Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 235, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1916 — Page 3

The Growing Importance of Egg Farming...

by Robert H. Moulton

X Sixteen N. Q r billion of the \ hen fruit'was con- \ sumed in the United ! States last year and we imported some i from China to I \ supply the in- / \ creasing de- f \ , mand, / , n\ Xn n

*wm o doubt the man who paid an even SBOO fqj;a single hen, “Lady Eglanr ■jhTj tine,” not iong ago, will get his money back with liberal interest, k The phenomenal value of this hen lay in the fact that she had just , completed the astonishing performapce of producing 314 eggs in 365 days. It is assumed that the progj|gS«jfcg eny of Lady Eglantine will also be wonderful egg machines, for which reason her eggs will eommund the highest prices for hatching purposes ; as a matter of fact, they are already selling at $5 apiece. To be safe, this is much of a gamble, but hundreds of people will be glad to take the chance. You see, the call these days is all for heavy layers, for never has the demand for eggs been so hard to meet. Sixteen billion eggs

are required to satisfy the American appetite each year. Egg fanning has reached a point where it must be included among the big business interests of the country, and the coming of the parcel post has already given it added Impetus. All over the country big plants are springing up, where eliickens are hatched by the thousands and shipped far and wide. Other plants are being established for custom hatching, Just about us chicks have been hatched In Egypt since the days of_ Moses. Over there the hatching is done In immense brick ovens, of which there are some six hundred, in which 125,000,000 chickens are Incubated each season. Camel’s dung is used for fuel, and the operators have

such keen senses that they can keep the temperature at close to 103 degrees without referring to a thermometer, which Instrument is never employed. Custom hatching in this country is quite another matter, and hus been made possible only by the Invention of Incubators of the continuous type, heated from a coal-burning furnace and requirfng pnly a comparatively Imall amount of attention. If is a line of work which farmers’ wives and other women can follow with success # and to which farmers themselves, as well as the owners of large poultry plants, are turning their attention. Men und women living near the larger towns, and especially if close to the railroad station or on a trolley line, are particularly well situated to do custom hatching, for people keeping a few hens will come personally with their eggs and also call for the chickens —Just as they do In Egypt, by the way, except for the means of conveyance. Z - The initial Investment need not be large. One can start with a single machine and increase the size of ’his plant as business warrants. A little advertising by means of circulars, or, better, in a newspaper, will bring the custom- It is'first necessary, however, to learn all about running the incubator. It would be foolish to seek customers before becoming thoroughly familiar with artificial Incubation and making several experimental hatchings. These can be made in the fall or winter. , Along with custom hatching goes the sale of day-old chicks. This is another line .which men and women in the country or elsewhere who have but little capital may begin in a small way and ' Increase with their business. The two branches may well be combined also. If at any time there be "a dearth of custom-hatching orders, the machines Inay be kept running just the same to till orders for newly hatched chickens. For hatching chicks, a charge based on the number of eggs la an incubator tray Is often made. If, for example, the traiy will accommodate 75 eggs, the charge may be $2 and upwards. Just as much time and fuel are required for a dozen eggs as for 75. Of course, if the eggs to be hatched for several customers are received at the same time, they can be placed in the machine, but It will be very difficult to decide to whom the chicks belong when they ape out of the shells. If the hatcher is using single machines, it ir wise to employ the smaller sizes. The machines which come in sections are most satisfactory, for they can be added to like sectional bookcases ns one’s business grows. Of coursethe custom batcher takes no responsibility. He does his best, t and |f the eggs fail to hatch, the loss Is the customer’s. The hatcher has no means of knowing that they were fertile, even, until a test at the end of five days is made. Likewise, the hatcher runs no open accounts, if he is wise. A deposit " should be made when the eggs are left, and the remainder paid when the chicks are delivered. Day-old chicks are best sold at a«Jlat rete, say 15 cents apiece, with delivery charges added. Strongly made cardboard boxes especially de»igned for shipping chicks are manufactured and

protect the chick from harm. If shipped as sodn as dried off, no food will be required, for a chicken needs nothing to eat- for the first two days of its existence after leaving the shell, being nourished by the yolk of the egg which it has absorbed. For that reason, people who complain that the practice of withholding food is cruel are wasting their sympathies. To just what extent these new developments will revolutionize the poultry business of the country, no one can safely even guess. It is certain, though, that hundreds of people who formerly raised a few chicks each season with hens will now either send their hatching eggs to a cus-' tom hatchery 1 or buy day-old chicks. The expense is but little greater and hours of fussing with broody hens are eliminated. People living In the cities keep hens in the back yard, for they will need no roosters and thus avoid the complaints of neighbors, and can keep breeds which do not get broody. One thing is certain, though. If the egg producers are going to make the most of'their opportunities, many of them will have to reform their methods. The statement is made, apparently with authority, -that there is an annual loss of $45,000,000 because of the Improper handling of eggs. Much of this loss can be traced directly to the producers —the men and women on the farms. Sucli fafcts are responsible in part for the present much-discussed high cost of living. Many farmers let their eggs accumulate until they get a basketful, although it may take several weeks. Fertile and infertile eggs are dumped In the same lot. If a hidden nest is discovered, the old hen is shooed away and the half-incubated eggfr hre sold along with the others. This is the reason why the average market egg is unreliable. Incubation has begun in a fertile egg before it Is laid. In a few days traces of the embryo may easily be discovered, even though the egg simplyT be kept tn a warm room or allowed to remain in the sqn. Ordinarily the germ soon perishes, and then the egg is quickly added to the rotten-egg class. Ah unfertile egg may be kept for many weeks without going bad, although it .may get somewhat stale and consequently unfit for the table. Under the present system, tHe customer is protected to h large extent by the big egg merchants, who examine the eggs which pass through theh hands by means of a test known as candling. This candling is a highly important part of the business in most cities, and on the care and expertness with which the work is done depends the quality of the product tfhleh the customer secures. The men who candle eggs become remarkably expert—so expert that they can hapdle two eggs in each hand and grade them 'at a glanee as they are passed quickly before a hole In a tin shade placed before a strong electric light. Eggs from flocks which contain no male bird except in the breeding season will keep longer and be better than those laid by hens with which a rooster Is running. Many people still hold to the antiquated belief that hens lay better If attended by a rooster. This is a pure fallacy. In point of fact, the roosters annoy the hens, and may

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INl>.

cause broken eggs, although the point at V* ; ¥| issue Is that fertile eggs are less desirable for table purposes than unfertile ones. 'mm One might Imagine that with the tremm mendous extent of the egg business in this country, the market would be glutted. On the contrary, the demand seems to keep pace with the supply—in fact, a little ahead of it, or it would not be found profitable to import eggs from China, as was done a year or two ago. = All over the country mammoth establishments are springing up. Not far from Chicago is a large plant made famous by its White Pljmouth Ro<*ks and White Indian Runners. There are 160 acres on this farm, and houses are scattered all over them. The man who owns this big plant sells much of his stock for breeding values some of his birds as high as $5,000. That sounds like an unbelievable figure, to be sure, but the very lowest price for which one can buy a fowl at this farm is $5. The owner has madq a fortune, is a bank director and a business man who can take rank with those who manage the b g industries of the city. One thinks first of eggs in connection with the poultry business, but growing and fattening chickens for the table is almost as important a branch of it as egg farming. Formerly no one thought of specially preparing chickens for the slaughter. The farmer simply went out into the yard, selected a likely looking fowl, laid it on the block, and chopped f off its head. Quite different is the • >'4s process now, especially in the West and in Canada, where fattening * poultry has developed into more of I a fine art than in the eastern states. There Is a difference of from #jpNwPSbß three to seven cents a pound in the WpW price paid for well-fleshed or fat£lP§lPP tened birds apd that paid for poultry just off the range. As this M : means a difference of from 15 to 35 cents on a five-pound chicken, vwPPPT-- it is well worth while to fatten the > fowls.

POULTRY NOTES

Selecting Pullets. Not everv poultryman can select a laying hen by her appearance. It is true students of poultry husbandry are generally able to do this, but few farmers and poultrymen are unless they have given the subject some attention. .• — The following suggestions should be of help to you in enumerating some of the points in the making of a good laying hen. But these points will need to be verified. That is, you must practice if you would become a good judge or at least learn how to select* your own pullets for layers. And it will be necessary for you to know how to select if you are to improve your flock. Judging poultry is said to be a finer art than the selection of other farm animals, but the man or woman who picks pullets with a fine head, alert eyes and comb, face and wattles of fine texture, has taken the first step toward increased egg production. Good pullets should stand square on their feet, With legs wide apart, with the front end of the body slightly higher than the posterior end, and with a long back and tail carried rather high. The body should be wedge-shaped, yielding .ample room for the reproductive and digestive organs. t When Eggs An Highest. How to get eggs in late fall and early winter when they are highest Is a serious problem with most poultrymen. ’ - Taking it for granted that the pullets were hatched early and have made good growth during the summer season, we would get the entire flock of spring pullets, yearlings and all into winter quarters in September. That is, we would have the poultryhouse and yards put in order for winter then, so there will be no rearrangement to disturb the flock or in any way disarrange its daily routine or habits during late October, November and December, when we most desire the eggs. * One of the principal factors for securing a high egg production in the poultry flock is exercise. A hen kept closely cooped will not lay as many eggs during a season; she will take on fat instead and become unhealthy. Give the hens plenty of rang»—and then get a larger basket in which to carrjrthe eggs to market. Qingle Comb Black Leghorns. Not many years ago this breed was little known to breeders. They have made rapid strides and are becoming very popular. The heavy Minorca combs, high tails, very dark legs and purple instead of black plumage have all ibeen bred out and today the Black Leghorns are as good in slope as the other Leghorns. Their combs are equally as small and neat as the whites or browns. They carry their tails low and well ipread. Their legs show a good yellow color together with a good green sheen to the plumage. Among many fanciers black is a desired color nncTaffidfag these admirers and fanciers the Black Leghorn, in many instances, is replacing its browr. or white sister. They are persistent layers of large chalk-white eggs and there's no reason why thej should lack popularity any longer.

TRAINING TODAY'S BOYS AND GIRLS

Professor Asks for a Scientific Method of Punishment. \ EFFICIENCY EXPERT REPUES But His Plan of Correcting tho Child by the "Automatic, Reflex Method of Nature" Won't Always Work.

By BIDONIE M. GRUENBERG. A professor in a southern city, who Is evidently not a specialist on children, writes to an “efficiency expert” for information on the “scientific method of punishing a child for misdemeanors, such as theft, falsehood and disobedience.” He asks rather pathetically, “Is there no sane middle course between the old-fashioned whipping and the new-fangled, spineless Idea of nonpunishment that makes the typical American child either a mollycoddle or a bully, according to temperament?” The expert replies by laying down a principle: “The right way to correct a child is by the automatic, reflex method of nature. Every violation of natural law carries with it a natural penalty, which, through pain, disgust or deprivation, teaches the wrongdoer .not to repeat his mistake. . , . Each parental rule should be based on-some natural law, and the natural penalty for transgression should .be discovered and applied.” Now there is just enough truth in this reply to make it soun<j right; and there is just enough error in it to make it misleading or dangerous. It is true that the child learns from his mistakes, that every unpleasant experience .teaches the lesson, “Don’t do that again.” This Is a “natural law,” and the application consists in establishing unpleasant associations between the actions we disapprove and certain consequences. This is the obverse of the principle of “rewards,” nflmely, establishing pleasant associations with the approved acts.’ But the falTacy in the alleged principle is brought out by the expert’s own illustration of how he would apply it. "He asks us to suppose that a boy, having been told not to eat between meals, disobeys the parental injunction and is seized with an attack of cramps, The way to enforce obedience; says the expert, is “not by administering pain killer inside and a switch outside —the usual inefficient method,” but by allowing the transgressor to suffer the “natural consequences” of his misdeed, with frequent reminders that he is getting what he deserves for his disobedience. He recommends also a harmless bitter “medicine” to add to the child’s disgust, In order to “Intensify nature’s method of discipline.” “No coddling, no chastising, but the immediate linking of cause and effect in the mind of the child, and the natural revulsion from a deed that produces physical or mental pain; this describes in byief the efficiency plan of juvenile correction.” To every experienced mother two thoughts will instantly occur. Suppose the lad disobeys and gets away without any cramp-having fortunately a tough digestive system? And suppose, as sometimes happens, that a

A Harmless Bitter "Medicine” to Add to the Child's Disgust.

child of the angelic, obedient kind gets a violent cramp? One is tempted to ask whether the expert knows any children, and whether he has tried out the methods he recommends. It would take a child of an unusually docile •and flabby mind to accept the doctrine that the pain was the consequence of disobedience, and a child as soft as that is really no problem at all. If we are concerned. In the supposed case, with teaching the child to refrain Irom food between meals, we should see that he has plenty of wholesome food for each meal, and that the meal* come with sufficient frequency. We should see to It that he is spared the. temptation to eat when he should not eat, and we should cultivate in him an effective faith in our Judgment as to the best time for en ting. But if we are concerned with making the child obey the,/ proposed method will be equally ineffective —or “inefficient,” If yon like. For the only lesson that a normal, boy can get from the association between disobedience and “punishment” Is the lesson to avoid getting caught If we extend the principle of natural penalties a little further we may see Its futility or even its viciousness. The child that disobeys the order not- to cross the crowded street alone meets the “natural” consequences of a direct

bile. Undoubtedly the lesson .« v,.n learned, but it Is much more expensive than It need have been. The hoys wbe> swim out beyond their depth have a variety of opportunities to “learn.” if one of them loses his head sod drown* he has but reaped the natural reward of disobedience. If another loses hi* head, but is saved by a strong companion, he Is thoroughly scared, and aIBO learns a valuable lesson. If the third, in the face of danger, muster* all his moral forces and calmly float* until rescued, he has learned the bent lesson of all. Does it follow therefore thatwe should'give our "orders and Id the children obey or not, trusting to the “natural consequences’’ to teach them wisdom? The efficiency man Is right when be says that we should concern ourselvea more with correction and discipline than with punishment, and we moat be sure that the distinction we make is more than verbal. There is a sane course that avoids the brutal and nodiscriminating whip, as well as the other extreme of letting “nature take her course,” and that sane course W certainly not to depend upon “natnrar penalties. The fact U that there can he m fixed rules for the discipline of children, Every offense is a new situation; every child presents a peculiar combination of problems. Our method of correcting will be Influenced i*y our attitude toward the child —whether we seek to impose our own more or less arbitrary scheme of retributive Justice. But if we are sure that w#

Consider the Motive and the Temptation Rather Than the Consequence* are seeking the child’s own good tq our discipline, and not merely giving relief to our feelings, these few suggestions ought to prove helpful: Never punish a child in anger. Consider the motive and the temptations rather than the consequence of a deed. Condemn the misdeed, but not tba child. Make sure that the child understands exactly the offense with which • he is charged. Make sure that the child sees tbo connection between the offense and the penalty that is imposed. Never administer excessive or unusual punishment. Never exaggerate the magnitude of a child’s offense.

PARROT GIVES FIRE ALARM

Cry of ‘‘Fire" Brings Help and Bavea the Building From Destruction. The parrot owned by J. H. Webster bears out the claim of its owoer that ft is “some bird.” -It undoubtedly prevented the building owned by Freeman Rogers, and used to store yacbt supplies, from entire destruction by fire. Seeing tbe blaze coming from the windows of the loft, the bird, which had for a few* days been on the houseboat of Mr. Webster in the vicinity of the shop, called vehemently for help. Cries of "fire” being heard by workmen nearby, they looked about to sen what had so excited Polly. The fire was discovered, and with some trouble extinguished. Mr. Rogers has the bird to thank that bis place of business was not wiped out completely.—Noank (Conn.) Dispatch New York Herald*

Up to Them.

Little James, aged six, bad beea taught to pray each night for all hla relatives and friends, and consequently the list had grown quite large. So ow* night when it came time for the customary prayers, he refused to say them. “Well, well, James!” said his mother, "why don’t you say them? All good little boys say their prayers.” “Yes, but I’m too tired.” • “Oh, my, that’s no excuse. Com* now; that’s a good boy.” “Well,” relented James, “I guess m have to. But gnyhow, I’m not going tm pray for everybody. I’m going to cot a lot of ’em out Some of ’em will have to save themselves-” —Tombigbea Clarion.

Curious Basque Language.

It is said that though the Basque language, which is spoken in the Pyrenees, is one of the most difficult of all languages to acquire, the youngest child conscious of his own thought, can express himself perfectly in it It is averred that in vigor and wordpainting, this is the richest of alt languages. This may be partly due t* the fact that nouns, pronouns and adjectives change into verbs at will, and verbs may be transformed into noun* and adjectives. Every P art of speech, and even the letters of the alphabet can be declined like nouns, and adjust tives are conjugated lika verba.