76 



and expects them to wax fat on caterpillars and grass- 

 hoppers. But patience, perseverance and pluck, added to 

 hard work and common sense, will make a flock of poultry 

 a joy to the owner, and fill his pocket-book beside. 



A few hens are best to start with. If one fails it is 

 less expensive, and a season of success is worth dollars for 

 future use. A profit of one dollar per hen is the least one 

 should expect, fand a dollar and a quarter is a fair average. 



Last year I!made fl.oO per hen, which was better than 

 usual, and probably due to a fine laying strain of Reds 

 which I had just got into working order. The pullets 

 began laying in October, and kept everlastingly at it till 

 mid-summer. 



Hens must be fed first-class food, regardless of price. 

 If one wants eggs he must feed for eggs from the shell. 

 He must also feed regularly three times a day the year 

 round. He must water regularly, keep the fowls as clean 

 as possible, give green stuff when nature cannot supply it, 

 animal meal nearly all the year, unless the range is laige, 

 and oyster shells at all seasons. This is by no means 

 pampering your poultry ; it is only the necessary sowing 

 and cultivating for a successful harvest. 



I aim to keep my stock clean and healthy, without in- 

 breeding for fine points, which so often means weakness, 

 and disease. And from this stock I get healthy chicks 

 hatched by the old-fashioned hen incubator. The chicks 

 also are fed on the best growing and egg-building stuff the 

 market affords. 



The farmer's wagon may not be hitched to a star, but 

 he must throw a halter toward the egg basket if he ex- 

 pects to make money with hens, and the care of the small- 

 est chicks may mean future failure or success. 



An outlay of flOO in buildings and fencings and 150 in 

 stock will bring in greater returns the first year and every 

 year following than the same amount of money invested 



