Personal Experiences 51 



and poultrymen either do not understand them or are at a loss 

 how to master them. Through a thorough understanding of the 

 variations in grains — an understanding which can be obtained 

 only after practical experience and experiments — the whole 

 secret of the poultry business is laid bare; the method of mak- 

 ing hens lay eggs is no longer a mystery. This is the secret of 

 why no two men or experiment stations agree and why there 

 is no one best poultry food; also, why a man makes a success 

 at one place and meets with failure at another. This also ex- 

 plains why such different results are obtained from poultry in 

 different locations, and why one man will sometimes make a 

 success of poultry and yet remain in ignorance of the facts. 



What is food for one may be poison for another, and while 

 this is positively true, yet in nearly every case there is an excep- 

 tional reason for it. Take my own case, for an example; it may 

 be read by some poor human being suffering from the same 

 trouble as myself and through my experience he may be able to 

 return to the road of health. I was taken with a severe dysen- 

 tery and for six months I was very ill. I saw different doctors, 

 but nothing did me any good. Then I was advised to take milk 

 and nothing else, and for days and days I ate nothing but con- 

 densed milk — about two tablespoonfuls to a glass of boiled 

 water — and I got well. But the organs were naturally weakened, 

 and if I am not careful I become sick immediately. The milk, 

 however, works every time. 



Now the same thing happens to a hen. If her organs are 

 weakened through a long period of bowel trouble, she will be- 

 come sick more easily than another hen that has never been 

 weakened. You must be more particular with her food. There 

 are foods that will agree with all of us. It is possible to run 

 1,000 hens together in one flock and have no sickness among 

 them. But the ration must be properly balanced and made of 



