244 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



premises. Then when it goes down again 

 there are nnmerous puddles left in the hol- 

 low cavities of the coral rocks. These pud- 

 dles contain little fish and other salt-water 

 animal life. Just the other morning a duck 

 lan out on the bank with something too 

 large for her to handle. After having tried 

 in vain to break it in two in order to swal- 

 low it I discovered that she had quite a 

 good-sized flat fish, something like what 

 they call in the North a sunfish. Fi'om this 

 1 infer that they get a good many little 

 fishes by going up and down the stream 

 every morning. Now, wherever it is possi- 

 ble to have access to a running stream, 

 especially where the ducks will not annoy 

 or interfere with the neighbors in any way, 

 it certainly is a very desirable place to gTow 

 Indian Runner ducks. Where you have such 

 a stream on your own farm or your own 

 premises you are doubly foi'tunate. I think 

 we may safely include the Indian Runner 

 ducks with another of Grod's most precious 

 gifts to his children. It certainly furnishes 

 a very healthful form of animal food, and, 

 so far as I can see, at a very reasonable 

 price indeed. I have never heard any com- 

 plaint from my ducks' eggs as articles of 

 food. It seems to me that the quality is very 

 much better for having the abundance of 

 corn that they do every day. They are 

 really " corn-fed " duck eggs. Our grocers, 

 however, mix the duck eggs right in with 

 the hens' eggs, saying that they have no 

 complaint, and they don't discover any dif- 

 ference. Some of their customers, to my 

 knowledge, pick out the duck eggs on ac- 

 count of their greater size. You certainly 

 get more eggs for your money Avhen duck 

 eggs can be purchased at the same price 

 than where you buy hens' eggs. 



I want to say something more about let- 

 tuce. Young ducks, if they have access to 

 plenty of head lettuce, will take it very 

 largely in preference to grain, and it is a 

 great saving. Ours are making a most as- 

 tonishing growth, and a great part of their 

 feed is lettuce from the fields around among 

 our neighbors. Not a duckling has been lost 

 so far, and, so far as my experience goes, 

 I should say that they are easier to raise 

 than chickens. 



Just a word about the hawk. When I 

 saw in the poultry journals that a couple of 

 guineas in the poultry would be a great 

 preventive against depredation by hawks, 

 T sent clear up to Pennsylvania for a cou- 

 ple of Peajl guineas. They are just here, 

 and I greatly enjoy watching the queer 

 antics of these strange birds. The guineas 

 are the greatest flyers of any thing I have 

 seen in the line of domestic fowls. They 



will rise almost straight up as high as the 

 tree-tops, and do it apparently with the 

 greatest ease. The male bird, the very first 

 morning, gave presuming roosters and hens 

 all to understand in a very few moments 

 that he was " lord of the domain ;" but when 

 it was once settled bj^ unanimous consent, 

 he was pleasant and friendly. 



" FENCING OFF " THE HAWKS. 



It is now Feb. 5, and it seems my plan of 

 leaving a part of the south side of the cov- 

 ered yard partly open did not work, for we 

 found another dead chicken, with a wound 

 under its wing about the size of a half-dol- 

 lar. Wesley thinks that, after the hawk 

 killed the fowl it was unable to carry it off 

 because it was so big. This is the third one 

 we have found lacerated under the wing in 

 about the same way. Two were in the yard, 

 and one when Wesley made him drop the 

 chicken in the field. We have now enclosed 

 these two yards on all sides as well as over- 

 head, and we hope it will end the depreda- 

 tion from hawks. Covered yards — that is, 

 if they are of any size — are rather expen- 

 sive, it is true; but these yards are neces- 

 sary only for cliicks, say under four or six 

 weeks of age; and, once made, they should 

 last a good many years. 



CHUFAS IN NEW YORK STATE, ETC. 



Dear Friend Root: — I have noted quite a number 

 of items in Gleanings relative to chufas, or earth 

 ahnonds. I grew many of them in years past while 

 in the poultry business, and know the yield from 

 them is immense. I never measured or estimated 

 the amount grown on my plots, but am positive the 

 yield was very far above 100 bushels per acre. I 

 have counted 600 tine large chufas on a single hill, 

 besides many small ones. I grew the finest chufas on 

 black muck soil. Even when planted close, they 

 made big bulging hills filled with fine nuts. When 

 ripe I would lift the hills with a fork, the roots and 

 nuts staying together in a compact mass. If I wish- 

 ed to save any for seed and other uses I would pul- 

 verize the hills, and sift out the dirt and wash the 

 nuts and dry them, which was an easy matter. 



Most of the chufas I grew for my poultry, and 

 always believed them marvelous egg-producers. For 

 winter use I would store the hills in a dry place, 

 and every day throw out a lot of the clumps for the 

 hens to work over. It just did one's heart good to 

 see the biddies scratch and dig the hills to pieces, 

 and ravenously devour every nut. It did my heart 

 even more good to see how they would shell out the 

 eggs. Here was exercise and rich hearty food in 

 abundance — the two things most essential for winter 

 laying hens. The cost of harvesting the nuts in this 

 manner for the hens was negligible, and they went 

 very far in the saving of expensive food. It certain- 

 ly is a wonder that these valuable nuts are not ex- 

 tensively grown by poultry-keepers. I should be 

 pleased to hear from others on the subject. 



Hyde Park, N. Y., Dec. 14. a m / 



A. T. Cook. 



Please send me a copy of Mr. Terry's health book. 

 Don't let me miss a single copy of Gleanings. Each 

 copy is a welcome and appreciated volume of love 

 and" instruction. T^.„„Ta/^xT 



Tabor, Iowa. H. W. Parkison. 



