EGG MONEY 



INTRODUCTION. 



The production of eggs to be consumed as food has been, 

 is, and probably always will be the mainstay of the poultry 

 industry. The fancy poultry business, or the breeding of 

 fowls primarily for exhibition, interests but a small per 

 cent of the total number of poultry keepers; the production 

 of poultry meat, as a separate branch of the industry, is 

 comparatively small — the greater part of the immense 

 supply that finds its way to market annually is furnished 

 by those who make the rearing of it secondary, or incidental 

 to. the production of eggs. 



For no product of agricultural or animal industry is 

 there a more stable demand, year in, year out, than for 

 this product of the domestic hen. Within the past few 

 years the number marketed and consumed has increased 

 tremendously; yet the prices have increased also, proving 

 that the demand is more than keeping pace with the supply, 

 and indicating very positively that the business will not be 

 overdone or become unprofitable, certainly not during the 

 lifetime of the present generation. 



As will be noted in following chapters, the equipment 

 required is neither extensive nor costly; no one breed or 

 variety of fowls is pre-eminently superior for the purpose; 

 the nlain requireinents are knowledge of how to conduct the 

 business and willingness to attend faithfully to the work. 



The production, of eggs is profitable. No legitimate 

 department of agricultural industry offers richer returns 

 bn equal capital invested to those who work diligently and 

 understandingly. When prices are lowest, in the summer 

 months, there is an opportunity for a fair profit on the 

 cost of production; when prices reach twenty, thirty and 

 forty cents a dozen in the open market, as they do in early 

 winter, the poultryman whose flock is presenting him a 

 fair yield should pocket a one hundred per cent profit on 

 the cost of production, as pay for his labor. A special 



