NATURAL HABITS OF THE HEN. 
quality will be an increased public appreciation 
of both poultry meat and eggs, and an increased 
consumption by the public, and this wholly out¬ 
side of certain natural causes which are steadily 
influencing an increased public consumption of 
these products. These natural causes are a 
rapid and steady increase in population, and a 
steady decrease in supply of other meat pro¬ 
ducts, and there are excellent reasons for be¬ 
lieving these conditions will continue. With 
the population of the United States doubling 
every forty years, and the beef, pork and mutton 
supplies steadily decreasing through natural 
causes, it is reasonable to argue that there will 
be a constantly increasing demand for eggs and 
poultry meat as a substitute; and with the rapid 
multiplication of population, and especially the 
evident disposition of the people to center in 
cities and towns, thus increasing the consuming 
class far more rapidly than the increase of pro¬ 
ducers, that increase in demand should be like¬ 
wise rapid. One very decided influence in this 
direction will be an improvement in quality, and 
this is quite as applicable to eggs as to dressed 
poultry. Thousands and thousands of cases 
of eggs now reach the large consuming markets 
in very poor shape for use, largely because of 
the great lapse of time between the production 
of the eggs by the hens and their reaching the 
tables of the consumers. A bettering of con¬ 
ditions here "would be a comparatively simple 
and easy matter; it requires more regular and 
systematic collecting of the eggs on the farms, 
and a regular collecting from the farms by the 
dealers who ship them to market; and the time 
is not far distant when we shall see regular egg¬ 
collecting routes, comparable to the cream-col¬ 
lecting routes now established in great dairy 
sections of the country. Indeed, there is no 
reason whatever why the two lines of work should 
not be combined, and the cream collector like¬ 
wise collect the eggs from the farms daily, and 
bring them to the cool-room of the creamery, 
where they can be lighted, packed and shipped 
promptly and regularly to the most desirable 
market. 
Our friends in Europe are already far in ad¬ 
vance of us in this particular, and in Denmark 
alone, there are 24,000 farms enrolled in a “Dan¬ 
ish Egg Association,” the eggs of the members 
being collected either daily or three times a week. 
In this association the eggs of each farm are 
marked with a letter and number, so that the 
origin of every egg brought into the depots is 
knowyn 
These eggs are lighted to test their freshness, 
and then packed and shipped to market; if a 
bad egg is found in any farmer’s lot, he is fined 
for the first offense, and if a second offense of 
sending in bad eggs is discovered within a year, 
he is expelled from the association, and has to 
fall back on the ordinary market chances for 
disposing of his product. As there is a sub¬ 
stantial increase in price received through being 
a member of this “Danish Egg Association,” 
obviously the members are jealous of their 
reputations, and are careful not to send in any 
questionable eggs. 
An important movement in England has been 
the forming of a National Poultry Organization 
Society. The head offices are in Hanover 
Square, London, and the society was founded 
(we quote from the prospectus) “with the ob¬ 
ject of affording British Poultry keepers the same 
advantages of information and organization as 
are enjoyed in foreign countries, thus enabling 
them to compete on equal terms with their 
rivals abroad. Its chief aims are: (a) the or¬ 
ganization and development of the Poultry In¬ 
dustry as a most important branch of British 
Agriculture: (b) the improvement in the 
quality, and the increase in the quantity of eggs, 
poultry, etc., produced in the United Kingdom: 
(c) the maintenance of regularity and uniformity 
of supply: (d) the provision of facilities for 
rapid transit: and (e) the bringing of producers 
and retailers in closer touch, in order that the 
best available market may be obtained at a 
minimum cost. 
“The society is not a trading concern, but 
seeks to further the above objects by promoting 
the formation of (a) Branches and (b) collecting 
Depots in the rural districts. 
“Branches endeavor by the mutual co-oper¬ 
ation of all interested in the poultry industry, 
in their districts, to improve the class and in¬ 
crease the number of fowls kept, to secure the 
adoption of improved methods of management, 
to disseminate among the members such in¬ 
formation and render such aid as they may 
require, and to co-operate with the Technical 
Education Committees of the County Councils 
in ensuring the success of lectures and classes 
in poultry keeping.” 
Upwards of thirty branches or collecting de¬ 
pots have been established. These branches 
and collecting depots, “undertake the rapid 
17 
