Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-17

the rural organizations promoted by
the Department of Agriculture. 1t is
hard to organize the clubs fast enough
to accommodate the people that want
to join them, and some very fine birds
have been produced by the youngsters
who make up the bulk of the member
ship. The department does not advo-
cate the raising of fancy breeds. nor
trying for the points that count In
show fowls. Its object is to have
American farms stocked with chickens
of good blood, that are both egg layers
and table fowls.
The chicken is. of course. the best
kind of poultry. for all-round pur-
poses. but ducks. geese and turkeys s
have facilities for keeping them IN
, order to get the best results with
ducks one should have water for them
to swim in. although they Will fatten
without it. Provided the water IS
available. ducks are excellent olrds 70
keep for the table. and are not to be
despised as egg layers. Ducks .ay
only in the spring: but during tna ma.
with great regularity. white pekln
duck. which is the heaviest breed ana
the best for the table. can pc relieu
upon to produce at least si>ty eggs a
duck will lay from 123 to 1oo' thus
producing as many eggs as sooo
hen. Moreover. IN the spring. Wheu
several Jewish holidays occur. there
Is a large demand for these eggs. Jew
ish people being very fond of them.
Geese attain a heavy weight ana al
ways command good price IN Ihe
market, while the feathers are also
worth something They are not OF
much account, however, as egg pro-
ducerS.
raising turkeys for the. Thanksgiv-
ing and Christmas markets is, OF
course. an extensive business IN this
country, but at other times of the year
turkeys are not in as much demand as
chickens Furthermore, they are diHl-
cult to raise, requiring great deal OF
room, and they do not stand Shipment
alive nearly as we'll as chickens
*
The production of more poultry upon
American farms to supplement the
meat supply will.
Curr1us of EpcS of course, mean
May Be Problem. will have a sur
plus of eggs to market This may
present quite a problem for the small
producer in some localities. where
there is not a sufficient market near
home and where the product is not
great enough to ship in the regular
commercial case of thirty dozen. An
effort is being made to solve this ques-
ton by the sale of eggs through the
parcel post Experiments in such ship
ment showed that on an average only
So per cent of the eggs were broken.
It is argued that this loss is partly
COMPENSATED for by the fact that the
producer will be enabled to get a hlgh-
err price for his eggs by eliminating the
middleman, and that the consumer
will get a fresher article.
With poultry under consideration as
a partial substitute for beef and NUT
ton, it is interesting to note how the
flesh of fowls compares with that OF
the larger animals in actual 1000
value. There are two principal 1ooG
elements in all meat-namely, protein,
which is the substance that repulidS
the tissues of the body. and fat, Whlcn
furnishes the fuel for energy ana
warmth In protein. poultry is on an
average about per cent richer than
beef or mutton. while in fat 1t IS Il
good deal poorer. Protein is, however,
the more digestible element. and. on
the whole, the more important, esPe-
cially to Americans. who consume
great deal of fat in other rich foods
The poultry having dark meat, such as
ducks and geese. are richer In 1at ana
poorer in protein than those having
light meat.
Considering the difference in price,
pouItry gives more food value for the
money expended than beef. Thus,
either a pound of sirloin steak or
pound of chicken contains about
thousand calories of energy, but the
pound of chicken costs less