THE POULTRY INDUSTRY 329 



PRESENT CONDITIONS OF OUR POULTRY INDUSTRY 



There are a few interesting facts in connection with the 

 American poultry industry which should here be mentioned. 

 The first is that each year more and more attention is being 

 paid to utility features, and less and less to the so-called pure 

 exhibition value of birds. Success on a poultry farm depends 

 on the poultryman's ability to secure a product for human 

 food. 



The second important fact is the development of a so- 

 called co-operative system along educational and marketing 

 lines, with the idea of buying cheaper and selling at a higher 

 price. This also will result in larger profits (Fig. 179). 



An increased interest on the part of the public is notice- 

 able. The population in general has become more interested 

 in the domestic hen and her possibilities. 



Poultry exhibitions of a utilitarian nature are becoming 

 very common. These include the exhibition of both eggs 

 and dressed and live poultry. Prizes are offered in accord- 

 ance with trade standards, not artistic standards. These 

 exhibitions will have a marked affect upon the successful 

 development of commercial poultry culture, for they awaken 

 interest and suggest new methods of management. 



The egg laying contest has come to stay. A good type of 

 this is the Boys' and Girls' Poultry Raising and Egg Laying 

 Contest, which is being rapidly developed. 



On the whole, the poultry industry offers to the boys and 

 girls of America an exceptional opportunity to study nature 

 and animal life, and to the farm lad a life work which for 

 healthfulness, for the pleasure it affords, and for its financial 

 possibilities has no equal. 



LABORATORY EXERCISE 



Exercise No. 87. — Locating the Centers of Poultry Pro- 

 duction. — Secure an outline map of the United States, or 

 have the class prepare such a map. The former method will 



