SO The Truth About the Poultry Business 



year ? Why, after only a month's time, should I get entirely dif- 

 ferent results? Could it be possible that the climate could affect 

 hens to such an extent in so short a time? I could not believe it. 



I found out long ago that the knowledge I needed was not to 

 be had in poultry papers, poultry books, or experiment-station 

 bulletins. Why didn't they say something about such a case 

 as I then had, so that it would benefit me? I could not find 

 anything to cover my case, no matter where I looked. Why is 

 not something written about these conditions? It seemed to me 

 that the papers and books contained everything but what would 

 enlighten me and lead me to success. I did not care what Mary 

 Smith did ; I wanted facts ; I wanted to learn. I eagerly read 

 everything I could get hold of, but every book was absolutely 

 worthless to me. Not one fitted my case. I noted that no two 

 books agreed, no two experiment stations recommended the 

 same ration, every poultry raiser fed a different ration, and each 

 had a different system of feeding. Why was this? Why don't 

 they all agree? Is it because each flock of hens require a 

 different food? Are the egg-producing organs of one flock 

 different from those of another flock on the other side of a 

 fence? Why should not all hens be fed the same? Why is it 

 that there is no "best" poultry food? Why is it that after years 

 of experimenting no two men agree? Why is it that the experi- 

 ment stations do not send out the same formulas? And why 

 is it that you will often meet a man who has been in the poultry 

 business for twenty years or more who says frankly that although 

 he tried hard he knows no more about it than the day he started 

 in? It is unquestionably true that each experiment station and 

 each poultryman is trying to gain the best possible results to 

 increase his knowledge and to make the poultry business more 

 profitable. 



The importance of the food question is entirely underestimated. 

 The variations are far greater than they are supposed to be, 



