Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-04
POULTRY TALKS
BY +. b. CLEwETTE
Manager George II. Lee Company

we nave all nedTu VI lLS SlHdh DNy
power to ask questions, but 1t seems
as though he has no monopoly on that
Job, ana why should he have?
If there is any business in the world
that seems especially designed to keep
one guessing it surely is the poultry
business in California.
There are all the Ills that poultry
flesh is heir to, and they come in dit-
ferent guises at different times. T. en-
there are some small fiocks that give
a large percentage of eggs in the Off
season, and again to refJte the ar8u-
ment that this is due to the dilfe, ence
in the size of the flock we find an
other flock OF several hundred that is
doing just as good work. Some Will
keep their fowls in small tlocks and
make money, while others are runh hS
250 to 4v0 hens in one large heiu with
several roostng houses and getting
fine results. Why? How? When?
Which? come the questions every day.
Each breed, each method each sty-e
of house or way OF feeding has It's
advocates, but the old saying That
zone mans meat is another man
poison" is just as true when appIed
to this question as to eating.
The first question to be considered
is always the individual. Some people
little realize how embarrassing the sit
supposed to know when they ask his
advice about embarking in the pOul-
try business. Suppose, for instance.
some one who has never lived on a
farm and don't know the first rudl-
ments of poultry culture asks our ad-
vice about starting little place on
the acreage they have bought and we
are fully satisfied after q few min
utes' talk that they are not fitted men
tally or physically to take UP the
work. We dislike very much to say,
Don't do it; you can't stand the
drudgery and the lonesomeness and
lack of excitement, the long waiting
for returns AM the appointments
you will meet"
They will say, Huh! L guess know
as much as Mr.. So and SO, and he's
easily Why can't II" Sure, why!
and yet if a man is fair and honest
he ought to tell them, and yet some
people develop wonderfully when they
get their Dutch up
Very few people know how much the
matter of success or failure depends
on the adaptablity and natural equip
ment or endowment of the individual.
There are many branches OF business
life which may be mastered by ed3ca-
ton and training in which average in
telligence and hard work are the main
factors. There are other lines in which
education, intelligence and training
can never bring success without
natural endowment.
1t seems ridiculous to some to put
the successful poultryman in the same
class as artists, musicians, financlers'
railway magnates, etc, who are
classed as geniuses, and yet the really
successful poultryman is "born, not
made"
we have seen hundreds of people
start out with sufficient money, plenty
of education, ability and willingness
to work, location all to the good, and
yet fail to "come through" Why
Couldn't do 1t, not built right. One
man is educated as a lawyer-can t
make it go, but is a success at rails
ing fine stock. Another, educated the
same way, at the best school in the
country, is a great success in busl-
ness, but as a lawyer, nothing DO
ing"
Some fine mechanics were never
educated for the work, and some thor
oughly educated couldn't file a saw.
They would be nearly as bad as car
penter's apprentice who was LETT at
home to grind and sharpen the tools.
He got everything sharp but the saw
He had worked all the afternoon on
that but hadn't got quite all the
notches ground out of it yet.
All this may sound very discourag-
ing to some, but is intended for those
who are thinking of giving up other
work and trying to make living from
poultry raising without knowing any
thing about their ability AS well pay
several hundred dollars for chance
to win q prize in a marathon with
out knowing whether you have the
ability to run one mile, let alone
eighteen.
The prospective poultryman must be
almost like the son of the nervous
mother, who insisted that he learn to
swim before he could go near the
water Make haste slowly, is the only
safe rule to follow. Find out by
actual work with hens whether you
have the knack of knowing how to do
the right thing at the right time and
gain the confidence Of your bii DIS, for
If YOU can't be friendly with them and
keep them tame and quiet, you are
Handicapped at the start, and If you
do not like to fuss with your b.rds,
wait on them and notice their indl-
yiduality, you will not reach great
measure of success and the work Will
soon be irksome, and you should find
these things out before you get in
where the water is deep.
If after a fair trial with young and
old you find that you can keep the
Youngsters growing rapidly and the
older ones producing eggs at good
rate. then wade in, for to one who is
sure of his ability and "knack' there
is a better profit to De made on a
small investment than is possible in
any other line of work, and 1t is a.
more Independent life than most others
and allows of a fine outdoor life with
varied possibilities.