vit PUBLISHER’S INTRODUCTION. 
experience, skill and capital. But, without these, failure is almost 
certain, and we should be sorry to aid in distributing a work which 
would lead enthusiastic but inexperienced persons to lose what little 
capital they may have. As for the keeping of poultry on a small 
scale, that is always to be commended. Poultry are the scaven- 
“gers and save-alls of the nation. The aggregate savings of the 
little flocks of ten to a hundred fowls that are scattered throughout 
the country amounts to a greater sum than the value of the cattle 
and horses pitt together, and to more than the output of our much 
lauded silk industry, with all its huge mills, imposing warehouses, 
and aristocratic mill owners. And yet, with all this, six hundred 
and sixteen thousand dozen eggs passed through the Custom 
House in New York during the months of October and November 
of last year—showing plainly that the market for eggs is far from 
being glutted. Poultry when kept in small numbers on any place 
can, in general find a considerable share of their food in scraps 
that would otherwise go to waste, and in insects, seeds, etc. “They 
are therefore always profitable, and as pleasant as they are profitable. 
It is only when this and similar -rural pursuits are taken up as a 
business that any danger of failure exists, and in such cases failure 
generally arises from the fact that those who embark in the under- 
taking make the great mistake of supposing that because they have 
a love for birds therefore they must have the ability to care for 
them. 
