PRESERVING EGGS FOR MARKET. 91 
THE MARKET FOR POULTRY AND EGGS. 
Yhe magnitude of this most important branch of ag- 
riculture is little appreciated by the casual reader, yet 
the millions of dollars represented in the annual product 
of poultry and eggs go far toward making up the farm- 
ers’ profits of the year. In an investigution made not 
long ago by Americun Agriculturist, it was brought out 
that there is a permanent investment in this industry of 
about $340,000,000, comparing very favorably with some 
of the great cereals, and with various branches of live 
stock. A rapid growth has been made in recent years, 
particularly since the date of the last federal census, 
from which the figures of poultry and egg product were 
taken. Inasmuch as the census includes only poultry 
on farms, the business is really very much greater than 
indicated, counting in towns and villages. 
By the census of 1890, there were 259,000,000 fowls, 
11,000,000 turkeys, 8,440,000 geese, 7,544,000 ducks, in 
the United States, and the annual product of eggs was 
819,728,000 dozen. 
The production of poultry yards is all wanted at home, 
although exports of eggs, small at the best, have within 
the past year or so exceeded the imports. Practically 
no poultry is shipped abroad. The import movement 
is remarkable. Up to the imposition, in 1890, of a tariff 
of five cents per dozen, the foreign egg imports, chiefly 
from Canada, were enormous, approximating sixteen 
million dozen annually. The five cent duty cut imports 
rapidly, and they were less than two million dozen in 
1894, increasing considerably the next year under a 
lower rate of three cents per dozen, but proving unim- 
portant recently. The 1897 tariff resulted in a restora- 
tion of the old rate of five cents. 
