SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



farm where are kept Wyandottes only. Instructions were 

 given to have that lot kept together and by themselves, so 

 that they might be compared with the common "dunghills" 

 of which the bulk of the receipts consisted. When dressed 

 and arranged for comparison, it was easy to see that the 

 pure-bred Wyandottes were far superior in plumpness, full- 

 ness of breast, smooth fair skin, yellow legs — in fact, that 

 it was a far better average 16t of dressed poultry than the 

 common stock. Mr. Armour's attention was called to the 

 display, and he instructed the foreman in that department to 

 pack five cases, of one hundred pounds each, ship one OjC 

 them to «ach of five commission houses at different points 

 in the east, and hand him a special report of the returns — 

 also reporting . prices jreturned on common chickens sent to 

 the same places the same day. When the returns came in it 

 was found that the five cases of Wyandottes were graded as 

 "A No. 1," and the price was three cents a pound more 

 than for the common chickens. 



"What an object lesson! 



"Armour & Co. are killing three thousand to six thou- 

 sand head a day — six to ten tons. Oalling it an average of ' 

 eight tons, three cents more a pound makes a difference of 

 $480 a day — $144,000 a year! Is it any wonder that they 

 urge farmers to improve the quality of their stock? 



If it is worth the while of Armour & Co. to pay adver- 

 tising rates to get that advice before the farmers, how much 

 more is it worth to the farmers to heed .that advice, and 

 improve the quality of their stock! The bulk of that addi- 

 tional $144,000 a year goes into the Doekets of the farmers. 

 It is only their commission, a small per cent for killing, 

 dressing, packing and shipping, that Armour & Co. gpt.- If 

 Armour & Co. get but eight cents a pound for the common 

 stuff, they can pay the farmers but six and a half or seven 

 cents a pound for it; while they gej; eleven cents, a pound 

 for the "A No. 1" lot they can pay the farmers nine and a 

 half or ten cents for it. It costs, as much and takes as long 

 to kill and pick a scrub as it does a pure bred — and the 

 expense of handling, (dressing, packing and shipping) is the 

 same. If Armour & Co. get three cents a pouhd more for 

 the good stuff, they get their commission on a third more 

 returns; but the farmer gets the full third more. . It costs • 

 him no more to hatch and raise good stuff than it does to 

 hatch and raise scrubs, and he will get three cents (probably 

 thirty-three and a third per cent) more a pound for it. 



' ' The point could be better understood if one could walk 

 through the cold storage room, where there are about 300,- 

 000 pounds (a hundred and fifty tons!) of dressed poultry ■ 

 and game, the good stuff carefully wrapped in paper and 

 packed in boxes ready for shipping. Each box has stenciled 

 on it the kind and quality of the contents; as, for example, 

 "forty broiler chicks, one and one-half pounds;" "thirty 

 roaster chicks, three and one-half ' pounds;" twenty-five 

 fowls, four pounds;" etc. In one corner was a carload of 

 lean, skinny things piled. up. "What are those?" we asked. 

 "Those are soupers. Three or four' cents a pound for those." 

 said our guide. Now it costs as much to coop and send those 

 lean "soupers" as it did to coop and ship the "A No. 1" 

 Wyandottes — and it takes just as long to dress, pack and sHip 

 them. The farmer gets almost nothing for the "soupers" 

 he sends in, and Armour & Co. get hardly enough for them 

 to pay for handling. After seeing the great pile of "dung- 

 hill soupers" we could well understand' why Armour & Co. 

 advise farmers to improve their stock!" 



So much for the advantages in thoroughbred stock when 

 sold on the market. But the cream of the profits in the 

 poultry business may be said to lie in selling standard-bred 



stock as standard-bred stock to the many persons who want 

 it' and who willingly pay from twice to twenty times as 

 much for high-class poultry as can be obtained in any mar- 

 ket at any season of the year for what is called common 

 poultry. 



It is truly remarkable what a widespread liking for fine 

 poultry exists among mankind. It is confined to no one 

 class. Merchants, professional men, bankers, and retired 

 capitalis'ts have this common fondness for poultry, as well 

 as the farmer, the mechanic and the day laborer. Many 

 thousands of people who do not "keep chickens" find them- 

 selves wishing each winter and spring that they had "just a 

 few hens." Fresh eggs are "a joy forever." 



Another remarkable thing is the great demand for 

 standard-bred poultry. Persons who do not read poultry 

 journals and have not looked into the subject can have no 

 idea of this demand, or of the hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars that exchange hands every year in payment for high- 

 class, standard-bred poultry^the prices ranging from $1 to 

 $100 per head. It is no longer ia, surprising thing for a single 

 fowl to sell for $50 — in fact, 94-point Barred Plymouth Bocks 

 can be sold by contract at that figure. Today intelligently 

 scored 90-point Barred Plymouth Eock male birds, ten 

 mouths old, are worth $5 each in hundred lots, and the de- 

 mand for such specimens far exce.eds the supply. Every 

 year many thousands of dollars are sent from the great west, 

 the northwest, the south, and from the far away Pacific 

 Slope to the New England and Atlantic states for standard- 

 bred poultry. Twenty-five dollars for a trio of fowls (a 

 male and two females) has come to be an ordinary price. 



The great Mississippi Basin (the 500,000. square miles of 

 territory drained by the Father of Waters and its tributar- 

 ies) has now fairly wakened to the importance of poultry 

 culture and in the years to come we are sure that many of 

 the most noted and successful poultrymen of the world will 

 Ve located between the Alleghanies and the Rockies, and the 

 tig sums of money that are now sent "down east" will be 

 kept at home, and the chicken money from west of the 

 Rockies will be stopped half way across the continent. The 

 mid-continental states today have many capable breeders 

 who are producing fowls second to none in the country and 

 who are establishing reputations to that effect. In this sec- 

 tion are now located numerous poultry farms and poultry 

 plants that are doing very well indeed. 



GETTING STARTED IN THE BUSINESS. 



Getting started in the fancy or standard-bred poultry 

 business is a comparatively easy matter. This is so mainly 

 because so many people are interested in and fond of good 

 ■poultry. To every person starting in this branch of the 

 poultry business, his or her poultry yard should be the center 

 of the universe. The next door neighbors wiU be the first 

 customers. Friends and acquaintances will come to see the 

 standard-bred flock; they will admire them and buy eggs. 

 Be careful not to sell too many eggs while- your flock is 

 small, for you will find it profitable to raise as many chicks 

 yourself as possible. Raise 150 or 200 the first year from an 

 average pen if you can, and you should have fi:om $100 to 

 $300 out of your first year's work, the amount of profit de- 

 pending on the breed you select and the quality of fowls 

 yoii buy. 



Your first house should cost you very 15Pttle. It is sel- 

 dom that a shed, or a part of a shed, or one corner of a barn 

 can not be spared for a pen of fowls. Partition off a section 

 ten feet square; put an ordinary window in the south or east 

 side; line the inside walls with folded newspapers; white- 

 wash thoroughly; put up roosts and nestsj see that the floor 



