Arizona republican., 1917-02-15

price of eggs goes down and if the de-
 mand for chicks is as large as is an-
 ticipated. It is probable that the en-
 tire output of the valley will be util-
 ized in local markets this year at an
 advance over the price and demand of
 one year past.
 During the matching season this
 spring each of the incubator plants in
 the valley will turn out at least two
 and possibly four or five broods of
 chicks Estimating the output for the
 valley at liberal figure and allowing
 for four broods throughout the valley
 more than ,000 chicks will peck their ways from the eggs during the next | fifteen weeks. These small birds will Joe sold in the local and state markets
 The markets for chicks are broad in this district. The demand for valley chicks in the northern counties of the
 state is large and yearly many baby birds are shipped at the age of one day 1 to the chicken fanciers and raisers of 1 YaVapai, Apache, Coconino and Ma vajo counties From the south, espe- cially from Pima county the demand i Is heavy for the valley birds and Co., ! chise yearly absorbs several shipments. Gila county and the valley of the Gila river also offer d wide range for the sale of the incubator products. Prices 1 this year will range from 12A cents for the lighter birds to l71a cents for the heavier breeds, an advance over
 past years due to the price of eggs and the other higher market and pro
 duction expenses.
 Conditions Are Different
 Conditions of demand and supply in
 the chick market this year are entire 1 iy different than one year ago. The demand for young birds, as well as for
 older birds is greater The supply. . owing to large absorption during the
 past eight months of both young and
 old birds, is low IL is therefore ex-
 pected that the valleys entire produc-
 tion will be absorbed at top prices and
 that little difficulty will be had in
 finding a market for the matched , birds
 i The opening in the valley of three
 commission houses who do nothing but , purchase. pack and sell valley foul is | responsible for the lack of big supply and for the great demand One year
 ago prices of laying hens of light or 4 heavy quality averaged from 9 to e. cents. Today the same birds cost in : the neighborhood of from 65 cents to { sl. Through the commission houses
 every available bird has been bought
 cp and packed for sale.
 V hile reducing the supply of birds
 and increasing the demand the ad
 vent of the commission houses has 1 Lad one other beneficial result. It has ! kept down the number of birds in the
 valley to practically the same figures as of eighteen months ago. It is esti- mated that at the present time there 1 are about 250.000 hens in the Salt l River valley. Had il not been for the advent of the packing houses it is
 probable that this number would have been much larger. It represents the same figure estimated one and one half years ago.
 Every available hen for sale has been given into the hands of the packers. At the same time, hens which were valuable for production have been kept on the ranches and farms. Lay ing hens have been maintained. "Boarder' hens, or those which were not making their expenses through production were sent to the commits sion markets. While the actual num- Der of hens in the valley has increased little, if any, the variety and standard has increased highly and growers of birds have come to pay attention to producing and non- producing hens as closely as dairy men watch cows for high output The result has been ar, increase in production and quality with small increase in numbers.
 Officers and members of the poultry association have also been responsible for much of this increased efficiency Meetings Of the association are held at stated periods when members and visitors gather for the discussion of vexing problems with which they meet in the conduct of their various chicken industries At the same tim experiments which have been tried out and proved successful are passed on to other members of the associa- tion. The mutual action has resulted in an increase in business, an in- crease in production. in quality ano interest
 In addition each year memoers oi the association hold chicken shows throughout the state. Not the least of these are the various county oi district fairs, one of which is held yearly in Tucson, Bisbee, Douglas, ana Phoenix. Others are held when pos sible in other cities in the state. The most recent was that of the Cochist county chicken raisers held in Bisbet last month. The greatest of the chicken and poultry shows is that held annually at the Arizona state fair when poultry raisers througLou the southwest place their birds il competition The contests and inter est engendered through these exhibit. have largely increased the membership of the organization have lent en- courasement to the fancier and havC