104 LL55ON5 IN POULTRY KLLPING SECOND SLRIES. 



thought I should have had, and blamed it on the stock, and discarded it all and bought new 

 st<>rk elsewhere, meantime harboring the thought that my acquaintance's aid had been more of 

 a hindrance than a help to me. By the time I was getting good results in breeding 1 hud 

 di>covcred that, in general, the trouble that first year was not in the stock so much as in my 

 inexperience. Later I learned that the stock soon became what its owner made it; that the 

 most essential things in applying methods, and in the management of fowls, were good judg- 

 ment and a thorough knowledge of the fowls with which one worked, and the various articles 

 used; that in short the poultryman was the determining factor in every poultry venture. 



Nearly every beginner supposes that he appreciates this. He counts as an important part of 

 bis equipment for tiie business a liking for fowls, or for outdoor life, habits of industry and 

 p. rseverance and intelligence. The.se are all necessary, but they become directly available and 

 llective only as they are displayed in connection with practical personal knowledge of the 

 details of poultry keeping. The acquisition of such knowledge requires time, because variety 

 in experience is required to give one euch a general working knowledge of any subject that he 

 is ready to act promptly and quickly in any situation in which in his line of work he is likely to 

 be placed, and the beginner in poultry keeping often finds himself in situations that are full of 

 trouble for one who does not know just what to do and how to do it, while one who did have 

 that knowledge would soon have matters right or on the way to mend with the least possible 

 loss. 



Again, in every poultry undertaking there is a very large element of chance. Opportunities 

 come which only the poultry keeper who is qualified to use them can estimate at their true 

 value and take and use to advantage. This is, of course, equally true in all lines of work, but 

 I doubt whether there is any other line in which so few of those engaged in it have had a 

 thorough training. The newness of poultry culture as a business, or on a business basis is 

 largely responsible for this. As I have explained in earlier lessons, there are conditions in 

 regard to training of poultry keepers which limit opportunities to get a thorough practical 

 training. But because this is so it is not necessary that the poultryman who learns by keeping 

 his own fowls should get his experience regardless of expense. 



The waste and loss of capital and of inclination to continue poultry keeping due to efforts to 

 learn it on a large scale, are appalling the more so because they are so utterly unnecessary. 

 There is absolutely no need of anyone losing any considerable amount of money in poultry 

 keeping while establishing a business, if he follows the simple rule of increasing his stock no 

 faster than he is sure entirely sure of his abil ty to handle it to advantage. If when making 

 his plans a poultry keeper will base them on what he has done, rather than on what someone 

 else has done or what he hopes to do, there is little danger of his planning beyond his capacity 

 to perform. To be safe in his venture he must observe the necessary relation between his 

 own development in knowledge of poultry and the growth of his plant. He must remember 

 that it is always possible to adjust operations to his ability, but not always possible to adjust 

 his ability to the scale of operations on which he endeavors to work. 



In such matters as the purchase of stock, of appliances, etc., the only way a poultry keeper 

 can buy goods to euit is by buying and discarding until he gets what suits him, not being too 

 hasty about discarding unsatisfactory stock or goods, but giving each a fair trial. What suits 

 one does not suit another, and each has to suit himself. It is possible, and when it can be done 

 it is advisable, for a while, for a beginner to rely to some extent on the advice and suggestions 

 of others, though I believe the beginner gets along best and advances fastest who, while 

 considering advice and suggestions, makes the decision for himself when the responsibility for 

 it, and the consequences, are his, and no one else's. I believe it is better for the beginner who 

 is learning by himself to put the responsibility for what he does with himself, and not with his 

 advisor, for after all wlien he takes advice, and acts upon it, he usually makes a choice 

 between the advices available, and so the responsibility really is his own. 



He needs to consider that he is likely to make mistakes, to fail to fully understand instructions 

 given him, to neglect to do some things that ought to be done, and, in a variety of ways, to be 

 per>onally and directly responsible for things that go wrong. I do not urge this with the idea 

 of making novices feel that others are always blameless if advice tney give does not result 



