112 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



are sometimes operated for years at a loss, but it is very rare 

 indeed that a poultry farm of this kind (except in the classes to 

 be described later) is continued for more than seven or eight 

 years, and few of them last five years. Those who wish to make 

 a poultry business permanent must adopt other methods. 



BROILER GROWING 



The desire for what is rare and costly is a common trait in 

 human character. In nothing is it more plainly displayed than 

 in the demand for food products out of their natural season. 

 An article which in its season of abundance is a staple article 

 of diet, within the means of all but the very poorest, at its 

 season of scarcity becomes a luxury which only the wealthy 

 can afford. 



Before cold-storage methods had been brought to high effi- 

 ciency, there was a period in the latter part of the winter and 

 the early spring when young chickens were very scarce. The 

 number that could be hatched with hens to meet a demand at 

 this season was small, and those who were hatching autumn and 

 winter chickens by the natural method found it more profitable 

 to keep them to sell as roasters late in the spring and early in 

 the summer. 



The "broiler craze. " A little before 1890, artificial incu- 

 bators being then first brought to a perfection which made them 

 popular, some poultry keepers began to hatch chickens in the 

 winter to meet the demand for early broilers. Those who were 

 successful made a very good profit on what chickens they had 

 ready to sell while the prices were high. Most of them operated 

 in a very small way, taking up this work simply for occupation 

 when they had nothing else to do. Many were gardeners who 

 had just about enough slack time, after the harvest of one year 

 was over, to hatch and grow one lot of broilers before beginning 

 their regular spring work. 



