210 ANNUAL £EP0E1S OF DEJPAETMENT OF AGEICULitURE. 



POULTRY AND EGGS. . 



Work in the Imperial Valley of California resulted in the shipping 

 of a large crop of turkeys dressed instead of alive, with the saving 

 of 10 or 20 per cent shrinkage in weight. Demonstrations of the 

 handling of eggs for market and storage and of the fleshing of broilers, 

 so that the cockerels not only paid for themselves but returned a 

 profit and provided almost twice as much foodstuff as heretofore, 

 contributed in making the hatch in California larger this year than 

 ever before. In Texas similar demonstrations were held in 19 coun- 

 ties. In the Salt River and Yuma Valleys in Arizona and the Pecos 

 River Valley in New Mexico demonstrations to increase the turkey 

 crop have been begun. In cooperation with the State Agricultural 

 College much has been accomplished in Arkansas. Extensive candling 

 demonstrations have been given in Louisiana. Much success has been 

 met with in improving the methods of handling eggs in Mississippi 

 and Alabama. 



Demonstrations on the best methods of fleshing poultry have kept 

 practically all of the feeding stations in Tennessee and Kentucky 

 open and filled to capacity, where last year a number were closed 

 because of the high price of feeds and lack of knowledge on the part 

 of the feeder as to how to use to advantage such feeds as were""avail- 

 able. It has been estimated that during 1918 more than 1,000,000 

 pounds of chicken flesh, which otherwise would not have been 

 obtained, will have been produced in these States. 



Egg-candling campaigns have been conducted in Kansas, in co- 

 operation with the State Agricultural College and the State Food 

 Administration. Similar work to improve the handling of eggs has 

 been done in Missouri and in Iowa, in cooperation with the State 

 Agricultural College, the State Food and Drug Department, and the 

 State Food Administration. A similar campaign was conducted in 

 Nebraska. 



FISH. 



In cooperation with the Bureau of Fisheries and the United States 

 Food Administration, a campaign to develop the fisheries on the 

 Gulf of Mexico, especially on the western coast of Florida, and to 

 distribute the catch in the cities of the Middle West, has been very 

 successful. The bureau undertook to arrange for and supervise the 

 shipment of fresh fish, and the Food Administration propaganda in 

 the cities of Nashville, Louisville, and Indianapolis, as well as the 

 fine quality and the moderate price of the fish, caused greater con- 

 sumption than in previous years. A market for Gulf fish has now 

 been created in these localities, where this year these fish will 

 probably be moved in large quantities during the autumn and win- 

 ter. As a consequence, the fisheries at Fort Meyer, Punta Gorda, 

 and near-by ports have been active all summer, instead of practically 

 closing down. Plans are being made to establish freezers at suitable 

 places on the Gulf of Mexico, to prevent gluts due to heavy catches 

 and to insure an even distribution of fish as well as its better condi- 

 tion on arrival at the market. One freezer is in process of construc- 

 tion. For another, which includes a well-equipped general plant, 

 bids have been submitted to contractors. A third is under serious 

 consideration. The bureau has also been able to straighten out diffi- 



