94 • BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



MY FRIEND, THE HEN. 



By Mr. Herbert F. ColHngwood, Editor, The Rural New 



Yorker. 



Mr. President and Friends : I know perfectly well that I 

 am not put up here to tell you how to raise a hen, or how to 

 make that hen lay two or three hundred eggs a year, because 

 you all know that I do not know how to do it, and I do not pre- 

 tend to. I do not pretend to be a great success as a poultry- 

 man although I am trying to learn. I know this, however: 

 that there ought not to be a sick hen in Connecticut after today. 

 You have received a great deal of valuable instruction and in- 

 formation from the speakers here today. We have learned 

 that every house ought to be comfortable and that every hen 

 in the state ought to produce all the way from three to four 

 hundred eggs per year. If this program is to be properly car- 

 ried out, there is nothing left for me to do but to end the per- 

 formance. Now I was told to make my discussion of this sub- 

 ject just as broad as I could. If I make it as broad as it is, I am 

 afraid it will not go down, but I have learned in talking with 

 people who say that they are very broad that when it comes to 

 religious matters that broadness with them means ability, or 

 power, or desire to do anything they please. So, if I apply 

 that principle, that gives me a pretty wide margin to work on, 

 since I have been requested to make this talk as broad as I have 

 a mind to. Suppose I begin with a little bit of philosophy, and 

 at the same time express my idea in regard to my friend, the 

 hen. There are a lot of folks that love a horse about as well 

 as they know how ; there are also some that just love a cow, 

 and there are some folks that put above their love for a horse 

 or a cow their regard for the dog, and others still, when you 

 mention the word sheep the way their tongues will run is a 

 wonder. So it is, that the love of animals differs among men. 

 I like all animals, but of all the animals my choice is the busi- 

 ness hen. Let them have their fancies, but my mind is made 

 up like a rock so you cannot fool me, for I love the hen. Now 

 I am going to tell you in a few words why I love the hen. I 

 compiled a little book once called " The Business Hen." I got 

 what opinions I could from a number of practical well-known 

 men in the poultry business and put them in there, and that 



