104 LE5SON5 IN POULTRY KEEPING — 5LCOND SERIES. 



thouirht [ shoulil have hatl, ami hlamed it on the stock, and discanleil it all ami bought new 

 st.iik tl-evvbere, meantime harboring the tboughtthat my acquaintance's aid had been more of 

 a bind ranee than a help to me. By the time I was getting good results in breeding I bad 

 discovered that, in general, the trouble that first year was not in the stock so much as in my 

 inexperience. Later I learned that the stock soon became what its owner made it; ibat tlji^ 

 most essential thinfjs in applying methods, and in the management of fowls, were good judg- 

 ment and a thomuith knowledge of the fowls with which one worked, and the various articles 

 used; that — in short — the poultryman was the determining factor in every poultry venture. 



Nearly every beginner supposes that he appreciates tin's. He counts as an important part of 

 bis equipment for the business a liking for fowl.-, or for outdoor lite, habits of industry and 

 piTseverance and intelligence. These are all necessary, but they become directly available and 

 1 llecti\e only as tbey are displayed in connection with practical personal knowledge of tbe 

 details of poultry keeping. The acquisition of such knowledge requires time, because variety 

 in experience is required to give one such a general working knowledge of any subject that he 

 is ready to act promptly and quickly in any situation in which in bis line of work he is likftly to 

 lie placed, and tbe beginner in poultry keeping often finds himself in situations that are full of 

 trouble for one who does not know just what to do and how to do it, while one who tiid have 

 that knowledge would soon have matters right or on the way to mend with the least possible 

 loss. 



Again, in every poultry undertaking there is a very large element of chance. Opportunities 

 come which only tbe poultry keeper who is. qualified to use them can estimate at their true 

 value and take and use to advantage. This is, of course, equally true in all lines of work, but 

 I doubt whether, there is any other line in which so few of those engaged in it have had a 

 thorough training. Tbe newness of poultry culture as a business, or on a business basis i.< 

 largely responsible for this. As I have explained in earlier les8on.s, there are conditions in 

 regard to training of poultry keepers which limit opportunities to get a thorough practical 

 training. But because this is so it is not necessary that the poultryman who learns by keeping 

 his own fowls should get bis experience regardless of expense. 



Tbe waste and loss of capital and of inclination to continue poultry keeping due to efTorts to 

 learn it on a large scale, are appalling — tbe more so because they are so utterly unnecessary. 

 There is absolutely no need of anyone losing any considerable amount of money in poultry 

 keeping while establishing a business, if he follows the simple rule of increasing bis stock no 

 faster than be is sure — entirely sure of his abil ty to handle it to advantage. If when making 

 his plans a poultry keeper will base them on what he has done, rather than on what someone 

 else has done or what be hopes to do, there is little danger of his planning beyond his capacity 

 to perform. To be sate in bis venture he must oiiserve the necessary relation between bis 

 own developmentin knovi- ledge of poultry and tbe growth of his plant. He must remember 

 that it is always possible to adjust operations to his ability, but not always possible to adjust 

 his ability to the scale of operations on which he endeavors to work. 



In such matters as the purchase of stock, of appliances, etc., the only way a poultry keeper 

 can buy goods to suit is by buying and discarding until he gets what suits him, not being too 

 hasty about discarding unsatisfactory stock or goods, but giving each a fair trial. What suits 

 one does not suit another, and each has to suit himself. It is possilile, and when it can be done 

 it is advisable, for a while, for a beginner to rely to some extent on the advice and suggestions 

 of others, though I believe tbe beginner gets along best and advances fastest who, while 

 considering advice and suggestions, makes tbe decision for himself when tbe responsibility for 

 it, and tbe consequences, are bis, and no one else's. I believe it is bettor for the lieginner who 

 is learning by himself to put tbe responsibility for what he does with himself, and not with his 

 advisor, tor — after all — when he takes advice, and acts upon it, he usually makes a choice 

 between the advices available, and so tbe responsibility really is his own. 



He needs to consider that he is likely to make mistakes, to fail to fully understand instructions 

 given him, to neglect to do some things tliat ought to be done, and, in a variety of wavs, to lie 

 personally and directly responsible for things that go wrong. I do not urge this with the Idea 

 of making novices feel that others are alwajs blameless if advice Ibey give does not result 



