The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work

ING

ve he had traded pigs with our father for calves, then heifers for a horse, and his favou

education is begun. While still dependent on the mother for milk the young colt begins to nibble hay from the manger, and gets a taste of the oats in the feed box, too, and finds them good. Oats and clover hay, a little

ust enough to take off the chill. It is bad for a colt to drink at meal-time. (That sounds like a rul

ty dollars. Two years later, with the right kind of care and teaching, the sa

igs were easy, and calves. But what of a colt? "Let's try if we can't raise him on the bottle," said our mother. The experiments we tried with that colt were many. We gave him "half and half" at first-a cup full of milk to one of water. Our small cousin had on

a goose-quill wrapped each time with clean, soft rags. Everything about his food had to be kept sweet. We scalded the bottle and the quill and washed them in water and baking soda, just as mother said. Then we taught him to drink from a pail. He followed us about like a dog and was very playful and frisky. We fed him a little hay and oats and grass when he was old enough. My little sist

ING

different from the animals raised by the other members of the family. An account should be kept with the animals, to learn whether they pay or not. I

ized farm for a flock. There is nothing about the care of sheep that a strong, healthy girl may not do if she is not needed to help with housework. Her fat

e corners down to the quick nor leave one stalk to blossom or set seed. They are among the best and cheapest of lawn-mowers, enriching the ground they feed over. They are easy to care for, as they can take care of themselves most of the year. W

o not need stuffing in cold weather, but they do need plenty of good hay in early winter and nourishing food like bran, oats, barley, and clover hay toward spring. Alfalfa is ideal, but many people succeed with shee

ir feet. They should be taught how to take nourishment and whoever takes this in hand should use patience and insist that the lesson be learned. I have known of many a good shepherd who sat up late and got up early and visited the sheep at midnight in lambing time and so saved all his la

nd nourishing. They should be out in the barnyard on warm, sunny days, and not weaned until near six

aple sirup, wool is a spring cash crop, which is a great convenience. An eight-pound fleece is worth nearly half as much as the she

dog worth his keep? No matter how much better he is than the neighbours' dog. How about your dog? You like him, of course, but is he a loafing, worthless, sneaking, sheep-killing dog? Look between his teeth before you deny that he

by Julian

e" Looks Aft

ING

ng is the crop of stones? Are those steep hills covered with brush and good-for-nothing trees that look too hopeless? Don't grind your teeth and say "Ther

s! Hu

here's your chance to hear something new. People can and do

these facts

gh, rocky, wild,

ive if allowed c

land is bes

e cow will kee

nsidered. Goats thrive whe

e million pounds a year. Skins of common goats are in great demand for leather

as valuable a

n cannot be t

coarse weeds like wild carrot, m

ece, milk, cheese, skin, flesh, tall

can put land covered with useless underbrush into shape

lt up in a few years. They breed

less subject to d

at is a m

ritings of men and women of experience. They ha

ul goat raising are few and e

only a small enclosure they are likely spend more time trying to get at what is o

wet, marshy land, nor keep well if their shed is muddy. They dislike filth and will not stand in it nor touch soiled food. They p

lean fresh water shoul

three essentials, you

nes of business in goat rais

ts. The Angora is free from the offensive odour of common male goats. The greatest demand for goat products in our markets to-day is for Angora fleece and for common goat skins. The o

NG UP

lf or two dollars each and with time and patience build up from them a herd of Angoras by crossing. If capital is easier to command than years of time, you will begin with good Angora does which cost from eight dollars upward. If you begin with common ones, choose white, short

e too long. Buy young does. A goat's teeth tell its age up to the fourth year. If all the

OF

possible each doe with her kid should have a separate stall or pen so that the doe will know her own young one. If you can arrange that each pen in the kid stable can have an outdoor entrance the mother can come and go at will. A board a foot to eigh

OF

they should have other food. Leaves, table scraps like potato and fruit parings, turnips and other roots, and cabbage are all acceptable if clean. Parings and roots should be washed; if you expect goats to eat swill you deserve to be disappointed. Dirty carrots, rotten apples, sour or mouldy refuse do not tempt a self-respecting pig; much less an Angora. Oats in the sheaf are very good fodder for

r they want it. If it is given only at long intervals they may over

AND EN

t storms are really dangerous to their health. Goats will go the long way round every time

ation when huddled in close quarters. If the roof is just high enough from the floor for goats to go unde

be quartered with goat

ll that should be put on the floor. Trees are the best shade from the hot sun,

mall it is no place for goats. A fence need not be very high to restrain a flock of goats. They are climbers and once in a while there is one who would take a prize for the "high jump." Ordinarily a fence three and a half

pounds. This can be cut every year for ten or twelve years. The common goat's skin is valuable, but he has only one! This makes the Angora look like the b

OMMON

s. There is a decidedly growing demand for goats' milk near large cities, especially for hospitals. We all know how commonly goats' milk is used in foreign countries. We Americans have a rather silly pre

h by Hele

ng th

re easily digeste

similarity to human mothers' milk and

imed to be free at all times

d from cow's

r coffee and

o be greatly the superior of the cow

s naturall

d are put into tubs and scrubbed and sterilized when being used as foster

to place with a family. A cow could no

ts can be kept on the food of one milch cow.

great future in Ameri

ORY OF A SATISFACTORY EXPERIM

t the goats in sheds until May. I had to put up a wire fence to keep them from visiting my neighbours, and in early May tu

ed at night or during the approach of rain, which they seemed to foretell as accurately as a barometer. It was not long before it developed that they would require fresher fields or I must reduce my flock, as this ground was all that I had of that kind. Consequently I sold all but twenty-five, retaining twelve registered does, twelve kids, and one buck. For the does I paid ten dollars e

the first lot fenced there is scarcely a brush left, no briers, and not even Canada thistles. The entire field between the rocks came out this spring with beautiful, thick, green, grassy foliage, mostly white clover. On the other lot, part of the brush tried hard t

. Co

ING

feeding as nothing but a chore to get over with as soon as possible, you get very little fun out of it. But if you see in those calves the beginning of your own fortune or the foundation of your colle

d out how to accomplish your purpose, and then keep a straight course. Find out first the parentage of the calf. Then inq

to prepare its digestive organs for milk. If left longer with the mother it will be more bother to train. The calf should be fed sweet, whole milk fo

day or two. Holding the pail with one to two quarts of warm, fresh, whole milk in your left hand, stand beside the calf and put your right hand over its nose. Insert two fingers into its mouth. Did you ever feel anything so funny? The calf will suck your fingers hungrily. Gently push its nose down into the warm milk with your fingers still in its mouth. After a

five to a hundred degrees Fahr. At two weeks you can begin to substitute skim-milk. A half-pint a day at first is about right. Watch the effect on the calf. Inc

! To cure it, add lime-water to the milk or mix a teaspoonful of dried blood in a small amount of water, then stir into the milk. Or an ounce of wheat bran or kaffir c

hay. If they are to be beef, they need more fat. Grain is fattening, especially corn. Begin to feed hay as soon as the calf will take it. Clean, dry clover is best, but any

nd let him get accustomed to it; to-morrow lead him about a little with coaxing. In a few days he will lead like an old horse. He will learn to expect only kindness from his feeder and trainer. It would be well to accustom the calves to

nd shade, and a suitable fence. A shed for wet weather is essential, for a clean, dry bed must be p

he milk may be given in two feedings. Water should be given freely especially in hot weather. If your pasture has a clear running brook, your calves are in luck an

r and above her keep, like those one thousand and twenty poor cows that Illinois boys and girls know about, or thirty dollars a year, like the twenty-five good cows, depends very much on

OF TWO BOY

ge suburbanite as ridiculous. But a few moments of careful calculation may put preconceived not

city. The father was a buyer for an importing house, and absent from home for several months of each year. His salary was large, as such salaries go, but there were se

and got ideas. They talked them over, went back to their friend for counsel, then turne

round, three fourths of which was old pastur

boys arranged to have the field, which they cleared and made re

n sweet corn. The farmer cultivated it, and the bo

ater into the lines between the rows of corn; then with a good pump they f

ears of the finest corn raised in that section. As it averaged twenty cents a dozen, it footed up the very comfort

were cut and set up to cure for the cow th

fresh, young Jersey and Alderney cross-a high-grade anima

ss was the first, last, and intermediate law in and about the place. The boys had clot

attracted customers until the de

ay, fourteen of which were sold to persons who came for it, thereby savi

lve quarts a day. Feed for the cow cost one

de was well established. After ten months' experience the boys made up a

ED

rn at 20 cts.

ks 2

14 qts. at 8 c

12 qts. at 8 c

-

81

E

on hay, $18.00; fe

-

ash on ha

of 1 c

-

assets

n S.

ING

they filled. Great was my delight when grandma told me that she would give me a pig if I would help her pick the geese. Helping her would have been reward enough, for I w

struct this edifice was found about the place. I wisely located it at the back of the henhouse which left me only three sides to build. One corner was roof

lt. I wonder how a girl of nine succeeded in transporting a lusty pig the three quarters of a mile between grandmother's house and ours. I should not like to undertake it now, but my confidence in my ability to do what I wanted done in those days was unlimited. A piece of rope, a stout

nucleus of my "herd," for I never owned a horse. All through my college course when I needed money, I used to write to father to sell "Rowena" or "Corinne" or "Natty Bumpo." (We named our calves after the people we read about.) There was always a buyer read

ents a pound even as I write these words, with prospects good for going higher. A profit

s poor economy to keep any animal which cannot pay its board, except for sentiment, and few people keep p

gestion, and respond quickly to kindness. Nervous, irritable sows often develop vicious habits. A short, broad face, a wide space between the eyes, a deep chest, broad back, and large hams

than either horses or cows. Success with porkers is spelt c-l-e-a-n-l-i-n-e-s-s. They like to wallow in the edge of a slu

aped, swept, and dried if the pigs are to be healthy, happy, a

onsible for any cannibalistic habits developed by the sow. Corn alone is not a good ration except for fattening. Used with wheat, middlings, bran, and ground oats, with plenty of clover or alfalfa hay, corn is all right. The sow should be put int

you see, of over a pound a day. With a good, healthy mother little pigs need no extra feeding the first month. The sow

re the little fellows can get to it but the sow cannot. They may not take much at first, but several hours later the trough should be rinsed and a fresh supply given. Sour, dirty mil

, but aids in the digestion of the more concentrated foods. The expression, "Pigs in clover," is based on fact. A happy, healthy, money-maker is the pasture-fed pig. He will put on his

re losing a great opportunity if you are not raising a few pigs. They dispose of the surplus

ld otherwise be wasted you are so much to the good. What you sell them fo

NG CH

not your own observations bear me out? However, I venture to say that with common-sense and gumption, and a real liking for chickens, success in this line is nearly certain. There are dozens of good stories of boys who have

agree. These are based on a knowledge of hen nature and are the result

and Feeding; 3, Raising You

US

even-dollar

shed, and all that has to do with the supply of air, warmth and sunshine and the protection of the flock from disease and vermin. No matter

ouse a bo

they eat and how much they waste. If they hide their nests and the eggs spoil, or if they sit and the chicks do not live to get to the barnyard, the owner is unaware of his loss. If, having no house and nest boxes, the hens lay in the weeds, in the wood pile, in the straw stack, in the haymow, it's no loss, for the women and children hunt the eggs and their

r per hen than a large number, but on the other hand it takes about as much time to care for a dozen as it does for one hundred. Y

in the universe, and you must have your house face the south or east if possible. Whether your first house is made of store boxes or of expensive matched lumber the principles

trees or other buildings against storms and summer sun. Every hen needs from four to five square feet of floor space and only eight to ten cubic feet of air space. Square houses are more economical to build. Figure out with diagrams and drawings to scale just how large a building is needed to

eed gr

greater than for boards, but if you live in your own home you can afford to put a cement floor in the chicken house sooner or later, especially if you do the work yourself. If you are a renter you will not feel like putting in expensive, permanent improvements. It will be warm and dry, saving many losses from wet feet and diseases brought on by dampness and cold. It is easy to clean. It will do away with the rat problem, and last forever. You can put

small panes may be cheap but they shut out the sun; twelve eight by ten panes in a single sash make a window of convenient size. The window should be

d high enough to let the su

n stand cold weather well, if they are kept dry and active. Sc

out of reach. Scratching sheds in the North need adjustable curtains of coarse muslin to keep out driving rain, snow, and sleet. The State Agricultural Expe

f-feeder

roosts should be in the corner farthest from door and window, out of all draughts. There should be enough of them to provide each fowl with six to eight inches of room and they should be set at least a foot apart. Do not hav

ere should be a well-built platform under the roosts for droppings, in order to keep the floor clean. There sh

house, showing u

a foot from the droppings platform, are satisfactory. A long door hinged at the top and hooked at the bottom should form the back of a row of nests. You open this to gather eggs and to clean the nests. The front, where the hens enter, should be in behind under the platform. As it is rather dark in there, the h

h must be dry to be of any use; the lighter, finer, and dryer the better. A sunny corner o

her. The heavier fowls usually make very little trouble flying over a fence of five foot wire netting even though it have no top strip. Clipping one wing may be necessary to

t bath in s

or out of a couple of piano boxes. But it takes a long distance form of gumption to keep any chicken house sanitary. The droppings should be cleaned up often and right here a word to the wise. Hen manure is a valuable garden fertilizer if it is sprinkled with land plaster while fresh. Otherwis

the interior and should be put on at least twice a year. This is not enough however. Every square inch of surface should be wet thoroughly with some liquid which is sure death to vermin. Spray or brush may be used. I wonder i

AND F

ods throughout her life. Study your flock, read of the experiences of others in magazines, bulletins, and books, follow their advice, and work out mixtures and methods to suit your conditions after you gain experience. The hens will give you many a hint. Let them out of the pen now and then just be

on. The main thing is to keep food and fresh water where they c

eggs nature has provided during the spring, the hen's instinct is to brood and rear a nestful. She has worked hard and maybe is run down physically. Feel her bones. What you want from her is more eggs. Instead of wasting time "getting even" with her for being a nuis

ans prevent waste

Find out what their physical condition is at moulting season. The best condition is half-way between fat and thin. If they are thin, provide a wholesome diet rich in fatty foods, as corn,

that hens and pigs are by nature dirty. We will not stop to argue that, but your hens will eat nothing but clean food if nothing else is provided. That's certain! Look to your feeding racks and w

ings are two, morning and late afternoon, for whole or cracked grain scattered in the litter. Ground grain should be there, in a hopper, at all h

ay and see them train for the standing broad jump! If you can get what is known as "the haslet," really the lungs,

YOUNG

coop-open on

al egg or two. Ten to one she will stay all right. If not, do not waste time with her. When assured that her mind is unalterably made up, give her thirteen eggs and close the door on her again. Set two or three the same day and later combine the flocks under one hen. Select the eggs with reference to their shape, size, and quality of shell. Misshapen, very large,

and the fifteenth day of incubation. Rub the powder all through the feathers. Fine dust obstructs the breathing pores of the lice and kills them. When you take the chicks from the nest exam

, thus, in rain, w

ers of a pint of gasolene. Stir into this enough plaster of Paris to take up the liquid, (about two and one half pounds). Mix thoroughly and rub through a wire mosquito screen to

with removable roof and floor is not too heavy to handle and answers every purpose. A wire netting run three or four

proof, weather-proof. Screen-

p can be cleaned by

mbled corn bread. By the third day they will be ready for raw broken grain. There are many good commercial kinds: less trouble than making your own mixtures. The chicks will learn to scratch for this in a week or two. The hen is their teacher. Fine grit, charcoal, and clean water

the illustration, easily constructed by yourself. It is not much trouble to see that this is never empty. If fed only at intervals they rush at you, bolt the biggest grains, stuff their crops, crowd away weak or modest ones; result, some are under-fed, others are over-fed. If f

han a mash made of equal parts finely ground corn meal and wheat middlings with one fourth the quantity of meat meal. This should be wet with sour skim-milk or buttermilk and fed in a semi-liquid condition, about the consistency of pancake batter. Ground oats may be added. Th

ESS M

you can by utilizing vacant space for growing clover for summer feed and some root crop like mangolds for winter supply. Apples are fine in winter for hens. You can often get bushels of wind

t they cost you, it is only fair to yourself and to them to credit them w

hen's weight shuts

is numbers that count, but for breeding you want eggs of good size and shape. You also want to set the eggs of the good layers. These eggs taste no better in cake or omelet, but by careful selection you can breed a strain of extra good layers, right in your hen house. The device known as a trap-nest is the thing you will need if you go at it scientifically. You want it in winter, too, to prevent killing your best hens for potpie, while the idlers cheerfully eat

osed after h

from good pure stock. Nothing is too good for them. Did you ever hear any one show any enthusiasm when passing a flock of mongrels? Contrast this with the delight you and all your friends take in the sight of a hundred fowls all white, all red, all spang

t, and even doctor, all rolled into one. But there is fun in it and profit in it. Better than all, there is a satisf

ate way of keeping tab on idl

ful h

s the street, up and down on both sides, you can find people who like "personally conducted" eggs and prefer that the fowls served on their tables should be acquaintances rather than the embalmed kind. You must be business man enough to work up a

be plucked dry and the wing and tail feathers kept separate. Any large city dealer in chickens will prob

dollars in the Junior Poultry Contest of the

NG CH

rules are the best to begin with. Plenty of clean water, clean houses and yards and good feed are needed to get the best results. Spade up a little in the chicken yard every day that is pleasant, but if it is cold and in wet weather provide a scratching shed. Keep the hens busy. Read the bulletins furnished

nce A

WITH C

ar, and it seemed as if it would never come to an end. But if it had not been for the c

k entered. They were all little beauties

rn, barley, oats, and bran in which table scraps were mixed, oyster shells, grit, prepared beef scraps, charcoal, and green foods such as grass from t

d, and they need some green food every day. Papa took care of the house, and I mowed the lawn and gave them the

cratched out of the garden and then they ran out in the yard and scratched up the flower beds, which did not please mamma ve

"Petty." When she was a little chicken I would catch her every day and play with her. She would go in the nest and wait for some one to take her out and pet her. She got

ight and when he grew a little older he would not go to bed alone. One night we weren't at home at his bedtime and when we came home that night

the sunshine but after about a week they were not satisfied with that. I decided that what they wanted was to get out and run for bugs. So one afternoon when I came home from school it was nice and sunshiny and I let them out of their box. When they first stepped into the grass they were surprised. That was the first time they had ever stepped on the law

h H

is thirteen years old. She w

RIZE WINN

hickens that I had in the contest were Black Minorcas, but I also raise White Wyandottes. I seem to have better success with my White Wyandottes than with my Black Minorcas. The house I have for the contest chickens is twelve f

and feed cut bone to my chickens once a week. I clean off the drop board every morning, and once a week I coal-oil the roost and where the roost rests. During this cold weather I do not let the chickens out very early a

not have a photograph

k Mi

THOUSAND HENS

he was doing it. What can a boy not do if he has the opportunity? There are other boys who find it a harder task and a more disagr

the other two, roosting houses. In one end of the laying house there was a wheat bin holding several sacks of wheat. The bin was a self-feeding hopper. After dinner the fourteen-year old boy jumped on his gray horse and made the rounds of the houses, opening a door to the hopper of wheat, so that the hens could eat at will during the afternoon. It took just a moment to jump off of his horse, open the door, and jump on again, the horse going on the lope betwe

s Dr

EUR'S E

not have free range. I therefore made two wire-covered board runs, six feet by eight, eighteen inches high, and against a six-inch hole sawed in one end of each I placed a box turned on its side for a c

corn, and clean table scraps at any time. Oyster shells and fresh water were always before them. Mothers and children ate together, each taking what she liked best. As oft

meanwhile fifteen and a half dozen eggs. Twelve c

grain, generally oats, scattered about the yard, with a few handfuls inside the house to induce more scratching. They had all they would eat, but if they

never failed. The eggs were large, and the hens were active, healthy, and h

1, to Augu

PE

te Wyando

res

ymouth R

ens

et, and b

15? mon

-

8.

CE

llets, 162

ens, 15?

ls, 55? po

ens

by reason of m

ls dres

c., on h

-

4.

8

-

it $

S. C

TARTED

hickens. I like the White Wyandottes best for all-around, general-purpose fowls. They lay we

Rhode Island College, and borrowed two broody hens. I bought one of these hens later, but she

s box, about four feet by one and one half feet by fifteen inches, and made a door in one corner large e

the sides, top, and one end. I did not put anything on the other end except the top and bottom strips. The pen is just the length of a lath, but the

them a mash of corn meal and bran and later a little cracked corn and wheat. Th

g the grass up so that I had to stop it. Then I buil

hem there, and driving them in; but that did not work very well, because I could not drive them all in at once, and when I drove some in and tried to get the rest, t

d thirty-eight eggs from the eighth of November, nineteen hundred and five, to the fifth of August, nineteen hundred and s

ay very well, and I asked one of the poultry men at the Rhode Island College what to feed them to make them lay.

R

ole

, by weight

Oa

A

Br

by weight,

orn

ef s

ght, and the mash at noon. The mash may be fed either wet or dry. I have tried it both ways but I like to feed it dry fully as well for

ndred pounds of both kinds. I think I shall continue to feed it till I find somethin

rd for one year

RY AC

.

$3.15 Jan.,

.24 Jan.,

ls .20 Feb.

1.85 March

1.26 Apri

1.28 May,

3.38 June

1.24 July

1.24 Aug.

pt., e

84 Sept.,

eggs

prem

, eg

-

9.

-

it $

six, hence these six paid a profit of one dollar

ie E

OMAN MADE A STA

ld be lessened and which would be pleasant during the summer for my sisters, who teach eigh

on limits we have water and sewer connections, hardware and lumber delivered (which is quite an item when one is building poultry houses); and, best of all, the expressman comes for all eggs and poultry. A woman intending to go into the pou

took the three months' Poultry Course at Cornell University. The course is comprehensive and ver

res of very good land, especially suited for poultry, being somewhat sandy and sloping enough for drainage. The house is small but well built. The view is magnificent, a

a feed room. The entire first year we took care of the poultry ourselves, with the assistance of a schoolboy who worked for his board. Most of the land was in hay, which we hired cut and sold, and we raised some corn. I knew nothing a

and the horse, carry coal, and drive for us some of the time. The regular farm work we hire

d seeded, in order to keep the ground from becoming contaminated. I have planted cherry trees in one yard and will in the others later, to furnish shade for the fowls. I chose cherries for various reasons. They can stand the enrichment and the treatment of

where we placed three four-hundred-egg incubators. We closed the east shutters so that the morning sun would n

use. When the chicks no longer need heat the hovers of the brooder houses are removed and roosts put in. The houses, which are on runners, are drawn to a cornfield as soon as the corn has grown enough not to be i

ade and a sense of security, besides furnishing a considerable part of the winter feed. I hope to be able to grow corn for sev

were our ini

incubato

er hous

k hous

for 1,200 h

es 9

uipment for

-

$2,1

r the cost of feed from each of my

and varieties, fresh eggs and poultry, goes a long way in making the cost of living less. (We save cracked, small

Ho

EGGS FOR

hat no amount of preserving, or cold storing will make a fresh egg out of an old egg. As infertile eggs keep bet

in crystal or liquid form at drug stores. Prof. J. E. Rice of Cornell University says that "the liquid form is very much to be preferred owing to the fact that it is very difficult to dissolve the crystal. One part of water glas

n the water glass and washed look like fresh eggs. As to taste, a very fastidious person might find th

. In communities where the price of eggs varies from a cent apiece to f

G GUIN

, when the bird came onto the table it would be guinea hen! This is a dish you probably never ate at home unless you live in the

e put into cold storage and sent to England. They al

d tell why he harbours one on the premises, unless it is to warn his chickens of the presence of danger. I know of very few people in the North who eat either eggs o

April thirteenth, nineteen hundred and five. Listen to the prices: from one dollar to one dollar and a half per pair for young broilers in midwinter in the large Northern cities. Eggs twice the price of hens'

e treatment and care of young guinea fowls varies from that given to young chickens in a few particulars only, e. g., the chicks should be fed very soon after hatching and need a large percentage of animal food when first hatched. Dry bread crumbs and hard-boiled eggs minced finely or pieces of cooked meat cut very fine are a good first meal. Bread and milk and finely chopped lettuce, cress, or other vegetation should be given a day or two later. They will pick

while the breast bone is still tender, the claws still short and sharp, and before the crest or helmet has

he laying season the hens are almost certain to hide their nests and need close watching. They may lay in nest boxes if these are in dim, secluded corners. Guinea hens are very wary and may resent having their nests visited, by quitting. Also, the hens seem to be able to count and will usually desert their own nests if all but on

NG TU

e miserable little turkey chicks rescued from the shower. What a chase they had given us through the wet tangles of grass, weeds, and bushes, scooting to cover like partridges, hidden by their colouring almost as effectually as their wild cousins. We

ent tree tops, and giving no hint of wildness or firmness of purpose. But in April you miss her. She may return about meal time, take a dust bath perhaps, then she is off again. Now you must test your wits against her instincts and see if you can find her nest. She may have secreted her eggs in a perfectly safe barrel, provided with straw a

take notice. Hard-boiled eggs chopped fine is a good first meal for them. Some growers take a pint of sweet milk in a saucepan, let it come to a boil, and stir into it two eggs well beaten. This makes a sort of c

. Keep them free from these by all known methods and with ordinary care in other details your profits are safe. If you tide over th

bours, but close cooping opposes their natural instincts. They are great insect eaters and will pick up a fair living away from the feed trough. It is best to

nds. There is always a good market for any size. If all your neighbours have bronze turkeys and the flocks are always getting mixed, why not try the buff or black or the w

sunshine reflected from the burnished backs of the great flocks which ornament every farm yard. Or, if inclined to a meal of turkey,

NG PE

rful birds? Mr. Beebe says also that "peacocks are so common that we sometimes fail to appreciate their really wonderful colours." I wonder if that can be true. They were so uncommon in the Mississippi Valley when I was a child that

hen she is broody. She usually wishes to sit on the first six eggs and as she has pretty good judgment in placing her nest and is a patient

dampness. Woe unto them if the chill of an early May rain gets into their

prepared for game, pheasants, etc. By all means let them have space to run in; a little coop is bad for their health. Make it twelve feet long at least. They

st be provided against rain. They prefer to roost high, wher

pair. You can grow them for far less from eggs and sel

ent and state experiment station bulletins available. Breeders often publish information about rearing birds. They are glad to help any one who is interested. It increases their business. Write to your agricultural col

ING

the early birds catch the best prices. It is really surprising that more farmer's boys and girls do not raise geese. The

r. Unlike most of his feathered kindred the gander is a true helpmate, often "spelling" hi

egin their careers with a meal of bread crumbs, scalded meal, and hard-boiled eggs, chopped vegetable tops and

ick gosling can trace his disorder directly to the bad water. A large tub

ous weight of twenty-five pounds. Their meat is highly prized in European c

for seventy-five cents to one dollar and a half apiece. If you can get this price your profit is fair and certain and your work ended. You can put your cash into some other busin

ou sell to be sure, but you may be able to supply a local market and thus get a better price. Geese, like all the other feathered tribes, moult naturally in late summer. If the live geese are to be plucked, it should be done very carefully, three or four feathers at a time. The geese do not show evidence of minding much when the

feathers and some of the down now extensively used by ma

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y. True, if you have them for ornament principally, they look best disporting themselves in what seems to be their natural element. But i

getting wet as you are about your chicks. The duck must have plenty of water inside, all he will drink, but keep him dry outside. Little ducks are hardy if kept dry

should be marketed at eight to ten weeks old. At ten weeks old a good broiler will weigh about two pounds and will sell for seventy-five cents, but a duckling will weigh f

r feathers will bring a good price, and eggs of pure breeds for hatching are in demand. They are excellent layers, even better than some hens, as experience will show. If a duck lays nine dozen eggs at fo

arieties are the best to raise as all are hardy, fast growers, and good layers. The eggs take about

em quite agreeable. Green food of all kinds-grass, lettuce, cabbage, vegetable tops-all chopped small, fills them up and is good for them. Such things as turnips and potatoes should be cooked. Ground meat should be fed three times a week. Have the fee

They are kept absolutely clean and dry. Those you keep over winter for next year's egg supply should have ac

asked when her market man offered her Pekin

ver steam ducks. She just stuffs 'em l

SQUABS F

worth knowing on the subject. The time has gone by when a man can afford to ignore books and bulletins even on a subject upon which he may himself be an authority. A library of pigeon literature will increase your wisdom. A practical man writing of his experience in your business may save you hundreds of dollars if you heed his advice. Don't scoff at college bulletins as your gra

Good, mated birds of this variety can be bought for about two dollars a pair. They are hardy,

five cents per year on an average from each pair you should do well. It is not profitable to keep birds which produce less than five pairs a year. A record must be kept in order to weed out worthless birds. You do not wish to spend your leisure running a free boar

er dozen and these bring highest market prices. Lighter birds are considered poor quality and bring a correspondingly low price. Prices vary from four dollar

or market are given in Farmers' Bulletin No. 177, w

are grown every year, the demand is still on the increase. It is a good business for two

oods and feeding, and details of care are giv

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pigeons, ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea fowl, all attended by men hired for the purpose, may look about in vain for a c

logical Gar

a line that has not been overworked. Profit in it, too. Look at price

ary will give you some idea of what a gorgeous family of birds the pheasants make. They are highly prized as game birds. In Germany they are served in a most surprising way. The edible parts are cooked and arranged on a platter on a bed of parsley. At one end of the platt

Jersey, and some other states have made pheasant rearing a part of the work of their Fish and Game Commissions. The state of Oregon is the only one where a remarkable success has been won. Evidently the climate and conditions there were ideal. About three dozen pheasants were set free in the Willamette Valley in eighteen hundred an

rn yard fowls are descended. But they can be raised in captivity if due regard is taken of their habits and characteristics. Books and bulletins are mentioned in the appendix of this book. In some respects pheasants are very like chickens, being especially susceptible to the diseases of the poultry yard. I

preferred, but any good mother will do if she is cleanly and not too clumsy. Great precautions should be taken that the nest be clean, and that the hen should have all the comforts of home, e. g., a dust bath, clean water, and regular feeding. Can you afford to run the risk of young chickens getting lice as soon as they are h

ve. Much of our lack of success in rearing all sorts of wild game is because we know so little about what they eat. We probably make lo

ver abounds. Coops, like chicken coops, should be rain proof, well ventilated, bottomless, and so

tc., by scratching. There are ways employed by experienced pheasant growers of raising a supply of meal worms, maggots, and ant pup? for their flocks, but cheap, fresh meat ground very fine furnishes suitable animal food. During the first three or four days after feeding is begun a custard made of ten eggs to a quart of milk, baked well, is their best food. Hard-boiled eggs finely

sunshine. The soil should be well drained and rich enough to grow grass and clover. Each run should be at least ten feet by ten with netting of medium mesh for sides, eight feet high, cover of the same. A house is an

ere burrowing animals abound, to dig a trench a foot deep and set the netting down in the ground that far. A few steel traps set unbaited along the outside of the runs may prevent a serious loss and provide you wi

sights and sounds alarm and distress them. What a triumph it would be to induce your pheasants t

y fatal to young pheasants; for instance, wet feet, lice, dirty, or sun-warmed water, over-feeding, wrong feeding. If yo