The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-12-13

Foultry Raising
as a Profitable
i! mUestment !
Read all The good poultry journals
n books of recognized authority, in
Guiding the bulletins issued by the
United States government experiment.
al stations; begin With a small flock
of good strain chickens; study incu-
bators. designs of houses and other
apparatus carefully; ascertain what
method of feeding is best adapted to
ity: gradually increase your flock each
year and construct the necessary
buildings and improvements in accord
ance with thu returns realized from
the previous years efforts and at he
end of four OF five years the plant
should yield a net income of from ST.
500 to $4,000 a year.
John S. Malioy of Spokane, man
ager of a plant representing an in
vestmeEt of $4,000, said to be the
largest in the northwest, made the
foregoing statement a few days age,
when l asked him the secret Of sue
cess In the poultry business.
Poultry culture today is the most
profitable and pleasant in which n
man or woman with some capital to
begin. can engage. This Is probably
brought out more forcibiy IL the in
land empire of tie north,y,,. than In
! the east, south or midah vest, for
the reason there is a got demand
for the products at hias. lrices every
day in the year, and w -:ie steady
influx of population ar. &C nmerce 1t
is certain to grow into a. industry
Which will Civ far grea.er returns
h a any other branch OF farming. If
handled properly.
Many readers of his article will
probably be surprised to learn that
the poultry industry is the second
largest in the United States, being ex-
ceeded only by dairying. and hat
more than $3Cu,000 is spent an
nually for poultry and eggs. 1t may
also be news to some to enc that
in 1906 tn people of the state of Wash
ington paid more h $4,000, 900 to
poultry raisers of other states, in adj
dition to about S3,00O,00O for home
grown products.
There is no such thing as compe-
ton in this business" Mr.. Malloy said,
in reply to another question. "as the
demand is so great that thousands can
engage in the industry in eastern
Washington. northern Idaho and
northeastern Oregon, in which CHI
matte conditions are ideal. and then
there will be no depreciation in mar
ket prices.
Brains, energy and business judg-
ment. Of course, arc essential; they
are IeceSsary. l am dealing with the
poultry business from a practical
viewpoint. The promoter Of a get
rich-in-a-hurry poultry scheme can
plant. regardless of the amount OF
capital he expects to put into it and
after the first ye3r show a net profit
of from 10 to 2S per cent. but you
must remember that when 1T comes to
figuring probabl. profits the chicken
f.Aancier has tn mining promoter APP
Fearing like Il whipped bantam rooster
by the side of a full fledged ostrich"
The poultry business as an invest
ment requires the same careful business
management as any other commercial
enterprise. One reason for failure is
that there have been so many men en-
gagged in 1t who We're incompetent n
Their inability to make a success of 9TH
er business ventures prompted them
in undertaking something which seemed
simple. Then through get-rich-quick
suggestions and Misrepresentation by
some Of the manufacturers of poultry
supplies, they have been led to believe,
that all one needs in order to make a
killing in the poultry business is some
capital, While brains, energy and or
binary business judgment are unneces-
sary.
THE average poultry raiser buys a
tract of land. puts up a few cheap
buildings and orders a flock Of chick
ems, then drops into a comfortable re-
clfning chair, lights a good cigar and
fancies he sees sure returns on the
basis of So net per hen per year. That
is the surest n quickest failure of all,
as the poultry business requires the
closest application, most careful and
conservative figuring and harder work
than any other branch of farming. At
tention and work are necessary from
early in the morning until late at night,
every day in the year, until the plant is
in successful operation and large
enough to justify the employment of
an assistant to relieve the duties of the
owner at intervals.
Then there is the man who has $4,000
and wants to have about 1000 laying
hens from eggs Matched the first year.
He spends his capital the first six
months and incurs an Indebtedness of
$500. which is to be paid, of course DC
tober l, when all the hens should be
laying, n at which time it is always
represented that the plant should be
giving ample returns to meet all obli-
cations. He has set q certain number
of eggs, OF which he. is sure to hatch
IS per cent. Of which half will be pull
lets-therefore, he will AVE so many
'pullets laying by the first Of October,
and they will net SO much each per
year. At h time he expects to have
his pullets in the laying pens certain
unavoidable circumstances will have
interrupted his plans, and he has only
SO per cent. of what he had figured
The obligations are due II payable,
the pullets are not laying quite as early
as he anticipated, he becomes discour.
aged. an1-anothor fai1rro
THE most common failure, however
is where the travelling man or invest
or who cannot give the business any
personal attention, has $4,000 or $40, OU
to invest, and he meets the enthusiastic
chicken financier, who. according to his