,transcriber's ,note3 ,this printing had more than its share of typographical errors4 ,obvious typos1 like tim for time1 have been corrected4 ,,the ,,dollar ,,hen ,,by ,,milo ,m4 ,,hastings ,,formerly ,,poultryman ,,at ,,kansas ,,experiment ,,station2 ,,later ,,in ,,charge ,,of ,,the ,,commercial ,,poultry ,,investigation ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,department ,,of ,,agriculture ,,syracuse ,,national ,,poultry ,,magazine #aiaa ,,copyright1 #aiaa1 ,,by ,,national ,,poultry ,,publishing ,,company ,,why ,,this ,,book ,,was ,,written ,twenty-five years ago there were in print hundreds of complete treatises on human diseases and the practice of medicine4 ,notwithstanding the size of the book-shelves or the high standing of the authorities1 one might have read the entire medical library of that day and still have remained in ignorance of the fact that out-door life is a better cure for consumption than the contents of a drug store4 ,the medical professor of #ahhe may have gone prematurely to his grave because of ignorance of facts which are to-day the property of every intelligent man4 ,there are to-day on the book-shelves of agricultural colleges and public libraries1 scores of complete works on ,poultry and hundreds of minor writings on various phases of the industry4 ,let the would-be poultryman master this entire collection of literature and he is still in ignorance of facts and principles1 a knowledge of which in better developed industries would be considered prime necessities for carrying on the business4 ,as a concrete illustration of the above statement1 ,i want to point to a young man1 intelligent1 enterprising1 industrious1 and a graduate of the best known agricultural college poultry course in the country4 ,this lad invested some #ah1jjj of his own and his friends' money in a poultry plant4 ,the plant was built and the business conducted in accordance with the plans and principles of the recognized poultry authorities4 ,to-day the young man is bravely facing the proposition of working on a salary in another business1 to pay back the debts of honor resulting from his attempt to apply in practice the teaching of our agricultural colleges and our poultry bookshelves4 ,the experience just related did not prove disastrous from some single item of ignorance or oversight2 the difficulty was that the cost of growing and marketing the product amounted to more than the receipts from its sale4 ,this poultry farm1 like the surgeon's operation1 was successful1 but the patient died4 ,the writer's belief in the reality of the situation as above portrayed warrants him in publishing the present volume4 ,whether his criticism of poultry literature is founded on fact or fancy may1 five years after the copyright date of this book1 be told by any unbiased observer4 ,i have written this book for the purpose of assisting in placing the poultry business on a sound scientific and economic basis4 ,the book does not pretend to be a complete encyclopedia of information concerning poultry1 but treats only of those phases of poultry production and marketing upon which the financial success of the business depends4 ,the reader who is looking for information concerning fancy breeds1 poultry shows1 patent processes1 patent foods1 or patent methods1 will be disappointed1 for the object of this book is to help the poultryman to make money1 not to spend it4 ,,how ,,to ,,read ,,this ,,book ,unless the reader has picked up this volume out of idle curiosity1 he will be one of the following individuals3 #a4 ,a farmer or would-be farmer1 who is interested in poultry production as a portion of the work of general farming4 #b4 ,a poultryman or would-be poultryman1 who wishes to make a business of producing poultry or eggs for sale as a food product or as breeding stock4 #c4 ,a person interested in poultry as a diversion and who enjoys losing a dollar on his chickens almost as well as earning one4 #d4 ,a man interested in poultry in the capacity of an editor1 teacher or some one engaged as a manufacturer or dealer in merchandise the sale of which is dependent upon the welfare of the poultry industry4 ,to the reader of the fourth class ,i have no suggestions to make save such as he will find in the suggestions made to others4 ,to the reader of the third class ,i wish to say that if you are a shoe salesman1 who has spent your evenings in a ,brooklyn flat1 drawing up plans for a poultry plant1 ,i have only to apologize for any interference that this book may cause with your highly fascinating amusement4 ,to the poultryman already in the business1 or to the man who is planning to engage in the business for reasons equivalent to those which would justify his entering other occupations of the semi-technical class1 such as dairying1 fruit growing or the manufacture of washing machines1 ,i wish to say it is for you that ,the ,dollar ,hen is primarily written4 ,this book does not assume you to be a graduate of a technical school1 but it does bring up discussions and use methods of illustration that may be unfamiliar to many readers4 ,that such matter is introduced is because the subject requires it2 and if it is confusing to the student he will do better to master it than to dodge it4 ,especially would ,i call your attention to the diagrams used in illustrating various statistics4 ,such diagrams are technically called curves4 ,they may at first seem mere crooked lines1 if so ,i suggest that you get a series of figures in which you are interested1 such as the daily egg yields of your own flock or your monthly food bills1 and plot a few curves of your own4 ,after you catch on you will be surprised at the greater ease with which the true meaning of a series of figures can be recognized when this graphic method is used4 ,i wish to call the farmer's attention to the fact that poultry keeping as an adjunct to general farming1 especially to general farming in the ,mississippi ,valley1 is quite a different proposition from poultry production as a regular business4 ,poultry keeping as a part of farm life and farm enterprise is a thing well worth while in any section of the ,united ,states1 whereas poultry keeping1 a separate occupation1 requires special location and special conditions to make it profitable4 ,i would suggest the farmer first read ,chapter ,,xvi1 which is devoted to his special conditions4 ,later he may read the remainder of the book1 but should again consult the part on farm poultry production before attempting to apply the more complicated methods to his own needs4 ,chapter ,,xvi1 while written primarily for the farmer1 is1 because of the simplicity of its directions1 the best general guide for the beginner in poultry keeping wherever he may be4 ,to the reader in general1 ,i want to say1 that the table of contents1 a part of the book which most people never read1 is in this volume so placed and so arranged that it cannot well be avoided4 ,read it before you begin the rest of the book1 and use it then and thereafter in guiding you toward the facts that you at the time particularly want to know4 ,many people in starting to read a book find something in the first chapter which does not interest them and cast aside the work1 often missing just the information they are seeking4 ,the conspicuous arrangement of the contents is for the purpose of preventing such an occurrence in this case4 ,,what ,,is ,,in ,,this ,,volume ,,chapter ,i ,,is ,,there ,,money ,,in ,,the ,,poultry ,,business8 ,a ,big ,business2 ,growing ,bigger ,less ,ham and ,more ,eggs ,who ,gets the ,hen ,money8 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,what ,,branch ,,of ,,the ,,poultry ,,business8 ,various ,poultry ,products ,the ,duck ,business ,squabs ,have ,been ,overdone ,turkeys not ,adapted to ,commercial ,growing ,guinea ,growing a ,new ,venture ,geese1 the ,fame of ,watertown ,the ,ill-omened ,broiler ,business ,south ,shore ,roasters ,too ,much ,competition in ,fancy ,poultry ,egg ,farming the ,most ,certain and ,profitable ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,poultry ,,producing ,,community ,established ,poultry ,communities ,developing ,poultry ,communities ,will ,co-operation ,work8 ,co-operative ,egg ,marketing in ,denmark ,corporation or ,co-operation ,,chapter ,,iv ,,where ,,to ,,locate ,some ,poultry ,geography ,chicken ,climate ,suitable ,soil ,marketing--,transportation ,availability of ,water ,a ,few ,statistics ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,dollar ,,hen ,,farm ,the ,plan of ,housing ,the ,feeding ,system ,water ,systems ,out-door ,accommodations ,equipment for ,chick ,rearing ,twenty-five ,acre ,poultry ,farms ,five ,acre ,poultry ,farms ,,chapter ,,vi ,,incubation ,fertility of ,eggs ,the ,wisdom of the ,egyptians ,principles of ,incubation ,moisture and ,evaporation ,ventilation--,carbon ,dioxide ,turning ,eggs ,cooling ,eggs ,searching for the ,open ,sesame of ,incubation ,the ,box ,type of ,incubator in ,actual ,use ,the ,future of ,incubation ,,chapter ,,vii ,,feeding ,conventional ,food ,chemistry ,how the ,hen ,unbalances ,balanced ,rations ,,chapter ,,viii ,,diseases ,don't ,doctor ,chickens ,the ,causes of ,poultry ,diseases ,chicken ,cholera ,roup ,chicken-pox1 ,gapes1 ,limber-neck ,lice and ,mites ,,chapter ,,ix ,,poultry ,,flesh ,,and ,,poultry ,,fattening ,crate ,fattening ,caponizing ,,chapter ,x ,,marketing ,,poultry ,,carcasses ,farm ,grown ,chickens ,the ,special ,poultry ,plant ,suggestions ,from ,other ,countries ,cold ,storage of ,poultry ,drawn or ,undrawn ,fowls ,poultry ,inspection ,,chapter ,,xi ,,quality ,,in ,,eggs ,grading ,eggs ,how ,eggs are ,spoiled ,egg ,size ,table ,the ,loss ,due to ,carelessness ,requisites of ,producing ,high ,grade ,eggs ,,chapter ,,xii ,,how ,,eggs ,,are ,,marketed ,the ,country ,merchant ,the ,huckster ,the ,produce ,buyer ,the ,city ,distribution of ,eggs ,cold ,storage of ,eggs ,preserving ,eggs ,out of ,cold ,storage ,improved ,methods of ,marketing ,farm-,grown ,eggs ,the ,high ,grade ,egg ,business ,buying ,eggs by ,weight ,the ,retailing of ,eggs by the ,producer ,the ,price of ,eggs ,n4,y4 ,mercantile ,exchange1 ,official ,quotations ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,breeds ,,of ,,chickens ,breed ,tests ,the ,hen's ,ancestors ,what ,breed8 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,practical ,,and ,,scientific ,,breeding ,breeding as an ,art ,scientific ,theories of ,breeding ,breeding for ,egg ,production ,,chapter ,,xv ,,experiment ,,station ,,work ,the ,stations ,leading in ,poultry ,work ,the ,story of the ,big ,coon ,important ,experimental ,results at the ,illinois ,station ,experimental ,bias ,the ,egg ,breeding ,work at the ,maine ,station ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,poultry ,,on ,,the ,,general ,,farm ,best ,breeds for the ,farm ,keep ,only ,workers ,hatching ,chicks with ,hens ,incubators on the ,farm ,rearing ,chicks ,feeding ,laying ,hens ,cleanliness ,farm ,chicken ,houses ,,the ,,dollar ,,hen ,,chapter ,i ,,is ,,there ,,money ,,in ,,the ,,poultry ,,business8 ,the chicken business is big4 ,no one knows how big it is and no one can find out4 ,the reason it is hard to find out is because so many people are engaged in it and because the chicken crop is sold1 not once a year1 but a hundred times a year4 ,statistics are guesses4 ,true statistics are the sum of little guesses1 but often figures published as statistics are big guesses by a guesser who is big enough to have his guess accepted4 ,a ,big ,business2 ,growing ,bigger ,the only real statistics for the poultry crop of the ,united ,states are those of the ,federal ,census4 ,at this writing these statistics are nine years old and somewhat out of date4 ,the value of poultry and eggs in #ahii1 according to the census figures1 was #bia1jjj1jjj4 ,is this too big or too little8 ,i don't know4 ,if the reader wishes to know let him imagine the census enumerator asking a farmer the value of the poultry and eggs which he has produced the previous year4 ,would the farmer's guess be too big or too small8 ,from these census figures as a base1 estimates have been made for later years4 ,the ,secretary of ,agriculture1 or1 speaking more accurately1 a clerk in the ,statistical ,bureau of the ,department of ,agriculture1 says the poultry and egg crop for #aijg was over #fjj1jjj1jjj4 ,the best two sources of information known to the writer by which this estimate may be checked are the receipts of the ,new ,york market and the annual ,value of ,poultry and ,eggs ,sold1 as given by the ,kansas ,state ,board of ,agriculture4 ,illustration3 ,plate ,i4 ,page #ad4 ,graph - ,is ,there ,money in ,poultry8 ,in plate ,i the top curve a-a gives the average spring price of ,western first eggs in the ,new ,york market4 ,the curve b-b gives the annual receipts of eggs at ,new ,york in millions of cases4 ,now1 since value equals quantity multiplied by price1 and since the quantity and values of poultry are closely correlated to those of eggs1 the product of these two figures is a fair means of showing the rate of increase in the value of the poultry crop4 ,starting with the census value of #bia1jjj1jjj for the year #ahii1 we thus find that by #aijg the amount is very close to #gjj1jjj1jjj4 ,this is represented by the lower line4 ,the value of the poultry and eggs sold in ,kansas have increased as follows3 ,year ,value #aijc #f1dih1hef #aijd #g1eea1hga #aije #h1eda1aec #aijf #i1jhe1hif #aijg #aj1cjj1jhb ,the dotted line e-e represents the increase in the national poultry and egg crop estimated from the ,kansas figures4 ,evidently the estimate given in ,secretary ,wilson's report was not excessive4 ,now1 ,i want to call the reader's attention to some relations about which there can be no doubt and which are even more significant4 ,the straight line c-c in ,plate #a represents the rate of increase of population in this country4 ,the line b-b represents the rate of increase in egg receipts at ,new ,york4 ,as the country data backs up the ,new ,york figures1 the conclusion is inevitable that the production of poultry and eggs is increasing much more rapidly than is our population4 ,over-production1 ,i hear the pessimist cry1 but unfortunately for ,friend ,pessimist1 we have a gauge on the over-production idea that lays all fears to rest4 ,when the supply of any commodity increases faster than the demand1 we have over-production and falling prices4 ,vice-versa1 under-production is shown by a rising price4 ,that prices of poultry and eggs have risen and risen rapidly1 has already been shown4 ,but prices of all products have risen1 says one4 ,very true1 but by statistics with which ,i will not burden the reader1 ,i find that prices of poultry products have risen more rapidly than the average rise in values of all commodities4 ,this shows that poultry products are really more in demand and more valuable1 not apparently so4 ,moreover1 the rise in the price of poultry products has been much more pronounced than the average rise in the price of all food products1 which proves the growing demand for poultry and eggs to be a real growing demand1 not a turning to poultry products because of the high price of other foods1 as is sometimes stated4 ,less ,ham and ,more ,eggs4 ,certainly we1 as a nation1 are rapidly becoming eaters of hens and of hen fruit4 ,reasons are not hard to find4 ,poultry and eggs are the most palatable1 most wholesome1 most convenient of foods4 ,our demands for the products of the poultry yard grows because we are learning to like them1 and because our prosperity has grown and we can afford them4 ,another reason that the consumption of eggs is growing is because the condition in which they reach the consumer is improving4 ,the writer may say some pretty hard things in this work about the condition of poultry and eggs as they are now marketed1 but any old-timer in the business will tell you stories of things as they used to be that will easily explain why our fathers ate more ham and less eggs4 ,yet another reason why the per capita consumption of hens as measured in pounds or dollars increases1 is that the hen herself has increased in size2 whereas ,john when he was ,johnnie ate a two-ounce drumstick1 now ,johnnie eats an analogous piece that weighs three ounces4 ,perhaps1 also1 we have a growing respect for the law of ,moses1 or may be vegetarians who think that eggs grow on egg plants are becoming more numerous4 ,our consumption of pork per capita has1 in the last half century1 diminished by half1 our consumption of beef has remained stationary1 but our consumption of poultry and eggs has doubled itself1 we know not how many times1 for a half century ago the ancestor of the industrious hen of this age serenely scratched up grandmother's geraniums and was unmolested by the statisticians4 ,who ,gets the ,hen ,money8 ,seven hundred millions of dollars is a lot of money4 ,who gets it8 ,there are no ,rockefellers or ,armours in the hen business4 ,it is the people's business4 ,why8 ,because the nature of the business is such that it cannot be centralized4 ,land and intelligent labor1 prompted by the spirit of ownership1 is necessary to succeed in the hen business4 ,land the captains of industry have not monopolized1 and labor imbued with the spirit of ownership they cannot monopolize4 ,the chicken business is1 in dollars1 one of the biggest industries in the country4 ,in numbers of those engaged in it1 the chicken business is the biggest industry in the world--,i bar none4 ,why is this true8 ,primarily because the hen is a natural part of the equipment of every farm and of many village homes as well4 ,it is these millions of small flocks that count up in dollars and men and give such an immense aggregate4 ,more than ninety-eight per cent4 of the poultry and eggs of the country are produced on the general farm4 ,the remaining one or two per cent4 are produced on farms or plants where chicken culture is the cash crop or chief business of the farmer4 ,it is this business1 relatively small1 though actually a matter of millions1 that is commonly spoken of as the poultry business1 and about which our chief interest centers4 ,a farmer can disregard all knowledge and all progress and still keep chickens1 but the man who has no other means of a livelihood must produce chicken products efficiently1 or fail altogether--hence the greater interest in this portion of the industry4 ,the poultry business as a business to occupy a man's time and earn him a livelihood1 is a thing of recent origin and was little heard of before #ahij4 ,since that time it has undergone a somewhat painful1 though steady growth4 ,many people have lost money in the business and have given it up in disgust1 but on a whole the business has progressed wonderfully1 and now shows features of development that are clearly beyond the experimental stage and are undoubtedly here to stay4 ,the suggestion has been made by those who have failed or have seen others fail in the poultry business1 that success was impossible because of the destructive competition of the farmer1 whose expense of production is small4 ,herein lies a great truth and a great error4 ,the farmer's cost of production is small1 much smaller than that on most of the book-made poultry farms--but the inference that the poultryman's cost of production cannot be lowered below that of the farmer is a different statement4 ,the farm of our grandfather was a very diversified institution4 ,it contained in miniature a woolen mill1 a packing house1 a cheese factory1 perhaps a shoe factory and a blacksmith shop4 ,one by one these industries have been withdrawn from general farm-life1 and established as independent businesses4 ,likewise our dairy farms1 our fruit farms1 and our market gardens have been segregated from the general farm4 ,this simply means that manufacturing cloth1 or cheese1 or producing milk1 or tomatoes can be done at less cost in separate establishments than upon a general farm4 ,the general farm will always grow poultry for home consumption1 and will always have some surplus to sell4 ,with the surplus1 the poultryman must compete4 ,his only hope of successful competition is production at lower cost4 ,can this be done8 ,it is being done1 and the numbers of people who are doing it are increasing1 but they spend little money at poultry shows1 or with the advertisers of poultry papers1 and hence are little heard of in the poultry world4 ,the people whose names and faces are in the poultry papers are frequently there only while their money lasts4 ,they write long articles and show pictures of many houses and yards to prove that there is money in the poultry business1 but if one should keep their names and put the question to them five years hence1 a great many could say1 ,yes1 there is money in the poultry business2 mine is in it4 ,such people and such plants do not get the cost of production down below the farmer's level4 ,between these two classes of poultry plants1 the writer hopes in this work to show the distinction4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,what ,,branch ,,of ,,the ,,poultry ,,business8 ,the chicken business is especially prone to failure from a disregard of the common essential relation of cost and selling price necessary to the success of any business4 ,that this should be more true of the poultry business than of any other undertakings is to be explained by the facts that as a business1 it is new1 that many of those who engage in it are inexperienced1 but most particularly because practically all the literature published on the subject has been written by or written in the interest of those who had something to sell to the poultryman4 ,as a result the figures of production are generally given higher than the facts warrant4 ,the investor1 be he ever so shrewd a man1 builds upon these promises and when he finds his production lower1 is caught with an excessive investment and a complicated system on his hands1 which make all profits impossible and which cannot readily be adapted to the new conditions4 ,estimates of poultry profits are quite common1 but there are few published figures showing the results that are actually obtained under practical working conditions4 ,in this volume ,i will try to give the facts of what is being and can be actually accomplished4 ,various ,poultry ,products4 ,in considering the poultry industry we must first get some idea of the various articles produced for sale4 ,it is common knowledge that the large meat packer can undersell the small packer because the by-products1 such as bristles1 which are wasted by the local killer1 are a source of income to the large packer4 ,now1 this does not infer that the small packer is shiftless and neglects to save his bristles1 but that on the scale on which he operates it would cost him more to save the bristles than he could realize on them4 ,so it is with poultry farming4 ,for illustration3 ,a visionary writer in a leading poultry paper1 not long ago1 advised poultrymen to store eggs4 ,in reality this would be the height of folly1 unless the poultryman had his own retail store4 ,in the first place profit on cold storage eggs1 when all expenses are paid1 will not average a half a cent a dozen2 in the second place1 the small lot would be relatively troublesome and expensive to handle1 and in the third place1 small lots of cold storage eggs are looked upon with suspicion and do not find ready sale4 ,so we see that cold storage eggs are not a suitable product for the small poultryman to handle4 ,a second illustration of an ill-chosen combination might be taken in the case of a duck farmer who attempts to produce broilers4 ,the principal difficulty of the duck business is that of getting sufficient intelligent labor in the rush season4 ,the chief expense of investment is for incubators and brooder houses4 ,if the duck farmer now tries to add broilers1 he will find that the labor comes at the same time of the year1 that the chief equipment required is that which is already crowded by the duck business1 and that of the men who have succeeded moderately well in caring for ducks will fail altogether with the young chicks1 which do not thrive under the same machine-like methods4 ,on the other hand1 let us take the example of an egg farm man who has resolved to combine his attention wholly to the production of market eggs4 ,he succeeds well in his work and is visited by the poultry editors4 ,his picture1 the picture of his chickens and of his chicken houses1 are printed in the poultry papers4 ,for a reasonable sum invested in advertising and in exhibition at the shows1 this man could now double his income by going into the breeding stock business4 ,to refuse to spread out in this case would certainly be foolish4 ,the following classification of the sales products of the poultry industry is given as a basis for farther consideration4 ,,chickens4 ,for food purposes3 ,eggs4 ,hens1 after laying has been finished4 ,cockerels1 necessarily hatched in hatching pullets for layers4 7,sold as squab broilers1 regular broilers1 springs1 roasters or capons47 ,both sexes as squab broilers1 broilers or roasters4 ,for stock purposes3 ,eggs for hatching4 ,day-old chicks4 ,mature fowls4 ,,ducks4 ,for table--green or spring ducks4 ,by-products1 old ducks and duck feathers4 ,for breeding-stock4 ,,geese4 ,food1 ,feathers1 ,breeders4 ,,turkeys4 ,food1 ,breeders4 ,,pigeons4 ,squabs1 ,breeding ,stock4 ,,guineas4 ,broilers1 ,mature ,fowls4 ,i will now discuss these products more in detail4 ,poultry1 other than chickens1 ,i do not care to discuss at length1 because it is not for the purpose of the book1 and because the demand for other kinds of poultry is limited and the chance for the growth of the business small4 ,the ,duck ,business4 ,the duck business is the most highly commercialized at the present time of any branch of the poultry business4 ,the duck is the oldest domestic bird and was hatched by artificial incubation in ,china1 when our ancestors were gnawing raw bones in the caves of ,europe4 ,the duck is the most domestic of birds and will thrive under more machine-like methods and without that touch of nature and of the owner's kindly interest so necessary to the welfare of the fowls of the gallinaceous order4 ,the green duck business is about twenty years old and has become an established business in every sense of the word4 ,the largest plants now produce about one hundred thousand ducks per annum4 ,the profits at present are not large even for the most successful plants1 because the demand is limited and the production has reached such a point that cost of production and selling price bear a definite relation as in all established businesses4 ,the green duck business is not an easy one for the novice because the margin between cost 7chiefly food cost7 and selling price is low1 and unless the new man can reduce the cost of production or raise his selling price in some way1 he will have no advantage over the old and successful firms4 ,squab ,business ,overdone4 ,the business of producing pigeon squabs resembles the duck business in the sense that it has been reduced to a successful system4 ,the production of squabs has grown until the demand is satisfied and the price has fallen to just that figure that will continue to bring in a sufficient number of squabs from the plants which are already established1 or which continue to be established by those who do not stop to investigate the relation between the cost of production and the prevailing prices4 ,turkeys ,not a ,commercial ,success4 ,in the case of turkeys1 we find exactly opposite conditions4 ,the price of turkeys has risen with the price of chickens and eggs1 until one would think that there would be great money in the business1 and there is1 for the motherly farm wife who has the knack of bringing the little turks through the danger of delicate babyhood4 ,but just as the duck is more domesticated than the chicken1 so the turkey1 which yet closely resembles its wild ancestor1 is less domestic and has as yet failed to surrender to the ways of commercial reasoning1 the chief factor of which is artificial brooding4 ,the presence of a disease called blackhead has done vast injury to the turkey industry in the northeastern section of the country4 ,in the ,south the industry has been booming4 ,especially in ,tennessee and ,texas1 ,i found great local pride in the turkey crop4 ,i certainly would advise any farm wife1 in sections where blackhead does not prevail1 to try her hand at turkey raising4 ,as to her advisability of continuance in the business1 the number of turkeys at the end of the season will be the best judge4 ,guinea ,growing a ,new ,venture4 ,the guinea growing business is the newest of the poultry industries4 ,in fact1 it may be said of guineas1 as of our grandmother's tomatoes1 ,folks had them around without knowing they were of any use4 ,the new use for guineas is as a substitute for game4 ,guinea broilers make quail-on-toast and older ones are good for grouse1 prairie chicken or pheasant4 ,the retail price in the large cities runs as high as #a4ej to #b4jj a pair4 ,it will probably not pay to raise them unless one is sure of receiving as much as #ej cents each4 ,as for the rearing of guineas1 they may be considered on a parallel case with turkeys1 if anything they are even more difficult to raise in large quantities4 ,i would also advise this additional precaution3 ,look up the market in the locality before attempting guinea rearing4 ,geese--the ,fame of ,watertown4 ,as for the goose business1 the writer must admit that he doesn't know much about it4 ,in fact1 the most of my knowledge concerning this business was acquired by a visit to ,watertown1 ,wis41 which is the center of the noodled goose industry ,the ,watertown geese are fed by hand every two hours day and night4 ,they sell to the ,hebrew trade at as much per pound as the goose weighs1 and have brought as high as #ad4jj apiece4 ,all of this is interesting1 but ,i hold that the reader who is willing to take instruction will do better to be guided toward those branches of the poultry industry for the products of which there is a great and increasing demand4 ,so we will leave the goose and guinea business to the venturesome spirits and consider the various branches of the chicken industry4 ,the ,ill-omened ,broiler ,business4 ,the broiler business stands to-day as the ill-omened valley in the poultry landscape4 ,as a rule broiler production has not and probably will not pay4 ,i know of a few exceptions--about enough to prove the rule4 ,most poultry writers1 when they make the statement that broilers do not pay1 insert the phrase ,as an exclusive business after the word broilers4 ,this is merely a ruse to take the rough edge off an unpleasant statement1 for it certainly hurts the poultry editor to admit that a much exploited branch of the industry is a failure4 ,nevertheless it is a failure and the more frankly we admit the fact1 the less good capital and good brains will be wasted in the attempt to produce at a profit something which is1 and probably always will be1 produced at a loss4 ,the reason the broiler is produced at a loss is that #ie per cent4 of the broilers produced are a by-product of egg1 fancy and general poultry production1 and as such their selling price is not determined by the cost of production1 or the supply determined by the demand4 ,that the broiler business received the boom that it did1 is due to plain ignorance of the cost of production1 or to the appreciation that the ability to rear young chicks could find a more profitable outlet than in broiler production4 ,let us take an analogous case4 ,suppose a city man should discover the fact that there was a demand for dried casein from skim milk4 ,with pencil and paper he could easily figure profits in the business4 ,if this dreamer would attempt to keep cows for the production of casein and throw away his butter fat1 we would have an analogous case to the broiler raiser who does not keep his pullets for egg production4 ,the young cockerel1 like skim milk1 is a by-product and may pay over the cost of feeding1 or some other specific item1 but that he does not pay the whole cost1 including wages for the manager is proven by two facts3 ,first1 every large broiler plant yet started has either failed flatly or shifted its main line to other things2 second1 egg farmers would be only too glad to buy pullets at the price for which they sell the cockerels--a confession that it costs more to produce broilers than they will bring4 ,the conception of the broiler business when it was boomed twenty years ago was to produce broilers in early spring1 when other folks had none4 ,it was1 like the early watermelon1 or the early strawberry business--to make its profits in extreme prices4 ,this idea received several severe blows from the hands of modern progress4 ,one is the development of poultry fattening and crate feeding in this country4 ,this has resulted in supplying the consumer with choice chicken-flesh that can be produced more economically than broilers4 ,formerly it was a case of eating old hen--rooster1 age unknown1 or broilers--now we have capon1 roaster1 crate-fattened chickens and green ducks1 all rivals for the place formerly occupied exclusively by the broiler4 ,again1 the improvement of shipping and dressing facilities1 the universal introduction of the refrigerator car and the introduction into the central west of the ,american breeds1 has flooded the eastern market with a large amount of spring chickens--by-products of the egg business on the farm--which are almost equal in quality to the down-eastern product4 ,the most prominent reason of the lessened profit in broilers is the development of the cold storage industry4 ,cold storage destroys the element of season1 and allows only that margin of profit that the consumer is willing to pay for a fresh killed broiler from a ,jersey broiler plant1 as compared with last summer's product from the ,iowa farms4 ,from a summer copy of ,farm ,poultry1 ,i quote the ,boston market3 ,fresh killed ,northern and ,eastern3 ,fowls1 choice #ae;c ,broilers1 choice to fancy #bc-be;c ,western1 ice packed3 ,fowls1 choice #ad;c ,broilers1 choice #bj-bb;c ,western frozen3 ,fowls1 choice44444444444444444 #ad;c ,broilers1 choice44444444444444#ah-bj;c ,eggs3 ,nearly fancy444444444444444444 #bf;c ,western choice44444444#ag-a_/b-ah-a_/b;c ,to complete our comparison ,i turn to the previous winter and find that the best storage eggs are quoted at #ai;c1 when the best fresh are selling at #ce;c4 ,this was a poor storage season and a quotation of #bb;c and #be;c would perhaps be a fairer comparative figure4 ,we find the per cent1 of premium on the local product to be3 ,fowls1 local over fresh western44444444444 #g per cent4 ,fowls1 local over frozen western4444444444 #g per cent4 ,broilers1 local over fresh western44444444#ad per cent4 ,broilers1 local over frozen western4444444#bf per cent4 ,eggs1 local over fresh western444444444444#cj per cent4 ,eggs1 local over storage western4444444444#cg per cent4 ,i consider these general facts concerning the failure of broiler production1 and the logical explanations given1 as far more convincing than any figures ,i could give concerning the detailed cost of production4 ,nor am ,i capable of giving as accurate figures as ,i can in the case of poultry keeping for egg production1 for ,i have had neither the desire nor the opportunity to look them up4 ,the following suggestive analysis ,i submit for the purpose of pointing out why the cost of production is too great to allow a profit4 ,we may consider the chick marketing as ,may1 the weight as #a-a_/d1 and the price as #ce cents a pound1 or1 putting it roundly a price of #ej cents a bird4 ,now1 ,may broilers mean ,february eggs4 ,if the reader will refer to the tables of hatchability and mortality he will see that for our northern states this is one of the worst seasons for hatching4 ,a hatchability of #dj per cent1 times a liveability of #ej per cent1 gives a net liveability of #bj per cent4 ,now1 anyone with the ability to produce high grade eggs at that time a year1 could get about #dj;c a dozen for them1 which raises the egg cost per broiler to about #ag cents4 ,the feed cost per broiler is small1 usually estimated at #ab cents1 and this makes a cost of #bi cents4 ,now1 let us allow a cent for expense of selling charges and forget all about investment1 fuel and incidentals1 we have left a margin of #bj cents4 ,before going farther let us look at the labor bill4 ,suppose it is a one-man plant4 ,suppose the owner sets a value on his services of #a1bjj per annum4 ,that is pretty good1 but few men who set a lower value on their services will have accumulated enough capital to go into the business4 ,at #bj cents each it will take #f1jjj broilers to make #a1bjj4 ,that will take #cj1jjj eggs and at three settings will require #dj #bdj-;egg incubators1 which1 of a good make1 will cost #a1bfj4 ,to spread the hatching out over a longer period is to run into cheap prices on the one hand1 or a still impossible egg season on the other4 ,it will take upwards of a hundred brooders to house the chicks4 ,there is no use of going farther till we have solved these difficulties4 ,first we have more work than one man can do2 second1 we require a number of hatchable eggs that cannot be bought in winter without a campaign of advertising and canvassing for them1 that would make them cost double our previous figure4 ,to produce them oneself would require a flock of #b1ejj hens4 ,when a man gets to that point in the business he is out of the broiler business and an egg farmer1 and will do the same thing1 hatch the chicks when eggs are cheap and fertile1 selling his surplus cockerels for #be cents each and permit the storage man to freeze them until the following spring to compete with the broiler man's expensively produced goods4 ,the effort at early broiler production was a natural result of the combination of the idea of artificial incubation with our grandmother's pride in having the first setting hen4 ,but in the present age the man who attempts it is rowing against the current of economical production1 for the cheaply produced broiler can be stored until the season of scarcity1 with but slight loss in quality4 ,to produce broilers in the season of scarcity1 necessitates the consumption of a product 7eggs7 which cannot be so successfully stored1 with a lesser quantity of that same product in its season of plenty4 ,we will give the production of broilers no further attention save as a by-product of egg production4 ,south ,shore ,roaster4 ,the production of ,south ,shore soft roasters in a local section of ,massachusetts1 offers a successful contrast with the broiler business and is1 so far as the writer knows1 the only case in the ,united ,states where pullets are profitably diverted from egg production4 ,the process of roaster production is essentially as follows3 ,the incubators are set in the fall or early winter1 and the chicks reared in brooder houses4 ,as soon as the tender age is past1 the chickens are put in simple colony houses where1 with hopper fed corn1 beef scrap and rye on the range1 they grow throughout the winter and spring4 ,they are sold from ,may #ast to ,july #ast and bring such prices that the cockerels are caponized yet not sold as capons1 showing them to be the highest priced chicken flesh in the market save small broilers4 ,now1 the income of roasters is two to five times as much per head as that of broilers4 ,the added expense is only a matter of feed1 which bears about the same ratio to weight as with broilers4 ,the great advantage of the roaster business over that of the broiler business comes in the following points3 #ast3 ,the initial expense of eggs1 incubation and brooding are distributed over a much larger final valuation4 #bnd3 ,the incubation period1 while perhaps in as difficult a season1 can be distributed over a longer period of time4 ,with #h pound roasters at #cj cents1 we have an expense account about as follows3 cost of production to broiler stage1 #cj cents as previously given4 ,an additional food cost of #aj cents per pound of chicken flesh would still leave a margin of #a4dj1 so1 for an income of #a1bjj1 only about #hfj birds need be raised1 a proposition not beyond the capacity of one man to handle4 ,allowing a spread of five hatching periods1 the number of eggs required at once would be one-twelfth that demanded by the broiler farm4 ,as it is1 the roaster grower finds trouble in getting good eggs and is obliged to pay #ej cents a dozen for them1 but his want is within the region of possibility4 ,the ,south ,shore roaster district is an example of an industry built up by specialization and co-operation4 ,but in this sense ,i do not mean co-operation in production1 but that the product is handled by a few dealers and has become well known so that the brand sells readily at an advanced price4 ,to a beginner in the ,south ,shore district1 the numerous successes and failures around him cannot help but be of great benefit4 ,the ,south ,shore roaster district of ,massachusetts is the best example of specialized community production of poultry flesh that we have in the ,united ,states4 ,it is only rivaled by the districts in the south of ,england and in ,france4 ,in ,chapter ,,iii the writer takes up fully the community production of eggs4 ,the reason ,i have gone into this matter in regard to eggs rather than roasters1 is because the egg production is much the greater industry1 and1 whereas the soft roaster is at a premium only in a few ,boston shops1 high grade eggs are universally recognized and in demand4 ,many of the economies1 especially concerning incubation1 would apply equally well in both communities4 ,i expect to see the time when chicken flesh shall be produced with these more advanced methods in many ,south ,shore communities4 ,too ,much ,competition in ,fancy ,poultry4 ,the various types of chicken farming are classified by what is made the leading sales product4 ,this will depend wholly upon what is done with the female chicks that are hatched4 ,if they are sold as broilers it is a broiler plant2 if as roasters1 it is a roaster plant2 if as stock1 it is a fancy or breeding stock business1 but if kept for laying the proposition is an egg farm1 and all other products are by-products4 ,these by-products are to be carefully considered1 and sold at the greatest possible price1 but their production is incidental to the production of the main crop4 ,of the fancy poultry business as a main issue it must be said that it is certainly a poor policy to start out to make a living doing what hundreds of other people are only too glad to spend money in doing4 ,just as a homeless girl in a great city is beaten out in the struggle for existence by competition with girls who have good homes1 and are working for chocolate money1 so the man starting out as a poultry fancier is certainly working at great odds in competition with the professional men1 farmers and poultry raisers whose income from fancy stock is meant to buy ,christmas presents and not to pay grocery bills4 ,to enter the fancy poultry business1 one should take up poultry breeding in a small way1 while working at another occupation1 or he may take up commercial poultry production1 learn to produce stock in large quantities and at a low productive cost1 after which any breeding stock business he may secure will be added profit4 ,the fancier will find the cost of production as given for commercial purposes very instructive1 but if he operates in a small way he should expect to find his productive costs increased unless he chooses to count his own labor as of little or no value4 ,that every chicken fancier also has in a small way commercial products to sell1 goes without saying4 ,these1 indeed1 together with his sales of high-priced stock1 may pull him through with a total profit1 even though his production cost is great1 but every fancier should take a pride in making the sales at commercial rates pay for their cost of production4 ,if the reader has received the impression from the present discussion that fancy poultry breeding always proves unprofitable1 he certainly has failed to get the key-note of the situation4 ,there are numbers of fancy poultry breeders making incomes of several thousand dollars per year1 but these are old breeders and well-known men4 ,there is another type of poultry fancier who is more commercial in his methods1 but whose work lacks the personal enthusiasm and artistic touch of the regular fancier4 ,i refer to the band wagon style of breeder who gets out a general catalog in which are pictured acres of poultry yards with fences as straight as the draughtsman's rule can make them4 ,such men do a big business4 ,they may carry a part or all of the breeding stock on a central poultry plant and farm out the eggs1 contracting to buy back the stock in the fall1 or the poultry farm may be a myth and the manager may simply sell the product of the neighboring farmers who raise it under contract4 ,the system is naturally disliked by the higher class fanciers1 but the writer must confess that any system which gets improved stock distributed among the farmers is worthy of praise4 ,these types of poultry farms have been more largely carried on in the ,west than in the ,east1 owing to the fact that true fanciers are thicker in the ,east4 ,there is undoubtedly still plenty of room for band wagon poultry plants in the ,west and especially in the ,south4 ,as adjuncts of this business may be mentioned the sale of a line of poultry supplies and the handling of other pet stock1 such as dogs or ,shetland ponies4 ,in this case the advantage of such additions depends upon the fact that the greatest cost is that of advertising1 and1 if anything that will be associated in the buyer's mind with the main article be added to the catalog1 it will result in additional sales at a low rate of advertising cost4 ,egg ,farming the ,most ,certain and ,profitable4 ,we have now discussed all the branches of the poultry business save that of egg production1 and the result of our review indicates that most of these fields are either of limited opportunities or that they present obstacles in the very nature of the work that prevent their being conducted on a large scale4 ,egg production is undoubtedly the most promising and profitable branch of the poultry industries4 ,the chief reason that this is true is to be found in the fact that the most difficult feature in chicken growing is the rearing of young stock through the brooding period4 ,now1 as the eggs laid by a hen are worth several times the value of her carcass1 it stands to reason that once we succeed in rearing pullets1 egg farming must be the most profitable business to engage in4 ,for each hen that passes through a laying period there is her own carcass1 and at least one cockerel1 that are necessarily produced and that must be marketed4 ,now1 the pullet is worth more for egg producing than can be realized for her as a broiler or roaster1 and her extra worth may be considered as counter-balancing the price at which cockerels must be sold4 ,the egg crop represents about two-thirds of the value of all poultry products1 and the demand for the high grade goods has never been satisfied4 ,egg farming cannot easily be overdone1 whereas any other type of poultry production must compete with the cockerels and hens that are a by-product of egg farming4 ,egg farming by no means relieves one from the difficulties of incubation and growing young stock1 but it does throw these difficult parts of the business at the natural season of the year and results in a distribution of work throughout a longer period of time4 ,in the remainder of the volume we will consider the poultryman as an egg farmer4 ,we will also1 unless otherwise stated1 assume that he is a ,white ,leghorn egg farmer1 who is hatching by artificial incubation4 ,such reference to the marketing of poultry flesh or to other breeds will be made only in comparison of this type of the business or in relation to the production or handling of farm-grown poultry4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,poultry ,,producing ,,community ,the builder of air castles in ,poultrydom invariably starts out with a resum of the specialization of the world's work and the wonderful advances in the economy of production of the large corporate organization1 compared with the individual producer4 ,the lone blacksmith hammering out a horseshoe nail is contrasted with the mills of the ,american ,steel ,company4 ,the fond dreamer looks upon the steel trust1 the oil trust1 the department store1 the packing house1 the chain groceries1 the theatrical trust1 and the colossal enterprises that dominate every field of industry save agriculture4 ,here1 then1 lies the neglected opportunity for the industrial dreamer to hop over the fence1 awaken the sleeping farmer1 and fill his own purse with the wealth to be made by applying modern business methods to agriculture4 ,the knowing smile--the farmer may be asleep and he may not be4 ,suppose that he is1 does the fond dreamer dream that he is the first man from the industrial kingdom of great things to look with hungry eyes at the rich field of agricultural opportunity1 basking in last century's sun8 ,alas1 fond dreamer1 your name is legion4 ,every farmer who has sent a son to college has known you and the ,hon4 ,william ,jennings ,bryan has met you1 called you an agriculturist and defined you as a man who makes his money in town and spends it in the country4 ,but the dreamer is right in his first premise--great economies in production are the result of specialization and combination4 ,why not then in agriculture8 ,i'll tell you why4 ,there is a touch of nature in the living thing that calls for a closer interest on the part of the laborer than the industrial system of the mine and factory can give4 ,why is combined and specialized production more economical8 ,it may be because it gets more efficient work out of labor1 it may be that larger operations make feasible the employment of more efficient methods and machinery4 ,the cost of production may be lowered1 by either or both of these means1 or it may be lowered by an increased efficiency in machinery1 even with a decreased efficiency in labor4 ,combination and specialization so commonly cut down expenses because of large operations and the use of better tools1 that we may take this saving for granted4 ,when it comes to labor there is a different story4 ,the negro working with boss and gang1 or the machine-tender in the factory work as well or better for large than for small concerns1 but the labor of a poultry plant is different4 ,it is made up of a great many different operations well scattered in space and time4 ,for the most part it is simple labor1 but it is essential that it be performed with reasonable concern for the welfare of the business4 ,in other industries1 as with men working at a bench1 the presence of a foreman keeps them busy and their work may be daily inspected4 ,to have foremen in poultry work would require as many foremen as laborers1 and even then they would be as useless1 for when the last round of the brooders is made at night a foreman standing three feet away could not know whether the laborer who had placed his hand in the brooder had found all well or all wrong4 ,it is useless to carry the argument farther4 ,the labor bill is one of the biggest items of expense in poultry production4 ,with a system where the efficiency of the labor decreases with the size of the business1 large industrial enterprises are impossible4 ,such savings as will be made in buying supplies1 selling1 etc41 will be wasted in the reduced efficiency of labor4 ,the bulk of labor in poultry work must be self-reliant labor and the only test for such efficiency is number of chicks reared and the weight of the egg basket4 ,even this will not be a complete test unless from the income be subtracted the feed bills4 ,a system of renting or working on shares that will gain the advantages of centralization without losing the individual interest of the laborer1 will go a long way toward making the poultry business one wherein large capital and large brains can find a place to work4 ,i expect to see in the future some such system evolved4 ,in fact we have to-day a profit-sharing plan between owner and foreman on many of our best plants4 ,to extend such to each laborer requires more system and better superintendence1 but it is feasible and must come4 ,but1 better still is it for the worker to own the stock4 ,best yet if he owns both stock and land1 leaving to larger capital only such phases of the business as involve great saving when done on a wholesale basis4 ,just as the manufacturer of farm machinery1 the packing of meat and the manufacture of butter have successfully been taken out of the control of the individual farmer and placed under corporate or co-operative organization1 so the writer expects to see certain portions of the process of poultry production removed from the hands of the farmer and controlled by more specialized and expert labor4 ,far from meaning the lessening of the earning power of the farmer1 every one of such steps means larger production and more profits4 ,the ideal of agricultural economics is to give the farmer the smallest possible proportion of the work of agricultural production in order that the most may be produced and the farmer's share along with the others may be largest4 ,established ,poultry ,communities4 ,in a previous chapter we spoke of the ,south ,shore roaster district of ,massachusetts4 ,here is a community where1 in lots of from a dozen to four or five thousand1 are annually produced seventy-five or one hundred thousand market fowls of one particular type4 ,while this business was not built up by the efforts of a corporation or individual who planned definitely the entire project1 yet we find a central influence at work in the person of the firm of ,curtis ,bros41 who for years have bought the majority of ,south ,shore roasters1 and who have done a great deal to advertise the product and encourage their neighbors to a larger and more uniform production4 ,at ,little ,compton1 ,r4 ,i41 is a very similar parallel of the ,south ,shore district in the shape of egg farms4 ,here we find within a radius of two miles about one hundred thousand ,rhode ,island ,red hens owned in flocks of two thousand or less4 ,the methods used throughout the community are all alike and are simple in the extreme4 ,there are no incubators1 no brooders1 no poultry houses1 no long houses1 no dropping boards to be scraped every morning1 nothing in fact1 but board-walled1 board-roofed1 colony houses1 scattered over the grass fields and similar though smaller fields covered with coops for hens and chicks4 ,feeding is equally simple2 a mash of meat1 vegetables and ground grain mixed once a day and hauled around in a one-horse cart and hoppers of whole corn exposed in the houses4 ,the houses are cleaned twice a year4 ,little ,compton is1 indeed1 a community where all the rules of the poultry books are regularly violated1 and yet a larger number of successful egg farms can be seen from the church spire at ,little ,compton ,corners than most poultry writers have ever seen or read about4 ,strange it is1 as ,josh ,billings puts it1 that some folks know things that ain't so4 ,an illustration published in a recent issue of the ,world's ,work tells a remarkable story4 ,a pile of egg shells as big as a straw stack certainly indicates something doing in the chicken business1 and it is a very proud monument to ,mr4 ,byce who1 some twenty odd years ago1 established an incubator factory at the town of ,petaluma4 ,petaluma is in ,sonoma ,county1 ,california1 forty miles north of ,san ,francisco4 ,in the census year of #ahii1 ,sonoma ,county produced more eggs than any other county in the ,united ,states4 ,to-day there are in the ,petaluma region close to one million hens4 ,like the ,little ,compton district1 ,petaluma is a one-breed community1 ,white ,leghorns being the breed used4 ,the individual flocks range larger than at ,little ,compton1 chiefly because the milder climate1 smaller breed1 and establishment of the central hatchery enables one man to take care of more birds4 ,when ,i asked ,mr4 ,byce for a list of the people in his neighborhood keeping over one thousand hens1 he replied by sending me a list of twenty-two men who keep from #h1jjj down to #b1ejj each1 and said that to give those keeping from one to two thousand1 would practically be to take a census of the county4 ,the methods of housing and feeding used are simple and inexpensive like those at ,little ,compton4 ,the chief reason why ,petaluma shows a more advanced development in the poultry community than the eastern poultry growing localities1 is to be found in the climatic advantages which favor incubation 7see ,chapter on ,incubation7 and the consequent development of the central hatchery4 ,outside of this1 the location is not especially favorable4 ,the temperature is milder in the winter than in the ,east1 but the ,petaluma winter is one of continual rain which develops roup to a greater extent than we have it in the ,east4 ,the prices received for high grade eggs in ,san ,francisco is in the winter about equal to the top prices in ,new ,york4 ,in the spring and summer ,new ,york will give more for fancy goods4 ,the cost of corn on the ,pacific ,coast is about #dj cents a hundred more than on the ,atlantic ,coast4 ,wheat1 however1 is cheaper than in the ,east1 but not cheap enough to substitute for the more staple grain4 ,the eggs from the ,petaluma region are at present marketed largely through a co-operative marketing association4 ,developing ,poultry ,communities4 ,i have shown why the large individual poultry farms with hired labor have not proven profitable fields for the investment of capital4 ,again1 ,i have shown that in a few localities where the business was incidentally started1 communities of independent poultry farmers have grown up which are very successful1 and that there is no apparent reason why similar communities elsewhere1 if intelligently located1 could not do as well or better4 ,this looks like an excellent field for corporate enterprise4 ,certainly there is no more reason why the poultry community cannot be as successfully promoted as an irrigation project1 or a cheese factory1 or a trucking community4 ,in such a community there are many functions that can be better performed by a capitalized body managed by experts than by individual poultrymen acting alone4 ,these functions are3 ,first1 the selection of a location and the purchase of the land in large quantities4 ,second1 laying out this land into suitable individual holdings1 with regard to economy of water supply and the collection of the product4 ,third1 the partial or complete equipment of these farms at less expense and in a more suitable manner than could or would be done by the individual holders4 ,fourth1 the sale or rent of these places to poultrymen at a reasonable profit on the investment1 but at a rate which will still be below the cost at which the individual could have acquired the land4 ,fifth1 the selection of the stock that would not only be better adapted to the enterprise than that which would be acquired by the individual farmer1 but would possess the uniformity necessary to the maintenance of a standard grade in the product4 ,sixth1 the centralized hatching of the chicks by which means chicks can be more cheaply hatched and better hatched than by the imperfect methods available to the small poultryman4 ,seventh1 the purchase of all outside supplies with the usual savings involved in large purchases4 ,eighth1 a teaming system of delivering such supplies4 ,ninth1 a general protection against thieves and predatory animals by an organized war on all varments4 ,tenth1 maintenance of the best methods in feeding and care by the employment of skilled advisers1 or the operation of demonstration farms under the direction of the central management4 ,eleventh1 the enforced daily gathering of all eggs and their lodgment that same evening in a clean1 dry cooler1 with a thermometer hovering around #bi degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,twelfth1 the strict enforcement of penalties against the man who attempts to sell bad eggs4 ,thirteenth1 the prompt dispatch of the product to its final market4 ,fourteenth1 the final sale of the eggs with opportunities for fancy prices made possible by an absolutely guaranteed product in quantities sufficient to permit of a regular supply and of advertising the product4 ,fifteenth1 the conduction of breeding operations along any desired line1 with the opportunity of combining the principle of great numbers for selection with the comparison of all progeny from ancestry1 a method that will bring results a hundred times more quickly than the efforts of the small breeder4 ,sixteenth1 the advantage of the sale of breeding stock to be acquired from the free publicity which is showered on all unique industrial enterprises4 ,in these sixteen functions there is ample opportunity for capital1 backed by ability in organization1 to reap an ample reward4 ,is it a dream8 ,in a sense yes1 but a dream made possible by the observation of the actual results achieved in similar lines1 and of the present tendency in the poultry producing world4 ,why has not this thing been done before8 ,because no one knew enough to do it4 ,why did not the wonderful trucking regions develop earlier in the ,south1 and why does it still take northern settlers1 backed by railroad advertising1 to develop the wonderful modern industries which enables every city dweller in the ,north to have strawberries in ,february and fresh vegetables any day in the year8 ,why did the ,california fruit trade develop8 ,did anyone suppose forty years ago that the unsettled valley around ,pasadena would ever produce one thousand dollars per acre in one year8 ,these orange groves1 too valuable for agricultural purposes to be used as town sites1 were precarious experiments until the trans-continental refrigerator car and the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange paved the way and put each day in every eastern and northern city just the quantity of oranges that the people could consume at a profitable price4 ,mr4 ,harwood1 in the ,world's ,work for ,may1 #aijh1 after describing the ,city of a ,million ,hens1 raises the question1 ,if in ,petaluma1 why not anywhere8 ,i would like to answer that question by saying that while anywhere is a little broad1 the reason the industry has not developed elsewhere has been because of the diversion of interested capital towards impractical large individual poultry plants1 manned by hired labor4 ,another reason has been the lack of the technical knowledge necessary to construct and operate efficient hatcheries4 ,the poultryman has been a disciple of the poultry papers and poultry fanciers of the day4 ,the poultry papers and poultry literature has generally been supported by poultry fanciers and manufacturers of incubators1 patent nests and portable houses4 ,the good folks have vied with one another in complicating the business4 ,they have built steam-piped houses1 with padded walls and miniature railways with which daily to haul away the droppings4 ,a few famous fanciers selling eggs at #aj4jj per setting have made such business pay1 but alas for the luckless investor in what the visiting poultry editor would style a handsomely equipped modern poultry plant4 ,a few years ago a ,government poultry expert paid a visit to ,petaluma4 ,he came back and reported1 ,it is a great disappointment1 the methods are very crude4 ,the case is most pathetic4 ,here was a man employed by the people to teach them how to make poultry pay4 ,his carfare is paid across the continent that he might visit the only community in the ,united ,states where at that time any considerable number of people were making their living from poultry1 and because he did not find lightning rods on the poultry houses1 he came back with the look of ,naamen who1 when he was requested by ,elisha to bathe seven times in the river ,jordan1 replied1 ,it is very crude4 ,will ,co-operation ,work8 ,that magic thing1 ,co-operation1 while utterly lacking in the ,utopian qualities with which the word artist paints it1 is a decidedly bigger factor in ,american affairs than the average man realizes4 ,the chief difficulty with co-operation is that the manager1 if not incompetent1 has an excellent opportunity to be a grafter4 ,in ,europe co-operation in agricultural and mercantile enterprise is older and better developed than in this country4 ,perhaps the ,europeans are less inclined to be grafters1 but a more likely explanation is that the members of such associations as these have learned how to prevent and detect graft1 just as our business men have learned to avoid losses from the dishonesty of employes4 ,that this is the true explanation is substantiated by the fact that when co-operation once becomes established in this country1 it succeeds even better than in ,europe4 ,when the creameries were started in the ,west several years ago1 there was much complaint of swindlers1 fake stock companies1 and co-operative ventures in which the manager absconded with the butter money4 ,to-day more than half of the ,american creameries are co-operative and the number is constantly increasing4 ,they are efficient and successful in every way1 and to-day make the finest of butter and pay the highest prices to the farmer for his cream4 ,but their way was first paved and the business developed by successful private concerns4 ,co-operation is entirely feasible and successful where the people behind the movement have enough interest in the enterprise and good enough business sense to run the proposition as efficiently as similar private enterprises are run4 ,the idea that co-operation must always result in a big saving is a misconception4 ,employes will not work any harder for an association than for a private employer1 sometimes not as hard4 ,certainly no employee will work as hard for an association as he will for himself4 ,why people should expect to buy out the grocery store and hire the grocer to run it and save money for themselves1 is a thing ,i could never understand4 ,but if there is some great waste that co-operation will prevent1 as where seven milk wagons drive every morning over the same route1 or where the market of perishable crops is glutted one day and starved the next1 centralization1 corporate or co-operate1 will pay4 ,i know of no better way to impress the reader with ,american co-operation in actual practice than to quote from a brief account of the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange4 ,the ,exchange was founded upon the theory that every member is entitled to furnish his pro rata of the fruit for shipment through his association1 and every association to its pro rata to the various markets of the country4 ,this theory reduced to practice gives every grower his fair share1 and the average price of all markets throughout the season4 ,another cardinal provision of the plan was that all fruit should be marketed on a level basis of actual cost1 with all books and accounts open for inspection at the pleasure of the members4 ,these broad principles of full co-operation constitute the basis of the ,exchange movement4 ,the ,exchange system is simple1 but quite democratic4 ,the local association consists of a number of growers contiguously situated1 who unite themselves for the purpose of preparing their fruit for market on a co-operative basis4 ,they establish their own brands1 make such rules as they may agree upon for grading1 packing and pooling their fruit4 ,usually these associations own thoroughly equipped packing houses4 ,all members are given a like privilege to pick and deliver fruit to the packing house1 where it is weighed in and properly receipted for4 ,every grower's fruit is separated into different grades1 according to quality1 and usually thereafter it goes into the common pool1 and in due course takes its percentage of the returns according to grade4 ,any given brand is the exclusive property of the ,local ,association using it1 and the fruit under this brand is always packed in the same locality1 and therefore of uniform quality4 ,this is of great advantage in marketing1 as the trade soon learns that the pack is reliable4 ,there are more than eighty associations1 covering every citrus fruit district in ,california1 and packing nearly two hundred reliable and guaranteed brands of oranges and lemons4 ,the several local ,exchanges designate one man each from their membership as their representative1 and he is elected a director of the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange4 ,by this method the policy-making and governing power of the organization remains in the hands of the local ,exchanges4 ,from top to bottom the organization is planned1 dominated and in general detail controlled absolutely by fruit growers1 and for the common good of all members4 ,no corporation nor individual reaps from it either dividends or private gain4 ,so far we have dealt almost exclusively with the organization of the ,exchange1 its co-operative aspects1 and general policy at home4 ,equally important is its organization in the markets4 ,seeking to free itself from the shifting influence of speculative trading1 by taking the business out of the hands of middlemen at home1 the ,exchange found it quite as important to maintain the control of its own affairs in the markets4 ,for this purpose the ,exchange established a system of exclusive agencies in all the principal cities of the country1 employing as agents active1 capable young men of experience in the fruit business4 ,most of these agents are salaried1 and have no other business of any kind to engage their attention1 and none of the ,exchange representatives handle any other citrus fruits4 ,these agents sell to smaller cities contiguous to their headquarters1 or in the territory covered by their districts4 ,over all these agencies are two general or traveling agents1 with authority to supervise and check up the various offices4 ,these general agents maintain in their offices at ,chicago and ,omaha1 a complete bureau of information1 through which all agents receive every day detailed information as to sales of ,exchange fruit in other markets the previous day4 ,possessing this data1 the selling agent cannot be taken advantage of as to prices4 ,if any agent finds his market sluggish1 and is unable to sell at the average prices prevailing elsewhere1 he promptly advises the head office in ,los ,angeles1 and sufficient fruit is diverted from his market to relieve it and restore prices to normal level4 ,through these agencies of its own the ,exchange is able to get and transmit to its members the most trustworthy information regarding market conditions1 visible supplies1 etc4 ,this system affords a maximum of good service at a minimum cost4 ,the volume of the business is so large that a most thorough equipment is maintained at much less cost to growers than any other selling agency can offer4 ,the annual business of the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange amounts to over ten million dollars1 and the ,exchange handles over half the citrus fruit output of the ,state4 ,yet there are people who say co-operation in ,america will not work4 ,co-operative ,egg ,marketing in ,denmark4 ,i have discussed at length the work of the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange1 as the best example in the ,united ,states of the co-operative marketing of farm produce4 ,we have thus far but little co-operative work in the marketing of poultry products4 ,canada has a few examples1 but it is to ,european countries that we must go for a full demonstration of the principle of co-operation when applied to the products of the hen4 ,in ,england and in ,ireland co-operative efforts in the growing1 fattening1 and marketing of poultry and eggs are quite common4 ,it is to ,denmark1 however1 that we must go to find the most wholesale example of this truly modern type of business effort4 ,the ,danes are co-operators in the fullest sense4 ,they have co-operative creameries and co-operative packing houses4 ,the ,danish ,egg ,export ,society is an organization1 the plan and work of which is very much like that of the ,california ,fruit ,growers' ,exchange4 ,the local branch of the association buys the eggs of the farmer1 paying for them by weight4 ,collectors are hired to gather them at frequent and regular intervals1 and are paid ,in accordance with the amount of their collections1 but must stand the loss of breakage4 ,each individual poultryman's eggs are kept separate until they reach a centralizing station4 ,there are a number of these central stations at which the eggs are carefully crated and packed for shipment to ,england4 ,the individual farmer is fined or taxed for all bad eggs found in his lot4 ,this fine is deducted from his receipts and he has nothing to do but to submit to it or get out of the association4 ,the latter he cannot afford to do because the association has its established brands and can pay him more for his eggs than he could secure by attempting to market them himself4 ,as a result of this strict system of making the producer responsible for weight and quality of the eggs the ,danish eggs have become the largest and finest in the world4 ,although the writer firmly believes in the co-operative marketing of farm produce1 and considers that the success already secured in this work is conclusive evidence of the practicability and desirability of co-operation1 it would not be fair to infer that co-operation has entirely driven out private or corporate enterprise4 ,just as a goodly per cent4 of the citrus fruit of ,california is still handled by private dealers1 so in ,denmark we find that nearly one-half of the eggs sent to ,england are handled by private companies4 ,let it be noted1 however1 that these companies maintain a system of buying on merit which enforces high quality that is not to be found where private buyers are without the spur of co-operative competition4 ,before co-operation entered the orange regions of ,california1 the fruit was poorly packed and handled and the markets at times so glutted1 that shipments of fruit sometimes failed to pay the freight1 and this was actually charged back to the unfortunate grower4 ,co-operation has done away with this waste4 ,in like manner the great loss from decomposed eggs and half hatched chicks is unknown to the egg trade of ,denmark4 ,corporation or ,co-operation8 ,the community of farmers producing a large quantity of a single kind of product is the coming form of agricultural enterprise4 ,will this community be promoted by corporation or by co-operation8 ,arthur ,brisbane says1 ,as individual control of the ,government has been superceded by collective control1 so individual control of industries will be followed by collective control4 ,that is the natural order4 ,brisbane is right4 ,the individual1 or the corporation1 which is an individual using other men's money1 foreruns co-operation1 because the individual knows exactly what he wants to do and the big group of individuals does not know what they want or how to do it until individuals have1 by concrete successes1 shown them4 ,when the creameries were started1 co-operative creameries were unsuccessful and could not compete with privately owned creameries4 ,the farmers have now become too wise to be easy-marks to the fake creamery promoters or to trust their butter sales to a comparative stranger and co-operation is a success4 ,poultry communities cannot be made out of whole cloth by the co-operative plan4 ,private corporations will be necessary to launch these enterprises4 ,when they have reached the stage of development now to be seen in ,little ,compton and ,petaluma they are ready for co-operation4 ,i have emphasized the point that the private corporation is the natural forerunner in this matter in order to discourage premature or over-ambitious efforts at co-operation4 ,whenever a community of poultrymen or1 for that matter1 a community of growers of any perishable form of products1 who are already successful in the producing end1 wish to take up co-operation and will see that men are selected to manage it who will use the same precautions to guard against incompetency or graft that they1 as individuals1 would use in their own business1 there is excellent chance of success4 ,go slow4 ,do not expect to get rich quick by cutting out the middleman's enormous profits1 for the middleman's profits are not enormous1 and if you see that your co-operation is not paying1 give it up and confess to yourselves that you do not know as much about the business as your private competitors4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,where ,,to ,,locate ,that poultry should be kept on every farm to supply the farmer's own table does not permit of argument4 ,when it comes to production for market1 ,i believe there are some sections where it costs more to produce and market poultry and eggs than is received for the product when sold4 ,for illustration3 ,on a farm which is twenty miles from town and where grain cannot be profitably grown1 the cost of teaming grain from the railroad station and of sending the eggs to market as frequently as is necessary to have a wholesome product1 would certainly eat up all possible profits4 ,the farmer thus located would find a more profitable use for his time in some industry where the raw material is near at hand and the product needs less frequent marketing4 ,some ,poultry ,geography4 ,when we are discussing poultry on the general farm1 the problem of location is not to be taken into consideration1 save to the extent that there are a few localities where food cost is so high or marketing facilities so poor as to make even the usual farm surplus unprofitable4 ,the map on page #de shows the intensity of egg production and also indicates the location of the more important localities where poultry plants have succeeded4 ,the map on page #dg shows the quality of eggs coming from various sections1 which indicates pretty closely the general development of the poultry industry4 ,these indications1 however1 are of little value in locating a poultry plant1 for they refer to the poultry product on the general farm1 and are a matter of the number and general intelligence of farmers1 rather that a sign of the suitability of the locality for the poultry industry4 ,for purposes of discussion1 ,i have divided the ,united ,states into seven sections as shown by the dotted lines on the second map4 ,illustration3 ,plate ,,ii4 ,page #de4 ,map3 ,intensity of egg production in the ,united ,states ,section #a is the ,north ,woods and too cold and remote for the poultry business4 ,section #b includes the great ,west1 of which an adequate discussion is out of the question4 ,of course1 the great majority of this area is too remote from markets for poultry production4 ,the locations around the big cities in this section are excellent for poultry farming1 as they are so far removed from the great farm region that their bulk of imported eggs are of necessity somewhat stale4 ,california is good chicken country4 ,the ,puget ,sound country is rather too damp4 ,in the interior western regions the chicken business has not done well1 chiefly because the atmosphere is too dry for the methods of artificial incubation attempted4 ,section #c is the great granary of the world4 ,it is also the home of three-fourths of the country's poultry crop4 ,it is a region of corn1 cattle and hogs4 ,such a country will produce poultry in a very inexpensive manner4 ,but it is not the region for special poultry farms4 ,in the northern portion of this tract1 we find a heavy housing expense and much winter labor necessary4 ,it is a region of high priced lands and labor1 and low prices for poultry products4 ,even the large cities in this region offer little in the way of demand for high grade poultry products4 ,this is because they are so abundantly surrounded with farms that all produce is moderately fresh and plentiful4 ,there are no successful poultry farms in this section west of the ,mississippi4 ,it is the natural location of extensive rather than intensive branches of agriculture4 ,the only type of commercial poultry farming that could succeed in any portion of this section would be a large community of producers who could ship their products out regularly in carload lots4 ,such development could only take place in the southern portion of this region1 for the housing expense is too great for the north4 ,at best the distance from market is a disadvantage1 for the rate on eggs just about equals the rate on the quantity of grain necessary to produce them4 ,the added time of shipment is something of a drawback1 though in refrigerator cars this is not serious4 ,after the establishment of poultry communities becomes more common1 the ,oklahoma and ,texas region will become available for this purpose1 but they must be established in full swing at the start1 for a few isolated poultrymen have no chance at all in this section1 for they cannot sell their product to advantage4 ,section #d4 ,this region1 extending from the ,ozarks to ,eastern ,tennessee1 is one of the very best poultry sections4 ,the climate is such that green food is available winter and summer1 and the expense of housing and winter labor is reasonable4 ,this section is still in the corn growing region4 ,the question is almost always one of railroad facilities to get the product out4 ,all poultry farms in this section must grow their own grain or buy it of their immediate neighbors4 ,it will not pay to ship grain into this region4 ,illustration3 ,plate ,,iii4 ,page #dg4 ,map3 ,intensity of egg production in the ,united ,states ,when near shipping facilities1 individual poultry farms in ,section #d have a good chance of success1 especially east of the ,mississippi4 ,this is the most favorable region in the country for the establishment of poultry communities that are to grow their own grain4 ,such poultry farms will not be expected to confine their attention as exclusively to the business as those in the section where it is profitable to import the grain4 ,section #e is the non-grain growing region of the ,south4 ,it at present produces little poultry4 ,the climate is all right for the purpose1 but the freight rates on grain from the ,west are high and likewise the freight service and freight rates to the final market are excessive4 ,under these conditions poultry farming will not pay except in a few localities as in ,florida1 where there is a high class local market due to the popular resorts4 ,if grain could be profitably grown in this section the same type of poultry farming that prevails in ,section #d would be advisable4 ,now1 grain can be grown in the cotton belt of the ,south1 and many ,yankee farmers are making good money doing it4 ,but when grown it is liable to be worth more to feed mules than to feed chickens4 ,section #f is the ,down ,east section of dense population4 ,the land for the most part is rocky1 wooded and hilly4 ,the climate and nature of the soil are against the economical production of poultry1 but the grain can be profitably fed1 and as the markets are the best in the country1 commercial poultry farming has gained quite a foothold4 ,if a man is already located in this section and wishes to go into the poultry business ,i would by all means say1 ,go ahead1 but ,i would not advise an outsider looking for a location to come here1 for the next section has several advantages4 ,section #g is the best poultry farming district in the ,united ,states1 either for the individual poultry plant or for the community of poultry growers4 ,the reasons for this are3 ,first3 ,the soil is of a sandy nature and excellent land for poultry farming can be had at a low price4 ,second3 ,the climate is much more favorable than farther north or farther inland4 ,third3 ,grain rates from the ,west are very reasonable4 ,fourth3 ,the best market in the country--,new ,york ,city--is within easy shipping distance4 ,the type of poultry farming here to be recommended1 like that of ,section #f1 is one in which imported grain is fed4 ,the fertility of this grain1 going back on the light soil1 is used to grow the green food required by the hens1 and1 in addition1 may be used in a rotation system for growing truck4 ,it will not pay to grow any quantity of grain4 ,section #g1 because of its advantages over ,section #f in climate and the availability of large tracts of suitable land1 is a much better location for the poultry community4 ,over ,section #d1 which is the second best region for this purpose1 it has the advantage of nearness to markets4 ,the climatic advantage of ,sections #d and #g are about on a par4 ,the chief distinction is the matter of growing grain or importing it4 ,if you are to grow your grain1 using poultry as a means of marketing it1 ,section #d is the best locality4 ,if you are to buy grain1 ,section #g is the place4 ,the boundaries of ,section #g are not arbitrary and should be noted carefully4 ,the line runs from ,mattawan1 ,new ,jersey1 across to the main line of the ,pennsylvania and down this to ,washington4 ,to the north and west of this1 the soils are heavy clays which are wet1 cold1 slushy and easily befouled4 ,likewise1 the line on the south is distinctly marked by the ,norfolk and ,western ,railway and is a matter of freight rates on grain4 ,norfolk gets a rate of sixteen and a half cents from ,chicago2 a couple of hundred miles south1 the rate is about twice as much4 ,cheaper grain rates would of course extend this belt on down the coast where the climate is even more favorable4 ,chicken ,climate4 ,climate is a big figure in the cost of poultry production4 ,every day that water is frozen in winter means increased labor and decreased egg yield4 ,mild winters means cheap houses1 cheap labor1 cheap feed 7a large proportion of green food71 an earlier chick season1 which1 together with the mild weather and green feed1 mean a large proportion of the egg yield at the season when eggs are high in price4 ,the ,american poultry editor wastes a great deal of ink explaining why the ,australian egg records of #age eggs per hen1 cannot be so1 because in this country1 the hens at the ,maine station only averaged #abe4 ,the ,maine ,experiment ,station lies buried in a snow drift for about five months of the year4 ,the ,australian station has a winter climate equal to that of ,new ,orleans4 ,the ,australian records do not go below thirty eggs per day per hundred hens at any time during the year4 ,our ,new ,york and ,new ,england records run down anywhere from one to ten eggs per day per hundred hens4 ,the following table will show the effect of the climate upon the distribution of the egg yield throughout the year4 ,the records at ,new ,york are from a large number of hens of several different flocks and probably represent a normal distribution of the egg yield for that section4 ,the ,kansas and ,arkansas lists are taken from the record of small flocks and are not very reliable4 ,the fourth column gives the ,australian records with the months transferred on account of being in the southern hemisphere4 ,the last column gives the railroad shipments from a division of the ,n4,c4 ,st4 ,l4 railroad in ,western ,tennessee3 ,column ,headings3 ,,ny--,central ,new ,york per hen per day ,,ks--,kansas ,ex4 ,station per hen per day ,,ar--,arkansas ,ex4 ,station per hen per day ,,au--,australian ,laying ,contest per hen per day ,,nh--,shipments from ,new ,hampshire egg farm ,,tn--,shipments from ,western ,tennessee ,,ny ,,ks ,,ar ,,au ,,nh ,,tn ,january 4#ba 4#be 4#cb 4#ea #bf #aeji ,february 4#bf 4#bb 4#cj 4#ff #da #aebj ,march 4#dc 4#fj 4#fb 4#fg #ff #bdjg ,april 4#ef 4#eb 4#ch 4#fa #hc #agge ,may 4#ei 4#eg 4#dd 4#ec #ha #afej ,june 4#ej 4#df 4#db 4#de #fa #aaca ,july 4#dd 4#dc 4#cd 4#dc #eh #hgh ,august 4#cg 4#cb 4#ch 4#da #ed #dbb ,september 4#bf 4#bh 4#bi 4#bi #bd #ajj ,october 4#ag 4#ac 4#bb 4#ca #c #eda ,november 4#jh 4#jf 4#ah 4#ca #b #gjc ,december 4#ad 4#be 4#ae 4#dj #aa #aaej ,an equable climate the year round is the best for the chicken business4 ,the ,california coast is fairly equable in temperature1 but its winter rains and summer drouth are against it4 ,the ,atlantic coast south of ,new ,york is fairly good1 probably the best the country affords4 ,the most southern portions will be rather too hot in summer1 which will result in a small ,august and ,september egg yield4 ,probably the region around ,norfolk is1 all considered1 the best poultry climate the country affords4 ,suitable ,soil4 ,soil is important in poultry farming2 in fact it is very important1 and many failures can be traced to soil mistakes4 ,rocky and uncultivated lands must not be chosen4 ,to locate on any soil which will not utilize the droppings for the production of green food1 is to introduce a loss sufficient to turn success into failure4 ,the ideal soil for poultry is a soil too sandy to produce ordinary farm crops successfully1 and hence an inexpensive soil2 but because land too sandy to be used for heavy farming is best for poultry1 this does not mean that any cheap soil will do4 ,a heavy wet clay soil worth #aej an acre for dairying is worth nothing for poultry4 ,pure sand is likewise worthless and nothing can be more pitiable than to see poultry confined in yards of wind swept sand1 without a spear of anything green within half a mile4 ,the soils that are valuable for early truck are equally valuable for poultry4 ,sand with a little loam1 or very fine sand1 if a few green crops are turned under to provide humus1 are ideal poultry soils4 ,the ,norfolk fine ,sand and ,norfolk ,sandy ,loam of the ,u4,s4 soil survey1 are types of such soil4 ,these soils absorb the droppings readily and are never covered with standing water4 ,the winter snows do not stay on them4 ,crops will keep greener on them in winter than on clay soils three hundred miles farther south4 ,the disadvantage of such soils is that they lose their fertility by leaching4 ,the same principles that will cause the droppings to disappear from the top of the ground will likewise cause them to be washed down beyond the depths of plant roots4 ,this loss must be guarded against by not going to the extreme in selecting a light soil and may be largely overcome by schemes of running the poultry right among growing crops or by quick rotations4 ,land sloping to the southward is commonly advised for the purpose of getting the same advantages as are to be had in a sandy soil4 ,in practice the slope of the land cannot be given great prominence1 although1 other things being equal1 one should certainly not disregard this point4 ,in heavy lands it is necessary to raise the floors and grade up around the houses4 ,the quickly drained soil does away with this expense4 ,timber on the land is a disadvantage4 ,poultry farming in the woods has not been made a success4 ,it's the same proposition of the droppings going to waste4 ,i know a man who bought a timbered tract because it was cheap and who scraped up the droppings to sell by the barrel to his neighbor1 who used them to fertilize his cabbage patch and in turn sold the poultryman cabbages to feed his hens1 at #e cents a head4 ,of course1 this man failed1 as does practically every man who attempts to scrape dropping boards and carry poultry manure around in baskets1 instead of using it where it falls4 ,there is little to be said in favor of uncleared land for the poultry business1 but there is something that can be said in favor of the poultry business for uncleared land4 ,a man who buys a timbered land for trucking can get no income whatever the first year1 but the poultryman can begin his operations in the woods1 clearing the land while he is raising a crop of chickens on it4 ,the coops may be placed in the cleared streak and most of the droppings utilized4 ,in fact1 the plan of a streak of timber alongside the houses is not bad for a permanent arrangement--the birds certainly enjoy the shade4 ,but the shade of growing crops is the most profitable kind for poultry4 ,marketing--,transportation4 ,the possibilities of working up a local trade of high grade eggs at fancy prices varies greatly with the locality4 ,large cities and wealthy people are essentials4 ,other than this the principal distinctions are that regions where a general surplus of eggs are produced offer little chance for a fancy trade4 ,where the great bulk of eggs are imported fancy trade is more feasible4 ,st4 ,louis is the smallest western city that supports anything like a fancy trade in eggs and there it is only on a small scale4 ,minneapolis1 ,omaha1 etc41 would not pay #c cents premium for the best eggs produced1 but cities of the same size east of the ,appalachians and especially in ,new ,england1 will pay a good premium4 ,the ,far ,west or the mountain districts will pay up better than the ,mississippi ,valley4 ,the ,south will pay a little better than the upper ,mississippi ,valley1 but has few cities of sufficient size to make such markets abundant4 ,the ,southerner has little regard for quality in produce and the most aristocratic people consume eggs regularly that the wife of a ,connecticut factory hand wouldn't have in the house4 ,the egg farmer who expects to sell locally had best not locate south of ,washington or west of ,pittsburg1 unless he goes to the ,pacific ,coast4 ,where marketing is not done by wagon the subject of railroad transportation is practically identical with the question of marketing4 ,it is the cost in freight service and freight rates that count4 ,the proposition of transportation1 especially for the grain buying poultry farm1 catches us coming and going and both must be considered4 ,a poultry farm in ,section #g will buy one hundred pounds of feed per year per hen and market one-third of a case of eggs4 ,on this basis the grain rate from ,chicago or ,st4 ,louis and the egg rate to ,new ,york must be balanced against each other4 ,don't take these things for granted4 ,look them up4 ,jamesburg and ,freehold1 two ,new ,jersey towns ten miles apart and equi-distant and with equal freight rates from ,new ,york1 might seem to the uninitiated as equally well situated to poultry farming4 ,we will suppose two men bought forty-acre farms of equal quality and equi-distant from the railroad stations at these two towns4 ,suppose1 further1 they each kept five thousand hens4 ,jamesburg is on a ,philadelphia-,new ,york line of the ,pennsylvania and its ,chicago grain rate is the same as that of ,new ,york1 namely3 #ai-a_/b cents per hundred4 ,freehold is on a branch line2 its rate is #bd-a_/b cents4 ,in a year the difference amounts to #bej4 ,figured at six per cent4 interest1 the land at ,jamesburg is worth just about one hundred dollars an acre more than that at ,freehold4 ,lumber rates or local lumber prices should also be taken into consideration4 ,whether one plans to ship his product out by express or freight will1 of course1 be an important consideration in deciding the location4 ,as a general thing1 the individual poultry farmer will1 for shipping his product1 use express east of ,buffalo and north of ,norfolk4 ,the poultry community could use freight in these same regions and get as good or better service than by express4 ,the location in relation to the railroad station is equally important to the freight rate4 ,besides heavy hauling frequent trips will be necessary in marketing eggs4 ,these on the larger farms will be daily or at least semi-weekly4 ,on the heavy hauling alone1 at #be cents per ton mile1 distance from the railroad will figure up #a-a_/d cents per hen which1 on the basis of the previous illustration1 would make a difference of twenty-five dollars per acre for every mile of distance from the station4 ,one of the most successful poultry farms ,i know is right along the railroad and has an elevator which handles the grain from the cars and later dumps it into the feed wagons without its ever being touched by hand4 ,the labor saving in this counts up rapidly4 ,the poultry community can have its own elevator and the grain can be sold to the farmer to be delivered directly into the hoppers in his field with but a single loading into a wagon4 ,availability of ,water4 ,one more point to be considered in location is water4 ,the labor of watering poultry by carrying water in buckets is tremendous and not to be considered on any up-to-date poultry plant4 ,watering must be accomplished by some artificial piping system or from spring-fed brooks4 ,the more length of flowing streams on a piece of land1 provided the adjacent ground is dry1 the more value the property has for poultry4 ,two spring-fed brooks crossing a forty-acre tract so as to give a half mile of running water1 or a full mile of houses1 would water five thousand hens without labor4 ,this would mean an annual saving of at least one man's time as against hand watering1 or a matter of a thousand dollars or more in the cost of installation of a watering system4 ,if running water cannot be had the next best thing is to get land with water near the surface which may be tapped with sand points4 ,if one must go deep for water a large flow is essential so that one power pump may easily supply sufficient water for the plant4 ,the land should lay in a gentle slope so that water may be run over the entire surface by gravity4 ,hilly lands are a nuisance in poultry keeping and raise the expense at every turn4 ,a ,few ,statistics4 ,the following table does not bear directly upon the poultry-man's choice of a location1 but is inserted here because of its general interest in showing the poultry development of the country4 ,it will be noted that the egg production per hen is very low in the ,southern ,states4 ,this may seem at variance with my previous statements4 ,the poor poultry keeping of the ,south is a fault of the industrial conditions1 not of the climate4 ,chickens on the ,southern farm simply live around the premises as do rats or ,english sparrows4 ,no grain is grown2 there are no feed lots to run to1 no measures are taken to keep down vermin1 and no protection is provided from wind and rain4 ,in the ,north chickens could not exist with such treatment4 ,the figures given showing the relation between the poultry and total agricultural wealth is the best way that can be found to express statistically the importance of poultry keeping in relation to the general business of farming4 ,these figures should not be confused with the distribution of the actual volume of poultry products4 ,iowa1 the greatest poultry producing state1 shows only a moderate proportion of poultry to all farm wealth1 but this is because more agricultural wealth is produced in ,iowa than in all the ,down ,east states4 ,table showing the development of the poultry industry in the various states1 according to the returns of the census of #aijj3 ,no4 of ,percentage of ,no4 of ,farm value eggs per farm wealth eggs of eggs per capita earned by per hen dozen ,states poultry ,alabama #abd #d4i #dh #i4g cents ,arizona #hj #d4e #fj #ai4i ,arkansas #bce #f4h #eh #i4a ,california #aig #e4d #gd #ae4h ,colorado #abg #e4d #ga #ae4j ,connecticut #aje #aa4c #hi #ai4a ,delaware #bca #ad4g #fh #ac4g ,florida #if #h4b #df #ac4a ,georgia #aef #d4d #da #aj4d ,idaho #bac #e4j #fg #af4b ,indiana #cch #aj4j #gg #aj4e ,iowa #ecf #g4d #fd #aj4a ,illinois #bae #c4g #fb #aj4c ,kansas #eig #h4b #gc #i4i ,kentucky #aih #h4c #fb #i4h ,louisiana #aaa #d4j #dj #aj4j ,maine #bcc #aa4j #ajj #ae4c ,maryland #abf #aj4d #ga #ab4f ,massachusetts #ef #aa4g #if #ai4i ,michigan #bgj #i4g #hb #aa4b ,minnesota #bif #e4h #fg #aj4e ,mississippi #add #d4g #dc #i4i ,missouri #bia #aa4f #fh #i4h ,montana #adh #d4c #fg #ba4j ,nebraska #dfc #f4a #ff #i4i ,nevada #fh #c4g #ga #bj4h ,new ,hampshire #bch #aa4e #if #ag4c ,new ,jersey #gf #ab4j #gb #af4b ,new ,mexico #de #b4g #fe #ah4g ,new ,york #ajb #g4a #hc #ac4i ,north ,carolina #aab #e4g #ee #aj4b ,north ,dakota #bdi #b4f #fd #aj4e ,ohio #bfe #i4f #gg #aa4b ,oklahoma #cae #f4d #fj #i4c ,oregon #bbd #f4b #gb #ae4a ,pennsylvania #aab #aj4h #ge #ac4e ,rhode ,island #ij #ai4g #gg #bj4d ,south ,carolina #hj #d4j #da #aj4c ,south ,dakota #ejb #e4b #fh #aj4j ,tennessee #ahi #h4d #fa #i4h ,texas #bbh #d4h #eb #h4j ,utah #adf #e4a #gf #ab4e ,vermont #bai #g4e #id #ae4c ,virginia #afe #h4i #fg #aa4a ,washington #aga #g4a #gd #af4h ,west ,virginia #baf #aj4b #gd #aj4i ,wisconsin #bfh #g4a #fh #aj4e ,wyoming #aba #b4d #gi #ag4d ,entire ,u4,s4 #bje #g4d #fe #aa4a ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,dollar ,,hen ,,farm ,as has already been emphasized1 the way to get money out of the chicken business is not to put so much in4 ,land1 however1 well suited to the purpose1 should not be begrudged1 for interest at six per cent1 will afford a very considerable extra investment in land well suited to the business if it in any way cuts down the cost of operation4 ,the ,plan of ,housing4 ,the houses are the next consideration4 ,on most poultry farms they are the chief items of expense4 ,i know of a poultry farm near ,new ,york ,city where the house cost #ab4jj per hen4 ,the owner built this farm with a view of making money4 ,people also buy stock in ,nevada gold mines with a view of making money4 ,i know another poultry farm owned by a man named ,tillinghast at ,vernon1 ,connecticut1 where the houses cost thirty cents per hen4 ,mr4 ,tillinghast gets more eggs per hen than the ,new ,york man4 ,incidentally1 he is sending his son to ,yale1 and he has no other visible means of support except his chicken farm4 ,for the region of light soils and the localities which ,i have recommended for poultry farming1 the following style of poultry house should be used3 ,no floors1 single boarded walls1 a roof of matched cypress lumber or of cheap pine covered with tarred paper4 ,this house is to have no windows and no door4 ,the roosts are in the back end2 the front end is open or partly open2 feed hoppers and nests are in the front end4 ,the feed hoppers may be made in the walls1 made loose to set in the house1 or made to shed water and placed outside the house4 ,all watering is to be done outside the houses2 likewise any feeding beyond that done in hoppers4 ,the exact style of the house ,i leave to the reader's own plan4 ,were ,i recommending complex houses costing several dollars per hen1 this certainly would be leaving the reader in the dark woods4 ,with houses of the kind described it is hard to go far amiss4 ,the simplest form is a double pitched roof1 the ridge-pole standing about seven feet high1 and the walls about four4 ,the house is made eight by sixteen1 and one end--not the side--left open4 ,for the house that man is to enter1 this form cannot be improved upon4 ,the only other points are to construct it on a couple of #dx#d runners so that it can be dragged about by a team4 ,cypress1 or other decay-proof wood should be used for these mud-sills4 ,the framing should be light and as little of it used as is consistent with firmness4 ,if the whole house costs more than twenty-five dollars there is something wrong in its planning4 ,this house should accommodate seventy-five or eighty hens4 ,for smaller operations1 especially for horseless1 or intensive farming1 a low1 light house may be used1 which the attendant never enters4 ,a portion of the roof lifts up to fill feed-hoppers1 gather eggs or spray4 ,these small houses may be made light enough to be moved short distances by a pry-pole1 the team being required only when they are moved to a new field4 ,not one particle of poultry manure is to be removed from either style of house4 ,instead1 the houses are removed from the manure1 which is then scattered on the neighboring ground with a fork1 or1 if desired to be used on a field in which poultry may not run1 it may be loaded upon a wagon together with some of the underlaying soil4 ,there have been books and books written on poultry houses1 but what ,i have just given is sufficient poultry-house knowledge for the ,dollar ,hen man4 ,if he hasn't enough intelligence to put this into practice1 he has no business in the hen business4 ,additional book-knowledge of hen-houses is useless2 it may be harmful4 ,if you are sure that you are fool-proof1 you may get ,dr4 ,feather or ,reverend ,earlobe's ,book of ,poultry ,house ,plans4 ,it will be a good text-book for the children's drawing lessons4 ,the ,feeding ,system4 ,oyster shells1 beef scraps1 corn1 and one other kind of grain1 together with an abundance of pasturage or green feed1 is the sum and substance of feeding hens on the ,dollar ,hen ,farm4 ,the dry feeds are placed in hoppers4 ,they are built to protect the feeds from the weather4 ,the neck must be sufficiently large to prevent clogging1 and the hopper so protected by slats in front that the hen cannot toss the feed out by a side jerk of her head4 ,these hoppers may be built any size desired4 ,the grain compartments should1 of course1 be made larger than the others4 ,weekly filling is good1 but where a team is not owned1 it would be better to have the hoppers larger so that feed purchased1 say1 once a month1 could be delivered directly into the hoppers4 ,water ,systems4 ,the best water system is a spring-fed brook4 ,the man proposing to establish an individual poultry plant1 and who after reading this book goes and buys a tract of land where an artificial water system is necessary1 would catch ,mississippi drift-wood on shares4 ,but there are plenty of such people in the world4 ,a man once stood all day on ,london ,bridge hawking gold sovereigns at a shilling a-piece and did not make a sale4 ,next to natural streams are the made streams4 ,this is the logical watering method of the community of poultry farmers4 ,these artificial streams are to be made by conducting the water of natural streams back of the land to be watered1 as in irrigation4 ,it is the problem of irrigation over again4 ,indeed1 where trucking is combined with poultry-growing1 fowl watering should be combined with irrigation4 ,it may be necessary to dam the stream to get head1 sufficient supply or both4 ,in sandy soils1 ditches leak1 and board flumes must be substituted4 ,the larger ones are made of the boards at right angles and tapered so that one end of one trough rests in the upper end of the next lower section4 ,the smaller1 or lateral troughs may be made ,v-shaped4 ,the cost of the smaller sized flume is three cents a foot4 ,iron pipe costs twelve cents a foot4 ,the greater the slope of the ground the smaller may be the troughs1 but on ground where the slopes are great1 more expense will be necessary in stilting the flumes to maintain the level1 and the harder it will be to find a large section that can be brought under the ditch4 ,fluming water for poultry is1 like irrigation1 a community project4 ,the greatest dominating people of history have their origin in arid countries4 ,it was co-operate or starve1 and they learned co-operation and conquered the earth4 ,if a man interferes with the flume1 or takes more than his share of the water1 put him out4 ,we are in the hen1 not the hog business4 ,community water systems1 where water must be pumped and piped in iron pipe1 is of course a more expensive undertaking4 ,it will only pay where water is too deep for individuals to drive sand points on their own property4 ,there is certainly little reason to consider an expensive method when there are abundant localities where simple plans may be used4 ,on sand lands1 with water near the surface1 each farmer may drive sand points and pump his water by hand4 ,in this case running water is not possible1 but the pipes or flumes may be arranged so that fresh pumping flushes all the drinking places and also leaves them full of standing water4 ,the simplest way to arrange this will be by wooden surface troughs as used in the fluming scheme4 ,the only difference is that an occasional section is made deeper so that it will retain water4 ,a more permanent arrangement may be made by using a line of three-fourths inch pipe4 ,at each watering place the pipe is brought to the surface so that the water flows into a galvanized pan with sloping sides4 ,this pan has an overflow through a short section of smaller tubing soldered to the side of the pan4 ,the pipe line is parallel with the fence line1 the pans supply both fields4 ,by this arrangement the entire plant may be watered in a few minutes4 ,the overflow tubes are on one side4 ,using these tubes as a pivot the pans may be swung out from under the fence with the foot and cleaned with an old broom4 ,where the ground water is deep a wind mill and storage tank would be desirable4 ,outdoor ,accommodations4 ,the hen house is a place for roosting1 laying and a protection for the feed4 ,the hen is to live out doors4 ,on the most successful ,new ,england poultry farms1 warm houses for hens have been given up4 ,hens fare better out of doors in ,virginia than they do in ,new ,england1 but make more profit out of doors anywhere than they will shut up in houses4 ,if your climate will not permit your hen to live out doors get out of the climate or get out of the hen business4 ,there is1 however1 a vast difference in the kind of out-of-doors4 ,the running stream with its fringe of trees1 brush and rank growing grass1 forms daylight quarters for the hen par excellence4 ,rank growing crops1 fodder piled against the fences1 a board fence on the north side of the lot1 or little sheds made by propping a platform against a stake1 will all help4 ,a place out of the wind for the hens to dust and sun and be sociable is what is wanted1 and what must be provided1 preferably by ,nature1 if not by ,nature then by the poultryman4 ,the hens are to be kept as much as possible out of the houses1 in sheltered places among the crops or brush4 ,they should not herd together in a few places but should be separated in little clumps well scattered over the land4 ,these hiding places for the hens must1 of course1 not be too secluded or eggs will be lost4 ,equipment for ,chick ,rearing4 ,just as the long houses for hens have been weighed and found wanting1 so larger brooder houses1 with one exception1 have never been established on what may be called a successful basis4 ,by establishment on a successful basis1 ,i mean established so that they could be used by larger numbers of people in rearing market chickens4 ,there are plenty of large brooder houses in use1 just as there are plenty of yarded poultry plants1 but many intelligent1 industrious people have tried both systems only to find that the cost of production exceeds the selling price4 ,this makes us prone to believe that some of those who claim to be succeeding may differ from the crowd in that they had more capital to begin with and hence last longer4 ,the one exception ,i make to this is that of the ,south ,shore ,roaster ,district of ,massachusetts4 ,here steam-pipe brooder houses are used quite extensively4 ,the logical reason that pipe brooder houses have found use in the winter chicken business and not in rearing pullets is that of season and profits4 ,when chicks are to be hatched in the dead of winter the steam-heated brooder house is a necessity4 ,in this limited use it is all right1 where the profits per chick are great enough to stand the expense and losses4 ,for the rearing of the great bulk of spring chicks the methods that have proven profitable are as follows3 ,first3 ,rearing with hens as practiced at ,little ,compton4 ,for suggestions on this see the chapter entitled ,poultry on the ,general ,farm4 ,second3 ,rearing with lamp brooder4 ,many large book-built poultry plants have been equipped with steam1 or1 more properly1 hot water heated brooder houses1 only to have a practical manager see that they did not work1 tear out the piping and fill the house with rows of common lamp brooders4 ,the advantage claimed for the lamp brooder is that they can be regulated separately for each flock4 ,as a matter of fact1 the same regulation for each flock of chicks could be secured with a proper type of hot water heaters and one of the most practical poultry farms in the country is now installing such a system4 ,a brooder system where hot air under the pressure of a blower or centrifugal fan would seem ideal4 ,so far the efforts made along these lines have been clumsy and unnecessarily expensive4 ,if the continuous house is ever made practical1 ,i believe it will be along this line1 but at present ,i advise sticking to the methods that are known to be successful4 ,individual lamp brooders in colony houses are perhaps the most generally successful means of rearing chicks on northern poultry farms4 ,they are troublesome and somewhat expensive1 but with properly hatched chickens are more successful than hen rearing4 ,in buying such a brooder the chief points to be observed are3 ,a good lamp1 a heating device giving off the heat from a central drum1 and an arrangement which facilitates easy cleaning4 ,the brooder should be large1 having not less than nine square feet of floor space4 ,the work demanded of a brooder is not as exacting as with an incubator4 ,the heat and circulation of air may vary a little without harm1 but they must not fail altogether4 ,the greatest trouble with brooders in operation is the uncertainty of the lamp4 ,the brooder-lamp should have sufficient oil capacity and a large wick4 ,brooder-lamps are often exposed to the wind1 and1 if cheaply constructed or poorly enclosed1 the result will be a chilled brood of chicks1 or perhaps a fire4 ,the chief thing sought in the internal arrangements of a brooder is a provision to keep the chicks from piling up and smothering each other as they crowd toward the source of heat4 ,this can be accomplished by having the warmest part of the brooder in the center rather than at the side or corner4 ,if the heat comes from above and a considerable portion of the brooder be heated to the same temperature1 no crowding will take place4 ,the temperature given for running brooders vary with the machine and the position of the thermometer4 ,the one reliable guide for temperature is the action of the chicks4 ,if they are cold they will crowd toward the source of heat2 if too warm they will wander uneasily about2 but if the temperature is right1 each chick will sleep stretched out on the floor4 ,the cold chicken does not sleep at all1 but puts in its time fighting its way toward the source of heat4 ,in an improperly constructed or improperly run brooder the chicks go through a varying process of chilling1 sweating and struggling when they should be sleeping1 and the result is puny chicks that dwindle and die4 ,the arrangement of the brooder for the sleeping accommodations of the chicks is important1 but this is not the only thing to be considered in a brooder4 ,the brooder used in the early season1 and especially the outdoor brooder1 must have ample space provided for the daytime accommodation of the chick4 ,in the colony house brooder such space will1 of course1 be the floor of the house4 ,when operating on a large scale it will not pay to buy complete brooders4 ,the lamps and hovers can be purchased separately and installed in colony houses which do both for brooders and later for houses for growing young stock4 ,the universal hover sold by the ,prairie ,state ,incubator people is about as perfect a lamp hover as can be made4 ,the cold brooder1 or ,philo box1 as it has been popularly called1 is the chief item in a system of poultry keeping that has been widely advertised4 ,the principle of the ,philo box is that of holding the air warmed by the chick down close to them by a sagging piece of cloth4 ,the cloth checks most of the radiating heat1 but is not so tight as to smother the chick4 ,this limits the space of air to be warmed by the chicks to such a degree that the body warmth is used to the greatest advantage4 ,that chickens can be raised in these fire-less brooders1 is not in question1 for that has been abundantly proven1 but most poultrymen believe that it will pay better1 especially in the ,north1 to give the little fellows a few weeks' warmth4 ,curtis ,bros4 at ,ransomville1 ,n4,y41 who raise some twenty thousand chicks per year1 have adopted the following system3 ,the chicks are kept under hovers heated by hot water pipes for one week1 or until they learn to hover4 ,then they are put in ,philo boxes for a week in the same building but away from the pipes4 ,the third week the ,philo boxes are placed in a large1 unheated room4 ,after that they go to a large ,philo box in a colony house4 ,to make a ,philo house of the ,curtis pattern1 take a box #e in4 deep and #ah in4 to #bd in4 square4 ,cut a hole in one side for a chick door1 run a strip of screen around the inside of the box to round the corners4 ,now take a second similar box4 ,tack a piece of cloth rather loosely across its open face4 ,bore a few augur holes in the sides of either box4 ,invert box ,no4 #b upon box ,no4 #a4 ,this we will call a ,curtis box4 ,it costs about fifteen cents and should accommodate fifty to seventy-five chicks4 ,a universal hover in a colony coop or colony house1 for which a ,curtis box is substituted1 as early in the game as the weather permits1 is the method ,i advise for rearing young chicks4 ,the lamp problem we still have with us1 but it is one that cannot be easily solved4 ,large vessels or tanks of water which are regularly warmed by injection of steam from a movable boiler1 offers a possible way out of the difficulty4 ,on a plant large enough to keep one man continually at this work1 this plan might be an improvement over filling lamps1 but for the smaller plant it is lamps1 or go south4 ,rearing young chicks is the hardest part of the poultry business4 ,there is a lot of work about it that cannot be gotten rid of4 ,little chicks must be kept comfortable and their water and feed for the first few days must needs be given largely by hand4 ,they are to be early led to drink from the regular water vessels and eat from the hoppers1 but this takes time and patience4 ,the feeding of chicks ,i will discuss in the chapter on ,poultry on the ,general ,farm1 and as the same methods apply in both cases1 ,i will refer the reader to that section4 ,after chicks get three or four weeks old their care is the simplest part of the poultry farm work and consists chiefly of filling feed hoppers and protecting them from vermin and thieves4 ,board floor colony houses are used as a protection against rats and this danger necessitates the protection of the opening by netting and the closing of the doors at night4 ,cockerels must be gotten out of the flocks and sold at an early age4 ,those that are to be kept for sale or use as breeding birds should be early separated from the pullets4 ,coops for growing chickens1 especially ,leghorns1 cannot be put among trees1 as the birds will learn to roost in the trees1 causing no end of trouble to get them broken of the habit4 ,all pullets save a few culls should be saved for laying4 ,they are to be kept two years4 ,they should lay sixty-five to seventy per cent as many eggs the second year as the first4 ,they are sold the third summer to make room for the growing stock4 ,twenty-five ,acre ,poultry ,farms4 ,this section will be devoted to a general discussion of the type of poultry farms best suited to ,section #d and the southerly portions of ,section #g as discussed in the previous chapter4 ,we will discuss this type of farm with this assumption3 ,that they are to be developed in large numbers by co-operative or corporate effort4 ,this does not infer that they cannot be developed by individual effort1 and nine-tenths of the operations will remain the same in the latter case4 ,suppose a large tract of land adjacent to railroad facilities has been found4 ,the land in the original survey should be divided into long1 relatively narrow strips1 lying at right angles to the slope of the land4 ,the farmstead should occupy the highest end of the strip4 ,for a twenty-five acre or one-man poultry farm these strips should be about forty rods in width4 ,the object of this survey is to permit the water being run by gravity to the entire farm4 ,the first thing is the farmstead1 including such orchard and garden as are desired4 ,this stretches across the entire front end of the place4 ,the remainder of the strip is fenced in with chicken fence4 ,the farm is also divided into two narrow fields by a fence down the center of the strip4 ,this fence1 at frequent intervals1 has removable panels4 ,the year's season we will begin late in the fall4 ,all layers are in field ,no4 #a pasturing on rape1 top turnips or other fall crops4 ,in lot ,no4 #b is growing wheat or rye4 ,as the green feed gets short in the first lot the hens are let into lot ,no4 #b4 ,sometime in ,march the houses that have been brought up close to the gaps are drawn through into the wheat field4 ,the feed hoppers are also gradually moved and the hens find themselves confined in lot ,no4 #b without any serious disturbance4 ,lot ,no4 #a is broken up as soon as weather permits and planted in oats1 corn1 ,kaffir corn and perhaps a few sunflowers4 ,the oats form a little strip near the coops and watering places and the ,kaffir corn is on the far side4 ,as soon as corn planting is over the farmer begins to receive his chickens from the hatchery4 ,the brooders are now placed in the corn field4 ,the object of the corn is not green food but for a shade and a grain crop4 ,the chicks are summered in the corn field and the hens in the wheat or rye4 ,whether the latter will head up will depend upon the number of the flock4 ,it will be best to work the houses across to the far side and let that portion near the middle fence head up4 ,as the old grain gets too tough for green food strips of ground should be broken up and sown in oats4 ,the grain that matures will not be cut1 but the hens will be allowed to thresh it out4 ,the straw may be cut with mower or scythe for use as nesting material4 ,sometime in ,june or early in ,july a little rape vetch or cow-peas is drilled in between the rows of corn as on the far side from the chicken coops4 ,during ,july or about the first of ,august1 after all cockerels have been sold1 the gates are opened and the pullets are allowed to associate with the hens4 ,after this acquaintance ripens into friendship the hen houses are worked back into the pullet lots4 ,surplus hens are sold off or new houses inserted as the case may be until there is room for the pullets in the houses4 ,each coop is worked up alongside a house and after most of the pullets have taken to the houses the coops are removed4 ,the vacant lot is now broken up and sown in a mixture of fall green crops4 ,the flock is kept in the corn field until the corn is ripe4 ,the ,kaffir corn and sunflowers are knocked down where they stand and are threshed by the hens4 ,as soon as the corn crop is ripe the houses are run back and the corn cut up or husked and the wheat planted in the corn field4 ,the next year the lots are transposed1 the young stock being grown in the lot that had the hens the previous year4 ,if the ground is inclined to be at all damp when the fields are broken up the plowing is done in narrow lands so as to form a succession of ridges1 on which are placed the coops or houses4 ,the directions of these ridges will be determined by the lay of the land--the object being neither to dam up water or to encourage washing4 ,the location of the ridges are alternated by seasons1 so that the droppings from the houses are well distributed throughout the soil4 ,this system with the particular crops found that do best in the locality1 give us an ideal method of poultry husbandry4 ,we have kept hens and young stock supplied with green food the year round2 we have utilized every particle of manure without one bit of labor4 ,we have a rotation of crops4 ,we have the benefits to the ground of several green crops turned under4 ,we have raised one grain crop per year on most of the ground4 ,we have no labor in feeding and watering except the keeping of the grain1 beef and grit hoppers filled1 and the water system in order4 ,the number of fowls that may be kept per acre will be determined by the richness of the soil4 ,the chief object of the entire scheme is to provide abundant green pasture at all times and to allow the production of a reasonable amount of grain4 ,with one hundred hens per acre on the entire tract1 and with houses containing eighty hens each1 it will be necessary to set the houses ninety-five feet apart4 ,this will give the flock a tract of #ie by #ccj feet in which to pasture4 ,the above estimate with a little land allowed for house1 garden1 orchard and a little cow and team pasture1 will permit the keeping of two thousand hens on a twenty-five acre farm4 ,in regions where grain is to be raised most farmers would want more land4 ,they may also wish to own a few extra cows1 hogs1 etc41 or to alternate the entire poultry operations with some crop that will1 on such highly fertilized land1 give a good cash profit4 ,forty acres is a good size for such uses4 ,the cost of land when purchased in large tracts in ,virginia is very small1 but the cost of clearing is often much more than that of the land4 ,twenty-five to fifty dollars an acre should secure such a tract of land and put it in shape for poultry farming4 ,the cost of the farm home1 etc41 will1 of course vary altogether with the taste of the occupant4 ,if they are constructed by a central company1 from five hundred to a thousand dollars should cover the amount4 ,the cost of poultry buildings and equipment used on the farm will depend largely on the efficiency of the labor of construction4 ,if constructed in large numbers by a central company1 the cost would be reduced1 but the company would expect to make a profit on their work4 ,a plot laid out for two thousand hens will require in material3 #bej rods of fence with #f-;ft4 netting which should cost about fifty cents a rod4 ,my estimate of this fence put up would be #aej4 ,if the neighboring field contained no other poultry1 a portion of this fence might be done away with1 although its protection against dogs and strangers may be worth while4 ,of course1 if poultry fields of different owners lay adjoining1 the fence must be used1 but the cost will be reduced one-half4 ,the next most expensive piece of equipment will be a line of about eighty rods of #c_/d in4 gas pipe and about fifty elbows and twenty-five galvanized iron pans4 ,the cost of installation will depend largely on how deep it is necessary to go to get below the frost line4 ,one hundred and seventy-five dollars should cover cost of material and by the use of a plow the line ought to be put in for twenty-five dollars4 ,the source of water1 and the cost of getting a head1 will necessarily vary with the location4 ,the installation of a wind mill and tank to hold supply for several days1 or of a small gasoline engine1 would cost in the neighborhood of one hundred dollars1 but it is a luxury that may be dispensed with if the well is not too deep4 ,the houses for the hens1 of which there are twenty-five1 are constructed in accordance with some of the plans previously discussed4 ,the cost should be about twenty-five cents per hen4 ,at least twice as many brooders as colony coops will be needed as there are hen houses1 but of the lamps and hovers not over twenty-five will be required1 as the chicks soon outgrow the need of this aid4 ,this makes a list of equipment required for the keeping of two thousand layers and their replenishing3 #be acres of farm land1 at #ej per acre #abej4jj #bej rods of fence #aej4jj ,one farmstead #ajjj4jj ,one team1 plow and farm implements #cjj4jj ,one watering system #cjj4jj #be hen houses1 at #bj #ejj4jj #ej colony coops1 at #b4ej #aej4jj #be lamps and hovers1 at #e #abe4jj -------- #cgge4jj ,transcriber's note3 #ej colony coops1 at #b4ej is #abe4jj1 not #aej4 ,the total should therefore be #cgej rather than #cgge4 ,this was1 presumably1 a printing error1 because the correct total is used in the further calculations below4 ,this is a good1 liberal capitalization4 ,the business can be started with much less4 ,figured interest at #f per cent4 we have #bbe4jj per year4 ,the upkeep of the plant will be about #ae per cent4 on the capital1 not counting land4 ,this equals #cge1 which1 added to interest1 gives an annual overhead expense of #fjj1 which is our first item to be set against gross receipts4 ,the cost of operation will involve cost of chicks at hatchery1 purchased feed1 seed for ground1 and feed for team4 ,the price of chicks at the ,petaluma hatcheries is from six to eight cents each4 ,we expect to raise enough pullets to make up for the accidental losses1 and to renew bulk of the flock each year4 ,the number required will1 of course1 depend upon the loss4 ,this loss will be much less when the chicks are obtained from a modern moisture controlled hatchery1 than from the box type incubator4 ,i think a #cc per cent4 loss is a liberal estimate1 but as ,i am treading on unproven ground1 ,i will make that loss #dj per cent41 which is on a par with old style methods4 ,to replace #a1jjj hens1 this will require #c1ejj chicks at a cost of about two hundred and fifty dollars4 ,green pasturage throughout the year will materially cut down the cost of feed4 ,the corn consumed out of the hoppers will be about one bushel per hen4 ,the beef scrap will also be less than with yarded fowls1 perhaps twenty-five cents per hen4 ,now1 of the corn we will raise on the land1 at least ten acres4 ,this should yield us five hundred bushels4 ,this leaves fifteen hundred bushels of corn to be purchased4 ,at the present high rates1 this will cost #a1jjj which1 added to beef scrap cost1 makes an outside feed cost of #a1ejj4 ,the seed cost of rye1 rape1 cow-peas1 etc41 will amount to about #ej per annum4 ,for expense of production we have3 ,interest and upkeep of plant #fjj4jj ,chicks #bej4jj ,purchased corn #ajjj4jj ,beef scrap and grit #ejj4jj ,seed #ej4jj ,team feed #ajj4jj --------- #b1ejj4jj ,this figures out the cost of production at a little more than a dollar per hen4 ,the income from the place should be about as follows3 ,eleven hundred cockerels sold as squab broilers at #dj cents each1 #ddj4jj2 four hundred and seventy-five old hens at #cj cents1 #adj4jj4 ,the receipts from egg yield are1 of course1 impossible of very accurate calculation1 for it is here that the personal element that determines success or failure enters4 ,the ,arkansas per-hen-day figures 7see last chapter71 multiplied by the average quotation for extras in the ,new ,york market1 will be as fair as any1 and certainly cannot be considered a high estimate1 as it is only #aac eggs per hen per year4 ,price per doz ,income for ,eggs per ,extras month from hen day in ,new ,york #bjjj layers ---------------------------------------- ----- ,january 4#cb 4#cj #did4jj ,february 4#cj 4#bi #djd4jj ,march 4#fb 4#bb #gjj4jj ,april 4#ch 4#ai #cej4jj ,may 4#dd 4#ai #dbi4jj ,june 4#db 4#ah #cgg4jj ,july 4#cd 4#ba #cfg4jj ,august 4#ch 4#bb #dbi4jj ,september 4#ba 4#be #bfb4jj ,october 4#bb 4#bh #caf4jj ,november 4#ah 4#cc #bfg4jj ,december 4#ae 4#cb #bdf4jj --------- ,total #d1fda4jj ,the total income as figured will be #e1bba4 ,from this subtract the cost of production1 and we have still nearly #c1jjj1 which is to be combined item of wages and profit4 ,we have entered no labor bill because this is to be a one-man farm1 and with the assistance of the public hatchery and co-operative marketing association1 which will send a wagon right to a man's door to gather the eggs1 it is entirely feasible for one man to attend to two thousand hens4 ,in the rush spring season other members of the family will have to turn out and help1 or a man may be hired to attend the plowing and rougher work4 ,this is a good handsome income1 and yet the above price of the man's labor--it is only about one dollar per hen1 which has always been the estimated profit of successful poultry keeping4 ,as a matter of fact1 this profit is seldom reached under the old system of poultry keeping1 not because the above gross income cannot be reached1 but because the expenses are greater4 ,under the present methods1 with the exception of the rearing of the young chicks1 one man can easily take care of three thousand hens4 ,indeed1 practically the only work in their care is cultivating the ground and hauling around and dumping into hoppers1 about two loads of feed per week4 ,but1 young chicks must be reared1 and this is more laborious4 ,for this reason ,i advise going into some other industry on a part of the land1 which will not require attention in the young chick season4 ,one of the best things for this purpose is the cultivation of cane fruits as blackberries1 raspberries and dewberries4 ,the work of caring for these can be made to fall wholly without the young chick season4 ,peaches and grapes for a slower profit can be added1 but spraying and cultivation of these is more liable to take spring labor4 ,all these fruits have the advantage of doing well in the same kind of soil recommended for chickens4 ,young chickens may be grown around such berry crops and removed to permanent quarters before the berries ripen4 ,strawberries would be a very poor crop because their labor falls in the chick season4 ,another plan1 and perhaps a better one1 is to have about three fields1 and rotate in such a manner that a marketable crop may be always kept growing in the third field4 ,any crop may be selected1 the chief labor of which falls between ,july and the following ,march4 ,late cabbage and potatoes1 or celery1 will do if the ground is suitable for these crops4 ,kale and spinach are staple fall crops4 ,fall lettuce could also be grown4 ,if the market is glutted on such crops1 they can be fed out at home4 ,whenever a field is vacant1 have some crop growing on it1 if only for purposes of green manuring4 ,never let sandy ground lie fallow4 ,a modification of the above plans suited to heavier ground1 is to seed down the entire farm to grass4 ,it is then divided into three fields and provided with three sets of colony houses4 ,coops are entirely dispensed with1 and cheap indoor brooders are used in the permanent houses4 ,the pullets stay in these same houses in the same field until the moulting season of the third year1 or until they are two and a half years old4 ,one field will always be vacant during the fall and winter season which time may be utilized for fresh seeding4 ,the difficulty of maintaining a sod will necessitate somewhat heavier soil than by the previous plan4 ,the houses should be moved around occasionally1 as the grass kills out in the locality4 ,this plan is a lazy man's way1 taking the least labor of any method of poultry keeping known4 ,it is adapted to the cheaper ground in the region farthest from market4 ,on the ,atlantic seaboard1 the more enterprising man will use the third field for rotation1 and sell some of the fertility of the western grain in the form of a truck crop4 ,five ,acre ,poultry ,farms4 ,can a living for a family be made from a five acre poultry farm8 ,yes2 by individual effort1 where the marketing opportunities are good2 by corporate or co-operate effort1 any place where the fundamental conditions are right4 ,this type of poultry farm is well suited for development near our large cities1 where the cry of back to the land has filled with new hope the discouraged dweller in flat and tenement4 ,no greater chance for humanitarian work1 and at the same time no greater business opportunity1 is open to-day than that of the promotion of colonies of small poultry and truck farms where the parent colony not only sells the land1 but helps the settler to establish himself in the business and to successfully market the product4 ,the natural location for such projects is in the sandy soils of ,new ,jersey1 ,delaware1 ,maryland and ,virginia4 ,we have already discussed the twenty-five acre farm1 representing the largest probable unit for such an enterprise4 ,we will now discuss the five acre farm which represents the smallest probable unit4 ,on the five-acre farm a considerable difference of methods will be necessary4 ,in the first place1 it is to be a horseless farm4 ,all hauling and plowing must be attended to by the central company1 or the same results could be obtained by a team owned in common by a small group1 say of six farmers1 each of whom is to use the team one day of the week4 ,a single isolated farmer in a community of farms or market gardeners1 could hire a team by the day as he needed it4 ,i do not recommend this scheme1 however1 but would suggest that the single individual get a larger plot of ground1 at least ten acres1 and a team of his own4 ,in the co-operative community the five-acre teamless farm is entirely feasible4 ,the tract should be surveyed about twice as long as wide1 which1 for five acres1 makes it #bj by #dj rods1 or #ccj by #ffj feet4 ,measure off a strip one hundred feet back from the road4 ,fence the remainder of the tract4 ,now run a partition fence down the center until we have come to within twelve rods of the back side4 ,here run a cross fence4 ,this gives us three yards of about one and one-half acres each4 ,the gates are arranged so that one passes through the three yards in a single trip4 ,where the middle partition fence adjoins the front fence1 a well is driven4 ,a water line is run down the partition fence to the rear yard4 ,the plot around the house is set in permanent crops1 such as berries1 fruit trees1 asparagus1 rhubarb1 etc4 ,of the other three yards1 at least one is kept in growing marketable crops4 ,every inch is cultivated1 and crops of the leafy nature1 as lettuce1 cabbage1 kale and spinach1 are chiefly grown1 as they utilize the rich nitrogenous poultry manure to the best advantage1 and the waste portions1 or worthless crops1 are utilized for the poultry4 ,the method of supplying the fowls with green food is entirely by soiling4 ,this means to grow the food in an adjoining lot and throw it over the fence4 ,the above mentioned crops are all good for the purpose4 ,rape1 which is not grown for human food1 is also excellent4 ,kale is one of the very best crops for soiling purposes4 ,it is planted in the fall and fed by pulling off the lower leaves during the winter4 ,in the spring the hardened stalks stand at a considerable height and the field may be used for growing young chicks1 giving shade1 and at the same time producing abundant green feed1 without any immediate labor1 which means a great saving in the busy season4 ,a set of panels or netting stretched on light frames is provided4 ,they are of sufficient number to set along the longest side of one of the fields4 ,a strip along the fence1 four or five feet wide1 can be planted to sunflowers1 corn1 rape1 kale1 or other rank growing crop and the panels leaned against the fence to protect the young plants from the hens4 ,in this way the fence rows can be kept provided with the shade of growing crops1 which relieves the otherwise serious fault of this plan of poultry farming1 in that the hens would be required to live in absolutely barren and sunburned lots1 for we propose to keep five or six hundred hens on one and a half acres of ground1 and no green things could get a start without protection4 ,rotate the houses from field to field as often as the crops allow4 ,never permit hens to run in one bare field for more than six months at a time4 ,always keep every inch of ground not in use by the chickens1 luxuriant in something green4 ,if you have a crop of vegetables which are about matured1 drill rape or crimson clover between the rows2 by the time the crop is harvested and the hens are to be moved in1 such crops will have made a good growth4 ,the hens will kill it out but it will be a profitable killing4 ,by this system of intensive combination of trucking and poultry farming1 we have a combination which for small capital and small lands cannot be beaten4 ,the hens should yield better than a dollar profit per head on this plan2 the one and a half acres automatically fertilized and intensely cultivated1 growing two or three crops a year1 should easily double the income4 ,twelve hundred dollars a year is a conservative estimate for the net income from such a plant1 and the original investment1 exclusive of residence1 will not be over one thousand dollars4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,incubation ,the differences in the process of reproduction in birds and mammals is frequently misunderstood4 ,the laying of the bird's egg is not analogous to the birth of young in mammals4 ,the female1 whether bird or beast1 forms a true egg which must be fertilized by the male sperm cell before the offspring can develop4 ,in the mammal1 if fertilization does not occur1 the egg which is inconspicuous1 passes out of the body and is lost4 ,if fertilized1 it passes into the womb where the young develops through the embryonic stages1 being supplied with nourishment and oxygen directly by the mother4 ,in the bird1 the egg1 fertilized or unfertilized1 passes out of the body and1 being of conspicuous size1 is readily observed4 ,the size of the egg is due to the supply of food material which is comparable with that supplied to the mammalian young during its stay in the mother's womb4 ,the reptiles lay eggs that are left to develop outside of the body of the mother1 subject to the vicissitudes of the environment4 ,the young of the bird1 being warm blooded1 cannot develop without more uniform temperature than weather conditions ordinarily supply4 ,this heat is supplied by the instinctive brooding habit of the mother bird4 ,fertility of ,eggs ,in a state of nature the number of eggs laid by wild fowl are only as many as can be covered by the female4 ,these are laid in the spring of the year1 and one copulation of the male bird is sufficient to fertilize the entire clutch4 ,under domestication1 the hen lays quite indefinitely1 and is served by the male at frequent intervals4 ,the fertilizing power of the male bird extends over a period of about #ae days4 ,for most of my readers1 it will be unnecessary to state that the male has no influence upon the other offspring than those which he actually fertilizes within this period4 ,the belief in the influence of the first male upon the later hatches by another male is simply a superstition4 ,the domestic chicken is decidedly polygamous4 ,the common rule is one male to #ab or #ae hens4 ,i have had equally good results1 however1 with one male to #bj hens4 ,in the ,little ,compton and ,south ,shore districts1 one male is used for thirty or even forty hens4 ,by infertile eggs is meant eggs in which the sperm cell has never united with the ovum4 ,such eggs may occur in a flock from the absence of the male1 from his disinclination or physical inability to serve the hens1 from the weakness or lack of vitality in the sperm cells1 from his neglect of a particular hen1 from lifelessness1 or lack of vitality in the ovule1 or from chance misses1 by which some eggs fail to be reached by the sperm cells4 ,in practice1 lack of sexual inclination in a vigorous looking rooster is very rare indeed4 ,the more likely explanation is that he neglects some hens1 or that the eggs are fertilized1 but the germs die before incubation begins1 or in the early stages of that process4 ,the former trouble may be avoided by having a relay of roosters and shutting each one up part of the time4 ,the latter difficulty will be diminished by setting the egg as fresh as possible1 meanwhile storing them in a cool place4 ,the other factors to be considered in getting fertile eggs1 are so nearly synonymous with the problems of health and vitality in laying stock generally1 that to discuss it here would be but a repetition of ideas4 ,in connection with the discussion of fertile eggs1 ,i want to point out the fact that the whole subject of fertility as distinct from hatchability1 is somewhat meaningless4 ,the facts of the case are1 that whatever factors in the care of the stock will get a large percentage fertile eggs1 will also give hatchable eggs and vice versa4 ,this is to be explained by the fact that most of the unfertile eggs tested out during incubation1 are in reality dead germs in which death has occurred before the chick became visible to the naked eye4 ,such deaths should usually be ascribed to poor parentage1 but may be caused by wrong storage or incubation4 ,likewise1 it would not be just to credit all deaths after chicks became visible to wrong incubation1 although the most of the blame probably belongs there4 ,likewise1 with brooder chicks1 we must divide the credit of their livability in an arbitrary fashion between parentage1 incubation1 and care after hatching4 ,by the hatchability of eggs1 we then mean the percentage of eggs set that hatch chicks able to walk and eat4 ,by the livability of chicks1 we mean the percentage of chicks hatched that live to the age of four weeks1 after which they are subject to no greater death rate than adult chickens4 ,by the livability of eggs1 we mean the product of these two factors1 i4e43 the percentage of chicks at four weeks of age based upon the total number of eggs set4 ,as before mentioned1 the fertility of eggs bears fairly definite relation to the hatchability1 so likewise the hatchability bears a relation to the livability of chicks4 ,when poor hatches occur because of weak germs1 as because of faulty incubation1 this same injury to the chick's organism is carried over and causes a larger death among the hatched chicks4 ,moreover1 the relation between the two is not the same with all classes of hatches1 but as hatches get poorer the mortality among the chicks increases at an accelerating rate4 ,the following table gives a rough approximation of these ratios3 ,per cent4 of ,per cent4 of chick ,per cent4 of egg ,hatchability4 ,livability4 ,livability4 #ajj #ajj #ajj #ij #ie #he #hj #hh #gj #gj #hd #ej #fj #gb #dc #ej #ee #bg #dj #dj #af #cj #bd #g #bj #aj #b #aj #b #a ,these figures are based on incubator data4 ,eggs set under hens usually give a hatchability of #ej per cent4 to #fe per cent41 and livability of #gj per cent4 to #hj per cent4 ,the reason for the greater livability is that the real hatchability of the eggs is #gj per cent4 to #ge per cent41 and is reduced by mechanical breakage4 ,the hatchability of eggs varies with the season4 ,this variation is commonly ascribed to nature1 it being stated that springtime is the natural breeding season1 and therefore eggs are of greater fertility4 ,while there may be a little foundation for this idea1 the chief cause is to be found in the manner of artificial incubation1 as will be discussed in a later section of this chapter4 ,the following table is given as the seasonable hatchability for northern states4 ,this is based on ,may hatch of #ej per cent3 ,january #ch ,july #dj ,february #db ,august #dj ,march #dg ,september #db ,april #di ,october #dc ,may #ej ,november #dj ,june #df ,december #ce ,most people have an exaggerated idea of the hen's success as a hatcher4 ,i have a number of records of hen hatching with large numbers of eggs set1 and they are all between #ee per cent4 and #fj per cent4 ,the reasons the hen does not hatch better are as follows3 ,first3 ,actual infertile eggs--usually1 running about #aj per cent4 in the best season of the year4 ,second3 ,mechanical breakage4 ,third3 ,eggs accidentally getting chilled by rolled to one side of the nests1 or by the sick1 lousy or crazy hens leaving the nests or standing up on the eggs4 ,fourth3 ,eggs getting damp from wet nests1 dung or broken eggs2 thus causing bacterial infection and decay4 ,the last three causes are not present in artificial incubation4 ,from my observation they cause a loss of #ae per cent4 of the eggs that fail to hatch1 when hens are managed in large numbers4 ,this would properly credit our hens with hatches running from #gj per cent4 to #ge per cent41 which1 for reasons later explained1 is not equal to hatches under the best known conditions of artificial incubation4 ,the assumption that the hen is a perfect hatcher1 even barring accidents and the inherited imperfection of the egg1 is not1 ,i think1 in harmony with our general conception of nature4 ,not only are eggs under the hens subject to unfavorable weather conditions1 but the hen1 to satisfy her whims or hunger1 frequently remains too long away from the eggs1 allowing them to become chilled4 ,for directions of how to manage setting hens1 consult the ,chapter on ,poultry on the ,general ,farm4 ,the ,wisdom of the ,egyptians4 ,up to the present there have been just three types of artificial incubation that have proven successful enough to warrant our attention4 ,these are3 ,first1 the modern wooden-box-kerosene-lamp incubator which is seen at its best development in the ,united ,states4 ,second1 the ,egyptian incubator of ancient origin1 which is a large clay oven holding thousands of eggs and warmed by smouldering fires of straw4 ,third1 the ,chinese incubator1 much on the principle of the ,egyptian hatchery1 but run in the room of an ordinary house1 heated with charcoal braziers and used only for duck eggs4 ,i have no accurate information on the results of the ,chinese method1 and as it is not used for hen eggs1 we will confine our attention to the first two processes only4 ,i do not care to go into detail in discussing makes of box incubators1 but ,i will mention briefly the chief points in the development of our present machines4 ,the first difficulties were in getting lamps1 regulators1 etc41 that would give a uniform temperature4 ,this now has been worked out to a point where1 with any good incubator and an experienced operator1 the temperature of the egg chamber is readily kept within the desired range4 ,these are two principal types of box incubators now in use4 ,in the earliest of these1 the eggs were heated by radiation from a tank of hot water4 ,these machines depended for ventilation or1 what is much more important1 evaporation1 upon chance air currents passing in and out of augur holes in the ends or bottom of the machine4 ,the second1 or more modern type1 warms the eggs by a current of air which passes around a lamp flue where1 being made lighter by the expansion due to heat1 the air rises1 creating a draft that forces it into the egg chamber4 ,there it is caused to spread by muslin or felt diaphragms so that no perceptible current of air strikes the eggs4 ,this type is the most popular type of small incubator on the market4 ,its advantage will be more readily seen after the discussion of the principles of incubation4 ,hazy tales of ,egyptian incubators have gone the rounds of poultry papers these many years4 ,more recently some accurate accounts from ,american travelers and ,european investigators have come to light1 and as a result1 the average poultry editor is kept busy trying to explain how such wonderful results can be obtained in opposition to the well-known laws of incubation4 ,the facts about ,egyptian incubators are as follows3 ,they have a capacity of #ej to #ajj thousand eggs1 and are built as a single large room1 partly underground and made of clay reinforced with straw4 ,the walls are two or three feet thick4 ,inside1 the main rooms are little clay domes with two floors4 ,the hatching season begins the middle of ,january and lasts three months4 ,a couple of weeks before the hatching begins1 the fireproof house is filled with straw which is set afire1 thoroughly warming the hatchery4 ,the ashes are then taken out and little fires built in pots are set around the outside of the big room4 ,the little clay rooms with the double floors are now filled with eggs4 ,that is1 one is filled at a time1 the idea being to have fresh eggs entering and chicks moving out in a regular order1 so as not to cause radical changes in the temperature of the hatchery4 ,no thermometer is used1 but the operator has a very highly cultivated sense of temperature1 such as is possessed by a cheese maker or dynamite dryer4 ,about the twelfth day the eggs are moved to the upper part of the little interior rooms where they are further removed from the heated floor4 ,the eggs are turned and tested out much as in this country4 ,they are never cooled and the room is full of the fumes and smoke of burning straw4 ,the ventilation provided is incidental4 ,this is about the whole story save for results4 ,the incubator men pay back three chicks for four eggs1 and take their profits by selling the extra chicks that are hatched above the #ge per cent4 ,this statement is in itself so astonishing and yet convincing1 that to add that the hatch runs between #he per cent4 and #ij per cent4 of all eggs set1 and that the incubators of the ,nile ,delta hatch about #ge1jjj1jjj chicks a year seems almost superfluous4 ,as for the explanation of the results of the ,egyptian incubators compared with the ,american kerosene lamp type1 ,i think it can best be brought about by a consideration in detail of the scientific principles of incubators4 ,principles of ,incubation4 ,,heat4--,to keep animal life1 once started1 alive and growing1 we need3 ,first1 a suitable surrounding temperature4 ,second1 a fairly constant proportion of water in the body substance4 ,third1 oxygen4 ,fourth1 food4 ,now1 a fertile egg is a living young animal and as such its wants should be considered4 ,we may at once dispose of the food problem of the unhatched chick1 by saying that the food is the contents of the egg at the time of laying1 and as far as incubation is concerned1 is beyond our control4 ,in consideration of external temperature in its relation to life1 we should note3 7,a7 the optimum temperature2 7,b7 the range of temperature consistent with general good health2 7,c7 the range at which death occurs4 ,just to show the principle at stake1 and without looking up authorities1 ,i will state these temperatures for a number of animals4 ,of course you can dispute the accuracy of these figures1 but they will serve to illustrate our purpose3 ,external ,external ,external ,internal ,internal ,optimum ,healthful ,fatal ,optimum ,fatal ,point ,range ,range ,point ,range ,man #gj #j to #ajj #ej to #adj #ih #ij to #ajf ,dog #fj #gj to #adj #gj to #adj #aja #ie to #aaj ,monkey #ij #cj to #adj #cj to #adj #aja #ie to #ajh ,horse #hj #bj to #abj #bj to #abj #ii #ie to #aje ,fowl #hj #bj to #adj #bj to #adj #ajg #ajj to #aae ,newly hatched chick #ij #gj to #ajj #dj to #abj #ajh #ajj to #aae ,fertile egg at start of incubation #ajc #cb to #aaj #ca to #abe #ajc #ca to #abe ,egg incubated three days #ajc #ih to #aje #hj to #aah #ajc #ie to #aah ,egg incubated eighteen days #ajc #ge to #aje #ej to #aah #ajf #ih to #aaf ,this table shows1 among other things1 that we are considering in the chick not a new proposition to which the laws of general animal life do not apply1 but merely a young animal during the process of growth to a point where its internal mechanism for heat control1 has power to maintain the body temperature through a greater range of external temperature change4 ,in the cooling process that occurs after laying the living cells of the egg become dormant1 and like a hibernating animal1 the actual internal temperature can be subjected to a much greater range than when the animal is active4 ,after incubation begins and cell activity returns1 and especially after blood forms and circulation commences1 the temperature of the chick becomes subject to about the same internal range as with other warm blooded animals4 ,in the case of fully formed animals1 the internal temperature is regulated by a double process4 ,if the external temperature be lowered1 more food substance is combined with oxygen to keep up the warmth of the body1 while1 if the external temperature be raised1 the body temperature is kept low by the cooling effects of evaporation4 ,this occurs in mammals chiefly by sweating4 ,birds do not sweat1 but the same effect is brought about by increased breathing4 ,now1 the chick gradually develops the heat producing function during incubation1 until towards the close of the period it can take care of itself fairly well in case of lowered external temperature4 ,the power to cool the body by breathing is not1 however1 granted to the unhatched chick1 and for this reason the incubating egg cannot stand excess of heat as well as lack of it4 ,the practical points to be remembered from the above are3 ,first3 ,before incubation begins1 eggs may be subjected to any temperature that will not physically or chemically injure the substance4 ,second3 ,during the first few days of the hatch1 eggs have no appreciable power of heat formation and the external temperature for any considerable period of time can safely vary only within the range of temperature at which the physiological process may be carried on4 ,third3 ,as the chick develops it needs less careful guarding against cooling1 and must still be guarded against over-heating4 ,fourth3 ,it should be remembered1 however1 that eggs are very poor conductors of heat1 and if the temperature change is not great several hours of exposure are required to bring the egg to the new temperature4 ,temperature is the most readily observed feature about natural incubation and its control was consequently the first and chief effort of the early incubator inventors4 ,a great deal of experimental work has been done to determine the degree of temperature for eggs during incubation4 ,the temperature of the hen's blood is about #aje to #ajg degrees ,f4 ,the eggs are not warmed quite to this temperature1 the amount by which they fail to reach the temperature of the hen's body depending1 of course1 upon the surrounding temperature4 #ajc degrees ,f4 is the temperature that has been generally agreed upon by incubator manufacturers4 ,some of these advise running #ajb degrees the first week1 #ajc degrees the second1 #ajd degrees the third4 ,as a matter of fact it is very difficult to determine the actual temperature of the egg in the box incubator4 ,this is because the source of heat is above the eggs and the air temperature changes rapidly as the thermometer is raised or lowered through the egg chamber4 ,the advice to place the bulb of the thermometer against the live egg is very good1 but in practice quite variable results will be found on different eggs and different parts of the machine4 ,with incubators of the same make1 and in all appearances identical1 quite marked variation in hatching capacity has been observed in individual machines4 ,careful experimentation will usually show this to be a matter of the way the thermometer is hung in relation to the heating surfaces and to the eggs4 ,ovi-thermometers1 which consists of a thermometer enclosed in the celluloid imitation of an egg1 are now in the market and are perhaps as safe as anything that can be used4 ,as was indicated in the previous section greater care in temperature of the egg is necessary in the first half of the hatch4 ,the temperature of #ajb degrees ,f4 as above given is1 in the writer's opinion1 too low for this portion of the hatch4 ,an actual temperature of #ajd degrees at the top of the eggs will1 as has been shown by careful experimental work1 give better hatches than the lower temperature4 ,moisture and ,evaporation4 ,the subject of the water content of the egg and its relation to life1 is the least understood of poultry problems4 ,the whole study of the water content of the egg during incubation hangs on the amount of evaporation4 ,now1 the rates of evaporation from any moist object is determined by two factors3 vapor pressure and the rate of movement of the air past the object4 ,as incubation is always carried on at the same temperature1 the evaporating power of the air is directly proportioned to the difference in the vapor pressure of water at that temperature1 and the vapor pressure of the air as it enters the machine4 ,thus1 in order to know the evaporative power of the air1 we have only to determine the vapor pressure of the air and to remember that the rate of evaporation is in proportion to this pressure1 i4e43 when the vapor pressure is high the evaporation will be slow and the eggs remain too wet1 and when the vapor pressure is low the eggs will be excessively dried out4 ,the reader is probably more familiar with the term relative humidity than the term vapor pressure1 but as the actual significance of relative humidity is changed at every change in outside temperature1 the use of this term for expressing the evaporating power of the air has led to no end of confusion4 ,the influence of air currents on evaporation is to increase it directly proportional with the rate of air movement4 ,thus1 #aj cubic feet of air per hour passing through an egg chamber would remove twice as much moisture as would #e cubic feet4 ,if the percentage of water in any living body be changed a relatively small amount1 serious disturbances of the physiological processes and ultimately death will result4 ,the mature animal can1 by drinking1 take considerable excess of water without danger1 for the surplus will be speedily removed by perspiration and by the secretion from the kidneys4 ,but the percentage of water in the actual tissues of the body can vary only within a narrow range of not more than three or four per cent4 ,the chick in the shell is not provided with means of increasing its water content by drinking or diminishing it by excretion1 but the fresh egg is provided with more moisture than the hatched chick will require1 and the surplus is gradually lost by evaporation4 ,this places the water content of the chick's body at the mercies of the evaporating power of the air that surrounds the egg during incubation4 ,to assume that these risks of uncertain rates of evaporation is desirable1 is as absurd as to assume that the risks of rainfall are desirable for plant life4 ,as the plants of a certain climate have become adapted to the amount of soil moisture which the climate is likely to provide1 so the egg has by natural selection been formed with about as much excess of water as will be lost in an average season under the natural conditions of incubation4 ,plant life suffers in drought or flood1 and likewise bird life suffers in seasons of abnormal evaporative conditions4 ,this view is substantiated by the fact that the eggs of water fowl which are in nature incubated in damper places1 have a lower water content than the eggs of land birds4 ,the per cent4 of water contained in the contents of fresh eggs is about #gd per cent41 or about #fe4e per cent1 based on the weight1 shell included4 ,unfortunately no investigations have been made concerning the per cent4 of water present in the newly hatched chick4 ,upon the subject of the loss of water for the whole period of incubation1 valuable data has been collected at the ,utah1 ,oregon and ,ontario ,experiment ,stations4 ,in these tests we find that as a rule the evaporation of eggs under hens is less than in incubators4 ,with both hens and incubators1 the rate of evaporation is greatest at the ,utah ,station1 which one would naturally expect from the climate4 ,the eggs under hens at the ,ontario ,station averaged about #ab per cent4 loss in weight1 and those at the ,utah ,station about #ae per cent4 ,at both stations1 incubators without moisture ran several per cent4 higher evaporation than eggs under hens4 ,the conclusions at all stations were that the addition of moisture to incubators was a material aid to good hatches of livable chicks4 ,at ,ontario the average evaporation ran from as low as #g per cent4 ,at ,utah it reached as high as #bd per cent4 ,now as the entire loss of weight is loss of water1 the solid contents remaining the same1 and as the original per cent1 of water contained in the egg 7shell included7 is only #fe4e1 the chicks of the two lots with the same amount of solid substance would contain water in the proportion of #eh4e to #da4e4 ,based on the weight of the chick1 this would make a difference of water content of over #be per cent4 ,that human beings or other animals could not exist with such differences in the chemical composition of the body1 is at once apparent4 ,in fact ,i do not believe that the chick can live under such remarkable circumstances4 ,as ,i have picked the extreme cases in the series given1 it is possible that these extremes were experimental errors1 and as in the ,utah data1 no information is given as what happened to the chicks1 ,i have no proof that they did live4 ,but from the large number of hatches that were recorded below #i per cent1 and above #ae per cent41 giving a variation of the actual water content in the chick's body of about #aj per cent41 it is evident that chicks do hatch under remarkable physiological difficulties4 ,one explanation that suggests itself is1 that as there is considerable variation in evaporation of individual eggs due to the amount of shell porosity1 and the chicks that hatch in either case may be the ones whose individual variations threw them nearer the normal4 ,by a further study from the ,ontario data of the relation of the evaporation to the results in livable chicks1 it can be readily observed that all good hatches have evaporation centering around the #ab per cent4 moisture loss1 and that all lots with evaporations above #ae per cent4 hatch out extremely poor4 ,the general averages of the machines supplied with some form of moisture was #ce per cent4 of all eggs set1 in chicks alive at four weeks of age1 while the machines ran dry gave only #bj per cent4 of live chicks at a similar period4 ,now1 ,i wish to call attention to a further point in connection with evaporation4 ,if the final measure of the loss of weight by evaporation were the only criterion of correct conditions of moisture in the chick's body1 the hatches that show #ab per cent41 or whatever the correct amount of evaporation may be1 should be decidedly superior to those on either side4 ,that they are better1 has already been shown4 ,but they are far from what they should be4 ,an explanation is not hard to find4 ,the correct content of moisture is not the only essential to the chick's well being at the moments of hatching1 but during the whole period of incubation4 ,under our present system of incubation1 the chick is immediately subject to the changing evaporation of ,american weather conditions4 ,the data for that fact1 picked at random1 will be of interest4 ,the following table gives the vapor pressure at ,buffalo1 ,n4 ,y41 for twenty consecutive days in ,april3 ,april #a444444444444444444agj #b444444444444444444acj #c4444444444444444444ie #d444444444444444444ajc #e444444444444444444aaj #f444444444444444444ajf #g444444444444444444aed #h444444444444444444ahc #i444444444444444444bde #aj44444444444444444caa #aa44444444444444444cdb #ab44444444444444444bhf #ac44444444444444444bai #ad44444444444444444bdh #ae44444444444444444bag #af44444444444444444aic #ag44444444444444444bda #ah44444444444444444cjf #ai44444444444444444bfa #bj44444444444444444bjd ,supposing a hatch to be started at the beginning of the above period1 by the end of the first week1 with the excessive evaporation1 due to a low vapor pressure1 the eggs would all be several per cent4 below the normal water content2 the fact that the next week was warm and rainy1 and the vapor pressure rose until the loss was entirely counterbalanced1 would not repair the injury1 even though the eggs showed at the end of incubation exactly the correct amount of shrinkage4 ,a man might thirst in the desert for a week1 then1 coming to a hole of water fall in and drown1 but we would hardly accept the report of a normal water content found at the post-mortem examination as evidence that his death was not connected with the moisture problem4 ,the change of evaporation1 due to weather conditions1 is1 under hens1 less marked than in incubators4 ,this is because there are no drafts under the hen1 and because the hen's moist body and the moist earth1 if she sets on the ground1 are separate sources of moisture which the changing humidity of the atmosphere does not affect4 ,among about forty hens set at different times at the ,utah ,station and the loss of moisture of which was determined at three equal periods of six days each1 the greatest irregularity ,i found was as follows3 #ast period1 #e4ha per cent2 #b;d period1 #c4hf per cent2 #c;d period1 #f4ae per cent4 ,compare this with a similar incubator record at the same station in which the loss for the three periods was #e4fc1 #i4ah and #b4ae4 ,i think the reader is now in position to appreciate the almost unsurmountable difficulties in the proper control of evaporation with the common small incubator in our climate4 ,it is little wonder that one of our best incubator manufacturers1 after studying the proposition for some time1 threw over the whole moisture proposition1 and put out a machine in which drafts of air were slowed down by felt diaphragms and the use of moisture was strictly forbidden4 ,the moisture problem to the small incubator operator presents itself as follows3 ,if left to the mercies of chance and the weather1 the too great or too little evaporation from his eggs will yield hatches that will prove unprofitable4 ,in order to regulate this evaporation1 he must know and be able to control both vapor pressure and the currents of air that strike the eggs4 ,now he does not know the amount of vapor pressure and has no way of finding it out4 ,the so-called humidity gauges on the market are practically worthless1 and even were the readings on relative humidity accurately determined1 they would be wholly confusing1 for their effect of the same relative humidity on the evaporation will vary widely with variations of the out-of-door temperature4 ,if the operator knows or guesses that the humidity is too low1 he can increase it by adding water to the room1 or the egg chamber1 but he cannot tell when he has too much1 nor can he reduce the vapor pressure of the air on rainy days when nature gives him too much water4 ,as to air currents he is little better off--he has no way to tell accurately as to the behavior of air in the egg chamber and changes in temperature of the heater or if the outside air will throw these currents all off1 since they depend upon the draft principle4 ,taking it all in all1 the man with the small incubator had better follow the manufacturer's directions and trust to luck4 ,the writer has long been of the conviction that a plan which would keep the rate of evaporation within as narrow bounds as we now keep the temperature1 would not only solve the problem of artificial incubation1 but improve on nature and increase not only the numbers but the vitality or livability of the chicks4 ,with a view of studying further the relations between the conditions of atmospheric vapor pressure1 and the success of artificial incubation1 ,i have investigated climatic reports and hatching records in the various sections of the world4 ,the following are averages of the monthly vapor pressures at four points in which we are interested3 ,buffalo1 ,st4 ,louis1 ,san ,fran- ,cairo ,month ,n4,y4 ,mo4 cisco4 ,egypt ,january #hg #ih #caa #bgi ,february #ha #id #caj #bhh ,march #ach #bbd #ccg #bhg ,april #aga #bhc #ccb #caa ,may #cja #dbc #cag #cbh ,june #dff #eej #cde #cfe ,july #edf #eii #cgd #dac ,august #dif #fbg #chb #dce ,september #dbi #ejf #chi #cgb ,october #bhe #cbg #cdb #cfe ,november #bga #bbe #bhe #cba ,december #adc #acc #bdc #cig ,a study of the extent of daily variations is also of interest4 ,as a general thing they are less extreme in localities when the seasonal variations are also less4 ,in ,cairo1 however1 which has a seasonal variation greater than ,san ,francisco1 the daily variations during the hatching season are much less than in ,california4 ,this is due to a constant wind from sea to land1 and an absolute absence of rainfall1 conditions for which ,egypt is noted4 ,nearness to a coast does not mean uniform vapor pressure1 for with wind alternating from sea to land1 it means just the opposite4 ,as will be readily seen the months in spring which give the best hatches1 occupy a medium place in the humidity scale4 ,the fact that both hens and machines succeed best in this period1 is to me very suggestive of the possibility that with an incubator absolutely controlling evaporation1 much of the seasonal variation in the hatchability would disappear4 ,the uniform humidity of the ,california coast is shown in the above table4 ,this is not inconsistent with the excellent results obtained at ,petaluma4 ,the ,egyptian hatcher in his long experience has learned just about how much airholes and smudge fire are necessary to get results4 ,with these kept constant and the atmosphere constant1 we have more nearly perfect conditions of incubation than are to be found anywhere else in the world1 and ,i do not except the natural methods4 ,the climatic conditions of ,egypt cannot be equaled in any other climate1 but as will be shown in the last section of this chapter1 their effect can be duplicated readily enough by modern science and engineering4 ,mr4 ,edward ,brown1 who was sent over here by the ,english ,government to investigate our poultry industry1 was greatly surprised at our poor results in artificial incubation4 ,compared with our acknowledged records of less than #ej per cent4 hatches1 he quotes the results obtained in hatching #ah1jjj eggs at an ,english experiment station as #fb per cent4 ,i have not obtained any data of ,english humidity1 but it is undoubtedly more uniform than the eastern ,united ,states4 ,ventilation--,carbon ,dioxide4 ,the last of the four life requisites we have to consider is that of oxygen4 ,the chick in the shell1 like a fish1 breathes oxygen which is dissolved in a liquid4 ,a special breathing organ is developed for the chick during its embryonic stages and floats in the white and absorbs the oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide4 ,the amount of this breathing that occurs in the chick is at first insignificant1 but increases with development4 ,at no time1 however1 is it anywhere equal to that of the hatched chicks1 for the physiological function to be maintained by the unhatched chicks requires little energy and little oxidation4 ,upon the subject of ventilation in general1 a great misunderstanding exists4 ,be it far from me to say anything that will cause either my readers or his chickens to sleep less in the fresh air1 yet for the love of truth and for the simplification of the problem of incubation1 the real facts about ventilation must be given4 ,in breathing1 oxygen is absorbed and carbon dioxide and water vapor are given off4 ,it is popularly held that abundance of fresh air is necessary to supply the oxygen for breathing and that carbon dioxide is a poison4 ,both are mistakes4 ,the amount of oxygen normally in the air is about #bj per cent4 ,of carbon dioxide there is normally three hundredths of one per cent4 ,during breathing these gasses are exchanged in about equal volume4 ,a doubling or tripling of carbon dioxide was formerly thought to be very dangerous4 ,now1 if the carbon dioxide were increased #ajj times1 we would have only three per cent41 and have seventeen per cent4 of oxygen remaining4 ,this oxygen would still be of sufficient pressure to readily pass into the blood4 ,we might breathe a little faster to make up for the lessened oxygen pressure4 ,in fact such a condition of the air would not be unlike the effects of higher altitudes4 ,some investigations recently conducted at the ,u4,s4 ,experiment ,station for human nutrition1 have shown the utter misconception of the old idea of ventilation4 ,the respiratory calorimeter is an air-tight compartment in which men are confined for a week or more at a time while studies are being made concerning heat and energy yielded by food products4 ,it being inconvenient to analyze such an immense volume of air as would be necessary to keep the room freshened according to conventional ventilation standards1 experiments were made to see how vitiated the air could be made without causing ill effects to the subject4 ,this led to a remarkable series of experiments in which it was repeatedly demonstrated that a man could live and work for a week at a time without experiencing any ill effects whatever in an atmosphere of his own breath containing as high as #a4hf per cent4 of carbon dioxide1 or1 in other words1 the air had its impurity increased #fb times4 ,this agrees with what every chemist and physiologist has long known1 and that is that carbon dioxide is not poisonous1 but is a harmless dilutant just as nitrogen4 ,this does not mean that a man or animal may not die of suffocation1 but that these are smothered1 as they are drowned1 by a real absence of oxygen1 not poisoned by a fraction of #a per cent4 of carbon dioxide4 ,in the same series of experiments1 search was made for the mysterious poisons of the breath which many who had learned of the actual harmlessness of carbon dioxide alleged to be the cause of the ill effects attributed to foul air4 ,without discussion1 ,i will say that the investigators failed to find such poisons1 but concluded that the sense of suffocation in an unventilated room is due not to carbon dioxide or other poisonous respiratory products1 but is wholly due to warmth1 water vapor1 and the unpleasant odors given off by the body4 ,the subject of ventilation has always been a bone of contention in incubator discussions4 ,with its little understood real importance1 as shown in the previous section1 and the greatly exaggerated popular notions of the importance of oxygen and imagined poisonous qualities of carbon dioxide1 the confusion in the subject should cause little wonder4 ,a few years ago some one with an investigating mind decided to see if incubators were properly ventilated1 and proceeded to make carbon dioxide determinations of the air under a hen and in an incubator4 ,the air under the hen was found to contain the most of the obnoxious gas4 ,now1 this information was disconcerting1 for the hen had always been considered the source of all incubator wisdom4 ,clearly the perfection of the hen or the conception of pure air must be sacrificed4 ,chemistry here came to the rescue1 and said that carbon dioxide mixed with water1 formed an acid and acid would dissolve the lime of an egg shell4 ,evidently the hen was sacrificing her own health by breathing impure air in order to soften up the shells a little so the chicks could get out4 ,since it could have been demonstrated in a few hours in any laboratory1 that carbon dioxide in the quantities involved1 has no perceptible effect upon egg shells1 it is with some apology that ,i mention that quite a deal of good brains has been spent upon the subject by two experiment stations4 ,the data accumulated1 of course1 fails to prove the theory1 but it is interesting as further evidence of the needlessness in the old fear of insufficient ventilation4 ,at the ,ontario ,station1 the average amounts of carbon dioxide under a large number of hens was 4#cb of one per cent41 or about ten times that of fresh air1 or one-sixth of that which the man breathed so happily in the respiratory calorimeter4 ,with incubators1 every conceivable scheme was tried to change the amount of carbon dioxide4 ,in some1 sour milk was placed which1 in fermenting1 gives off the gas in question4 ,others were supplied with buttermilk1 presumably to familiarize the chickens with this article so they would recognize it in the fattening rations4 ,in other machines1 lamp fumes were run in1 and to still others1 pure carbon dioxide was supplied4 ,the percentage of the gas present varied in the machines from 4#jf to 4#eh of one per cent4 ,the results1 of course1 vary as any run of hatches would4 ,the detailed discussion of the hatches and their relation to the amount of carbon dioxide as given in ,bulletin #afj of the ,ontario ,station1 would be unfortunately confusing to the novice1 but would make amusing reading for the old poultryman4 ,speaking of a comparison of two hatches1 the writer1 on page #ec of the bulletin says1 ,the increase in vitality of chicks from the combination of the carbon dioxide and moisture over moisture only1 amounting1 as it does1 to #d4e per cent4 of the eggs set1 seems directly due to the higher carbon dioxide content4 ,i cannot refrain from suggesting that if my reader has two incubators1 he might set up a ,chinese prayer machine in front of one and see if he cannot in like manner demonstrate the efficacy of ,heavenly supplications in the hatching of chickens4 ,the practical bearing of the subject of ventilation in the small incubator is almost wholly one of evaporation4 ,the majority of such machines are probably too much ventilated4 ,in a large and properly constructed hatchery1 such as is discussed in the last section of this chapter1 the entire composition of the air1 as well as its movement1 is entirely under control4 ,nothing has yet been brought to light that indicates any particular attention need be given to the composition of such air save in regard to its moisture content1 but as the control of this factor renders it necessary that the air be in a closed circuit1 and not open to all out-doors1 it will be very easy to subject the air to further changes such as the increasing oxygen1 if such can be demonstrated to be desirable4 ,turning ,eggs4 ,the subject of turning eggs is another source of rather meaningless controversy4 ,of course1 the hen moves her eggs around and in doing so turns them4 ,doubtless the reader1 were he setting on a pile of door knobs as big as his head1 would do the same thing4 ,as proof that eggs need turning1 we are referred to the fact that yolks stick to the shell if the eggs are not turned4 ,i have candled thousands of eggs and have yet to see a yolk stuck to the shell unless the egg contained foreign organism or was several months old4 ,however1 ,i have seen hundreds of blood rings stuck to the shell4 ,whether the chick died because the blood rings stuck or whether the blood rings stuck because the chicken died ,i know not1 but ,i have a strong presumption that the latter explanation is correct1 for ,i see no reason if the live blood ring was in the habit of sticking to the shell1 why this would not occur in a few hours as well as in a few days4 ,in the year #aija ,i saw plenty of chicks hatched out in ,kansas in egg cases1 kitchen cupboards and other places where regular turning was entirely overlooked4 ,mr4 ,j4,p4 ,collins1 head of the ,produce ,department of ,swift ,co41 says that he was one time cruelly deserted in a ,pullman smoker for telling the same story4 ,the statement is true1 however1 in spite of ,mr4 ,collins' unpleasant experience4 ,texas egg dealers frequently find hatched chickens in cases of eggs4 ,upon the subject of turning eggs the writer will admit that he is doing what poultry writers as a class do on a great many occasions1 i4e43 expressing an opinion rather than giving the proven facts4 ,in incubation practice it is highly desirable to change the position of eggs so that unevenness in temperature and evaporation will be balanced4 ,when doing this it is easier to turn the eggs than not to turn them1 and for this reason the writer has never gone to the trouble of thoroughly investigating the matter4 ,but it has been abundantly proven that any particular pains in egg turning is a waste of time4 ,cooling ,eggs4 ,the belief in the necessity of cooling eggs undoubtedly arose from the effort to follow closely and blindly in the footsteps of the hen4 ,with this idea in mind the fact that the hen cooled her eggs occasionally led us to discover a theory which proved such cooling to be necessary4 ,a more reasonable theory is that the hen cools the eggs from necessity1 not from choice4 ,in some species of birds the male relieves the female while the latter goes foraging4 ,but there is no need to argue the question4 ,eggs will hatch if cooled according to custom1 but that they will hatch as well or better without the cooling is abundantly proven by the results in ,egyptian incubators where no cooling whatever is practiced4 ,searching for the ,open ,sesame of ,incubation4 ,the experiment station workers have1 the last few years1 gone a hunting for the weak spot in artificial incubation4 ,some reference to this work has already been made in the sections on moisture and ventilation4 ,before leaving the subject ,i want to refer to two more efforts to find this key to the mystery of incubation and in the one case at least correct an erroneous impression that has been given out4 ,at the ,ontario ,station a patent disinfectant wash called ,zenoleum was incidentally used to deodorize incubators4 ,now1 for some reason1 perhaps due to the belief that white diarrhoea was caused by a germ in the egg1 this idea of washing with ,zenoleum was conceived to be a possible solution of the incubator problem4 ,in the numerous experiments at that station in #aijg ,zenoleum applied to the machine in various ways was combined with various other incipient panaceas and at the end of the season the results of the various combinations were duly tabulated4 ,the machine with buttermilk and ,zenoleum headed the list for livable chicks4 ,for reasons explained in the chapter on ,experiment ,station ,work1 the idea of contrasting the results of one hatch with one sort with the average results of many hatches of another sort is very poor science4 ,feeling that the ,station men would hardly be guilty of expressing as they did in favor of such a method without better reason1 ,i very carefully went over the results and compared all machines using ,zenoleum with all machines without it4 ,the results in favor of ,zenoleum were less marked but still perceptible4 ,i was somewhat puzzled1 as ,i could see no rational explanation of the relation between disinfecting incubator walls and the hatchability of the chick in its germ-proof cage4 ,finally ,i hit upon the scheme of arranging the hatches by dates and the explanation became at once apparent4 ,the hatching experiments had extended from ,march to ,july1 but the ,zenoleum hatches were grouped in ,april and early in ,may1 when1 as one would expect from weather conditions1 all hatches were running good4 ,after allowing for this error ,zenoleum appeared as harmless and meaningless as would the ,attar of ,roses4 ,the second link after the missing link of incubation to which ,i wish to call your attention also occurred at the ,ontario ,station4 ,the latter case1 however1 is happier in that no unwarranted conclusions were drawn and that an interesting bit of scientific knowledge was added to the world's store4 ,the conception to be tested was an offshoot from the carbon dioxide theory4 ,you will remember at the ,utah ,station the idea was that carbon dioxide was to dissolve the shell so the chick could break out easier4 ,at the ,guelph ,station the conception was that the carbon dioxide might dissolve the lime of the shell for the chick to use in makin' hisself4 ,as an egg could not be analyzed fresh and then hatched1 a number were analyzed from the same hens and others from those hens were then incubated with the various amounts of carbon dioxide1 buttermilk1 ,zenoleum1 and other factors4 ,the lime content of the contents of the fresh egg averaged about 4#jd grams4 ,at hatching time the lime in the chick's body averaged about 4#bj grams and was always several times as great as the maximum of the eggs4 ,clearly calcium phosphate of the chick's bones is made by the digestion of the calcium carbonate from the shell and its combination with the phosphorus of the yolk4 ,certainly a remarkable and hitherto unexplained fact4 ,the amount of lime required is not great enough1 however1 to materially weaken the shell1 but1 of course1 the process is vital to the chick as bones are quite essential to his welfare1 but it is an inside affair of which the three-tenths of one per cent of carbon dioxide incidentally present under the hen is entirely irrelevant4 ,a further observation made by the investigator is that the chicks which obtained the lowest amount of lime were abnormally weak4 ,as long as we are powerless to aid the chick in digesting lime this fact1 like the other1 belongs in the field of pure1 rather than applied science4 ,i think that we are safe in saying that the weakness caused the shortage of lime rather than vice versa2 if the writer remembers runts in other animals are usually a little short of bone material4 ,the chemist of the station is to be given special credit for not jumping at conclusions4 ,in the summary of this work he states3 ,there is apparently no connection between the amount of lime absorbed by the chick and the amount of carbon dioxide present during incubation4 ,the ,box ,type of ,incubator ,in ,actual ,use4 ,although the fact is not so advertised and frequently not recognized even by the makers1 the success of existing incubators is directly proportional to the extent with which they control evaporation4 ,in order to show this ,i have only to call attention briefly to two or three of the most successful types of incubators on the market4 ,let me first repeat that evaporation increases with increased air currents and with decreased vapor pressure4 ,now1 the vapor pressure undergoes all manner of changes with the passing of storm centers and the changes of prevailing winds4 ,but there is a general tendency for vapor pressure to increase with increase in outside temperature4 ,now1 the movement of air in all common incubators depends upon the draft principle and the greater the difference in machine temperature and outside temperature the greater will be this draft4 ,thus1 we have two factors combining to cause variation in the rate of evaporation4 ,the tendency for the rate of airflow to vary is diminished when a cellar is used for an incubator room1 but the cellar does not materially remedy the climatic variation in vapor pressure4 ,the general tendency of incubators as ordinarily constructed1 is to dry out the eggs too rapidly4 ,with a view of counteracting this1 water is placed in pans in the egg room4 ,a surface of water exposed to quiet air does not evaporate as fast as one might think1 as is easily shown by the fact that air above rivers1 lakes and even seas is frequently far from the saturation point4 ,the result of the moisture pan with a given current of air is that the vapor pressure is increased a definite amount1 but by no means is it regulated or made uniform4 ,inasmuch as too much shrinking is the most prevalent fault in box incubators1 the use of moisture is on the whole beneficial1 but in hot1 murky weather1 with less circulation and higher outside vapor pressure1 the moisture is overdone and the operator condemns the system4 ,the subject not being clearly understood and no means being available for vapor pressure determinations1 the system results in confusion and disputes4 ,when the felt diaphragm machine was brought into the market it was advertised as a no-moisture machine4 ,the result of the diaphragm is that of choking off air movement and consequently reducing evaporation4 ,this gives exactly the same results as the use of moisture1 but the machine is easier to operate and seemed to do away with the vexatious moisture problem which1 together perhaps1 with some fancied resemblance of felt diaphragms to hen feathers1 has resulted in the widespread use of this type of machine4 ,the latest effort along the lines of reducing evaporation is the sand tray machine that followed in the wake of the ,ontario investigation4 ,this device simply gives a greater evaporating surface to the water and hence a greater addition to the vapor pressure4 ,the results in practice ,i had given me by a man who last year hatched sixty-five thousand chicks and as many more ducklings4 ,he said3 ,the sand tray early in the season gave the best hatches and most vigorous chicks we had1 but later on things got too wet and the chickens drowned4 ,no nicer demonstration of science in practice could be desired4 ,in the present-day incubator of either type we are wholly at the mercy of sudden climatic changes of vapor pressure4 ,for the slower changes from season to season some control by greater and less amounts of supplied moisture1 or by ventilator slides is available1 but little understood and seldom practiced4 ,it will certainly be of interest to my readers to know the actual hatches obtained with the prevailing type of box incubator4 ,by actual hatches we mean the per cent4 of live chicks taken out of the machine to the per cent4 of eggs put in4 ,the ordinary published hatches1 based on one per cent4 of fertile hatches1 are a delusion and a snare4 ,when eggs are tested out many dead germs come out with them and the separation of microscopic dead germs from the infertile egg is1 of course1 impossible4 ,such padded and show hatching records do not interest us4 ,where incubators are run on top of the ground ,i have found the results to be poor and to improve1 the bigger and deeper and damper and warmer and less ventilated the cellar is made4 ,the reason for this is plain4 ,in such a cellar the vapor pressure of the air is not only greater but is less influenced by the shifting vapor pressure of the outside air4 ,in a good cellar the operator1 though his knowledge of the factors with which he deals is grievously deficient1 learns1 through long and costly experience1 about what addition of moisture or about what rate of ventilation will give him the best results4 ,in the room more subject to outside influences1 the conditions are so constantly changing that uniformity of practice never gives uniform results1 and hence the operator is without guidance1 either intelligent or blind1 and the results are wholly a product of chance4 ,as proof of my contention ,i may give results of a series of full season hatches for #aijh1 each involving several thousand eggs4 ,first1 a state experiment station1 the name of which ,i do not care to publish4 ,incubators kept in a cement basement which has flues in which fires were built to secure ample ventilation4 ,this caused a strong draft of cold1 dry air1 making the worst possible condition for incubation4 ,the hatch for the season averaged #be per cent4 and was explained by lack of vitality in the stock4 ,second1 ,ontario ,agricultural ,college4 ,a room above ground1 moisture used in most machines and various other efforts being made to improve the hatches by a staff of half a dozen scientists4 ,results3 ,hatch #dh per cent4--incubator manufacturers call the experimenters names and say they are ignorant and prejudiced4 ,third1 ,cornell ,university3 dry ventilated basement representing typical conditions of common incubator practice of the country4 ,results3 ,hatch #eb per cent41 results when given out commonly based on fertile eggs and every one generally pleased4 ,fourth3 ,one of the most successful poultrymen in ,new ,york ,state1 who has1 without knowing why1 hit upon the plan of using a no-moisture type of incubator in a basement which is heated with steam pipes1 which maintains temperature at #gj degrees and has a cement floor which is kept covered with water4 ,results3 ,hatch #ei per cent4 ,fifth3 ,as a fifth in such a series ,i might mention again the ,egyptian machine with the uniform vapor pressure of the climate and the three chicks exchanged for four eggs4 ,while an official in the ,united ,states ,department of ,agriculture1 ,i gathered data from original records of private plants covering the incubation of several hundred thousand eggs4 ,such information was furnished me in confidence as a public official and as a private citizen ,i have no right to publish that which would mean financial profit or loss to those concerned4 ,of records where there were ten thousand or more eggs involved1 the lowest ,i found was #dd per cent4 and the highest1 that mentioned as the fourth case above1 or #ei per cent4 ,the great majority of these records hung very closely around the #ej per cent4 mark4 ,the following is a fair sample of such data4 ,it is the record of hatching hen eggs for the first six months of #aijh1 at one of the largest poultry plants in ,america3 ,eggs ,chicks ,per ,cent4 ,month ,set ,hatched ,hatched ,january #d1bac #a1ehe #cg #b-c ,february #f1bge #b1cci #cc #c-d ,march #ag1iij #f1iic #ch #a-c ,april #ah1hai #aj1bfe #ed #a-b ,may #bd1deh #ad1dch #ei ,june #ac1ajj #f1fad #ee ------ ------ ------ ,total #hd1hee #db1bcd #ej p4c4 ,the ,future ,method of ,incubation4 ,the idea of the mammoth incubator which would hatch eggs by the hundred thousand and a minimum of expense is the dream of the ,american incubator inventor4 ,we have long had available such methods of insulation and regulating the supply of heat as would point to the practicability of such a dream4 ,the past efforts in this direction have fallen down for the following simple reason3 ,all eggs were placed in a single big room with a view of the man's entering the room to take care of them4 ,contact with cold walls1 the opening of doors1 the hatching of chicks or introduction of fresh eggs set up air currents1 the hot air rising and the cold air settling until great differences in temperature would be found in the room4 ,no systematic regulation of evaporation was contemplated1 as the principles at stake or the means of such regulation were unknown4 ,the attempt just referred to was made several years ago by one of the most successful of incubator manufacturers and because of his failure other inventors were inclined to steer clear of the proposition4 ,meanwhile the need of such an incubator has grown enormously4 ,at the time that above effort was made no duck ranch existed whose annual production ran over thirty or forty thousand ducklings1 whereas we now have several in the one hundred thousand class4 ,much more remarkable has been the growth of the day-old chick business4 ,the discovery that newly hatched chicks could be successfully shipped hundreds of miles with less loss than shipping eggs for hatching1 has resulted in a few years' time in the growth of hatcheries of considerable size where chicks are hatched by means of common incubators4 ,still another opportunity for the use of large hatcheries has been by the growth of poultry communities4 ,there are other communities besides those mentioned in this book which would amply support public hatcheries4 ,if half the poultry growers of ,lancaster ,county1 ,pa41 were to be prevailed upon to patronize a public hatchery1 the county would support between fifteen and twenty #ajj1jjj egg incubators4 ,any of the numerous trolley centers in ,indiana1 ,ohio and ,southern ,michigan would likewise be profitable locations for the establishment of public hatcheries4 ,the demand for the incubator of large capacity has1 within the last year or so1 brought two or three mammoth incubators into the market4 ,the devices ,i now refer to consist of a row of box incubators which1 instead of being heated by single lamps1 are heated by continuous hot water pipes4 ,this scheme effects a considerable saving in fuel cost and labor1 but the bulkiness of construction and the woeful lack of evaporation control are still to be dealt with4 ,the writer now wishes briefly to describe the plan of construction and operation of a new type of hatchery1 the success of which has recently been made feasible by inventions and technical knowledge hitherto unavailable4 ,the plan of the hatchery is on that of a cold storage plant as far as insulation and general construction go4 ,the eggs are kept in bulk in special cases which are turned as a whole and may rest on either of four sides4 ,at hatching time the eggs are spread out in trays in a special hatching room1 which is only large enough to accommodate chicks to the amount of one-sixth of the incubator capacity1 for twice a week deliverings1 or one-third if weekly deliveries are desired4 ,there are no pipes or other sources of heat in the egg chambers4 ,all temperature regulation is by means of air heated 7or cooled as the case may be7 outside of the egg rooms and forced into the egg rooms by a motor driven cone fan1 maintaining a steady current of air1 the rate of movement of which may be varied at will4 ,the air movement maintained will always be sufficiently brisk1 however1 to prevent an unevenness of temperature in different parts of the room4 ,so simple is this that the reader will doubtless wonder why it was not developed earlier4 ,the reason is that air subject to the climatic influences will1 with any forced draft sufficient to equalize temperature1 result in a fatal rate of evaporation4 ,sprinkling the air has not generally been thought practical because of the notion that air must not be used in the egg chamber but once1 which involved quite a waste of heat necessary in warming a large bulk of air and evaporating sufficient water4 ,moreover1 no means has1 in the past1 been available for making a sufficiently accurate measurement of the evaporating power of the air4 ,the hair hygrometers commonly sold to incubator operators are known by scientists to be absolutely unreliable4 ,the range between the wet and dry bulb thermometers was found in the ,ontario experiments to give readings with and without fanning that varied #ae to #bj per cent4 in relative humidity which1 at the temperature of an egg chamber1 would amount to a variation of three to four hundred of vapor pressure units1 which1 with the forced draught plan1 would ruin a hatch of eggs in a few hours4 ,the sling psychrometer as used by the ,u4,s4 ,weather ,bureau should1 in the hands of an expert1 give results making possible measurements accurate to two or three per cent4 of relative humidity or forty to sixty units of vapor pressure4 ,in contrast with these blundering instruments we now have available an instrument with which the writer has frequently determined vapor pressure accurately to within a range of two or three vapor pressure units and the instrument is capable of being constructed for even finer work4 ,as it is only by means of air with the moisture content absolutely controlled that the use of a large room becomes possible1 we can now see why this type of hatching remained so long undeveloped4 ,by means of such vapor pressure control the large egg chamber is not only feasible but the rate of evaporation at once becomes subject to the control of the operator and we achieve a perfection in artificial incubation hitherto unattained4 ,the means by which the air moisture is regulated is similar to that used in up-to-date cold storage plants where the air is made moist by sprinkling and dried with deliquescent salts4 ,the regulation of vapor pressure1 like that of temperature1 may be by electrically moved dampers which switch a greater or less proportion of the incoming current to the sprinkler or dryer as the case may be4 ,the ordinary incubator thermostat gives the necessary impulse for the control of the temperature dampers1 while the instrument above referred to is used for the vapor pressure control4 ,as the entire air circuit is closed1 the chemical composition of the air may also be regulated at will4 ,this results in a reduction of the quantity of heat required to a minimum2 in fact1 with the incubator in full swing1 the air will1 at times1 need cooling rather than warming4 ,the question of the cost of incubation by this method1 or of profit of such a hatchery operated for the public is almost wholly one of the size of operations4 ,where sufficient eggs may be obtained and sufficient demand exists for the chicks to make it profitable to operate1 the additional cost of hatching extra chicks will be insignificant compared with the present system4 ,the ,egyptian poultryman gives four eggs for three chicks1 but the ,american poultryman would be willing to give four eggs for one chick1 as is shown by the fact that he sells eggs for from #a to #c cents apiece and buys day-old chicks for ten to fifteen cents4 ,a plant with a seasonable capacity of #ajj1jjj eggs has a basis to work upon something as follows3 ,with a fifty per cent4 hatch and chicks at #aj cents each there would be a gross income of #e1jjj annually4 ,from this we must subtract for eggs at #b cents each1 #b1jjj4 ,salary for operator #a1jjj1 wages for helper #cjj4 ,fuel1 supplies and repairs #ejj4 ,cost of delivery and sales of chicks #bjj4 ,this leaves a residue of #a1jjj1 which would pay a #bj per cent4 interest on the necessary investment of #e1jjj4 ,personally1 ,i think this is about the minimum unit of hatching that would prove worth while as independent institutions4 ,any increase in the percentage of the hatch would1 of course1 reduce the unit of size necessary for profitable operation4 ,upon a single poultry plant as a duck farm the cost of operation would be materially reduced1 as the operator himself would take the place of the intelligent manager and the cost of gathering eggs and the delivery of the product would be eliminated4 ,the most profitable method of hatchery operation undoubtedly will be upon a plan analogous to what1 in creamery operation1 is called centralization4 ,the success of this scheme depends upon the fact that transportation and agencies at country stores are relatively less important items of expense than plant construction and high salaries for skilled labor4 ,a hatchery with a million capacity can be built and run at not more than twice the cost of one hundred-thousand plant and better men can be kept in charge of it4 ,a portion of the saving will of course be expended in maintaining a system of buying eggs and selling chicks4 ,the material advantage of operating a hatchery in connection with a high-class egg handling and poultry packing establishment1 or as one feature of a poultry community1 is at once apparent1 for the system of collecting the market produce will be utilized for gathering eggs and distributing chicks1 each business helping the other4 ,the public hatchery also gives an excellent opportunity for the introduction of good stock among farmers who would be too shiftless to acquire it by ordinary methods4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,feeding ,the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing is nowhere better illustrated than in the scientific phases of poultry feeding4 ,the attempted application of the common theoretical feeding standards to poultry has caused not only a great waste of time but has also resulted in expenditures for high-priced feeds when cheaper feeds would have given as good or better results4 ,the so-called science of food chemistry is really a rough approximation of things about which the actual facts are unknown4 ,such knowledge bears the same relation to accurate science as the maps of ,america drawn by the early explorers do to a modern atlas4 ,like these early efforts of geography the present science of food chemistry is all right if we realize its incompleteness4 ,in practice1 the poultryman1 after a general glance at the map1 will find a more reliable guide in simpler things4 ,i am writing this book for the poultryman1 not the professor1 and because ,i state that the particular kind of science wherein the professor has taken the most pains to teach the poultryman is comparatively useless1 ,i fear it may arouse a mistrust of the value of science as a whole4 ,i know of no way to prevent this except to point out the distinction between scientific facts and guesses couched in scientific language4 ,when a scientist states that a hen cannot lay egg shells containing calcium without having calcium in her food1 that is a fact1 and it works out in practice1 for calcium is an element1 and the hen cannot create elementary substances4 ,when the same scientist1 finding that an egg contains protein1 says that wheat is a better egg food than corn because it has the largest amount of protein1 that is a guess and does not work in practice because protein is not a definite substance1 but the name of a group of substances of which the scientist does not know the composition1 and which may or may not be of equal use to the hen in the formation of eggs4 ,all substances of which the world is made are composed of elements which cannot be changed4 ,when these elements are combined they form definite substances with definite proportions entirely independent of the original elements4 ,the pure diamond is carbon4 ,gasoline is carbon and hydrogen4 ,several hundred other things are also carbon and hydrogen4 ,sugar is carbon combined with hydrogen and oxygen4 ,these three elements make several thousand different substances1 including fats1 alcohol and formaldehyde4 ,hydrocyanic acid is carbon combined with hydrogen and nitrogen1 and is the most deadly poison known4 ,the failure of food science is partly because we do not know the composition of many of the substances of food and partly because these substances are changed in the animal body in a manner which we do not understand and cannot control4 ,conventional ,food ,chemistry ,the conventional analysis of feeding stuff divides the food substances in water1 carbohydrates1 fat1 protein and ash4 ,the amount of water in the body is all-important1 but1 with the exception of eggs during incubation1 ,i confess ,i prefer to rely upon the chicken's judgment as to the amount required4 ,the carbohydrate group contains starch1 sugar1 cellulose and a number of other things4 ,carbohydrates constitute two-thirds to three-fourths of all common rations and nine-tenths of that amount is starch4 ,the proposition of how much carbohydrates the hen eats is chiefly determined by the quantity of grain she consumes4 ,of fats there are many kinds of which the composition is definitely known4 ,the amount of fats the hen eats is unimportant because she makes starch into fat4 ,the protein or nitrogen containing substances of the diet is the group of food substances over which most of the theories are expounded4 ,the hen can make egg fat from corn starch or cabbage leaves because they contain the same elements4 ,she cannot make egg white from starch or fat because the element of nitrogen which is in the egg white is lacking in the starch and fats4 ,the substances that have nitrogen in them are called protein4 ,they are very complex and difficult to analyze4 ,in digestion these proteins are all torn to pieces and built up into other kinds of protein4 ,just as in tearing down an old house1 only a portion of the material can be used in a new house1 so it is with protein and laboratory analysis cannot tell us how much of the old house can be utilized in building the new one4 ,in practice the whole subject simmers down to the proposition of finding out by direct experiment whether the hen will do the work best on this or that food1 irregardless of its nitrogen content as determined in the laboratory4 ,the results of many experiments and much experience has shown that lean meat protein will make egg protein and chicken flesh protein and that vegetable protein pound for pound is not its equal4 ,i know of no results that have proven that the high priced vegetable foods such as linseed meal1 gluten feed1 etc41 have proven a more valuable chicken food than the cheapest grains4 ,with cows and pigeons this is not the case1 but the hen is not a vegetarian by nature and high priced vegetable protein doesn't seem to be in her line4 ,of the three standard grains there is some indication of the value of the proteids for chickens and of the following ranks1 #ast oats1 #b;d corn1 #c;d wheat4 ,the false conceptions of the value of wheat proteids has been specially the cause of much waste of money4 ,digestive trials and direct experiments both show that1 as chicken foods1 wheat is worth less1 pound for pound1 than corn and yet1 though much higher in price1 it is still used not only as a variety grain1 but by many poultrymen as the chief article of diet4 ,wheat contains only #c per cent4 more proteid than corn4 ,the man who substitutes wheat at one and one-half cents a pound for corn worth one cent a pound pays #ag cents a pound for his added protein4 ,in beef scrap he could get the protein for #e cents a pound and have a very superior article besides4 ,milk as a source of protein ranks between the vegetable proteids and those of meat4 ,it is preferably fed clabbered4 ,the dried casein recently put on the market is a valuable food but is not worth as much as meat food and will not be extensively utilized until the demand for meat scrap forces up the price to a point where the casein can be sold more cheaply4 ,meat scrap1 to be relished by the chickens1 must not be a fine meal1 but should consist of particles the size of wheat kernels or larger4 ,the fine scrap gives the manufacturer a chance to utilize dried blood and tankage which is cheaper in quality and price than particles of real meat4 ,the last and least understood of the groups of food substances is mineral substance or ash4 ,now1 the chemist determines mineral substance by burning the food and analyzing the residue4 ,in the intense heat numerous chemical changes take place and the substances that come out of the furnace are entirely different from those contained in the fresh food4 ,the lay reader will probably ask why the chemist does not analyze the substances of the fresh material4 ,the answer is that he doesn't know how4 ,progress is made every year but the whole subject is yet too much clouded in obscurity to be of any practical application4 ,at present the feeding of mineral substance1 like the feeding of protein1 can best be learned by experimenting directly with the foods rather than by attempting to go by their chemical composition4 ,in practice it is found that green feed supplies something which grain lacks1 presumably mineral salts4 ,moreover we know that such food fed fresh is superior to the same substance dried4 ,this may be because of chemical changes that occur in curing or simply because of greater palatability4 ,the other chief source of mineral matter is meat preparations with or without ground bone4 ,recent experiments at ,rhode ,island have attempted to show the relative value of the mineral constituents of meat by adding bone ash to vegetable proteids1 as linseed and gluten meal4 ,the results clearly indicate that mineral matter of animal origin greatly improves the value of the vegetable diet1 but that the latter is still sadly deficient4 ,of course the burning process used in preparing the bone ash may have destroyed some of the valuable qualities of the mineral salts4 ,practically1 we do not care whether the value of animal meal be due to protein1 mineral salts or both4 ,in time the world will become so thickly populated that we cannot afford to rear cattle and condemn a portion of the carcass to go through another life cycle before human consumption4 ,by that time the necessary food salts will doubtless be known and we will be able to medicate our corn and alfalfa and do away with the beef scrap4 ,the poultrymen will do well1 however1 not to count on the chemistry of the future1 for the chemist that makes the tissue salts for the hen may manufacture human food with ,niagara power and fresh eggs will come in tin cans4 ,how the ,hen ,unbalances ,balanced ,rations4 ,let the poultryman who figures the nutritious ratio of chicken feed try this simple experiment4 ,place before a half dozen newly hatched chicks a feed of one of the commercial chick feeds4 ,when they have had their fill1 sacrifice these innocents on the altar of science and open their crops4 ,he will find that one chick has eaten almost exclusively of millet seed1 another has preferred cracked corn1 another has filled up heavily on bits of beef scrap and mica crystal grit1 while a fourth fancied oats and granulated bone4 ,in short the chick has1 in three minutes1 unbalanced the balanced ration that it took a week to figure out4 ,this experiment can be varied by placing hens in individual coops and setting before each weighed portions of every food in the poultryman supply man's catalogue4 ,there is only one kind of feeding that will balance rations and that is to feed exclusively on wet mash4 ,this is successfully done in the duck business1 but the duck is a ,chinese animal and his ways are not the ways of the more fastidious hen4 ,in dairy work the individual preferences of the cows are given attention and their whimsy catered to by the herdsman4 ,i know of nothing that makes a man more feel his kinship to the beast than to hear a good dairyman talk of the personalities and preferences of his feminine co-operators4 ,with commercial chicken work1 humanly guided individual feedings is out of the question1 though1 if used1 it might hasten the coming of the two-egg-per-day hen4 ,individual feeding with the hen as sole judge as to what she shall eat1 which means each food in separate hoppers and free range1 is the best system of chicken feeding yet evolved4 ,the duty of the poultryman is to supply the food1 giving enough variety to permit of the hens having a fair selection4 ,in practice this means that every hen must have access to water1 grit 7preferably oyster shell71 one kind of grain1 one kind of meat1 and one kind of green food4 ,in practice it will pay to add granulated bone for growing stock4 ,one or two extra grains for variety and as many green foods as conveniences will permit to increase palatability--hence increase the amount of food consumed1 for a heavy food consumption is necessary for egg production4 ,as corn is the cheapest food known1 let it be the bread at the boarding house and other grains the rotating series of hash1 beans and bacon4 ,the grain hopper may have two divisions4 ,the corn never changes but the other should have a change of grain occasionally4 ,the extent of the use made of the various grains will be determined by their price per pound4 ,the proportions of food of the various classes that will be consumed is about as follows3 ,of #ajj lbs4 of dry matter3 #h to #ab lbs4 meat2 #ff to #ge lbs4 grain2 #ae to #be lbs4 green food4 ,the profits of the business will be increased by supplying the green food in such tempting forms as to increase the amount consumed and cut down the use of grains4 ,the methods we have been describing in which various dry unground grains1 beef scrap and oyster shell1 each in a separate compartment1 are exposed before the hen at all times1 together with the abundant use of green food1 either as pasture or a soiling crop1 is the method of feeding assumed throughout this book4 ,the hopper feeding of so-called dry mash or ground grain mixture has been quite a fad in the last few years4 ,the tendency of the hens to waste such food has occasioned considerable trouble4 ,they are picking it over for their favorite foods and trying to avoid disagreeable foods4 ,this difficulty is relieved when the food be separated into its various components and the hen offered each separately4 ,as a matter of fact1 there is no occasion for feeding ground feed except in fattening rations and here the wet mash is desirable4 ,the use of the products of wheat milling has been the chief excuse for such practices1 but unless these get considerably lower in price per pound than corn they may be left off the bill-of-fare to advantage4 ,the great use made of these products in poultry feeding was chiefly a result of the attempted application of the balanced ration idea1 but as has already been shown the efforts to raise the protein ratio with grain foods is generally false economy4 ,the old-fashioned wet mash which the writer does not recommend because of the labor involved1 is1 nevertheless1 a fairly profitable method of poultry feeding4 ,it is used in the ,little ,compton district of ,rhode ,island and was also used in the famous ,australian egg laying contests elsewhere described4 ,personally ,i would prefer feeding ground grain wet1 especially wheat bran and middlings1 to feeding it dry4 ,the scattering of grain in litter so generally recommended in poultry literature is all right and proper1 but is rather out of place in commercial poultry farming4 ,it is used on the large poultry plants with the yards and long houses1 but is not used on colony farms or in any of the poultry growing communities4 ,i should recommend littered houses for ,section #f and the northern half of ,section #c 7see ,chapter ,,iv71 but with warmer soils and climate where the snow does not lie on the ground it would add a labor expense that would very seriously handicap the business4 ,the systems of poultry feeding that are commonly advertised are based either on some patent nostrum or a recommendation of green food in novel form1 such as sprouted oats4 ,the joke about poultry feed at #aj cents a bushel1 absurd though it may seem1 has caught lots of dollars4 ,to take a bushel of oats worth #ej cents1 add water1 let them sprout and have five bushels costing #aj cents1 is certainly a wonderful achievement in wealth getting4 ,the only reason a man couldn't run a soup kitchen on the same principle is that he can't do a soup business by mail4 ,sprouted oats are a good green food1 however1 though somewhat laborious to prepare4 ,i should certainly recommend them if for any reason the regular green food supply should run out4 ,the points already mentioned are about all the practical suggestions that the science of animal nutrition has to offer the poultryman4 ,the discussion of feeding from its technical viewpoint is sufficiently covered in the chapter on ,farm ,poultry and the discussion of the management and economics of various types of poultry production4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,diseases ,for the study of the classification and description of the numerous ailments by which individual fowls pass to their untimely end1 ,i recommend any of the numerous books written upon the subject4 ,some of these works are more accurate than others1 but that ,i consider immaterial4 ,the study of these diseases is good for the poultryman1 it gives his mind exercise4 ,when a boy in high school ,i studied ,latin for the same purpose4 ,don't ,doctor ,chickens4 ,for the cure of all poultry diseases when they have passed a point when the fowl does not eat or for other reasons recovery is improbable1 ,i recommend a blow on the head--the hatchet spills the blood which is unwise4 ,the usual formula of burn or bury deeply is somewhat troublesome1 unless you have a furnace running4 ,a covered pit is more convenient if far enough removed from the house that the odor is not prohibitive4 ,a post with a tally card may be planted near by4 ,this part of the poultry farm may be marked ,exhibit ,a1 and shown first to the visitor during the busy season4 ,if he is one of those prospective pleasure and profit poultrymen who propose to disregard all facts of biology and economics of production1 you may save yourself the trouble of showing him the rest of the plant4 ,unfortunately1 this scheme is not open to the poultryman who has breeding stock for sale4 ,i have frequently had the question put to me in the smoker of a ,pullman car1 ,do not epidemic diseases make the poultry business precarious8 ,such questions came from farm-raised men1 but not from poultry farmers4 ,poultrymen should figure a certain loss of birds just as insurance companies figure on the human death rate1 but to all practical intents and purposes the epidemic disease has been banished from the poultry farms and seldom if ever enters the records in answer to the question1 ,why do poultry farms fail8 ,some of my readers may take exception to me either in regard to roup or white diarrhoea4 ,roup is a disease of the wrong system and careless management4 ,white diarrhoea1 so-called1 is a matter of wrong incubation4 ,the high mortality of young chicks1 though not an epidemic disease1 shares with excessive cost of production1 very much of the responsibility for poultry farm failures4 ,at the present writing the poultry editors of the country are having much discussion over the conclusion of ,dr4 ,morse of the ,bureau of ,animal ,industry to the effect that white diarrhoea is caused by an intestinal parasite similar to the germ that causes human dysentery4 ,dr4 ,morse's opportunities for investigation have been somewhat limited and as the intestines of any animal are always swarming with various organisms1 it will take very conclusive evidence to prove that the doctor is right4 ,practically the naming of the germs that attend the funeral is not particularly important for the reason that it has been thoroughly demonstrated that with good parentage1 good incubation and good brooder conditions1 white diarrhoea is unknown4 ,the ,causes of ,poultry ,diseases4 ,poultry ailments are assignable to one of the three following causes1 or a combination of these3 ,first1 hereditary or inborn weakness2 second1 unfavorable conditions of food1 surroundings1 etc42 third1 bacteria or animal parasites4 ,a great many chickens die while yet within the shell1 or during the growing process1 there being no assignable reason save that of inherited weakness4 ,to this class of troubles the only remedy is to breed from better stock4 ,it is as much the trait of some birds to produce infertile eggs or chicks of low vitality as it is for others to produce vigorous offspring4 ,the second class of ailments needs no discussion save that accorded it under the general discussions of the method of conducting the business4 ,the third class of ailments includes the contagious diseases4 ,it is now believed that most common diseases are caused by microscopic germs known as bacteria4 ,these germs in some manner gain entrance to the body of an animal1 and1 growing within the tissues1 give off poisonous substances known as toxins1 which produce the symptoms of the disease4 ,the ability to withstand disease germs varies with the particular animal and the kind of disease4 ,as a general rule it may be stated that disease germs cannot live in the body of a perfectly vigorous and healthy animal4 ,it is only when the vitality is at a low ebb1 owing to unfavorable conditions or inherited weakness1 that disease germs enter the body and produce disease4 ,the bacteria which cause disease1 like other living organisms1 may be killed by poisoning4 ,such poisons are known as disinfectants4 ,if it were possible to kill the bacteria within the animal1 the curing of disease would be a simple matter1 but unfortunately the common chemical poisons that kill germs kill the animal also4 ,the only thing that can be relied upon to kill disease germs within the animal1 is a counter-poison developed by the animal itself and known as anti-toxin4 ,such anti-toxins can be produced artificially and are used to combat certain diseases1 as diphtheria and small-pox in human beings and blackleg in cattle4 ,such methods of combating poultry diseases have not been developed1 and due to the small value of an individual fowl would probably not be commercially useful even if successful from a scientific standpoint4 ,the only available method of fighting contagious diseases of poultry is to destroy the disease germs before they enter the fowls and to remove the causes which make the fowl susceptible to the disease4 ,contagious diseases of poultry may be grouped into two general classes3 ,first1 those highly contagious2 second1 those contracted only by fowls that are in a weakened condition4 ,to the first class belong the severe epidemics1 of which chicken-cholera is the most destructive4 ,chicken-,cholera4 ,the ,european fowl-cholera has only been rarely identified in this country4 ,other diseases similar in symptoms and effect are confused with this4 ,as the treatment should be similar the identification of the diseases is not essential4 ,yellow or greenish-colored droppings1 listless attitude1 refusal of food and great thirst are the more readily observed symptoms4 ,the disease runs a rapid course1 death resulting in about three days4 ,the death rate is very high4 ,the disease is spread by droppings and dead birds1 and through feed and water4 ,to stamp out the disease kill or burn or bury all sick chickens1 and disinfect the premises frequently and thoroughly4 ,a spray made of one-half gallon carbolic acid1 one-half gallon of phenol and twenty gallons of water may be used4 ,corrosive sublimate1 #a part in #ejjj parts of water1 should be used as drinking water4 ,this is not to cure sick birds1 but to prevent the disease from spreading by means of the drinking vessels4 ,food should be given in troughs arranged so that the chickens cannot infect the food with the feet4 ,all this work must be done thoroughly1 and even then considerable loss can be expected before the disease is stamped out4 ,if cholera has a good start in a flock of chickens it will often be better to dispose of the entire flock than to combat the disease4 ,fortunately cholera epidemics are rare and in many localities have never been known4 ,roup4 ,this disease is a representative of that class of diseases which1 while being caused by bacteria1 can be considered more of a disease of conditions than of contagion4 ,roup may be caused by a number of different bacteria which are commonly found in the air and soil4 ,when chickens catch cold these germs find lodgment in the nasal passages and roup ensues4 ,the first symptoms of roup are those of an ordinary cold1 but as the disease progresses a cheesy secretion appears in the head and throat4 ,a wheezing or rattling sound is often produced by the breathing4 ,the face and eyes swell1 and in severe cases the chicken becomes blind4 ,the most certain way of identifying roup is a characteristic sickening odor4 ,the disease may last a week or a year4 ,birds occasionally recover1 but are generally useless after having had roup4 ,sick birds should be removed and destroyed1 but the time usually spent in doctoring sick birds and disinfecting houses can in this case be better employed in finding and remedying the cause of the disease4 ,such causes may be looked for as dampness1 exposure to cold winds1 or to a sudden change in temperature as is experienced by chickens roosting in a tight house4 ,fall and winter are the seasons of roup1 while it is poorly housed and poorly fed flocks that most commonly suffer from this disease4 ,flocks that have become thoroughly roupy should be disposed of and more vigorous birds secured4 ,the open front house has proved to be the most practical scheme for the reduction of this disease4 ,chicken-,pox1 ,gapes1 ,limber ,neck4 ,chicken-pox or sore-head is a disease peculiar to the ,south4 ,it attacks growing chickens late in the summer4 ,southern poultrymen who give reasonable attention to their stock1 find that1 while this disease is a source of some annoyance1 the losses are not severe and that it may be readily controlled4 ,in the first place1 the animal epidemic of pox can be practically avoided by bringing the chicks out early in the season4 ,if the disease does develop in the flock1 the birds are taken from the coops at night and their heads dipped in a proper strength of one of the coal tar disinfectants4 ,such treatment once a week has generally been effective4 ,this disease is an exception to the general rule that disinfectants which kill germs also kill the chicken4 ,the explanation is that chicken-pox is an external disease4 ,gapes is given in every poultry book as one of the prominent poultry diseases1 but are not common in the ,northern and ,western ,states4 ,gapes are caused by a parasitic worm in the windpipe4 ,growing chicks are affected4 ,the remedy is to move the chicks to fresh ground and cultivate the old4 ,limber neck is not a disease1 but is the result of the fowl's eating maggots from dead carcasses4 ,it can be prevented by not allowing dead carcasses to remain where the chickens will find them4 ,no practical cure is known4 ,lice and ,mites4 ,the parasites referred to as chicken-lice include many different species1 but in habit they may be classed as body-lice and roost-mites4 ,the first1 or true bird-lice1 live on the body of the chicken and eat the feathers and skin4 ,the roost-mite is similar to a spider and differs in habits from the body-louse in that it sucks the blood of the chicken and does not remain on the body of the fowl except at night4 ,body-lice are to be found upon almost all chickens1 as well as on many other kinds of birds4 ,their presence in small numbers on matured fowls is not a serious matter4 ,when body-lice are abundant on sitting hens they go from the hen to the newly hatched chickens1 and may cause the death of the chicks4 ,the successful methods of destroying body-lice are three in number3 ,first1 dust or earth wallows in which the active hens will get rid of lice4 ,such dust baths should be especially provided for yarded chickens and during the winter4 ,dry earth can be stored for this purpose4 ,sitting hens should have access to dust baths4 ,second3 ,the second method by which body-lice may be destroyed is the use of insect powder4 ,the pyrethrum powder is considered the best for this purpose1 but is expensive and difficult to procure in the pure state4 ,tobacco dust is also used4 ,insect powder is applied by holding the hen by the feet and working the dust thoroughly into the feathers1 especially the fluff4 ,the use of insect powder should be confined to sitting hens and fancy stock1 as the cost and labor of applying is too great for use upon the common chicken4 ,the third method is suitable for young chickens1 and consists of applying some oil and grease on the head and under the wings4 ,do not grease the chick all over4 ,with vigorous chickens and correct management the natural dust bath is all that is needed to combat the lice4 ,the roost-mite is probably the cause of more loss to farm poultry raisers than any other pest or disease4 ,the great difficulty in destroying mites on many farms is that chickens are allowed to roost in too many places4 ,if the chicken-house proper is the only building infected with mites the difficulty of destroying them is not great4 ,plainness in the interior furnishings of the chicken-house is also a great advantage when it comes to fighting mites4 ,the mites in the daytime are to be found lodged in the cracks near the roosting-place of the chickens4 ,mites can be killed with various liquids1 the best in point of cheapness is boiling water4 ,give the chicken-house a thorough cleaning and scald by throwing dippers of hot water in all places where the mites can find lodgment4 ,hot water destroys the eggs as well as the mites4 ,whitewash is a good remedy1 as it buries both mites and eggs beneath a coating of lime from which they cannot emerge4 ,pure kerosene or a solution of carbolic acid in kerosene1 at the rate of a pint of acid to a gallon of oil1 is an effective lice-paint4 ,another substance much used for destroying insects or similar pests is carbon bisulphide4 ,this is a liquid which evaporates readily1 the vapor destroying the insects or mites4 ,carbon bisulphide or other fumigating agents are not effective in the average chicken-house because the house cannot be tightly closed4 ,the liquid lice-killers on the market are very effective4 ,they are usually composed of the remedies just mentioned1 or of something of similar properties4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,poultry ,,flesh ,,and ,,poultry ,,fattening ,the poultry flesh which is used for food may be grouped into three divisions4 ,first3 ,poultry carcasses grown especially for market4 ,second3 ,poultry carcasses consisting of hens and young male birds that are sold from the general farms where the pullets are kept for egg production4 ,third3 ,the cockerels and old hens sold as a by-product from egg farms4 ,the third class hardly needs our consideration in the present chapter4 ,this stock1 usually ,leghorns1 like ,jersey veal1 is to be disposed of at whatever price the market offers4 ,the cockerel will1 if growing nicely1 be fairly plump and the hens1 if on hopper rations of corn and beef scrap1 will be about as fat as they can be profitably made1 and to waste further effort upon them would not pay4 ,leghorn cockerels and hens are a wholesome enough meat1 but will never command fancy prices nor warrant extra pains4 ,in class two we find the great mass of the poultry flesh of the country4 ,this stock consisting chiefly1 as it does1 of ,plymouth ,rocks and ,wyandottes1 is well worth some extra pains toward increasing its quantity and quality4 ,within the last ten or fifteen years several changes have been brought about in the general methods of handling farm poultry4 ,formerly it was thought desirable to market all stock not kept as layers while in the broiler stage of from #a-a_/b to #b pounds4 ,since the introduction of the custom of holding fall broilers over in cold storage1 the price has fallen until it is now more profitable to market the surplus cockerels from the farm at three or four months of age4 ,at this period the flesh has cost less per pound to produce than at either an earlier or later stage4 ,for such purposes only the well fleshed type of ,american breeds has been found desirable4 ,the ,leghorns and similar breeds are too small and become staggy too soon4 ,contrary to a common belief and to the custom in the poultry books of classifying the ,asiatics as meat breeds1 the ,brahmas and ,cochins are among the very poorest fowls that can be used for farm production of poultry meat4 ,at the age spoken of these breeds are lanky and unsightly and not wanted by poultry packers4 ,consecutively with and perhaps responsible for change of sentiment that demands that broilers be allowed to grow into four pound chickens1 we find the development of the crate fattening industry4 ,crate-,fattening4 ,the introduction of crate-fattening into the ,central ,west occurred about #aijj4 ,the credit of this introduction belongs to the large meat packing firms4 ,at the present time the business is not confined to the meat packers1 but is shared by independent plants throughout the country4 ,the plants of the ,west range from a few hundred to as high as #bj1jjj capacity4 ,they are constructed for convenience and a saving of labor1 and in this respect are decidedly in advance of the ,european establishments where fattening has been long practiced4 ,the room used for fattening is well built and sanitary4 ,a good system of ventilation is essential1 as murky1 damp air breeds colds and roup4 ,the coops are built back to back1 and two or more coops in height4 ,each coop is high and wide enough to comfortably accommodate the chickens1 and long enough to contain from five to twelve chickens4 ,the chickens stand on slats1 beneath which are dropping-boards that may be drawn out for cleaning4 ,the dropping-boards and feeding-troughs are often made of metal4 ,strict cleanliness is enforced4 ,no droppings or feed are allowed to accumulate and decompose4 ,as is a general rule in meat production1 young animals give much better returns for food consumed than do mature individuals4 ,with the young chicken the weight is added as flesh1 while the hen has a tendency1 which increases with age1 to turn the same food into useless fat4 ,for this reason the general practice is to fatten only the best of the young chickens4 ,the head feeder at a large and successful poultry plant gave the following information on the selection of birds for the fattening-crates3 ,the younger the stock the more profitable the gain4 ,all specimens showing the slightest indication of disease are discarded4 ,the ,plymouth ,rock is the favorite breed1 and the ,wyandotte is second4 ,leghorns are comparatively fat when received1 and1 while they do well under feed and 'yellow up' nicely1 they do not gain as much as the ,american breeds4 ,black chickens are not fed at all4 ,brahmas and ,cochins are not considered good feeders at the age when they are commonly sold4 ,chickens in fair flesh at the start make better gains than those that are extremely lean or very fat4 ,but1 contrary to what the amateur might assume1 the moderately fat chicken will continue to make fair gains1 while the very lean chicken seldom returns a profit4 ,the idea has been somewhat prevalent that there is some guarded secret about the rations used in crate-fattening4 ,this is a mistaken notion4 ,the rations used contain no new or wonderful constituent1 and although individual feeders may have their own formulas1 the general composition of the feed is common knowledge4 ,the feed most commonly used consists of finely ground grain1 mixed to a batter with buttermilk or sour skim-milk4 ,the favorite grain for the purpose is oats finely ground and the hulls removed4 ,oats may be used as the sole grain1 and is the only grain recommended as suitable to be fed alone4 ,corn is used1 but not by itself4 ,shorts1 ground barley or ground buckwheat are sometimes used4 ,beans1 peas1 linseed and gluten meals may be used in small quantities4 ,when milk products are obtainable they are a great aid to successful fattening4 ,tallow is often used in small quantities toward the finish of the feeding period4 ,the assumption is that it causes the deposit of fat-globules throughout the muscular tissues1 thus adding to the quality of the meat4 ,the following simple rations show that there is nothing complex about the crate-fed chicken's bill of fare3 ,no4 #a4--;,ground oats1 #b parts2 ground barley1 #a part2 ground corn1 #a part2 mixed with skim-milk4 ,no4 #b4--;,ground corn1 #d parts2 ground peas1 #a part2 ground oats1 #a part2 meat-meal1 #a part2 mixed with water4 ,a ration used by some fatters with great success is composed of simply oatmeal and buttermilk4 ,the feed is given as a soft batter and is left in the troughs for about thirty minutes1 when the residue is removed4 ,chickens are generally fed three times per day4 ,water may or may not be given1 according to the weather and the amount of liquid used in the food4 ,the chicken that has been crate-fattened has practically the same amount of skeleton and offal as the unfattened specimen1 but carries one or two pounds more of edible meat upon its carcass4 ,not only is the weight of the chicken and amount of edible meat increased1 but the quality of the meat is greatly improved1 consisting of juicy1 tender flesh4 ,for this reason the crate-feeding process is often spoken of as fleshing rather than as fattening4 ,the enforced idleness causes the muscular tissue to become tender and filled with stored nutriment4 ,the fatness of a young chicken1 crate-fed on buttermilk and oatmeal1 is a radically different thing from the fatness of an old hen that has been ranging around the corn-crib4 ,the crate-fattening industry while deserving credit for great improvement in the quality of chicken flesh in the regions where it has been introduced1 cannot on the whole be considered a great success4 ,it is commonly reported that some of the firms instrumental in its introduction lost money on the deal4 ,the crate-fattening plant has come to stay in the communities where careful methods of poultry raising are practiced1 and where the stock is of the best1 but when a plant is located in a newly settled region where the poultry stock is small and feed scarce1 the venture is pretty apt to prove a fiasco4 ,while poultryman at the ,kansas ,experiment ,station1 the writer made a large number of individual weighings of fowls in the crates of one of the large fattening plants of the state4 ,these weighings pointed out very clearly why the expected profits had not been realized4 ,the birds selected for weighing were all fine1 uniform looking ,barred ,rock ,cockerels4 ,at the end of the first week they were found to still appear much the same1 but when handled a difference was easily noticed4 ,by the end of the second week a few birds had died and many others were in a bad way4 ,the individual changes of weight ran from #b-a_/b pounds gain to #c_/d pound loss1 and many of the lighter birds were of very poor appearance4 ,it is simply a matter of forced feeding being a process that makes trouble with the health of the chicken if all is not just right4 ,it is probable that in the future more fattening will be done on the farm1 or by the farmer operating in a small way among his neighbors4 ,the reason for this is that the saving of labor in the large plant is hardly as great as the added loss from the shrinkage of the birds due to the excitement of shipping and crowding1 and the introduction of disease by the mingling of chickens from so many different sources4 ,the ,canadians especially have encouraged fattening on the farm4 ,the following is a hand-bill gotten out by an enterprising ,canadian dealer for distribution among the farmers of his locality3 ,,how ,,to ,,fatten ,,chickens ,,for ,,the ,,export ,,trade4 ,to fatten birds for the export trade1 it is necessary to have proper coops to put them in4 ,these should be two feet long1 twenty inches high and twenty inches deep1 the top1 bottom and front made of slats4 ,this size will hold four birds1 but the cheapest plan is to build the coops ten feet long and divide them into five sections4 ,what to feed4 ,oats chopped fine1 the coarse hulls sifted out1 two parts2 ground buckwheat1 one part2 mix with skim-milk to a good soft batter1 and feed three times a day4 ,or1 black barley and oats1 two parts oats to one part barley4 ,give clean drinking water twice a day1 grit twice a week1 and charcoal once a week4 ,during the first week the birds are in the coops they should be fed sparingly--only about one-half of what they will eat4 ,after that gradually increase the amount until you find out just how much they will eat up clean each time4 ,never leave any food in the troughs1 as it will sour and cause trouble4 ,mix the food always one feed ahead4 ,birds fed in this way will be ready for the export trade in from four to five weeks4 ,chickens make the best gain put in the coop weighing three to four pounds4 ,we ,supply the ,coops4 ,we have on hand a number of coops for fattening chicks1 which we will loan to any person1 free of charge1 who will sign an agreement to bring all chicks fattened in them to us4 ,every farmer should have at least one of these coops1 as this is the only way to fatten chicks properly4 ,in this way you can get the highest market price4 ,we can handle any quantity of chicks properly fatted4 ,,armstrong ,,bros4 ,the farmer who does not think it worth while to construct fattening-crates for his own crop of chickens1 may get very fair results by simply enclosing the chickens in some vacant shed4 ,to these may feed a ration of two-thirds corn meal and one-third shorts1 or some of the more complicated rations used at the fattening plants may be fed4 ,in the ,east1 poultry fattening on the general farm is not dissimilar from the practices in the ,central ,west1 but we find a larger use of cramming machines1 caponizing1 and the growing of chickens for meat as an industry independent of keeping hens for egg production4 ,the cramming machine is a device by means of which food in a semi-liquid state is pumped into the bird's crop1 through a tube inserted in the mouth4 ,this means of feeding is much more used in ,europe than in this country4 ,it requires good stock and careful workmen4 ,the method will probably slowly gain ground in this country4 ,the feed used in cramming is similar to that used in ordinary crate feeding1 except that it is mixed as a thin batter4 ,caponizing4 ,caponizing is the castration of male chickens4 ,capons hold the same place in the poultry market as do steers in the beef market4 ,caponizing is practiced to quite an extent in ,france1 and to a less degree in ,england and the ,united ,states4 ,much the larger part of the industry is confined to that portion of the ,united ,states east of ,philadelphia1 though increasing numbers of capons are being raised in the ,north ,central ,states4 ,during the winter months capon is regularly quoted in the markets of the larger eastern cities4 ,massachusetts and ,new ,jersey are the great centers for the growing of capons1 while ,boston1 ,new ,york1 and ,philadelphia are the great markets4 ,in many eastern markets the prices paid for dressed capons range from #bj to #cj cents a pound4 ,the highest prices usually prevail from ,january to ,may1 and the larger the birds the more they bring a pound4 ,the purpose of caponizing is not1 as is sometimes stated1 to increase the size of the chicken1 but to improve the quality of the meat4 ,the capon fattens more readily and economically than other birds4 ,as they do not interfere with or worry one another1 large flocks may be kept together4 ,the breeds suitable for caponizing are the ,asiatics and ,americans4 ,brahmas will produce1 with proper care and sufficient time1 the largest and finest capons4 ,on the ordinary farm1 where capons would be allowed to run loose1 ,plymouth ,rocks would prove more profitable4 ,plymouth ,rocks1 ,brahmas1 ,langshans1 ,wyandottes1 ,indian ,games1 may all be used for capons4 ,leghorns are not to be considered for this purpose4 ,capons should be operated upon when they are about ten weeks or three months old and weigh about two pounds4 ,the operation of caponizing is performed by cutting in between the last two ribs4 ,both testicles may be removed from one side or both sides may be opened4 ,the cockerel should be starved for twenty-four hours in order to empty the intestines4 ,asiatics are more difficult to operate on than ,americans1 the testicles being larger and less firm4 ,there is always some danger of causing death by tearing blood vessels1 but the per cent4 of loss with an experienced operator is very small4 ,loss by inflammation is still more rare4 ,the testicle of a bird is not as highly developed as in a mammal1 and if the organ is broken and a small fragment remains attached it will produce birds known as slips4 ,some growers advise looking over the capons and puncturing the wind puffs that gather beneath the skin4 ,this1 however1 is not necessary4 ,a good set of tools is indispensable and can be purchased for from #b to #c4 ,as a complete set of instructions is furnished with each set it is unnecessary to go into details here4 ,the beginner should1 however1 operate on several dead cockerels before attempting to operate on a live one4 ,after caponizing the bird should be given plenty of soft feed and water4 ,the capon begins to eat almost immediately after the operation is performed1 and no one would suppose that a radical change had taken place in his nature4 ,the feeding of capons differs little from the feeding of other growing chickens4 ,corn1 wheat1 barley and ,kaffir-corn would be suitable grain1 while beef-scrap would be necessary to produce the best growth4 ,about three weeks before marketing place the capons in small yards and feed them three or four times a day1 giving plenty of corn and other feed1 or fatten them in one of the ways indicated in the section on fattening poultry4 ,corn meal and ground oats1 equal parts by weight1 moistened with water or milk1 make a good mash for fattening capons4 ,in dressing capons leave the head and hackle feathers1 the feathers on the wings to the second joint1 the tail feathers1 including those a little way up the back1 and the feathers on the legs halfway up to the thigh4 ,these feathers serve to distinguish capons from other fowls in the market4 ,do not cut the head off1 for this is also a distinguishing feature of the capon1 on account of the undeveloped comb and wattles4 ,the price received for capons is greater than any other kind of poultry meat except early broilers4 ,there may be trouble in some localities in getting dealers to recognize capons as such and pay an advanced price4 ,on several farms in ,massachusetts1 #ejj to #a1jjj capons are raised annually1 and on one farm #e1jjj cockerels are held for caponizing4 ,the industry is growing rapidly year by year and the supply does not equal the demand4 ,it is to be expected that the amount of caponizing done in the ,west will gradually increase4 ,those wishing to try the growing of capons will do well to secure an experienced operator4 ,good men at this work receive five cents per bird4 ,poor operators are dear at any price1 as they produce a large number of worthless slips4 ,,chapter ,x ,,marketing ,,poultry ,,carcasses ,in the marketing of poultry carcasses as in other phases of the industry1 we really have two systems to discuss4 ,the one is used for the marketing of the product of the farm of the ,central ,west1 and the other the product of the poultryman or eastern farmer1 who is near a large market and who will be repaid for taking special pains in preparing his poultry for market4 ,farm-,grown ,chickens4 ,at the present time almost the entire poultry crop of the ,central ,west is sold from the farm as live poultry4 ,this farm stock is purchased by produce buyers or general merchants and shipped to the nearest county seat or other important town1 where there are usually one or more poultry-killing establishments4 ,these establishments may vary from a simple shed1 where the chickens are picked and packed in barrels1 to the more modern poultry-packing establishment1 with its accommodations for fattening1 dressing1 packing1 freezing1 and storing4 ,the poultry-buying stations may be branches of the larger packing establishments1 branch houses of large produce firms1 or small firms operating independently and selling in the open market4 ,the chickens as purchased are grouped into the following classes3 ,springs1 hens1 old roosters and 7at certain seasons7 young roosters or staggy cockerels4 ,early in the season small springs are quoted as broilers1 while capons form a separate item where such are grown4 ,chickens are starved before killing1 for the purpose of emptying the crop1 and1 to some degree1 the intestines4 ,if this is not done the carcass presents an unsightly appearance and spoils more readily in storage4 ,the method of picking is not always the same1 even in the same plant4 ,scalding is frequently used for local trade1 in the summer season1 or with cheap-grade stuff4 ,the greater portion of the stock is picked dry4 ,the pickers are generally paid so much per bird4 ,in some plants men do the roughing while girls are employed as pinners4 ,pickers work either with the chickens suspended by a cord or fastened upon a bench adopted to this purpose4 ,the killing is done by bleeding and sticking4 ,the last thrust reaches the brain and paralyzes the bird4 ,the manner of making these cuts must be learned by practical instruction4 ,the feathers are saved1 and amount to a considerable item4 ,white feathers are worth more than others4 ,the head and feet are left on the chicken and the entrails are not removed4 ,the bird1 after being chilled in ice-water or in the cooling room1 is ready for grading and packing4 ,this1 from the producer's standpoint1 is the most interesting stage in the process1 for it is here that the quality of the stock is to be observed4 ,the grading is made on three considerations3 7#a7 ,the general division of cocks1 springs1 hens and capons is kept separate from the killing-room2 7#b7 the grading for quality2 7#c7 the assortment according to size4 ,the grading for quality depends on the general shape of the chicken1 the plumpness or covering of meat1 the neatness of picking1 the color of skin and legs1 and the appearance of the feet and head1 which latter points indicate the age and condition of health4 ,the culls consist of deformed and scrawny chickens4 ,the seconds are poor in flesh1 or they may be1 in the case of hens1 unsightly from overfatness4 ,they are packed in barrels and go to the cheapest trade4 ,those carcasses slightly bruised or torn in dressing also go in this class4 ,although a preference is generally stated for yellow-skinned poultry1 the white-skinned birds1 if equal in other points1 are not underranked in this score4 ,the skin color that is decidedly objectionable is the purplish tinge1 which is a sign of diseased stock4 ,black pin-feathers and dark-colored legs are a source of objection4 ,especially is this true with young birds which show the pin-feathers4 ,feathered legs are slightly more objectionable than smooth legs4 ,small combs and the absence of spurs give better appearance to the carcass4 ,the following is the nomenclature and corresponding weights of the farm marketed chickens4 ,in each class there will be seconds and culls4 ,the seconds of each group are kept separate1 but not graded so strictly or perhaps not graded at all for size4 ,the culls are packed in barrels and all kinds of chickens from fryers to old roosters here sojourn together until they reach their final destination1 as potted chicken or chicken soup4 ,broilers--,packed in two weights4 #ast3 ,less than two pounds2 #b;d3 between #b and #b-a_/b pounds4 ,chickens--,packed in three weights4 #ast3 between #b-a_/b and #c pounds2 #b;d3 between #c and #c-a_/b pounds2 #c;d3 between #c-a_/b and #d pounds4 ,roasters--,packed in two weights4 #ast3 between #d and #e pounds2 #b;d3 above #e pounds4 ,stag ,roosters--,cockerels1 showing spurs and hard blue meat1 packed in two weights4 #ast3 under #d pounds2 #b;d3 above #d pounds4 ,fowls1 are hens4 ,they are packed in three sizes4 #ast3 under #c-a_/d pounds2 #b;d3 between #c-a_/d and #d-a_/b pounds2 #c;d3 over #d-a_/b pounds4 ,old ,roosters--,packed in barrels4 ,one grade only4 ,after packing1 chickens may be shipped to market immediately1 or they may be frozen and stored in the local plant4 ,shipments of any importance are made in refrigerator cars4 ,the poultry that is shipped to the final market alive is gradually diminishing in quantity1 as poultry killing plants are built up throughout the country4 ,the live poultry shipments are chiefly made in the ,live ,poultry ,transportation ,cars4 ,the following figures give the number of such cars that moved out of the ,states named in a recent year3 ,iowa #fde ,tennessee #afi ,missouri #fcj ,michigan #afe ,illinois #fbd ,s4 ,dakota #ajc ,kentucky #dgb ,oklahoma #aja ,nebraska #cie ,indiana #ajj ,kansas #cgj ,wisconsin #ic ,minnesota #agd ,texas #ia ,ohio #agc ,arkansas #dg ,the most of this live poultry goes to ,new ,york and other eastern cities and is consumed largely by the ,hebrew trade4 ,the ,special ,poultry ,plant4 ,the special egg farmer of the ,east should sell his poultry alive to the regular dealer4 ,the exception to this advice may be taken in the case of squab broilers for which some local dealers will not pay as fancy a price as may be obtained by dressing and shipping to the hotel trade4 ,the grower of roasters and capons will probably want to market his own product4 ,as to whether it will pay him to do so will depend upon whether his dealer will pay what the quality of the goods really demands4 ,the dealer can afford to do this all right1 if he will hustle around and find an outlet for the particular grade of goods1 for he is in position to kill and dress the fowls more economically than the producer4 ,i have never been able to study out why the average writer upon agricultural subjects is always advising the farmer to attempt to do difficult work for which special firms already exist4 ,in the case of fattening just referred to1 there is reason why the farmer may be able to do the work more successfully than the special establishment1 but why any one should urge the farmer to turn the woodshed into a temporary poultry packing establishment ,i can hardly see4 ,if the farmer has nothing to do he had better get a job at the poultry killing house where they have ice water and barrels in which to put the feathers4 ,i do not think it worth while in this book for me to attempt to describe in detail the various methods of killing and packing poultry for the various retail markets4 ,the grower who contemplates killing his own stuff had better spend a day visiting the produce houses and market stalls and inquire which methods are locally in demand4 ,suggestions from ,other ,countries4 ,in ,european countries generally1 and especially in ,france and ,england1 great pains is taken in the production of market poultry4 ,each farmer and each neighborhood become known in the market for the quality of their poultry1 and the prices they receive vary accordingly4 ,in these countries more poultry is fattened and dressed by the growers than in the ,united ,states where we have greater specialization of labor4 ,in countries that have an export trade different systems have originated4 ,in ,denmark and ,ireland co-operative societies are organized to handle perishable farm products4 ,these1 however1 deal more with eggs than with poultry4 ,in portions of ,england the fattening is done by private fatteners4 ,the country being thickly settled1 the chickens are collected directly from the farms by wagons making regular trips4 ,this allows the rejection of the poor and immature specimens1 whereas a premium may be paid on better stock4 ,the greatest fault of poultry buying as conducted in this country is the evil of a uniform price4 ,after chickens are dressed the difference of quality is readily discerned1 and the price varies from fancy quotations to almost nothing for culls4 ,the packer pays a given rate per pound for live hens or for spring chickens4 ,the price is paid alike for the best poultry received or for the scrawniest chickens that can be coaxed to stand up and be weighed4 ,the prices paid is the average worth of all chickens purchased at that market4 ,all farmers who market an article better than the average are unjust losers1 while those who sell inferior stock receive unearned profits4 ,the producer of good stock receives pay for the extra quantity of his chickens1 but for the extra quality no recognition whatever is given4 ,to the deserving producer1 if quality was recognized1 it would result in a greatly increased stimulation of the production of good poultry4 ,any packer1 if questioned1 will state that he would be willing to grade chickens and pay for them according to quality1 but that he does not do so because his competitor would pay a uniform price and drive him out of business4 ,the man who receives an increased price would say little of it1 while the man who sells poor chickens1 if he failed to receive the full amount to which he is accustomed1 would think himself unjustly treated and use his influence against the dealer4 ,a recognition of quality in buying is for the interest of both the farmer and the poultry dealer1 and a mutual effort on the part of those interested to put in practice this reform would result in a great improvement of the poultry industry4 ,cold ,storage of ,poultry4 ,the growth of the cold storage of poultry has been phenomenal4 ,poultry is packed in thin boxes that will readily lose their heat and these are stacked in a freezer with a temperature near the zero point4 ,the temperature used for holding poultry are anywhere from #j degree up to #bj degrees4 ,poultry is held for periods of one to six weeks at temperature above the freezing point4 ,frozen poultry will keep almost indefinitely save for the drying out1 which is due to the fact that evaporation will proceed slowly even from a frozen body4 ,the time frozen poultry is stored varies from a few weeks to eight or ten months4 ,the usual rule is that any crop is highest in price when it first comes on the market and cheapest just after the point of its greatest production4 ,thus1 broilers are high in ,may and cheap in ,september4 ,in such cases the goods are carried from the season of plenty to the following season of scarcity4 ,this period is always less than a year4 ,the idea circulated by wild writers1 that cold storage poultry was kept several years is an economic impossibility4 ,the interest on the investment alone would make the holding of storage goods into the second season of plenty1 quite unprofitable1 but when the costs of storage1 insurance and shrinkage are to be paid1 storing poultry for more than one season becomes absurd4 ,the fowl that has been once frozen cannot be made to look fresh killed again4 ,for that reason packers like to get a monopoly on a particular market so that the two classes of goods will not have to compete side by side4 ,the quality of the frozen fowl when served is very fair1 practically as good as and some say better than the fresh killed4 ,cold storage poultry is best thawed out by being placed over night in a tank of water4 ,poultry prejudice prevents the practice of retailing the goods frozen1 though this method would be highly desirable4 ,drawn or ,undrawn ,fowls4 ,within the last two or three years there has been a great hue and cry about the marketing of poultry without drawing the entrails4 ,the objection to the custom rests upon the general prejudice to allowing the entrails of animals to remain in the carcass4 ,if a little thought is given the subject1 however1 it is seen that human prejudice is very inconsistent in such matters4 ,we draw beef and mutton carcasses1 to be sure1 but fish and game are stored undrawn1 and as for oysters and lobsters we not only store them undrawn but we eat them so4 ,the facts about the undrawn poultry proposition are as follows3 ,the intestines of the fowl at death contain numerous species of bacteria1 whereas the flesh is quite free from germs4 ,if the carcass is not drawn1 but immediately frozen hard1 the bacteria remain inactive and no essential change occurs4 ,if the carcass is stored without freezing1 or remains for even a short time at a high temperature1 the bacteria will begin to grow through the intestinal walls and contaminate the flesh4 ,now1 if the fowl is drawn1 the unprotected flesh is exposed to bacterial contamination1 which results in decomposition more rapidly than through the intestinal walls4 ,the opening of the carcass also allows a greater drying out and shrinkage4 ,if poultry carcasses were split wide open as with beef or mutton1 drawing might not prove as satisfactory as the present method1 but since this is not desirable1 and since ordinary laborers will break the intestines and spill their contents over the flesh1 and otherwise mutilate the fowl1 all those who have had actual experience in the matter agree that drawing poultry is unpractical and undesirable4 ,as far as danger of disease or ptomaine poison is concerned1 chances between the two methods seem to offer little choice4 ,the ,bureau of ,chemistry of the ,u4,s4 ,department of ,agriculture has conducted a series of experiments along the line of poultry storage4 ,so far as the results have been published1 nothing very striking has been learned4 ,from what has been published1 the writer is of the opinion that the somewhat mysterious changes that were observed in the cold storage poultry were mostly a matter of drying out of the carcass4 ,poultry ,inspection4 ,the enthusiastic members of the medical profession1 and others whose knowledge of practical affairs is somewhat limited1 occasionally come forth with the idea of an inspection of poultry carcasses similar to the ,federal inspection of the heavier meats4 ,the reasons that are supposed to warrant the ,federal meat inspection are precaution against disease and the idea of enforcing a cleanliness in the handling of food behind the consumer's back1 which he would insist upon were he the preparer of his own food products4 ,no doubt there is well established evidence that some diseases1 such as the dread trichinosis1 are acquired by the consumption of diseased meat4 ,as far as it is at present known there are no diseases acquired from the consumption of diseased poultry flesh1 but1 as we do not know as much about the bacteria that infests poultry as we do of that of larger animals1 there is no positive proof that such transmission of disease could not occur4 ,thorough cooking kills all disease germs1 and poultry is seldom1 if ever1 eaten without such preparation4 ,the idea of protecting people from uncleanly methods of handling their foods1 concerning which they cannot themselves know1 is somewhat of a sentimental proposition4 ,in practice it amounts to nothing1 save as the popular conception of this protection increases the demand for the product which is marked ,u4,s4 ,inspected and ,passed4 ,it may be interesting to some of the reformers of #aijf to know that the meat inspection bill then forced upon ,congress by a clamoring public was desired by the packers themselves4 ,because ,congress would not listen to the packers1 and the ,department of ,agriculture1 the ,chief ,executive very kindly indulged in a little conversation with a few reporters1 the results of which gave ,congress the needed inspiration4 ,it cost the ,government three million dollars to tell the people that their meats are packed in a cleanly manner4 ,if the people want this1 it is all well and good4 ,the tax it places upon the price of meat is less than half of one per cent4 ,a similar inspection of the killing and packing of poultry would involve a very much higher rate of taxation1 because of the fact that poultry products are packed in small establishments scattered throughout the entire country4 ,one reason that the meat packers wanted the ,united ,states ,inspection1 is because it puts out of business the little fellow to whom the ,government cannot afford to grant inspection4 ,a few of the very largest poultry packers would like to see poultry inspection for the same reason1 but with the business so thoroughly scattered as to render ,government inspection so expensive as to be quite impracticable1 any such bill would certainly be killed in a congressional committee4 ,any practical means to bring about the cleanly handling1 and to prevent the consumption of diseased poultry1 should certainly be encouraged4 ,this can be done by the education of the consumer4 ,poultry carcasses should be marketed with head and feet attached and the entrails undrawn4 ,by this precaution the consumer may tell whether the fowl he is buying is male or female1 young or old1 healthy or diseased4 ,all cold storage poultry should be frozen and should be sold to the consumer in a frozen condition4 ,i am not in favor of the detailed regulation of business by law1 but ,i do believe that the legal enforcement of these last precautions would be a good thing4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,quality ,,in ,,eggs 99 ,footnote 993 ,much of the matter in this and the following chapter is taken from the writer's report of the egg trade of the ,united ,states1 published as ,circular #adj of the ,bureau of ,annual ,industry of the ,u4,s4 ,department of ,agriculture4 ,in the present volume1 however1 ,i have inserted some additional matters which policy forbade that ,i discuss in a ,federal document4 ,because of the readiness with which eggs spoil1 the term fresh has become synonymous with the idea of desirable quality in eggs4 ,as a matter of fact the actual age of an egg is quite subordinate to other factors which affect the quality4 ,an egg forty-eight hours old that has lain in a wheat shock during a warm ,july rain1 would probably be swarming with bacteria and be absolutely unfit for food4 ,another egg stored eight months in a first-class cold storage room would be perfectly wholesome4 ,grading ,eggs4 ,eggs are among the most difficult of food products to grade1 because each egg must be considered separately and because the actual substance of the egg cannot be examined without destroying the egg4 ,from external appearance1 eggs can be selected for size1 color1 cleanliness of shell and freedom from cracks4 ,this is the common method of grading in early spring when the eggs are uniformly of good quality4 ,later in the season the egg candle is used4 ,in the technical sense any kind of a light may be used as an egg candle4 ,a sixteen candle power electric lamp is the most desirable4 ,the light is enclosed in a dark box1 and the eggs are held against openings about the size of a half dollar4 ,the candler holds the egg large end upward1 and gives it a quick turn in order to view all sides1 and to cause the contents to whirl within the shell4 ,to the expert this process reveals the actual condition of the egg to an extent that the novice can hardly realize4 ,the art of egg candling cannot be readily taught by worded description4 ,one who wishes to learn egg candling had best go to an adept in the art1 or he may begin unaided and by breaking many eggs learn the essential points4 ,eggs when laid vary considerably in size1 but otherwise are a very uniform product4 ,the purpose of the egg in nature requires that this be the case1 because the contents of the egg must be so proportioned as to form the chick without surplus or waste1 and this demands a very constant chemical composition4 ,for food purposes all fresh eggs are practically equal4 ,the tint of the yolk varies a little1 being a brighter yellow when green food has been supplied the hens4 ,occasionally1 when hens eat unusual quantities of green food1 the yolk show a greenish brown tint1 and appear dark to the candler4 ,such eggs are called grass eggs2 they are perfectly wholesome4 ,an opinion exists among egg men that the white of the spring egg is of finer quality and will stand up better than summer eggs4 ,this is true enough of commercial eggs1 but the difference is chiefly1 if not entirely1 due to external factors that act upon the egg after it is laid4 ,there are some other peculiarities that may exist in eggs at the time of laying1 such as a blood clot enclosed with the contents of the egg1 a broken yolk or perhaps bacterial contamination4 ,tape worms1 so-called by egg candlers1 are detached portions of the membrane lining of the egg4 ,liver spots or meat spots are detached folds from the walls of the oviduct4 ,such abnormalities are rare and not worth worrying about4 ,the shells of eggs vary in shape1 color and firmness4 ,these variations are more a matter of breed and individual idiosyncrasy than of care or feed4 ,the strength of egg shells is important because of the loss from breakage4 ,the distinction between weak and firm shelled eggs is not one1 however1 which can be readily remedied4 ,nothing more can be advised in this regard than to feed a ration containing plenty of mineral matter and to discard hens that lay noticeably weak shelled or irregularly shaped eggs4 ,preference in the color of eggs shells is a hobby1 and one well worth catering to4 ,as is commonly stated1 ,boston and surrounding towns want brown eggs1 while ,new ,york and ,san ,francisco demand white eggs4 ,these trade fancies take their origin in the circumstances of there being large henneries in the respective localities producing the particular class of eggs4 ,if the eggs from such farms are the best in the market and were uniformly of a particular shade1 that mark of distinction1 like the trade name on a popular article1 would naturally become a selling point4 ,only the select trade consider the color in buying4 ,eggs of all ,mediterranean breeds are white4 ,those of ,asiatics are brown4 ,those of the ,american breeds are usually brown1 but not of so uniform a tint4 ,the size of eggs is chiefly controlled by the breed or by selection of layers of large eggs4 ,in a number of experiments published by various experiment stations1 slight differences in the sizes of the eggs have been noted with varying rations and environment1 but this cannot be attributed to anything more specific than the general development and vigor of the fowls4 ,pullets1 at the beginning of the laying period1 lay an egg decidedly smaller than those produced at a later stage in life4 ,the egg size table below gives the size of representative classes of eggs4 ,these figures must not be applied too rigidly1 as the eggs of all breeds and all localities vary4 ,they are given as approximate averages of the eggs one might reasonably expect to find in the class mentioned4 ,,egg ,,size ,,table4 ,,geographical ,,breed ,net ,wt4 ,weight ,relative ,,classification ,,classifications ,per #cj ,ounces ,values ,dozen ,per ,per ,case ,dozen ,dozen ,southern ,iowa's ,purebred flocks of #de lbs4 #bd #be;c4 ,two ounce eggs ,american varieties of egg farm ,leghorns4 ,poorest flocks of ,games and #cf lbs4 #ai #a-e #bj;c4 ,southern ,dunghills ,hamburgs4 ,average ,tennessee ,poorest strains #dj lbs4 #ba #a-c #bb #a-c;c4 or ,texas eggs4 of ,leghorns4 ,average for the ,the mixed barnyard #dc lbs4 #bc #bc #i-aj;c4 ,united ,states as fowl of the western represented by farm1 largely of ,kansas1 ,plymouth ,rock origin4 ,minnesota and ,southern ,illinois4 ,average size of eggs ,american ,brahmas #dh lbs4 #be #c-e #bf #b-c;c4 produced in ,denmark4 and ,minorcas4 ,selected brands of ,equaled by several #ed lbs4 #bh #d-e #cj;c4 ,danish eggs4 pens of ,leghorns in the ,australian laying contest4 ,how ,eggs ,are ,spoiled4 ,dirty eggs are grouped roughly in three classes3 7,a7 ,plain dirties1 those to which soil or dung adheres2 7,b7 stained eggs1 those caused by contact with damp straw or other material which discolors the shell 7plain dirties when washed usually show this appearance72 7,c7 smeared eggs1 those covered with the contents of broken eggs4 ,for the first two classes of dirty eggs the producer is to blame4 ,the third class originates all along the route from the nest to consumer4 ,the percentage of dirty eggs varies with the season and weather conditions1 being noticeably increased during rainy weather4 ,in grading1 about five per cent4 of farm grown eggs are thrown out as dirties4 ,these dirties are sold at a loss of at least twenty per cent4 ,the common trade name for cracked eggs is checks4 ,blind checks are those in which the break in the shell is not readily observable4 ,they are detected with the aid of the candle1 or by sounding1 which consists of clicking the eggs together4 ,dents are checks in which the egg shell is pushed in without rupturing the membrane4 ,leakers have lost part of the contents and are not only an entire loss themselves1 but produce smeared eggs4 ,the loss from breakage varies considerably with the amount of handling in the process of marketing4 ,a western produce house1 collecting from grocers by local freight will record from four to seven per cent4 of checks4 ,with properly handled eggs the loss through breakage should not run over one or two per cent4 ,eggs in which the chick has begun to develop are spoken of as heated eggs4 ,infertile eggs cannot heat because the germ has not been fertilized and can make no growth4 ,that such infertile eggs cannot spoil is1 however1 a mistaken notion1 for they are subjected to all the other factors by which eggs may be spoiled4 ,the sale of eggs tested out of the incubators has been encouraged by the dissemination of the knowledge that infertile eggs are not changed by incubation4 ,eggs thrown out of an incubator will be shrunken and weakened1 and some of them may contain dead germs and the remains of chicks that have died after starting to develop4 ,such eggs may be sold for what they are1 but should never be mixed with other eggs or sold as fresh4 ,when carefully candled they should be worth ten or twelve cents a dozen4 ,fertile eggs1 at the time of laying1 cannot be told from infertile eggs1 as the germ of the chick is microscopic in size4 ,if the egg is immediately cooled and held at a temperature below #gj degrees1 the germ will not develop4 ,at a temperature of #ajc degrees1 the development of the chick proceeds most rapidly4 ,at this temperature the development is about as follows3 ,twelve hours incubation3 ,when broken in a saucer1 the germ spot1 visible upon all eggs1 seems somewhat enlarged4 ,looked at with a candle such an egg cannot be distinguished from a fresh egg4 ,twenty-four hours3 ,the germ spot mottled and about the size of a dime4 ,this egg1 if not too dark shelled1 can readily be detected with the candle1 the germ spot causing the yolk to appear considerably darker than the yolk of a fresh egg4 ,such an egg is called a heavy egg or a floater4 ,forty-eight hours3 ,by this time the opaque white membrane1 which surrounds the germ1 has spread well over the top of the yolk1 and the egg is quite dark or heavy before the light4 ,blood appears at about this period1 but is difficult of detection by the candler1 unless the germ dies and the blood ring sticks to the membrane of the egg4 ,three days3 ,the blood ring is the prominent feature and is as large as a nickel4 ,the yolk behind the membrane has become watery4 ,four days3 ,the body of the chick becomes readily visible1 and prominent radiating blood vessels are seen4 ,the yolk is half covered with a water containing membrane4 ,these stages develop as given1 occurring at a temperature of #ajc degrees4 ,as the temperature is lowered the rate of chick development is retarded1 but at any temperature above #gj1 this development will proceed far enough to cause serious injury to the quality of the eggs4 ,for commercial use eggs may be grouped in regard to heating as follows3 7#a7 ,no heat shown4 ,cannot be told at the candle from fresh eggs4 7#b7 ,light floats4 ,first grade that can be separated by candling1 corresponding to about twenty-four hours of incubation4 ,these are not objectionable to the average housewife4 7#c7 ,heavy floats4 ,this group has no distinction from the former1 except an exaggeration of the same feature4 ,these eggs are objectionable to the fastidious housewife1 because of the appearing of the white and scummy looking allantois on the yolk4 7#d7 ,blood rings4 ,eggs in which blood has developed1 extending to the period when the chick becomes visible4 7#e7 ,chicks visible to the candle4 ,the loss due to heated eggs is enormous2 probably greater than that caused by any other source of loss to the egg trade4 ,the loss varies with the season of the year1 and the climate4 ,in ,new ,england heat loss is to be considered as in the same class as loss from dirties and checks4 ,in ,texas the egg business from the #aeth of ,june until cool weather in the fall is practically dead4 ,people stop eating eggs at home and shipping out of the ,state nets the producer such small returns by the time the loss is allowed that1 at the prices offered1 it hardly pays the farmer to gather the eggs4 ,in the season of #aija hatched chickens were commonly found in cases of market eggs1 throughout the trans-,mississippi region1 and eggs did well to net the shippers three cents per dozen4 ,damage to eggs by heating and consequent financial loss is inexcusable4 ,in the first place1 market eggs have no business being fertilized1 but whether they are or not they should be kept in a place sufficiently cool to prevent all germ growth4 ,the egg shell is porous so that the developing chick may obtain air4 ,this exposes the moist contents of the egg to the drying influence of the atmosphere4 ,evaporation from eggs takes place constantly4 ,it is increased by warm temperatures1 dry air and currents of air striking the egg4 ,when the egg is formed within the hen the contents fill the shell completely4 ,as the egg cools the contents shrink1 and the two layers of membrane separate in the large end of the egg1 causing the appearance of the bubble or air cell4 ,evaporation of water from the egg further shrinks the contents and increases the size of the air cell4 ,the size of the air cell is commonly taken as a guide to the age of the egg4 ,but when we consider that with the same relative humidity on a hot ,july day1 evaporation would take place about ten times as fast as on a frosty ,november morning1 and that differences in humidity and air currents equally great occur between localities1 we see that the age of an egg1 judged by this method1 means simply the extent of evaporation1 and proves nothing at all about the actual age4 ,even as a measure of evaporation1 the size of the air cell may be deceptive1 for when an egg with an air cell of considerable size is roughly handled1 the air cell breaks down the side of the egg1 and gives the air cell the appearance of being larger than it really is4 ,still rougher handling of shrunken eggs may cause the rupture of the inner membrane1 allowing the air to escape into the contents of the egg4 ,this causes a so-called watery or frothy egg4 ,the quality is in no wise injured by the mechanical mishap1 but eggs so ruptured are usually discriminated against by candlers4 ,in this connection it might be well to speak further of the subject of white strength1 by which is meant the stiffness or viscosity of the egg white4 ,the white of an egg is a limpid1 clear liquid1 but in the egg of good quality that portion immediately surrounding the yolk appears to be in a semi-solid mass4 ,the cause of this appearance is the presence of an invisible network of fibrous material4 ,by age and mechanical disturbance this network is gradually broken down and the liquid white separates out4 ,such a weak and watery white is usually associated with shrunken eggs4 ,these eggs will not stand up well or whip into a firm froth and are thrown in lower grades4 ,the weakness of the yolk membranes also increases with age1 and is objectionable because the breakage of the yolk is unsightly and spoils the egg for poaching4 ,the shrunken egg is most abundant in the fall1 when the rising prices tempt the farmer and grocery man to hold the eggs4 ,this holding is so prevalent1 in fact1 that from ,august to ,december full fresh eggs are the exception rather than the rule4 ,while we have called attention to evaporation as the most pronounced fault of fall eggs1 losses from other causes are greatly increased by the holding process4 ,if the eggs are held in a warm place1 heat and shrinkage will case the greatest damage2 if held in a cellar1 rot1 mold1 and bad odors will cause the chief loss4 ,the loss due to shrunken eggs is not understood nor appreciated by those outside the trade4 ,such ignorance is due to the fact that the shrunken is not so repulsive as the rotten or heated egg4 ,but the inferiority of the shrunken egg is so well appreciated by the consumer that high class dealers find it impossible to use them without ruining their trade4 ,the result is that shrunken eggs are constantly being sent into the cheaper channels1 with the result that all lower grades of eggs are more depreciated in the fall of the year than at any other time4 ,in the classes of spoiled eggs1 of which we have thus far spoken1 the proverbial rotten egg has not been considered4 ,the term rot in the egg trade is used to apply to any egg absolutely unfit for food purposes4 ,but ,i prefer to confine the term rotten egg to the egg which contains a growth of bacteria4 ,the normal egg when laid is germ free4 ,but the egg shell is not germ proof4 ,the pores in the egg shell proper are large enough to admit all forms of bacteria1 but the membrane inside the shell is germ proof as long as it remains dry4 ,when this membrane becomes moist so that bacteria may grow in it1 these germs of decay quickly grow through it and contaminate the contents of the egg4 ,heat favors the growth of bacteria in eggs and sufficient cold prevents it1 but as bacteria cannot enter without moisture on the surface of the egg we can consider dampness as the cause of rotten eggs4 ,moisture on the shell may come from an external wetting1 from the sweating of eggs coming out of cold storage1 or by the prevention of evaporation to such an extent that the external moisture of the egg thoroughly soaks the membrane4 ,the latter happens in damp cellars1 and when eggs are covered with some impervious material4 ,rotten eggs may be of different kinds1 according to the species of germ that causes the decomposition4 ,the specific kinds of egg rotting bacteria have not been worked out1 but the following three groups of bacterially infected eggs are readily distinguishable in the practical work of egg candling4 7#a7 ,black rots4 ,it is probable that many different species of bacteria cause this form of rotten eggs4 ,the prominent feature is the formation of hydrogen sulphide gas1 which blackens the contents of the egg1 gives the characteristic rotten egg smell and sometimes causes the equally well known explosion4 7#b7 ,sour eggs or white rots4 ,these eggs have a characteristic sour smell4 ,the contents become watery1 the yolk and the whites mix and the whole egg is offensive to both eye and nose4 7#c7 ,the spot rot4 ,in this the bacterial growth has not contaminated the whole egg1 but has remained near the point of entrance4 ,such eggs are readily picked out with the candle1 and when broken open show lumpy adhesions on the inside of the shell4 ,these lumps are of various colors and appearances4 ,it is probable that these spots are caused as much by mold as by bacteria1 but for practical purposes the distinction is immaterial4 ,in practice it is impossible to separate rotten from heated eggs for the reason that in the typical nest of spoiled eggs found around the farm1 both causes have been at work4 ,dead chicks will not necessarily cause the eggs to decay1 but many such eggs do become contaminated by bacteria before they reach the candler1 and hence1 as a physician would say1 show complications4 ,the loss of eggs that are actually rotten is not as great as one might imagine4 ,perhaps one or two per cent4 of the country's egg crop actually rot1 but the expenses of the candling necessitated1 and the lowering of value of eggs that contain even a few rotten specimens are severe losses4 ,moldy or musty eggs are caused by accidentally wet cases or damp cellars and ice houses4 ,the moldy egg is most frequently a spot rot4 ,in the musty egg proper the meat is free from foreign organisms1 but has been tainted by the odor of mold growth upon the shell or packing materials4 ,the absorption of odors is the most baffling of all causes of bad eggs4 ,here the candler1 so expert in other points1 is usually helpless4 ,eggs1 by storage in old musty cellars1 or in rooms1 with lemons1 onions and cheese1 may become so badly flavored as to be seriously objected to by a fancy trade1 and yet there is no means of detecting the trouble without destroying the egg4 ,such eggs occur most frequently among the held stock of the fall season4 ,the ,loss ,due to ,carelessness4 ,the egg crop of the country1 more than ninety-five per cent1 of which originates on the general farm1 is subject to immense waste due to ignorant and careless handling4 ,the great mass of eggs for sale in our large cities possess to a greater or less degree the faults we have discussed4 ,some idea of the loss due to the present shiftless method of handling eggs1 may be obtained by a comparison of the actual average prices received for all eggs sold in ,new ,york ,city1 and the wholesale prices quoted by a prominent ,new ,york firm dealing in high grade goods4 ,the contrasted price for the year #aijg are as follows3 ,prices at which total goods ,wholesale prices for strictly moved4 fresh eggs4 ,january #be4h ,january #db4 ,february #bd4e ,february #dj4 ,march #ai4c ,march #cb4 ,april #af4i ,april #cj4 ,may #af4f ,may #ca4 ,june #ae4e ,june #cb4 ,july #ae4f ,july #ce4 ,august #ag4g ,august #ch4 ,september #bj4g ,september #dj4 ,october #ba4d ,october #db4 ,november #bf4j ,november #de4 ,december #bg4g ,december #dh4 ,the total values figured by multiplying these prices by the ,new ,york receipts1 are as follows3 ,amount actually received #bc1hcb1jjj ,values at quotations for strictly fresh #dd1gcj1jjj ,no one would contend it is possible to bring the entire egg crop of the country up to the latter value1 but the fact that there is a definite market for eggs of first class quality at almost double the figures for which the egg crop as a whole is actually sold1 is a point very significant to the ambitious producer of high grade eggs4 ,requisites of the ,production of ,high ,grade ,eggs4 7a7 ,hens that produce a goodly number of eggs1 and at the same time an egg that is moderately large 7average two ounces each74 ,plymouth ,rocks1 ,wyandottes1 ,rhode ,island ,reds1 ,orpingtons1 ,leghorns1 ,minorcas are the varieties which will do this4 7b7 ,good housing1 regular feeding and watering1 and above all clean1 dry nests4 7c7 ,daily gathering of eggs1 when the temperature is above #hj degrees1 gathering twice a day4 7d7 ,the confining of all broody hens as soon as discovered4 7e7 ,the rejection as doubtful of all eggs found in a nest which was not visited the previous day4 7,such eggs should be used at home where each may be broken separately74 7f7 ,the placing as soon as gathered of all summer eggs in the coolest spot available4 7g7 ,the prevention at all times of moisture in any form coming in contact with the egg's shell4 7h7 ,the selling of young cockerels before they begin to annoy the hens4 ,also the selling or confining of old male birds from the time hatching is over until cool weather in fall4 7i7 ,the using of cracked and dirty1 as well as small eggs1 at home4 ,such eggs if consumed when fresh are perfectly wholesome1 but when marketed are discriminated against and are likely to become an entire loss4 7j7 ,keeping eggs away from musty cellars or bad odors4 7k7 ,keeping the egg as cool and dry as possible while en route to market4 7l7 ,the marketing of all eggs at least once per week and oftener1 when facilities permit4 7m7 ,the use of strong1 clean cases or cartons and good fillers4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,how ,,eggs ,,are ,,marketed ,the methods by which the larger number of ,american eggs pass from the producer to consumer is as follows3 ,the eggs are gathered by the farmer with varying regularity and are brought perhaps on the average of once a week1 to the local village merchant4 ,this merchant receives weekly quotations from a number of surrounding egg dealers and at intervals of from two days to two weeks1 ships to such a dealer1 by local freight4 ,the dealer buys the eggs case count1 that is1 he pays for them by the case regardless of quality4 ,he then repacks the eggs in new cases and1 with the exception of a period in the early spring1 candles them4 ,this dealer1 in turn1 receives quotations from city egg houses and sells to them by wire4 ,he usually ships in carload lots4 ,the city receiver may also be a jobber who sells to grocers1 or he may sell the car outright to a jobbing house4 ,the jobber re-candles the eggs1 sorting them into a number of grades1 which are sold to various classes of trade4 ,the last link in the chain is the housewife1 who by 'phone or personal call1 asks for a dozen nice fresh eggs4 ,this most frequently repeated story of the ,american egg applies particularly in the case of eggs produced west of the ,mississippi and marketed in the very large cities of the ,east4 ,we will now discuss the various steps of the egg trade1 pointing out the reason for the existence of the present methods and their influence upon quality and consequent value4 ,the ,country ,merchant4 ,the country merchant is the logical business link between the farmer and the outside world and usually continues to act as the farmers' buyer and seller until the commodity dealt in becomes of such importance as to demand more specialized form of marketing4 ,eggs being a perishable crop continuously produced1 must be marketed at frequent intervals1 and the trips to the general store1 necessary to supply the household needs1 offers the only convenient opportunity for such marketing4 ,the merchant buys eggs because by doing so he can control his selling trade4 ,the farmer trades where he sells his eggs1 because it is convenient to do both errands at one place1 and also because he wishes to avoid affronting the merchant by breaking the established custom of trading out the amount4 ,for these reasons the merchant knows that to buy eggs means to sell goods1 and he therefore bids for eggs4 ,his competitors across the street1 and in other towns1 also bid for eggs4 ,the effect to the merchant of lowering the price of his goods or raising the price of eggs is financially the same4 ,in either case it is the matter of cutting the prices under the spur of competition4 ,now1 the articles on which the merchant make his chief profits from the farmers' trade are dry goods and notions4 ,such articles are not standardized1 but vary in a manner quite impossible of estimation by the unsophisticated4 ,on the other hand1 eggs are quoted by the dozen1 and all that run may read4 ,suppose1 for illustration1 two merchants in the same town are each doing a business with a twenty per cent4 profit1 and are buying eggs at ten cents and selling for eleven1 the cent advance being sufficient to pay for their labor1 incidental loss1 and a small profit4 ,now one merchant concludes to play for more trade4 ,if he marks his goods down he would gain some trade1 but many people would fear his goods were cheap4 ,but if he puts up a placard1 ,eleven ,cents ,paid ,for ,eggs1 the farmers will throng his store and never question the quality of his goods4 ,this move having been successful1 his rival across the street quietly stocks up with a cheaper line of dry goods1 and some fine morning puts out a card1 ,twelve ,cents ,for ,eggs4 ,the farm wagons this week will be hitched on the other side of the street4 ,the rate of business at ten per cent1 being insufficient to maintain two men in the town1 a mutual understanding is gradually brought about by which the prices of goods sold are worked back to the basis of twenty per cent1 gross profit1 but the false price of eggs will serve to draw the trade from neighboring towns and is therefore maintained4 ,as a matter of fact the price paid to farmers for eggs by the general stores of the ,mississippi ,valley is frequently one to two cents above the price at which the storekeeper sells the product4 ,allowing the cost of handling1 we have a condition prevailing in which the merchant is handling eggs at from five to ten per cent4 loss1 and it stands to reason that he is making up the loss by adding that per cent4 to his profits on his goods4 ,some of the effects of this system are3 #a--,the inflated prices of merchandise is an injustice to the townspeople and to farmers not selling produce1 in fact it amounts to a taxation of these people for the benefit of the egg producers4 #b--,the inflated prices of merchant's wares work to his disadvantage in competition with mail order or out-of-town trade4 #c--,the farmer who exchanges eggs for dry goods is not being paid more for his eggs1 save as the tax on the townspeople contributes a little to that end1 but is in the main merely swapping more dollars4 #d--,the use of eggs as a drawing card for trade works in favor of inferior produce1 and the loss to the farmer through the lowering of prices thus caused1 is much greater than his gain through the forced contributions of his neighbors4 ,the ,huckster4 ,the huckster or peddling wagon which gathers eggs and other produce directly from the farm1 prevail east and south of a line drawn from ,galveston to ,chicago through ,texarkana1 ,ark41 ,springfield1 ,mo41 and ,st4 ,louis4 ,north and west of this line the huckster is almost unknown4 ,the huckster wagons may be of the following types3 #a--;,an extension of the local grocery store1 trading merchandise for eggs4 #b--;,an independent traveling peddler4 #c--;,a cash dealer who buys his load1 and hauls it to the nearest city where he peddles the produce from house to house or sells it to city grocers4 #d--;,a representative of the local produce buyer4 #e--;,a fifth style of egg wagon does not visit the farm at all1 but is a system of rural freight service run by a produce buyer for the purpose of collecting the eggs from country stores4 ,as far as the quality of product and advantage to the farmer is concerned1 the fourth style of huckster is preferable4 ,this style exists chiefly in ,indiana and ,michigan1 and the better settled regions of ,kentucky and ,tennessee4 ,the writer found hucksters in southern ,michigan working on a profit of one-half a cent per dozen1 while in the mountains of ,tennessee he found a huckster paying ten cents for eggs that were worth eighteen cents in ,chattanooga1 and twenty-three cents in ,new ,york4 ,the huckster scheme of gathering eggs would seemingly be a means of obtaining good eggs because of the advantage of regularity of collection1 but in reality it does not always work out that way4 ,while it must be admitted that in the isolated regions of the ,middle and ,southern ,states the presence of the huckster is the only factor that makes egg selling possible1 it is also true that the peddling huckster of those regions usually disregards the first principles of handling perishable products4 ,he makes a week's trip in sun and rain with his load of produce1 with the result that the quality of his summer eggs is about as low as can be found4 ,in the more densely populated region with a twice or thrice a week1 or even daily service1 the huckster egg becomes the finest farm grown egg in the market4 ,the second step in the usual scheme of egg marketing is the sale of eggs collected by the small storekeeper to the produce man or shipper4 ,the ,produce ,buyer4 ,throughout the ,mississippi ,valley there are wholesale produce houses at all important railroad junctions4 ,a typical house will ship the produce of one to three counties4 ,these houses1 once a week or oftener1 send out postal card quotations4 ,these quotations read so much per case1 and are usually case count1 with a reservation1 however1 of the privilege to reject or charge loss on goods that are utterly bad4 ,each grocery receives quotations from one to a dozen such houses1 and perhaps also from commission firms in the nearest city4 ,the highest of these quotations gets the shipment4 ,the buyer repacks the eggs and usually candles them1 the strictness of the grading depending upon the intended destination4 ,the loss in candling is generally kept account of1 but is seldom charged back to the shipper4 ,the egg man wants volume of business1 and if he antagonizes a shipper by charging up his loss1 the usual result will be the loss of trade4 ,so the buyer estimates his probable loss and lowers his price enough to cover it4 ,by loss off1 or rots out1 is meant the subtraction of the bad eggs from the number to be paid for4 ,buying on a candled or graded basis1 usually not only means rots cut1 but that a variation of the price is made for two or more grades of merchantable eggs4 ,much discussion prevails among the western egg buyers as to whether eggs should be bought loss off or case count4 ,loss off buying seems to be more desirable and just1 but in practice is fraught with difficulties4 ,if the loss off buyer feels he is losing business1 he may instruct his candler to grade more closely1 which means he will pay less4 ,whether done with honest or dishonest intention1 the buyer thus sets the price to be paid after he has the goods in his own hands1 and this is an obviously difficult commercial system4 ,where the buyer in one case changes the grading basis to protect himself1 there are probably ten cases where the eggs really deserve the loss charged2 but the tenth chance gives the seller an opportunity to nurse his loss with the belief that he has been robbed by the buyer4 ,such an uncertain feeling is disagreeable1 and the results are that where one or two competing egg dealers buys loss off1 and the other case count1 the case count man will get most of the business4 ,the case count method being the path of least resistance1 the loss off system can only succeed where there is some factor that overcomes the disinclination of a shipper to let the other man set the price4 ,this factor may be3 #ast--,an exceptional reputation of a particular firm for honesty and fair dealing4 #b;d--,exceptional opportunities for selling fancy goods1 enabling the loss off buyer to pay much higher rates for good stuff4 #c;d--,a condition that prevails in the ,south in the summer1 where the losses are so heavy that the dealers will not take the risk involved in case count buying4 #dth--,some sort of a monopoly4 ,a monopoly for enforcing the loss off system of buying has been brought about in some sections of the ,west by agreement among egg dealers4 ,in such cases the usual experience has been that some one would get anxious for more business1 and begin quoting case count1 the result being that he would get the business of the disgruntled shippers in his section4 ,when one buyer begins quoting case count1 the remainder rapidly follow suit and case count buying is quickly re-established4 ,the ,city ,distribution of ,eggs4 ,in name1 city egg dealers are usually commission houses1 but in practice the majority of large lots of eggs are now bought by telegraph and the prices definitely known before shipment4 ,in the larger cities eggs are dealt in by a produce board of trade4 ,such exchanges frequently have rules of grading and an official inspector4 ,this gives stability to egg dealing and largely solves the problem of uncertainty as to quality1 so annoying to the country buyer4 ,in the city even1 where official grading is not resorted to1 personal inspection of the lot by the buyer is practical1 and one may know what he is getting4 ,in many cases1 especially in smaller cities1 the receiver is the jobber and sells to the grocers4 ,in larger cities the receiver sells to a firm who makes a business of selling them to groceries1 restaurants1 etc4 ,the jobber grades the eggs as the trade demands4 ,in a western city this may mean two grades--good and bad2 in ,new ,york1 it may mean seven or eight grades1 and the finer of these ones being packed in sealed cartons1 perhaps each egg stamped with the dealer's brand4 ,the city retailer of eggs include grocers1 dairies1 butcher shops1 soda fountains1 hotels1 restaurants and bakeries4 ,the soda fountain trade and the first-class hotel are among the high bidder for strictly first-class eggs4 ,many such institutions in eastern cities are supplied directly from large poultry farms4 ,the figures at which such eggs are purchased are frequently at a given premium above the market quotation1 or a year round contract price for a given number of eggs per week4 ,this premium over common farm eggs may range from one or two cents in western cities1 to five to twenty cents in ,new ,york and ,boston4 ,an advance of ten cents over the quotation for extras or a year round contract price of thirty-five cents per dozen1 might be considered typical of such arrangements in ,new ,york ,city4 ,some of the larger chain grocers in ,new ,york ,city are in the market for strictly fresh eggs and have even installed buying departments in charge of expert egg men4 ,the great bulk of eggs move through the channels of the small restaurant1 bakery and grocery4 ,in the small cities of the ,central ,west the grocer handles eggs at a margin of one to three cents4 ,in the ,south and farther ,west the margin is two to seven cents1 the retail price always being in the even nickel4 ,in the large eastern city there exists the custom unknown in the ,west of having two or more grades of eggs for sale in the same store4 ,all eggs offered for sale are claimed by the salesman to be strictly fresh or the best1 and yet these eggs may vary if it be ,april from fifteen cents to forty cents1 or if in ,december from thirty cents to seventy-five cents per dozen4 ,the ,new ,york grocers' profit is from two to five cents on cheap eggs1 but runs higher on high grade eggs1 frequently reach twenty cents a dozen and sometimes going as high as forty cents for very fancy stock4 ,city retailing is by far the most expensive item in the marketing of eggs4 ,as an illustration of the profits of the various handlers of eggs might be as follows3 ,paid the farmer in ,iowa 4#ae ,profit of country store 4#jj ,gross profit of shipper 4#jj-c_/d ,freight to ,new ,york 4#ja-a_/b ,gross profit of receiver 4#jj-a_/b ,gross profit of jobber 4#ja-a_/b ,loss from candling 4#ja-a_/b ,gross profit of retailer 4#jd-a_/b ------- ,cost to consumer 4#be ,the cheapest grade of eggs sold are taken by bakeries and for cooking purposes at restaurants4 ,when cooked with other food an egg may have its flavor so covered up that a very repulsive specimen may be used4 ,measures have been frequently taken by city boards of health to stop the sale of spot rots and other low grade eggs4 ,the great difficulty with such regulations is that they are difficult of enforcement because no line of demarcation can be drawn as in the case of adulterated or preserved products4 ,that embryo chicks and bacterially contaminated eggs are consumed by the million cannot be doubted1 but the individual examination of each egg sold would be the only way in which the food inspectors can prevent their use4 ,the egg from the well-kept flock whose subsequent handling has been conducted with intelligence and dispatch is the only egg whose purity is assured with or without law4 ,the encouragement of such production and such handling is the proper sphere of governmental regulations in regard to this product4 ,cold ,storage of ,eggs4 ,the supply of eggs ranges from month to month1 the heavy season of production centering about ,april and the lightest run being in ,november4 ,the cold storage men begin storing eggs in ,march or ,april and continue to store heavily until ,june1 after which time the quality deteriorates and does not keep well in storage4 ,this storage stock begins to move out in ,september and should be cleaned up by ,december4 ,great loss may result if storage eggs are held too long4 ,the effect of the storage business is to even up the prices for the year4 ,the reduction of the exceedingly high winter prices is unfortunate for those who are skilled enough to produce many eggs at that season of the year1 but on a whole the storage business adds to the wealth-producing powers of the hen1 for it serves to increase the annual consumption of eggs and prevents eggs from becoming a drug on the market during the season of heavy production4 ,march and ,april eggs are1 in spite of a long period of storage1 the best quality of storage stock4 ,this is accounted for by the fact that owing to cooler weather and rising price eggs leave the farm in the best condition at this season of the year4 ,because eggs are spoiled by hard freezing1 they must be kept at a higher temperature than meat and butter4 ,temperatures of from #bi degrees to #cj degrees ,f4 are used in cold storage of eggs4 ,at such temperatures the eggs1 if kept in moist air1 become moldy or musty4 ,to prevent this mustiness the air in a first class storage room is kept moderately dry4 ,this shrinks the eggs1 though much more slowly than would occur without storage4 ,the growth of bacteria in cold storage is practically prevented1 but if bacteria are in the eggs when stored they will lie dormant and begin activity when the eggs are warmed up4 ,of the cold storage egg as a whole we can say it is a wholesome food product1 though somewhat inferior in flavor and strength of white to a fresh egg4 ,the cold storage egg can be very nearly duplicated in appearance and quality by allowing eggs to stand for a week or two in a dry room4 ,cold storage eggs1 when in case lots1 can be told by the candler because of the uniform shrinkage1 the presence of mold on cracked eggs and perhaps the occasional presence of certain kinds of spot rots peculiar to storage stock1 but the absolute detection of a single cold storage egg1 so far as the writer knows1 is impossible4 ,it may be further said that with the present prevailing custom of holding eggs without storage facilities for the fall rise of price1 eggs placed in cold storage in ,april are frequently superior to the current fall and early winter receipts4 ,cold storage eggs are generally sold wholesale as cold storage goods1 but are retailed as eggs4 ,the fall eggs offered to the consumer cover every imaginable variation in quality and the poorest ones sold may be a cold storage product1 or they may not be4 ,the ,bureau of ,chemistry of the ,united ,states ,department of ,agriculture has recently announced the finding of certain crystals in the yolks of cold storage eggs that are not present in the fresh stock4 ,this finding of a laboratory method of detecting cold storage stock was at first taken to be a great discovery4 ,further investigation1 however1 indicates that the crystal mentioned forms as the egg ages and that the rate of formation varies with the individual eggs and probably also with the temperature1 so that while crystals may indicate an aged egg1 the discovery only means that the microscopist in the laboratory can now do in a half hour what any egg candler in his booth can do in ten seconds4 ,at the present writing 7,february1 #aiji7 there has been much talk of laws against the sale of cold storage eggs as fresh4 ,the ,federal ,pure ,food ,commission1 under the general law against misbranding1 have made one such prosecution4 ,many ,states have agitated such laws but little or nothing has been done4 ,i find that the idea of such a law is quite popular1 especially with poultrymen4 ,contrary to popular opinion1 the cold storage men and larger egg dealers are not opposed to the law4 ,the people that are hit are the small dealers and especially the city grocers4 ,these fellows buy the eggs at wholesale storage prices and sell them at retail prices for fresh1 thus making excessive profits but cutting down the amount of the sales4 ,this lessens the demand for storage stock and lowers the wholesale price4 ,this is the reason the wholesaler and warehouse man are in favor of the law4 ,we may all grant that the opportunity given the small dealers to grab quick gains and in so doing hurt the trade ought to be abolished4 ,but how are we to do it8 ,have ,state and ,federal branding of the cases as they go into or come out of storage1 says one--an excellent plan1 to be sure by which the grocers could buy one case of fresh1 eggs and a back room full of storage goods and do ,elijah's flour barrel trick to perfection4 ,clearly government inspection and stamping of each egg is the only method that would be effective and the consideration of what this means turns the whole matter into a joke4 ,the official inspection now maintained by the boards of trade of the larger cities may be extended and the producers1 dealers and consuming public may be educated to appreciate quality in eggs1 as they have been in dairy products4 ,city and ,state laws may also be made which will taboo the sale of spot eggs or eggs that will float on water4 ,meanwhile1 a great opportunity is open for the man who has high grade eggs for sale1 whether he be producer or tradesman4 ,many eggs that would not do for ordinary storage are preserved by direct freezing4 ,these eggs are broken and carefully sorted and placed in large cans and then frozen4 ,such a product is disposed of to bakers1 confectioners and others desiring eggs in large quantities4 ,another method of preserving eggs is by evaporation4 ,evaporated or dried egg is1 weight considered1 about the most nourishing food product known4 ,the chief value of such an article lies in provisioning inaccessible regions4 ,there is no reason1 however1 why this product should not become a common article of diet during the season of high prices of eggs4 ,dried eggs can be eaten as custards1 omelets1 or similar dishes4 ,preserving ,eggs ,out of ,cold ,storage4 ,occasional articles have been printed in agricultural papers calling attention to the fact that the cold storage men were reaping vast profits which rightfully belonged to the farmer4 ,such writers advise the farmer to send his own eggs to the storage house or to preserve them by other means4 ,as a matter of fact the business of storing eggs has not of late years been particularly profitable1 there being severe losses during several seasons2 ,even were the profit of egg storing many times greater than they are the above advice would still be unwise1 for the storing1 removing and selling of a small quantity of eggs would eat up all possible profit4 ,the only reliable methods of preserving eggs outside of cold storage are as follows3 ,liming3 ,make a saturated solution of lime1 to which salt may be added1 let it settle1 dip off the clear liquid1 put the eggs in while fresh1 keep them submerged in the liquid and keep the liquid as cold as the available location will permit4 ,water glass3 ,this is exactly the same as liming except that the solution used is made by mixing ten per cent4 of liquid water glass or sodium silicate with water4 ,liming eggs was formerly more popular than it is to-day4 ,there are still two large liming plants in this country and several in ,canada4 ,in ,europe both lime and water glass are used on a more extensive scale4 ,all limed or water glassed eggs can be told at a glance by an experienced candler4 ,they pop open when boiled4 ,when properly preserved they are as well or better flavored than storage stock1 but the farmer or poultryman will make frequent mistakes and thus throw lots of positively bad eggs on the market4 ,these eggs must be sold at a low price themselves1 and by their presence cast suspicion on all eggs1 thus tending to suppress the price paid to the producers4 ,the farmers' efforts to preserve eggs has in this way acted as a boomerang1 and have in the long run caused more loss than gain to the producers4 ,for the poultryman with his own special outlet for high grade goods1 the use of pickling or cold storage is generally not to be considered for fear of hurting his trade4 ,any scheme that would help to overcome the difficulty of getting sufficient fresh eggs to supply such customers in the season of scarcity would be of great advantage4 ,the proposition of pickling a limited number of eggs and selling them for cooking purposes1 explaining just what they are1 ought to offer something of a solution1 although1 to the writer's knowledge1 it has not been done4 ,improved ,methods of ,marketing ,farm-,grown ,eggs4 ,the loss to the farmers of this country from the careless handling of eggs is something enormous4 ,no great or sudden change in this state of affairs can be brought about1 but a few points on how this loss may be averted will not be out of order4 ,numerous efforts have recently been made in western states to prevent the sale of bad eggs by law4 ,minnesota began this work by arresting several farmers and dealers4 ,the parties invariably pleaded guilty4 ,a number of other ,states followed the example of ,minnesota in challenging the sale of rotten eggs1 but few prosecutions were made4 ,such laws mean well enough1 but the only efficient means of enforcing them would be to have food inspectors who are trained as practical candlers4 ,the present usefulness of the laws is in calling the attention of the farmer to the mistake that he may be carelessly committing1 and in placing over him a fear of possible disgrace in case of arrest and prosecution4 ,the weakness of the law is the difficulty of its enforcement because of the number of violations1 and the difficulty of drawing distinct lines in regard to which eggs are to be considered unlawful4 ,education of the farmer as to the situation is1 of course1 the surest means of preventing the loss1 but the education of ten millions of farmers is easier to suggest than to execute4 ,the most effective plan of education would be the introduction of a method of buying eggs similar to the one in vogue in ,denmark1 in which every producer is paid strictly in accordance with the quality of his eggs4 ,with our complicated system involving five to six dealers between the producer and the consumer1 such a system is well nigh impossible4 ,with the introduction of co-operative buying or the community system of production1 paying for quality becomes entirely possible4 ,for enterprising farming communities1 the following plans offer a cure for the evil of general store buying that take good and bad alike and causes the worthy farmer to suffer for the carelessness and dishonesty of his neighbor4 ,first3 ,the encouragement of the cash buying of produce1 and1 if possible1 the candling of all eggs with proper deduction for loss4 ,second3 ,the buying of eggs by co-operative creameries4 ,the greatest difficulty in this has been the opposition of the merchants1 who through numerous ways available in a small town1 may retaliate and injure the creamery patronage to an extent greater than the newly installed egg business will repay4 ,third3 ,the agreement of the merchants to turn all egg buying over to a single produce buyer4 ,this has been successfully done in a few instances1 but there are not many towns in which those interested will stick to such an agreement4 ,the worst fault with this plan is that the moment the egg buyer is given a monopoly he is tempted to lower the farmer's prices for the purpose of increasing his own profits4 ,fourth3 ,a modification of the above scheme is the case in which the produce buyer is on a salary and in the employment of the merchants4 ,this scheme has been successfully carried into effect in some ,nebraska towns4 ,it may be the ultimate solution of the egg buying in the ,west4 ,it eliminates the temptation of the buyer to use his privilege of monopoly to fatten his own pocket-book4 ,the weakness of the plan is that a salaried man's efficiency in the close bargaining necessary to sell the goods is inferior to that of the man trading for himself4 ,other difficulties are3 ,getting a group of merchants who will live up to such an agreement2 the farmers object to driving to two places2 the competition of other towns2 the merchants' realization that1 the farmer with cash in his pocket or a check good at all stores1 is not as certain a trader as one standing1 egg basket on arm1 before the counter2 and last1 and most convincing1 the merchant's further realization that any fine ,saturday morning1 with eggs selling at fifteen cents at the produce house1 he may stick out a card ,sixteen ,cents ,paid for ,eggs and make more money in one day than his competitors did all week4 ,fifth3 ,co-operative egg buying by the farmers themselves4 ,this has been discussed in a previous chapter4 ,it is all right in localities where the business is big enough to warrant it and the farmers are intelligent and enthusiastic to back it up and stick to it4 ,the ,high ,grade ,egg ,business4 ,there are many excellent opportunities for men of moderate capital and ability in the high grade egg trade4 ,the produce business on its present line1 either at the country end or at the city end1 is as open as any well-known form of business enterprise can be4 ,the chances of success for a man new to the trade will be better1 however1 if he can find a niche in the business where he may crowd in and establish himself before the old firms realize what is up4 ,the proposition of buying high grade eggs from producers and selling direct to consumers is a proposition of this kind4 ,the little game of existence is chiefly one of apeing our betters and strutting before the lesser members of the flock4 ,the large cities are full of people in search of some way to display their superior wealth1 taste and exclusiveness4 ,if an ingenious dealer takes a dozen eggs from common candled stock1 places them in a blue lined box and labels them ,exquisite ,ovarian ,deposital1 he can sell quite a few of them at a long price1 but the game has its limits4 ,now1 let this man secure a truly high grade article from reliable producers1 teach his customers the points that actually distinguish his eggs from common stock1 and he can get not only the sucker trade above referred to but a more satisfactory and permanent trade from that class of people who are willing to pay for genuine superiority but whose ears have not quite grown through their hats4 ,an express messenger running out of ,st4 ,louis became interested in the egg trade4 ,he arranged with a few country friends to ship him their eggs4 ,these he candled in his house cellar and began selling them to a limited trade in the wealthy section of the city4 ,at first he delivered the eggs himself4 ,this was in the ,world's ,fair year of #aijd4 ,in #aijh he did a #ajj1jjj worth of business and his type of business shows a much better percentage of profit than that of the ordinary type of dealer4 ,in ,chicago1 one of the large dairy companies established an egg department and placed a young man in charge of it4 ,the eggs in this case are not bought of farmers but are secured from country produce buyers whom the ,chicago company have encouraged to educate their farmers to bring in a high grade of goods4 ,these people buy their eggs in ,tennessee in the winter and in ,minnesota in the summer1 thus getting the best eggs the year round4 ,they sell by wagon on regular routes4 ,the business is growing nicely and pays good profits4 ,other similar concerns are operating in ,chicago and other large cities4 ,they are not numerous1 however1 and there is room for more4 ,the reason the business has not been overdone is chiefly because of the difficulty of getting sufficiently really high grade eggs in the season of scarcity4 ,southern winter eggs are destined to relieve this situation more and more4 ,another great difficulty with a plan that attempts to buy eggs directly from the producer is that premium offered on the goods tempts the farmer to go out and buy up eggs from his neighbors4 ,this brings disastrous results in the quality of the goods and the farmer must be dropped from the list4 ,in order to make a success1 a system of buying directly from producers must be based upon a grading scheme that will pay for the actual quality of the eggs4 ,no fear then need be exercised as to whether the farmer sells his own eggs or those of his neighbor4 ,the following extract from ,farmer's ,bulletin #abh of the ,u4,s4 ,department of ,agriculture has been used as advertising dope in the sale of high grade eggs3 ,under certain conditions eggs may be the cause of illness by communicating some bacterial disease or some parasite4 ,it is possible for an egg to become infected with micro-organisms1 either before it is laid or after4 ,the shell is porous1 and offers no greater resistance to micro-organisms which cause disease than it does to those which cause the egg to spoil or rot4 ,when the infected egg is eaten raw the microorganisms1 if present1 are communicated to man and may cause disease4 ,if an egg remains in a dirty nest1 defiled with the micro-organisms which cause typhoid fever1 carried there on the hen's feet or feathers1 it is not strange if some of these bacteria occasionally penetrate the shell and the egg thus becomes a possible source of infection4 ,perhaps one of the most common troubles due to bacterial infection of eggs is the more or less serious illness sometimes caused by eating those which are 'stale4' ,this often resembles ptomaine poisoning1 which is caused1 not by micro-organisms themselves1 but by the poisonous products which they elaborate from materials on which they grow4 ,in view of this possibility1 it is best to keep eggs as clean as possible and thus endeavor to prevent infection4 ,clean poultry-houses1 poultry-runs and nests are important1 and eggs should always be stored and marketed under sanitary conditions4 ,the subject of handling food in a cleanly manner is given entirely too little attention4 ,the reprint upon the succeeding pages will give some idea of the advertising literature used in selling high grade eggs4 ,this is a copy of a hand-bill inserted in the egg boxes of a prominent ,chicago dealer3 99 99 99 99 99 ,,moore',s ,,breakfast ,,eggs are guaranteed to be perfect in quality when you receive them and to remain so until all eaten up4 ,if for any reason they are not satisfactory return the ,eggs to your dealer and get your money back4 7,signature47 ,,we ,,urge ,,you to assist us in our endeavor to furnish you at all times with the finest ,eggs by being careful to ,,keep ,,them ,,dry ,a damp filler will in #bd hours make the finest fresh ,eggs taste like old ,cold ,storage ,eggs4 ,the flavor of an ,egg cannot be detected even by the powerful electric lights used to inspect every ,egg in this package1 so it might be possible for a strong ,egg to get by our inspectors1 but in the past the cause of nearly every complaint has been traced to the consumer's ice box or pantry window sill4 ,,remember ,eggs are #be;c-#dj;c per doz4 retail only when fine ,eggs are scarce4 ,ordinarily we can get a sufficient supply from the farmers bringing milk daily to the creameries where we make ,delicia ,pure ,cream ,butter1 but in times of scarcity we often have to go as far as ,oklahoma1 ,arkansas or ,tennessee to find the best ,eggs4 ,these are not equal to our creamery ,eggs but are the freshest and best to be had and are vastly superior to the old ,cold ,storage ,eggs that flood the market at such times4 ,be ,sure ,this ,seal is ,unbroken ,when ,you ,get the ,eggs ,w4 ,s4 ,,moore ,,co41 ,chicago ,office--#aca ,south ,water ,street4 ,buying ,eggs ,by ,weight4 ,whenever an improved method of buying is installed1 eggs should be bought of the producer by weight4 ,as far as selling to the consumer is concerned1 the present scheme is more feasible2 this scheme is to grade according to the size and other qualities1 and sell by the dozen1 the price per dozen varying according to the grade4 ,buying by weight simplifies the problem of grading4 ,it will1 in addition1 only be necessary to have a fine of so much for eggs that are wrong in quality4 ,for rotten or heated eggs should be deducted an amount considerably in excess of their value1 for their presence is a source of danger to the reputation of the brand4 ,shrunken eggs are hard to classify4 ,in order that this may be done fairly and uniformly the specific gravity or brine test should be used4 ,all eggs that float in a given salt brine of1 say1 #a4je specific gravity should be fined4 ,two or more grades can be made in this fashion if desired4 ,the ,retailing of ,eggs by the ,producer4 ,in poultry papers the poultryman has been commonly advised to get near a large city and retail his own eggs at a fancy price4 ,this sounds all right on paper but in practice it works out differently4 ,a man cannot be in two places or do two things at the same time4 ,the poultryman's time is valuable on his plant1 and the question is whether he can handle city sales as well as a man who made it his business4 ,if the poultryman tries to retail his own goods he will be working on too small a scale to advertise his goods or to make deliveries economically4 ,the man making a specialty of the city end can sell ten to a hundred times as much produce as one poultryman can produce4 ,with a group of poultry farmers working co-operatively1 or a large corporation having contracts with producers1 the producing and selling end can be brought under the same management advantageously4 ,the isolated poultryman1 unless he find a market at his very door1 will do better to permit at least one middleman to slip in between himself and the consumer4 ,but there is no reason why he should not know this middleman personally and insist upon a method of buying that will pay him upon the merits of his goods4 ,consigning eggs or any other produce to commission men1 without a definite understanding1 will always be1 as it always has been1 a source of dissatisfaction and loss4 ,there is a great opportunity here for the man who can organize a system that shall do away with commission houses1 other intermediate steps1 and form the single step from producer to consumer4 ,some people say that farmers cannot be dealt with in this manner4 ,such people would probably have said as much about general merchandising before the days of the mail order houses4 ,it is all a matter of efficient organization4 ,a system of business fitted to deal in carload lots will1 of course1 fail when dealing with half cases4 ,it is more difficult to deal in little things than in big ones because the margin is closer1 but it can and will be done4 ,the ,price of ,eggs4 ,we will consider the price of all eggs from the quotation of ,western firsts in the ,new ,york market4 ,the reason for this is evident4 ,every egg raised east of ,colorado is in line for shipment to ,new ,york4 ,if other towns get eggs they must pay sufficiently to keep them from going to ,new ,york4 ,in pricing eggs we have first to consider the price of ,western firsts in ,new ,york and secondly the quality relation of the particular grade to ,western firsts and the consequent relation in price4 ,the price of eggs varies with the price of other commodities as the periods of prosperity and adversity follow one another through the years4 ,as is well known1 all prices in the '#ij's passed through a period of depression4 ,for eggs this reached a base in #ahig4 ,since then there has been a gradual climb till this realized a high point in #aijd1 remained high till #aijg4 ,in the spring of #aijh egg prices dropped again1 but the fall prices of #aijh were exceptionally high4 ,as this work goes to press 7,may1 #aiji7 eggs are going into storage at the highest ,may price on record4 ,the prices of eggs also vary independently of other commodities because of a gradual changing relation between production and consumption4 ,as stated in the first chapter the prices of poultry products have shown a general rise when compared with other articles4 ,this has been most marked since #aijj4 ,as for the future we cannot prophesy save to say that there is nothing in sight to lead us to believe that we will not go still higher in egg prices4 ,a third variation in the price of eggs is the one caused by the seasonal relation of production and consumption4 ,this change is from year to year fairly constant4 ,its normal may be seen in the scientifically smoothed curve in plate ,,iv4 ,this curve is based upon the ,new ,york prices for the last eighteen years4 ,in addition to these broader influences there are disturbing tendencies that cause the market to fluctuate back and forth across the line where the more general influences would place it4 ,of those general factors1 weather is the most important4 ,storms1 rain and cold in the egg producing region decrease the lay1 lower supplies and raise the price4 ,this is due both to the fact that laying is cut down and that the country roads become impassable and the farmers do not bring the eggs to town4 ,as long as there are storage eggs in the warehouses weather conditions are not so effective1 but when these are gone1 which is usually about the first of the year1 the egg market becomes highly sensitive to all weather changes4 ,suppose late in ,february storms and snows force up the price of eggs4 ,this is followed by a warm spell which starts the ,march lay4 ,the roads1 meanwhile1 are in a quagmire from melting snows4 ,when they do dry up eggs come to town by the wagon loads4 ,a drop of ten cents or more may occur on such occasions within a day or two's time4 ,this is known as the spring drop and for one to get caught with eggs on hand means heavy losses4 ,when once eggs have suffered this drop to the spring level or the storage price for the season1 the prices for ,april1 ,may and ,june will remain fairly steady4 ,about the last week in ,june the summer climb begins4 ,this goes on very steadily with local variation of about the same as those of the spring months4 ,the storage eggs begin to come out in ,august and at first sell about the same as fresh4 ,as the season advances the fresh product continues to rise in price4 ,the storage egg price will remain fairly uniform4 ,by ,november the season of high prices is reached4 ,if storage eggs are still plentiful and the weather is mild sudden variations in price may occur4 ,these are caused by a fear that the storage eggs will not all be consumed before spring4 ,if an oversupply of eggs have been stored a warm spell in winter will make a heavy drop in the market1 but if storage eggs are scarce the sudden variations will be up-shots due to cold waves4 ,from ,november until spring egg prices are a creature of the weather maps and sudden jumps from #e to #aj cents may occur at any time4 ,illustration3 ,plate ,,iv4 ,page #aei4 ,graphs of egg prices and volume of egg sales as they vary throughout the year4 ,the price curve of #aijh1 which is represented by the dotted line in plate ,,iv will illustrate these general principles4 ,in the lower portion of plate ,,iv is given the curves for the ,new ,york receipts4 ,the heavy line represents the smoothed or normal curve1 deduced from eighteen years' statistics and calculated for the year #aijh4 ,the dotted line shows the actual receipts of #aijh4 ,a comparison week by week of the receipts and price will show the detailed workings of the law of supply and demand4 ,aside from the weather there are other factors that perceptibly affect the receipts and price of eggs4 ,a high price of meat will increase farm and village consumption of eggs and cut down the receipts that reach the city4 ,abundance of fruit in the city market will cut down the demand for eggs4 ,a cold1 wet spring will increase the mortality of chicks and cause a decreased egg yield the following season1 due to a scarcity of pullets4 ,scarcity and high price of feed will cut down the egg yield4 ,high price of hens is said by some to cut down the egg yield1 but ,i think this is doubtful1 as the impulse to sell off the hens is counteracted by the desire to keep 'em and raise more4 ,the following are the quotations taken from the ,new ,york ,price-,current for ,november #ad1 #aijh3 ,state1 ,pennsylvania and nearby fresh eggs continue in very small supply and of more or less irregular quality1 a good many being mixed with held eggs--sometimes with pickled stock4 ,the few new laid lots received direct from henneries command extreme prices--sometimes working out in a small way above any figures that could fairly be quoted as a wholesale value4 ,we quote3 ,selected white1 fancy1 #dhej;c42 do41 fair to choice1 #cedf;c42 do41 lower grades1 #bfcb;c42 brown and mixed1 fancy1 #chdj;c42 do41 fair to choice1 #cjcf;c2 do41 lower grades1 #bebh;c4 ,n4,y4 ,mercantile ,exchange ,official ,quotations4 ,fresh gathered1 extras1 per dozen #cg ,fresh gathered1 firsts #cb #cc ,fresh gathered1 seconds #bi #ca ,fresh gathered1 thirds #be #bh ,dirties1 ,no4 #a #ba #bb ,dirties1 ,no4 #b #ah #bj ,dirties1 inferior #ab #ag ,checks1 fresh gathered1 fair to prime #ah #bj ,checks1 inferior #ab #af ,refrigerator1 firsts1 charges paid for season #bd #bd-a_/b ,refrigerator1 firsts1 on dock #bc #bc-a_/b ,refrigerator1 seconds1 charges paid for season #bb-a_/b #bc-a_/b ,refrigerator1 seconds1 on dock #ba-a_/b #bb-a_/b ,refrigerator1 thirds #bj #ba ,limed1 firsts #bb-a_/b #bc ,limed1 seconds #ba #bb ,the writer was in the ,new ,york market at the time and saw many cases of ,white ,leghorn eggs sell wholesale at as high as #ee cents4 ,these were commonly retailed at #e cents each4 ,there were a good many brands retailing at #fe cents and one of the largest high class groceries was selling for #gj cents4 ,this is practically double the official quotations and three times that of cold storage stock4 ,the above prices represent a fair sample of the fall prices of #aijh4 ,it should be noted that the #aijh fall prices were relatively somewhat better than the rest of the season4 ,the time of high prices is also the time of the greatest variation in the price of the different grades4 ,in the springtime all eggs are fairly fresh and good1 and the fanciest eggs bring wholesale only two or three cents above quotations4 ,there are a few retailers who hold the spring prices to their customers up above the general market4 ,one ,new ,york firm that does a large high class egg business never lets their price at any season go below #dj cents4 ,this1 of course1 means big profits and sales only to those who1 when they are satisfied1 never bother about price4 ,in the fall any man who has fresh eggs can sell them at very near the highest price1 but in the spring only a small per cent4 can go at fancy prices and the great majority of even the high grade eggs must go at very ordinary prices4 ,in the summer months there is not so much demand in the cities1 as the wealthy are not there to buy4 ,the coast and mountain resorts are then good markets for fancy produce4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,breeds ,,of ,,chickens ,i do not place much dependence on the results of breed tests4 ,indeed1 ,i consider the almost universal use of the ,barred ,rock in the most productive farm poultry regions in the ,united ,states1 and the equal predominance of ,s4,c4 ,white ,leghorns on the egg farms of ,new ,york and ,california1 as far more conclusive than any possible breed tests4 ,breed ,tests4 ,in ,australia there has been conducted a series of breed tests so remarkable and extensive that the writer considers them well worth quoting4 ,the ,hawkesbury ,agricultural ,college tests extend over a period of five years1 the pens entered were of six birds each1 and the time one year4 ,the results were as follows3 ,no4 of ,pens ,yield of ,average ,yield ,competing ,highest ,pen of ,all ,pens #aijc 444 #gj #bah #afc #aijd 444 #ajj #bjd #aeb #aije 444 #ajj #bce #afb #aijf 444 #ajj #bdg #agg #aijg 444 #fj #bde #agc ,the winners and losers for five years were as follows3 ,winning ,pen ,losing ,pen #aijc ,silver ,wyandotte ,silver ,wyandotte #aijd ,silver ,wyandotte ,partridge ,wyandotte #aije ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns #aijf ,black ,langshans ,golden ,wyandotte #aijg ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns ,s4,c4,b4 ,leghorns ,as a matter of fact1 the winning pen means little for breed comparison4 ,this is shown by the winning and losing pens frequently being of the same breed4 ,the average for hens of one breed for the whole five years is more enlightening4 ,for the three most popular ,australian breeds1 these grand averages are3 ,average ,av4 ,wt4 ,eggs4 ,no4 ,hens ,egg ,yield ,oz4 ,per ,doz4 ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns 444 #efd #age4e #bf4d ,black ,orpingtons 444 #ebb #aff4f #bf4a ,silver ,wyandottes 444 #dgd #afa4a #bd4i ,these figures are undoubtedly the most trustworthy breed comparisons that have ever been obtained4 ,when we go into the other breeds1 however1 with smaller numbers entered1 the results show chance variation and become untrustworthy1 for illustration3 ,r4,c4 ,brown ,leghorns1 with #db birds entered1 have an average of #agf4d4 ,this does not signify that the ,r4,c4 ,browns are better than the ,s4,s4 ,whites1 for if the ,whites were divided by chance into a dozen lots of similar size1 some would undoubtedly have surpassed the ,r4,c4 ,browns4 ,as further proof1 take the case of the ,r4,c4,w4 ,leghorns with #cf birds entered and an egg yield of #aff4i4 ,both breeds are probably a little poorer layers than ,s4,c4 ,whites1 but luck was with the ,r4,c4 ,browns and against the ,r4,c4 ,whites4 ,for a discussion of this principle of the worth of averages from different sized flocks see ,chapter ,,xv4 ,all ,leghorns in the tests with #hdf birds entered1 averaged #agj4c eggs each4 ,all of the general purpose breeds 7,rocks1 ,wyandottes1 ,reds and ,orpingtons71 with #adaf birds entered1 averaged #afj4b4 ,the comparison between the ,leghorns and the general purpose fowls as classes is undoubtedly a fair one4 ,a study of the relations between the leading breeds in these groups and the general average of these groups is worth while4 ,it bears out the writer's statement that the best fowls of a group or breed are to be found in the popular variety of that breed4 ,the ,australian poultryman1 wanting utility only1 would do wise to choose out of the three great ,australian breeds here mentioned4 ,the ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorn is the only one of the three breeds to which the advice would apply in ,america4 ,barred ,rocks and perhaps ,white ,wyandottes1 would here represent the other types4 ,there is one more point in the ,australian records worthy of especial mention4 ,the winning pen in #aijf were ,black ,langshans and1 what seems still more remarkable1 were daughters of birds purchased from the original home of ,langshans in ,north ,china4 ,other pens of ,langshans in the test failed to make remarkable records1 but this pen of ,chinese stock1 with a record of #bdf #e-f99 eggs per hen for the first year and #dad #a-b99 eggs per hen for two years1 is the world's record layers beyond all quibble4 ,this record is held by a breed and a region in which we would not expect to find great layers4 ,this holding of the record by a breed hitherto not considered a laying type1 would be comparable to a tenderfoot bagging the pots in an ,arizona gambling den4 ,if the latter incident should occur and be heralded in the papers it would be no proof that it would pay another ,eastern youth to rush out to ,arizona4 ,it is probable that the man who1 on the strength of this single record1 stocks an egg farm with imported ,chinese ,langshans1 will fare as the second tenderfoot4 ,the year following the ,langshan winning1 the first eleven winning pens were all ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns4 ,this is also remarkable--much more remarkable in fact than the ,langshans record4 ,it is like a royal flush in a poker game4 ,standing alone1 this would be very suggestive evidence of the eminence of the breed4 ,standing as it does1 with the combined evidence of years and numbers1 it gives the ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorn hen the same reputation in ,australia as she has in ,america and ,denmark--that of being the greatest egg machine ever created4 ,isolated evidence is misleading4 ,accumulated evidence is convincing4 ,the difference between the scientist and the enthusiast is that the former knows the difference between these two classes of evidence4 ,the ,hen's ,ancestors4 ,to one who is unfamiliar with the different types of chickens found in a poultry showroom1 it seems incredible that these varieties should have descended from one parent source4 ,it was1 however1 held by ,darwin that all domestic chickens were sprung from a single species of ,indian jungle fowl4 ,other scientists have since disputed ,darwin's conclusion1 but it does not seem to the writer that the origin of domestic fowls from more than one wild variety makes the changes that have taken place under domestication any less remarkable4 ,the buff1 white and dominique colors1 unheard of in wild species1 frizzles with their feathers all awry1 the ,polish with their deformed skulls and the sooty fowls whose skin and bones are black1 are some of the remarkable characters that have sprung up and been preserved under domestication4 ,the varieties of domestic fowl form one of the most profound exhibits of man's control over the laws of inheritance4 ,what makes these wonders all the more inexplicable is that these profound changes were accomplished in an age when a scientific study of breeding was a thing unheard of4 ,the wild chicken whom ,darwin credits as the parent of the modern gallinaceous menagerie1 is smaller than modern fowls and is colored in a manner similar to the ,black-breasted ,game4 ,the habits of this bird are like those of the quail and prairie-chicken1 both of which belong to the same zoological family4 ,from its natural home in ,india the chicken spread east and west4 ,chinese poultry culture is ancient4 ,in ,china1 as well as in ,india1 the chief care seems to have been to breed very large fowls1 and from these countries all the large1 heavily feathered and feather legged chickens of the modern world have come4 ,poultry is also known to have been bred in the early ,babylonian and ,egyptian periods4 ,here1 however1 the progress was in a different line from that of ,china4 ,artificial incubation was early developed1 and the selection was for birds that produced eggs continually1 rather than for those that laid fewer eggs and brooded in the natural manner4 ,the ,egyptian type of chicken spread to the countries bordering on the ,mediterranean1 and from ,southern ,europe our non-sitting breeds of fowls have been imported4 ,throughout the countries of ,northern ,europe minor differences were developed4 ,the ,french chickens were selected for the quality of the meat1 while in ,poland the peculiar top-knotted breed is supposed to have been formed4 ,the ,english ,dorking is one of the oldest of ,european breeds and is possessed of five toes4 ,five-toed fowls were reported in ,rome and exist to-day in ,turkey and ,japan4 ,the ,dorkings may be descended directly from the ,roman fowls1 or various strains of five-toed fowls may have arisen independently from the preservation of sports4 ,the chief point to be noted in all ,european poultry is that it differs from ,asiatic poultry in being smaller1 lighter feathered1 quicker maturing1 of greater egg-producing capacity1 less disposed to become broody1 and more active than the ,asiatic fowl4 ,the early ,american hens were of ,european origin1 but of no fixed breeds4 ,about #ahdj ,italian chickens began to be imported4 ,these1 with stock from ,spain1 have been bred for fixed types of form and color1 and constitute our ,mediterranean or non-sitting breeds of the present day4 ,soon after the importation of ,italian chickens a chance importation was made from ,southeastern ,asia4 ,these ,asiatic chickens were quite different from anything yet seen1 and further importations followed4 ,poultry-breeding soon became the fashion4 ,the first poultry show was held in ,boston in the early '#ej's4 ,the ,asiatic fowls imported were gray or yellowish-red in color1 and were variously known as the ,brahmapootras1 ,cochin-,chinas and ,shanghais4 ,with the rapid development of poultry-breeding there came a desire to produce new varieties4 ,every conceivable form of cross-breeding was resorted to4 ,the great majority of breeds and varieties as they exist to-day are the results of crosses followed by a few years of selection for the desired form and color4 ,many of our common breeds still give us occasional individuals that resemble some of the types from which the breed was formed4 ,the exact history of the formation of the ,american or mixed breeds is in dispute1 but it is certain that they have been formed from a complex mixing of blood from both ,european and ,asiatic sources4 ,the ,english have recently furnished the world with a very popular breed which was originated by the same methods4 ,i refer to the ,orpingtons4 ,the ever growing multiplicity of varieties of chicken is in reality only casually related to the business of the poultryman whose object is the production of human food4 ,breeding as an art or vocation1 is a source of endless pleasure to man1 and as such1 is as worthy of encouragement as is painting1 music1 or the collection of the bones of prehistoric animals4 ,breeding as an art has produced many forms of chickens that are entirely worthless as food producers1 but this same group of poultry breeders1 tempered to be sure by the demands of commercialism1 have produced other breeds that are certainly superior for the various commercial purposes to the unselected fowls of the old-fashioned farm-yard4 ,the mongrel chicken is a production of chance4 ,its ancestry represents everything available in the barn-yard of the neighborhood1 and its offspring will be equally varied4 ,in the pure breeds there has been a rigid selection practiced that gives uniform appearance4 ,the size and shape requirements of the standard1 although not based on the market demands1 come much nearer producing an ideal carcass than does chance breeding4 ,ability to mature for the fall shows is a decidedly practical quality that the fancier breeds into his chickens4 ,moreover1 poultry-breeders1 while still keeping standard points in mind1 have also made improvements in the lay and meat-producing qualities of their chickens4 ,considering these facts it is an erroneous idea to think that mongrel chickens offer any advantage over pure bred stock4 ,in the broader sense we may regard as pure-bred those animals that reproduce their shape1 color1 habits1 or other distinctive qualities with uniformity4 ,in order that we may get offspring like the parent and like each other we must have animals whose ancestors for many generations back have been of one type4 ,the more generations of such uniformity1 the more certain it will be that the young will possess similar quality4 ,one strain of chickens may be selected for uniform color of feathers1 another for a certain size and shape1 another for laying large eggs of a certain color1 and yet another strain for being producers of many eggs4 ,each of these strains might be well-bred in these particular traits1 but would be mongrels when the other considerations were taken into account4 ,this explains to us why the family or strains is frequently more important than the breed4 ,in fact1 the whole series of breed classification is arbitrary4 ,this is especially true of the ,american or mixed breeds4 ,humorously turned fanciers at the poultry show frequently have much sport trying to get other fanciers to tell ,white or ,buff ,rocks from ,wyandottes1 when the heads are hidden4 ,from the dressed carcasses with feet and head removed1 the finest set of poultry judges in the world would be hopelessly lost in a collection of ,rocks1 ,wyandottes1 ,reds and ,orpingtons and1 ,i dare say1 one could run in a few ,langshans and ,minorcas if it were not for their black pin feathers4 ,what ,breed4 ,the writer has great admiration for breeding as an art4 ,he would rather be the originator of a breed of green chickens with six toes1 than to have been the author of ,afraid to ,go ,home in the ,dark4 ,but ,i do want the novice who reads this book to be spared some of the mental throes usually indulged in over the selection of a breed4 ,so-called meat breeds1 that is1 the big feather legged ,asiatics save on a few capon and roaster plants in ,new ,england1 are really useless4 ,they have given size to ,american chickens as a class1 and in that have served a useful purpose1 but standing alone they cannot compete with lighter1 quick growing breeds4 ,for commercial consideration there are really but two types3 ,the egg breeds of ,mediterranean origin and the general purpose breeds or growers1 including the ,rocks1 ,wyandottes and ,rhode ,island ,reds4 ,the difference between the layers on the one hand and the growers on the other1 is quite important4 ,which should be used depends on the location and plan of operations1 as has already been discussed4 ,the choice of variety within the group is a matter of taste and chance of sales of fancy stock4 ,this one principle can1 however1 be laid down3 ,the more popular the breed1 the more choice there will be in selecting strains and individuals4 ,pea ,comb ,plymouth ,rocks and ,duckwing ,leghorns should not be considered because of their rarity4 ,of the growers1 their popularity and claims are close enough to make the particular choice unimportant4 ,for commercial consideration1 the writer would as soon invest his money in a flock of ,barred ,rock1 ,white ,wyandottes or ,rhode ,island ,reds4 ,among layers the ,s4 ,c4 ,white has achieved such a lead that the majority of good laying strains are in this breed and to choose any other would be to place a handicap on oneself4 ,for a description of breeds1 the reader should secure an ,illustrated ,american ,standard of ,perfection1 or some of the books published by poultry fanciers and judges4 ,to take up the matter here would merely be using my space for imparting knowledge which can be better secured elsewhere4 ,the relative popularity of breeds at the poultry shows is nicely shown by the following list4 ,this data was compiled by adding the numbers of each breed exhibited at #abd different poultry shows in the season of #aijg4 ,a detailed report of the total entries of each breed is as follows3 ,plymouth ,rocks1 #ad1ead2 ,wyandottes1 #ab1cbj2 ,leghorns1 #h1gdj2 ,rhode ,island ,reds1 #e1hab2 ,orpingtons1 #b1heg2 ,langshans1 #b1aec2 ,minorcas1 #a1gji2 ,cochin ,bantams1 #a1eij2 ,games1 #a1bgg2 ,brahmas1 #a1aha2 ,cochins1 #a1jaj2 ,hamburgs1 #geh2 ,game ,bantams1 #fcg2 ,polish1 #fah2 ,houdans1 #ech2 ,indians1 #ech2 ,anconas1 #dfd2 ,sebright ,bantams1 #dbc2 ,andalusians1 #aag2 ,japanese ,bantams1 #aae2 ,dorkings1 #aje2 ,brahma ,bantams1 #ajd2 ,buckeyes1 #ie2 ,silkies1 #he2 ,spanish1 #hc2 ,redcaps1 #ga2 ,sumatras1 #da2 ,polish ,bantams1 #cg2 ,sultans1 #ah2 ,malays1 #ab2 ,frizzles1 #g2 ,le ,fleche1 #g2 ,dominiques1 #e2 ,booted ,bantams1 #d2 ,malay ,bantams1 #c2 ,crevecoeure1 #c4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,practical ,,and ,,scientific ,,breeding ,science has been defined as the know how and art as the do how4 ,the man who works by art depends upon an unconscious judgment which is inborn or is acquired by long practice4 ,the man who works by science may also have this artistic taste1 but he tests its dicta by comparison with known facts and principles4 ,the scientist not only looks before he leaps1 but measures the distance and knows exactly where he is going to land4 ,breeding has for centuries been an art1 but the science of breeding is so new as to seem a mass of contradictions to all except those familiar with the maze of mathematics and biology by which the barn-yard facts must find their ultimate explanation4 ,the science of breeding may in the future bring about that which would now seem miraculous1 but it is the ancient art of breeding that is and will for years continue to be the means by which the poultry fancier will achieve his results4 ,in a volume the chief aim of which is to place the poultry industry1 which is now conducted as an art1 in the realm of technical science1 it might seem proper to devote considerable space to the subject of breeding1 ,that ,i shall not do so1 is for the reason that while theoretically ,i recognize the important part that breeding plays in all animal production1 for the practical proposition of producing poultry products at the lowest possible cost1 a knowledge of the technical science of breeding is unessential and may1 by diverting the poultryman's time to unprofitable efforts1 prove an actual handicap4 ,for the show room breeder the new science of breeding is too undeveloped to be of immediate service1 or ,i had better say1 the show room requisites are too complicated for theoretical breeding to promise results4 ,for the commercial poultryman1 ,i shall review what has been accomplished and state briefly the theories upon which contemplated work is based4 ,the objects striven after in poultry breeding are3 #ast3 ,to create new varieties which shall have improved practical points or shall attract attention as curiosities4 #b;d3 ,to approach the ideals accepted by fanciers for established breeds1 and hence win in competition4 #c;d3 ,to change some particular feature or habit as1 to increase egg production or reduce the size of bantams4 #dth3 ,to improve several points at once as1 eggs and size in general purpose fowls4 ,this classification is really unnecessary1 as the most specialized breeding involves consideration of many points4 ,breeding as an ,art4 ,the method by which breeds and varieties of the show room specimens have been developed is essentially as follows3 ,the wonderfully different varieties of fowl from every quarter of the earth are brought together4 ,crossing is then resorted to1 with the result that birds of all forms and colors are produced4 ,the breeder then selects specimens that most nearly conform to the type or ideal in his mind4 ,suppose a man wished to produce ,barred ,leghorns1 with a fifth toe4 ,he would secure ,barred ,rocks1 ,white ,leghorns and ,white or ,gray ,dorkings4 ,then he would cross in every conceivable fashion4 ,perhaps he might have trouble getting the white color to disappear4 ,in that case ,buff ,leghorns which are a newer breed might be tried and found more pliable material4 ,by such methods the breeder would in three or four generations of crossing get a crude type of what he desired4 ,henceforth it would be a matter of patience and selection4 ,five to twenty years is the time usually taken to produce new breeds of fancy poultry that will breed true to type4 ,in this style of breeding the principles at stake are simple4 ,the first is to secure the variations wanted2 second1 to breed from the most desirable of these specimens4 ,the same methods of selection that establish a breed are used to maintain it1 or to establish strains4 ,in ordinary breeding there are two other principles that are sometimes called into play4 ,one is prepotency1 the other is inbreeding4 ,by prepotent we mean having unusual power to transmit characters to offspring4 ,suppose a breeder has five yards headed by five cock birds4 ,the male in yard two he does not consider quite as fine as the bird in yard one1 but in the fall he finds the offspring of bird from two much better than the offspring from yard one4 ,the breeder should keep the prepotent sire and his offspring rather than the more perfect male1 who fails to stamp his traits upon his get4 ,normally a child has two parents1 four grandparents1 and eight great-grandparents4 ,now1 when cousins marry1 the great-grandparents of the offspring are reduced to six4 ,the mating of brother and sister cuts the grandparents to two1 and the great-grandparents to four4 ,mating of parent and offspring makes a parent and grandparent identical and likewise eliminates ancestry4 ,inbreeding means the reduction of the number of branches in the ancestral tree1 and this means the reduction of the number of chances to get variation1 be they good or bad4 ,inbreeding simply intensifies whatever is there4 ,it does not necessarily destroy the vitality1 but if close inbreeding is practiced long enough1 sooner or later some little existing weakness or peculiarity would become intensified and may prove fatal to the strain4 ,for illustration1 suppose we began inbreeding brother and sister with a view of keeping it up indefinitely4 ,now1 in the original blood1 a tendency for the predominance of one sex over the other undoubtedly exists and would be intensified until there would come a generation all of one sex1 which1 of course1 terminates our experiment4 ,inbreeding has always been tabooed by the people generally4 ,meanwhile the clever stock breeders have combined inbreeding with selection and have won the show prizes and sold the people new blood at fancy prices4 ,unintelligent inbreeding as practiced on many a farm1 results in run down stock1 not so much from inbreeding as from lack of selection4 ,out-crossing or mixing in of new blood is better than hit-or-miss inbreeding4 ,intelligent inbreeding is better still4 ,scientific ,theories of ,breeding4 ,the main tenet of ,darwin's theory of racial inheritance or evolution1 was that changes in animal life1 wild or domestic1 were brought about by the addition of very slight1 perhaps imperceptible1 variations4 ,he argued that the giraffe with the longest neck could browse on higher leaves in time of drought and hence left offspring with slightly longer necks than the previous generation4 ,upon this theory the ordinary breeding by selection is based4 ,in case of breeding for show room1 the breeder's eye1 or the judge's score card1 is the tape with which to measure the length of the giraffe's neck4 ,this principle can be applied equally well1 even better1 to characteristics where accurate measurement may be used4 ,the last forty years of scientific progress has established firmly the general theories of ,darwin1 but they have also resulted in our questioning his idea that all great changes are due to the sum of small variations4 ,many instances have been suggested in which the theory of gradual changes could not explain the facts4 ,the theory of mutation1 of which ,hugo de ,vries1 of ,holland1 is the chief expounder1 does not antagonize ,darwin1 but simply gives more weight in the process of evolution to the factor of sudden changes commonly called sports4 ,let us illustrate3 ,in the giraffe of our former forest1 one might appear whose neck was not longer because of slightly longer vertebrae1 but who possessed an extra vertebrae4 ,this would be a mutation4 ,in other words1 a mutation is a marked variation that may be inherited4 ,we now believe that polled cattle1 five-toed ,dorkings1 top-knotted ,houdans1 frizzles and black skinned chickens arose through mutations4 ,burbank's ,methods--,the wonderful ,burbank with his thornless cactus1 his stoneless plum1 and his white blackberry1 is simply a searcher after mutations4 ,his success is not because he uses any secret methods1 but because of the size of his operations4 ,he produces his specimens by the millions1 and in these millions looks1 and often looks in vain for the lonely sport that is to father a new race4 ,burbank has1 with plants1 many advantages of which the animal breeder is deprived4 ,he can produce his specimens in greater number1 he can more easily find out the desirable character1 and in many plants he has not the uncertain element of double parentage to contend with1 while with others he is still more fortunate1 as he can produce them by seed1 stimulate variation until the desired mutation is found and can then reproduce the desired variation with certainty by the use of cuttings4 ,this latter is not true inheritance with its inevitable variation1 but the indefinite prolongation of the life of one individual4 ,in this sense there is only one seedless orange tree in the world4 ,the ,centgenitor ,system--,prof4 ,hays in breeding wheat at ,minnesota1 first used in this country a system of breeding which is essentially as follows3 ,a large variety of individual seeds are selected4 ,these are planted separately and the amount and character of the yield observed4 ,the offspring of one seed is kept separate for several generations1 or until the character of the tribe is thoroughly established4 ,the advantage of this plan of breeding is in that the selection is not made by comparing individuals1 but by comparing the offspring of individuals4 ,thus1 we necessarily select the only trait really worth while2 that is prepotency or the ability to beget desirable qualities4 ,the application of this centgenitor system necessitates inbreeding2 it also necessitates large operations4 ,of the former1 breeders have generally been afraid2 of the latter they have lacked opportunity4 ,but the centgenitor system1 combined with ,burbank's principle of large opportunity of selection1 is1 in the writer's belief1 the method by which the #bjj-;egg hen will be ultimately established in ,america4 ,much of the recent stimulus to the study of the ,science of ,breeding was occasioned by the discovery of ,mendel's ,law4 ,briefly1 the law states that when two pure traits or characters are crossed1 one dominates in the first generation of offspring--the other remaining hidden or recessive4 ,of the second generation1 one-half the individuals are still mixed1 bearing the dominant characteristic externally and the other hidden2 one-fourth are pure dominants and one-fourth are pure recessives4 ,in future generations the mixed or hybrid individuals again give birth to mixed and pure types apportioned as before1 thus continuing until all offspring become ultimately pure4 ,for illustration3 ,if rose and single comb chickens are crossed1 rose combs are dominant4 ,the first generation will all have rose combs4 ,the second generation will have one-fourth single combs that will breed true1 one-fourth rose combs that will breed rose combs only1 and one-half that again will give all three types4 ,mendel's ,law works all right in cases where pure unit characteristics are to be found4 ,for the great practical problems in inheritance1 ,mendel's law is utterly hopeless4 ,the trouble is that the chief things with which we are concerned are not unit characteristics but are combinations of countless characteristics which cannot be seen or known1 hence cannot be picked out4 ,thus the tendency to revert to pure types is foiled by the constant recrossing of these types4 ,mendel's law is a scientific curiosity like the aeroplane4 ,it may some day be more than a curiosity1 but both have tremendous odds to overcome before they supplant our present methods4 ,prof4 ,c4,b4 ,davenport1 of the ,carnegie ,institute1 is working on experimental poultry breeding in its purely scientific sense4 ,his conclusions have been much criticised by poultry fanciers4 ,the truth of the matter is that the fancier fails to appreciate the spirit of pure science4 ,the scientist1 enthused to find his white fowl re-occur after a generation of black ones1 is wholly undisturbed by the fact that the white ones1 if exhibited1 might be taken for a ,silver ,spangled ,hamburg4 ,mendel's law as yet offers little to the fancier and less to the commercial poultryman4 ,its study is all right in its place1 but its place is not on the poultry plant whose profits are to buy the baby a new dress4 ,breeding for ,egg ,production4 ,attempts to improve the egg-producing qualities of the hen date from the domestication of the hen1 but it has only been within the last few years that rapid progress has been possible in this work4 ,the inability to determine the good layers has been the difficulty4 ,the great majority of people make no selection of hens from which to hatch their stock4 ,the eggs of the whole flock are kept together and when eggs are desired for hatching they are selected from a general basket4 ,it has been assumed1 and is shown by trap-nest records1 that eggs thus selected in the spring of the year are from the poorer1 rather than from the better layers4 ,this is because hens that have not been laying during the winter will lay very heavily during the spring season4 ,many breeders have attempted to pick out the good layers by the appearance of the hens4 ,before the advent of the trap-nest the egg type of hen was believed to be a positive indication of a good layer4 ,the egg type hen had slender neck1 small head1 long1 deep body of a wedge shape4 ,various systems founded on these or other signs have been sold for fancy prices to people who were easily separated from their money4 ,trap-nest records show such systems to be on a par with the lunar guidance in agricultural operations4 ,i might remark here that the determination of sex by the shape of the egg or similar methods1 is in a like category4 ,science finds no proof of such theories4 ,a few methods of selecting the layers have been suggested which1 while far from absolute1 are of some significance and are well worth noting4 ,the hen that sits upon the roost while other hens are out foraging1 is probably a drone4 ,the excessively fat or the excessively lean hens are not likely to be layers4 ,it would naturally be supposed that the active laying hen would be the last one to go to roost at night4 ,at the ,kansas ,experiment ,station1 the writer made observations upon the order in which the hens went to roost1 and the above assumption was found in the majority of cases to be correct4 ,a still better scheme of selecting layers is the practice of picking out the thrifty1 quickly maturing pullets when they first begin to lay in the fall season4 ,at the ,maine ,experiment ,station1 such a selection gave a flock of layers which averaged about one hundred and eighty eggs1 when the remainder of the flock yielded only one hundred and forty4 ,trap-nests devised to catch the hen that lays the egg are numerous in the market4 ,a trap-nest to be successful1 must not only catch the hen that lays1 but must prevent the entrance of the other hens4 ,the more trap-nests that are provided1 the less often they will require attention1 but the more often the nests are attended the better for the comfort of the hens4 ,the use of trap-nests is expensive and cannot be recommended for the poultryman who must make every hour of time put on his chickens yield him an immediate income4 ,fanciers and ,experiment ,stations can well afford to use trap-nests and must1 indeed1 use them both for breeding for egg production1 and also for determining the hen that laid the egg when full pedigrees are desired in other breeding work4 ,a scheme that has sometimes been used in the place of trap-nests1 is a system of small compartments1 in each of which one hen is kept4 ,such a scheme does not seem feasible on a large scale1 but for breeders wishing to keep the records of a small number of hens1 it is all right4 ,because of its cost1 this system is wholly out of the question1 except for a man following breeding as a hobby and who cannot devote himself during the day to the care of trap-nests4 ,having determined the best layers1 it remains to breed from these and from their descendants4 ,the tests of pullets hatched from hens are better signs of the hen's value as a breeder than is her own record4 ,it has been surmised that a hen which lays heavily will not lay eggs containing vigorous germs4 ,so far as the writer's experience has gone1 the laying of infertile eggs is a family or individual trait not particularly related to the number of eggs laid4 ,when we have bred from the best layers and have raised our average egg yielder to a higher level1 the question arises as to whether the strain will permanently maintain the high yield or drop back to the former rate of production4 ,theory says that it will not drop back4 ,as a matter of fact it will not do so1 for the heavier production will be more trying on the hen's constitution1 and naturally selection will gradually cause the egg record to dwindle4 ,hence the necessity of continued selection or the infusion of new blood from other selected strains4 ,whatever may be the change desired in a strain of chickens1 specimens showing the trait to be selected should be used as breeders4 ,those characteristics readily visible to the eye have long been the subjects of the breeder's efforts4 ,but traits not directly visible can likewise be changed by breeding4 ,the number of eggs1 size and color of eggs1 rapid growth1 ready fattening powers1 quality of meat and general characteristics1 are all matters of inheritance1 and if proper means are taken to select the desirable individuals all such characteristics can be changed at the will of the breeder4 ,it is a fact1 however1 often overlooked1 that the more traits for which one selects1 the slower will be progress4 ,for illustration3 ,if in breeding for egg production1 one-half the good layers are discarded for lack of fancy points1 the progress will be just half as rapid4 ,a discussion of the work in breeding for egg production at the ,maine ,experiment ,station is taken up in the next chapter4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,experiment ,,station ,,work ,our entire scheme of agricultural education and experimentation is new4 ,the poultry work at experiment stations is very new4 ,ten years will about cover everything worthy of a permanent record in the poultry experiment station files4 ,stations ,leading in ,poultry ,work4 ,among the earliest stations to begin poultry work in this country were ,rhode ,island1 ,massachusetts1 ,connecticut and ,maine4 ,rhode ,island conducted the first school of poultry culture4 ,the two stations of ,new ,york ,state were also early in the work1 and ,cornell now has the leading school of poultry culture in this country4 ,west ,virginia has always maintained a considerable poultry plant4 ,outside of the states east of the ,appalachians1 the first poultry work to be heard of was that of ,prof4 ,dryden at the ,experiment ,station of ,utah4 ,prof4 ,dryden's work was of a demonstrative nature4 ,his early bulletins were forceful and well illustrated1 and did much to call attention to poultry work4 ,in all this early work the great ,mississippi ,valley1 where four-fifths of the nation's poultry is produced1 entirely ignored the hen4 ,the writer began his work with poultry at the ,kansas ,station in #aijb1 but his chickens were housed in a discarded hog house1 and no funds being available1 little was accomplished4 ,in the last three or four years these experiment stations are rapidly falling into line and a number of poultry bulletins have recently been issued from these younger schools4 ,a few of the early landmarks in experiment station work was as follows3 ,the ,utah ,station clearly found that hens laid about #fe per cent4 as many eggs in the second as in the first year1 and that to keep hens for egg production beyond the second year1 was unprofitable4 ,massachusetts proved that corn was a better food for layers than wheat1 and that the prejudice against it was founded on a misapplied theory4 ,the ,new ,york ,station at ,geneva demonstrated that poultry generally1 and ducks in particular1 are not vegetarians1 and must have meat to thrive and that vegetable protein will not make good the deficiency4 ,the ,maine ,station was chiefly instrumental in introducing trap-nests1 curtain front houses and dry feeding4 ,the breeding work at ,maine will be discussed at length in the last section of this chapter4 ,the ,united ,states ,department of ,agriculture did not take up poultry work until #aijf4 ,the publications issued by the department before that time were written by outsiders and printed by the ,government4 ,the following is the list of the addresses of the experiment stations who have taken a leading interest in poultry work4 ,it is not worth while giving a list of poultry bulletins1 as many of them are out of print and can only be consulted in a library4 ,maine--,orono4 ,mass4--,amherst4 ,conn4--,storrs4 ,rhode ,is4--,kingston4 ,new ,york--,ithaca4 ,new ,york--,geneva4 ,maryland--,college ,park4 ,west4 ,va4--,morgantown4 ,iowa--,ames4 ,kansas--,manhattan4 ,utah--,logan4 ,calif4--,berkeley4 ,oregon--,corvalis4 ,u4,s4 ,gov4--,washington1 ,d4,c4 ,ontario--,guelph 7,canada74 ,many foreign governments have us out-distanced in the encouragement of the poultry industry4 ,our ,canadian neighbors have done much more practical work in getting out among the farmers and improving the stock and methods along commercial lines4 ,as a result the ,canadians have built up a nice ,british trade with which we have thus far not been able to compete4 ,the work by the ,ontario ,station on the subject of incubation is discussed in the ,chapter on ,incubation4 ,australia1 like ,canada1 has given much practical assistance in marketing the poultry products1 the government maintaining packing stations1 where the poultry is packed for export4 ,the ,australian laying contests are quoted in the present volume4 ,they outclass anything else in the world along that line4 ,in ,england1 ,ireland and especially in ,denmark1 the government1 or societies encouraged by the ,government1 have done a great deal to develop the poultry industry4 ,depots for marketing and grading are maintained and the stock of the farmers is improved by fowls from the government breeding farms4 ,the ,story of the ,big ,coon4 ,with apologies to ,joel ,chandler ,harris1 ,i will tell a little story4 ,uncle ,remus was telling the little boy about the big coon4 ,it seems that the big coon had been seen on numerous occasions1 but all efforts at his capture had failed4 ,one night they saw the big coon up in the 'simmon tree1 in the middle of the ten-acre lot4 ,all hands and the dogs were summoned4 ,to be sure of bagging the game1 the tree was cut down4 ,the dogs rushed in but there was no coon4 ,but1 ,uncle ,remus1 said the little boy1 ,i thought you said you saw the big coon in the tree4 ,laws1 chile1 replied ,uncle ,remus1 doesn't youse know dat it am mighty easy for folks to see something dat ain't dar1 when dey are lookin' fer it8 ,when scientific experimenters entered the poultry field about fifteen years ago1 they found it swarming with old ladies' notions4 ,for everything a reason was given1 but these reasons were derived from the kind of dreams where that which pleases the human mind is seized upon and search is made to find ideas to back it1 not because it is true1 but because it listens good to the dreamer4 ,the first duty of the scientist was to banish these will-o'-the-wisp ideas that lead to no practical results4 ,for illustration ,round eggs were supposed to hatch pullets and long ones cockerels4 ,eggs will not hatch if it thunders4 ,shipped eggs must be allowed to rest before hatching1 the drug store was the universal source of relief when the chickens became sick1 and red pepper and patent foods were the egg foods par excellence4 ,these things1 thanks to the scientist1 are no longer believed or regarded by well read poultrymen1 and instead his attention has been turned to matters having a more happy relation to his bank account4 ,in clearing away the useless popular notions1 the scientists themselves have not been free from their influence1 especially when they seemed to agree with accepted scientific theory4 ,many1 indeed1 are the 'coons in poultry science that have been seen because they were being looked for4 ,as a partial explanation it should be said that men available for scientific poultry work are very scarce4 ,poultry keepers schooled in the ,university of the ,poultry ,yard have no conception of scientific methods1 and would explain experimental results by a theory that would fail to fit elsewhere4 ,the available scientists on the other hand are seldom poultrymen4 ,among the first men to take up animal husbandry work of all kinds1 were the veterinarians4 ,for years the only poultry publications put out by the ,u4,s4 ,government were by veterinarians4 ,these dust covered volumes with their five color plates of the fifty-seven varieties of tapeworms1 still rest on the shelves of public libraries1 a monument to the time when the practical poultryman knew only things that weren't so1 and the scientific poultryman knew only things that were useless4 ,the first general law that all experimenters should know and the ignorance of which has caused and still causes the waste of the major portion of experimental brains and money1 we will call the ,law of ,chance4 ,let the reader who is not familiar with such things take two pennies and toss them upon the table4 ,they are both heads up4 ,he tosses them again1 one comes heads1 the other tails4 ,the third time repeats the second4 ,the fourth both come tails4 ,the law of chance says this is correct4 ,heads should appear #be per cent41 tails #be per cent41 and mixed #ej per cent4 of the time4 ,now let the reader try this in a lot of twelve tosses4 ,does it prove the law8 ,try it again4 ,are all lots alike8 ,now pitch a hundred times1 then pitch pennies all day4 ,by night the law will be so near proven that the experimenter will be willing to concede its validity4 ,now suppose the lots of twelve tosses1 each were lots of twelve hens1 one ,plymouth ,rocks1 the other ,wyandottes1 or one fed corn and the other wheat4 ,the law of chance clearly proves that the larger number of unites1 the nearer the theoretical truths will be the experimental results4 ,note1 however1 that small lots may by chance be as near the truth as large lots4 ,in practice two grave errors are made3 ,first1 conclusions are drawn from small lots compared with each other2 second1 conclusions are drawn from large lots compared with small lots4 ,in the first case both may be off2 in the latter case the small one may be off4 ,examples of the first error are to be found in the scores of contradicting breed and feed tests1 that were published in the early days of poultry research4 ,the second error is exemplified in the ,ontario experiments in incubation1 to which reference has already been made4 ,here is a further example of this error4 ,from the fifth egg laying competition at the ,hawkesbury ,agricultural ,college in ,australia1 ,i copy the following3 ,no4 of ,hens4 ,variety4 ,ave4 ,egg ,yield4 #f ,cuckoo ,leghorn #aij4af #cj ,s4,c4 ,brown ,leghorn #agg4jj #ach ,s4,c4 ,white ,leghorn #agd4ic #ab ,r4,c4 ,brown ,leghorn #agc4ej #ab ,r4,c4 ,white ,leghorn #agb4ff #ah ,buff ,leghorn #afj4ee #f ,black ,leghorn #ach4cc ,the ranking of ,cuckoo ,leghorns as first is a chance happening due to the small number2 likewise the ,black ,leghorns had a streak of bad luck and received lowest place4 ,to one not familiar with such work1 the real significance of the table is that the ,s4,c4,w4 ,leghorns did the best work4 ,a totaling of all other varieties gives #hd fowls with an average egg production of #agj4e1 which bears out the conclusion4 ,as these birds were all kept in pens of six1 we would expect to find the highest single pen to be ,white ,leghorns1 because1 when compared with all other ,leghorns1 they have both the highest average and the greatest number4 ,this accords with the fact that as the highest single pen is found to be ,white ,leghorns with an egg yield of #bci eggs4 ,the above illustrates another important phase of the laws of chance1 which says that not only is the average likely to be nearer the theoretical average sought when the number is increased1 but that the individual extremes will be more removed4 ,important ,experimental ,results at the ,illinois ,station4 ,from an ,illinois ,experiment ,station report1 the following is quoted3 ,the stock used was ,barred ,plymouth ,rock pullets4 ,these pullets were a very uniform ,barred ,rock stock that had been bred as an individual strain for many years4 ,they were practically the same age1 and except for the factors mentioned were treated as uniformly as possible4 ,first ,year's ,results4 ,no4 ,hens4 ,diet4 ,ave4 ,egg ,yield4 #aj ,nitrogenous ,diet #acb4i #aj ,carbonaceous ,diet #abh4d #aj ,wet ,wash #aee4h #aj ,dry ,wash #aaa4d ,the results of the first test are somewhat surprising for it is generally believed that the nitrogenous diet is best for laying hens4 ,the difference indicated in the first year's results was so light that it was decided to repeat the experiment the second year4 ,as the wet wash is clearly proven to be superior1 these hens were used the second year to compare meat meal with fresh cut bone4 ,second ,year's ,result4 ,no4 ,hens4 ,diet4 ,ave4 ,egg ,yield4 #aj ,nitrogenous #adb4b #aj ,carbonaceous #acd4e #aj ,meat ,meal #ajb4b #aj ,green ,cut ,bone #abh4i ,the results of the second year clearly indicate the great superiority of green cut bone as compared with the dry unpalatable meat meal4 ,the comparison of a highly nitrogenous ration with that of a ration consisting largely of corn1 while showing the advantages of the nitrogenous rations1 does not show the contrast expected4 ,some visiting poultrymen expressed the opinion that corn is a better poultry food than commonly supposed4 ,considering this fact and the great fundamental importance of the question at issue1 it was decided to repeat the experiment a third year1 and feed a large number of birds on each ration4 ,no4 ,hens4 ,diet4 ,ave4 ,egg ,yield4 #ajj ,nitrogenous #abf4i #ajj ,carbonaceous #abg4b ,i will leave the last without comment1 for the whole thing is a hoax4 ,the ,illinois ,experiment ,station has never owned a chicken4 ,these ,illinois experiments were planned and executed in a few minutes of the writer's spare time4 ,the basis of the experiments was a pack of cards containing the individual records of the ,maine ,experiment ,station hens1 shuffling the cards and averaging the desired number of records as they come in the pack1 made the distinction between the various diets4 ,experimental ,bias4 ,pet ideas consciously or unconsciously mold practice4 ,a bias toward an idea may show itself in the planning and conducting of an experiment1 or it may come out in the later interpretation4 ,an illustration of the first kind is found in the early work of the ,west ,virginia ,station 7,bulletin #fj74 ,with the preconceived notion that hens should have a nitrogenous diet an experiment was planned and conducted as follows3 ,one lot of hens was fed corn1 potatoes1 oats and corn meal4 ,a contrasted lot reveled in corn1 potatoes1 hominy feed1 oat meal1 corn meal and fresh cut bone4 ,the results were in favor of the latter ration by a doubled egg yield4 ,to any experienced poultryman the reason is evident4 ,the variety of the diet and the meat food are what made the showing4 ,about the same time the ,massachusetts ,station planned a similar experiment4 ,the bias was the same1 but it took a fairer form4 ,the hens were both given a decent variety of food and some form of meat4 ,the bulk of the grain was corn in the carbonaceous1 and wheat in the nitrogenous ration4 ,the results were in favor of the corn4 ,this astonished the experimenter4 ,he tried it again and again tests came out in favor of corn4 ,at last the old theory was revoked1 and the fallacy of wheat being essential to egg production was exploded4 ,if by an irony of fate in the shuffling of the hens1 the wheat pen had the first time showed an advantage1 the experimenter might have been satisfied and the waste of feeding high priced feed when a better and a cheaper is at hand1 might have gone on indefinitely4 ,of bias in the interpretation of results all publications are more or less saturated4 ,a reading of the ,chapter on ,incubation will illustrate this4 ,a common error of this kind is the omission of facts necessary to fully explain results4 ,items of costs are invariably omitted or minimized4 ,food cost alone is usually mentioned in figuring experimenting station poultry profits1 which statement will undoubtedly cause a sad smile to creep over the face of many a has-been poultryman4 ,the writer remembers an incident from his college days which illustrates the point in hand4 ,let it first be remarked that this was on the new lands of the trans-,missouri ,country1 where manure had no more commercial value than soil1 and is freely given to those who will haul it away4 ,the professor at the blackboard had been figuring up handsome profits on a type of dairying towards which he wits very partial4 ,the figures showed a goodly profit1 but the biggest expense item--that of labor--was omitted4 ,one of the students held up his hand and inquired after the labor bill4 ,oh1 said the smiling professor1 ,the manure will pay for the labor4 ,when the class adjourned1 the student remarked3 ,they say figures won't lie1 but a liar will figure4 ,the third way in which experiments are made worthless is by the introduction of factors other than the one being tested4 ,this may be done by chance1 and the conductor not realize the presence of the other factor1 or the varying factors may be introduced intentionally under the belief that they are negligible4 ,of the first case an instance may be cited of the placing of two flocks in a house1 one end of which is damper than the other1 the accidental introduction into one flock of a contagious disease1 or one flock being thrown off feed by an excessive feed of greens1 etc41 etc4 ,these factors that influence pens of birds greatly add to the error of the law of chance4 ,in fact it amounts to the same thing on a larger scale4 ,for this reason not only are many individuals1 but many flocks1 many locations1 and many years needed to prove the superiority of the contrasted methods4 ,the criticisms in the following section will amply illustrate the case of foreign factors being unwisely introduced into an experiment4 ,the ,egg ,breeding ,work at the ,maine ,station4 ,as is well known the ,maine ,station was for years considered by all poultrymen to be doing a great and beneficial work in breeding for increased egg production4 ,up until the fall of #aijg1 the poultrymen of the country were of the opinion that this work was in every way successful1 and a large number of private breeders had taken up the use of trap-nests in an effort to build up the egg production of their fowls4 ,when early in #aijh ,bulletin #aeg of the ,maine ,experiment ,station was published1 it showed by averages as given in the table on page #bjb that the egg yield at the station was for the entire period on the decline4 ,in ,bulletin #aeg1 the statement was made that arithmetical mistakes and faulty statistical methods accounted for the discrepancies between the former publications and the criticised data4 ,the further explanation that the experiment was a success as an experiment1 etc41 only appeared to the public mind as a graceful way of explaining what was1 to the practical man1 an utter failure of the entire work4 ,the unfortunate death of ,professor ,gowell1 together with the fact that he had equipped a private poultry farm with station stock1 added to the confusion1 and the result of the bulletin was the precipitation of a general pow-wow in which the poultry editors were about equally divided between those who were casting insinuations upon the personnel of the station1 and those who decried the whole effort toward improving the egg yield4 ,after going over the publications of ,professor ,gowell1 visiting the station and meeting the present force1 ,i came to the following conclusions regarding the matter3 ,professor ,gowell's work is open to severe criticism4 ,errors have been made in conducting the work at ,maine which have made it possible for a mathematical biologist to take the data and seemingly prove that selection1 as practiced by ,professor ,gowell1 actually resulted in lowering inherent egg capacity of the strain of ,plymouth ,rock hens under experimentation4 ,had ,professor ,gowell's successor been a practical poultryman1 it is my candid opinion that the public would have been given a radically different explanation of the results4 ,professor ,gowell is the author of the following statement3 ,the small chicken grower is earnestly urged to use an incubator for hatching4 ,this opinion is not in accord with that of the majority of breeders and the more progressive experiment station workers4 ,the opinion has been expressed by ,professor ,graham and others1 that the particular results at the ,maine ,station may have been due to the decrease of vitality caused by continued artificial hatching4 ,this view may be wholly without foundation4 ,nevertheless1 as the common type of incubator is under heavy criticism1 and it is pretty well proven that chicks so hatched have not the vitality of naturally hatched chicks1 surely a series of breeding experiments would carry more weight if the replenishing of the flock had been accomplished by natural means4 ,for the first few years of the breeding work the house used was the old-fashioned double walled and warmed pattern4 ,the last few years of this work were conducted in curtain front houses4 ,that the cool house is an improvement over the warm house is generally conceded1 but there are many poultrymen who are still of the opinion that the warm house will give a larger egg yield1 though at a greater expense and less profit4 ,in the early years of the work the method of feeding was also a time-honored one1 and included a warm mash4 ,about the middle of the experimental period ,professor ,gowell brought out the system of feeding dry mash from hoppers4 ,this custom became a great fad and ,professor ,gowell and ,director ,woods have preached it far and wide4 ,perhaps it is an improvement1 but it is to-day much more popular with novices than with established egg farms4 ,many old line poultrymen have tried dry mash only to go back to wet mash1 by which method the hens can be induced to eat more which is conducive to high egg yields4 ,whether these changes in housing and feeding have been improvements as claimed by those who introduced them1 or whether their popularity may be explained in part at least by the psychology of fads1 is a point in question1 but certainly the marring of a breeding experiment by introducing radical changes in the factors of production is at best unfortunate4 ,a much more serious criticism than any of the foregoing is to be found in a change of the size of flocks and amount of floor space per fowl4 ,i have gone over carefully the published records of ,professor ,gowell1 and the review of ,dr4 ,pearl1 and the following table represents1 as near as ,i can determine1 these factors for the series of years4 ,in the year #aijc ,i find no clear statement as to the manner in which the birds were housed1 and ,i may be in error in this case4 ,otherwise the table gives the facts4 ,year ,hens in ,flock ,per ,hen ,egg ,yield #aijj #bj #h4 sq4 ft4 #acf4cf #aija #bj #h4 sq4 ft4 #adc4dd #aijb #bj #h4 sq4 ft4 #aee4eh #aijc #bj #h4 sq4 ft4 #ace4db #aijd #ej #d4d sq4 ft4 #aag4ij #aije #ej #d4d sq4 ft4 #acd4jg #aijf #ej #d4d sq4 ft4 #adj4ad #aijg #ej #d4d sq4 ft4 #aac4bd ,certainly this oversight is a serious one1 and one especially remarkable considering the fact that the comparison of different size flocks formed a prominent part of the ,maine ,station work during the last three years of the breeding test4 ,the results of the work at the ,maine ,station on testing flock size1 conducted without relation to the breeding work1 gave the following results3 ,no4 of ,hens ,sq4 ft4 per ,hen ,egg ,yield #aej #c4b #aaa4fh #ajj #d4h #abc4ba #ej #d4h #abi4fi ,no comparisons of #ej and #bj bird flocks in the same year are available1 but by extending the comparisons of the #ej1 #ajj and #aej flocks into the #bj flock size1 we can get some idea of the error that has been here introduced4 ,the result of the ,australian egg laying contest in which the flocks were composed of six hens1 shows a yield of about one and one-half times as heavy as the ,maine records1 which certainly seems to substantiate the ideas here brought out4 ,it is a well established fact in poultry circles that many men who succeed with a few hundred hens1 fail when the number is increased to as many thousands4 ,when the breeding experiments under discussion were started1 ,professor ,gowell had under his supervision about three hundred hens4 ,when the work was closed the experiment station plant had been increased to four or five times its capacity1 and ,professor ,gowell had a large private poultry plant of his own in addition4 ,it is interesting to note in this connection that the last four years of the records are explained by ,professor ,gowell as being low1 due to various accidents 787 ,it is unreasonable to suppose the true explanation of these accidents would be found in connection with the increased responsibility and size of the plant4 ,the breeding stock sent out by ,professor ,gowell has given general satisfaction1 and was found by ,professor ,graham of the ,ontario ,station1 as well as by a number of private individuals1 to be of superior laying quality to that of the average ,barred ,rock4 ,clearly there is only one way to prove whether ,professor ,gowell's work has been a wasted effort1 and that is for flocks of his strain to be tested at other experiment stations against birds of miscellaneous origin4 ,that much has been lost to the poultrymen of the country by the recent upheaval at the ,maine ,station1 ,i believe to be the case1 but that does not mean that the men now in charge will not in the future be of great value to the poultry interests4 ,they are1 however1 in the class of pure scientists rather than applied scientists1 but if let alone they will dig out something sooner or later which they or others can apply to the benefit of the industry4 ,upon the whole1 ,i think that the present case of the trap-nest method of increasing egg production stands very much as it is has always stood1 being a commendable thing for small breeders who could afford the time1 but not practical in a large way1 except at experiment stations4 ,on a large commercial scale the system of selecting sires by the collective work of his first year's offspring would probably get the quickest results4 ,the best use of the funds of the people in the promotion of agricultural industries is in the permanent endorsement on the one hand of a few high grade research stations where the deeper theories may be worked out1 and on the other the teaching of such good principles and practices as are already known4 ,the greatest opportunity for ,government effort lies in the development demonstration farm work in poultry ,just as it is doing with the corn and cotton in the ,south4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,poultry ,,on ,,the ,,general ,,farm ,this chapter will be devoted to specific directions for the profitable keeping of chickens on the typical ,american farm4 ,by typical ,american farm ,i mean the farm west of ,ohio1 north of ,tennessee and east of ,colorado4 ,farms outside this section present different problems4 ,in the region mentioned about three-quarters of the ,american poultry and egg crop is produced1 and in this section poultry keeping is more profitable when conducted as a part of general farm operations than as an exclusive business4 ,there is no reason why a farmer should not be a poultry fancier if he desires1 but in that case his special interest in his chickens would throw him out of the class we are at present considering4 ,likewise1 ,i do not doubt that in many instances where the farmer or members of his family took special interest in poultry work1 it would be profitable to increase the size of operations beyond those herein advised1 using incubators and keeping ,leghorns4 ,of these exceptions the farmer himself must judge4 ,the rules ,i lay down are for those farmers who wish to keep chickens for profit1 but do not care to devote any larger share of their time and study to them than they do to the cows1 hogs1 orchard or garden4 ,the advice herein given in this chapter will differ from much of the advice given to farmers by poultry writers4 ,the average poultry editor is afraid to give specific advice concerning breeds1 incubators1 etc41 because he fears to offend his advertisers4 ,the reader1 left to judge for himself1 is liable to pick out some fancy impractical variety or method4 ,best ,breeds for the ,farm4 ,keep only one variety of chickens4 ,do not bother with other varieties of poultry unless it is turkeys4 ,whether it will pay to raise turkeys will depend upon your success with the little turks1 and on the freedom of the community from the disease called ,black-head4 ,the kind of chicken you should keep should be picked from the three following breeds3 ,barred ,plymouth ,rock1 ,white ,wyandotte1 ,rhode ,island ,reds4 ,if you go outside of these three breeds be sure you have a very good reason for doing so4 ,then get a start with a new breed1 buy at least four sittings of eggs in a single season1 paying not over #b4jj per sitting4 ,keep all the pullets and a half dozen of the best cockerels4 ,the next spring pen these pullets up with the best cockerels1 and use none but eggs from this pen for hatching4 ,that fall sell all of the young cockerels and all the old scrub hens4 ,the second spring the two old roosters from the original purchased eggs are used with the general flock4 ,from this time on the entire flock is pure bred and should remain so4 ,each year when the chicks are about six or eight weeks old pick out the largest1 most vigorous male chick from each brood4 ,mark these by clipping the web of the foot or putting on leg bands4 ,from those so marked the breeding cockerels for the next season are later selected4 ,when you pick the good cockerels pick out all runty looking pullets and cut off the last joint of the hind toe4 ,these runts are later to be eaten or sold4 ,the more surplus chicks raised1 the more strictly can the selection be made4 ,this system of picking the best cockerel from each brood and discarding the poorest pullets is the most practical method known of building up a vigorous1 quick growing and early laying strain4 ,when we allow the entire flock of many different ages to grow up before the selection is made it is impossible to select intelligently4 ,every third or fourth year an extra cock bird may be purchased provided you are sure you are getting a specimen from a better flock than your own4 ,swapping roosters or eggs every year is poor policy4 ,if your neighbor has better stock than you1 get his blood pure and sell off your own1 but do not keep a barnyard full of scrubs who can trace their ancestry to every flock in the neighborhood4 ,keep ,only ,workers4 ,on many farms few eggs are gathered from ,october to ,january4 ,this is a season when eggs bring the best prices4 ,to secure eggs at this season1 the first requisite is that the pullets be hatched between the first of ,march and the middle of ,may1 or1 in the case of ,leghorns1 between the first of ,april and the first of ,june4 ,pullets hatched later than these dates are a source of expense during the fall and early winter4 ,on the other hand1 it is an unnecessary waste of effort to hatch pullets before the dates mentioned1 because1 if hatched too early1 they will molt in the fall and stop laying the same as old hens4 ,pullets must be well fed and cared for if expected to develop in the time allowed4 ,as they begin to show signs of maturity they should be gotten into permanent quarters4 ,if allowed to begin laying while roosting in coops or in trees they will be liable to quit when changed to new quarters4 ,if possible the coops should be gradually moved toward the hen-house and the pullets gotten into quarters without excitement or confinement4 ,the poultry-house should have an ample circulation of fresh air4 ,young stock that have been roosting in open coops are liable to catch cold if confined in tight houses4 ,a common mistake is to allow a large troop of young roosters to overrun the premises in the early fall4 ,not only is money lost in the decrease in price that can be obtained for these cockerels1 but the pullets are greatly annoyed1 to the detriment of the egg yield4 ,any chicken that is not paying for its food in growth or in egg production is a source of loss4 ,as soon as the hatching season is over old roosters should be sent to market4 ,through ,june and ,august egg production is not very profitable1 and a thorough culling of the hens should be made4 ,market all hens two years or more of age4 ,send with these all the yearling hens that appear fat and lazy4 ,by the time the young pullets are ready to be moved into quarters--the latter part of ,august--these hens should be reduced to about one-half the original number4 ,some time during ,september a final culling of the old stock should be made4 ,those that have not yet begun to molt should be sold1 as they will not be laying again before the warm days of the following ,february4 ,this system of culling will leave the best portion of the yearling hens1 which1 together with the early-hatched pullets1 will make a profitable flock of layers4 ,hatching ,chicks ,with ,hens4 ,the eggs for hatching should be stored in a cool1 dry location at a temperature between forty and seventy degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,a good rule is not to set eggs over two weeks old4 ,the two chief losses with sitting-hens are due to lice and interference of other hens4 ,the practice of setting hens in the chicken-house makes both these difficulties more troublesome4 ,almost all farms will have some outbuilding situated apart from the regular chicken-house that can be used for sitting-hens4 ,the most convenient arrangement will be to use boxes1 and have these open at the top4 ,they may be placed in rows and a plank somewhat narrower than the boxes used as a cover4 ,the nests should be made by throwing a shovel of earth into the box and then shaping a nest of clean straw4 ,make the nest roomy enough so that as the hen steps into the nest the eggs will spread apart readily and not be broken4 ,when a hen shows signs of broodiness remove her to the sitting-room4 ,this should be done in the evening1 so that the hen becomes accustomed to her position by daylight4 ,place the hen upon the nest-eggs and confine her to the nest4 ,if all is well the next evening give her a full setting of eggs4 ,a practical method to arrange for sitting-hens is to build the nests out of doors1 allowing each hen a little yard1 so that she may have liberty to leave her nest as she chooses4 ,these nests may be built by using twelve-inch boards set on edge1 so as to form a series of small runways about one by six feet4 ,in one end are built the nests1 which are covered by a broad board1 while the remainder of the arrangement is covered with lath or netting4 ,the food1 grit and water should be placed at the opposite end of the runway4 ,care should be taken to locate these nests on well-drained ground4 ,arrangements should be made to close the front of the nest during hatching so that the chicks will not drop out4 ,a contrivance of this kind furnishes a very convenient method of handling sitting-hens1 and if no separate building is available would be the best method to use4 ,incubators on the ,farm4 ,my candid advice to the farmer who is in doubt as whether to buy an incubator or not1 is to let it alone4 ,if the farmer reads the chapter on artificial incubation1 he will see that he is dealing with a very complex problem1 and one in which his chances of success are not very great4 ,in order to learn the facts concerning incubators on the farms the writer made a special investigation on the subject while poultryman at the ,kansas ,experiment ,station4 ,replies received from #aaa ,kansas farmers1 report #ba as having tried incubators4 ,of these1 #f reported the incubators as being an improvement over hatching with hens2 #aj reported the incubator as being successful1 but not better than hens1 while the remaining #e declared the incubator to be a failure4 ,the results of this inquiry1 and of personal visits to farms1 led the writer to believe that about one-tenth of the farmers of ,kansas had tried incubators1 and that about as many failed as succeeded with artificial hatching4 ,the argument for the incubator on the farm is certainly not one of better hatching1 but there is an argument1 and a good one for the farm incubator4 ,the argument is this3 ,hens will not set early enough and in sufficient quantities to get out as large a number of chicks as the farmer may desire4 ,now1 each hen will not hatch over #aj chicks1 but is capable of caring for at least #cj4 ,here the incubator comes into good use1 for the farmer can set a half dozen hens along with the incubator1 and give all the chicks to the hens4 ,this is the method ,i recommend where an incubator is to be used4 ,the development of the public hatchery would supply these other #bj chicks more economically and more certainly than the farm incubator1 but until that institution becomes established the more ambitious farm poultry raisers are justified in trying an incubator4 ,the best known incubators in the market are the ,cyphers1 the ,model and the ,prairie ,state4 ,cheaper machines are liable to do poor work4 ,the following points may help the farmer in deciding whether or not to buy an incubator and in picking out a good machine4 ,the person to run the incubator is the first condition of its success4 ,a good incubator requires attention twice a day4 ,one person should give this attention1 and must give it regularly and carefully4 ,the farmer's wife or some younger member of the family can often give more time and interest to this work than can the farmer4 ,the likelihood of a person's success with artificial hatchers can best be determined by himself4 ,the best location for an incubator is a moderately damp cellar4 ,the next choice would be a room in the house away from the fire or from windows4 ,drafts of air blowing on the machine are especially to be avoided4 ,not only do they affect the temperature directly1 but cause the lamp to burn irregularly1 and this may result in fire4 ,the objects in view in building an incubator are3 7#a7 ,to keep the eggs at a proper temperature 7#ajc degrees on a level with the top of the eggs74 7#b7 ,to cause the evaporation of moisture from the eggs at a normal rate4 7#c7 ,to prevent the eggs from resting too long in one position4 ,the case of the incubator should be built double1 or triple-walled1 to withstand variation in the outside temperature4 ,the doors should fit neatly and be made of double glass4 ,the lamp should be made of the best material1 and the wick of sufficient width that the temperature may be maintained with a low blaze4 ,the most satisfactory place for the lamp is at the end of the machine1 outside the case4 ,regulators composed of two metals1 such as aluminum and steel1 are best4 ,wafers filled with ether or similar liquid are more sensitive but weaker in action4 ,hard-rubber bars are frequently used4 ,the most practical system of controlling evaporation is a system of forced ventilation1 in which the air is heated around the lamp-flue and passes through the egg-chamber at a rate determined by ventilators in the bottom of the machine4 ,with the outside air cold and dry only slight current is required1 but as the outer air becomes warmer or damper more circulation is needed4 ,turning the egg is not the work that many imagine it to be4 ,it is not necessary that the egg be turned with absolute precision and regularity4 ,an elaborate device for this work is useless4 ,the trays will need frequently to be removed and turned around or shifted1 and the eggs can be turned at this time by lifting out a few on one side of the tray and rolling the others over4 ,two other points to be considered in the incubator are3 ,a suitable nursery or place for the newly hatched chick1 and a good thermometer4 ,rearing ,chicks4 ,if it is very early in the spring1 and the ground is damp1 it is best to put the hen and her brood in some building4 ,during the most of the season the best thing is an outdoor coop4 ,the first consideration in making a chicken-coop is to see that it is rain-proof and rat-tight4 ,the next thing to look for is that the coop is not air-tight4 ,let the front be of rat-tight netting or heavy screen4 ,the same general plan may be used for small coops for hens1 or for larger coops to be used as colony-houses for growing chickens4 ,the essentials are3 ,a movable floor raided on cleats1 a sliding front covered with rat-tight netting1 and a hood over the front to keep the rain from beating in4 ,if used late in the fall or early in the spring a piece of cloth should be tacked on the sliding front4 ,the chicken-coops should not be bunched up1 but scattered out over as much ground as is convenient4 ,neither should they remain long in one spot1 but should be shifted a few feet each day4 ,at first water should be provided at each coop1 but as the chickens grow older they may be required to come to a few central water pans4 ,as before suggested1 rearing chicks with hens is the only suitable method for general farm practice4 ,the brooder on the farm is an expensive nuisance4 ,for brooder raised chicks it is necessary to provide means for the little chick to exercise4 ,but in the season when the great majority of farm chicks are raised they may be placed out of doors from the start and the trouble will now be to keep them from getting too much exercise1 i4e43 to keep the hens from chasing around with them especially in the wet grass4 ,this is properly prevented by keeping the brood coops in plowed ground1 and keeping the hens confined by a slatted door1 until the chicks are strong enough to follow her readily4 ,the chick should not be fed until #dh to #gb hours old4 ,it may then be started on the same kind of food as is to form its diet in after life4 ,the hard boiled egg and bread and milk diets are wholly unnecessary and are only a waste of time4 ,i recommend the same system of chick feeding for the general farm as is used on commercial plants1 and ,i especially insist that it will pay the farmer to provide meat food of some sort for his growing chicks4 ,the amount eaten will not be large1 nor need the farmer fear that supplying the chicks with meat food will prevent their consuming all the bugs and worms that come their way4 ,besides comfortable quarters1 the chick to thrive1 must have3 ,exercise1 water1 grit1 a variety of grain food1 green or succulent food1 and meat food4 ,water should be provided in shallow dishes4 ,this can best be arranged by having a dish with an inverted can or bottle which allows only a little water to stand in the drinking basin4 ,chicks running at large on gravelly ground need no provision for grit4 ,chicks on board floors or clay soils must be provided with either coarse sand or chick grit1 such as is sold for the purpose4 ,grain is the principal1 and1 too often1 the only food of the chick4 ,the common farm way of feeding grain to young chickens is to mix corn-meal and water and feed in a trough or on the ground4 ,there is no particular advantage in this way of feeding1 and there are several disadvantages4 ,the feed is all in a bunch1 and the weaker chicks are crowded out1 while if wet feed is thrown on the ground or in a dirty trough the chicks must swallow the adhering filth1 and if any food is left over it quickly sours and becomes a menace to health4 ,some people mix dough with sour milk and soda and bake this into a bread4 ,the better way is to feed all of the grain in a natural dry condition4 ,there are foods in the market known as chick foods4 ,the commercial foods contain various grains and seeds1 together with meat and grit4 ,their use renders chick feeding quite a simple matter1 it being necessary to supply in addition only water and green foods4 ,for those who wish to prepare their own chick foods the following suggestions are given3 ,oatmeal is probably the best grain food for chicks4 ,oats cannot be suitably prepared1 however1 in a common feed-mill4 ,the hulled oats are what is wanted4 ,they can be purchased as the common rolled oats1 or sometimes as cut or pin-head oatmeal4 ,the latter form would be preferred1 but either of these is an excellent chick feed4 ,oats in these forms are expensive and should be purchased in bulk1 not in packages4 ,if too expensive1 oats should be used only for a few days1 when they may be replaced by cheaper grains4 ,cracked corn is the best and cheapest chick food4 ,flaxseed could be used in small quantities4 ,kaffir-corn1 wheat1 cow-peas--in fact any wholesome grain--may be used1 the more variety the better4 ,farmers possessing feed-mills have no excuse for feeding chicks exclusively on one kind of grain4 ,if there is no way of grinding corn on the farm1 oatmeal1 millet seed and corn chop can be purchased4 ,at about one week of age whole ,kaffir-corn1 and1 a little later whole wheat1 can be used to replace the more expensive feeds4 ,green or bulky food of some kind is necessary to the healthy growth of young chickens4 ,chickens fed in litter from clover or alfalfa will pick up many bits of leaves4 ,this answers the purpose fairly well1 but it is advisable to feed some leafy vegetable1 as kale or lettuce4 ,the chicks should be gotten on some growing green crop as soon as possible4 ,chickens are not by nature vegetarians4 ,they require some meat to thrive4 ,it has been proven in several experiments that young chickens with an allowance of meat foods make much better growth than chickens with a vegetable diet1 even when the chemical constituents and the variety of the two rations are practically the same4 ,very few farmers feed any meat whatever4 ,they rely on insects to supply the deficiency4 ,this would be all right if the insects were plentiful and lasted throughout the year1 but as conditions are it will pay the farmer to supplement this source of food with the commercial meat foods4 ,fresh bone1 cut by bone-cutters1 is an excellent source of the meat and mineral matter needed by growing chicks4 ,if one is handy to a butcher shop that will agree to furnish fresh bones at little or no cost1 it will pay to get a bone-mill1 but the cost of the mill and labor of grinding are considerable items1 and unless the supply of bones is reliable and convenient this source of meat foods is not to be depended upon4 ,the best way to feed beef-scrap is to keep a supply in the hopper so the chickens may help themselves4 ,in case meat food is given1 bone-meal1 fed in small quantities1 will form a valuable addition to their ration4 ,infertile eggs from incubators1 as well as by-products of the dairy1 can be used to help out in the animal-food portion of the ration4 ,chickens may be given all the milk they will drink4 ,it is generally recommended that this be given clabbered4 ,feeding ,laying ,hens4 ,the food requirements of a laying hen are very like those of a growing chicken4 ,one addition to the list is1 however1 required for egg production1 which is lime1 of which the shell of the egg is formed4 ,in the summer-time hens on the range will find sufficient lime to supply their needs4 ,in the winter-time they should be supplied with more lime than the food contains4 ,crushed oyster shell answers the purpose admirably4 ,a supply of green food is one of the requisites of successful winter feeding4 ,every farmer should see that a patch of rye1 crimson clover1 or some other winter green crop is grown near his chicken-house4 ,vegetables and refuse from the kitchen help out in this matter1 but seldom furnish a sufficient supply4 ,vegetables may be grown for this purpose4 ,mangels and sugar-beets are excellent4 ,cabbage1 potatoes and turnips answer the purpose fairly well4 ,mangels are fed by splitting in halves and sticking to nails driven in the wall4 ,clover and alfalfa are excellent chicken feeds and should be used in regions where winter crops will not keep green4 ,the leaves that shatter off in the mow are the choicest portion for chicken feeding1 and may be fed by scalding with hot water and mixing in a mash4 ,hens will eat good green alfalfa if fed dry in a box4 ,the feeding of sprouted oats should be practiced when no other green food is available4 ,oats may be prepared for this purpose by thoroughly soaking in warm water and being kept in a warm1 damp place for a few days4 ,feed when the sprouts are a couple of inches long4 ,almost all grains are suitable foods for hens4 ,corn1 on account of its cheapness and general distribution1 is the best4 ,the general prejudice against corn feeding should be directed rather against feeding one grain alone without the other forms of food4 ,if hens are supplied with green foods1 with mineral matter1 some form of meat food1 and are forced to take sufficient amount of exercise1 the danger from overfatness1 due to the feeding of a reasonable amount of corn1 need not be feared4 ,as has already been emphasized1 the variety of food given is more essential than the kind4 ,do not feed one grain all the time4 ,the more variety fed the better4 ,corn and ,kaffir-corn1 being cheap grains1 will form the major portion of the ration1 but1 even if much higher in price1 it will pay to add a portion of such grain as wheat1 barley1 oats or buckwheat4 ,cleanliness4 ,the advice commonly given in poultry papers would require one to exercise nearly as much pains in the cleaning of a chicken house as in the cleaning of a kitchen4 ,such advice may be suitable for the city poultry fanciers1 but it is out of place when given to the farmer4 ,poultry raising1 the same as other farm work1 must pay for the labor put into it1 and this will not be the case if attempt is made to follow all the suggestions of the theoretical poultry writer4 ,the ease with which the premises may be kept reasonably free from litter and filth is largely a matter of convenient arrangement4 ,the handiest plan from this view-point is the colony system4 ,in this the houses are moved to new locations when the ground becomes soiled4 ,if the chicken-house is a stationary structure it should be built away from other buildings1 scrap-piles1 fence corners1 etc41 so that the ground can be frequently freshened by plowing and sowing in oats1 rye or rape4 ,the ground should be well sloped1 so that the water draining from the surface may wash away much of the filth that on level ground would accumulate4 ,cleanliness indoors can be simplified by proper arrangement4 ,first1 the house must be dry4 ,poultry droppings1 when dry1 are not a source of danger if kept out of the feed4 ,they should be removed often enough to prevent foul odors4 ,drinking vessels should be rinsed out when refilled and not allowed to accumulate a coat of slime4 ,if a mash is fed1 feed-boards should be scraped off and dried in the sun4 ,sunshine is a cheap and efficient disinfectant4 ,the advice on the control of lice and the method of handling sick chickens that has been given in the main section of the book1 will apply as well on the farm as on the commercial poultry plant4 ,certainly the farmer's time is too valuable to fool with the details of poultry therapeutics4 ,farm ,chicken ,houses4 ,the following notes on poultry houses apply to ,iowa and ,nebraska1 where the winters are severe1 and similar climates4 ,farther south and east the farmer should use the same style of houses as recommended for egg farms4 ,a chicken house just high enough for a man to walk erectly and a floor space of about #c square feet per hen is advisable4 ,this requires a house #ab by #bd for #ajj hens1 or #aj by #af for #ej4 ,lands sloping to south or southeast1 and that which dries quickly after a rain1 will prove the most suitable for chickens4 ,a gumbo patch should not be selected as a location for poultry4 ,hogs and hens should not occupy the same quarters1 in fact1 should be some distance apart1 especially if heavy breeds of chickens are kept4 ,hens should be removed from the garden1 but may be near an orchard4 ,chicken-houses should be separated from tool-houses1 stables1 and other outbuildings4 ,grading for chicken-houses is not commonly practiced1 but this is the easiest means of preventing dampness in the house and is necessary in heavy soils4 ,the ground-level may be raised with a plow and scraper1 or the foundation of the house may be built and filled with dirt4 ,a stone foundation is best1 but where stone is expensive may be replaced by cedar1 hemlock or ,osage orange posts1 deeply set in the ground4 ,small houses can be built on runners as described for colony houses for an egg farm4 ,floors are commonly constructed of earth1 boards or cement4 ,cement floors are perfectly sanitary and easy to keep clean4 ,the objections to their common use is the first cost of good cement floors4 ,cheaply constructed floors will not last4 ,board floors are very common and are preferred by many poultrymen1 but if close to the ground they harbor rats1 while if open underneath they make the house cold4 ,covering wet ground by a board floor does not remedy the fault of dampness nearly so effectually as would a similar expenditure spent in raising the floor and surrounding ground by grading4 ,all things considered1 the dirt floor is the most suitable4 ,this should be made by filling in above the outside ground-level4 ,the drainage will be facilitated if the first layer of this floor be of cinders1 small rocks or other coarse material4 ,above this layer should be placed a layer of clay1 wet and packed hard1 so the hens cannot scratch it up1 or a different plan may be used and the floor constructed of a sandy or loamy soil of which the top layer can be renewed each year4 ,the walls of a chicken-house must first of all be wind-tight4 ,this may be attained in several ways4 ,upright boards with cracks battened is the cheapest method4 ,various kinds of lap-siding give similar results4 ,the single-board wall may be greatly improved by lining with building-paper4 ,this should be put on between the studding and siding4 ,lath should also be used to prevent the paper bagging out from the wall4 ,the double-board wall is the best where a warm house is desired4 ,it should be made by siding up outside the studding with cheap lumber4 ,on this is placed a layer of roofing paper and over it the ordinary siding4 ,the windows of a chicken-house should furnish sufficient light that the hens may find grain in the litter on cloudy days4 ,too much glass in a poultry house makes the house cold at night1 and it is a needless expenditure4 ,the subject of roofing farm buildings may be summarized in this advice3 ,use patent roofing if you know of a variety that will last2 if not1 use shingles4 ,shingle roofs require a steeper pitch than do roofs of prepared roofing4 ,a shingle roof can be made much warmer by using tightly laid sheathing covered with building-paper4 ,especial care should be taken that the joints at the eaves of the house are tightly fitted4 ,the object of ventilating a chicken-house is to supply a reasonable amount of fresh air1 and1 equally important1 to keep the house dry4 ,ventilation should not be by cracks or open cupolas4 ,direct drafts of air are injurious1 and ventilation by such means is always the greatest when the least needed4 ,schemes of ventilation by a system of pipes are expensive and unnecessary4 ,the latest1 best and cheapest plan for providing ventilation is the curtain front house for the north1 and the open front house for the more southerly sections4 ,the curtain front house is giving way to the open front with a somewhat smaller opening in sections1 as far north as ,connecticut4 ,make all roosts on the same level4 ,the ladder arrangement is a nuisance and offers no advantage4 ,arrange the roosts so that they may be readily removed for cleaning4 ,do not fill the chicken-house full of roosts4 ,put in only enough to accommodate the hens1 and let these be on one side of the house4 ,the floor under the roosts should be separated from the feeding floor by a board set on edge4 ,for laying flocks the nests must be clean1 secluded and plentiful4 ,boxes under the roost-platform will answer1 but a better plan is to have the nest upon a shelf along a side wall so arranged as to allow the hen to enter from the rear side4 ,nests should be constructed so that all parts are accessible to a white-wash brush4 ,the less contrivances in a chicken-house1 the better4 ,the farmer can get along very well without any chicken-yard at all4 ,it will1 however1 prove a very convenient arrangement if a small yard is attached to the chicken-house4 ,the house should be arranged to open either into the yard or out into the range4 ,this yard may be used for fattening chickens or confining cockerels1 or perhaps to enclose the flock during the ripening of a favorite tomato or berry crop4 ,,the ,,end4