and meat meal, a scoop or dipper of each being 
dipped in turn into a bag, and poured from the 
bag into the meal barrel, from which it is dipped 
into a mash. We consider the thorough 
mixing of these meals a considerable factor in 
making a good mash. 
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