130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the corn was almost ready to pick ; but in the night 

 a poor starved specimen of a horse was in our 

 garden in the morning and had skillfully picked 

 every ear (or bitten off a part), that was any good 

 in the whole patch. Although he looked so helpless 

 and inoffensive, he could use his heels with quite a 

 little skill, as Mr. Rood can tell, for he called on 

 pretty nearly all our neighbors. 



Well, as you know, I am greatly given to hunting 

 up " God's gifts," especially those adapted to Flor- 

 ida. I sent recently to California for seeds of the 

 " winter muskmelon," a delicious melon that will 

 stand as much cold as cabbages, at least the woman 

 wlio advertises the seed says so; and if a woman 

 said it, it must be true. 



Well, we prepared the ground with great care, 

 digging it up deep, and giving it plenty of manure 



and fertilizer, and the melons were up and growing 

 fine — at least they were yesterday. But this morning 

 I found a cow had gotten in and waded the whole 

 length of the bed, and then turned around and 

 waded back again. We had fixed the soil so deep 

 and mellow, she had a hard job of it. 



Do you say we should have a good fence around 

 our garden treasures (some of our trees cost several 

 dollars) ? But we can't well have a fence between 

 us and our good neighbors. The women folks can't 

 gossip real handy with any sort of fence in the way 

 or a gate either. Bless you, no. 



A. I. Ifocj'i'. 



P. S. — Mrs. Root says I must explain that our 

 neighbor has a good fence and ga*e also ; but his 

 next neighbor has a lot of boys ; and. as you all 

 know, boys will ■" sometimes " leave the bars down. 



A. I. R. 



POULTRY DEPAETMENT 



POULTRY IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA. 



Since early childhood there has always 

 been a fascination to me about a hen and 

 chickens, and also about a sitting hen. Who 

 told her just how to go about hatching eggs? 

 and how does it come that sitting hens for 

 ages i3ast have always followed the same 

 program — a program that has puzzled and 

 battled incubator-makers, and is puzzling 

 them still? 



When we had been here about a week a 

 hen wanted to sit ; but as we had been get- 

 ting only two or three eggs a day it took 

 quite a spell to gather up 15 eggs. Down 

 here I never use less than 15; and to our 

 big Rliode Island Reds I give twent.y or 

 more. Just a word about the Rhode Island 

 Reds. 



I told 3'ou last winter we had two of these 

 big hens to raise (or "mother") chickens. 

 They are now over two years old ; but when 

 they are not wanting to sit they are always 

 laying. When 70 hens gave only two or 

 three eggs a day, these few eggs were quite 

 sure to be yellow eggs, more or less. While 

 the Leghorns and Buttercups were taking 

 their long moult, these two were laying, say, 

 about three eggs in four days, or an egg 

 every day. Right here I am going to give 

 .vou 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR A TRAP NEST. 



Trap nests are a bother, and take much 

 time. Just pick out a hen you can tell by 

 sight from the rest, and then see if you can 

 not find some peculiarity about the eggs she 

 lays. A hen of another breed from the rest, 

 that lays a slightly different egg, can be 

 easily " trap nested!" Note down the day 

 she lays, and you have it. Well, I reasoned 

 if these yellow eggs bring 50 cts. a dozen, 

 and the white ones, when the whole yard are 

 laying (say in April) bring only twenty 

 cents, why not keep more " reds " even if 



they do eat more, especially as a large part 

 of this " more " is green stuff that costs here 

 little or nothing? Now let's get back to my 

 sitting hen. 



When she had twelve eggs I let her " start 

 in," so as to have some new young chicks 

 for my Christmas present — a present direct 

 from the hands of a loving Father who 

 taught the sitting hen her cute skill, and 

 who moves all the machinery of this great 

 universe. But I had only 12 eggs, and 1 

 wanted 15. I concluded just once more 1 

 would put in the other three nest day, even 

 if it is a bad plan. 



HATCHING EGGS BY FLORIDA SUNSHINE. 



I have long felt that we should, sooner or 

 later, be enabled to do this, and now I will 

 tell you how far I have succeeded in doing 

 it. 



The day before Christmas, every egg 

 hatched (except the infertiles taken out the 

 fifth day) ; and on Christmas, the chicks 

 being lively, and wanting to get out in the 

 warm sunshine, the hen came off, leaving 

 two yellow eggs and one white one. -I tried 

 several times to push them under her when 

 she brooded the chicks; but she seemed to 

 choose a different place every time, and 

 cared nothing for the three eggs. As I 

 didn't want to fuss to keep a fire going for 

 three eggs I let them go, placing them so 

 the sun shone on them, until she settled 

 down for the night. As none showed a 

 pipped shell in the morning I again placed 

 them on the bare ground in the sunshine. 

 Well, in the afternoon I was delighted to 

 see an egg pipped, and toward night the 

 chick inside had got clear around so the 

 shell came off in halves just as she settled 

 down again for night. In the morning a 

 great downy Rhode Island Red chick was 

 running about, almost as lively as the rest. 

 The next day the second j^ellow egg went 



