The state herald., 1900-12-07
Poultry Keeping a. a Business.

Would you advise any one to go in
to poultry raising as businessF'
This is the substance of letter from
one Of our subscribers. We know of
people whom he would unhesitatingly
advise to go into the poultry business
ana we know of others whom we would
as quickly advise to keep out of 1t.
Some men can never be farmers be-
cause they are not adapted to that
business, and we have known in
stances where good business man was
spoiled to make poor farmer. The re.
verse is just as often true. SO it Is
with the poultry business. Almost any
one can keep Il few fowls and make u
large profit out of them. but unless one
has a special love for the poultry bust
ness, 1t is better not to gs into 1t toe
extensively.
There~is no secret about the poultry
business any more than there Is about
the cattle business, but in either OF
these Industries the man must be fit
ted for his work. The man who Is
perfectly fitted to take care Of one COW
might make n dead failure of a dairy
farm.
In any business In life, from digging
ditch to making n wnrship, n certain
amount of training is necessary. The
man who can keep half hundred
hens and make them profitable is quite
likely to think he could keep half %
thousand, and do ms well in proportion
There Is no reason why the man who
succeeds with n small flock should moi
succeed with n large one, except thai
we are apt to Overestlmate the ease
with which we accomplish the work
necessary with the small flock.
a small flock of hens on farm will
pick up the greater part of their liv.
Ing and get about as much of certain
kinds of food as they need by finding
1t in the fields. When we increase the
number tcn-fold, there are no more
bugs than there were for the small
flocks, no more scattered grains, no
more room. This leaves something
lacking when 1t comes to keeping
large flock that must he supplied by
the keeper, or the flock does not flour.
ish.
We would not he afraid TO try TO keep
100 hens on an acre. We have known
three times as many to he kept OH such
a plot and they did well. too. but we
would hesitate n long time before we
Woulu HuNlSe one O1 WHOSE uulll1lci-
tions we had no knowledge.
Any man can succeed who will mako
up his mind to attend to every detail
of the work. He must keep his hens
comfortable In winter, for ii is the
winter eggs that pay the bills. The
poultry keeper who does not keep his
hens so well that will produce eggs in
winter will never make n success of the
business. In summer eggs are plenti-
full but they are cheap. In winter the
poultry keeper who takes good care
of his hens had n plentiful supply OF
eggs and they always bring high
price.
We cannot advise our correspondent
except TO say TO him that II he Is will
ing to work hard. continuously. and
earnestly. he can make the poultry
business pay as well or better than
anything else he can go into with fho
same amount Of capital. hut poultry
keeping II not the royal road TO wealth
II is n growing business and one which
is not yet able to supply the demands
made upon II 10y n poultry and egg
hungry public. Purc-brcd stock. good
care and constant watchfulness Will re-
ward the poultry keeper who has the
faculty OF attending TO dctails.-Garder
and Farm.