POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 35 



assuming large proportions, the baby chiclv industry is yet 

 in its infancy in this country, and an expansion liardly yet 

 <lreamed of is tlie prospect of the next few years. It is not 

 improbable that the hatching of chicks for the surrounding 

 territory may ultimately Ijccome one of the functions of the 

 poultry packer just as the fattening and finishing already 

 have. 



The term customs hatcher refers to a person who incubates, 

 for a consideration, eggs which he does not own, usually for 

 nearby producers Good sized centralized hatching plants 

 are appearing in most communities where poultry forms an 

 important item among the agricultm-al products. This 

 takes the bother of hatching and the necessity of ])urchasing 

 an incubator away from the farm, yet allows the i>roduccr to 

 develop his own line of stock. 



The baby chick dealer is one who owns the eggs he incu- 

 bates and sells the chicks. The latter are frecjuently hatched 

 by the thousand and may be shipped hundreds of miles to 

 customers. At the present time over two-thirds of the baby 

 chicks sold go to city or town customers. 



The Buyer. — In nearly every trading point in the United 

 States there is someone who is willing to buy eggs and poultry 

 from the producer at any season of the year. At the smaller 

 points this is usually the merchant <^f whom the farmer 

 buys his supplies, and who pays for tlie poultry and eggs 

 in trade. At larger points there is likely to be besides the 

 merchant one or more persons who give their whole attention 

 to buying farm produce, and in many cases to buying poultry 

 produce alone. Such a buyer usually pays a little less than 

 the merchant gives in trade, but is able to handle a consid- 

 erable volume of business because he makes immediate 

 payment in cash. 



To be a really efficient member of tlie poultry industry 

 a buyer should give his quotations only on a quality basis 

 and provide himself with refrigerator facilities. 



Whether the buyer is a merchant, an independent produce 

 man, or an agent of the packer or distributer, his is the first 

 step in the gathering and concentrating of a gigantic crop of 

 highly perishable products, aggregating hundreds of millions 



