It will be noted that the egg production per hen is very low in the Southern States. This may seem at variance with my previous statements. The poor poultry keeping of the South is a fault of the industrial conditions, not of the climate. Chickens on the Southern farm simply live around the premises as do rats or English sparrows. No grain is grown; there are no feed lots to run to, no measures are taken to keep down vermin, and no protection is provided from wind and rain. In the North chickens could not exist with such treatment.
The figures given showing the relation between the poultry and total agricultural wealth is the best way that can be found to express statistically the importance of poultry keeping in relation to the general business of farming. These figures should not be confused with the distribution of the actual volume of poultry products. Iowa, the greatest poultry producing state, shows only a moderate proportion of poultry to all farm wealth, but this is because more agricultural wealth is produced in Iowa than in all the "Down East" states.
Table showing the development of the poultry industry in the various states, according to the returns of the census of 1900:
| States | No. of eggs per capita | Percentage of farm wealth earned by poultry | No. of eggs per hen | Farm value of eggs per dozen |
| Alabama | 124 | 4.9 | 48 | 9.7 cents |
| Arizona | 80 | 4.5 | 60 | 19.9 |
| Arkansas | 235 | 6.8 | 58 | 9.1 |
| California | 197 | 5.4 | 74 | 15.8 |
| Colorado | 127 | 5.4 | 71 | 15.0 |
| Connecticut | 105 | 11.3 | 89 | 19.1 |
| Delaware | 231 | 14.7 | 68 | 13.7 |
| Florida | 96 | 8.2 | 46 | 13.1 |
| Georgia | 156 | 4.4 | 41 | 10.4 |
| Idaho | 213 | 5.0 | 67 | 16.2 |
| Illinois | 215 | 3.7 | 62 | 10.3 |
| Indiana | 338 | 10.0 | 77 | 10.5 |
| Iowa | 536 | 7.4 | 64 | 10.1 |
| Kansas | 597 | 8.2 | 73 | 9.9 |
| Kentucky | 198 | 8.3 | 62 | 9.8 |
| Louisiana | 111 | 4.0 | 40 | 10.0 |
| Maine | 233 | 11.0 | 100 | 15.3 |
| Maryland | 126 | 10.4 | 71 | 12.6 |
| Massachusetts | 56 | 11.7 | 96 | 19.9 |
| Michigan | 270 | 9.7 | 82 | 11.2 |
| Minnesota | 296 | 5.8 | 67 | 10.5 |
| Mississippi | 144 | 4.7 | 43 | 9.9 |
| Missouri | 291 | 11.6 | 68 | 9.8 |
| Montana | 148 | 4.3 | 67 | 21.0 |
| Nebraska | 463 | 6.1 | 66 | 9.9 |
| Nevada | 68 | 3.7 | 71 | 20.8 |
| New Hampshire | 238 | 11.5 | 96 | 17.3 |
| New Jersey | 76 | 12.0 | 72 | 16.2 |
| New Mexico | 45 | 2.7 | 65 | 18.7 |
| New York | 102 | 7.1 | 83 | 13.9 |
| North Carolina | 112 | 5.7 | 55 | 10.2 |
| North Dakota | 249 | 2.6 | 64 | 10.5 |
| Ohio | 265 | 9.6 | 77 | 11.2 |
| Oklahoma | 315 | 6.4 | 60 | 9.3 |
| Oregon | 224 | 6.2 | 72 | 15.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 112 | 10.8 | 75 | 13.5 |
| Rhode Island | 90 | 19.7 | 77 | 20.4 |
| South Carolina | 80 | 4.0 | 41 | 10.3 |
| South Dakota | 502 | 5.2 | 68 | 10.0 |
| Tennessee | 189 | 8.4 | 61 | 9.8 |
| Texas | 228 | 4.8 | 52 | 8.0 |
| Utah | 146 | 5.1 | 76 | 12.5 |
| Vermont | 219 | 7.5 | 94 | 15.3 |
| Virginia | 165 | 8.9 | 67 | 11.1 |
| Washington | 171 | 7.1 | 74 | 16.8 |
| West Virginia | 216 | 10.2 | 74 | 10.9 |
| Wisconsin | 268 | 7.1 | 68 | 10.5 |
| Wyoming | 121 | 2.4 | 79 | 17.4 |
| Entire U.S. | 205 | 7.4 | 65 | 11.1 |
[ CHAPTER V ]
THE DOLLAR HEN FARM
As has already been emphasized, the way to get money out of the chicken business is not to put so much in.
Land, however, well suited to the purpose, should not be begrudged, for interest at six per cent. will afford a very considerable extra investment in land well suited to the business if it in any way cuts down the cost of operation.
The Plan of Housing.