154 LL55ON5 IN POULTRY KEEPING SLCOND 5ERILS. 



LESSON XX. 



Poultrymen's Organizations. 



IN concluding this series of lessons, and leaving for the present the method of treatment 

 which' in general has been pursued in the lessons of the past two years, I take the liberty 

 of departing in a way from the method of selection of topics which I have heretofore tried 

 to follow. The subjects treated in the forty lessons of the two series have been chosen 

 because of the evident Interest of poultrymen in them, and as far as circumstances permitted 

 have been presented at times when they were mo^t appropriate. The subject of this lesson is 

 one in which too few poultrymen are interested, and most of those who are interested too little 

 Interested. The weakest point In the development of American poultry culture today is the 

 lack of adequate organization of poultry interests and the almost universal indifference of poul- 

 trymen on the question of organization. True, conditions in this respect are improving some- 

 what, but unless the rate of improvement is greatly increased this generation of poultrymen 

 will hardly begin to reap the advantages that must come to all when our poultry interests are 

 efficiently organized. 

 We have in this country today these several kinds of organizations of poultrymen : 



1. The American Poultry Association, a general organization in that it draws ita 

 membership from all parts of the United States and Canada, but so constituted 

 that only a very few members can have any continuous activity in shaping its 

 policies or directing its efforts. Poultrymen who are not fanciers rarely interest 

 themselves at all in this association, and the average fancier is indifferent to it 

 except when its existence is forced upon his attention by some inconvenience 

 imposed upon him as a result of its manipulation of the standard descriptions of 

 thoroughbred fowls. 



2. Various " state " poultry associations a few of them properly so designated, but 

 more of them merely local associations describing themselves as state associations 

 either for the prestige the name may give them, or for the appropriation which 

 may sometimes be secured from a state legislature for a state association, or one 

 supposed to be of that class. 



3. A few sectional organizations, leagues of local associations; as yet none of these can 

 be said to be completely organized and on an established working basis. So far 

 they represent tendencies rather than actual accomplishments. 



4. Local poultry associations, organized primarily to hold a local poultry show and 

 increase the local interest in fine fowls. Of these there must be now more than 

 400. The number is steadily increasing, and where a few years ago it was hard to 

 find associations of this class that had been in active existence for more than two 

 or three consecutive years, each season now adds substantially to the number 

 which have had a continuous existence long enough to be regarded as permanent 

 >. organizations. 



