POULTRY. 579 



being practically under the control of the breeder. If the fowls have to shift for themselves, 

 getting a precarious living in the barn-yards or the stubble field, the eggs do not have the 

 rich melting quality which results from a good generous diet of grain and prepared food. 

 We might as well expect the same quality of beef in the half-wild steer of the prairies, as we 

 get in the well-fed thoroughbred Short Horn.&quot; 



Profits of Poultry Raising. That poultry raising is always attended with profit is 

 a question of grave doubt, but that it may be made very profitable when properly managed 

 admits of no question whatever. In fact, we believe that no department of farm manage 

 ment can be made more profitable to the farmer in proportion to the labor and outlay than 

 poultry raising, when conducted according o the most approved methods. When the most 

 profitable breeds are kept and are judiciously and systematically cared for, so that eggs may 

 be supplied in abundance during the winter, when they will bring the highest market price, 

 and chickens hatched early to supply broilers for the market, when such meat is most in 

 demand, the profits must of necessity be very large in proportion to the amount expended 

 for their production and growth. The same principle holds true where poultry is raised 

 simply for home use. 



Like every other kind of business, the profits in poultry raising will be found to be 

 proportionate to the amount of intelligent skill and care bestowed upon the enterprise. 

 There are three distinct markets that poultry may be bred for, viz. : fancy strains, table use, 

 and egg-production. Which will return the greatest profit for the time, labor, and outlay in 

 money will depend considerably upon surroundings and conditions; under any circumstances 

 the profits will depend upon the manner in which the management is conducted. A person 

 should never go into the business with the idea that there is no labor attending it. There is 

 profit in the business, but in order to secure it there must be labor, and a judicious system. 

 To show what the average profits of fowls may be when properly managed, we give the 

 result of a few experiments, on a small scale. The writer, in keeping an accurate account of 

 the expenses and products from a flock of twenty-five Light Brahmas for one year, found 

 that the net proceeds were about two dollars and a half per head, and this when grain was at 

 a high market rate, and bought in small quantities at retail prices. 



Mr. S. A. Cooper, of Colebrook, Conn., states that he had a flock of ten White Leghorns 

 hatched June 2d. On the first day of the December following two of the pullets commenced 

 laying, and in five days from that time the ten were all laying. Between the first of Decem 

 ber and the first of April these White Leghorns averaged in eggs produced $1.10 each 

 above the expense of their keeping. Mr. Edward Hunter, of Norwich, Conn., says that he 

 found by keeping a strict account of the expenses and returns from his flock of one hundred 

 and twenty-five hens, made up of Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks, that from March 1st, 1882, 

 until March 1st, 1883, his hens laid 15,600 eggs, or an average of 116 eggs apiece. Of these 

 he sold 1,200 dozen, receiving therefor $375.75, or an average of thirty-one and a quarter 

 cents a dozen. This left him for use in his own family 1,200 eggs; that is 100 dozen. He 

 is satisfied that he made enough off from the hens, to say nothing of eggs the family ate, to 

 pay for the keep of his horse and cow. 



The following is an account kept by a young lady in New England, who experimented 

 in the profits of poultry raising. The number of hens kept was sixty, consisting of White 

 Leghorns, Dark Brahmas, and American Dominiques: 



No. of eggs sold, 417|| doz. at 29c., ...... $121.76 



Amount of poultry sold, ........ 114.23 



Amount of poultry used in the family, . . . . . . 20.00 



$255.99 

 Amount expended for feed, . . . . .60.08 



Leaving a net balance of. .... $195.91 



This gives an average of $3.26 per head for each of the sixty fowls. 



