Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-12-12

Poultry shows have grown into an
international institution. Nearby 1900
such shows arc held annually i'm the
United States and Canada.
Such exhibitions bespcal< wide
spread interest in the poultry bust
ness and I'm fact they have been
largely responsible for the rapid
growth of the business in recent years.
They tend toward a higher standard
of poultry breeding. Tor at these shows
the exhibitors see birds that they
would like to raise and go home in
spired TO so improve their own fioclSs.
The modern poultry show has devel-
oped from an insignificant beginning
held, at first, in connection with the
old time agricultural fair, until to-
day there are held in the United States
and Canada nearly 1900 shows, de-
voted exclusively to poultry. This
number does not include practically
as many more poultry shows held in
connection with agricultural fairs or
other similar exhibits. These poultry
shows run in size from the mammoth
exhibits in New York, Boston, Chi
ago, st. Louis, and other large cities,
where as many as 5000 head are des-
played yearly, down to the small
shows with not more than five hun
dred head and sometimes as low as
two hundred.
It has been estimated that the aver
age number of birds entered at the
1900 exclusive poultry shows is 1000
birds including the fairs, which usu-
ally do not run quite as large in the
number of entries, except n few pro-
minent State and County Fairs, it is
conservative to state that there are
annually exhibited over two million
head of poulty in the United States
and Canada.
While it is very difficult to estimate
the average attendance at the many
poultry shows held annually, as no ac-
curate statistics have ever been col
lected, yet it can be safely said that
not less than five million people are
interested spectators at poultry eXhi-
bitions in this country and Canada.
Millions Spent Annually
From four to five million dollars are
spent annually in managing and con-
Quoting these shows, preparing, hand
ling, and assembling the BIRDS and
for premium money as prizes. AS a
majority of the poultry shows g arge
twenty-five cents to fifty cents ddmis-
sion, with an attendance of five mill
lion, the public, therefore, pays an
nually between one and two million
dollars for the privilege of seeing
poultry exhibits.
The question naturally arises as to
the benefit of these shows to the
public as well as to the exhibitor.
The general public and the eXhibi-
tors must get some adequate return
other than the qualification of their
curiosity in seeing a pretty bird and
the satisfaction of winning prizes.
The first and most important work
of a poultry show is that of stirring
up increased interest in poultry pro-
ductions in it's various branches. The
sight of hundreds of nicely groomed
and uniformly displayed birds is in
itself enough to arouse the desire for
ownership in the chance visitor who
strays inside a poultry showroom for
the purpose of satisfying an idle
curiosity.
Visitors Study Birds
The fact that the birds are attrac-
tive and entertaining naturally leads
the average man or woman to study
their points of beauty as well as util-
ity. This leads to stirring up in the
visitor of "back-to-t -the-soil" feeling.
Poultry naturally heads the. list with
every rising thought of agricultural
instincts. The late Homer Davenport.
the noted cartoonist. who was a lover
of animal life in every form, with bird
live especially prominent, once stated
that he could walk down Wall Street
New York city, and that ninety-nine
per cent. OF the businessmen whom
he might accost would tell him that
some day they expected to own a
farm and keep chickens This IL
lustrates the almost universal desire