Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-04-17
PROGRESS OF THE HEN
DEVELOPMENT OF THE POULTRY
BUSINESS IN THIS COUNTRY.

as a Wealth Producer the American Hen
is Marvel - The Standard of Per-
fection - The Green Duck Business is
Prosperous--The Pigeon Fanciers.
Official census figures will show
that as n wealth-producer the Ameri-
can hen is a marvel says the Chicago
Record AS an Illustration of the
earning power of this autocrat of the
barnyard it will be well to quote from
Missouri, the foremost State in the in
dustry. The report of the Bureau of
Statistics for the last fiscal year shows
that the total number of pounds of
poultry, live and dressed, shipped from
the ia counties of that State were
10G9SS, 10 pounds, an increase of &c.
907 ,443 pounds over the preceding
year. The total number of dozens of
eggs shipped from there last year were
34,ST5, ,040, making an aggregate value
to the producers of Poultry and eggs
of $12,001, ,04S.54. The relative impor-
tance Of the poultry industry of that
State, as compared with the other in
dustries, will be better understood
when it is shown that the total value
of all corn, wheat, oats, flax, timothy
seed, clover seed, millet seed. cane
seed, castor beans, cotton seed, to-
bacco, broom corn, hay and straw,
which was shipped by all the counties
in that State last year did not equal
the values of the poultry and eggs
shipped during the same time by over
$1,000.
The American Standard of Perfec.
tion, as drafted and copyrighted by
the American Poultry Association,
contains the names of 115 various
fowls, ia of which are due TO the de-
yelopment of man. Nature made one
"A comely, wild thing which made
its home in the jungle along with the
rest of primeval creation. 1t is long
call from this ancient fowl of ungainly
proportions to the lordly Langshan or
the massive Cochin of the present day,
but the ancestry is certain The rela.
tfon can be traced back further than
the time of Christian era.
Europe, Asia and America have ali
contributed to the development of the
Ndlltu
strains that nov exist are the result
of centuries of improvement. Eng
, land and America have been foremost
in the work, however, and the results
accomplished by the fanciers of these
two countries in recent years have
been nothing short of remarkable.
By intelligent breeding these fanciers
1nN q 4
the diminutive bantam to the nam
moth bronze turkey; one a tiny bit of
feathered vanity weighing only a few
, ounces-So small, in fact, that it can
be entirely covered by pint cup and
the other a bulky fowl weighing from
forty to sixty pounds-as much as a
half-grown boy. Results equally as
wonderful have been accomplished in
color effects. We have fowls feathered
i'll every natural color. There are va
rieties in red, black, brown and white,
with nearly all possible combinations,
besides buff and Anduiusian blue. Not
content with this the fanciers have
shown that they can lace, stripe, span
gle or bar the feathers of their birds;
in any way to satisfy their individual
fancy. In fact, it seems that about all
there is left for them to do along this
line is to put their initials on the
feathers of their birds.
The successful fancier breeds for
beauty and utility combined. If he de-
sires to create new strain he must
be an imaginative soul He must erect
in his minds eye an ideal fowl and
then persevere in his endeavor to pro-
duce one like it. He jots down a de-
scription of this visionary bird from
beak to toe nail. If he prefers to go
by the standard he will find that very
eXacting; every detail is looked to
scrupulously; length and color of
comb, arch of neck, length and
breadth of back, length and color OF
| legs design and color of plumage, etc.
Having decided upon an ideal he
mates his birds and starts his strain.
picking from each brood the most per-
feet specimens and gradually working
toward this ideal through generation
after generation. 1t is sort of part
nership arrangement with nature, as
it were.
1t requires much time and patience
to breed n line up to anything ap-
proaching perfection, but once attained
the reward is well worthy of the effort.
Single birds have sold in this country
! for as much as $500, while in England
$1,000 has been paid for single speci-
mems. The breeder does not depend
altogether upon fancy prices for indi-
vidual birds, however, for his returns.
| He profits by the increased produc-
tiyeness of his fiocks. For instance,
in the matter of egg laying, it may be
cited that the average American hen
lays about 100 eggs per year. The
practical poultryman goes in for bet
ter results and gets them. Numerous
instances show whole tlocks. with an
average of 200 to the hen per year-an
| increase of 100 per cent.
The "green-ducl" industry forms an
other important branch of the poultry
business. Green ducks" mean impe-