108 



"The house of refuge." Netting "protector," for 

 the weaklings or younger ones a fair chance. 



ing time. As he was younger; and as ducks 

 must^have soft food when first hatched, I 

 tried to give him bread and milk; but, dear 

 me! he was "snowed under" before he got 

 a single bite of the dainty prepared for him 

 alone. Finally I " got busy;" and with the 

 aid of a barrel-hoop and some inch-mesh 

 netting I made the very handy implement 

 pictured above. 



In the picture it is shown placed over the 

 ducks hatched out by a Leghorn hen, for 

 we make use of it for many different emerg- 

 encies, such as catching a chick or chickens 

 that have " sticktights " or "sorehead," 

 shutting up a sitting hen so other hens can 

 not intrude, penning up a sitting hen (so 

 she can't "bite") while you arrange her 

 eggs or nest, and for various other purposes;* 

 but it answered the purpose most admirably 

 with my "lone duck." When I gave him 

 his bread and milk and some water where 

 he could satisfy his vigorous appetite in 

 peace, while a "howling rabble" surround- 

 ed and climbed over his stout barricade, it 

 reminded me vividly of the words of that 

 beautiful and comforting passage in the 2od 

 Psalm: "Thou preparest a table before me 

 in the presence of mine enemies," etc.; and 

 also of the promise, "Thou wilt keep him 

 in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on 

 thee. ' ' Dear reader, it just now occurs to me 

 that this is not altogether a chicken story 

 nor even a duck story, and I am going to 

 switch off just a little to ask you if this Bi- 

 ble promise is indeed true, as I have held it 

 up before you? Does the great Father ever 

 place a shield or screen around us so we can 

 actually "sit down " in quietness and peace 



* When a hen steals a nest out In the open, and 

 wants to sit. 1 just set this over her as I go around 

 the last thing at night, and leave her thus shut up 

 and protected until I gather the eggs next da.v, 

 when it Is removed to let her out lor necessary re- 

 freshment. 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



while the ungodly are leaving no 

 stone unturned to misrepresent and 

 defeat us ? I am sure he does. If 

 we fail to find that haven of peace 

 and security when we need it so 

 much, the fault is ours and not that 

 of the great Father who loves us, 

 and loves to have us come to him 

 when weary and overburdened. 

 Read once more the inspiring and 

 comforting words I copied from the 

 Sunday School Times on page 30, 

 .Jan. 1. 



Much is said about hens' nests 

 that are vermin-proof, or nests made 

 of metal so that not only can ver- 

 min find no hiding-place, but the 

 whole nest-box may be most effec- 

 tually "fumigated" by simply 

 lighting a match and setting the 

 nesting material on fire. Such a 

 nest I have figured below, and ev- 

 ery bee-keeper, at least, can usual- 

 ly find such a nest-box on his own 

 premises without costing him a 

 iving cent. 



Cut out half of one end, as shown 

 in the picture; turn down the flap 

 for a slanting doorstep, and you have a nest 

 that will hold a hen and chickens at night 

 safe from all prowlers, if you just fasten a 

 bit of inch-mesh netting over the open 

 front. As the five-gallon can is air-tight, 

 you will have to close it with netting, es- 

 pecially in warm weather, to give the hen 

 and her brood plenty of air. And this re- 

 minds me that, up to this date, .Ian. 20, we 

 have not seen an insect nor disease of any 

 sort on any fowl on our premises, and I 

 can almost say we have not seen a house- 

 fly. Very likely the latter is because Mrs. 

 Root is so extremely careful not to leave 

 any thing outside or inside that can bait the 

 flies and cause them to "hang around " our 

 premises. Truly, prevention is better than 

 cure. The last of the two pictures shows the 

 tin-can nest occupied with a hen and her 

 ducklings. She has gone in for the night; 

 but a couple of the youngsters seem, to be 



llen"s ne.sl and 

 chicks. 



all-metal" coop for hen and 



