No. 4.] POULTRY CULTURE. 249 



the land high and dry for a roosting place is almost ideal for 

 geese, and any amount of such land can be found in this State. 

 Another great advantage lies in the fact that very little outlay 

 is necessary in the way of houses or shelter, as any kind of a 

 shed will do for adult geese even in the coldest weather, and 

 after the goslings are a few weeks old the only shelter needed 

 for them is shade. As the price of feathers is gradually increas- 

 ing, their value is an item well worth considering. With our 

 cheap land and the high price of meats, this line of poultry 

 farming will receive more consideration in the near future. 



Pullet Growing. 



This is a line of poultry culture not yet developed, because it 

 is difficult for many to produce good, vigorous stock. Usually 

 poultry raisers do not grow more than they need themselves 

 because of overcrowding, but there is good money in raising 

 pullets for sale, as thousands were sold last season for $L50 to 

 $2 each. There are hundreds of people who would not try to 

 raise chicks under adverse conditions if they could buy pullets. 

 It would surprise many to know of the thousands that were 

 handled by the commercial firms in Boston last fall, and their 

 sales aggregated only a small per cent of the number that 

 change hands. 



Fattening and Killing. 



This is a line of poultry work that has not been specialized 

 to any great extent in this State. Many of the large packing 

 houses in the west have fattening stations in connection with 

 their meat-packing establishments, where thousands of chickens 

 are fattened annually. 



A great many chickens are marketed during September and 

 October, not because they are in market condition, but because 

 of congested quarters or the fear of losing money by keeping 

 them. Good money can be made by buying, fattening and put- 

 ting these on the market in first-class condition. I know of 

 two high school boys who are doing this in a small way. As 

 their time is limited they fatten only enough to supply regular 

 customers at retail prices, and their profits are good. 



