The Dollar Hen | Page 2

apologize for any interference that this book may cause with your highly fascinating amusement.
To the poultryman already in the business, or to the man who is planning to engage in the business for reasons equivalent to those which would justify his entering other occupations of the semi-technical class, such as dairying, fruit growing or the manufacture of washing machines, I wish to say it is for you that "The Dollar Hen" is primarily written.
This book does not assume you to be a graduate of a technical school, but it does bring up discussions and use methods of illustration that may be unfamiliar to many readers. That such matter is introduced is because the subject requires it; and if it is confusing to the student he will do better to master it than to dodge it. Especially would I call your attention to the diagrams used in illustrating various statistics. Such diagrams are technically called "curves." They may at first seem mere crooked lines, if so I suggest that you get a series of figures in which you are interested, such as the daily egg yields of your own flock or your monthly food bills, and "plot" a few curves of your own. After you catch on you will be surprised at the greater ease with which the true meaning of a series of figures can be recognized when this graphic method is used.
I wish to call the farmer's attention to the fact that poultry keeping as an adjunct to general farming, especially to general farming in the Mississippi Valley, is quite a different proposition from poultry production as a regular business. Poultry keeping as a part of farm life and farm enterprise is a thing well worth while in any section of the United States, whereas poultry keeping, a separate occupation, requires special location and special conditions to make it profitable. I would suggest the farmer first read Chapter XVI, which is devoted to his special conditions. Later he may read the remainder of the book, but should again consult the part on farm poultry production before attempting to apply the more complicated methods to his own needs.
Chapter XVI
, while written primarily for the farmer, is, because of the simplicity of its directions, the best general guide for the beginner in poultry keeping wherever he may be.
To the reader in general, I want to say, that the table of contents, a part of the book which most people never read, is in this volume so placed and so arranged that it cannot well be avoided. Read it before you begin the rest of the book, and use it then and thereafter in guiding you toward the facts that you at the time particularly want to know. Many people in starting to read a book find something in the first chapter which does not interest them and cast aside the work, often missing just the information they are seeking. The conspicuous arrangement of the contents is for the purpose of preventing such an occurrence in this case.

WHAT IS IN THIS VOLUME
CHAPTER I
IS THERE MONEY IN THE POULTRY BUSINESS? A Big Business; Growing Bigger Less Ham and More Eggs Who Gets the Hen Money?
CHAPTER II
WHAT BRANCH OF THE POULTRY BUSINESS? Various Poultry Products The Duck Business Squabs Have Been Overdone Turkeys not Adapted to Commercial Growing Guinea Growing a New Venture Geese, the Fame of Watertown The Ill-omened Broiler Business South Shore Roasters Too Much Competition in Fancy Poultry Egg Farming the Most Certain and Profitable
CHAPTER III
THE POULTRY PRODUCING COMMUNITY Established Poultry Communities Developing Poultry Communities Will Co-operation Work? Co-operative Egg Marketing in Denmark Corporation or Co-operation
CHAPTER IV
WHERE TO LOCATE Some Poultry Geography Chicken Climate Suitable Soil Marketing--Transportation Availability of Water A Few Statistics
CHAPTER V
THE DOLLAR HEN FARM The Plan of Housing The Feeding System Water Systems Out-door Accommodations Equipment for Chick Rearing Twenty-five Acre Poultry Farms Five Acre Poultry Farms
CHAPTER VI
INCUBATION Fertility of Eggs The Wisdom of the Egyptians Principles of Incubation Moisture and Evaporation Ventilation--Carbon Dioxide Turning Eggs Cooling Eggs Searching for the "Open Sesame" of Incubation The Box Type of Incubator in Actual Use The Future of Incubation
CHAPTER VII
FEEDING Conventional Food Chemistry How the Hen Unbalances Balanced Rations
CHAPTER VIII
DISEASES Don't Doctor Chickens The Causes of Poultry Diseases Chicken Cholera Roup Chicken-pox, Gapes, Limber-neck Lice and Mites
CHAPTER IX
POULTRY FLESH AND POULTRY FATTENING Crate Fattening Caponizing
CHAPTER X
MARKETING POULTRY CARCASSES Farm Grown Chickens The Special Poultry Plant Suggestions From Other Countries Cold Storage of Poultry Drawn or Undrawn Fowls Poultry Inspection
CHAPTER XI
QUALITY IN EGGS Grading Eggs How Eggs are Spoiled Egg Size Table The Loss Due to Carelessness Requisites of Producing High Grade Eggs
CHAPTER XII
HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED The Country Merchant The Huckster The Produce Buyer The City Distribution of Eggs Cold Storage of Eggs Preserving Eggs Out of Cold Storage Improved