OREGON FARMER 87 



actual account of the food consumed. A more or less accurate 

 account of the number of eggs laid was kept by 449 farmers. 



Eleven farms reported poultry as a specialty. Nine farms special- 

 ized in dairy and poultry. Nine farms specialized in fruit and 

 poultry. Three farms in live stock and poultry. Four in grain 

 growing and poultry. Two in general farming and poultry. Four in 

 truck gardening and poultry. These were some of the farms^that 

 showed the most reliable statistics of production. In a great majority 

 of interviews poultry-keeping is reported as a side line to general or 

 mixed farming. 



One fact is pretty strongly emphasized in all reports and that is 

 that there is not much actual book-keeping done by the farmer. 

 This is especially true in regard to the cost of feeding the fowls. On 

 28 farms exact records were kept. The average cost of food per fowl 

 on those 28 farms was $1.27 during the year. The figures vary from 

 $2.00 per fowl to $1.00 as averages for the counties. In most of 

 these cases the food, or a large percentage of it, was bought. 



As to the number of eggs laid per fowl the figures at best are 

 estimates. The average during the year on 449 farms was 111.24. 

 To show the unreliability of the average estimates, it is sufficient 

 to state that one farmer reported an average of 36 per fowl, which 

 was the lowest. Another reported an average for his flock of 220 per 

 fowl. It is safe to say that neither of them comes very near the truth. 

 We probably come very near the actual truth, however, by taking 

 the average of the whole 449. This may show the value of an average 

 though it does not represent the possibilities. 



As already explained in another part of this book, it is possible that 

 the reports do not represent the best obtainable data, but there are 

 enough reports of a reliable character when analyzed carefully to 

 indicate something of the status of the poultry industry of this state 

 and of the possibilities in that line of production. It isn't fair to 

 deal with averages in talking about possibilities. If we were to say 

 that the poultry industry was a profitable industry in the United 

 States we would not get very much support for this view from the 

 federal census which deals in averages. According to that report the 

 fowls of the United States average some six dozen eggs per hen. 

 According to the same report the hens of Oregon are doing a little 

 better, but in neither case do the figures represent a profitable 

 industry. We must analyze individual cases if we are to get at the 

 truth of the matter. The average of the 449 farms at the rate of 111 

 eggs per fowl represents a profitable business, but it dosn't fully 

 represent the possibilities. 



The reports show what has generally been known to be a fact, 

 that the poultry industry is not a specialized business. By that I 

 mean that it is not conducted as a separate or exclusive business to 

 any extent. We may have specialists in poultry-keeping, but there 

 should be a wider meaning to the word specialization than is usually 

 given. A man may specialize in poultry-keeping and yet grow other 



