48 COMMON SENSE 
I doubted the accuracy of both the elements of the above calcula- 
tion, however. I suspected that no hen, even of the smaller breeds, 
could be supported. on one dollar a year, wiless under very special 
and favorable circumstances, and I also doubted the amount of the 
receipts. An average of ten dozen eggs from each hen of a large 
flock, even with a judicious selection of the birds, and with very ex- 
cellent care, would be as much as could be expected. I had myself 
realized more than this, but the flock was small and exceptionally 
good. Allowances must be made for sudden invasions of disease 
and accident, but these I did not greatly fear. 
But, even at these reduced estimates, the profit ought to be 
considerable, and 250 fowls-is not by any means a number be- 
yond what can be easily handled. Three, or at most, four houses, 
would accommodate them, and the labor would not be more than 
could be spared from other things by the hands already on the place. 
My first thought was to see what others had’ accomplished in. 
this direction, but the records were very meagre, many of the most 
important data being omitted. I could find only two books in mar- 
ket that professed to describe the best systems and methods of man- 
aging large numbers of poultry, one being the “ Poultry Breeding 
‘in a Commercial Point of View,” by Geyelin, andthe other, 
“An Egg Farm,” by Stoddard. Geyelin’s system was altogether 
too artificial for my purposes, and as report said that it had not 
proved a-success in the hands of the originator, I did not feel very 
much encouraged to adopt it. Neither was the system described 
by Mr. Stoddard adapted to my circumstances. The extent of 
ground and “ plant” necessary to fully carry out his system was 
more than I could command. Moreover, I never could quite 
make up my mind that the system described in that book had 
been actually carried out in practice. It always seemed to me that 
Mr. Stoddard had “evolved it from the depths of his inner conscious- 
ness.” And, indeed, the chief point upon which the system is 
based, viz., the alleged fact that hens will not stray far from their 
own homes unless led away, contradicted my own very emphatic 
experience, for my fowls have often wandered away to a distance 
quite equal to half the breadth of his farm. 
