46 The Truth About the Poultry Business 



Walking down the road one day I opened a gate for a 

 stranger and his wife who were in a buggy. The man thanked 

 me and made some inquiries about the neighborhood. He must 

 have noticed my forlorn condition. He asked me where I lived, 

 and when I told him he laughed and drove on. Later on he 

 returned from the place he had visited, got out, and crept down 

 the steep hillside through the dense underbrush to where I was. 

 When he reached me he said, "I am not a rich man and have no 

 more of this world's goods than I can make use of, but I am 

 sure I have more than you and it would please me very much 

 to help you." I thanked him and declined his aid. I told him 

 that I thought I would come out all right. If that man could 

 have only known how my heart was filled with gratitude to him, 

 — if he knew how many times in later years I have thought of 

 his kindly act, he would have been rewarded in some degree 

 for his kindness. By giving kindness you are in fact receiving 

 it; it returns to you tenfold. This man, as I afterward found 

 out, was a real-estate dealer. 



I had, after a while, a chance to install another poultry farm 

 and did so. I had a little better opportunity there to study and 

 experiment, and I learned very rapidly. There it was that I 

 learned the importance of the variation of grains, and there it 

 was that I got the first intelligent understanding of my other 

 failures. 



I was carrying on several experiments. In four pens I was 

 running as follows: Pen No. 1 received 1 part granulated milk, 

 ground fine, to 10 parts of bran, and wheat for grain; Pen No. 

 2, 20 parts of bran and 1 part of ground milk, and wheat for 

 grain ; Pen No. 3, 30 parts of bran and 1 of milk, and wheat 

 for grain; and Pen No. 4, 40 parts of bran and 1 of milk, with 

 wheat for grain. The hens in Pen No. 1 began to pick up and 

 look pretty good; those in Pen No. 2 looked extra good; those 

 in Pen No. 3 did not look so well, and in Pen No. 4 they began 



