Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 131, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1919 — EGG AND MEAT PRODUCERS ARE URGED TO KEEP AND RAISE STANDARD-BRED POULTRY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EGG AND MEAT PRODUCERS ARE URGED TO KEEP AND RAISE STANDARD-BRED POULTRY

(Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) Hen husbandry—like many otßer fields of production —was benefited by war-time conditions, as the increased prices of poultry have revived interest in the industry and have influenced many producers, who had temporarily abandoned the business or reduced the size of their r flocks, to engage again in the egg or meat business on a. more intensive scale, -Furthermore, ma,ny_. persons who enlisted in hack-yard poultrying from patriotic motives or for home table provision intend to continue handling hens for home use. Particularly in the southern states has a forceful impetus operated to popularize backlot and barnyard fowl keeping. A great awakening to the advantages of poultry raising is markedly evident in the territory south of the Mason and Dixon line, and, since most of the poultry stock now present in the South consists of mongrel or lowgrade fowl, there is every reason to believe that with the greater development of the industry will come a gradual interest in improved poultry. Education along this line will ultimately popularize standard-bred poultry in Dixie.

Better Blood Brings Best Results. The demand for improved stock offers a matchless opportunity to place poultry-raising on a higher plane than it has before occupied. Among those who have become interested in keeping poultry there are sure to be many who will graduate from the stage of interest in common chickens to a liking for fowls of only the best quality. Such operators can easily be converted to the use of standard-bred poultry, and where their original breeding stock is of a type which will prove satisfactory, these converts will be changed into permanent boosters for better blood. The crux of the situation rests really with the breeder who supplies foundation stock to beginners in the industry. Jf the beginner in breeding standard-bred poultry is able to purchase stock which gives satisfaction, he is likely to be ever after an ardent advocate of standard-bred hens. If, on the other hand, stock is furnished him which is unsatisfactory, he is likely to join the ranks of those who feel that there fs nothing in standard-bred poultry, and that it is better to keep mongrel or unimproved stock. On this account breeders should alm to disseminate foundation fowls which will meet the needs and reasonable expectations of the purchasers and which will be representative of fair value for the money received. Inferior stock should never be used to fill orders, even when the supplies of desirable birds are exhausted. Nothing could be more disastrous to standard-bred interests than a plan which would promote the distribution of low-grade fowls under the guarantee of good stock. Contented Customers Increase Sales. Not only is it good business to make an honest effort to satisfy customers, for the reason that satisfied customers mean additional business in the future, but there is a definite advantage which will accrue to the poultry industry in its entirety from such a business policy. If satisfaction is not given, in a majority of the cases of those who sre becoming interested for the first time in standard-bred poultry, many of those newly interested in the business will henceforth taboo stock of this character. On the other hand, if the majority are satisfied with the purchases which they made, the results will be apparent in a large addition to the ranks of the standard-bred poultry keepers. This is indicative of conservative and sound expansion of a desirable business, and makes for the building of the poultry industry upon a more solid foundation. Such results are aptly illustrated by the history of some of the breeds which have had temporary bursts of great’ popularity In this country. These breeds, well advertised, have gained many supporters and for a few years th ere occurred a keen demand for foundation stock, which subsequently died out almost entirely. This came as a direct result of the insatiable demand which led to the breeders distributing fowls which were inferior, and the discouragement which these beginners experienced as a result of this low-grade stock led them to abandon the breed and to'condemn it at every opportunity. Unquestionably spme of these breeds would enjoy a deserved share of popularity had the greatest painsbeen taken'.to see that only such stock as would give the breed a good, reputation should be dis- ■

tributed among the newcomers in the hen-farming business. Common Sense in Buying. , 4 It is imperative that the purchaser of poultry stock exercise sound common sense in purchasing. Beginners, are too prone to expect nearly perfect birds at -bargain prices. The buyer should consider that ideally conformed cattle or horses always bring record prices when they are offered at the auction block and he should bear in mind that the selling of high-class poultry operates along similar lines. If he wants valuable birds he must be willing to pay prices for these fowl in proportion. Common defects .which occur in different breeds and varieties often cause beginners to grumble over the supposition that because of the presence of these defects they are being cheated. As an example- the off-colored feathers which occur commonly in many varieties are frequently considered by the beginner to be evidences of impurity of blood. The beginner has no other means of knowing what the bird should be like than by the descriptions which he can secure from a book or by attending a poultry show where birds of the variety in question are displayed. In the description of the bird which he reads, he finds only mention of the color of feather winch is desirable and no mention of the off-colored feathers whibh may and often do occur in the birds of purest blood. If he goes to the. poultry show’ and examines the birds on exhibit, he does not find any with these off-colored feathers, for the very good reason that it is the common practice of exhibitors to remove these feathers before showing the fowl. Accordingly, it would be desirable for beginners who purchase birds which do not satisfy them to consult some experienced breeder of the same variety and ascertain his opinion relative to the quality and value of the fowl. ArrnM with such reliable information, z the novitiate then has some grounds for talking about being overcharged or defrauded. Without such authentic information his best plan is to live up to the saying, “In silence there is sense.”

Fowls of Uniform Type and High Production Are the Kind to Keep.