Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-11-11
THE AMERICAN HEN.I
Importance Of the Barnyard Bird as Factor
in American Life.

THE AMERICAN HEN.I
Importance Of the Barnyard Bird as a Factor
in American Life.
Probably the principle interest felt
in the egg industry by the average
American citizen lies in the fact that
within the last elk weeks eggs have
been working up from about 30 cents
a dozen for the best quality to close to
40 cents to the purchasing consumer.
This, however, is not paying the
American hen the respect that is her
due. She is not only an important
but wonderfully potential factor of
the agricultural industry of the Unit
ed States. Yet even the average farm
er considers her almost beneath bis
notice. He leaves her to the women
and children, and begrudges her al
most everything that makes even the
slightest inroad upon his ordinary
crop products. To her is assigned the
stunt" of providing her own living,
and she must do that by cleaning
every regular harvest. After he has
dug and garnered and threshed and
closed his account with each particu-
lar item OF production-provided he
keeps such an accountable hen can
find her subsistence in what he has
overlooked.
In other words, the poultry yard. to
a great extent, is somewhat contempt.
uously regarded as mere incident OF
his general business. Sometimes his
wife or one OF his children will take
hold of that neglected branch and
put him to shame by making it the
most profitable feature of the whole
establishment. Yet deliver in cen.
sus returns working for the Brooklyn
Eagle informs us that last year the
poultry and eggs produced and eaten
in the United States were worth more
than all the gold and silver mined
in the world during the same year.
Except for the year 1900, the egg pro-
duct of this country has exceeded in
value that of its combined gold and
silver output for every year since 1855,
which takes in the entire bonanza
period OF our history, That, with the
poultry product, also exceeds in value
the wheat crop of twenty-eight of the
most fruitful States and Territories.
Reduced to concrete terms, in 1889
the egg record of this country was
1890, ,O0O. 600 dozen. There are thirty
dozen to q crate, and 400 crates to .
Car, 90 a train of cars sufficient to
accommodate the transportation of
all these crates would reach from Chi
cago to Washington, q distance of 1868
miles, and then there would remain
several cars OF eggs to spare. In 1900
Iowa produced 99,00OOO dozen and
Ohio 100000, having a value of
over $l0,000,O00 for each State. OF
course the incubator has considerable
to do with poultry production, but
incubators do not lay eggs. In q sin.
gle year the value OF the eggs and
poultry OF the country has been as
high as $2S0,OOO,0OO.
Think what hullabaloo has been
raised over threatened ruin to beet
sugar and wool. How much burning
breath has been expended by the
lobbyist and the political spellbinder
in appeals for higher tariffs and pro-
tests against reciprocity propositions
Yet, in 1902 our whole sugar produc-
ton amounted to only about $4,000,
900, while the wool industry is only
about third As important as the egg
and poultry industry. 1t is only in
quite recent years that we have
thought it worth while to impose a
duty on foreign eggs. and when it did
come it was rather to make the sched'
ule symmetrical than because of any
agitation or any conviction that it was
necessary. There is no danger OF glut'
ting the market. Farmers are ne
glecting q great opportunity. In q
summary OF recent reports TO the
State Board Of Agriculture they gen.
orally confessed it, yet, acknowledging
the expedient, they still the inexpe.
dient pursue.