POULTRY PRODUCTION A^D POULTRY INDUSTRY 39 



is prepared to go into business on a large scale and is equipped 

 with thorough scientific knowledge. Where diversified farm- 

 ing means the growing of non-competing crops specialization 

 is a long way off."^ 



3. Poultry is receiving increasing recognition as an excel- 

 lent means of converting the farm and table waste into 

 cash, particularly when this waste is supplemented by feeds 

 furnishing certain essential ingredients that are often some- 

 what lacking in the waste. Poultry products are crops for 

 which a constant demand furnishes an outlet, usually at good 

 prices, in either cash or trade. With the growth of closer 

 relations between producers and consumers and the develop- 

 ment of cooperative agencies for buying and distributing 

 general farm produce, poultry products are destined to 

 assume a position of greater though always subordinate 

 importance among. other farm crops. 



4. The general farm furnishes such favorable conditions 

 for poultry that little experience or skill is necessary to 

 succeed in handling it in a small way. Because of the large 

 fields and pastures which are covered with greenness and 

 are available for ranges, the variety of grains and insects 

 to be picked up and which demand exercise in the getting, 

 the numerous buildings and trees for protection from the 

 sun and wind, and the fact that the flocks are usually small 

 and the farms so large that there are few birds to the acre, 

 poultry thrive in spite of any lack of skill used in their care. 



The late Prof. G. M. GowelP saw clearly when he said: 

 "Poultry husbandry is a legitimate agricultural indus- 

 try. ... It occupies a special place in agriculture and 

 will never displace other work except on limited areas. It 

 requires large quantities of grains and concentrated feeding 

 material and but small quantities of bulky foods. Larger 

 animals will always occupy the farms and prepare the 

 coarser crops of the land for market." Robinson^ acutely 

 observes that "the stable factor in production is the farm 

 flock. . . . The natural tendency of the poultry industry 



' Carver, Principles of Rural Economics. 



2 Maine Bulletin No. 144. 



' Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture. 



