Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-04-01
Experience, Capital
Enthusiasm, Knowl-
edge of Business All
Most Essential.
COPYRIGHT. 1915.
nv Prot Harry n. Lewis.
Head Of the Department OF Poultry Hus-
bandry Of the New Jersey State Agr1-
culture al EXperim station

Poultry raising seems to appeal strong
| " to thousands of city men, tired of
| the nervous activity of business and the
! fixed income of a salaried position They
see prospects of getting in business for
| themselves. living close to nature, build
/ ing up a fortune. with ease.
! Too often they fail to consider poultry
raising is a business just like selling
goods, or bookkeeping. and it takes
capital. knowledge and experience. But
this should not discourage them from the
enterprise. for they can obtain all these
! By making the sacrifice and effort
| Thousands have done so and succeeded.
Others can do likewise. The following
article may make the road more clear
and certain:
| shall give up city position to raise
poultry" This question expresses the
thought in the mind of many city men at
the present time Back to the land and
to nature is but the wholesome craving
of wholesome heart This question has
! been put to me many a time in my Off
cal capacity at the New Jersey state
Agricultural College. My answer to such
n query usually is. ASK yourself the
ital with which to finance the enter
PRISE? Have I enough training and ex-
perience? And last but not least, Have
a personal liking and adaptation for the
work." If the city enthusiast can answer
these questions satisfactorily in the af
firmatvc then he should not hesitate
to make the change. But how few are
those who can? The following discussion
vrri11 in, ut IN
answering these three pertinent questions
and will also show ways and means Of
correcting possible deficiencies. The Eu-
ropean war causing, as it u.s. higher
prices for foodstuffs and resulting in
tho throttling of certain industries WILL
believe, make this question of greater
and greater Importance to certain classes
of city workers.
HOW MUCH CAPITAL.
The amount of capital to be invested
In the farm and its equipment will de-
pend upon the size of the venture the
number of birds to be kept and the ma
ture of the products to be produced. 1t
will require from 5000 to 5000 to buy
and equip a small poultry farm Of APP
proXimately 10 acres to carry 300 to 500
, birds which is enough birds for any
/ person of limited experience to begin
with the first year. Such an investment
will also require the keeping of a reserve
, or cash balance of from 500 to $50 to
, act as operating or surplus capital Many
failures in the poultry business can be
traced to a lack of capital. both as to
the amount expended in investment and
, by the amount of cash kept in the bank
: which can be used to operate the bust
t ness More capital than this amount
specified can be used to advantage, but
ii is absolutely necessary to have that
much. Without adequate experience and
9 training It IS rarely feasible for the city
man To- borrow "A oonsid quantity
: of money on mortgage to supply this
; capital. The chances are that lack OF
experience will result in lower returns
. than anticipated
1t Is safe to say that more failures ir
poultry farming are due to lack of ex-
l perience on the part of the one taking
p care of the birds than any other one
cause. Multitudes there are who wish &c
raise chickens, and many of them think
l that It requires no special knowledge A
little story In this connection will illus
Y trate my point and It Is but one of many
similar occurrences. One day last week
I a young man who had considerable mon
e ey invested in the clothing business ir
New York city came into my office and
told me that Ne planned to start out In
! poultry keeping this coming spring ano
@ that he had no general knowledge OF
4 the work.
c Questions brought out the fact that he
y had no experience other than what he
[ had gained by reading the newspapers
n ] pointed out TO him in a few words the
! many problems which he would have
p confront him in the management of th'
= .uitir floch and tried r. fHr'e my poin
u home. For one thing | asked him to
consider our changing places | person
ally had no experience in cutting clothes
! nor could | hardly tell one kind of clotl
from another. Az | expressed it. | coul'
> not cut a bran sack so that it would ever
. set over a mans shoulders, let alone Fl
him. And, furthermore, ! pointed GU
the fact that it would be just as appro
. pirate for him to expect to so into thu
80 poultry business as it would be for M
to go into the tailoring business TIL
>, proba biity of success would be equal IL
% either case. The point was well taken
:, and the young man decided to follow IN!
suggestions and get some experience be
;, fore making the start. Ny advice to hin
was that he should understand thorough
~ what was before him before he de
4 cided to give UP good position and
pay envelope at the end of each month
Is HOW TO GET A START
81 There are many ways in which a cit
II man can gain poultry experience.
Al would suggest the progressive steps a
$ follows: First move to a suburban com
l. munity and keep from eight to ten hen
n in the back yard. by studying thes
N closely much can be learned. And wha
Is even greater than this, the man cal
learn whether he is going to like tn
work or not.
Second, he should subscribe to a mum
Der of reliable poultry papers and rea'
them intellgently and carefully. II
IT should not only read the news items
III but should study the advertisements an
st editorials carefully.
I'd Third, he should secure a number q
10 reliable poultry books. of which there ar
T. n number of excellent ones on the mar
Or kct. and should read them carefully
Iwith tina i'laa ~ annh inS TIA knowledg