388 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



one-half or three-quarters of them, it simply leaves more room for 

 the others to thrive. Consequeut'y, it does very little good, and 

 only for one year, as they will increase the next, 



DS. FUNK: Can't they be baited and trapped? 



PEOF. SUKFACE: They are a very shy bird. It has been tried 

 to trap them, and they succeeded once or twice, but afterwards the 

 birds would stay away from there for v/eeks or for months. I thin!; 

 that one of the things we can do is to modify our architecture some- 

 what, so that they will not have any place to nest. Try doing away 

 with the overhanging cornice, so as to make their nests accessible, 

 when they can be reached and destroyed with the eggs before they 

 are hatched. 



The CHAIRMAN: If there is nothing further on this subject, we 

 will take up the question of poultry, by Dr. Conard, 



Dr, Conard then read his report as follows: 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON POULTRY. 



Bt Dr. M. B. Conard, Chairman. 



Not being a practical Poultryman, I feel a little out of place on 

 this Committee; but will promise you that my paper shall possess 

 one commendable feature — brevity. 



In times past, the growing of poultry and the production of eggs 

 has been a branch of agriculture that has too generally been classed 

 as of minor importance and thought too small to demand the atten- 

 tion of the chief executive of the farm. But are we sure that it 

 did not return a better percentage of profit than some of the so-called 

 more important branches or departments of the farming opera- 

 tions? 



Let us see what we receive for feed consumed by a flock of hens, 

 as compared with an equal value fed for milk, beef, or pork. Is it 

 not a fair comparison to consider that the grain ration of a good 

 working dairy cow will equal in value the ration of forty hens? 

 Then, allowing the cow to give six quarts of milk per day, sold at 

 three and one-half cents per quart net, she will return 181.65 per 

 year, while the forty hens receiving the same value of food and care 

 produce one and one-half dozen eggs daily — sold at tw^enty cents per 

 dozen — aggregating for the year |109.50; and, again, allowing the 

 same value for food and labor to produce one and one-half pounds 

 of beef or pork dailv, sold at eight cents per pound, we would receive 

 only $41.80, 



Statistics tell us that Pennsylvania's Poultry Yards yield from 

 15 to 20 millions of dollars' worth of product annuallv, and that the 

 United States produced |600,000,000 worth of poultry and eggs 



