The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1909-03-11

and double discounted) II found that
the actual investment and expenses Tor
the first year were 81, 874.34 and the
total receipts only $7O2. rs.
One reason for the low receipts was
q sudden stop in the Matching opera
lions on account Of the destruction Of
my regular business by fire on June /.
Had not the fire occurred the chicken
receipts would have been larger. but /
guess the fire was q good thing any.
way, as the larger the chicken re-
ceipts the larger the expense without
any reduction Of the ratio.
It would not be fair to the chicken
business, however, not to say that
many Of my best laid plans were over
turned because of the fire. In order
to get as much ready money as l
could I sold most Of my choice young
stock which I was rearing to fill the
laying pens for the next year, with the
result that the later stock did not ma
ture in time to lay during the next
winter, and after carrying them over
until early spring l took advantage
Of the high price and sold them.
Later in the summer, finding I was
not quite bankrupt, reorganized the
chicken business and enlarged the
plant in accord with the needs that
experience seemed to demand.
I tried fall matches, but found that
not only did the eggs fail to incubate
as well as in the spring, but the chicks
that did break through the shell lack
ed vitality. OF course knew fall
chickens were more difficult to raise,
but who would have thought the aver
age hatch would be less than 20 per
cent and the death rate of those
which pecked through their limestone
castles would be 95 per cent!
The same condition Of poor matches
during the fall continued during the
spring and was not confined to my ex-
perience alone, but was a general con-
dition throughout the country, showing
that fertility Of eggs and vitality of
embryo depend on conditions for
which the chicken raiser is not always
to blame. Instead of Matching 1000
per month, as I had expected, was
getting 400 to 500 chickens. When
winter came there were about 1000
sickly looking incubator babies in the
big brooder house.
Ravages of a Neighbours Dog.
The troubles doubled when my
handy colored hired man became sick
There is an old adage about colored
man loving chickens, and my colored
man certainly loved to care for those
chickens. But might as well end this
part of the story right now. A new
green black boy came to care for the
poultry and to help end the business
What chickens didn't die under his un-
skilled care disappeared in other ways
Rats, which had not troubled me be-
fore, took full hundred in a single
night, so that out Of 1000 Matched in
nine months less than seventy-five
brOilers ever reached the market.
did manage to raise a few by the old
hen method and also raised about
seven billion lice. A neighbours fine
bird dog visited the yards on several
nights and before she was detected
disposed Of about 100 Of the finest
chicks. now have $50 chickens left
in all conditions Except those required
by the marketman), and the price has
dropped from 38 cents for broilers, live
weight, to cents per pound. The chick
ems eat their heads off every three
months, figuratively speaking. If they
would do so literally there would be
no kick coming from me.
My third years experience in get
ting poor out Of chickens shows re-
ceipts Of $723 and expenses of ST.
675.13, or a net loss for the year Of an
optimistic disposition and $772.13. In
looking over my accounts for the past
two years l find the plant has cost me
$1,000. It cannot be sold for over $500.
My total loss from this experiment in
trying to beat Dame Nature was
$1,435.72.
If you should ever get the idea into
your head that you can apply the rules
of geometrical progress to the baby
chicken business, just remember that
one hen in a few years at that rate
would have such lot Of grandchila
dren and great-grandchildre that there
would be standing Room Only" signs
shown at all the hen theaters in the land.
Old Dame Nature is wise old girl.
You can fool her part of the time, but
sooner or later she will fool anybody
who thinks he can feed her wooden
nutmegs for steady diet.
Once in long time some one actu-
ally makes money out of the chicken
raising business, but it is generally
some one who has used printers ink
so literally that when you pay $50
for trio you are paying 50 for three
chickens and $48 for the chicken fan
cier's reputation
Goodwin Smiths Estimate Of Roosevelt,
Goodwin Smith of Toronto, the Ca
madam author and publicist, wrote as
follows to the editor Of the New York
Times concerning former President
R0Osovo1t. aE%1