All of the successful men questioned advised that the keeping of poultry should be begun in a small way in order that experience can be gained without the risk of losing the initial investment, or that the intending operator should gain practical knowledge of the business by working on a poultry farm for a year. Valuable knowledge can also be gained by attending short courses in poultry husbandry that are being offered at most agricultural colleges with a very moderate expenditure of funds. One of these successful men writes as follows: "We are working with a man now who was let out of a position recently but who has some savings and who desires to go into the poultry business. He has purchased six acres of ground, has built a bungalow on it and has the foundations in for three laying houses of 500 birds' capacity each. He will have ample range for a two-yards system for each laying house, and, in addition, will have two ranges to alternate yearly for growing his young stock. His program calls for putting out about 2,400 chicks yearly from which he should have at least 1,000 pullets, which he will house in two of the laying houses. The following year he will carry over about 500 of these birds and can fill up with 1,000 pullets. This is to be a one-man plant with possibly some assistance in the spring. "I feel that 1,500 birds is the minimum required from which one man can make a living, and five acres devoted to poultry, properly laid out, is sufficient area for this purpose. If more land is available, so much the better. These are minimum requirements, as I see it, and with regular feed deliveries directly to the poultry house, running water and other labor-saving devices, there is no reason why one man cannot successfully take care of this number of birds, particularly where a man is starting on new ground where there have never been any chickens and therefore less chance of disease. We advise buying baby chicks rather than partly grown or mature stock. If he follows a definite economic and sanitary program right from the start, there is no reason why his plant should not carry on profitably, indefinitely."