Jht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
101 I 
The Poultry Industry in California 
Part II. 
PROSPEROUS PRODUCERS.—I found the mem¬ 
bers of the association to be a very intelligent and 
prosperous class of poultry producers, and they say 
that they prefer to do their own business rather 
than let the local dealers do it for them. That they 
have been successful to such an extent that in some 
cases their eggs are sold on the New York market 
at a higher price than is offered for fancy nearby 
hennery whites is proven by the records of sales 
each day in New York City. This fact seemed 
almost unbelievable, so I determined to see just how 
it was accomplished. In the first place, the sandy 
soil and equable climate seem to have favorable 
influence upon the quality of the eggs produced on 
the Pacific coast. This fact is not strange when you 
take into consideration the luxuriant growth of 
tender green feed which is available for feeding at 
all seasons of the year, and the moderate weather 
which allows the fowls to run out-of-doors practically 
every day in the year. This climate is therefore 
conducive to robust health, and although there is 
some trouble with the common diseases of poultry, 
the average mortality from sickness of mature fowls 
is much lower than is the case in some of the 
Eastern poultry centers. All this tends toward the 
production of a large number of eggs of uniform 
high quality. Another thing, these eggs are practi¬ 
cally all produced on poultry ranches where the 
owners make this their exclusive business, instead 
of a side issue along with some other branch of 
farming. There is no question that there as just as 
good eggs produced in the East, but there are too 
many of an inferior grade which find their way to 
market, often in the same cases with the best eggs, 
and here is where the Pacific coast eggs get their 
chief advantage. 
SORTING AND GRADING.—Each day. or not 
less than twice a week, the eggs are brought to the 
central conditioning plant of the Poultry Producers 
of Central California, or to the local dealers, of 
which there are several in Petaluma, where they are 
sorted and graded, only the very finest, large .clean, 
chalk-white eggs being used for Eastern shipment. 
These are packed in new cases and new fillers, and 
shipped by either express or freight in refrigerator 
cars. The cost of freight shipment amounts to about 
seven cents per dozen at the present time, including 
the cost of refrigeration, which is $00 per car of 450 
to ISO cases. 
LOCAL SALES.—The lower grades of eggs are 
rot shipped to New York, but are disposed of locally 
and in other cities which do not require the finest 
grade. Of course, this close grading costs money, 
but by sending the best grade all to New York or 
other Eastern cities the second eggs are the best 
eggs on the markets where they are sold, and as a 
ride otjten bring as high a pri^e net to the association 
as the best grade. By keeping this best grade* away 
from competing with the other grades it seems to 
have a -beneficial effect upon the market, as it is a 
well-known fact that many people are anxious to 
get the best, and when they do not see the New 
York grade they are perfectly satisfied with the 
grade that is offered to them. 
CAREFUL INSPECTION.—As these eggs come to 
tin central conditioning and shipping plant they are 
inspected and the producer is allowed the proper 
■value for the grade or grades delivered. Here is 
where many heated arguments arise in the early 
stages of co-operative selling, as every producer 
naturally thinks his eggs are equal in quaity to his 
neighbor's, and therefore tries to influence the expert 
graders against their best impartial judgment, but 
in the end the grading must be carefully and strictly 
done by those who are qualified to do this work at 
the central plant, and their judgment must he 
accepted as final. One of the most important factors* 
in the organization of this co-operative selling plan 
i;- to secure the services of a man to act as general 
manager who is in every way qualified to hold the 
position. Such a man can command a large salary, 
and it is false economy to try to hire a cheap 
manager. 
BUSINESS CONDITIONS.—That the poultry 
business around Petaluma, Santa Cruz, Haywards 
and Palo Alto has been very remunerative is con¬ 
clusively proven by the large increase in the business 
during the past few years and the prosperous-looking 
farms and homes which are everywhere in evidence. 
Of course, we must consider the fact in this con¬ 
nection that the past three years have afforded 
exceptional opportunities for poultrymen to make 
money, and they have not been slow to grasp the 
situation, but we cannot expect that these conditions 
will continue indefinitely, as every business has its 
ups and downs, and the poultry business is no 
exception. About the IITst of February, this year, 
there came a decided change, the prices of eggs 
Heavy Growth of Kudzu. Fig. J/38 
falling 28 to 20 cents per dozen inside of one month. 
This did not seem to affect the hatching and rearing 
operations on the great majority of coast farms this 
season, but soon after the first of April the price of 
eggs dropped below the cost of production upon 
many farms where production was low. This caused 
a large number of laying hens to be placed on the 
market during April, May and dune. Probably 20 
per cent of the total number of layers in this section 
were sold during these three months, and many more 
Lane in "Perpendicular Pasture." Fig. J/34 
will go during the next three months. The hens 
were sold at 15 to 25 cents per pound alive, and will 
be largely replaced with growing pullets which come 
into laying early in the Fall, and which are relied 
on for heavy egg production during the period of 
high prices from October to*January, during which 
time the California poultrymen reap their harvest. 
Everything considered, the outlook is for a large 
number of Pacific coast eggs to be placed on our 
markets in all parts of the country next Fall and 
Winter. When this is added to the enormous supply 
which is now in cold storage the chances are that 
the supply will be large enough to keep prices from 
soaring as high as they did last Winter. 
C. S. GREEXE. 
Soapsuds and Old Plastering 
T HERE have been several questions about the 
fertilizing value of soapsuds. Some of our peo¬ 
ple seem to think that this dirty water will be very 
useful poured around the trees or fruits. In a dry 
season the water, of course, will help, but there is 
little or nothing in the ordinary soapsuds to feed 
the plants. The ordinary laundry soap contains fat 
and some alkali, like soda. The fat. of course, has 
no fertilizing value, and the soda is of little use as 
plant food. The dirt washed out from the clothing 
might have a small amount of plant food, but there 
is not enough to make any particular difference in 
growing a crop. This curious idea of the great value 
of soapsuds is still held by many people. We have 
known intelligent men to use the soapsuds for spray¬ 
ing trees, and they felt sure that it gave them results 
equal to the mos tpopular insecticide. 
Another idea which many people have is the value 
of old plastering taken from walls of old houses 
when they are torn down or rebuilt. Many farmers 
seem to think that this must have great fertilizing 
value. The plaster consists of lime, sand and a 
small quantity of hair used as a binder. The sand, 
of course, will have no greater fertilizer effect than 
any ordinary soil. The small quantity of lime has 
about the same value as an equal weight of ground 
limestone. The hair contains a very small amount 
of nitrogen, but would be of little value. In some 
situations where plaster has stood in damp air for 
a considerable time a small quantity of nitrate of 
lime, is developed, but there is very little of it at 
best. If the old plastering can be crushed fine it 
will give about the same results as a small quantity 
of ground limestone, but the expense of crushing it 
would be greater than the value of the lime. 
Steam Sterilizing to Kill Weeds 
One of my duties is the raising and care of tree seed¬ 
lings. I have a five-acre seedling nursery which has a 
capacity of producing two to three million seedlings 
per year. During the past few years, due to using a 
large amount <d' barnyard manure, the nursery has be¬ 
come exceedingly weedy, and possibly one-half of the 
expense of raising these seedlings js spent for labor in 
weeding. We have also at times occasional large losses 
from fungus diseases. In the past few years I have 
read a number of articles in The I£. N.-Y t . on steam ster¬ 
ilization and. thinking possibly this would be the solu¬ 
tion to my nursery problem. I am writing you for in¬ 
formation in regard to the methods of steam steriliza¬ 
tion and costs of same; also as to those who have tried 
it and their results. w. F. D. 
Pennsylvania. 
T HE sterilizing of soil with steam, to kill weed 
seeds, we have not found to be practical on a 
large scale. The cost, makes it prohibitive. For a 
small area it can be worked out very satisfactorily. 
An ordinary steam tractor, such as used in grain 
thrashing outfits, is very satisfactory. A 2-in. pipe, 
connected with the steam chest, and run from top of 
engine over and down to the ground, connected up 
with a corresponding 2-in. pipe, 15x15 ft., will work 
very satisfactorily. The pipe on the ground should 
be laid in a trench about <> in. deep and covered over 
with soil. A hole should be drilled in the pipe, 
every foot, about 1/lii in. in diameter. After burying 
the pipe in soil, a heavy canvas should be placed 
over the entire area and weighted down thoroughly 
over the sides with dirt; then the steam turned on 
and left to saturate this area for from two to two 
and a half hours. This will kill all of the weed 
seeds in the area that has been submitted to the live 
gteam, but on account of the length of time required 
it makes the work very slow. 
The most economical and simplest way to control 
weeds is to leave the ground where the planting is to 
be done open for one year and keep thoroughly 
disked and cultivated. d. hill. 
Illinois. 
If it costs 20 cents per bushel to ship corn from Iowa 
to New York and 10 cents to ship the same weight from 
Argentina, where do Iowa farmers come out 0. 
