No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 99 



POULTRY KEEPING ON SMALL FAEMS. 



BY REV. W. II. DAVENPORT, COLRAIN, MASS. 



The agriculturist of New England must of necessity 

 exercise liis talents on a small parcel of ground, as compared 

 with the farmer of the great west, where machinery plays so 

 important a part in the tilling of the soil. But the area of the 

 plot to be tilled need not in any sense curtail the caliber of its 

 owner, and the occupant of a small farm is under no obliga- 

 tion to be, in mind, in business acumen or in success, a small 

 farmer. Years of experience in both the east and the west 

 had led us to the conclusion that, while success may smile on 

 one in either locality, still to a certain extent machinery on 

 the large farm is pitted against manhood on the small one, 

 and true success with the latter implies greater maidiood. Of 

 the various industries adapted to thrive on a small farm, and 

 to utilize to good account all or any part of the time and 

 talents of any man, no matter how able, who shall wish to 

 undertake it, poultry keeping would appear to be — in a State 

 like Massachusetts, where it is said that last year alone over 

 seventeen million dollars worth of poultry products had to be 

 imported to supply the local demands — a business well 

 adapted to, and within easy reach of, the average man. 



Ill considering the subject at this time, let us take up 

 in turn what I have been pleased to call a mess of '' P's," 

 viz., the pleasures, profits, proprietorship, pens, pastures, 

 provender and poultry necessary to successfully conduct a 

 poultry plant on, and as a part of the machinery of, a small 

 farm. 



First, the Pleasures. — I have placed pleasure first, because 

 no man can ever do his best in any undertaking without hav- 

 ing added to his labors the zest and inspiration which comes 

 from an enjoyment of the work. 



