
Rese ae ee aes 

POULTRY AS FOOD. I 59 
POULAER VAS FOOD. 
BY RD. MILNER, 
——2o +o __ 
To many people the word ‘‘poultry’’ refers simply to hens 
and chickens, the kinds which appear oftenest in the city mar- 
kets; but the proper definition of the term is ‘‘ birds domesti- 
cated for their eggs or flesh.’’ It is obvious from this definition 
that the kinds of birds to be designated as poultry may differ 
in different parts of the world. In olden days pea-fowl, which 
with us are bred mainly if not wholly for ornament, were raised 
as poultry; pigeon may sometimes be poultry, as when bred for 
the table, and sometimes not, as when they are bred for carriers 
or ornament. 
The ordinary American sorts of poultry are common fowl, 
turkeys, guinea-fowl, ducks, geese and squabs; to these pheas- 
ant and quail should perhaps be added, as they are being bred 
more and more in this country, as yet mainly for sport, but 
increasingly also for the markets. Of these varieties common 
- fowl, turkeys, ducks and geese are by far the most important. 
They will thrive in all but the severest climates, and can often 
be raised on lands too poor to produce profitable crops. Com- 
mon fowl are, of course, bred toa much greater extent than 
any of the other kinds of poultry. In the majority of cases 
they are bred primarily for their eggs, over a billion and a 
quarter dozens of eggs, valued at more than one hunded and 
forty-four million dollars, being produced in the United States 
in 1899. <A large proportion of the hens ultimately find their 
way to the table, however, and many chickens are raised pri- 
marily for their flesh. According to the census of 1900,* 88.8 
per cent. of the 5,739,657 farms in the United States were re- 
ported as raising poultry, whose total value in 1899 was esti- 
mated at $136,891,877. The following table shows how the 
poultry is distributed among the different parts of the country. 

*t2th Census of the U.S., Vol. V. Part I., pp. cexxvii.-cexxvx. and 630-672. 
