Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-09-08
How 1T FjGureSOut

~ 10 easy W ASuIo Oul On paper tne
OF: bdest success in almost any line of
business, but generally difficult to
make it pan out in actual results. In
the story of ''Rudder Grange" which
was published a few years since in
scr'bner's Monthly (now The Gen.
tury), the heroine. Eaphemia, figured
out the profits of the poultry business
! as related as follows:
She starred in her career by pur-
chasing an enormous Brahma cock
and ten hens, four of which were of the
common sort. Her husband began to
take some account of the cost of the
fowls, and also Of the new fence about
the poultry-yard-and here it is best to
let Euphemia speak for herself, There
is an enthusiasm, geometrical pro-
erosion, rapid swelling of numbers,
| that excites interest, astoDishmeEt, and
! sometimes cupidity.
"Oh!' said she, ''you don't look at
the matter in the right light. You
haven t studied it up as have. Now,
just lit me show you how the thing will
pay: if carried .ut PROPERLY Pro-
ducing piece Of paper covered
with tgIres, she continues: Il be-
gin with ten hens-I got four COM
mon ones. because it would make it
easier to calculate. After while l
set these hens on thirteen eggs each;
three Of these eggs will probably spoil
that leaves ten chickens Matched out.
Or tLese, I will say that half die; that
will leave five chickens to each hen you
see l leave a large margin for loss.
This makes fifty chickens, and when
we add the hens, we have sixty fowls
at the end of the first year. Next year
l set these sixty and they bring up five
chickens each-l am sure there will be
larger proportion than this, but l
want to b. safc-anI that is three hum
ired chickens; add the hens, and we
hav, t! rec hundred and sixty at the
end VI the second year. In the third
year, calculating in the same way we
shall have twenty-One hundred and
sixty chickens; in the fourth year there
viii be twelve thousand, nine hundred
and sixty; and at the end of the fifth
year, which is as far as need to calcu-
late now, we shall have sixty-four
thousand and eight hundred chickens.
What DO you think of that? At seventy
five cents aRzece-a very low price
that would be forty-eight thousand and
six hundre6 dollars. Now, what is the
petcy cost Of fence and few coops
by the sllte of sum like thatp"
Nothing at ALL" l answered. lit
is lost like drop in the ocean. hate,
my tsaar, to interfere in any way with
such, a splendid calculation as thai,
bua L would like to ask you question"
''Oh, OF course, said she; I suppose
you arc going to say something about
. tho cost of feeding all this poultry.
7 That is to come out of the chickens
supposed to die. They won't die. 1t
: is ridiculous to suppose that each hen
will bring up but five chickens. The
chickens that will live out of tho g l
consider as dead will more than pay
for the feed.''
THAT is not what I was going to ask
yoa, though of course it ought to be
considered. But you know You are
only going to set common hens. and
YOU do not intend to raise any. Now,
are those four hens to do all the sitting
and mother-work for 1lve years, and
eventually bring up over sixty thous-
aud chickens?"
swell, I did mako a mistake there
she said. coloring a little. IN tell
you what III do; I'll SIT every one of
my bens every year.
but all those chickens may not be
hens You have calculated that every
one Of them would sit as soon as it
WAS old enough"
She stopped a moment to think this
over.
Two heads are better than one, l
see.' she said, directly. I'll allow
that one half Of all tho chickens are
BOOSTERS, and that will make the profits
twen'y-four thousand, three hundred
dollars-more than enough to buy this
place.
Ever so much MORE" cried.
Does the reader r. member, in Noah
Webster's Elementary Spelling Book,
the story OF the milk-maid? Euphemia
is, theoretically, the most successful
poultry keeper on record. In count
i:g the chickens before they are
hatched she beats the mi)k-maid all
hollow.