484 APPENDIX G 



In taking care of the fowls my work consisted of feeding and watering 

 them, cleaning the dropping boards at least three times a week, going 

 over the roosts with kerosene oil every two weeks, and changing the litter 

 when it was worn out and dirty. One of the most essential qualities of 

 a good poultry farm is cleanliness, and nothing can be done without it 

 because the stock will sicken and lose vigor. So I kept the houses and 

 yards as clean and dry as possible. Twice during the summer I had their 

 yard cultivated. 



Our main business is producing large, uniform, chalky-white eggs, and 

 that is why we keep single-combed white leghorns because they lay an 

 abundance of such eggs, which is what the New York City market 

 demands. We are located near the railway, and our shipments reach 

 their destination in New York City in twelve hours. 



In marketing all our products we take great care in having them uniform 

 and clean. With the broilers we like to have large hatches so that there 

 will be enough cockerels for a shipment, that is, about fifty. But with the 

 fowls we cannot be so particular, because we sell them mainly to get them 

 out of the way. In selecting for market we pick out the poor layers, small- 

 combed, anaemic, or over-fat fowls, so our fowls do not bring good prices 

 because they are small and not uniform, and, moreover, we could not 

 expect good prices for meat fowls, when that is not our business. But in 

 producing and marketing eggs we receive from 2 to 5 cents a dozen 

 above market quotations. We keep the nests as clean as possible in order 

 to keep the eggs white. The eggs are gathered three times a day, and if 

 in gathering the eggs I found a tinted egg I watched to see which hen laid 

 the egg, and when I found her I marked her to be killed when she stopped 

 laying, because we are breeding for clear white eggs. The eggs are cleaned 

 with a washing powder when necessary, but the eggs are never rubbed 

 hard because that would remove the chalky appearance which denotes 

 a fresh egg. The eggs are kept in a cool, dry place before shipping. 

 They are not taken to the station until two hours before train time, so as 

 to keep them from getting heated. We never keep eggs over ten days 

 before shipping, either in winter or summer. In fact, we try to get them 

 on the market as soon as possible after they are laid, because we have a 

 reputation with our commission merchant that we ship only fresh eggs 

 and so he relies on us. We try to furnish him the best eggs that can be 

 produced and so he pays us from 2 to 5 cents more a dozen than market 

 quotations. This merchant has always been more than square with us. 

 He sends us egg cases free, except for freight and cartage, which is 2 cents 

 a case, and even pays return express on our shipping crates. So we are 

 fully in favor of commission merchants, but of course when we can sell 

 direct to a good reliable consumer, we will do so. 



