24 POULTRY FARMING 
or pastime, deriving much pleasure from the success of the work. 
The financial return to the one who has his money only in the 
business, with no special interest or close personal touch with 
the management, is apt to be very uncertain and often very dis- 
astrous. Poultry farming as a pure investment for surplus capital 
is an unsafe and unwise policy. 
The Poultry Laborer.—By the poultry laborer is meant the 
person who gives his time to the care and management of poultry 
as the hired employee of the owner of the plant. He receives for 
time so spent a cash compensation, with often additional pay in 
the form of perquisites or bonuses. In some cases an interest in 
the business is the method of making the amount of compensa- 
tion, while in others a definite monthly rate is specified. The 
opportunity for poultry labor is great, and success depends upon 
experience and willingness to try and do as directed. Few poultry 
farmers are willing to hire inexperienced laborers, owing to the 
trouble and time required to teach them. 
The wages paid poultry laborers vary from board and room up 
to sixty and seventy-five dollars per month and found. The in- 
experienced young man who is looking for experience can usually 
get about fifteen dollars with board and room. The experienced 
poultryman receives a wage of about thirty to fifty dollars with 
board and room, while the manager employed where the plant is 
large and the responsibility great often receives a yearly salary of 
from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars. A very satisfac- 
tory wage schedule is to put into effect the bonus system. By 
this method the employer agrees to pay the employee a definite 
monthly wage; this amount to be paid regardless of the results 
attained. In addition to this amount, a bonus is paid at the end 
of each month or year, as the agreement was made, for superior 
results in hatching, rearing, egg production, etc. A common 
plan is to offer a bonus of twenty-five dollars per year if the flock 
production averages over 144 eggs per bird, or a bonus of one 
dollar per hatch if the result is greater than 60 per cent. The 
bonus system gives the laborer something to work for and hence 
increases interest and efficiency. Men who are trained as to the 
mating and breeding problems can demand the best wages. The 
wages for poultry labor are somewhat higher than those paid to 
other types of agricultural workers, due to the fact that a better 
training, more experience, and careful attention to detail are 
necessary. 
