CHAPTER XXIII 



POULTRY AS AN IMPORTANT ENTERPRISE 

 ON THE FARM 



336. Importance. The growth of poultry and egg production 

 on business lines in the United States during the past two 

 decades has been remarkable. No class of live stock is so uni- 

 versally raised as poultry. Eggs are very high in the life- 

 giving principal, vitamine, and are being used more and more 

 in view of the high price of other meat-food products. The 

 products of poultry rank in value next to those of the diary 

 or to the animals slaughtered for food. About one-sixth of the 

 total value of animal products in the United States is credited 

 to poultry. The demand for poultry and eggs has increased 

 much more rapidly than the supply. With the close applica- 

 tion of business methods in marketing farm products, and the 

 keeping of more poultry on a single farm or marketing through 

 clubs, the excess of better poultry products can be put on the 

 market to an advantage. 



337. Opportunities. Poultry raising as a department of the 

 farm can be successfully carried on in connection with orchards, 

 as in fruit growing; in cultivated lands, as in corn or cottqn, or 

 in fields where other large plants are grown ; and in connection 

 with pastures. Poultry have been turned into vineyards, after 

 the crop is harvested and until next year's blooming time. In 

 these vineyards, the chickens devour bugs and other insects 

 which prey upon the bushes, trees, and plants. Many orchard- 

 men keep chickens in their orchards, in small flocks, to consume 

 the worms and other insects that destroy the fruit. Usually 

 these flocks consist of about twenty-five birds, or about five 

 birds per acre. Often portable houses are provided for chickens 



