74 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



then existed more than a third of a billion living 

 fowls in this country. In other words, there were 

 three of these birds present to every person in 

 the United States. Iowa led with twenty-seven 

 million, and in New York there were more than 

 ten million with a value of $15,348,600. Including 

 all the fowl reared and sold during the months 

 before the census was taken, the value of poultry 

 in the United States reached the tremendous sum 

 of a billion dollars. 



Egg Production 



Fully as important, however, as the poultry 

 themselves are the eggs they are responsible for. 

 Egg production and how to increase it offers a 

 wealthy field to experimenters and scientific 

 breeders. To heighten the level of average flock 

 performance is the universal aim, and, though 

 much has been accomplished in that direction, 

 there is still great room for improvement. "An 

 egg a day" has been the war-cry of breeders for 

 more than thirty years, but the hens have yet a 

 long distance to travel toward the attainment of 

 their ultimate goal. 



Nowadays it is not uncommon for individual 

 hens to lay more than 200 eggs in a year, but a 

 large flock seldom approaches that average. Such 

 an instance has occurred, however. A flock of 



