THE CALL OF THE HEN. 27 



egg-producer or a meat-producer. It is my desire to make the facts 

 contained in this book so clear and the tests so easy of application that 

 anyone can become proficient in the use of them in a short time. There- 

 fore I have prepared a series of illustrations showing numerous types 

 and conditions of fowls, also various other facts that may better be shown 

 by pictures than by explanations alone. 



You will remember, no doubt, that you did not arrive at your 

 present proficiency in reading in a day or two; that it took some little 

 time, and there was a certain system or evolution in your study. You 

 will find the same true of this method. There is a certain process that 

 leads from one step to another, until you have covered the system, 

 when by repeated study and practice you will become proficient and 

 accomplish what at first seems impossible. It may seem an impossible 

 task to handle and grade sixteen hundred hens in six hours, but the 

 writer has done it. With sufficient help to hand me the hens, we graded 

 (or, in other words, tested out) sixteen hundred hens in six hours in the 

 State Hospital Poultry yards at Ukiah, Mendocino County, California, 

 in March, 1910. "Not so bad for a semi-invalid of 62,'' we hear you 

 say. Our reply is, "It's practice." You can do the same. Go through 

 the movements with every hen you pick up each day, and in a short 

 time what at first is difficult will appear quite easy. 



For some years previous to 1912 there was great activity in the 

 poultry industry, there having been no lack of poultry papers, farm 

 papers, and magazines that for a nominal sum would give tuition in 

 poultry culture. The ease of getting a theoretical knowledge of the 

 business induced thousands to take it up who otherwise would not have 

 thought of doing so. The apparent ease of conducting the business, 

 the small amount of capital it was supposed to require, with the large 

 and steady income it offered, were the will-o'-the-wisps that lured many 

 to financial loss. I would warn my readers against rushing into the 

 poultry business on a scale beyond their means without first obtaining 

 a working knowledge of the same. With good stock, with the proper 

 environment, a good market, and a working knowledge of the business, 

 there is little danger of failure, if one is willing to do the work necessary 

 on a poultry plant. It offers the most independent living for the smallest 

 amount of capital of any business I know of. 



The requisites for success are the knowledge of how to be able to 

 select the hen you need for any particular purpose, whether it is for 

 eggs or for meat or fancy ; whether the hen will be a paying proposition 

 or not (this may depend on your market); whether she will be able to 

 transmit her predominating characteristics to her offspring or not. 

 Also you must be able to judge accurately the value of the male bird 

 as to what you want him for and as to his ability to stamp his offspring 

 with the desired qualities. All the above you can learn from this book. 

 You should also know how to operate incubators; how to feed and care 

 for little chicks ; how your hen-houses should be built to suit your climate ; 

 how your growing pullets should be fed and housed; and the best way 

 to feed to get the most eggs at the smallest cost, and how to feed and 

 mate to get fertile eggs and vigorous chicks. There are numerous 

 books published on all of these latter subjects that you can buy from 

 the publishers of any poultry paper; so we do not take up the matter 

 in this work; we give only what you cannot get elsewhere. 



