Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 



497 



State. We regret very much that we can not give the speeches 

 in full. 



Our large membership has grown from the members stand- 

 ing side by side with the officers, and if we accomplish what we 

 hope to in the coming years, it is still going to take a long and 

 hard pull together. 



Professor H. L. Kempster made some very important an- 

 nouncements, after which it was moved, seconded and carried that 

 we adjourn sine die. 



II. L. Kempster. 



POULTRY CONDITIONS IN MISSOURI. 



(H. Li. Kempster, Assistant Professor Poultry Husbandry, University of Missouri.) 



During the last few years poultry conditions in the United 

 States have undergone a remarkable change. 

 Probably at no time in the history of the country 

 have we experienced as great interest in poultry 

 raising, either on the general farm or on a com- 

 mercial scale. Occasionally you hear people say- 

 ing that the markets will be flooded with good 

 poultry products and yet each year has seen a 

 gradual increase in prices. An investigation of 

 the meat supply of the country quickly explains 

 the reason for this increase and also the necessity 

 for greater interest in poultry culture. The 

 census for 1910 shows the following interesting 

 figures regarding our sources of meat supply: 



Cattle have decreased in number 8.7 per cent; swine, 7.4 per 

 cent; sheep, 14.7 per cent, while poultry has increased 17 per cent. 

 From an, economic standpoint it is essential that poultry as 

 a source of meat supply should increase to make up for the de- 

 crease in the other sources. 



While poultry has increased in number 17 per cent, turkeys 

 have decreased in number 44 per cent ; ducks 39 per cent, and geese 

 21 per cent. 



Thus, while our total production of poultry has increased prac- 

 tically one-fifth, we are raising only three-fifths as many turkeys 

 and practically three-fifths as many geese. The total number of 

 fowls has increased 20 per cent, while their value has increased 

 from $136,800,000 in 1899 to $202,500,000 in 1900. The increase 

 in value thus has been in greater percentage than the numerical 



A-32 



