No. 5. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 207 



man, and a satisfactory return on the money invested. Phenonmenal 

 profits should not be expected. A yearly profit per bird of from 

 75 cents to |2.50 is, on the average, a safe estimate. The actual re- 

 turns will depend largely upon the market conditions and the price 

 received for the eggs. Where greater profits are realized than those 

 outlined above, much stock and eggs are usually sold for breeding 

 purposes at an increased selling price. 



THE BIRD 



The birds are the machines which are to convert the raw product, 

 "food," into the finished product, "eggs." Without an efficient and 

 well-balanced machine, this work cannot be accomplished at a profit. 

 The determination of the breed best adapted as a transformer of 

 raw material into the product which the market requires, should be 

 the first consideration. The most desirable breed for any given con- 

 dition is determined by two factors: 



First. The extent of the business. 

 Second. The character of the markets. 



In the first instance, where there is to be a large production, much 

 greater than can be disposed of locally, the total product should 

 generally be consigned to some reliable commission house in New 

 York City, as that is the best egg market in the East. This market 

 pays a premium of from three to eight cents per dozen for white 

 shelled eggs the year round. For this reason the extensive poultry 

 plant in New Jersey, producing market eggs should select one of the 

 breeds which lay a pure white egg. The Single Comb White Leg- 

 horn fulfills this requirement more nearly than any other. 



In the second place, the poultryman producing usually in smaller 

 quantities for a home market where there is no discrimination be- 

 tween either brown or white eggs will get better results from choos- 

 ing one of the general purpose breeds. The Plymouth Eocks, Wyan- 

 dottes and Rhode Island Reds are good examples of this class. After 

 birds of this class have outlived their profitableness as egg producers, 

 their carcass brings considerable revenue when sold for meat pur- 

 poses. 



If one is to be uniformly successful in egg production, he should 

 consistently try to build up his flock. This can be done by select- 

 ing only the best females from the entire flock, by mating them to 

 good, vigorous males, and by using this special mating as a breeding 

 pen from which all eggs for hatching should be saved. In this way 

 one will get a continuous improvement that could not be assured if 

 the entire flock were used to propagate the future layers. In other 

 words the time has come for the poultryman to pay more attention 

 to individual birds, and less to the flock as a whole, especially when 

 breeding for future producers. The practice of making special breed- 

 ing pens in this w^ay is bound to result in time, in large, more vig- 

 orous birds, better layers and hence more profit. 



(See plates 1 and 2). 



Great care should be exercised not to include in these special mat- 

 ings for breeding purposes any birds which have had any poultry 

 disease. Some diseases such as Bacillary White Diarrhoea (Bac- 

 14 



