NO LARGE INDUCEMENTS FOR THOSE DOING WELL. 71 



surplus, and in a Keiieihl way l)y taking precautions to avoiJ the losses which often greatly 

 reduce the stocks ot fowls aud flocks of chickens. Along these lines of saving and judicious 

 handling there are good opportunities for greater profits with little additional expense — some- 

 times with no increase of cost whatever. 



Beyond this, the farmer may go into any of the special branches of poultry culture as far iis 

 circumstances. Inclination, and experience take him. He as well as another may be a fancier, 

 breeder, and exhibitor of fine fowls. His opportunities for producing them are second to 

 none, and as they are sold principally through mail orders, location cuts very little figure in 

 that line of the business. He may grow broilers, or raise winter chickens for roasters. If bis 

 location favors, and other demands on his time permit. He may al.-o combine, as only those 

 located on farms can, the growing of the several kinds of domestic towN, aud keep in addiliun 

 to his chickens, flocks of turkeys, ducks, and geese. 



Tbe farmer who becomes interested in poultry will see possibilities of [irofit in all these lines. 

 If he, develops in any direction slowly he avoids making serious and expensive mistakes. 

 People often write me for instruction as to the l)est way to begin, to avoid mistakes, saying: — 

 " I have only a small capital, and I must start right. I cannot afford to make any mistakes." 



It is not possible to altogether avoid mistakes, but there Is one sure way of avoiding biid mis- 

 takes, and expensive mistakes, and that way is well stated in the old maxim, " hasten slowl\ .'' 

 If one observes tbat rule he finds his knowledge of poultry and his capacity and skill in man- 

 aging it growing as bis slock increases, and though his mistakes may temporarily hinder him at 

 times they are not likely to cause his failure. 



What Poultry Culture Offers Those in Other Occupations. 



It may safely be put down as a general rule that a person who has a business or occupation 

 in which he is making a living ought not to change abruptly to a line of which be knows noth- 

 ing, and in which his prospects are uncertain. Yet I suppose that at least three-fifths of tbose 

 who come or write to me to ask how they can get started in poultry keepi hi; belong to this class. 

 They are for the most part persons who are dissatisfied with their /jireseiit occupation, and 

 chafing under its unpleasant features. Their interest in poultry commonly springs from 

 impressions of it derived from hearsay or from occasioual extravagant references to it in 

 newspapers. Almost invarlal)iy they regard it as a business singularly free from drawbacks 

 and holding possibilities of big incomes made liy the hens, while the keeper takes it easy. They 

 also believe that a poultry business large enough to give them a living income can be built up in 

 a few months on a capital that would be too small to be of any use in most lines of business. 

 This belief is so diligently fostered by the poultry press, by poultry writers in agriculturi.1 

 papers, and by those interested in the sale of equipments and supplies for poultrjmen that it 

 becomes a very hard matter to convince u man once imiiued with it that it is wrong. 



Unless one is so situated that he or some memljer of his family equally interested in poultry 

 can give the flock all necessary attention, and can both increase tbe flock, and constanlly 

 increase tbe time given it as the growth of the flock calls for more and more of the keeper's 

 time, it is quite useless to make a start with a small flock with the expectation of gradually 

 developing. To do so is like planting a tree in a spiice which will be ample for only a few 

 years. When tbe tree outgrows tbe space it is an incumbrance. And that Is very apt to 1 e 

 the case with a poultry business started uniier conditions which limit its development long 

 before it has reached the point where the proprietor is justified in making it of first importance. 



Poultry culture has no encouraging offers to make tbe man already established in something 

 else, doing reasonalily well in it, and not under necessity of making some change. In almost 

 every case where people quit other employment to engage in and learn poultry keeping they 

 soon find tbat they have made a mistake. It might not be so, if they were willing to learn the 

 poultry business before going into it, but nearly ail of them are unwilling to take a thorough 

 training. Almost as often as I suggest this course to an inquirer or correspondent the reply 

 is:—" I don't want to do that. I learned my present business tbat way >ears ago. I am too 

 old to do it that way. I can't afford to take the time. Can't I just begin and learn poultry 

 keeping by keeping poultry? Doesn't my training in the other line count for anything in this?" 



The reply is :— One can learn poultry keeping liy engaging in it on his own account, and pay- 



