418 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



failures which led to their present position (success without some failures 

 are very rare) , there would be fewer people going into the business one year 

 and dropping out the next, disgusted with the whole thing. If they had 

 known what to expect, the probability is a less number would make the 

 venture, and those who would would more than likely make a success of it. 

 As it is, most persons get an idea, after reading some glowing account, that 

 poultry business is all sunshine. This is all right until after they nave made 

 a trial, then it is altogether different. In my experience I have seen enough 

 to convince me that it is not all sunshine. I do not say this to discourage 

 anyone intending to enter the poultry field, but rather to encourage and 

 point out the difficulties that are sure to present themselves. Poultry are not 

 hard to raise if you only use common sense. There is no success without 

 great labor, and no one should go into the poultry business expecting to sit 

 by the fire, turn a crank and raise all kinds of poultry. There is no occupa- 

 tion that requires more nerve and ability to look after all the ' 'little details" 

 than the poultry business. "Labor conquers all" is a proverb as old as the 

 hills. 



There are poultry raisers on all sides who get into careless "slip-shod" 

 habits of management that can result in nothing but failure. One must 

 exercise "eternal vigilance," and study the life and habits of fowls. It is 

 surprising how little the majority know of the life, habits and requirements 

 of their own flocks. Yards are as bare as use can make them, and houses 

 the same. The feed given them in winter is corn for breakfast, dinner and 

 supper. This is thrown on the bare ground with ice-water to drink. Under 

 such circumstances poultry go to roost in a half frozen condition, shiver 

 through the night and the next day the owner wonders why he did not get 

 eggs when the hens had all the corn they wanted. A knowledge of chemistry 

 and science goes well in the poultry yard. We should have faith in our 

 business and own ability, work with eyes open, and strive for a purpose, an 

 objective point. If any man who has been at all successful in any stock line 

 would only stop to think that should the same energy and thought be 

 devoted to the poultry business that is given to that of any other class of live 

 stock the profits can not help but be satisfactory. 



Some farmers claim there is nothing in poultry, yet they would not be 

 without chickens. A man whose chickens are found on the warm side of a 

 barbed wire fence is the one who swears that poultry does not pay. "Is there 

 money in poultry keeping?" is a question that is often asked. One person 

 was known to reply that there was because he had put it there and had never 

 been able to get it back again. But I can say that I know there is money in 

 poultry because I have gotten money out of it. Keep an account. A person 

 who can't go to that much trouble is too indifferent to ever succeed in any- 

 thing. A person should never go into this business who is too lazy to do 

 other kinds of hard work. Keep an account of all poultry expenses, so 3'ou 

 can tell how much profit there is in it. 



POULTRY RAISING ON THE FARM. 



The raising of poultry is a business that has not yet received from the 

 public the attention it deserves. Nearly every branch of trade is over sup- 

 plied with workmen. The business of poultry raising opens a promising 



