The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-09-15
POULTRY FARMS IN CALIFORNIA.

ma, California, he is disposed TO
think that he has reached new
kingdom-a place something like
those told about by Gulliver in his
travels. Here, within radius of
twelve miles, is the greatest chicken
population in the world, and it seems
to the visitor as if there must be
chicken ruler and all the human BIZ
peds were there simply for the pur-
pose of catering to the wants of the
feathered people.
In the South cotton is king in the
Middle West corn is king; in Penn
sylvania coal is king; in Petaluma
the chicken is king; and most
generous king it is, too, for there is
not business day in the whole year
that he does not send to the city of
Petaluma for distribution to his sub
jects, $4,000 in good hard cash.
When it is remembered that King
Chicken takes but half of this sum
for himself it must be confessed that
ne is treating his subjects and SER
wants very generously indeed.
1t is wonderful population which
Immediately surrounds the thriving
city of Petaluma. A population all
dressed in white, with just enough
other color in it to make one more
fully realize the vast number of
white dresses to be found. This is
busy kingdom, too. So busy, in
fact, that few of the female men,
bers of the population have time to
devote to the rearing of children,
and this important function has been
relegated to machinery. The hens
are wanted for their eggs alone, and
all desire or inclination to set and
carry on the duties of motherhood is
nipped in the bud, and the would-be
mother is told to go ahead and get
out new supply of eggs, and let the
business of attending to little chicks
be looked after by the human ser
wants in the kingdom. A setting
hen in and around the city of Peta-
luna is almost an unknown quanti-
ty, and after the hen has served her
usefulness as an egg layer, she is
consigned to the pot, bringing more
in the market than she originally
cost, while she has paid more than
the cost of her keep and care each
year.
1t is wonderful population in
more ways than one. Just take the
number, for instance, and see if you
can conceive of what it means.
Within a radius of twelve miles of
Petaluma there are seven and half
million chickens. Can you grasp the
idea? Figure it out in dozens, and
then compare it with your little
flock, and you may be able to form
some sort of an idea of what this
means.
The night after person takes a
trip through this chicken land he is
apt to dream of vast landscape COW
cred with white dots. This is about
the way the country around Petalu-
ma looks. Everywhere you see
white chickens, and the further you
look the more white you see, until
Just as the horizon comes to your re-
lief the dots seem to merge into
white, snow-like covering. 1t is all
white, for the chicken raisers in and
around Petaluma have followed their
leader most loyalty, and the white
leghorn is the prime favorite. If
you ask why, you will be told that
it is the best layer and the quickest
grower.
Nearly half the eggs and poultry
consumed in California are supplied
by the poultrymen in and around
Petaluma, and in addition to this,
great quantity of eggs, and fowls are
sent from there to Hawaii and the
Philippine Islands.
The chickens must be we'll fed, in
order to induce them to lay well, and
| it is estimated that to properly feed
chicken costs $1.oo year. That
does not sound large when but one
chicken is to be considered, but when
it is figured that there are seven and
half million chickens to be fed, it
means that it costs, in round num-
bers, 81, 800, 900 every year to feed
the chickens population of the Peta-
luna neighborhood. 1t will readily
be seen that it takes an enormous
quantity of feed of various kinds to
keep all these chickens from going
hungry. Some of the poultrymen
buy their feed in quantities up to
1000 sacks at single purchase, and
many of them buy in carload lots.
The marketing of the poultry pro-
ducts of this territory is no simple
matter. A considerable portion Of
the trade is done direct with San
Francisco. Small steamers make
daily trips to Petaluma Creek from
the metropolis, and, in addition to
these, thirty-eight sailing vessels as
sist in carrying the 500 to 700 cases
of eggs which are sent every day.
These cases hold from thirty to thir-
ty-six dozens eggs each. Besides
these cases of eggs, the vessels are
| II6QuGuLly AOdOC0 0OWh W SA~ W~s~A
line with crates of chickens. Some
times these loads are so large that
they reach from the lower deck to
the pilot-house.
In addition to these river boats, a
railroad connects Petaluma with San
Francisco, and this carries thousands
of boxes of eggs and crates of chick
ems in the express car. The bulk
of the shipments are made by river,
but where it is necessary to hurry
the goods the trains are brought into
play. 1t costs ten cents to ship a
case to San Francisco, and the case
is turned free to the shipper.
In addition to bring the largest
chicken community in the world,
Petaluma has the largest individual
chicken ranch in the world. This
ranch has on its premises I8, 900 lay