has happened more than once. Ji^dg'e lind- 

 sey, who has done so much for the boys in 

 Denver, Col., by looking at things from 

 their standpoint, has taught us some won- 

 derful lessons; and these lessons are taught 

 all over our land by great and good me'- 

 who are stepi^ing down a little, and stand- 

 ing beside the mischievous and fun-loving 

 juveniles. 



Just now our State of Ohio is discussing 

 a proposition from the brewers to punish 

 the boys found in saloons, if they are under 

 age, instead of punishing the saloonkeeper. 

 The latter entraps the boys, coaxes them 

 into his place, and then these poor misguid- 

 ed boj'S would be fined and imprisoned for 

 breaking the law while the saloon-keeper 

 goes scot free. May God be praised that 

 the evidence, as I now write, points to a 

 failure of this scheme of the brewers. Now, 

 my good friends, to come right down to 

 practical work, how many times have you 

 fanned into flame a quarrel between your- 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



self and your neighbors instead of quench- 

 ing the riame and seeing it die out along 

 the line I have indicated? 



In making this little personal matter 

 public, perhaps I shall expose myself to 

 more trials. If so, may God give me grace 

 to keep pleasant, and put up with whatever 

 little persecution may follow. As a goodly 

 number of our journals go to Bradentown 

 and vicinity it would not be strange if some 

 of those same boys would get hold of it and 

 decide to give me a harder trial than I have 

 had yet; and may the dear Savior give me 

 grace and wisdom to remember that these 

 very boys are the ones for whom he suffer- 

 ed on the cross that they might live. Just 

 one thing more: I was going to say that I 

 am one of the meekest and humblest of his 

 followers, but I do not merit that distinc- 

 tion yet; perhaps I may, however, before 

 I die. May the dear Savior give me grace 

 to say as he said, " Father, forgive them, 

 for they know not what they do." 



Poultry Department 



DUCKS AND CHICKENS IN FLORIDA — SOME- 

 THING ON THE OTHER SIDE. 



Mrs. Root is continually telling me that 

 there is danger of my leading people into 

 error by giving only the ros}- side of most 

 things; and she says I have not mentioned 

 some of the difficulties with ducks and 

 chickens in Florida, especially for those 

 who, like ourselves, spend only the winter 

 here. Just now, for instance, in the middle 

 of April, when I am planning to go back to 

 Ohio, I find it difficult to find somebody 

 who " wants the job " of caring for my 

 poultry until I get back here next Novem- 

 ber. One year I let a neighbor have the 

 grown-up fowls for the eggs, and he thought 

 he did fairly well. I paid him only for the 

 trouble of taking the fowls home and bring- 

 ing them back. The next summer, however, 

 when there were a lot of " youngsters " 

 also, it was a different problem. The year 

 after, another friend kept my grown-up 

 fowls during the summer. He said he could 

 not tell whether the eggs paid for the feed 

 or not; but as he was a particular friend 

 he made no bill for the trouble or feed. 

 Just now, however, nobody seems to want 

 them. As I have sold off my old hens, there 

 are only about 125 chickens, young and old. 

 A dozen of them are about four months old. 

 In Florida they rarely begin laying before 

 six months of age. Well, under the circum- 

 stances I offered to furnish all lite feed and 

 give the neighbor the cockerels for taking 

 care of them. There will probably be fifty 



or sixty roosters that will bring, say, half 

 a dollar each when they are large enough; 

 so he will get from $25 to $30 for just see- 

 ing that they have feed in their galvanized 

 tubs, and that the windmill keeps the water 

 '• dripping " all the time. He also has the 

 eggs laid by 25 ducks for the work of shut- 

 ting them up nights and letting them out 

 mornings. 



From the above you will probably notice 

 that I had better sell my chickens in the 

 spring when I go back north, and buy some 

 more when I get back in the fall. But here 

 is the point : I have a special strain of a 

 cross between Buttercups and "White Leg- 

 horns that I like better than any thing else. 

 This cross not only seems to give more eggs 

 than either before crossing, but so far there 

 has been a smaller percentage of males than 

 pullets. And right in here comes another 

 difficulty with the Indian Runner ducks, 

 especially in Manatee Co., Fla. Up in the 

 North, growing green ducks for the market 

 is a great industrj^, and people pay big 

 ]5rices for these green ducks ten weeks old. 

 Not so down in Florida, for here there is a 

 prejudice against ducks, young or old. The 

 women folks all say it is a lot of work to 

 get them readj' for the table; and the peo- 

 ple at the meatmarket saj" the same thing. 

 In fact, nobody will give as much for a fat 

 young duck down here as for a chicken. 

 We do not care particularly about selling 

 the ducks, yotmg or old ; but the drakes in 

 every flock must be disposed of in some 



