System in Poultry Practice Volume One: a Textbook for Poultrykeepers Everywhere

Milburn, NJ: James Shackleton / Lunane Roycroftery. Very Good. 1908. Early printing. Paperback. B&W Illustrations; This is a small format paperback book (4.5" x 4" approximately). The book is in Very Good condition and was apparently issued without a dust jacket. The book has brown cardstock covers with a black cloth tape spine. The book covers have some light ground-in dirt and spots of discoloration. The text pages are clean and bright. Tipped onto the front inside cover is an advertisement of "System of Poultry Practice" with a notice that copies are available through Frank H. Snow, Petaluma, CA. Laid-in is a small single sheet advertisement, folded twice to make a little booklet, which contains information about another book of his on how to build poultry houses, along with other material in the same vein. The text pages are clean and bright. "Poultry shows spread interest and understanding, with 88% of all farmers having chickens by 1910. Barred Plymouth Rock hen, No. 31S. Laid 237 eggs in first year at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station (1903) As the United States urbanized, demand for eggs grew. Eggs were sold into urban markets, where residents did not have chickens to provide eggs for themselves. Except in hot weather, eggs can be shipped and stored without refrigeration for some time before going bad; this was important in the days before widespread refrigeration. With a steady demand for eggs, efforts to create a poultry egg industry began in earnest, but raising poultry remained challenging; early efforts at industrial-scale indoor poultry houses led to problems with diseases like coccidiosis, Marek's disease, and vitamin D deficiency were not well understood. Egg production was largely increased by scientific breeding rather than industrial scale. After a few false starts, such as the Maine Experiment Station's failure at improving egg production, success was shown by Professor James Dryden at the Oregon Experiment Station. " (from Wikipedia) .