26 FLIGHT FROM THE CITY 



he had thought grit, in reality was linseed meal. Here 

 was the first of what proved a series of catastrophic 

 losses for this family. Precious money and even more 

 precious time was lost, owing to this mistake. Before 

 this man learned enough about living in the country 

 to produce with any degree of efficiency (though I 

 believe nothing could have enabled him to produce 

 profitably for the market), his losses were so great 

 that he had to abandon the place he had purchased 

 and to return to the city, broken in pocket and even 

 more broken in spirit. I cannot, therefore, make this 

 point too strongly the only alternative to experi- 

 enced guidance is experimenting on a small scale. 

 Mistakes then can be considered part of one's edu- 

 cation. 



It is difficult today, when the care of our poultry- 

 yard takes so little original thinking on our part, to 

 realize how bewildered we were when we first began 

 with chickens. There was, to begin with, the problem 

 of breeds. Roughly, all the various breeds of chickens 

 fall into three categories: egg-laying machines, like 

 the Leghorns; meat-making chickens, like the Jersey 

 Giants; and all-purpose breeds, like the Plymouth 

 Rocks and the Rhode Island Reds. The Leghorns do 

 lay more eggs than the other types, but they are small 

 and wiry birds, hardly fit for the table. As we wanted 

 plenty of eggs, we decided against the Jersey Giants. 

 To secure both eggs and decent meat, we finally de- 

 cided on one of the all-purpose breeds, Rhode Island 

 Reds, a decision we have never regretted. The Reds 



