1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



483 



this spring I found he had been studj'ing- 

 up poultry-books during' the winter and had 

 actually bought and got running a 200 (or 

 over) egg incubator, and was planning to 

 send for fzvo tnore incubators same size. 

 Said I: 



"Why, old friend, aren't you getting 

 crazy, to go into this, right while you are 

 rushed all the time with maple syrup, straw- 

 berries by the acre, a big apiary at home, 

 and several out-apiaries started? how about 

 the 3000 peach-trees?" 



"Oh! that is all right; this is a part of 

 the peach-tree speculation. You see those 

 trees will be all right for a few years, with- 

 out any added fertility; but to keep them 

 up "High Pressure," we shall need some 

 manure; and the very cheapest way in the 

 world to get the very best manure, and have 

 it right on the land, already spread, is to 

 keep a big lot of chickens, sell them for 

 broilers at a profit, and get the manure free 

 of charge or expense in hauling and spread- 

 ing. See?" 



But I didnH see. I said first they would 

 not hatch for a green hand at the business; 

 then they would get the gapes and cholera, 

 and they would prove such a care and re- 

 sponsibility if none of these things happen- 

 ed, his poor sorrowing wife would have to 

 take him over to that big State Asylum on 

 the hill — the very institution that has all 

 these years been such a heavy purchaser of 

 all his maple syrup, fruit, and other stuff. 

 What did he say? Why, he just lighted 

 his pipe and said, with his characteristic 

 quiet indifference, " Well, you just wait and 

 see." 



When Mrs. Root and I reached "our cab- 

 in" this spring it was during that sultry 

 dirt-storm about the last of April. I soon 

 got over to Hilbert's and asked anxiously 

 about the chickens. There had been a good 

 hatch, and not a chick was lost until the 

 night of the dust-storm, when it turned so 

 suddenly cold. They neglected to light the 

 lamps in the brooders, and the chicks hud- 

 dled up so close to get warm, seven were 

 smothered. This is all of his losses, al- 

 though the Cyphers incubator has brought 

 out three excellent hatches. And now I 

 come to the real pith of my story. In fact, 

 the foregoing is only a sort of introductory 

 to it ; the foundation, so to speak. One 

 morning I was over there on some other 

 business, and had started to go home when 

 he said: 



"O Mr. Root! I think perhaps you'd bet- 

 ter take a look at the chickens before you 

 go." 



When he got inside the inclosure I was 

 astonished to see nearly 200 of the finest 

 chicks I ever saw rush up to him, and get 

 around his feet so he could hardly take a 

 step forward. In fact, they acted as if they 

 would almost eat him up. Said I: 



"Why, Mr. H., you are surely not feed- 

 ing these chickens enough. I can't believe 

 it is good for them to get as hungry as this. ' ' 



He replied briefly, while he reached for 

 a spade: 



"Got all kinds of grain right before them 

 all the while." 



"Then they want water or something?" 



"Yes, they do want something, and I 

 will show you what it is." 



He turned over a shovelful of dirt, and 

 the "circus" commenced. Their yard was 

 right over some exceedingly rich soil where 

 he had formerly had a hot-bed or something 

 of the sort, and it was full of great big an- 

 gleworms. A big stout healthy chick grab- 

 bed one, and then "legged it" about the 

 yard from one corner to the other, with a 

 dozen or two at his heels. When he played 

 out, a chick with fresh "wind" got the 

 worm, and ran in a like manner. Pretty 

 soon there were in the yard about a dozen 

 "gangs" going through with the same per- 

 formance. So eager were they in spite of 

 all he could do, every little while some chick 

 would be covered up, and we had to dig them 

 out. As soon as released they were off on 

 the "war-path" with the rest. Why, Stod- 

 dard's complicated machinery described in 

 the Egg Farm book to give chickens exer- 

 cise is noivhere compared with Hilbert's 

 invention. You may smile at my calling it 

 an "invention;" but if it is not new, why 

 don't the poultry-books and papers say 

 something about it? 



Now, before I end this long "chicken 

 story" (I insist it is a chicken story) there 

 are two important things I want to mention. 

 The first is, Mr. H. said that, just as soon 

 as those chicks were a few days old, he felt 

 satisfied by their actions there was some- 

 thing lacking (a kind of "long-felt want" 

 I suppose); and just as soon as he began 

 digging "worms" for them the aching void 

 was filled, and they could "hop, skip, and 

 jump" equal to any chicks in the world. 

 Let me see. What was that other impor- 

 tant thing? Oh, yes! I know. While the 

 men were so very busy planting those 3000 

 peach-trees, Mrs. Hilbert had to spade up 

 the soft black soil "regular," or the several 

 hundred chicks would "holler" just awful. 

 Well, Mrs. H. told Mrs. Root (confidential- 

 ly, you know) that those great fat earth- 

 worms made her so nervous she could see 

 'em "wriggle" all night, even after she got 

 to sleep. 



Let's see. I promised to stop right here, 

 didn't I? but there is just one more thing I 

 must tell. They have about 150 chicks in a 

 j^ard. I thought it was almost too many, 

 and predicted trouble. It didn't come, how- 

 ever, until they get large enough so some of 

 them found out they were (or going to be) 

 roosters, and these roosters one day (yes, 

 all in one day) learned to yi"_;^7;/. Mrs. Root 

 happened to see them just about that time, 

 and she said, "Why, it is just cruel, the 

 way those little rascals pull each other's 

 hair." 



Now I really must add just one little sen- 

 tence more to make my chicken story com- 

 plete. It is this: In a couple of days more 

 they forgot (or got over it) all about being 

 roosters, and didn't fight any more at all. 

 "Good by." 



