H
RVMBM
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SUCTION
Profitable Business of Poultry Raising in America
This I- tlio first of a. now scries
of article on practical poultry
husbandry prepared for this puu-
Mention liy l'rofpssur Slum burn,
nti nuthorlty of Intermit lonnl
reputation. These contributions
,-wlll appear each work during
the comliiK yenr, and the entire
eerles will constitute n thorough,
comprohiMislVB course In poultry
husbandry. Kach lntaltinont
will be complete In Itself, ouch
will treat of current Activities In
the poultry yard, ouch will bo
full of practical, dependable ad
vice, which will serve as A safo
guide to poultry profits.
We upct that our readers
preserve these contributions for
future reference ntul use. A
gcrapbook containing the entire
scries will make a complete,
working handbook, full of tho
latest available Information on
this Important subject.
fSA".
Y rr.op. rnr.DKntc h. sTONicnurtN.
THE annual valuo of tho agricul
tural products of America Is so
vast that it staggers tho Imag
ination. This country not only pro
duces tho foodstuffs required to sup
port a population numbering approx
imately 100,000,000, but has u great
surplus for export, and this Is the
basis of much of our wealth.
Agriculture has for its object tho
production of plants and nnimals,
e?tnbte or animal products, which
art nee-led by man, affordlug hi in
nourishment and protection, adding
t his comfort asd pleasure. It Is at
oe as ar: and a buslnee. but as
Tit w can scarcely term it a science
tfcyqgfc it u based upon the natural
"-' The 5ucccful farmer is
tart -rho understands the work
tmz of A aatunl force which aro
hit iCtot or hi enemies, and con
mt hi icess with doe reference
ts IMX4 Ixstees principles. A good
imttsum us ur tw a poor farmer;
r&i faneer atsy b a poor business
. Etu rare, m measured by
Qaaavu: mints u secured only
tfcrvu. tt i4oKio of the best
MM-! ei-o. re?a-dles of
Th crop rwra, 4 dee regard to
tk kK?af W4 and disposing
t tike j4k?.
Oram Vjiy of Proltct..
AaTicmltnr it rapidly becoming
afteciaaiaed. 2a th early history of
Ihii eoutry. before our transporta
tion iacUrUe bad been developed,
the farmer endeavored to prow upon
hie own acres most of the supplies
required by hie family and his live
stock. Now all is changed. We have
truck farms, fruit farms, dairy farms,
iwultry farms, hog ranches and a
jcrett number of others. On an
American table today one may find
beef from Missouri, pork from Iowa.
celery from Michigan, cheese from
New York, jwiaioes from Maine,
grapefruit from Florida, oranges
from California, apples from Oregon,
cantaloupes from Delaware, eggs
from Pess)lvanla, chickens from Jer
y. Eren the jams and pickles "that
mother used to make" have been
largely replaced by supplies drawn
from the Kreat preserving establish
menu. Specialization makes for efficiency.
When any man stops trying to do
many things and concentrates all his
thought, time and energy upon one,
he is very likely to make a success
of that. And since such a large num
ber of intelligent men have of lato
devoted themselves to Improving
methods of poultry management and
perfecting the various appliances re
quired by tho potiltryman, this groat
mid growing Industry has developed
at a truly amazing rate.
And tho poultry Industry Ik groat
great In tho value of its products
great in tho support It affords to
nllled Industries groat in tho num
ber of mon, women and children
from evory conceivable walk In life,
who find plousur and profit In
brooding and caring for our usoful
and beautiful domestic fowls. There
aro fow, If nny, agricultural crops
which oxcood In valuo tho groat poul
try crop In Amorlca when wo Includo
in tho figure tho vast sums In excess
of actual market valuo secured from
tho sale of eggs for hatching, baby
chicks, breeding and oxhlbltlon stock.
We often hear of "tho bllllon-dollar
IKtultry Industry," and this Is no ex
aggeration. From n small beginning.
It lias devolopod Into a most Impor
tant sourco of National wealth; from
h tu-gleeted slde-Hno of tho farm to n
bluings which commands tho host
efforts of a host of thinking, pro-gre--lw
iwople, and tho hearty sup
port of stato and National Govern
ments, ,..rl,iu"h ",),lUr- keeping is re
tarded as being au agricultural spe
cialty, It Is not necessarily conducted
exclusively on tho farm. Of course,
practically all farmers keep flocks of
fowls, but untold numbers of dwollcrB
in city, town and village In nil sec
tions of tho country nro actively en
gaged In this work.
Poultry Keeping Universal.
So It may bo said that poultry hus
bandry Is tho universal agricultural
specialty, 0110 that flourishes every
where, regardless of space, clltnato
and other limiting factors.
There nro many sound rcaBons for
this general popularity. Among them
we mention u fow of tho moro Im
portant. Primarily, poultry keeping Is n
most Interesting pursuit. On tho
poultry plant thoro Is n now round
of duties each season, almost every
month. Hcnco Micro Is not tho
monotony about tho work Unit In so
ofton experienced In other lines. And
at nil times ono is handling living
things which with their useful quali
ties combine beauty and grace.
Poultry products aro In constant
demand, and Uiobo of flno quality
Boll at very satisfactory prices., Knr
thcr, thoy aro concentrated and val
uable, and so may economically bo
Blilpped to distant mnrkots If neces
sary. A poultry plant may bo established
on n very modcrnto Investment. At
tho stnrt the beginner may, ami usu
ally should, tio content to work with
ii few fowls which will require but
llttlo land and houso room and n
small amount of time. As oxporlonco
is gained and profits warrant, tho
oxlont of tho oporatlonB may bo In
creased until ono'a whole nttentlon Is
given to the business.
Quick lteturns on Investment.
Tho returns on tho Investment of
ttmo and capital aro secured quickly,
and tho productB nro distributed over
tho greater part of tho year, Insur
ing a Btc-ndy Income. In many agri
cultural lines ono is compelled to
wait for n long period beforo any re
turns begin to coino In, and frequent
ly tho entire crop la mnrkctcd at ono
time, and thoro h no further In-nn,
until another harvest Is gathc PT8
, Tho work Is healthful mi mi,
ttcuhiny hard. In fU(.t, t ,
performed by peoplo ut either Vx
IIiIh iIucb not mean that tho poul
man has llttlo to do, hut rather Uu
his duties aro seldom of a clmractc
which might bo termed hard labor
Properly managed, a rioclt of po'-j.
try rapidly Inuteascs tho fertility of
homo place or farm, thereby enhant
lug tholr valuo and making iiosslbla
tho production of lnrger crops. Man
run-down trncta of tillable lnnd havo
in IIiIh way been Improved and mado
vnluuble.
But thoro mo disadvantages as
well, anil tho prospective poultry-nan
cannot afford to Ignoio these. Tho
work, though not heavj, must to
properly attended to every duy. 0a
many poultry fnrinna.Uio owner muit
work long hours, noven days In tho
week, especially during the btusy -canon,
when chlckn nro being hatched
and ronrod. Many persons chain tin-
(Concluil-d (ill 'aKo"v
Increasing Laying Capacities of American Hens
VVWVAAAMssfWkAs,'MAAAMAAAswiA
CHAMPION LAYING HENS.
AsV5
mg r
These layer modo wonderful official kk records In public lnylntr competition recently hold In America,
o "liodo Island lied, at tho rlKht laid !51 tKK .lurltiK the year. Tho Wlillo I.erfhorn. center, produced :S3
-. Tho Columbluu Plymouth llock, left. m:ido a now record of S8C okk. Those fluurou aro accurate, Imv-
Tho
OfCBS,
Iriff been secured through tho uso of tho trnpuust,
lSASVMWWWAWVA,
by i'dwi.v MiHiAitann.
THK totnl egg crop produced each
year by tho hens of America Is
vnluod at hundreds of millions
of dollars, and this on an avorago
production of from 70 to SO eggs per
layer. If this average could bo dou
bled. It would add tremendously to
our National woalth. Many studouts
of tho subject aro convinced thnt tho
yield per lion can easily bo consider
ably Increased, possibly doubled, as
soon as our poultry keopors adopt
better mothods of feeding mul man
aging tholr flocks and pay closor at
tention to breeding.
An output of SO eggs por bird may
yield a profit on general farms whoro
tho fowls rocelvo but scant nttentlon
and niBtlo for most of tholr food. But
on commercial plants, whoro tho cost
of feed, lnbor, Intorost on tho Invest
ment and othor Items of expenso aro
consldorod, n flock of 80-egg lions Is
not profitable. This fact is becom
ing generally realized and business
poultrymen ovorywhoro nro making
a determined effort to "speed up"
tholr layors,
13gg production dopends upon two
distinct factors heredity and envir
onment. Until very recently Ameri
can poultrymen hnvo omphnslzcd tho
latter and paid but scant attention to
tho former. That such n courso is
shortsighted must bo apparent at a
glnnco when wo tnko Into considera
tion many Importnnt facts which hnva
been brought out during recent years.
Caroful investigations conducted at
cortnln of our agricultural experi
ment stations and tho experience of
a small group of progressiva poultry
breeders have clearly shown that tha
tondency toward high production la
Inherited, and that this characteristic
may bo fixed and liiteutdMcd through
tho application of Intelligent methods
of breeding.
From tho available ovldonco ono Is
mifo In reaching tho following con
clusions: A hen that Inherits a tend
oncy toward low egg production will
hnrdly inako a satisfactory record, no
matter how carefully slio Is housed,
fed and cured for. A hen thnt In
herits a tondency toward high pro
duction cannot do hor best work un
less properly handled. Thorofore.
maximum production Is to bo secured
only through tho uso of both factors
In combination.
Intelligent broedlng must bo based
upon a knowledge of tho perform
ance and pedlgreo of tho Individuals
used ns broedlng stock. This is as
truo lu tho poultry field as In othor
linos of llvostock production, in tho
poultry yard such knowledge Is se
cured through tho use of tho trnpnost
nnd n comploto system of too mark
ing or handling of tho various Indi
viduals bo they may bo positively
Identified. Such work takos llmo,
but It brings results.
Public laying competitions, first
Instituted In Amorlca In 1911, hnvo
dono much toward interesting tho
public In tho laying capacity of In
dividual hons. Poultrymen nro now
valuing their birds becauso of unusual
laying ability qulto as much us for
perfection of form and color, tho
M,y fnnc" or exhibition points.
What Ib tho maximum number of
eggs a hen can lay In 12 months
when nil conditions aro favorable?
Jbls is an open question, but tho
number Is much larger than former
ly believed possible. A fow yenrs no
wo considered tho 200-cgg hen a mar
vel, but tho number of such lnyeri
Is now ho largo that they exclto but
llttlo commont.
Tho accompanying Illustration
shows threo hens thnt have mado
most Mttlsfuctory yearly records at
laying eompotltloiiH In tho Knst. The
lthodo Island Bed, bred In Pennsyl
vania, laid UM big, brown eggs. Tho
Hluglo Ooml) White Leghorn, an Eng
lish bird, produced SSL eggs hi 1912
13, This latter flguro was excocded
In 101.1-H by tho Columbian Plym
outh Bock, tho property of a New
Jersey breeder, who act hor mark at
280 eggs.
But the Northwest has defeated
tho world In tho production of tho
champion lion. Tho first 300-cge
hen of which thero la nny record
was in od need at tho Oregon Agri
cultural Collogo Experiment Station.
Hor record was 303 eggs In her first
12 months of laying. A year later
thoro wore a fow records mentioned
equalling or exceeding this, by pri
vate breeders, but thoro aro no rec
ords equalling thnt havo been mado
at public Institutions or under of
flclal supervision of somo kind. A
record of 280 oggs was mado nt tho
Missouri Statu Competition last
J oar.
Theso notables In tho poultry world
possess mnny characteristics In com
moii, iib abounding strougth and
vigor, physical activity, tromendouj
appotlto nnd llttlo tendency toward
broodlnoss,
(Copyrlt'ht, 1016, by Matos-Men. Adv.
Co., Ino.)