430 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. No. 4. 



Partnership Arrangements. 



So far we have considered our subject on the supposition 

 that one man has to do all the various tasks. When a man 

 can have help from some members of his family, or when his 

 business justifies the employment of another man, or when 

 two or more men work together as partners, the problem is 

 very much simplified, because it is easier for two or more 

 persons to divide certain labors than for one person to divide 

 his time for a variety of tasks or occupations. The ideal 

 condition of diversified farming which includes poultry keep- 

 ing is a partnership, in which each member of the firm or of 

 the family looks after a particular branch of the work, and 

 each helps out others in emergencies. It is not necessary to 

 attempt an enumeration or specification of the possibilities 

 of arrangements of this kind. Poultry keeping is an employ- 

 ment in which both women and children can engage to ad- 

 vantage, and at the same time it is one which, if conducted 

 on a large scale, is worth a man's time and strength and 

 resources. 



Rightly managed, it will always, as far as we can now see, 

 be a profitable specialty for most farmers in the area con- 

 tiguous to our great sea-board cities. We can conceive of 

 conditions under which the western farmers, with their facili- 

 ties for producing poultry products abundantly and cheaply, 

 might make poultry growing in the eastern States unprofit- 

 able ; but we cannot find reasons for supposing that those 

 conditions will ever materialize, and if the eastern farmer 

 will make good use of his opportunities and advantages, he 

 need not fear western competition in poultry and eggs. The 

 bulk of the best trade in the lines in which he can operate to 

 best advantage will always be his own. The principal con- 

 sideration with him should be to keep the cost down as low 

 as is consistent with good quality, and to avoid leakages and 

 losses of all kinds. The selling price takes care of itself. 

 The cost price is more under control of the producer ; and 

 hundreds of producers to-day are finding that the best profit 

 from poultry is derived from poultry keeping as a leading- 

 feature in diversified farming. 



