Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1902-05-16

and tobacco we hardly realize th'
source of wealth we are neglecting il
our poorly cared-for poultry.
The breeding of fowls for eggs an,
meat is perhaps the only industry
that is common to every State ant
every county of our great country
as we'll as of nearly every land on tn
globe.
From the remotest ages the do
nestle fowl has been a friend Of th
human race. History tells us tina
the cackling of a Cock of geese save'
Rome. and it was a chicken cock tina
crew a rebulle when the apostle, Peter
denied his master.
Under the head Of poultry we may in
clude six different species: The lordll
pea-fowl, our native turkey, the gui
nea. the goose, the duck and lastll
and more important than all, thu
chicken. Each Of these fowls repre-
sents value other than flesh. Th'
peacock's gaudy feathers are an artl
de of commerce. The goose and ducH
have a triple value-eggs, flesh ant
feathers. The same, in a lesser degree
may he said of all the others, though
the feathers of the guinea, turkey anu
the chicken are not generally regard
ed as a source of revenue
Accustomed as we are to overlook
ing small things. We value our lows
rrincipally for their food products AS
an article of food the turkey is WITH
out rival From the native wild tur-
kew of America we now have Iarse
number of distinct varieties develop
cd i'm size until birds Weighing nlty
,o,,nds are not uncommon among the
/ larger breed.
The flesh of the turkey stands at
| +be hood of meats. SO universally is
tbis acknowledged that the supply Of
t,,r1,ovs has never been known to
ooual the demand If I am not mis-
taken. saw it stated in a newspaper
last Christmas that from n single
county i'm Central Kentucky $1,000 tur-
KEYS were shipped at one time to
Eastern markets. These turkeys rep
resented n cash value of from S25,OOO
10 $40 000 and there is not a county in
Kentucky where a like amount could
not be realized by a little intelligent
attention to the raising of turkeys.
But it is to the chicken we must
turn to find the universal fowl with
IFS three sources of revenue-the broll-
er i'm the spring. the mature fowl in
the winter and the eggs the year round.
7 make the statement without fear
oi being CHALLENGED that there is moth
ing on the farm that pays for itself
as well as the hen. Poorly kept as
che is in most cases. roOsting in trees,
and scratching for her living, the hen
seldom fails to net her owner profit
cf 500 per cent a year.
The average hen will lay twelve
dozen eggs a year. worth ten to twenty
five cents per dozen. She will also
rear a brood of chickens, and by
DECEMBER is ready TO be turned into
meat at ten cents per pound. Be
cause we may eat her eggs and The
Young she rears. we are apt to lose
sight of their market value; but the
profit is there nevertheless, contribu-
ting to the expenses Of living.
Few people realize the value of the
poultry products of the United States.
In 1890 the aggregate was placed at
$500 600 O00 In the census Of 1900
these figures were raised to S3OO,OOO,-
OGO. and it is by no means a correct
estimate. Tt is impossible to represent
in figures with any degree Of accuracy
the money value of the poultry pro-
ducts consumed by the producers. II
tie sales Of poultry amount to $780,
100000. the magnitude of the total
crop used by man would, if expressed
in figures. be almost beyond belief
7 have so far been discussing poultry
from the standpoint Of food value only.
| now approach a branch Of the busi-
ness that is scarcely less important.
Since the Shanghai ancestors of the
Hrahma fowls were brought from
China in 1857, there has grown up in
this country a new industry that is
crowding the live stock business in its
Importance. The breeding Of thorough
bred poultry is now the sole business
of thousands of people, and no fewer
than sixty trade journals are devoted
TO this business alone. Some of them
are monthly magazines of more than
one hundred pages each, and several
Of them claim to have a circulation OF
from 10000, to 10000.
There have been admitted to the
official STANDARD Of Perfection" more
than one hundred different varieties
of thoroughbred fowls, and hundreds
Of shows are held every winter to
bring them into competition for prizes
offered. with 100 points perfection.
Many Of these fowls have been bred
to score from 95 to 9S points, and the
standard bred hen has been bred to
Law more than 200 eggs in a year.
The prices realized for some Of these
rure bred fowls stagger belief. A New
York breeder of Barred Plymouth
Rocks. who raises 1,5O0 fowls year
and does an annual business in fowls
and eggs Of $40 900, recently sold one
male bird for $500. In the same lot
was included IS fowls that averaged
$40 each. the purchaser being a New
York millionaire Just think of IS
chickens selling for $4,000 While
this sale may be an exceptional one by
reason of its magnitude it is not so
in REGARD to the prices realized. 1t is
no unusual thing for S25 $50 OF 800
to be paid for fine specimens from
hundreds of leading breeders, and
many fanciers do not sell eggs for less
than s. to SO a sitting.
These facts are mentioned here to
show the possibilities Of this new in
dustry still in its infancy 1 will not
in this article, enter upon a discus
sion of the advantages Of raising
mi g..