POULTRY 347 



dozen eggs each year. The value of the eggs is in excess of 

 three hundred million dollars a year, or sufficient to pay 

 about three-fourths of the" running expenses of all our 

 public schools. The fowls themselves are worth above two 

 hundred million dollars. 



The ten leading poultry states. Ten states supply 

 about fifty-four per cent, of all the eggs we produce. These 

 states are Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, 

 Texas, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan. 



The percentage of the entire egg crop produced by each 

 of these ten states is as follows : 



Missouri 7.0% 



Iowa 6.9% 



Ohio 6.3% 



Illinois 6.3% 



Kansas 5.1% 



Indiana 5.1% 



Texas 4.9% 



Pennsylvania 4.7% 



New York 4.6% 



Michigan 3.8% 



2. Poultry Raising as a Farm Industry 



There are several good reasons why the raising of poul- 

 try should occupy a more important place than it now does 

 on most of our farms. 



Increasing demands for eggs and poultry. Eggs 

 form one of the most necessary and palatable articles of 

 food. With improved methods of shipping and cold storage 

 they have increasingly become a staple on almost every 

 table, city as well as country. The prices are high, a dozen 

 of eggs bringing the farmer about as much as a pound of 

 butter. The demand for fowl as a supplement to other 

 kinds of meat has also greatly increased, and there is now 



