THE FARM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 94, 20 April 1904, Page 11

THE FARM.

WHY HENS DO NOT LAY.

(A. V. Aleersch.)

■\Vith the exception of the compara{jTeiv. small number of people who. ki>ep fotfls' for exhibition and prize purees, the object of poultry keepers in wjiere.l is to obtain a supply of eggs for eating. In many yards, however, especially in small enclosed runs, eggs fie scarce except during the spring and Lanier, and for months the hens do ~, ot lay. The causes of this unsatisfaejjjij state of things are numerous. First jgg foremost is the question of feeu£g In the majority of instances the jens are overfed. When corn or other -sin is seen lying about the ground at jll times it is unusual for the hens in jjjjt run to lay. It is essential that *jfy should never have more at one time than they can eat eagerly. In a confined •22 chey should receive a good supply c i food ii the morning; hard grain, .i, as wheat, beiore roosting time; a jjjall quantity ftf animal food as a subjtitnte for worms and insects; plenty of Pit rrass or other green vegetables; est in the shape of coal ashes or brok-ji-up oyster shells, and a good supply 0 f clear water to drink: on this principle the diet should be regulated. The s.ze of hens is an important matj. er 'When they are old hens they will fcf out few eggs, and will not lay at Iji; in cold or inclement weather. It is not advisable to keep them for more ivm two years, after which they should be replaced by pullets. It pays better jg £et rid of the old hens after their second laying season for whatever they realise rather than to keep theiu *Mle they moult, and even through the I _inter. without any contribution on jisir part to the egg basket.—''Farm, and Fireside." DR/.SSING I'OVLTIIT. The poultry division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in its bulletin. "Profitable Poultry Farming,'' advises - poultry raisers to kill birds by dislocating the neck. This is different from the I old-fashioned way of wringing or twisting the neck. When the neck is dislocated, and the hetd is pulled from toe neck, the loose, unbroken skin ot the jeck forms a sack, into which the blood i of the chicken flows. Tae body of the thicken is as well drained of blood as if Itle nead were cut off with an a\'e: the market appearance of the chicken is improved by killing by dislocation, the-flesh of the chicken is more juicy and edible. Another good way of killing is to bleed the bird in the mouth. On the contrary, when chickens arc jilled by twisting the neck,' death results mainly from strangulation. The body of ■he chicken is not freed from blood on iccount of there being no space in the aeck into which the blood can flow. The appearance of the flesh of the chicken that has been killed by twisting its neck la reddish, and blood can be plainly noted in it. In several cities in Canada a law is in force prohibiting the sale of chickens that are killed by twisting- the neck, i Full crops injure the appearance of dressed poultry, and huTC the sale in case the chickens are intend ?d for market, leave the heads and feer, on, and do not remove the intestines or ercps. In scalding chickens the water should be as near the boiling point as possibl-. without boiling. Hold the bird by tli legs and head and immerse, move up and down three times;. The feathers and pin feathers should be removed immediately without breaking the skin. Then plump the Dird by dipping it for ten seconds in water nearly or quite boiling, and immediately after into cold water. Hang it in a cool place until the ariinal heat is entirely out of the body. To dry-pick chickens properly the work should be done while the chickens are ! bleeding. Do not wait until ,the bodies j get cold. In dressing turkeys observe the same rules as in dressing chickens, except that turkeys should be dry-picktd, as they command a better price than when scalded, i Ducks and geese should he scalded in the same temperature of water as other poultry, but it "requires more time for the water to penetrate and loosen the fathers. It ia sometimes necessary to wap the carcase in a piece of old canvas or burlap for a few minutes and allow it to steam. Do not dry-pick geese and ducks before killing for the purpose of arcing the feathers, as it causes the skin to become very jumpy and inflamed, and is a great injury to the sale of the stock. Do not singe the bodies for the purpose oi removing The down. —"Nor-west FarJE3." THE PROFEH CASE OF MANOEE. The best direct application which the &nner can make to his land from, his Sraie resouices is stable manure. It supplies both humus (decayed vegetable Bitter) and plant food. The value of manure depends first upon the kind of animal from which it is ttade, the feed which the animal revives, the amount i bedding or letter it contains, and the ws.v in which it is kept <£ housed. Some of the mo=; valuable constituents of manure an soluble, and therefore removed by water. For this reason manure should" be protected from the MB or snow. A covered place of some art is the best in which to keep manure, ior in six months' exposure to weather E&nures usually lose more than half of their available plant food. The more completely rotted the mathe sooner does it become a part % of tie soil, and the decay of the coarse l -Pats renders their plant food more ttaikble. If the rotting proceeds under tever or in_a compost pile there should k little loss of plant food by leaching. v manure cannot be sheltered it be spread on the fields as fast as *gS There is then, practically, no loss " plant food from evaporation and the which leaches is caught by the soil, jjtais plan is impractical, at least put «* manure in a compost pile. This S-ould be done by placing the manure in * «w fiat topped pile, so that it will J& the rain and then forking it over cry ie-w weeks to keep from heating, T? the Nebraska Farmer. This aris better than to heap it up fashion so that a larger surface **pcsed to the action of the washing "* water, which runs off onto the anil not into the manure. Yet 'a heaped against the side of the 2J* a very common sight, and is Zr~|7 accompanied by a mud-hole near ; ;.• with the yellow washings from I g, Manure, and which contains the valuconstituents which should be used 5 a ' fields. When the pyramid is re*ke stains on the barn show fte * ? e boards kave begun to rot, and .'^.J: ad Puddle shows where much of the ■ gone. By this method the . 3 been injured, the crops robbed Jertaiser J and it took the same tj « X , of work to get the poor manure as though it were rich in

the mud pnddle has what ahonia navel been on the fields. When the barn is cleaned the litter might just as easily be put on a wheel barrow and taken to a shed, or compost pile as to be tossed out at the side of the barn, and the added fertility to the fields would be greatly increased.