The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-12-06

80 cents and ours at 40 cents a doz-
en-, the difference is worthy of con-
sideration.
The average price of broilers in
that California egg city has been SO
per dozen; at Tampa, $40. The
average price of old chickens in Cal
ifornia has been "a dozen; at
Tampa, $3.50.
These figures are taken from the
Board of Trade booklet of that Cal
Iifornia egg city, and the Tampa fig
lures compelled by l.. P. Dickie, Sec
rotary of the Tampa Board of Trade,
and both are authentic.
In California the minimum tenn
perature runs from 10 to 20 de-
grees colder than that of Florida,
with cold winter rains in California,
against Florida warm rains in sum-
mer; the maximum summer temper
ature in California is 10; in Flor
ida sc degrees.
In Florida we can raise Bermuda
grass and sunflowers and other
green food the same as in California.
We can raise corn and cereals here,
but in California they buy it for
land at $500 an acre is too expen-
sive to grow these grains.
In every way Florida is an ideal
poultry country and equals, if not
surpasses that great chicken center,
and land can be had here for $25
to $50 an acre for poultry farms,
near small towns, and 500 an acre
near cities; while that California
Board of Trade booklets states:
Land close to the city costs $400
and $500 an acre"
w. B. Powell, secretary of the
Newport Richey Board of Trade, has
gathered much information on the
hen and its possibilities with a view
of interesting settlers in that line Of
endeavor, and he is broad enough
to give the information to the State
at large.
The egg market will never be over
supplied. In Japan they have S25
fowls to- each square mile, or l IL
hens to the square acre, with every
acre, practically, under cultivation
in that thickly settled country, the
greatest reproducing nation we
have In the United States there is
only~1- fowl to each cultivated acre
or less than IA fowl for the entire
acreage.
The hen in the United States lays
twenty billion eggs a year. One egg
in every three is eaten by the raiser
thereof the other two are started
for the market but 10 per cent get
broken or are spoiled. This loss
amounts to $50,000,000 year, a
great sum which could be conserved
by more careful handling and gath
ering. Fifteen to twenty per cent
of the eggs marketed go into cold
storage, something like two or three
billions, the rest are eaten while
fresh. The proportion of storage
eggs depends on how much money
people have to spend for fresh eggs.
On account of prosperous times the
wage Garner has done away with his
chicken yard and is buying eggs.
Hence there are fewer eggs and
more people TO buy them. There is
reason why eggs are selling for five
cents each now, and the price will
likely remain high for some time.
The fact that inspectors found 72,-
100000 dozen eggs in cold storage
in Chicago is of small moment. They
would only last the United States
for a day
Tampa consumes 10000 eggs
week, of which so per cent are
shipped in from the North and %
per cent come from Florida towns.
There passes through Tampa each
week $4,000 eggs shipped frcm the
north to Cuba-Sand maybe as many
more find their way to Cuba via the
Florida East Coast, and twice that
amount by steamer direct from New
York city. Cuba is a great market
f1r the Florida egg producer. Tam
pa and the Cuban egg market could
take 100000 eggs week.
Mr.. Powell has made a complia-
ton of profits made by large num-
Der of egg farms and finds that a
high-class egg ranch in Florida will
net more than 81 per hen a year.
Some claim 50 a hen year net.
with feed bill averaging s1.4O a
year.
1t is the ideal business for quick
returns and small capital. One man
on a ten acre farm can take care of
1000 to 1900 hens. Besides the
profit on eggs, friers and old chick
~