FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 251 



large expense prepares for the business. Perhaps one or two thousand birds 

 are procured, yard fenced, buildings erected, and every convenience arranged 

 for their comfort, all upon the most scientific \)\an known. Poultry journals 

 are subscribed for and read, the latest devices and theories noted and put in 

 practice, and it would seem to the casual observer that success was unquestion- 

 able. But alas ! The harvest of golden eggs does not meet the expectation, 

 and the chicks do not thrive and mature as did those of our theorist's dozen. 

 The delicacies that were obtained in their rambles, which are necessary to war- 

 rant health and a bountiful supply of eggs, are lessened in proportion to the 

 number kept. Disease, unaccounted for, makes its appearance, and the yard 

 so carefully arranged becomes but a hospital of sick birds and the project a 

 failure, and why? As intimated above, simply because the business was of a 

 nature that beyond a certain limit other circumstances intervened which en- 

 tirely destroyed the prospects of success. 



What is true in this case may be claimed in many others. And right here is 

 ■where many of our theorists and experimenters err. It is not always a true 

 criterion to follow, that because some one animal by jiroper care and feed can 

 be made profitable, all can, and that a large herd can be made proportionately 

 so. It would be strange indeed if they were all bred, formed, and constituted 

 alike, which must necessarily be considered if an equal return for the same feed 

 be obtained. 



And the same may ije said in relation to crops. It is not an absolute cer- 

 tainty that because a few rods of ground in some locality can be made to show 

 certain results, that the broad acres will at all times verify the same fact. 

 Season, climate, soil, and many other circumstances we cannot account for, 

 will all affect the result. 



Then, too, the experimenter is very apt to select, if an animal, one that will 

 take feed to the best advantage; and if land, that which is most productive; 

 that the result may be tlie more astonishing to the outside observer. 



The reverse of the above is quite as often met with. Much of the theory, 

 though it may be true, is entirely out of reach — financially — of the majority of 

 farmers. 



For example, we are told that food properly cooked for stock to be fattened 

 is of great advantage in many ways: tiie amount consumed is very much les- 

 sened, and the animal brought to maturity much earlier and in a more ripe, 

 complete state ; hence the quick, large gains in weight and the enhanced value 

 at sale, in connection with the much-lessened amount of food required, would 

 not only make the business profitable, but one of advantage for any to follow : 



Now is this true? Will our farms, ranging from 40 to 300 acres, admit of 

 the outlay necessary to follow out this line of reasoning? From 1^1,000 to 

 ^1,500 would be required to make it in any sense a success, and farmers of 

 ordinary means could not safely make the investment. Perhaps, with plenty 

 of money at hand and a farm of sufficient range, it might be made profitable, 

 but with the majority it is wholly impracticable. 



Thus we will see that most of our theory sounds well and is interesting to 

 talk about in the "club room," or a subject upon which long papers may be 

 read, that are often more fitted to astonish than benefit the listener. But 

 among all this we have theory that is true, which, like the particles of gold 

 that are thrown from the eartli, require practical experience to separate and 

 utilize. 



Very often the real benefit is lost by the farmer not knowing when or bow 



