74 



THE AGlJICl'LTLltAL NEWS. 



Junk 21, 1902. 



l'"<oir out of the dozfii fowls l.ouglit were killed liy this tick. 

 They were allowed to do so as an exiieriinent to see the 

 extent of injury the tick.s were caiial)le of doing. The other 

 fowls were dressed with Jeyes P'luid and oil, and the tick- 

 were destroyed. The house they inhabited was burnt. 



This particular tick is, I am ^ure, the cause of consider- 

 able loss in jioultry. 



BEE-KEEPING, 



Antigua. 



iMr. \V. N. Sands, ('iir.-itor of llic Hotaiiii- Station, 

 writes : — 



Owing to the wet season bcedvcepers in Antigua have 

 not liad such good returns of honey as usual. 



The log-wood from whicli early su|i|ilies are chieHy 

 obtained did not conu- into full Hower until .\|iril, whereas in 

 normal seasons the honey from this source n>ually connnences 

 ia Febiuary. 



Other" honey such as geni]i ( Mi'lii-ncni liijtiga) is now 

 coming in, but as the bees have started swanniug not much 

 store is b' 'ug i)ut u]>. 



At the Piotanic Station, (pieens are being raised from 

 imiiorted Italian ([ueens, by the Doolittle plan of ([ueen-cell 

 grafting, for sale to the local bee keepers. Tliis metliod has 

 alieady been .successfully tried and the Station apiary 

 re-.stocked with young hybrid ([uecns. 



Sea-side grape. The sea-.side gra|ie (Coccolohd 

 vvtfeni) is a common shore plant in the West Indies. The 

 leaves of this tree are interesting. They are very tough and 

 leathery, and [loint olili(|uely uiiwards to the sky. Both 

 the tougli leaf and the edgewise position are adaiitations 

 on the Jiart of tli(> plant to iirevent drying up. All shore 

 plants have a dilli<ulty in taking up water from the soil in 

 which they grow, and" thus have to adapt themselves to get 

 <m with the miniuuim (piantity. The sea side grajie is of 

 especial interest to bee-keepers. At certain seas( ns of the 

 year it puts out long sprays of small white Howers, succeeded 

 later by the purplish more or less astringent 'grapes.' These 

 flowers' furnish a good sup] ily of honey to the bees of good 

 ita\oiii- and light colour. 



tMl 



Best Breeds of Fowls. 



The following extract i.s taken from an interesting 

 article by Mr. W.' B. TegetnK'ier in Tlw C<iiintry for 

 April, last : — 



The (juestion miy therefore b.^ asked by thos^ who keep 

 poultry for [(ractical and us-ful purposes, what breeds shall 

 we employ, and what system of keeping shall we pursue '. If 

 eggs are tlie chief desiderata, the bjst Ijreeds to adopt are 

 those which do not incubate, such as those known at the pres 

 cut time as Minorcas, Leghorns, Andalusians, and Hamburghs. 

 Of these, the two former arc un piestion ably the best, inas- 

 much as they lay the largest egg-;. But the system i>ursued 

 varies gre.itly, as do the conditions undsr which the fowls are 

 kept. It is" alnijst neelless to say th\t the most advan- 

 tageous nr.'thod of keeping fowls is in localities where they 

 have an extendel r.ingj, finding f )r themselves a greit 

 portion of their nitur.il food —worm >, insects, seeds and 

 lierbage of various kinds. Under these onditions, fowls only 

 re(iuire a clean roosting-house an 1 fee ling twice a day to 

 yield a good supfily of new-laid eggs, provided the hens are 

 "kei)t for two years and not beyond that time, as the second 

 year's laying exhausts the great prolificacy of any hen, when 

 "her services should bo at once transferred to the stock pot. 



POULTRY. 



Ticks on Fowls. 



Mr. ('. \V. Memlon recently forwarded to the 

 l)e|)aituieiit a |iiccc ol skin. renio\cd from a fowls 

 hnast, covered Willi licks, lie slated thai tlu' whole 

 bo(l\ of the fowl was covei-ed with these pai'a.sites 

 which had e\entnallv killed tile bird. Continuing he 

 added: - 



Tlie life hi.sloiy is fairly well known, but not sutticicntly 

 amongst those who rear our market poultry. The iiulivi- 

 dual fowl under view was pnrcha.sed with others from a 

 market woman in the street, and she informed me that the 

 ))irds came from 'I'obago. They had .jii.st been landed. 



Ground Pumpkin-Seeds for Fowls. 



'Fowls are very fond of cu,-umbjr ainl rock-melon seeds. 

 and young cockerels will eat them in preference to wheat. 

 They also are partial to pumiikin-.seeds broken uii small. 

 Where cows are fed on pumpkins there are always large 

 (piantities of seed, which arc not fed to cattle. The.se, if 

 (aackcd smdl, woulil form a valuable food for poultry. 

 Those who have tried it siy it in.-reases the fertility of 

 laying hens.' Qac('n'<!iuvJ A'jrlr-illKnil Journal, Vol. VIII,, 

 p.' :U!". 



A Double Tragedy. 



Down from a twig on a Northern Spy tree 



A canker-worm swung in .security : 



He'd eaten all season since first he was hatched, 



As a ravenous glutton he couldn't be matched. 



He slippi'd inch by inch to the grass-covered ground. 



Where he thoiiglit .safe concealment might surely 



found. 

 In whicli 111' could [lupat.' till aiituiun .set in ; 

 I'.iit a hen came that way and she gathered him in. 

 (iatlicred gathered gathered she gathered him in. 



She gathered him in, and his final rest 



Wasthere, in there, in her well-tilled chest : 



And she strolled around in search for more. 



For it tasted better than aught before. 



lint I thou.irht of her end, her final act 



When the farmer 'd .slice with a carver's tact, 



An<l remark, as each piece made him look lcs> thin, 



' I .gather her in, 1 gather her in, 



(iather gather - gather I gather her in.' 



..■1 inerirun AgriculturUt. 



