THE CHICK BOOK 



79 



he'd give ten cents a pound for them. The oiler was ac- 

 cepted joyfully; the case quickly nailed up and delivered to 

 the buyer; and a letter written to the shipper detailing the 

 facts and enclosing a check for the full amount received; 

 the deailer was so glad to get them out of his place before 

 the food inspector got a whiff from them and condemned 

 them to the garbage cart he didn't say anything about com- 

 mission on the sale. The farmer came right in, raving; 

 said ducks were quoted at twenty-three cents a pound the 

 day he shipped them, that his ducks were as good as Blank's 

 that the d«aler had returned twenty-three cents for, and he'd 

 have the full price for those ducks or he'd sue the dealer, 

 denounce him as a cheat, etc., etc. He didn't sue, the dealer 

 never saw or heard from him again, but that poor farmer 

 probably still thinks (if he is living) that the commission 



A reader in Sandy Point, Maine, writes: "We have 

 been much interested in your articles in regard to the ship- 

 ments of eggs and poultry to Boston. We had an experience 

 which leads us to desire a little more information. We 

 have made a specialty of growing large roasters for our local 

 market, and up to last fall were unable to fully supply the 

 demand. The birds most desired are those weighing six to- 

 eight pounds apiece, as the people say they have something 

 to cut from (instead of picking bones) with birds of that 

 weight; but last fall the mills were obliged to close, throw- 

 ing many people out of employment, and the poultry market 

 here collapsed. We accordingly sent a portion of our sur- 

 plus to our egg commission merchants at Boston. The birds 

 were hatched late in May and the first shipment made 

 October 27th weighed sixty-five pounds to the dozen; the 



Bird's-eye View of a Part of the Jordan Poultry Plant, 



dealer is a fraud and cheat, and put in his own pocket the 

 difference between ten and twenty-three cents a pound for 

 that lot of ducks! 



The old, old saw: "Water always finds its level," ap- 

 plies with great force to poultry sent to market. If it is 

 stuff of the best quality be assured you will get the price 

 of the best; if it is only second, or third, or fourth rate 

 stuff be assured you will not get the price of the best. If 

 you send poultry to market and get only the price of second 

 or third quality stuff, don't sit down and swear that the 

 commission man is a cheat and fraud. Write him and ask 

 why he didn't give you the higher price, and then go to 

 work to improve the quality of your stuff until you can send 

 the best. Grow the best standard-breds, ship them to mar- 

 ket in the pink of condition, and you will have no worries 

 about the price! 



second, made November 12th, weighed sixty-seven pounds 

 per dozen, and the third, made December 9th, weighed sev- 

 enty-two pounds per dozen. The first two lots sold at eigh- 

 teen cents a pound, then practically the top price, but the 

 third brought only sixteen cents .a pound. Now in our local' 

 market the last would have been regarded as the best, but 

 the Boston commission men wrote us they were "large, but 

 coarse and staggy," and they could not obtain the highest 

 price; that "soft-roasters" were wanted. These birds were 

 all of the same age, but the interval between Novmber 12th 

 and December 9th, while adding to the weight, placed them 

 in a lower class. 



What we would like to know is: 

 First — When the soft-roaster becomes a stag? 

 Second — Did we not grow our birds fast enough, when at 

 five to five and one-half months old they dressed five and 



