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12 POULTRY DEPARTMENT A Smart Hen. Here is a poultry yarn from C. P. Berry, but we do not vouch for its correctness: “Last year,’’ said Berry, “1 kept a little banty hen along through the spring. Under my shed 1 had three cider barrels tilled with wheat. Well, this banty was bound to lay in one of those full wheat bar rels, and every time she wanted to lay she ate just enough grain to make room for the egg. Finally she had laid the barrel full of eggs and had eaten every bit of grain in the bar rel, and so she started to set. I want ed to break her up, so I headed up the barrel. That didn’t stop her; she sat on the bunghole in the top of the barrel, and in three weeks hatched every egg, and the chickens came out of the bunghole one at a time to meet their mother. That’s what I call good hatching!”—Farm Journal. The Poultry Business. The Miami Metropolis copies an article from the Worcester Telegram and then adds some comments. The comments are all right, but in those places where the name of Dade county is used, we might substitute that of almost any other in the State. It would be difficult to find a location in Florida where poultry will not be profitable if properly fed and cared for. Refusing an offer of $1.25 for a hen is one of the incidents of the Boston Poultry Show. She won a prize of SIOO, and it goes to New Hampshire. The hen is of much more conse quence now than she has been reck oned in the past. People eat more eggs and the flesh of the fowls and they are increasing their demands for all the products of the hennery as the years go by. New England is one of the most promising sections for the industry, and more is made of the hencoops now than was made in the first 100 years off all the re sources of the six old States.” The chicken industry, or poultry business has increased in importance everywhere. It has grown enormous ly in the South and has been reduced to a science. The class of chickens that a few years ago would have been regarded as fine show birds would not be entered in an exhibition now. The size has been largely in creased in most breeds, and rapid growth is a desideratum Chickens eight weeks old weigh from four to five pounds, and in the Eastern mar kets sell from 25 to 40 cents a pound making an average chicken of this improved class worth $1.50. There has also been great improvement in egg production. A common, old-fashioned hen lays about 100 eggs a year, while the thoroughbred hen lays from 150 to 240. It costs no more to raise thor oughbred chickens than the common kind. Chickens raised loose on the farm or in the woods, as millions are, are raised at little cost, but where they are raised with care and are continuously fed, the cost of rais ing or maintaining a chicken is placed at about sl. What were once con sidered “fancy chickens” are now rais ed as the most profitable kind for the table and as egg-producers. They grow faster, weigh more and produce more eggs, and are, therefore, the most profitable. Why more people do not raise poul try for profit is a mystery. It has been demonstrated one of the most profitable of industries, and it has been shown that poultry thrive no better in any section of Florida than in Dade county. Both the flesh and eggs have a commercial value that will never diminish and the more locally the production the greater the de mand. A few well kept henneries in Dade county would mean a comfortable in come monthly to the owners, as a great per cent, of the poultry and eggs consumed in Miami and other places of the country are shipped from a distance thus destroying their fresh ness and reducing the prices. Buy An Incubator. The editor of the Florida Poultry and Agricultural Journal says: To buy that incubator you have been thinking about, and a few words on the subject may possibly be of benefit. At this season of the year, many people enter the poultry busi ness, some for profit, others for pleas ure. *The question naturally arises, What make of incubators shall I buy? There are incubators and incu bators, like everything else; some good and some bad; and while it is not the writer’s purpose to blow the horn of any special manufacturer, experience has taught him that a good standard, high grade machine is always the cheapest, even if the price be higher than you expected to pay. Select the one you think best suited to your needs and give it proper attention. Many failures are due to carelessness rather than to a poor machine. Even a cheap one will, in the hands of a careful operator, give good results. Don’t expect an incubator to hatch weakly fertilized eggs from stock that has not received proper attention; sup ply strongly fertilized eggs from strong, healthy, vigorous stock, and adhere closely to the directions given with each incubator, taking into con sideration the possible difference in climatic conditions. You will find this much more successful than trying to run a machine that you may never have seen before, according to your own ideas rather than in accordance with directions supplied by the man who made it. He doubtless knows how best to operate it. You supply the brains and the machine will do the work. Select a well ventilated room; start your machine at least two days before putting eggs in, and get it regulated; find out its peculiarities; study every detail; keep your lamp clean, well filled, and the wick trim med. You do not have to be en dowed with extraordinary ability to successfully hatch chickens, but ev ery detail must have attention; there fore, if you are careless and do not like system, keep out of it. Don't look for every egg to hatch; an average of 60 per cent, will make money if they are attended to prop erly. Don’t “cuss” the incubator if your hatch fails, until you know whether it was the machine’s fault or your own, and don’t be easily dis couraged; one hatch never yet told the tale. Some people say they “never have any luck with incubator hatch es.” There is no question of “luck” in it, friend; it is either you, the ma chine or the eggs. If all three are right, then success is sure. Don’t blame it on chance; look elsewhere for the cause; it’s there all right, and when you find it, correct it next time. THE FLORIDA AGRICULTURIST . Magnitude of the Demand for Eggs. Have you any idea of the number of eggs sold in the large markets of this country, in a year? Many esti mates of the value of the poultry business of this country have been published, all given in dollars and cents. The following figures of the number of dozen eggs sold in some of the large cities is taken from the American Agriculturist. We think that you will find it interesting: Enormous quantities of eggs are consumed in Chicago, New York, Bos ton. Philadelphia and other big mar kets each season. In fact, figures are so vast they are almost beyond com prehension. Receipts of eggs at New York are now in excess of no million doz per annum, and arrivals at Chica go are very close to ioo million doz. It is interesting to note that fresh eggs averaged about 22c. per doz at New York in 1906, and refrigerators made an average very close to 20c. This is the time of the year when the egg market is in the most criti cal condition, and wise indeed is the man who can call a turn on the mar ket within the period of a week. Of ten with little apparent warning pric es at the big controlling markets such as New York and Chicago break as much as several cents in the course of a day or two, this attributable almost entirely to an enlargement in the of ferings by reason of increased produc tion in the more southern states. No farmer or speculator can count on a general maintenance of price throughout Feb. In the past 20 years the United States has changed from an importer to an exporter of eggs. Part of this is due to the duty which was imposed in '9l, amounting to sc. per doz. In ’B3 less than 400,000 doz eggs were im ported, while for the fiscal year end ing June 30, ’O6, exports amounted to nearly 5 million doz. and imports were less than 250,000 doz. Poultry Notes. It is from the well-mated parents that the most vigorous offsprings owe such a blessing. When cleaning perches in the poul try house, it is necessary to clean the under side as well as the top. Dampness and draughts ruin more fowls and Breed more disease than everything else combined. The constant handling of eggs in an incubator sometimes causes a failure to hatch if the hands are greasy. By using milk to mix up the soft feed, instead of water, it will give bet ter returns than anything else it could be used for. Small eggs from immature pullets, mis-sTiapen eggs, extra large eggs, and eggs that have been covered with filth should not be used for hatching. Money in Brown Leghorns. This year, wife and I selected from our yards twenty-five single comb brown leghorns (pure bred) and gave them special attention, at the same time we resolved to keep a book in which to keep an account of the amount of sale from this selected twenty-five. Of course we spent six or eight dollars in advertising their eggs and “children/' I will also say we fed them well, feeding corn, meat scraps from the table, and churned milk. This feed wasn’t considered of much real value for anything else, being in such small amounts we never missed it. Now that the year has ended, we find the book shows we have sold $125 worth of eggs, and chickens from these twenty-five selected single comb brown leghorns. At the same time they have doubled their number, and we have now, additional to the $125, twenty-five more fine, pure-bred sin gle comb brown leghorns, besides oth ers not considered in this article. The way we did it is partly told. We will add: We kept them pure wa ter, green stuff during the winter months, suppressed the mites and lice. We used an incubator and kept the hen-house “swept and garnished.”— John D. Pope in Southern Cultiva tor. How to Select Poultry. In selecting poultry, the age of the bird is the most important question. In selecting a turkey, remember that a young bird has smooth, shiny black legs, while those of an old bird are rough and reddish. If the bird has been freshly killed, the eyes are full and bright and the feet moist. The combs and legs of a chicken are smooth in a young fowl and rough in an old one. When selecting geese, see that the bills and feet are yellow and have few Tfairs on them. If freshly killed, the feet should be pliable, for after they have been killed some time they are dry and smooth. Ducks are chosen by their feet which should be supple. Wild ducks have reddish feet, while those of the tame ducks are yellow. A fresh duck should have a plump, hard breast. Tame pigeons are larger than wild ones and the feet show the age of the bird. They are supple if the bird is young, and stiff if it is old. Pigeons are only good to eat when they are fresh. When they have been kept too long they become flabby and discolor ed about the under part. Profits in Capons Caponizing is easy—soon jfSeieSSS I learned. Complete outfit m ■V, witb free instructions A OslM wP° st P ai(l 82.50. w I N MGape Worm Extractor 25c I | Poultry Marker. 25c / I (fill 1 French Killing KnifesUo Capon Book Free. GEO. P. PILI ING & SON. PHILADELPHIA, PA. Blood, Bone and Shells FOR POULTRY For $3.50 we will ship by freight prepaid to any railroad station in Florida: 100 pounds crushed Oyster Shells $ .75 50 pounds Coarse Raw Bone 1.25 50 pounds pure Dried 8100d...* 1.50 200 $3.50 The above are three essentials for profitable poultry raising. Address E. 0. PAINTER FERTILIZER CO. Jacksonville, Fla. TOBACCO DUST. If vour fowls are troubled \yith lice or chig gers send $1.25 and get 100 pounds of tobacco dust and sprinkle it in your coop. The to bacco is guaranteed to be unbleached. Send 2 cent stamp for sample.—E. O. Painter Ferti lizer Cos., Jacksonville, Fla. HENS’ TEETH TER To properly digest its food the fowl must have grit. What the teeth are to the human being, grit is to the fowl. We can now furnish ground oyster shells, from which all the dust and dirt has been screened, to supply this grit which is lacking in nearly all parts of Florida. Goods very inferior to ours and full of dust have been selling for SI.OO to $1.25 per sack of 100 pounds. E. O. PAINTER FERTILIZER CO. Jacksonville, Fla.