14 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



(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 rtiake from the birds. Above all, they must find 

 out if they have a genuine love for the work, for without 

 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 glamor 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 to-day 

 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, continuous work, 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. 

 11 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 



