1086 



(CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



way to circumvent rats and mice in hopper feed- 

 ing, and that is to have your grain in some re- 

 ceptacle made of tin or sheet iron that is tall 

 enough so they can not climb up or jump up the 

 sides. A barrel would not answer, because rats 

 and mice can climb up on the wooden hoops. 

 Something like an extractor-can seems to answer 

 the purpose. I do not know but an energetic rat 

 might jump up and so get inside; but if rats did 

 get in they would have a " picnic " in getting out 

 again, and I do not know but it would be a good 

 plan to use a can of such height, even if an oc- 

 casional rat did get in. Then you can get a stick 

 and give him such a scaring before you kill him 

 that he would drive all the other rats out of the 

 neighborhood. There is no better remedy for 

 rats than to get a good lusty rat well cornered 

 and make him squeal till the rest of the rats can 

 hear him. Where a rat can not get in, of course 

 mice will make no trouble. 



We are now coming pretty close to the matter 

 of poultry food. A great many, even farmers, 

 are now buying mixed feed made of all sorts of 

 grain, and this answers tiptop — very likely better 

 than any one kind of grain alone; but, my good 

 friends, if you will examine any of the much ad- 

 vertised mixed foods on the market, including 

 ever so many brands of baby-chick food, you will 

 Hnd it costs quite a little more to feed your poul- 

 try that way than if you purchased the very best 

 kind of corn, wheat, or oats, or whatever you 

 may use. These grains in the market are sold 

 on a very small margin, because everybody knows 

 what a farmer gets for his crops; but where you 

 buy a fnixture specially put up, especially if they 

 put in some meat scraps, grit, etc., you can not 

 tell any thing about how much profit the mixer 

 gets. And now here is another point: I believe 

 our experiment stations have decided that fowls 

 do better where they can choose their own "bal- 

 anced ration " than where somebody mixes it for 

 them. I would suggest that you have, say, four 

 of the tin cans I have mentioned. Get your tin- 

 ner to make them of the very cheapest brand of 

 tin he can get. Sometimes the tinner has rusty 

 sheets that are not fit for regular work. These 

 will answer all right, and for corn I would have 

 them about as large as a common barrel; for 

 wheat, one-half or two-thirds size; but have it 

 tall enough to keep out rats; oats, the same size 

 as for wheat; for buckwheat, one-fourth the ca- 

 pacity of the largest. Now, I like better to have 

 a receptacle for each kind of grain instead of put- 

 ting a mixture of all in one can only. And, by 

 the way, these deep cans make the nicest kind of 

 hens' nests. What boy is there who can not re- 

 member finding a hen's nest in a barrel, say a 

 barrel half full of corn, oats, or wheat.? 



There is just one objection to this sort of hop- 

 per. The fowls will sometimes make it foul 

 while eating. My experience is, however, that 

 they do not do it very often. These feed-cans 

 must, of course, be kept under shelter. I would 

 want a little shelter, even in Florida, when heavy 

 storms come up. As a rule, your hens' nests 

 should also be under shelter. If you are going 

 to get the top notch for your eggs, they should 

 be gathered several times a day, and no rain 

 should ever be allowed to touch them. 



Now, if somebody can improve on what I have 

 outlined for a method of hopper feeding — one 



that prevents waste, and absolutely heads off rats 

 and mice, I should be glad to receive his sugges- 

 tions.* 



Health Notes 



ANOTHER TESTIMONIAL FOR T. B. TERRY AND 

 HIS TEACHINGS. 



I have taken the liberty of clipping the follow- 

 ing from a private letter from the father of our 

 business manager, J. T. Calvert. It indicates, 

 as you will notice, that Terry's teachings apply 

 away up in northern Canada as well as through- 

 out the United States. 



Perhaps I should explain to you that Mr. 

 Robert G. Calvert, another son of the writer, has 

 just informed me that for many years his father 

 drank tea and coffee, mostly tea, at every meal, 

 and followed the very common (but exceedingly 

 unwholesome) practice of taking a little sip of tea 

 or coffee with almost every mouthful of food. 

 You will notice by his letter that he has broken 

 square off from this way of taking his meals. Mr. 

 Calvert is 76 years old. And now with this pref- 

 ace I give you this extract from his letter: 



My health was never better. 1 am following T. B. Terry's ad- 

 vice on health notes in the Practical Farmer. I drink about two 

 quarts of water daily between meals, and drink nothing at my 

 meals, and chew food well. 1 eat no more than three or four 

 kinds of food at a meal; stomach and bowels are in good order. 



Reaboro, Ont., Aug. 10. John Calvbrt. 



TEMPERANCE 



'when THE PARTY GOES WRONG." 



That man is a dangerous citizen who so far mistakes means 

 for ends as to become servile in his devotion to his party, and 

 afraid to leave it when the party goes wrong. — 



Theodore Roosevelt. 



May the Lord be praised that we have a Pres- 

 ident who has grace and courage enough to stand 

 out fearlessly and courageously aud give utter- 

 ance to a sentiment like the above. 



VOTING FOR GOOD MEN. 



I want to express a hearty amen to the follow- 

 ing, which we clip from the National Prohibition- 

 ist oi July 9: 



In the General Conference at Baltimore, Md., on the twenty- 

 tifth day of May just past, the Methodist Episcopal Church said: 



" We record our deliberate judgment that no candidate for any 

 office, which in any way may have to do with the liquor-traffic, 

 has a right to expect, nor ought he to receive, the support of 

 Christian men so long as he stands committed to the liquor in- 

 terests or refuses to put himself in an attitude of open hostility to 

 the saloon." 



May tiod be praised for the Methodist Church; 

 and may her people continue to grow in grace 

 and increase in numbers. 



I 



* After the above was in type it occurred to me that the ar- 

 rangement I made to head off rats and mice would not stop the 

 English sparrow and other birds from helping themselves ad lihi- 

 turn. At present I know of no way to head off the birds but to 

 have the grain upstairs in the little poultry-house pictured on p. 

 638, May 15. With the wire screen overhead so the birds can 

 not get through, it traps them every time — that is, if they get in 

 where the chickens do, and find their way upstairs. After they 

 have been caught a few times in this wav, so far as my experi- 

 ence is concerned they are effectually cured of meddling with 

 the wheat. Somebody suggests that the amount of g ain the 

 birds get is only trifling; but it is something more than a trifle in 

 our locality. 



