ON A TOWN LOT. 57 



A cornfield makes an ideal location on account of the shade and the 

 ground being tilled frequently, giving the chickens lots of loose earth 

 to work in and a chance to get earthworms. I used two parks for 

 the colony houses, one for the males and one for females. In May I 

 found the chicks growing nicely, and those of the large males that 

 did not promise to make good breeders I sold for broilers. 



June End of Hatching Season 



I continued hatching until June. I do not recommend hatches 

 after this month. If the season was favorable I hatched chickens 

 to good advantage in July. Orders for baby chicks commenced to 

 grow less early in June, but I found that some wanted them as late as 

 July. I was busy right along with hatching eggs, but the heavy end 

 of the business for hatching eggs was over June 1st. Orders con- 

 tinued to come until October. Southern customers hatch many chicks 

 in the Pall. By the first of June I commenced to break up some of 

 ray breeding pens and allowed them to go on free range. For the past 

 few years I have found it necessary to keep some pens mated until 

 October to take care of late egg trade. 



My mall kept getting heavier from the time my first ad appeared 

 until it reached the climax in mid- Winter, when inquiries commenced 

 to come for stock, eggs and baby chicks. In the Fall of the year 

 Inquiries were principally for stock. Before the Winter was half 

 over inquiries came for eggs and chicks as well. This made my 

 correspondence heavy, and I found it necessary to get some help on 

 my mail. This was a good idea, because it gave me more time to 

 look after the birds and ship stock, eggs and chicks. Toward Spring 

 the inquiries become fewer, and I was able to handle the business 

 myself for the Summer months. Many inquiries were written on 

 postal cards, but I found that these are worthy of as much con- 

 sideration as the ones sent by letter. Many good sales I made to 

 customers who first wrote on postal cards. It paid to answer all 

 correspondence as promptly as possible, and if some customers felt 

 friendly enough to try to put the contents of a newspaper in their 

 letters I looked pleasant and endeavored to answer all questions in a 

 careful manner. 



The Pleasant Smile 



There is nothing that succeeds like success, unless it is the 

 man or woman with a pleasant smile. The traveling salesman has 

 the advantage because he is on the ground, and his pleasant smile 

 indicates his pleasant manner, which is appreciated by a customer. 

 So in writing my letters I endeavored to always show the pleasant 



