AGRICULTURAL. POULTRY AS FARMING .STOCK.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 225, 23 May 1872, Page 8

AGRICULTURAL. POULTRY AS FARMING .STOCK.

How many farmers' might obtain plenty, of. new accommodation for poultry by simply making übo of the buildings -they already- possess ? , And how many farmers consider fowls unworthy of consideration, because of some supposed difficulty or expense in erecting, suitable houses ? And, worse than this, how many farmers try to make poultry pay, without any result beyond vexations, merely from lack of ingenu : ty in bringing ordinary appliances into play ? " Why bother," they ask,' " about raising chickens in cow-sheds and out-buildings, when you can set out as many coops as you. like on the grass of a paddock, the gravel of a stable-yard, or upon the scattered rickyard straw ?" Because, generally speaking, half our chickens die under the common barn-yard system. They get wet feed, and die of cramp ; they drink high coloured soakwater of manure h^aps, of straw-yard drainings, arid otter filthy slops, and consequently sicken and, die by dozens. We have a troop of adult breeding fowls loose in the farmyard ; they pick up a large part of their living there, but they do not thrive so well or keep so healthy as other troops of breeding stock which we have stationed at houses properly erected in grass fields, far from the homestead. For a very small sum you may ,knock up a square boarded house, tarred outside, lime washed inside, and covered with asphalted felt. Each of the four sides is in a separate piece, the ; roof (if of gable form) in two pieces, all hooked together at the corners by staples and pins. So a house (say six feet or seven; feet cube) can be -popped into a cart, and temporarily set up in a pasture, or on a stubble^ or wherever there may be a good picking for the fowls. A couple , of percales, a few; tfests,, and a drinking 'pari'fbrncf "the furniture; ' while the ground.; cohered,, ,is/ by^th&/houpe;(for, there is .no wooden, ..floor) is spread, over mth , loose, earth, ashes, ./and. mortar. Such -is .. the" homo for one cock and eight' or ten hens and pullets during the breeding season, or the home of double this number of halfgrown chickena. The house 'should .be placed.against a hedge/ or in a corner where tivq Hedges meet, so that a few poles and posts, may .protect it against cattle. There can be no good reason against grazing fowls- as well as othec " ani.tialsj" and the farmer who tries it for the first titne will ba .surprised at the amdun£ of "grub" (literally perhaps) which the active scratchers , and peckers -find in, a grass field, arid ■ under the droppings ,of sheep apd eattle> among hedge roots, upon .ditch sides," and so on ; . only a small supply of grain .being necessary twice a day. We wiih that, many farmers may take our ' advice-^procure' what hardy sort you'riiay fancy, Cochin or Br'ahmas, that endure close quarters,; game, that are strong old-En«;lish.birds;^Dorkings, that like dry chalk arid grayetcountries ; or if you are in a low or wet neighbourhood, on a tenacious soil, put a- Cochin cock 'to,; Dorking, fe,maljes : (no. cross breeds allowed r for , parents, urip d, but get good, blood or pure breeds), and. you wyi^aye.bardi^oo.djn yau.ch^icksj. asj,v y eilj as- freight and, quality^iriyouir, couples fop, marketi^r" Agricultural .Jyazetierl'v.-? :.' \ > ~ » „' 1 The "'fMaine 1 Farmer' "reminds its' readers of the following " great truths " in , agriculture ': — |" Tfie farmer who" stints his nelds is as'uriwise and imas he, : wbo starves, his wprk-

ing cattle ; in both cases he is diminishing the ability of a faithful servant to be useful to him. The/farmer who obtains from afield, not properly fertilised, ten bushels of grain, when by manuring' he i nnght, have obtained twenty, is selling his labour at half value. He who does not give back, to his fields as much as he takes from them sells their fertility in his crops, and the fertility of | the soil is the farmer's capital. The' farmer who will keep these truths in view, and act in accordance with the rules they suggest, will find his .compensation in the increasing products of his farm, in the augmentation of his wealth, and in the promotion of general prosperity." '<'■ ' I

The " American Rural Home" thus writes on sheep : — " The relative profit is much greater, from a small flock than a large one. The grain farmer, no matter how few his acres, can make money by keeping a few sheep. There is always room for them somewhere, and they consume and turn into money food that otherwise would waste. But he must be careful not to over-stock. To illustrate, suppose the farmer cultivates only eighty acres, raising grain chiefly. - He .keeps a few cows and the necessary teams. Oneof his farm is in pasture, one-fifth fifth meadow ; one planted, one springgrain, and one wheat. He* thinks he. has as much stock as he can profitably keep, but if he puts on one sheep to every five acres he will find their products clear gain. In the spring (early) they can run on the sod which is to be planted, and one sheep to each acre will not hurt the land, yet they will live well. After that they can go into the pasture .and glean after the, cows to advantage. A run on the stubbles after harvest will not be felt where each sheep has two acres, and in the fall there is plenty of feed. Through the winter they can be well kept on what the other stock would not consume, with the addition of a little grain. Probably the most profitable are some of the coarser woolled mutton breeds. Their lambs sell to the butchers for high prices, and when fat the sheep fetch as much as a yearling steer. Sixteen mutton sheep well managed would proditcean income of 100 dollars,! where if none^ were kept- nothing- would be realised. The greatest drawbacks-is liability^ loss by dogs ; and it is a disgrace to any state to protect its curs so well 1 that they expel, to a certain extent, the only animal which can cheapen the meat and clothing of the people."

The " Wangaratta Herald " has the following :—": — " At the annual meeting of the members of the Ovens and Atnrray A gricnltnral -Association in Wangaratta, a very useful suggestion was mentioned by the Vice President, Mr. G. Spink, as having been made to him, with regard to some novel prizes which ought. to be offered at the show next year. One was for the farmer who should first be able to put in twenty-five acres of grain without horse labour; one for- the farmer who should first be able to take off twenty-five 1 acres of grain without horse labour ; and one for the farmer who should be first to bring into Wangaratta ten tons of produce without using horses to do so. The prices of farm produce have been so low of late that it is quite time that the farmers should consider every method that may be thought of as likely to reduce the cost of working farms, and if wooden or iron horses thai need no food can be

made to do the work of horses equally as. well, it is most desirable what that great saving should be effected."