BRIEF REVIEW OF FOREIGN POULTRY KEEPING 35 
the one most often cheated. Simple records and a short method 
of accounting should be worked out which will show at any time 
just where the business stands financially. 
Such a series of records should show an inventory which gives 
the nature and value of equipment at the first of each year. The 
distribution of crops and the arrangement of birds in flocks should 
be planned and shown on map. A simple set of single-entry 
books should be kept, showing the actual expense of operation as 
well as the income and the different sources from which it came. 
With this information at hand it is a simple matter to strike a 
balance and know the exact financial condition of the business. 
The vital question confronting the American poultryman 
to-day is not, How can I get better prices for poultry products? 
but, How can I produce a higher quality at a lower cost? This 
same question was the important one years ago, and its solu- 
tion will always be of vital moment. The factors which can 
be made to partially solve the problem at the present time 
are: (1) Better birds; (2) more careful mating and breeding; 
(3) scientific study of laws governing nutrition; (4) more liberal 
feeding during heavy producing periods; (5) more economical 
and sanitary housing of the laying stock; and (6) more attention 
to the handling and marketing of poultry products. With thought 
and attention to these points the yearly profit per bird would 
show a great increase. 
Brief Review of Foreign Poultry Keeping.—European countries 
as a whole have received a great awakening along poultry lines dur- 
ing recent years, there being a great increase in the number of 
fowls kept, also a great improvement in birds and methods adopted. 
(Facts from Bulletin No. 65, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.) 
In England the poultry industry is greatly handicapped by 
the preservation of foxes for the purpose of the hunt. There is 
a special tax which goes to defray the injury done to poultry from 
this source, yet in many cases justice is not done. In some in- 
stances false claims are entered which tend to make unpleasant 
conditions common. 
In spite of this handicap the industry has increased annually 
until the yearly production has reached about ten million dollars. 
The one great peculiarity of the English system is the use of small 
portable houses, sometimes on wheels, which can be easily moved 
from place to place, thus giving the birds new ground at all times. 
The majority of English flocks of poultry are kept on small 
