yol.  lxxxii. 
Published  Weekly  by  The  Rural  Publishing  Co.. 
333  W.  30th  St.,  New  York.  Price  One  Dollar  a  Year. 
NEW  YORK/ MARCH  17;  1! >2:: 
Entered  as  Second-Class  Matter.  June  26,  1879,  at  the  Post 
Office  at  New  York.  N.  Y.,  under  the  Act  of  March  3.  1879. 
No.  4724 
More  About  That  Jersey  man’s  Hens 
>age  222  we  printed  a  report  from 
r.  Johnstone  of  Ocean  County,  NV 
regarding  a  year’s  record  made 
'  his  Leghorn  liens.  Our  readers 
tve  asked  many  questions,  and  W. 
.  Allen,  who*  sent  us  the  original 
report,  has  answered  them.  Mr,  Allen  says  he  is 
surprised  to  find  that  anyone  should  question  these 
figures.  They  are  accurate,  and  are  certainly  not 
remarkable  when  we  consider  that  many  Jersey 
poultrymen  are  doing  even  better  than  Mr.  John¬ 
stone.  Wie  print  some  of  the  questions  and  Mr. 
.Vilen’s  comments.  The  original  report  is  reprinted 
on  page  -427  and  can  be  referred  to. 
i  would  like  to  know  whether  Mr.  Johnstone  feeds 
the  same  mash  at  10  a.  m.  as  at  7  a.  m.,  consisting  of 
bran,  middlings,  cornmeal,  beef  scraps,  germinated  oats, 
buttermilk  and  water.  Scratch  feed  at  night,  consisting 
of  cracked  corn  and  wheat.  a.  j.  HOULE. 
Massachusetts. 
No  mash  was  fed  until  10  a.  in.,  the  mash  being 
mixed  at  7  a.  in.,  but  not  fed  until  they  were  stand¬ 
ing  three  hours.  The  scratch  feed  was  fed  at  night. 
one  hour  before  dusk.  The  mixture  consisted  of 
three  parts  corn.' two  parts  wheat.  10  lhs.  being  fed 
at  this  hour  for  every  100  birds.  What  the  birds 
did  not  clean  up  at -night  they  ate  before  10  o’clock 
the  next  morning,  when  the  wet  mash  was  fed. 
This  may -seem  like  a  very  low  amount  of  scratch 
feed,  but  it  must'JSc  remembered  that  Mr.  Johnstone 
fed  5  lbs.  of  oats  (weight  before  soaking)  in  the 
wet  mash. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  full  story  was  not  told  of  a 
Jerseyman’s  hens  and  figures.  For  instance,  pullets 
ready  to  la.v  at  full  speed  November  1  are  worth  not 
far  from  $2.  At  close  of  year,  if  they  are  Leghorns, 
they  are  not  worth  much  over  75  cents  each  for  mar¬ 
ket.  Some  of  them  might  be  kept  to  lay,  but  after 
laying  192  eggs  each  I  should  not  consider  them  worth 
more  than  $1  to  $1.25.  Regarding  Mr.  Johnstone’s 
profit  of  $5.04  per  hen,  when  all  things  are  taken  into 
account,  did  they  pay  an  average  of  $5.04?  Iiow  much 
were  his  pullets  worth  at  the  beginning  of  the  year? 
How  much  were  his  hens  worth  at  t lie  close  of  the 
year,  including  what  he  received  for  hens  culled  out? 
How  much  did  he  lose  by  hens  dying?  There  are 
always  some  that  die,  no  matter  how  healthy  and 
vigorous  tlie  flock  is.  At  Stores  they  have  lost  as  many 
as  10  per  cent.  Where  does  interest  on  investment 
and  depreciation  on  buildings  come  in?  Stores  people 
figure  overhead  expenses,  including  labor,  same  as  feed 
cost,  $1.99.  Mr.  Johnstone  puts  labor  about  SO  cents 
per  hen,  and  says  nothing  about  other  expenses.  Feed 
cost  for  Mr.  Johnstone  is  about  $1.64  per  hen.  At 
Storrs  feed  cost  is  figured  $1.99  per  hen.  ft  costs  me 
a  little  more  than  this  to  feed  my  liens,  buying  a  little 
less  than  one  ton  per  mouth.  o.  s.  REXFORO. 
Connecticut. 
.  It  is  hard  to  state  the  value  of  a  laying  pullet  in 
November.  Like  any  other  kind  of  live  stock,  poul¬ 
try  is  only  worth  what  it  will  sell  for.  A  year  ago 
last  November,  however.  White  Leghorn  pullets  sold 
in  this  county  for  $2  to  $3  apiece.  The  same  is  true 
when  Leghorns  complete  the  year’s  lay.  The  mar¬ 
ket  price  may  he  only  75  cents  apiece;  nevertheless 
I  am  afraid  if  Mr.  Jolmstoiie  had  offered  his  at  that 
price  there  would  have  been  a  panic  among  poultry- 
men  in  Ocean  County. 
When  we  put  out  figures  to  poultrymen  down  in 
this  State  we  always  talk  about  returns  above  feed 
costs  and  monthly  expense’s,  as  the  overhead  ex¬ 
penses  of  most  poultry  farms  vary.  The  total  in¬ 
vestment  on  Mr.  Johnstone’s  farm  is  less  than  $10 
per  bird,  therefore,  roughly  speaking,  one  would 
r-u*#**4fc*  hi  iiij'i  nOwffirii 
iffy**- 
The  Old  Reliable  Family  Horse 
