HOW I BEGAN AS AN EGG-FARMER 59 
Buff Orpington pullets locally at 8s. 4d. each, and these did 
exceedingly well. 
I also bought the best houses that money could buy and I deter- 
mined to give the fowls the best food possible. I had a common- 
sense idea that if you do not put the best into them you will not 
get the best out of them. And it proved correct. 
To run egg-farming successfully does not need a great deal 
of technical knowledge. The study of disease is not essential. 
The most successful egg-farmer in England does not know any- 
thing about the ailments of fowls and does not want to know. 
If a fowl is really ill he kills it at once, and by so doing frequently 
prevents the spread of disease. After all, a bird costs only a few 
shillings, and while you are spending time and money in trying to 
cure it, the sickness may spread to the rest of the flock and involve 
them all. Common-sense says “kill it.” 
High technical] skill in treatment of disease is rather a hindrance 
than a help in egg-farming. It is far more necessary to know the 
elements for the prevention of disease. These may, ninety times 
out of a hundred, be expressed in one word—cleanliness. This 
means also the use of disinfectants. Keep your houses clean, 
keep your birds free from parasites, and the rest may be given out 
with the washing. If a bird “goes light,” becomes consumptive 
or captures chronic diarrhoea, it will pay you to kill it and burn it. 
Leave nothing to chance, or chance will leave nothing to you. 
My MeEtTHopsS 
If anyone were to ask me what was the most vital matter in 
egg-production I would say feeding. One must, of course, assume 
that the stock comes of a deep-laying strain, but the good strain 
and the moderate strain, and even the bad strain, will only do its 
best when properly fed. While one must try to feed as economic- 
ally as possible, this does not mean that the food is to be stinted. 
On the contrary, the most economical feeding is usually an ample 
feed of the best quality. Ina recent egg-laying competition, where 
300 birds yielded an average of 175 eggs in ten months, they each 
