A Peculiar Business

Mr. Geo. J. Nissley, of Saline, is conducting the largest poultry raising business in the state. His poultry houses cover a large amount of ground and he ships eaeh year something like one thousand fancy birds. The business has its points of interest that are unique. For instance, the recent hard times have made no difïerence in sales and the shipments are not at all localized but extend all over the United States. A trade is not worked up in one locality to last for several years, but men go into and out of the business so frequently that most of the orders are from new sections of country. Mr. Nissley says the breeding of fancy poultry requires the greatest skill, for the least mistake in mating will mar the pure plumage of the fowls and this is disasterous as a shade or two differeuce in the color of a bird may make a difference of several dollars in its value. "You see," he said, lithe birds are graded on a scale of ono hundred. Size, color of legs, color of comb, sizo of comb, and color of feathers all enter into the marking. A Plymouth Rock graded at ninety-two will bring flve dollars; one graded at uinety-four is worth twenty, and one marked at ninety-five or six will sell reaaily for flfty dollars. It's only a difference of a few feathers or a little color but that counts everything with a poultry fancier. "We sell but few to farmers ; most of them go to men who have a fancy for fine f o wis. Some people get a craze for them and we depend on this craze largely for our sales. We find the business pays and we ship to almost every state in the Union."