THE CALL OF THE HEN. 19 



incurred in the management are infinitely heavier than in the case where 

 utility points are the only consideration. 



"I would not advise anyone unversed in poultry-culture to give up 

 a situation, however poor, in order to go in for poultry-keeping as a 

 means of earning a livelihood. To think of such a thing is foolish in 

 the extreme, but for -anyone to burn one's boats behind one in this way 

 would be suicidal. What I would suggest to poultry-keeping aspirants 

 (and I believe the number of these reaches well into four figures) is that 

 they should keep as many fowls as they can attend to properly in their 

 spare hours, and see what profits they can make from the birds. Above 

 all, they must find out if they have a genuine love for the work, for with- 

 out this nothing can be done. When a name has been made as a breeder 

 of good stock, then, and then only, is it time for the amateur to consider 

 the advisability of adopting poultry- keeping as a business; and long 

 before this point is reached the glamour of the idea may have faded 

 for the life of a poultry-keeper is, contrary to popular belief, far from 

 being a bed of roses. Practically all the men who are today making 

 a living from poultry commenced keeping fowls as a hobby, and the 

 knowledge and experience which they gained in this way enabled them 

 to found the establishments which are to-day of world-wide reputation. 



"To those who are qualified for the work poultry-keeping offers 

 a good living; but to the idle, the thriftless or the pleasure-seekers of 

 this holiday-making age it offers more desolate prospects than any other 

 trade or profession. In this business nothing but dogged determination 

 will enable the beginner to climb the rugged, precipitous path to success, 

 and anyone who is lacking in this essential, or who is afraid of hard, 

 continuousxvdrk, will save himself the obloquy of failure by choosing 

 some other field in which to exercise his powers." 



"THE GOOD LITTLE HEN. 

 "What She Will Do for You if You Will Treat Her Right. 



"By Mrs. A. Basley. 



"There is money in poultry for the man and especially for the 

 woman that will dig it out. This I can assure the Fanciers' Monthly 

 readers, if they are in doubt. 



" 'Dig it out' seems a curious way of putting it. When I spent 

 a summer in a big mining camp in Colorado, I noticed a great many 

 holes in the sides of the mountains. 'Yes/ said a miner, 'and not 5 

 per cent of those holes have paid.' It was appalling to think of the 

 thousands of dollars lost in those holes. 'Give me a hundred hens,' 

 said I. The money it took to dig one of those unprofitable holes would 

 have started a fine poultry plant and the good little hens would have 

 brought in a living for their owners. 



"There is money in poultry. Every inch of a hen is valuable. 

 I would like to give you one of the values of the hen and what it costs 

 to keep her. 



"First, there are the eggs she will lay, if properly fed and treated. 

 Twelve dozen eggs per year is the average, although I personally know 

 poultry plants now being operated in Southern California where the 

 output, as shown by carefully kept records, is sixteen dozen per year. 

 The average price at the Arlington Egg Ranch for the past year was. 



