WHAT BRANCH OF THE BUSINESS? 
with hopper fed corn, beef scrap and rye on the range, they 
grow throughout the winter and spring. They are sold from 
May 1st to July ist and bring such prices that the cockerels 
are caponized yet not sold as capons, showing them to be the 
highest priced chicken flesh in the market save small broilers. 
Now, the income of roasters is two to five times as much per 
head as that of broilers. The added expense is only a matter 
of feed, which bears about the same ratio to weight as with 
broilers. The great advantage of the roaster business over 
that of the broiler business comes in the following points: 
1st: The initial expense of eggs, incubation and brooding 
are distributed over a much larger final valuation. 
2nd: The incubation period, while perhaps in as difficult a 
season, can be distributed over a longer period of time. 
With 8 pound roasters at 30 cents, we have an expense ac- 
count about as follows: cost of production to broiler stage, 
30 cents as previously given. An additional food cost of 10 
cents per pound of chicken flesh would still leave a margin of 
$1.40, so, for an income of $1,200, only about 860 birds need be 
raised, a proposition not beyond the capacity of one man to 
handle. 
Allowing a spread of five hatching periods, the number of 
eggs required at once would be one-twelfth that demanded by 
the broiler farm. As it is, the roaster grower finds trouble in 
getting good eggs and is obliged to pay 50 cents a dozen for 
them, but his want is within the region of possibility. 
The South Shore roaster district is an example of an indus- 
try built up by specialization and co-operation. But in this 
sense I do not mean co-operation in production, but that the 
product is handled by a few dealers and has become well 
known so that the brand sells readily at an advanced price. 
To a beginner in the South Shore district, the numerous suc- 
cesses and failures around him cannot help but be of great 
benefit. The South Shore roaster district of Massachusetts 
is the best example of specialized community production of 
poultry flesh that we have in the United States. It is only 
rivaled by the districts in the south of England and in France. 
In Chapter III the writer takes up fully the community pro- 
duction of eggs. The reason I have gone into this matter in 
regard to eggs rather than roasters, is because the egg produc- 
tion is much the greater industry, and, whereas the soft roast- 
er is at a premium only in a few Boston shops, high grade 
eggs are universally recognized and in demand. Many of the 
economies, especially concerning incubation, would apply 
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