26 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



Geographical Distribution of Poultry. — " The great egg and 

 poultry producing territories of tlie United States can be 

 divided according to tlieir geograpliical location and the 

 character of the industry, into three quite distinct sections. 

 The first of these comprises the northeastern states, including 

 New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 

 Maryland. This is a section in which the poultry industry 

 is one of importance and where many large and specialized 

 poultry farms are located. Inasmuch as it also happens to be 

 one of the greatest consuming sections of poultry products, 

 the local supply does not supply the demand, and large 

 quantities are brought in from other parts of the country."' 



"The second producing section comprises the states 

 bordering the Pacific. Here the conditions are in many 

 respects identical with those of the first section. The eggs 

 produced all find a market in the cities of those states, and 

 the quantity is not sufficient to supply the demand."^ 



"The third section comprises principally states lying in 

 the Mississippi Valley. They are jNIinnesota, Wisconsin, 

 Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, 

 Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and 

 Texas. In this great section the vast majority of the eggs 

 (and poultry) are produced; yet the character of the poultry 

 keeping is quite different from that in the other two sections 

 discussed. There are in this whole stretch of country few 

 farms which can properly be termed poultry farms, or where 

 poultry raising can properly be considered one of the main 

 branches of the farm work."^ 



Over '.)() per cent of all the farms in the United States 

 reported chickens in the census of 1920. The total number 

 of chickens on the farms at that time was 350,.537,127, witli 

 an average of 7,.'J37,490 birds for each state and (J2 birds 

 to each farm, with ^•alue per bird of §0.97.* 0^'er 52 per cent 

 of the total number is found in ten states, which are listed 

 according to their rank in Table MIL 



' Lamon, Year-book, United States Department of Ajiriculture, 1911. 



' Loc. cit. 



' Loc. cit. 



* According to the census of 1900 it was 34 cents and in 1910, 52 cents. 



