A IMKll'IIKcy ,Hi) 



This is not a question tor either the novice or Ihe veteran to get hys- 

 lericiil over. — the one in a burst of enthusiasm, the other in a fit of 

 condemnation. Neither the one nor the other knows all about it. 



Obstacles can be conjured up, and vividly portrayed as being insur- 

 mountable. Success, or partial success, is not attained by creating 

 imaginary obstacles, 



It is well enough to enquire the way it we find those who know the 

 way, but we can cross no bridges until wc come to them. The success 

 that has been attained hymen who were blindfolded by false theories 

 and handicapped by unsuitable methods should encourage those who 

 care to glimpse into the future to take a decidedly optimistic view of the 

 future possibilities of the domestic hen as an egg producer. The alarm- 

 ist will perhaps have a fit of indigestion followed by a nightmare 

 when he meets with this theory and predict the ultimate ruination 

 of the egg business. ••Mens will lay so many eggs that prices will drop 

 below par and there will be no money in it." If he. does he will take 

 more stock in the theory than does the author. There will never be, 

 ;',(io-egg liens enough to seriously affect quotations in our market 

 reports. 



The poultryman, or the prospective poultryman who may chance to 

 peruse these day r dreams should not think that I recommend him to 

 spend any valuable time in idle speculation thereon. Far from it. The 

 man who is obliged to get immediate profits from his business, what- 

 ever it may be, should hold all speculative theories at a respectful dis- 

 tance. Do not let dreaming interfere with your business, but remember 

 that all human progress has resulted from dreams. Inch by inch, step 

 by slop, we advance toward some future goal. Some drop out. some 

 fall, but the others move on. 



The busy poultryman has little time for experimenting. He works 

 mainlv along lines that he feels sure of, and leaves experiment and the 

 initial steps toward progress to others. He can learn by reading, what 

 he will rarelv learn in practice. What improvement he makes will be 

 gradual and more or less sure according to his light. 



I will caution the enthusiastic novice to be very careful how he ac- 

 cepts the claims of those who feed his credulity with big figures. At 

 the present time hens that can and do lay 200 eggs in less than twelve 

 months are very common, reckoned as occasional individuals. Flocks 

 that have, do, or will average 2()(> eggs per hen under ordinary to 

 fair conditions of feeding and care are not common. The ion-egg 

 strain is probably just as common as !H>-poinf strains or prize-winning 

 strains. A genuine 200-egg strain would be characterized by its ten- 

 dency to produce as large a proportion of i'00-egg hens as a. prize-win- 

 ning strain would of high-scoring specimens. A strain is supposed 

 to take its name from some family characteristic. Contemporary adver- 



