2 



And what is still more surprising is that this is particularly true of the 

 farmer himself. There is absolutely no justification for such indifference, 

 not even from a straight financial point of view. By making a fair 

 comparison; that is, taking into consideration the capital and labor in- 

 volved, the farmer's poultry will yield returns equal to if not greater than 

 any which can be derived from any other branch of his business. 



Having some knowledge of these facts, and a special interest in poultry 

 work, the writers of this report some time ago determined, if possible, 

 to find just where the above stated loss in eggs occurred, who was respon- 

 sible for it, endeavor to increase interest in poultry, at least in Ontario 

 County, and to establish, if possible, some marketing system whereby the 

 heavy loss in eggs might be curtailed or perhaps entirely eliminated. 



Fig. I. — A Typical Farm Flock. 



To accomplish this, it was deemed necessary, first of all, to obtain 

 more extensive and complete information as to actual conditions under 

 which farm eggs are marketed, following their course carefully from 

 the country producer to the final consumer in the larger town or city. 

 It was also thought necessary to make a careful examination of actual 

 poultry conditions upon a large number of farms. Although this phase 

 of the investigation was confined entirely to Ontario County, there is 

 reason to believe that the conditions in that County are fairly represen- 

 tative of the entire Province. In order to make the investigation of farm 

 conditions unmistakably representative in its character, three different 

 sections of the County were chosen, and in each section a block of farms 



