Copyright, 1923,Haldeman-Julius Company.
Copyright, 1923,Haldeman-Julius Company.
POULTRY FOR PROFITCHAPTER I.THE OUTLOOK
POULTRY FOR PROFIT
When a business reaches the billion dollar mark per year, it is generally looked into by thinking people who like to know the facts of the case, and who want to know just why the business has reached such large proportions. In this little booklet I will endeavor to explain not only why the poultry business has grown so rapidly, but will also reveal the most important secrets that have contributed largely to its rapid growth, so that whether the reader is a farmer, a town lot fancier, or a student of economics, he or she will gain much by the reading and the studying of the principles involved.
The high cost of living has forced many people to economize to the limit, and reduce the family budget to the minimum. People in the small towns and villages, especially, have sought various ways of increasing their earnings, and one of the most popular methods resortedto has been to raise a few chickens, thus utilizing the table scraps, and odds and ends, so that there will be no waste. It has been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that chickens can be raised profitably by the person living in town, as well as by the farmer with his vast acres, providing the townsman knows a few essential principles in regard to the proper handling of the birds.
Poultry products are becoming popular more than ever before. This is due in part to the increased price of beef and pork. Eggs are an established part of the nation’s menu, while the meat of the chicken is now within the means of most American families. Since these facts are recognized, there has been a revolution in the poultry industry itself to cope with the increased demand for eggs, meat, and breeding stock.
Many city people have taken advantage of the opportunity of raising chickens, and many an old packing box, or piano box has been relieved of its original purpose of encasing furniture, or other articles, and has done its bit to act as part of a shelter for housing some back-yard lot of chickens. What has been done,can be done, and inasmuch as the value of the egg, or the carcass of the bird still maintains its high standard on the market, it stands to reason that the poultry industry is still in its infancy. Much more will be done in the future than has been done in the past.
Consequently, there is still one industry that is not overcrowded, despite the great number who have taken it up, either as a vocation, or as an avocation. When it is considered that New York City alone cannot get enough eggs to supply the demand during the fall and winter months, and is willing to pay, and pay dearly for breakfast eggs, and that the vicinity of Pataluma, Cal., finds it profitable to ship its eggs across the continent to put them on the New York market, it can be seen quite clearly that there are excellent possibilities in poultry, even in just a small back yard flock.
The remainder of this booklet will be devoted to showing the ordinary layman, who has had no previous knowledge or experience, how he can take a small flock, or a large flock, and turn it into pleasure and profit. However, one word of caution is necessary. Let no one attempt to venture upon a poultry enterpriseon a big scale at first. History has shown countless failures in such attempts, and history has a way of repeating itself. It is always wiser to start moderately, and work into it gradually. This method always proves successful if common sense and moderation are exhibited.