CHAPTER XVII 
WHAT SHALL WE ASK OF THE HEN? 
Sam Jonegs, the chicken-loving man, was as 
pleased as a boy with a new top when I began 
to talk of a hen plant. He had a lot of practical 
knowledge of the business, for he had fadled in 
it twice; and I could furnish any amount of 
theory, and enough money to prevent disaster. 
In his previous attempts he had invested nearly 
all his small capital in a plant that might yield 
two hundred eggs a day; he had to buy all foods 
in small quantities, and therefore at high prices; 
and he had to give his whole time to a business 
which was too small and too much on the hand- 
to-mouth order to give him a living profit. My 
theory of the business was entirely different. I 
could plan for results, and, what was more to the 
point, I could wait for them. Mistakes, accidents, 
even disasters, were disarmed by a bank account; 
my bread and butter did not depend upon the 
temper of a whimsical hen. The food would 
cost the minimum. All grains and green food, 
and most of the animal food, in the form of skim 
milk, would be furnished by the farm. I meant 
also to develop a plant large enough to warrant 
the full attention of an able-bodied man. I felt 
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