it has never been put upon a scientific basis. There are a number of men in this country scientifically raising poultry, it is true, and we have many scientific improvements in handling the output. But the fact remains that the poultry business as a whole is considered more as a by-product, to be developed in a hap-hazard way, than as a great commercial enterprise that should enlist the best brains and the best intelligence of the land.

There is no other business in the world, with so much capital involved, or where so great an output is seen, that is so unorganized and so inefficiently conducted. No concerted effort has ever been made to systematize the industry, and to conduct it upon the scientific lines upon which other businesses are conducted.

Advertising would do much to bring about this much desired state of affairs. In fact, that is the only way it can be brought about. For it will not be until there is a greater amount of poultry advertising-a greater amount of teaching concerning the poultry business-that it will take its rightful place.

But what about the individual poultry producer advertising at this time? After all, that is the main question-will it pay a certain man-will it pay "me"-to advertise the poultry business? Why not?

A man with a ten dollar output couldn't afford to spend a hundred dollars in advertising. Nobody makes any such claims. But the man with capacity for a thousand dollar output could reach the limit of his capacity through advertising.

Another thing. At this time most of the poultry advertising is done by persons who have fancy stock. It has not been found necessary, at least it has not been found desirable or profitable, to advertise poultry products intended for food. But there is no reason why such advertising as that should not pay. There is no reason why the eggs from a certain poultry farm should not be advertised and sold just as the product from a packing house is advertised and sold.

That is to say, there must be some advantage, some desirable quality, existing in the poultry products of certain farms, just as there is in maple syrup or sausage. The people of this country are always willing to pay a little more for that which they desire, and if any one were to advertise eggs from a certain farm, and teach the consumer why the eggs from that farm were a little better than the

eggs from another farm, he would be paid a few cents more a dozen. Why do people not call for the poultry products from a certain establishment just as they do for meats from a certain establishment? Simply because the one has created a demand through advertising. while the other has not done so.

Just how long the poultry industry of this country is going to be conducted in the present way, is not certain. But it is certain that sooner or later it must be conducted as the gigantic business that it is in a scientific and orderly manner. Men are going to invest more capital in the business; there are going to be larger poultry farms-and greater enterprises handling the output of such farms. It is ridiculous to suppose that a business running into the hundreds of millions of dollars annually is going to be left to chance.

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T

HE farmer has become the real poultry raiser. Until a few years ago, the average farmer paid but little attention to poultry, leaving it to his wife and to the poultry specialist.

When a few years ago the supply of cattle as well as hogs and sheep began to decrease, and many people turned from meats because of their high prices to fowls and eggs, the price of poultry products went up. A good fat hen suitable for the table of a king could have been bought not many years ago from the farmer for 30c. The farmer is now asking in the neighborhood

of

It is the live stock farmer who has taken up poultry farming more largely than other farmers. Naturally he is the logical man to do it since his education in the production of pure bred animals has fitted him for a raiser of

pedigreed birds.

Despite the enormous supply of poultry products now coming from the grain belt, it can be truthfully said that the major portion cf the volume is merely incidental and not a result of studied effort, as is the case with meat animals.

come a definite branch of agriculture in the grain belt, the states of Iowa, Missouri and Illinois leading all other states in the Union. In fact, the three together produce one-fifth of the total poultry production of the entire United States. These three states are very uniform as regards volume, the last reports placing them within a few hundred thousand dollars of each other, Illinois leading slightly.

In the last decade the largest increase in production was found in these and their adjoining sister states. The increase has been due solely to the fact that the farmer has become the poultry man. He has found that a 50c hen makes a profit of more than 200% every year, and, with good handling, even this big profit can be increased. The business of raising and fattening hogs, cattle or sheep does not yield nearly so large a profit.

That volume and quality can both be improved by care and exercise of Fractical and scientific methods gces without saying. So it may be claimed that poultry raising in the Central Western states is in its infancy.

The question of feed on the farm is not of so much importance as it is where fowls are confined to yards at all times. Naturally, the careful farmer doesn't allow his poultry free access to cribs and granaries but they do have the freedom of the barnyard where there is an enormous supply of good feed wasted yearly. As a matter of fact, there is more danger of overfeeding on the farm at certain seasons than there is of underfeeding.

And, too, farmers' chickens have access to a wide range. In summer, the grasshopper furnishes no small contribution to the growth of the birds as well as considerable beneficial exercise, for it takes a rather alert chicken to secure this kind of food.

No better evidence of the importance of poultry raising as an occupation for the modern farm can be found than in the fact that the leading farm weeklies have nearly all estab

lished poultry departments which appear regularly. The advertising columns of such publications also reflect the farmer's desire for high grade birds. As many as 500 ads from poultry breeders are to be found in season in single editions of certain agricultural weeklies. Those in closer touch know that the results produced by these small advertisements are enormous. The writer has in mind a number of instances where goods were sold very cheaply-in one case as low as 1%-a $4.50

Photograph courtesy of Pierce's Farm Weeklies. Another Corn Belt Farmer's Poultry House.

ad having sold over $500.00 worth of birds and eggs.

Not all publications have been progressive enough to see the advantage of recommending extensive poultry raising to their farmers. Those publishers who have, however, are reaping a good harvest, not only from the breeders but from the manufacturers of poultry supplies. Manufacturers of the latter class of goods when picking their media, should always choose those publications which carry a large number of breeders' ads because the two items (poultry breeding, stock and poultry supplies) go together, and, if a medium is a success in selling poultry breeding stock, it naturally follows that it will be a success in selling supplies, as the same people buy both.

The poultry industry was helped, in the opinion of many authorities, by the unusual

climatic conditions which prevailed last winter and spring. The intense cold weather limited the egg supply and curtailed materially the spring hatch. If there is a great shortage of supply, which seems likely, naturally the price of poultry products is going to go up this winter to a higher figure than it has ever reached before. This will naturally encourage not only the farmer now in the poultry business to buy more good breeding stock and more and better supplies, but at the same time the situation will encourage many other farmers who have not taken up poultry raising in a definite sort of a way to become enthused and good buyers of breeding stock and supplies.

The wide-awake farm papers are at this time pointing out these conditions to their readers and advocating that they buy both breeding stock and supplies early, before the probable shortage increases their prices.

Taken as a whole, the situation for the man who is anxious to see the poultry business reach a big volume and high standard is, therefore, to quite a large degree very pleasing. In his mind, he can see the farmer's hen taking her place with other celebrated farm livestock; becoming a worthy companion to the champion milch cow, the prize-winning brood sow, the blue-ribbon bull or the thoroughbred horse.

Naturally, there are some problems yet to be solved, particularly along the line of marketing the product, for it is common knowledge that a very large percentage of the eggs now reach the consumer in a condition more or less unfit for use. This problem, as well as the eliminating of certain unscrupulous socalled breeders who sell breeding stock represented as high-scoring birds whereas they are only common fowls, will be taken care of just as other problems relating to the production and marketing of grain and live stock have been worked out as the different industries increased prominence.

And last but not least, a better plan of handdling the supply would secure a better price for the farmer, and as a result stimulate him to greater production, without increase to the consumer. There is a wide difference between the prices paid by the consumer and the prices the farmer receives but, with the attraction of more general attention, which will lead to a more intelligent handling of the supply, this too may be expected to adjust itself.

O

NE BILLION eggs in a single year! This is the record that has been achieved by the poultrymen of Petaluma and vicinity-the record for the year 1910. And during the same period of time Petaluma poultrymen shipped to the markets of the world nearly 1,000,000 head of poultry. It is upon this record, based upon carefully prepared and absolutely reliable figures, that Petaluma bases her claim as being the Largest Poultry Center in the World. This enviable position has been steadily maintained for years and the claim has never been disputed. Coupled with this record is the fact that the Petaluma product is the choicest in the entire West and commands the highest prices on the markets of the coast.

Just why poultry thrives in this vicinity is a question difficult of solution. Certain it is, however, that the region of which Petaluma is the center has established the fact beyond dispute that nowhere else in the entire State does poultry do so well. When given the proper care, the proper food and other requisites, the flocks thrive and increase and produce the clean white egg demanded for the coast trade. This fact, combined with the fact that the product commands top-notch prices in a market that seldom falls below twenty cents per dozen in summer, and ranges from forty to sixty cents per dozen in winter, should be sufficient proof that the man "who knows" and can apply his knowledge, can make good money in that industry with the minimum of capital and of labor.

Nearness to market and cheap transportation have been factors in the development of this section as a poultry center. Owing to our tide water communication, it costs just ten cents to get a case of thirty-six dozen eggs from the wharves in Petaluma to the wharves of San Francisco, the empty cases being returned free. Similarly, a crate of six dozen poultry may be shipped for twenty-five cents. Shipping arrangements are reduced to a system, so that it is quite as convenient to market the poultry product in San Francisco as at home. A number of the larger commission houses of the metropolis maintain stores and warehouses here,

a

while a large cold storage plant takes care of the surplus product during the spring season, when the flocks are producing freely, at profitable prices.

Another advantage enjoyed by Petaluma poultrymen is their ability to buy poultry foods at the minimum of cost. Nearly 200,000 tons of grain and mill feed are shipped here annually at a shipping rate of about sixty cents per ton. This enables the supply houses to buy in very large quantities at bottom prices and, in turn, to sell to the poultrymen at considerably less than they could otherwise afford. The largest poultrymen buy 2,000 sacks of wheat at a single purchase. Every conceivable variety of feed and poultry appliance is carried by the local dealers. The State University Poultry Experimental Station is also located here and the experiments of the station are of great value to poultrymen.

Poultry ranches in the vicinity of Petaluma vary in size from two acres, capable of supporting 800 hens, to ranches comprising 160 acres where from 8,000 to 10.000 hens are kept on the colony plan.

The above reproduction of the cover of the forthcoming Farm & Home Poultry Annual promises most beautiful and important special of this great farm paper.