The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-01-13

hihSS mum Iic Guy, WlInlli easy fCeCh
of the market for our produce.
1--WE have been established about two
years and half. Our farm consists of
sixteen acres. Our chicken honse is216
feet long, and we have a smaller build.
ing for brooding purposes. We started
with about fifty hens, now we have
hundreds, and we have raised thousands
of ducks.
I'VE had both been born and raised
in town, and never had seen the coun-
try, except on the short vacations city
people take during the summer. We
knew nothing about the poultry bust.
ness when we started.
'We did not even have book knowl-
edge on the subject. We made up our
minds to succeed, and we have sue
ceeded At the same time, though
there is good living in the business
1--WE never advise women to follow
our example, because where one might
succeed dozen might fail. We con-
stantly receive letters from woman ask
ing our advice on this subject.
'1Nhppl .CdClClo w dllb W dDdiiNlob
their nerve-w wearing vocation, widows
and spinsters with a little capital think
they see in the chicken business an easy
road to fortune.
1T is only fair for the benefit of this
class of inquirers and hundreds of
other women whose thoughts are
turned to this branch of woman's
work, to give them some idea of what
the labor connected with the business
really is.
First of all, no woman should dream
of entering this business unless she is
possessed of strong constitution
This is species of work which requires
the most robust health.
1T is preposterous to think that
semi-invalids could ever be successful
in poultry business; mean, of course
if they are carrying on the business for
the purpose of making money. Then,
again, you must have enough capital to
make fair start or you will fail.
"a young woman wrote to us from
Connecticut the other day, saying that
she had $500, and thought of going into
the business; we advised her not to do
it. She could not carry on the business
alone; it takes two to attend to the
work, and sometimes, literally, we
have to work day and night
''For instance, we only pick and pre-
pare our chickens to order. Friday is
our busiest day, for customers-restau
rant, clearinghouse and hotel keepers
are preparing for Saturday and Sun
day.
ION Friday night, when we have fin
ished big days work, we may receive
by telegraph three or four orders to be
filed at once. That means that the
chickens are to be sent by the early
morning express. The consequence is
that we are obliged to sit up all night
to pick the chickens, for all the fowl
are sent dry, hand-picked.
Some one asks: why don't you
employ help?"
Because the help, nine times out of
ten, would not do the work properly; it
is very difficult to get that kind of as
sistance when you are most in need of
it, and it would eat up too much of the
profits to keep pickers on hand all the
time, because they would not be con-
stantly employed
Amateurs think it is easy TO find
customers for their fine poultry, and
any other kind it certainly would not
pay woman to raise. Ii you send to
misunderstanding take all the
profits.
''In the large hotels the chief pur-
chases all such food from the produce
dealers Those who raise spring broil-
ers or pecan ducks are obliged to charge
good price for them to cover expenses
and yield fair profit on the labor. We
found, at the outset, that butchers
could not afford to pay our prices, and
we soon learned that all the very rich
were the hardest of all to secure as pat
rons
1.-The truth is, after you have got the
poultry to sell, it requires a great deal
of hard work and enterprise No wom-
an must think that simply because she
can raise fine poultry she will find at
once profitable market for the same.
OF course she will find a demand for
good fowl, but she must receive fair
prices or she can not conduct the bust
ness protitably.
Amateur poultry raisers generally
fail because they so into the business
too extensively, and, in their employ,
ment of help, all the profits are eaten
p"-BoStOn Globe.