CHAPTER XVII 



WHAT SHALL WE ASK OF THE HEN? 



SAM JONES, the chicken-loving man, was as 

 pleased as a boy with a new top when I began 

 to talk of a hen plant. He had a lot of practical 

 knowledge of the business, for he had failed in 

 it twice ; and I could furnish any amount of 

 theory, and enough money to prevent disaster. 



In his previous attempts he had invested nearly 

 all his small capital in a plant that might yield 

 two hundred eggs a day ; he had to buy all foods 

 in small quantities, and therefore at high prices ; 

 and he had to give his whole time to a business 

 which was too small and too much on the hand- 

 to-mouth order to give him a living profit. My 

 theory of the business was entirely different. I 

 could plan for results, and, what was more to the 

 point, I could wait for them. Mistakes, accidents, 

 even disasters, were disarmed by a bank account ; 

 my bread and butter did not depend upon the 

 temper of a whimsical hen. The food would 

 cost the minimum. All grains and green food, 

 and most of the animal food, in the form of skim 

 milk, would be furnished by the farm. I meant 

 also to develop a plant large enough to warrant 

 the full attention of an able-bodied man. I felt 



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