Land sloping to the southward is commonly advised for the purpose of getting the same advantages as are to be had in a sandy soil.  In practice the slope of the land cannot be given great prominence, although, other things being equal, one should certainly not disregard this point.  In heavy lands it is necessary to raise the floors and grade up around the houses.  The quickly drained soil does away with this expense.

Timber on the land is a disadvantage.  Poultry farming in the woods has not been made a success.  It’s the same proposition of the droppings going to waste.  I know a man who bought a timbered tract because it was cheap and who scraped up the droppings to sell by the barrel to his neighbor, who used them to fertilize his cabbage patch and in turn sold the poultryman cabbages to feed his hens, at 5 cents a head.  Of course, this man failed, as does practically every man who attempts to scrape dropping boards and carry poultry manure around in baskets, instead of using it where it falls.

There is little to be said in favor of uncleared land for the poultry business, but there is something that can be said in favor of the poultry business for uncleared land.  A man who buys a timbered land for trucking can get no income whatever the first year, but the poultryman can begin his operations in the woods, clearing the land while he is raising a crop of chickens on it.  The coops may be placed in the cleared streak and most of the droppings utilized.  In fact, the plan of a streak of timber alongside the houses is not bad for a permanent arrangement—­the birds certainly enjoy the shade.  But the shade of growing crops is the most profitable kind for poultry.

Marketing—­Transportation.

The possibilities of working up a local trade of high grade eggs at fancy prices varies greatly with the locality.  Large cities and wealthy people are essentials.  Other than this the principal distinctions are that regions where a general surplus of eggs are produced offer little chance for a fancy trade.  Where the great bulk of eggs are imported fancy trade is more feasible.  St. Louis is the smallest western city that supports anything like a fancy trade in eggs and there it is only on a small scale.  Minneapolis, Omaha, etc., would not pay 3 cents premium for the best eggs produced, but cities of the same size east of the Appalachians and especially in New England, will pay a good premium.  The Far West or the mountain districts will pay up better than the Mississippi Valley.  The South will pay a little better than the upper Mississippi Valley, but has few cities of sufficient size to make such markets abundant.  The Southerner has little regard for quality in produce and the most aristocratic people consume eggs regularly that the wife of a Connecticut factory hand wouldn’t have in the house.  The egg farmer who expects to sell locally had best not locate south of Washington or west of Pittsburg, unless he goes to the Pacific Coast.