VALUL OF VISITING POULTRY PLANTS. 85 



the subject much atlenliDii. One of the most convenient i)lants I ever saw finally took shape 

 on a spot that would generally have been condemned as quite unsuited for the laying out ot a 

 model plant. The man who planned it was much above the average in intelligence and invent- 

 ivenes*., l)ut the plan as ultimately worked out dic> not come to him all at once. 



Su I feel that in a lesson on lliis euliject the most that I can do for a poultryman o( some 

 experience is to tell him what some others have done, and perhHp> remind him of a few points 

 he has overlooked. And for the beginner the most that I can do it to give him a general idea 

 of bow several good plants have been laid out, suggest for his consideration a number of points, 

 and urge him to go slow, to take his time, not to plan too far beyond his necessities, and in his 

 building to consider how far each part of the plant constructed can be adapted to changes. If 

 the tir>t liuildings are of light and simple construction they may either be moved about oi' torn 

 down and the nnilerials worked over into other buildings with very little loss. If Uiey are 

 expensive buildings of very substantial construction they must either be useii as they are or 

 remodeled at an expen>e which not infietiuently is as great as the cost of new cheap houses, 



A most important thing for the person who expects to lay out a poultry plant is to visit as 

 many plants as possible and stuily them, not so much with the idea ot making a model plant, 

 combining the liest features of tbem all, but to find out how in the light of the owner's experi- 

 ence each plant answers the expectations with which it was planned. This gives one a better 

 idea of the thing's that affect operations difTerently under diflereni circumstances. It also gives 

 one a better insight into tlie adaptability of different styles of houses and systems of poultry 

 culture to diflerent locations, and of the possibilities of tracts of land containing features not 

 generally regarded as desirable for a poultry farm. 



If one has the opportunity to visit a large poultry farm again and again at different seasons, 

 he can get a very much lietter comprehension of the good and bad points of its plan. If he is 

 learning the business and can make himself something of a journeyman working for a season 

 on each of several good plants, he should l)e al>ie, if be is constantly studying the suliject for 

 himself, to get something o( tip best out ot eacli method and plan, and thus bring to his own 

 plan when the time com f-s to make it a priictictal combination of good methods and features 

 which it is rarely possible for those who plan without having had practical experience to make. 



