PROFITS FROM POULTRY 271 
house. The net profit per bird of 18s. 8d. after the payment of 
all costs of feed, labour, carriage, etc., is considerably more than 
any text-book leads one to expect, which is perhaps a good thing, 
for text-books should err on the side of moderation if they err at 
all. I was taught that 6s. 8d. per annum per bird was as much as 
anyone had a right to expect. Well, here is a gentleman that 
doubles this sanguine estimate, and does it, too, on a fairly large 
scale. A backyarder with his dozen or half-dozen fowls, with his 
house scraps and no charge for rent and labour, might conceivably 
make 20s. profit per bird, but, of course, the two things are 
radically different. One is a commercial proposition ; the other 
a fireside hobby, so to speak. If one in the future fixes 18s. 8d. 
per bird as an ideal to be worked for he will not err on the side of 
modesty, even if he is well on the side of possibilities. Feed, 
labour, repairs, railway carriage, etc., works out at 12s. 6d. per 
bird per annum. It is a pity that the sums were not given in 
detail, because feed has nothing to do with labour and carriage, 
and it would be interesting to learn exactly the cost per bird for 
feeding. Presumably it could not have been less than 2d. per 
bird per week, which works out at 8s. 8d. per annum. If this 
were the case it would leave 3s. 10d. per bird for labour, repairs, 
railway carriage, etc., which seems ample. One man should 
manage to look after 750 birds all right, and at 2s. per bird this 
would allow of a payment of £75 per year for labour. With the 
addition of a boy 3000 birds could be attended to with a little extra 
help in the rearing season. 
A careful analysis of the egg yield and cash yield will show that 
with 10,000 eggs in January he received £108, while with 16,000 
in April his cash receipts were only £88. This little fact only 
emphasises the need to get pullets hatched at the right time and 
in full lay before the end of the year. 
The highest prices were made in December, 1915, when the 
wholesale price was 8s, 2d. per dozen and the lowest price was in 
April, 1916, when Is. 8d. was made. In my opinion the latter 
price was too low. At any rate I had no difficulty in getting 1s. 6d. 
wholesale at the same time, and a difference of 8d. per dozen on 
