AMONG ANCONAS" 11 



As an additional and disinterested introduction, I am reprint- 

 ing an article taken from the Reliable Poultry Journal, 

 which appeared in the issue of February, 192 1. 



Outstanding Factors in Great Poultry Success 



As shown and emphasized in the building up of the remark- 

 able business of H. Cecil Sheppard, Berea, Ohio, the world's 

 foremost breeder of Anconas, both combs has all been ac- 

 complished in the last fifteen years the secret of secrets, 

 however, is to be found in genuine value of the product it- 

 self here also are disclosed certain foundation facts that 

 have made a truly national industry of poultry culture. 



By EDITOR of R. P. J. 



W r HILE we were at Sheppard's Ancona Farm, near Berea, Ohio, last fall, 

 a new thought struck us, to this effect: What is the one big secret, or 

 what are the several secrets of the wonderful business this man has built 

 up in these little black and white domestic fowl? In pondering on the subject 

 we took into account a number of facts we previously had learned or noted 

 about Mr. Sheppard and his methods. 



For example, we were aware that he is a good salesman, that he had 

 "learned his trade" in this line as a commercial traveler, also as local agent 

 a number of years for a popular rrfake of automobile. And as "a good sales- 

 man" we had in mind a good letter-writer, a capable compiler of an attractive, 

 convincing annual catalogue and the designer of strong, original, human- 

 interest advertising ALL devoted with unusual earnestness to increasing 

 the reputation and promoting the sale of the Sheppard "Famous Strain" 

 of Single and Rose Comb Anconas. 



Furthermore, we had observed that Mr. Sheppard is business person- 

 ified, so to state it that he is systematic and thorough-going in all he does; 

 that he has found out that the two words "business" and "method" are prac- 

 tically synonymous, and that for a man to be highly successful in any line of 

 business he must be methodical in every thing he does that is of real importance. 

 These valuable, in fact essential business traits, Mr. Sheppard possesses to an 

 exceptional degree. 



Also Mr. Sheppard is a man who believes in and pratices to a remark- 

 able extent both farsightedness and forehandedness. In this respect we 

 hardly know of his equal in the poultry field. He believes also in being 

 ahead of time, never behind or too late. For example, he bought last spring, 

 six months before it was actually needed, twenty tons of blank enameled 



