Says 150 Hens Equal Six Bales of Cotton.
“One hundred and fifty hens equal six bales of cotton,” is the economical equation demonstrated by George Echols, a farmer, of Brazos County, Texas.
Echols has a flock of 150 hens. He has sold, this year, $200 worth of eggs. Reckoning sales for the next two months, and adding sales of live poultry, making due allowance for eggs and poultry used by his family. Echols figures he will clear $300 on his flock.
Echols has a tenant who pays him $140 for the use of his farm land. The tenant’s crop this season is six bales of cotton, worth but $40 more than his rent. Under normal conditions the cotton would not net more than $360. The cotton required most of the tenant’s time since April and the feed of a team.
Echols says his wife devoted only about one hour a day to the hens. Counting the equipment of team and implements for growing cotton, and contrasting the investment in chickens and poultry houses, Echols declares the gross figures prove 150 hens are equal to six bales of cotton.