PREFACE 



THE purpose in preparing this elementary treatise on 

 Poultry Keeping has been to provide a text suitable for use 

 in rural schools and in graded schools. It is especially 

 adapted for use in the seventh and eighth grades but with 

 slight adaptation can be profitably used for high school 

 work. The need and demand for such a book is becoming 

 more and more apparent. Each year sees a greater interest 

 and development in the teaching of Agriculture in elementary 

 schools. Poultry keeping offers one of the best opportunities 

 in this line. Pupils are especially interested in things ani- 

 mate. A small flock of birds may be owned and kept on 

 the school premises at a very small cost. Poultry is kept 

 to a greater or less extent on nearly every American farm. 

 The children especially take an active interest in this branch 

 of the farm work. An idea of this growing popularity can 

 be appreciated by noting the increased interest which is 

 created by the growth of Boys' and Girls' Poultry Clubs and 

 Poultry Raising Contests. These contests are becoming 

 more and more a part of many school activities. In some 

 cases these contests are but local; in others whole counties 

 have organized and conducted Poultry Raising and Egg 

 Laying Contests for the young folks. Such activities in the 

 poultry field have been of great advantage to the whole 

 agricultural population within the district. As the boys and 

 girls are interested in poultry keeping when young, so their 

 interest is bound to be greater and greater in this branch 

 of agriculture in later years. 



The idea in arranging the text material has been to keep 

 it as elementary as possible, yet cover in a concise, simple 

 way the essentials in the management of the poultry flock. 



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