466 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1919 



that 1 felt sure it would interfere with 

 their laying. When I got them home they 

 were so badly frighteued that they put off 

 into the woods, and I could hardly call 

 them back to get their feed. You may re- 

 member that I have been feeding my poul- 

 try in galvanized washtubs, the tub being- 

 set on a post just high enough so the hens 

 could get in while the Florida rats could 

 not. Well, now, that is a very good way 

 to feed Leghorns to save time; but in one 

 respect it is not the best way. I worked my 

 very best for two or three weeks to become 

 acquainted with those twelve hens, and to 

 make them understand I loved them. I 

 made it a study to find out what things they 

 like the best, and to carry them some little 

 delicacy or something they liked, two or 

 three times a day. I do not think I got 

 an egg till three or four days had passed, 

 and it took two or three weeks to get them 

 all to laying. But they finally became so 

 tame I could pat them on the back and call 

 them " good biddies " and then they began 

 to lay. One hen died during the winter; 

 but from the. eleven remaining I soon got 

 nine or ten eggs every day. When we 

 started home to Ohio I carried the eleven 

 over to a beekeeper friend two miles away. 

 To avoid having such another scare in the 

 transfer I shut them up the night before, 

 and then put them in very light loose burlap 

 sacks, four hens in a sack, the next morn- 

 ing. They were so well acquainted with me 

 that they were not frightened at all, feel- 

 ing sure I was not going to hurt them. 



By the way, for mo\nng poultry short 

 distances I think a loosely woven burlap 

 sack the very best thing you can use. It 

 is better than a box and putting them all 

 in together and leaving them loose. The 

 sack gives them room enough to stir 

 around, and plenty of air, and yet they 

 can not well see what is going on around 

 » them. I took them in my electric automo- 

 bile that makes no noise, and they were 

 just as quiet when I handed them over to 

 my neighbor as when T started with them. 

 Below is the result: 



Dear Sir and Friend : — The Eglantines feel ven' 

 much at home, being contented and very tame. I 

 had their house all furnished before I put them 

 in, with litter on the floor and feed scattered in 

 the litter. I wanted the first impression a good 

 one, and I think I succeeded as they gave me 11 

 eggs the first day. My si.x pullets, not wishing to 

 be outdone, gave me six eggs, making 17 eggs 

 from the 17 hens and pullets — a result that probably 

 will not be duplicated this summer. I am getting 

 from 10 to 12 a day now from the 17. 



I am pleased to note you reached home all right. 



E. S. Dart. 



Manatee, Fla.. May 12, 1919. 



From the above, my friends, you see the 

 result of handling chickens in such a way 



that they will not be won'ied nor fright- 

 ened at all; and the reason for this is be- 

 cause they know by experience, that you 

 love them and would not harm them need- 

 lessly. Another thing is, these eleven hens 

 were of the Eglantine strain — a strain of 

 White Leghorns that are bred to lay and 

 for nothing else. The owners of the Eg- 

 lantine Farms jDay no attention to fancy 

 markings whatever. I do not think they 

 care a cent whether the tails of the males 

 stick up or hang down. They are just bred 

 for eggs. The strain is bred to be gentle 

 and quiet, because quiet gentle hens are 

 more likely to lay. I have had these Eg- 

 lantines more or less now for four or five 

 years, and they beat any other breed of 

 poultry I ever had anything to do with. 

 Just now while I write (May 21) we have 

 only four Eglantine hens; and these four 

 furnish three or four eggs a day, which are 

 about as many as Mrs. Root and I care 

 for. 



Now% to avoid having you write me, I 

 would say that the Eglantine Farms are at 

 Greensboro, Md. I think you will be pleas- 

 ed with the circular they send out. 



MAKING HENS LAY IN DECEMBER AND JANU- 

 ARY WHEN EGGS BRING THE 

 HIGHEST PRICES. 



On page 53 of the December issue I men- 

 tioned this matter; and since then I have 

 noticed by the poultry journals that in 

 California they are making the long nights 

 shorter by means of electricity on a large 

 scale. Furthermore, Mr. M. F. Bryant, 

 Mr. Calvert's son-in-law (and by the way, 

 the father of one of our little great-grand- 

 children), has been, during the past winter, 

 experim-enting Avith an electric light in the 

 henhouse. He turns on the light about the 

 time the hens seem inclined to go to roost, 

 and keejDS it on till about 9 o'clock. At the 

 same time they are provided with plenty of 

 litter, and they keep scratching and eating 

 so as to make the period without any food 

 while on the roost about as short as during 

 May and June; and he reports the result 

 as being highly satisfactory. Not only did 

 he succeed during the winter months in 

 getting 18 eggs from 18 hens on one occa- 

 sion, but he says he did it several times. 

 The average was 16 to 17 eggs a day. The 

 breed was the Plymouth Rocks; and the 

 above result is certainly as good as or bet- 

 ter than I ever got from the Leghorns. Of 

 course the big breeds would have to have 

 more food. Down in Florida during the 

 month of December we got as high as 60 

 cents a dozen for eggs; but when I came 

 away in April, at one time they paid only 

 30 cents. 



