Deceptions in Potilfry Keeping 111 



deception, which so often results in the poul- 

 try business, leads to loss and disappointment. 

 If one keeps a score of hens, has his wife feed 

 them from the refuse of kitchen and barn, raises 

 seventy-five chickens, charges nothing for labor 

 or use of building, no accounts are necessary, for 

 the lord of the manor can figure out 100 per 

 cent profit as he finishes the breast of that Ply- 

 mouth Rock chicken on Christmas day. But it 

 is quite another thing when expensive buildings 

 are erected, hundreds of fowls kept, a man em- 

 ployed throughout the year, incubators and tons 

 of feeds purchased. In such cases full and accu- 

 rate accounts are indispensable if the true results 

 of the undertaking are to be secured. 



The method outlined for determining profit and 

 loss in the dairy and in the fields is equally appli- 

 cable to poultry. In no other branch of agricul- 

 ture are there such opportunities for " dead heads " 

 to consume profits as in the poultry business. It 

 may not be practicable to weigh the food of each 

 hen any more than it would be for the boarding- 

 house keeper to weigh and compute the value of 

 the food consumed by each boarder. But the 

 landlady is wiser than the poultryman, for she 

 looks sharply to the receipts, while the poultryman 

 usually takes no accurate note of either expendi- 

 tures or receipts, although both can be determined 

 easily and cheaply. 



