The Dollar Hen

Milo HastingsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 432K words
Chapters: 44

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Dollar Hen by Milo HastingsAuthor: Hastings, Milo, 1884-1957,Language: English, Class: SF: Agriculture: Animal culture, Release Date: Aug 22, 2004

Editor's review

This book is an early practical manual on poultry keeping, built around the 'dollar hen' business idea and covering such basics as layer management, housing, feed formulation and cost accounting. It does not aim at a theoretical system; instead it breaks the farmer's concerns into workable sections in plain language, carrying the on-the-ground feel of early twentieth-century agricultural extension writing. For today's reader its main value lies in the record of small-scale poultry experience before modern intensive farming, and in the simple way input-output relationships were calculated at the time. Some specific practices are limited by the conditions of the era and may not meet current production standards. It serves well as corroborating material for agricultural history and rural life history, and as casual reading for those curious about old-style household poultry keeping; readers expecting to learn modern husbandry techniques should pair it with contemporary sources.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in agricultural history and rural life history
Those curious about early household chicken-keeping experience and cost accounting
Readers engaged in organizing agricultural documents or studying old farming manuals
Readers who enjoy browsing practical manuals and learning about old production details

Not a good fit for

Those seeking standard modern techniques for commercial layer production
Those needing systematic animal nutrition or veterinary knowledge
Readers who prefer literary narrative and have no interest in operational manuals

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and jump among the chapters on housing, feed and costs.
Compare the book's practices with modern husbandry sources and note the era's differences before judging.
Read it alongside works on agricultural or rural history, treating it as a historical source rather than a guide.
After finishing, compile a 'old methods vs. new methods' comparison note to help digest it.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning modern chicken-farming techniques?

Not really. It reflects early twentieth-century small-scale poultry experience and calculations, and its feed standards, disease control and housing design are outdated. For modern production, seek current technical sources and treat this book as historical reference only.

Why is it called 'The Dollar Hen'?

The title points to running hens on low-cost inputs, stressing clear accounting of feeding costs against output returns. The specific calculations bear the mark of the prices and production conditions of the time, so there is no need to apply them to today's cost structure.

Can I read it if my English is not good?

This is a public-domain English e-book written in a practical-manual style, with fairly simple sentences but some poultry terminology and old-fashioned expressions. Readers with limited English can use tools for support, or first read Chinese material on agricultural history and then return to it.

Comments

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About the author

Milo Hastings Author · American · 1884–1957

Milo Hastings (1884–1957) was an American inventor, writer, and nutritionist, born in Farmington, Kansas, and died in Tarrytown, New York. He served for many years as food editor of Physical Culture magazine, wrote widely on food and nutrition, and authored the poultry-raising book The Dollar Hen. As a literary writer, Hastings is represented by the science fiction novels City of Endless Night and In the Clutch of the War-God, which imagine future societies, war, and technology and carry a note of social critique. Public information on his life and work is limited, and he remains little known to Chinese readers. The library holds three of his works, spanning practical poultry farming and science fiction.