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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1918 



Publicity is now being given to a metliod of 

 increasing winter eigg production that has shown 

 marvelous results in the hands of a considerable 

 number of experimenters and commercial poultry- 

 men. In fact, so remarkable are the results so far 

 obtained we may soon etxpect to see in the city 

 dailies such startling headlines as " The Cold Stor- 

 age Warehouses Frozen Out," and " December Eggs 

 at May Prices." 



Briefly the idea is that, when the days 

 begin to shorten and the nights to lengthen, 

 the average hen cannot get food enough be- 

 fore going to roost to keep her digestive 

 apparatus working up to the capacity it 

 should work, to enable her to lay an egg 

 every day ; and, consequently, she takes a 

 rest, perhaps of several weeks or perhaps 

 several months; whereas she might lay as 

 many eggs in December, or perhaps almost 

 as many, as she does in May and June, if 

 she simply had a shorter night and plenty 

 of good nourishing food before going to her 

 final roost. Therefore all you need to do is 

 to light up the henhouse at 8 or 9 o'clock 

 (or perhaps 9 or 10 by the new schedule) 

 and give the poulti'y a good feed — enough 

 to last them until morning. My neighbor 

 Abbott down in Florida raises chickens by 

 the thousands, and he declared some time 

 ago that during the time of year when we 

 have long nights the small chickens need 

 a chance to take food in the night time; 

 and he used a lamp brooder that not only 

 gave out heat but gave out light enough 

 so the chickens could feed whenever hungry. 

 I believe the gi'owers of Grand Rapids let- 

 tuce have found they get good merchantable 

 lettuce quicker by the help of the electric 

 light during long nights as above. Now, 

 some of you may ask where the windmill 

 comes in. Why, you want a windmill for 

 lighting your home, barns, and outbuild- 

 ings; and when you get it, it will be the 

 cheapest mode of giving poultry a chance 

 to feed in the night time. 



The closing paragraph in the Rural puts 

 in a caution about using eggs for hatching 

 from hens that have been kept laying all 

 winter under the stimulus of late suppers, 

 as outlined above. Better have a separate 

 pen for producing eggs in the good old- 

 fashioned way without the after-dark sup- 

 pers. 



If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will 

 not Jiear me. — Psalms 66:18. 



On page 52 of our issue for January I 

 suggested that the reason God did not hear 

 and answer the prayers of the good people 

 in our nation was because our nation year 

 after year was consenting to receive rev- 

 enue from this hellish traffic. The more I 

 thought of it, and the more I prayed over 

 it, my assurance grew greater that I was 

 ris'ht about it. In Our Homes for this 



issue I started out again and made the point 

 very strong that the little text might apply 

 to nations as well as to j^ersons. Our read- 

 ers will probably remember that Hobson 

 has been urging the same thing. He said in 

 substance that when the licpor traffic was 

 stopped the war would stop and not before. 

 Little did I dream, however, how soon my 

 prediction and Hobson's would come to 

 pass. On the 6th day of November my 

 good friend, J. E. White, superintendent 

 of the Anti-saloon League of Ohio, sent 

 me a telegram which reads as follows: 



Ohio dry by more than 15,000; legislature sure 

 on ratification ; nation will quickly follow. Praise 

 the Lord for your vision. J. A. White. 



Columbus, O., Nov. 6. 



You will remember this was the day after 

 election. Well, on that very same day, just 

 a few hours later, I was startled by hear- 

 ing the Avhistle on our factory blowing a 

 long blast right in the midst of working 

 hours, and it kejDt on blowing. When every- 

 body rushed out inquiring " What is the 

 racket?" the reply was that the war was 

 at an end. You know how it was, my good 

 friends, I presume, for I suppose most of 

 you whose eyes rest on these pages had a 

 similar experience. But this was by some 

 means a premature report; and then I re- 

 membered claiming that Hobson and myself 

 were exactly right in saying when the liquor 

 business ended the world-wide war would 

 end ; but when I was told that it was a false 

 report, and that the war did not end on the 

 same day, I replied that only a few days 

 more — possibly a few hours — would verify 

 my prediction. Well, this morning, Nov. 

 11, when Mrs. Eoot and I were eating 

 breakfast a little earlier than usual (be- 

 cause we expect to start for Florida to- 

 night, Nov. 11) this same whistle started 

 up a little before daylight, and soon the 

 people were out again screaming and yell- 

 ing and rejoicing; and this rejoicing and 

 carousing has been going on at an unheard- 

 of rate during the whole day. But, praise 

 the Lord, this rejoicing is without the aid 

 of either beer or whisky. Automobiles are 

 running in every direction; flags of all 

 sizes and nationalities are afloat, and I 

 think it comes nearer to being a world- 

 wide rejoicing than anything else, perhaps, 

 our eyes have ever seen before. Business 

 houses, factories, and everything else, are 

 closed. 



One of the first questions I asked was, 

 " Has the whole world really stopped fight- 

 ing? are implements of war actually drop- 

 ped? is the whole world ready to beat its 

 swords into plowshares and spears into 

 IDruning-hooks V 



Praise the Lord, Florida also voted dry 

 the same day that Ohio did. 



