lo The Essentials of Poultry Raising 



6. How the Surplus Eggs Are Marketed. Eggs are sold di- 

 rectly to the consumer by 'the producer on the town lot or the 

 farm, or by the commercial poultryman. They are sold to stores 

 or traded for groceries or dry goods for the family, and the 

 grocer in turn sells them to the consumer or to the city com- 

 mission man in case lots. The grocer also sells to hotels and 

 restaurants as well as to commission men. In many com- 

 munities, clubs are formed and a business agent is selected ; 

 the eggs are collected at one point, graded, placed in thirty 

 dozen cases, and sold to city commission men or directly to con- 

 sumers' circles in the cities. 



7. Fattening Establishments for Poultry. Throughout the 

 United States there are many centers where poultry fattening 

 plants, with capacities of 10,000 to 50,000 fowls, receive young 

 chickens, mostly cockerels, weighing from two to three pounds 

 each. These young. birds are fed a fattening mixture or feed 

 for a period of fourteen days and are then killed, dressed, 

 placed in cold storage, and sold according to grade. Many car 

 lots and case lots are shipped to different points, especially to 

 the large cities. In many of these establishments the birds are 

 fed ground feed with buttermilk. The milk gives the birds an 

 excellent flavor, and in markets like New York city such birds, 

 when dressed, bring five cents per pound more than those not 

 milk fed. 



8. How Fattened Poultry Is Marketed. In many of the larger 

 towns there are commission merchants who buy eggs and poultry 

 and ship them to the city markets. In some of these towns the 

 large packing establishments, such as Armour and Company and 

 Swift and Company, have buying offices. From these places 

 the poultry and eggs are sent to the packing houses, where the 

 eggs are stored and the fowls are fattened, slaughtered, and kept 

 in coolers till times of scarcity. 



9. Storage for Dressed Poultry and Eggs. The bulk of the 

 eggs are laid by the hens in. the months between February and 



