432 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



a few hens than does the head of the house with his four-footed fav- 

 orites. We know breeders of poultry on a purely commercial basis, 

 who are clearing $2 per year on each hen. How many breeders of 

 sheep are doing better per capita? 



Poultry breeding is not a small business, although the average in- 

 vestment is not large. Since statistics show that the poultry pro- 

 duct of the United States far outranks either beef or wheat produc- 

 tion, no man need be ashamed to identify himself with the poultry 

 interests. There are probably ten times as many people connected 

 with the poultry business as with the horses and cattle business com- 

 bined. 



Then, too, the standard of intelligence and enterprise of poultry 

 breeders will compare favorably with that of those engaged in any 

 other line of animal husbandry. For twenty years the writer has 

 been in close touch with many live-stock associations, and in none 

 of them has he found the average of intelligence and culture superior 

 to that found in the American Poultry Association. In those twenty 

 years he has attended hundreds of banquets at annual meetings of 

 breeders' associations, and of them all the one that stands out most 

 prominently for the elegance of the appointments, the sumptuous- 

 ness of the repast and the wealth and ability of the men who made 

 up the company, was a banquet given by a poultry association to 

 breeders and fanciers of poultry. 



So, young man, if your fancy has turned to poultry, you will find 

 in the oft-repeated successes and failures of these wealthy fanciers 

 scmething to stimulate you to your best endeavor. You will find 

 that even a little success in the breeding of any variety of poultry 

 will prove an introduction for you to men you could reach in no 

 other way. You will find these same men helpful and considerate, 

 ever ready to do you a kind turn or speak for you a cheering word. 

 Among real fanciers of poultry a most generous spirit prevails, 



A personal illustration of this: Twenty years ago, when struggling 

 along with my first season in the egg business, I received by mail 

 from Buffalo a check for $3, and an order for two sittings of eggs. 

 Near the close of the season, having heard nothing from the pur- 

 chaser, I wrote him asking of his success. Promptly came the an- 

 swer, "Eggs all hatched. Chicks are living on the farm and looking 

 well. When in this city, call and see me." Two years later when in 

 Buffalo, remembering his name and street number, I found the place 

 one of the largest and handsomest on Delaware avenue.. I did not 

 call at his residence, but looking him up down town, I found him one 

 of the leading business men of the city and as cordial to the young 

 chicken man as though he too had been a millionaire. 



What breed should you select? That is a matter of fancy. Take 

 the breed you like best — the one you admire most. One man will 



