THE CALL OF THE HEN. 7 



to the public under the title of "The Call of the Hen," or "The 

 Science of Selecting and Breeding Poultry." 



My friends early prophesied that my penchant for inven- 

 tion would land me in the poor house in my old age. So by 

 some occult inspiration I was induced to abstain from publish- 

 ing any part of my discoveries until 1904, when, by the advise 

 of Ex-Congressman Haldor E. Boen, of Minnesota, to whom 

 I had confided my poultry secrets some years previous, I de- 

 cided to publish only my first discovery, known as the "Walter 

 Hogan System," (which will be found in the latter part of this 

 work), after the same had been tested at the Minnesota State 

 Experimental Station by Professor Hoverstadt, the Superin- 

 tendent of the station. However, before taking any steps to 

 bring this matter before the public, I wrote to some thirty 

 or more poultry judges, who were supposed to be selected as 

 judges to officiate at the coming poultry show to be held in 

 Buffalo during the exhibition at that place in 1901, asking 

 them if they knew of any way to tell when a pullet 

 was about to lay. I thought that if they did not know that 

 much of the laying proposition, I would be safe in going ahead 

 with publishing my secrets. The letters I received were left 

 in Minnesota when I came to California shortly before the 

 earthquake in 1906, so I cannot name the judges at present; 

 but they will remember me as the proprietor of the Fergus 

 Falls Woolen Mills, and I must say they replied in a very cour- 

 teous manner, saying there was no way except the general 

 appearance of the bird, as to its maturity of form, redness of 

 comb and wattles, singing, looking for nest, etc. One only of 

 the number charged me one dollar for this information. 



Failing health obliged me to dispose of my manufacturing 

 business and retire to the farm, and it was in the .spring of 

 1905 before I published my "Walter Hogan System," when it 

 appeared in a number of poultry papers. (See Reliable Poul- 

 try Journal, March, 1905.) I did not copyright the work at 

 that time, although my experience in mechanical inventions 

 had taught me that I should have done so, and the following 

 August imitations began to appear, until in 1912 a number 

 of different parties in the United States and foreign countries 

 were claiming authorship, and selling it under the same or dif- 

 ferent titles. 



My years of research and expense brought me no financial 



