The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work

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than eight children get on his back he will shake himself like a wet Newfoundland dog and then stand motionless, while they pick themselves up and out from a

team is a joke, a dog team is impracticable, a team of young oxen is too plodding and lacks style. The pony outfit is charming and always delights everybody. But who likes to see

ned. (Some say, too, that he gets out of as much work as possible.)

carry a

ride on

about with

ted to his build and a boy to do the rest, one of these hardy little fellows will be of greatest help in doing th

h by Hele

d Pony is t

aining should be begun early. One successful breeder says that his children do all the training of his ponies. His boy, seven years old, broke the first one they raised to drive to a little wagon. Little

five years ago. This makes the cost of going into this business higher, but the sales begin the second year and selling prices are higher, too. Shetlands are hardy and require shelter only in bitter cold weather. Ponies of vari

UINEA PIGS

lar pets. Many a boy has made a neat little addition in two figures, at least, to his college fund, by raising hares, rabbits, guinea pigs, white rats, fancy mice, or cavies. Common white rabbits can be bought for one dollar a pair, but th

reat demand for cavies. They are odd little creatures, neither intelligent nor affectiona

set before them, and keep at it all the time. All sorts of veg

here are any peculiar difficulties he can help you provide for. Maybe your locality and conditions are better fitted for one than the other. A deal

Y PI

ob. (Wouldn't you almost as soon work as to look for an easy job, anyhow?) There are lots of disappointments, discouragements, a

hem, care for them, learn their nature and habits, without becoming thoroughly interested in them. No pets could be more ge

ike will be different from what I like, probably, so it is not easy to recommend. Beginners would do well to choose some one variety and try their hand at that before investing very extensively. The flying tumbler is recommended by many good authorities. These are not difficult to breed, are small eaters, do not need to be caged continually, and although they are to be had in nearly all the colours of the rainbo

capturin

proof. City boys and girls need not sigh and give up the idea because they have no place for pigeons. The attic or the roof serves them just as well as the barn yard, perhaps better, as mice and rats are less likely to disturb them on housetops. Every prec

on r

dishes as nests, with a foundation of tobacco stems, to discourage lice. The birds will build nests of straw above the tobacco stems, the male bringing the material which the female arranges to suit her ideas of house furnishing. Some growers use sawdust in the nest. If your pigeons are allowed their liberty with no shelter save the pigeon loft, perches will be needed inside. As the pigeon's feet are formed for perching on flat surfaces instead of on rounded branches like many of their feathered re

to leave the nest. The male pigeon is untiring in his devotion to the young and their mother, taking his turn on the nest regularly during

on and walk about on should be placed at a distance of four or five feet from the ground. Nothing in the shape of

ts across the fly. Flying agai

w much netting will be required to cover the frame of this fly, how many posts, and how much one by four-inch stuff will be needed to complete the frame. The advice of some one

ovide for the going and coming of the birds between house and fly.

food for pigeons on the floor or ground. You will see, if you try it, how much is wasted; any that they leave becomes soiled, moulds, or sours, and if eaten in that condition is nearly sure to injure the birds. A shallow feeding trough should be placed near the centre of the house

t four in summer, three in winter, of equal parts cracked corn (with no fine meal in it), kaffir corn, millet seed, and peas, is a fair ration. Pigeons like a variety but not as a steady diet. Hemp may be substituted for millet once or twice a week; a little broken rice, green v

p makes a first-rate bathtub. Although fancy plumbing is out of place in a pigeon house, it is the greatest convenience

But when your nose gives unmistakable evidence that it is time, do not put it off. A spad

oundation of tobacco stems cut in six-inch lengths, should be in place, and a supply of short hay or straw where i

tire helplessness. Evidently the parents are well satisfied with the appearance of their offspring which look just as they expected, no doubt, and begin almost immediately to feed them. "Pigeon milk" is injected into their open throats by the parent birds, in whose stomachs it has

squab raising says that with "wholesome food, proper housing, and proper care, very little disease is usually encount

s is usually done by the use of numbered tags on the birds' legs. The record makes it possible to prevent inbreeding, give

NT

half-dozen lubberly Plymouth Rock "broilers" that she has been inveigled into rearing. But the raising of pigmy fowls is not confined to the child's play of the chicken yard.

than her lord, and meek in demeanour except when her flock is in danger. Bantams are very popular with amateurs who regard them as a sort of joke

ge, oval body tapering from shoulder to tail, very long legs and neck, small head, and almost no show of comb. There are eight stand

that I wonder that more young people do not go into the business. Bantams take less room than ordinary chickens which is an advantage on a small place. Care should be taken to save for setting eggs of none but the smallest and most perfect members of the flock, a

ly delicate and cannot stand the least neglect. These are more like little wild things, partridges or quail, than like domestic fowls. Other varieti

bring these arguments to bear upon him: Bantams occupy one fourth the space. Their food costs one fif

CY

hibition purposes is such a separate and distinct department of the poultry business and demands familiarity with many "show standards," "tricks of the trade,"

the merits of their favourites makes a chicken lover fairly thrill with ardour. How to decide upon which variety to try is a hard problem. Take a lot of things into consideration. Discount what the enthusiasts say about the one they have for sale;

ngled, silver-and golden-penciled white, and so on through the list. The Polish and the Houdans are remarkable for their tremendous top knots, the Hamburgs, Lakenvelders, and many others for their wonderful plumage and colour combinations, while the most astonishing creatures

hough as a rule they are non-sitters, they are all described by their advocates as p

hey are not winter layers; Houdans lay white eggs of great size and almost certain fertility, and are, besides, excellent table fowls; the Lakenvelders rank

te pens even for the young. If young chicks are kept in the same run with those somewhat older, they are crowded away from the feeding dishes; chicks with top knots should never be raised with other sorts. The crest interferes with their sight, and they are not fighters and will allow them

pularity of fancy chickens is just beginning in this country. There is a fine market for eggs for hatching, but as it is extremely important to keep the breeds pure your fancy birds should be kept by themselves practically the y

O

rstands them, and is willing to doctor them when they are sick, and train the

hey can win at dog shows? Buy a young female dog, teach her, and train her. Get experience with one dog and her young ones before you put in much capital. Find out by going to a good dog show what are the points of a good dog of your chosen breed, make out a score card, and mark your own dogs. Sell for pets those which do not come up to the mark. I have before me a balance sheet made out by a young man who

water or lack of it than from any other one cause. If a dog's dish is not clean enough for you to drink out of yourself, then it is not fit for your pups. Kee

or afternoon tea, soup or gravy thickened with boiled rice or corn mush. But a puppy's supper ought to be a good square meal because he is an outdoor sleeper, and it is easy for dogs to take cold on an empty stomach. For supper, then, give the puppies some bi

erinary surgeon. A good book on dogs and their care will be of g

fed, under exercised, and are therefore unhealthy beings. Dogs eat slowly

cats, or children, to annoy the neighbours. A dog or a cat, a rabbit, or a family of chickens can do more damage in a garden than anybody would believe,-except the gardener. Your dog may be worth ten dollars; he may do ten dollars' worth of damage in ten different bulb beds in ten days. A thirty-cent cat c

LD

till, but I should have said "for out of doors." Of all the candidates for

out late nights, nor make trouble with the neighbours. They require a minimum of attention and a minimum of expense both for quarters and for food. For developing a sense of responsibility in children they serve a good purpose, and they can even be taught. It is ve

stless, nervous goldfish rushing from one side of the tank to another when any one approaches tells its own story. Teased, frightened, neglected, and unhappy they ar

spreading their delicate fronds, a clean, pebbly bottom, and bright-colour

unning wild in our waters, but they are not native to America. Under ideal natural conditions they are sai

t all sorts of vegetable matter. They also eat soft-bodied in

ium in the living room of your home, I must refer you to various

imported, but the bulk of them are grown in this country. One of the most scientific growers in this country is Mr. Hugo Mulertt, whose book on the subject is quite enough to make

irs are required. Any boy who can make a hotbed frame can make these. They should be in a

e dams, it is essential that the four ponds should be so fitted that they can be em

e as possible. Female fish ready to spawn can be bought from growers. These men are reliabl

off with great care and transfer the eggs, twigs and all, into large candy jars in clean water; one hundred eggs is enough for a gallon jar. Be careful that the water is of the same temperature in the jar as in the tank. Eggs shoul

ransfer them from the "incubator" to the rearing tank is a delicate operation. Mr. Mulertt advises putting the tiny fish into a sma

n days old, they should be about a half-inch long, darting swiftly about in the nursery tank. Be sure the temperature of the water is right, then set a wide-mouthed pail or jar full of water down in the tank with the fish, and dip the biggest one at a time with a little hand net of soft material. Do not crowd the fish in the transfer pail, but rather make more frequent trips. Extremely delicate handling is abso

aching the age of two months. In warm ponds, in sunny weather, goldfish may grow to b

ot require artificial feeding. Nature

aring tank, so that those of one size or colour or variety can be separated and buyers can readily see the stock. It is easier to catch them in the small tank also. In the storage tank

out slowly all winter, to prevent freezing. It should be covered during storms. Growers plan to get rid of their stock except breeders before winter sets in. One can

streaks, coated or inflamed fins, and swollen gill covers. Most of the troubles have to do with air supply. When a fish loses colour and appetite, has a slimy coating, and acts weak and dejected, it should be put into a "hospital" aquarium where plenty of plants are flourishing, at a temperature of seventy to eighty degrees Fahr. One teaspo

e must daily wage war against crayfish, tadpoles, salamanders, snakes, fish-eating birds, muskrats, and aquatic insects. Toad and frog spawn found in goldfi

OF A BOY'S

thirty rabbits, and about twenty pigeons. Two 'coons, Tom and Jerry, I have had three years; the other one, Pauline, I have had two years. My oldest rabbits, Harry and Lily, I have had six years. The 'coon pens and the passageway have wooden floors. The walls of the 'coon pen have double wire to prevent the 'coons from grabbing the other animals. Their pens go up to the roof of the house. The rabbit pens are separated by

rn meal. They grow very fat in the fall, but in the spring and summer they get very thin. They are not of any use except to look at. I did play with them until they bit my sister. Since then I have been timid about playing with them. I feed wheat to the pigeons once a day. I have tumblers and magpie pigeons. Both kinds are great fighters. I have four duc

F SUCCESS

reared on farms, they secured seven acres of farm land, with cottage, but sixteen miles from Chicago, and started a chicken busi

Pierpont Morgan at a fabulous price. Warned by the trying chicken experience, Miss Porter, who conducts the farm while Miss Benson retains her business position and looks after the "city end" of affairs, resolved to "make haste slowly" in the new direction. Few, but good, animals were chosen, only the best of the young stock was placed on the market, and i

money. A friend who owned fine collies envied the splendid environment under which the "Sylvan" canines flourished, and asked permission to board some of his young puppies with "Porter and Benson," to give the young women their official title. The dog

lters for open-air exercise in bad weather; commodious separate runs-these are among the conveniences now enjoyed by the happy "visitors" whose owners are off for the summer or winter or are otherwise unable to care for their cherished pets. The Desplaines River runs by the farm and a picturesque "river run" is much appreciated by water

made of meat and vegetables, meat jelly, rice, plenty of bones, and dog biscuit, with warm milk every two hours for the young mothers and puppies. The other dogs are fed twice daily-to the minute. In this incessant, indis

nd the recurring feed bills might be made smaller, but the labour outlay would be correspondingly augmented. Eliminating unnece

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expenses, la

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ly acquired, they feel that perhaps in no other field could they have received such high dividends of health, happiness, and independence. The work is hard but enjoyable, while its widening scope and success bring true satisfaction. Sylvan Farm now receives dogs from, and se