956 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



to buy medicines at the drugstore as you have 

 been doing; and I am sure it will be more pleas- 

 ing in the sight of God. 



After I came away and left those boys alone I 

 was almost homesick for their companionship 

 once more. Their daily talks and discussions 

 had endeared them to me in a way that I shall 

 never forget, I am sure. Of course, we read the 

 Bible every day and had talks in regard lo the 

 Sunday-school lesson and kindred topics; and 

 wh«n I took my leave and reminded them 

 that as they were, at least some if not all, mem- 

 bers of the Endeavor society, they should re- 

 member that iron-clad pledge, to read at least 

 some part of the Bible every day, and they 

 promised me that they would do so. If they 

 do this, and even if there are no fathers or 

 mothers around, or old people to look after them, 

 i feel that the great Father above will keep an 

 eye on them; and I am sure it is a great thing for 

 boys in their teens, especially if they have been 

 brought up carefully in their homes, to try camp- 

 ing out in the woods, doing their own cooking, 

 keeping an account of their finances, and plan- 

 nmg on a small scale to be men, and take their 

 places soon as men in this world of ours. 



In a recent issue of the Sunday School Times we 

 are told of a German father who set his son up in 

 business when the boy was quite young. The 

 son made a failure, but the father did not seem 

 to be much troubled about it. He said he want- 

 ed to see how the boy would manage after the 

 father was dead and gone. Therefore he decided 

 to let the boy make a test of it before that sad 

 event came to pass. The next time the boy went 

 into business he made a success of it and became 

 a good business man. His early failure taught 

 him some lessons he could not have learned other- 

 wise. It is also an excellent thing to let every 

 boy have a little practical experience in the way 

 of cooking his own meals, keeping house, and 

 learn the consequences of letting every thing 

 drop where he used it last. May God in his 

 great mercy not only be with those three boys 

 away off there in the woods, but with all the boys 

 and girls growing up in this land of ours. 



Poultry 

 Department 



KEEPING HENS WITHOUT MALES — SOMETHING FUR- 

 THER IN REGARD TO THE MATTER. 



Mr. Root: — I can not refrain from taking you to task for your 

 remarks on page 837 relative to hens without males. I am sur- 

 prised 10 think that a person of your intelligence should think for 

 one moment that hens under such conditions could be happy. 

 " Male and female created he them; " and had you observed them 

 closely under such conditions I think you would agree with me 

 that it is the next thing to, if not quite, cnielty. 1 shouldn't 

 even think you would need to observe them to know that it 

 would be so. " Doth not reason itself teach you" that animated 

 creation can not be happy long at a time unless both sexes are 

 present '. Try it yourself. 



Of course, I think folks many times keep loo many males; but, 

 " for the sake of humanity, if forno other reason," don't encourage 

 such nonsense if not craelty. 



I enjoy nearly all of your writings, as those of no other man, 

 and hope you may live 50 years yet to give us the benefit of your 

 words; but I think you wrote that without consulting Mrs. R. 



Cincinnatus, N. Y.,July 14. Emmet B. Kibise. 



My good friend, I own up that I took very 

 much the view you did in regard to the matter, 



and I have always maintained that the happy hen 

 is the one that lays the egg; and therefore I was 

 greatly surprised to see the statement from the 

 Geneva station, that hens without males will lay 

 more eggs. Your theory is all very good; but if 

 we get more eggs by keeping pullets by them- 

 selves, I think we shall have to sacrifice sentiment 

 to plain facts. I did consult with Mrs. Root, 

 but her remarks were mostly concerning the sur- 

 plus of males that are so often allowed in flocks 

 of chickens on the farm and perhaps in country 

 villages. Where a lot of males, especially a lot 

 of young cockerels, are allowed to annoy the 

 hens, the " cruelty " comes on the other side of 

 your argument. I have been carefully scanning 

 the poultry-journals to see what their experienced 

 men have to say in regard to the matter, and I 

 am surprised to find so little touching on a mat- 

 ter of such exceeding importance, not only to 

 poultry- keepers but to consumers of eggs. But 

 I have been rejoiced to find the following in the 

 Rural Ne-Lv - Yorker ioY ]\i\y A — from one of the 

 V ery best authorities. See what they say about it: 



MAPES, THE HEN-M.\N, AGAIN; " GERMLESS EGGS." 



I see on page 470 in " Brevities," that Mr. Mapes is selling 

 guaranteed "germless eggs." As I am in the poultry-business 

 I should like Mr. Mapes to tell us in full how it is done. 



Connecticut. D. W. M. 



It is a wonder to me that the trade has not sought for "germ- 

 less eggs," backed by the guarantee of a responsible party, long 

 before this. Most people in this part of the world want animal 

 food in some form as part of their bill of fare, rather than an ex- 

 clusively vegetable diet. Of all the forms of animal matter used 

 as human food, an egg is best calculated for transportation t3 

 distant markets, and can be successfully kept in good condi- 

 tion easier than flesh, fish, or milk. Nature has provided in an 

 egg all the elements of matter needed to grow and sustain the 

 life of a chick for three weeks or more, thus making a complete 

 food •f it. The only other example of a complete food which we 

 find in nature is milk. While milk is easily susceptible to all 

 sorts of bacteria and other forms of decay as soon as drawn, an 

 egg is done up in a neat package inclosed in a case that is almost 

 impervious to air and water, and then surrounded by a protecting 

 calcarious shell or case. In the case of a germless egg, this pack- 

 age of animal food will keep in good condition for eating for 

 weeks and months in ordinary surroundings, either summer or 

 winter. If, however, at a certain period in the formation of the 

 egg it is fertilized, we have an entirely different proposition so 

 far as preserving it in good condition for eating is concerned. It 

 now only awaits the application of a certain amount of heat for 

 this germ of life to begin to develop into the chick for which 

 nature has provided this package of food. The necessary heat 

 may come from the bodies of broody hens sitting on the nest, 

 from an incubator, from the sun, or even from fermenting manure 

 or other substances. It takes but a shon exposure to the neces- 

 sary heat for development sufficient to be discerned with the 

 naked eyes, even without breaking the shell. Remove the source 

 of hoat after development has once begun, and death result'^ 

 within the shell; and instead of an appetizing package of food 

 we have what might properly be called a coffin. 



In view of these facts, is it any wonder that a germless egg is 

 more to be desired than a fertile egg when looking for table sup- 

 plies '. 



A hen will lay the same number of eggs, regardless of whether 

 there are males in the flock or not. Just at what period in the 

 development of the egg the germ of life is enclosed, is n<5t so 

 well known; but for all practical purposes we may conclude that 

 two weeks after the males are removed from the flock the eggs 

 laid will be germless. Ten days after I removed the rooster from 

 my " hen-barn " I placed four eggs in an incubator, and one of 

 the four proved to be fertile. About 95 per cent had previously 

 been fertile. At present there is no known way of determining 

 whether or not an egg is fertile, short of applying sufficient heat 

 to start the germ into life, hence the consumer who buys germless 

 eggs must depend largely upon the honesty of the seller. This 

 seems to present great possibilities for building up a reputation, 

 and placing a little bit of "character" into the eggs as well as 

 the barrels of apples we place upon the market. The most ap- 

 proved style of package at present seems to be small boxes or 

 " cartons " holding one dozen each. These are sealed, and the 

 guarantee printed on the box or seal. In view of the chances 

 which the ordinary grocer's egg runs, either from being left in 

 the nest several days under a broody hen, or sitting about a hot 

 grocery, or in the freight car moving slowly to market, or stand- 

 ing upon some siding switch, to say nothing about the subsequent 



