INTRODUCTION 



23 per cent and in value 112 per cent. In other words, 

 poultry and eggs are steadily occupying a more important 

 place in the diet of the American people as the amount of 

 poultry products either imported or exported is not large. 

 The place which poultry products occupy in our diet com- 

 bined with the growing population of this country and its 

 constantly increasing demand for food products guar- 

 antees a steady demand at good prices for future poultry 

 and egg production and allows for a healthy growth of 

 the poultry industry and continued steady expansion of 

 poultry farms. Quality in poultry products is being ap- 

 preciated and paid for more and more especially in the 

 value of strictly fresh eggs. The importance and value of 

 eggs for human consumption have been greatly empha- 

 sized in recent experiments in which a soluble fat abso- 

 lutely essential to human life and growth has been found 

 in eggs, milk and certain glandular organs of animals. 

 The large poultry farms cannot compete in cost of pro- 

 duction with the general farmer who keeps poultry as a 

 side issue but they can get a much higher price for their 

 eggs by supplying eggs to the consumer while they are 

 strictly fresh and in prime condition. It is this difference 

 in price obtained for strictly fresh eggs above the price of 

 average receipts which gives the commercial egg farmer 

 a sound practical basis on which to operate successfully. 

 There is not the same relative profit in the production of 

 high grade fresh poultry on the commercial poultry farm 

 as poultry can also be produced more cheaply on the gen- 

 eral farm from which it goes to the poultry packing sta- 



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