Hudson - Litchfield News 6 - September 24, 2010


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9 7 3 7 4 1 5 Hudson’s Poultry Industry: A History by Lynne Ober


Hudson’s roots are deeply seated in an agricultural foundation that carried Hudson into the 20th century. Local farms included both mixed family farms and larger production operations with poultry, apples, and dairy farms producing items for wholesale markets. The Poultry Growers’ Association 1947 yearbook lists many area poultry farmers: George Allard, R.J. Bergeron, Ernest Bigelow, James Biggar, Harry E. Lewis, Richard Mansfield, Jesse Richardson, and Whatmough Brothers in Pelham; and Joseph Egeris, Grant Jasper, Alexander Mazetis, and Emery Nadeau in Hudson. These farmers, and others before them,


provided jobs and a budding industry in our areas. Feed stores, shipping, and other related businesses grew out of the poultry and farming industry. New England was ideal for poultry farming. Hens do not like the extreme, hot temperatures, and there was no air conditioning. In Hudson, Old Derry Road was the


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active scene that extended from the early days until current time. A number of farms were established along this road. By the 20th century, two prominent, neighboring families were still farming. The Nadeaus were dairy farmers and still participating in the poultry industry, and the Jaspers were poultry farmers. Today, the Jaspers still live on their farm property, although they no longer participate in poultry farming. The Jasper farm became one of New England’s largest breeding farms, with Grant Jasper known as one of the leaders of the New England poultry industry. At its peak, the farm contained over 300 acres, 18 large hen houses, and more than 200 portable brooder houses and range shelters. The daily production was more than 25,000 eggs. For the Jaspers, it began in the summer of 1916, when Grant Jasper purchased the Mapleside Poultry Farm from Charlton Brain, including nearly 300 egg-laying hens. “He was off and running. Nothing stopped my grandfather,” smiled Shawn Jasper. There was no electricity. The roads were not paved. Hudson was not close to any metropolitan center. It seems an unlikely place for a thriving enterprise, but that’s exactly what the poultry farm became under Grant Jasper, who had visions beyond the depth of most farmers at the time.


Later, Jasper would purchase the Franklin A Hills farm from the widow of Franklin Hills, and when he added that property to Mapleside Poultry Farm, the name was changed to Jasper Poultry Farms. A new, large hatchery was built, which allowed the Jaspers to set 20,000 eggs at a time. In 1922, Robert Jasper, who would take


over the farm from his father, was born. Robert attended Number 9 School House, across the street from the family farm, until it closed in 1932.


In 1925, Derry Road was paved with


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blacktop to Elm Avenue, but not as far as Jasper Poultry Farm. Shawn Jasper recalls the stories of his grandfather and his motorized vehicle with skis. “In the winter, he put skis on his car so that he could get from our farm to Elm Avenue, where the paving began. My grandfather was always thinking about something and he knew that delivery of hatching eggs couldn’t stop just because it snowed.” Poultry farming continued to be a very viable industry during this time. Eggs and chickens were raised and sold. The cycle was approximately a year long. Even if one of the farms was raising chickens to sell or selling eggs, the cycle didn’t change. According to Robert Jasper, hens have a productive laying time of about eight months and after that time, egg production falls off and it costs more to feed the hen than a farmer could recoup from egg sales. According to Robert Jasper, when a hen


was no longer a viable layer, they sold them to a manufacturer who produced cat food. The hours were long. Robert Jasper remembers packing eggs at night with his father. “We packed them at night because we spent the daylight hours doing needed work with the chickens. When they went to bed, we packed the eggs.” Grant Jasper became a prominent player across the state in the poultry industry.


Robert Jasper with a chicken


Grant Jasper’s vision for his business and its growth led him to play such a predominant leadership role in the New England poultry industry. According to his grandson, Shawn Jasper, Grant realized that extending his knowledge and leadership throughout the industry would benefit the Jasper Poultry Farm.


In 1936, Grant was president of


on the foundation of the old barn. This building added capacity to house an additional 3,500 chickens. A modern one-story building was built for another 1,000 laying hens. Jasper bought the adjoining Dooley farm and renovated that barn to house another 3,000 chickens.


By the mid-1930s, he added another 57,000 egg hatchery to his farm. Eggs and chicks were shipped across America via train. Keeping with his international trend,


Grant Jasper also worked with the government of Peru to improve breeding stock. The breakout of hostilities that would become World War II brought with it an increased demand for eggs and chicks. It was a hey-day for the poultry farmers, and all of them benefited. Fire struck the Jaspers twice more. On


January 17, 1946, the dwelling house at what was called Annex One was totally destroyed by fire. The house, originally built by Nathaniel Hills, still contained seven generations of history of the Hills family, and this was all destroyed. Once again, the existing foundation was used. This time, a new family home emerged from the ashes. The third fire struck in 1949. According to the Hudson Fire Log, “March 29, 1949 - Hudson - NH - Hen house fire - Jasper Farm Old Derry Road - Crews responded to the farm for a building fire. At the time


Robert Jasper and his siblings with the hens


An old view of the Jasper farm before the streets were paved


three different poultry associations: the Northeast Poultry Producers Council, the new Hampshire Egg Producers Cooperative, and the New Hampshire Poultry Growers Association. In a time before cell phones, e-mail, and television, Grant Jasper had a worldwide vision that would lead him to take his business international. On the state level, his expertise was widely acknowledged, and it is no surprise that he held these positions for several years. During a time with no rapid, “round-


the-world” news broadcasts, when roads may or may not be paved, Grant Jasper saw the future that expanded outside of New England. He proposed that the poultry industry sell between a quarter and a half a million hens to Russia. Farming has always been filled with long


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days and hardships, as well as rewards. Fire was one serious enemy of farmers. Hudson, as other towns, was hit with many fires over the years. Timber was the chief building material available, and fire suppression was slowed by the lack of paved roads and running water found in today’s world. Fire struck the Jasper poultry farm in 1934. According to the Hudson Fire Log of March 12, 1934, the fire, caused by a discarded cigarette, destroyed the “Barn destroyed by fire along with many other out buildings.” This was a huge loss because this barn had been acquired with the Franklin Hills farm. Grant Jasper had fully renovated the barn and the damage for the barn and other buildings was set at $4,000, a very large amount of money in those days. However, within 15 months, Grant


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Jasper had not only sprung back from this disaster, but he had actually increased the capacity of his farm. A three-story house was constructed


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of the fire, crews were fighting a brush fire on Lowell Road. The hen house fire started as a brush fire and burned 50 boarder houses killing 10,000 chickens. Nashua firefighters were called to the scene to assist with attacking the fire. One farm hand was burned on his face trying to fight the fire before the arrival of crews.“ Shawn Jasper recalls that 50 of the 56 small brooder houses, built in the 1920s, were destroyed. To replace these smaller brooder houses, the Jaspers build a 300- foot brooder house that would serve as home to 20,000 chicks. Growing up on a poultry farm brings fond memories to Shawn Jasper. He recalls that he got to box the eggs. We had machines that graded the eggs, so all I had to do as a six-year-old lad was place them in the boxes. I loved that. My dad paid me a quarter an hour and took that out of petty cash, always cautioning me not to tell my grandmother.” Both Shawn and his Dad still laugh over those memories. But the end was approached for this industry, and 1954 marked the prosperity peak for poultry farmers. Robert Jasper said that the market crashed and poultry farmers began turning to other enterprises. In 1956, Grant Jasper died, and his son, Robert, took over the management of the farm. Three years later, the hatchery was shut down because of the decline in the number of smaller farms that it served, but the farm continued to produce hatching eggs. Today, two large poultry farms remain in the state, with much of the industry now in the south, where air conditioners make it possible to control the climate for the hens. Across the region, farms were turned into other uses. At the Jaspers, fire burned three of the big poultry houses, two were sold, and the others were converted, using Yankee ingenuity into locations for businesses.


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