280 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



In nearly all farming sections, even those most remote from 

 city markets, there is a short period in the spring when there 

 is a large surplus of eggs and sometimes a period in the fall 

 when there is more poultry ready for market than can be sold ; 

 but the people in those places rarely make any effort to increase 

 their production, and to extend the seasons when they have 

 more than enough for themselves, until they have good facilities 

 for shipping eggs and poultry and the demands from outside 

 cause a marked increase in the local prices of these products. 



FIG. 227. Driving turkeys to market. (Photograph from Bureau of Chemistry, 

 United States Department of Agriculture) 



So from the city and the country, almost simultaneously, but 

 with the demand from the city most active and pressing, the 

 modern system of collecting and distributing poultry products 

 has grown. At first poultry products were nearly all handled 

 by men who dealt in all kinds of country produce. As the busi- 

 ness increased, many firms gave their attention exclusively to 

 poultry products. Then, when creameries were established in 

 many places, the creamery was found a convenient place for 

 the collection of eggs. The large packing houses which handle 



