10 IMPROVEMENT OF THE FARM EGG. 



The work described in the present paper deals mainly with the 

 situation in the Middle West and particularly in the State of Kansas. 

 The objects sought to be attained are, to improve the quality of com- 

 mercial eggs by investigations on the ground to determine the reasons 

 for the poor quality of eggs so frequently seen, to devise methods for 

 improving the present conditions economically and reduce the loss 

 to a minimum, and, by a campaign of education, to disseminate the 

 results of the investigation in other sections of the country where 

 similar conditions prevail in the egg trade. The loss represented by 

 improper handling of eggs on the farm and in the country store is, 

 in the main, a preventable one. It is borne directly both by the 

 producer and the consumer, and affects the consumer also by curtail- 

 ing the egg supply of the country as well as by lowering, its quality. 

 By preventing this loss it is possible for the farmer to realize a 

 greater profit and for the consumer to be more certain that he is 

 purchasing eggs of reasonably good quality. 



EXTENT OF THE INDUSTRY. 



There is probably no other domestic animal which has a more gen- 

 eral distribution than the hen, and the part which she plays in the 

 agricultural wealth of this country is almost incredible. According 

 to the m.ost recent 'statistics of the Department of Agriculture, the 

 products of the American hen aggregate a total value of more than 

 $620,000,000 annually. This sum is stated to be equal to the value 

 of the hay crop for 1908 and greater than the combined value of oats 

 and potatoes for the same year. It is nearly nine times the value of 

 the tobacco crop and equal to that of wheat. 



Poultry and eggs are produced in all sections of the country, but 

 the business finds its greatest scope in areas presenting the most favor- 

 able conditions. It is a noticeable fact that the bulk of these impor- 

 tant products is produced on the farms of the Mississippi Valley. 

 In this section there are practically no large intensive poultry farms 

 such as are commonly found in the Eastern States and on the Pacific 

 coast. Poultry keeping, therefore, is largely incidental, the hens being 

 considered and treated largely as an agency for converting material 

 which would otherwise go to waste into a salable product. Conse- 

 quently the poultry and eggs produced constitute merely a by-product 

 of the general farm. Because prices for poultry products are com- 

 paratively low the farmers make no effort to keep larger flocks than 

 can be supported by this w r aste without much attention or extra feed, 

 and because individual flocks are small little attention or thought has 

 been given to improving the product or the method of disposing of 

 it. It should be kept in mind, however, that while individual sales 

 of poultry products are small, the aggregate for the year is large, 

 reaching for each State in the Middle West a total of many millions 

 of dollars. 



