1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



827 



J^Y^ELF WD J)JY]^EI6PB0^S. 



We then that are strong ought to l vav the inflrin- 

 ilies of the weak, an(l not to pleii-^- ourselves. liOt 

 every one of us please his iieif;'!. or tor his good to 

 edification.— Ko.M. 15: 1, ~. 



K. ROOT, slia'iit I wiing tliis lit- 

 tle ben"s neck? lii spite of every 

 tliiiis I can do, she will roost on 

 the harnesses." The above re- 

 mark came, one eveninfj, from 

 the man who drives the horses, just as he 

 was finishing up his cliores lor the iiis'lit. 

 It was a little brown-colored hen thai ( ame 

 into the stable from some place, nobody 

 knew where, and she did not seem mucii 

 afraid of horses or humanity, for she just 

 made herself at home, and seemed to take it 

 for granted that she had as good a rii^lit t > 

 go where she pleased, and do as she pleased, 

 as anybody. J^ow, on general principles I 

 am never much in favor of wringing any- 

 body's neck as a means of teaching them 

 wholesome lessons ; that is, unless 1 am 

 greatly provoked, and at such limes I am 

 sure it is not best for me to do much of any 

 thing or to say much of anything: so on the 

 present occasion I, as a matter of course, re- 

 plied : 



'' No, no, Mr. Somers ; don't wring her 

 neck. Let me have her." 



1 went up to her as she sat on the harness, 

 thinking that, if 1 were very careful, may be 

 1 could catch her before she flew away : but 

 to my surprise she let me pick her up, with- 

 out any squalling or kicking or scratching. 

 1 don't know but she uttered a few quiet 

 notes, as much as to say, "' There, take care; 

 don't hurt me. I have not been doing any 

 thing out of the way. that I know of." 



From that moment forward biddy and I 

 became fast friends. She was a little bit of 

 a fowl— that is, compared with my Brahmas, 

 and she was so trim and neat, light and 

 graceful, that I wondered I had never ad- 

 mired her before. I took her up and put 

 her among the Brahmas. Next morning 

 she helped herself at the feed-hopper, drank 

 at the fountain, surveyed the premises and 

 their owner, as much as to say, " Well. I 

 think on the whole I would rather live here 

 than down among the horses." 



She very soon showed the rest of the fowls 

 that she expected to have her own way ; 

 and it was not very long before she decided 

 til at the poultry-netting inclosure was a lit- 

 tle too cramped for a hen of hei' disposition 

 and abilities, so she spread her hawk-like 

 wings and flew over tlie fence as if she were 

 always used to it. After the night 1 saved 

 lier life, she seemed to conclude that she and 

 1 were to get along pleasantly together, and 

 she would soon let me pick her up almost 

 anywhere, even out in ihe lots. She would 

 sit on my hand, and sing as complacently as 

 could be^ while I carried her around in the 

 house and over to the iieighbm-s : but wlien 

 even little Huber attempted lo stroke her 

 soft glossy back, she picked him on tiie 

 hand as if to say. •' Xo. no, sonny. I don"t 

 allow everybody to pat hk on the back." 



Now, I have "introduced this hen to you 

 this morning, principally because she is 

 such an exceedingly business hen. Slie com- 



menced right straight to lay eggs ; and 

 when she got a nest full she gave me to un- 

 derstand as iiiainly as words could tell it. 

 that she was going to sit and hatch some 

 chickens, and that for the time being we 

 two must lay aside foolishness. So I let her 

 sit, and she "hatched almost every egg. How 

 she did scratch around and hunt up food, 

 and coax and tease for it when it was not to 

 be found readily! The chickens did splen- 

 didly. They could not well help it ; but be- 

 fore they were nearly large enough to be 

 weaned, according to ordinary hen sense, 

 she began to get restless, and a day or two 

 later I noticed her ([uite a little way off from 

 her chickens, witli a very demure and inno- 

 cent air, receiving attentions from a smait 

 young Plymouth Rock cockerel. They two 

 became great friends, and promenaded the 

 lots together. Tliey seemed to liave a great 

 deal of talking and visiting to do ; and when 

 night came she persuaded her admirer to 

 leave his accusomed roost in the fowl-house, 

 and take a seat beside her, on the top rail of 

 the cold-frame I have pictured to you. The 

 sash being entirely off, nothing but the rail 

 remained. She chose this for a roosting- 

 place during the summer nights. No 

 cramped up poultry- house woidd answer 

 her notions of free air and health. Lest 

 there might be enemies prowling about, she 

 chose a roosting-place close by tiie factory : 

 and, in fact, this hen has always seemed to 

 show her good sense in every thing she un- 

 dertakes. Pretty soon another nest was 

 started. This time it was in a barrel of rot- 

 ten wood where the boys in tlie apiary re- 

 plenish their smokers. I told the boys to 

 let her remain. She finished her laying of 

 eggs, and then commenced to sit. 1 remon- 

 strated with her, that it would be Novem- 

 ber before the chickens would be hatched : 

 but if you could have seen her coax and 

 tease and beg for permission to carry out 

 her project of winter chickens, you would 

 never more doubt that a hen can coax and 

 tease. She poked the eggs under her, ])ick- 

 ed at my hands, settled herself down over 

 her snow-white treasures, and fairly begged 

 to be let alone. 1 finally let her have 

 her own way, more because she was 

 such an odd little genius than because I 

 wanted any more chickens. Now. although 

 the location of the barrel was not a very fa- 

 vorable one for the frosty nights of October, 

 she hatched— how many eggs do you sup- 

 pose? Why. every egg, of course. That is 

 about the "way she always does where she 

 can lay tiiem herself. And. by the way, I 

 want to say to my friends who have iiicuba- 

 ttiis. and want fertile eggs, just let the hen 

 go oft" by herself and steal hei- nest, and she 

 will lay eggs that will hatch. I don't know 

 but one reason is. that a hen with a stolen 

 nest usually lias a particular favorite among 

 the flock of male birds; and where a coni)le 

 pair off' together that way — going off' 

 through the fields and lanes alone by them- 

 selves, you may be pretty sure of getting 

 fertile eggs. 



AVell. this little business hen of mine has 

 been layingegi^s and liatcliing chickens ever 

 since T took her part and saved her life. 

 Winter or summer, she has no vacation. As 



