JUNE 1, 1912 



355 



take the whole 48. Now, this cage was am- 

 ple in size, and well ventilated; but I forgot 

 that it was to hold about r200 lbs. weight; 

 and just as four men were lifting it on the 

 wagon the bottom pulled loose. The chick- 

 ens were all in a heap, tangled in the wire 

 cloth, and some of them were near smother- 

 ing. I can not quite remember; but I am 

 sure my little prayer, "Lord, help," came 

 up of itself. I managed to get hold of the 

 break, or partly under it, and held it up un- 

 til it could be slid over on to the wagon-bed. 

 Then w^e reached down through the top and 

 pulled the chickens one by one out of the 

 snarl. Not one was hurt, and only two got 

 out. When I sent them away, the 48 lay- 

 ing hens were giving close to 40 eggs a day, 

 and I am anxiously waiting for reports from 

 them after they have been carried a couple 

 of miles in the shape I have mentioned. 



Now, instead of a moral I think we will 

 have two of them something like this: One- 

 inch-mesh netting costs only two or three 

 cents a square foot. If you want to have 

 "fun and profit" in poultry-keeping, make 

 your precious little chicks absolutely safe 

 from midnight prowlers so you can go to 

 sleep at night with a clear conscience. The 

 second moral is, when you wish to put forty 

 or fifty grown-up fowls in one cage, bear in 

 mind that the cage must be strong enough 

 to hold 200 or 300 lbs. weight. 



Mrs. Root has just received a letter from 

 Mrs. Harrison in which she says the little 

 chick mentioned by Mr. Harrison has re- 

 covered all right; it is one of those beautiful- 

 ly marked Buttercups that I mentioned, so 

 there is 07ie left of the flock of 28, after all. 

 She says it is growing finely, and is very 

 tame and docile, and comes up every night 

 of its own accord to be shut up securely so 

 night prowlers can not possibly get it. She 

 also writes us something about the ducks. 

 For some time before I left, one of my larg- 

 est flocks could scarcely be driven past a cer- 

 tain point in their canal. Thinking it was 

 a queer notion or whini of theirs I would 

 drive them up and almost push them along 

 past that particular spot — see diagram of 

 their canal on page 255. Well, finally, rath- 

 er than walk past that particular point 

 they would all take wing and fly over it one 

 after another. I still thought it was just a 

 notion, but was delighted to see them spread 

 their gauzy wings and fly so easily, while it 

 takes such a lot of ponderous machinery 

 with great spread of canvas for humanity 

 to "get up into the air." Well, this letter 

 explains why the ducks were so averse to 

 going past that particular spot where the 

 bushy bank extended a little over the water. 

 I quote as follows from her letter: "Mr. Mor- 

 gan told me the young ducks seemed to be 

 afraid to pass a certain spot in their path to 

 go down into the water. On careful exam- 

 ination he found a nest of water moccasins. 

 He now lets the ducks of all ages go togeth- 

 er; in fact, they have grown so they are all 

 nearly of a size." 



I confess I have never seen a "water moc- 

 casin " in Florida; and as I have never lost 



any ducks except those taken by the alli- 

 gators, I think the ducks wf re more scared 

 than hurt, and that was the reason why 

 they would not go past their nest. 



THE 48 LAYING HENS, AND WHAT THEY ARE 

 DOING IN THE MONTH OF MAY. 



Inasmuch as I have reported in regard to 

 the small chicks and the ducks, I think you 

 had better read the following from neighbor 

 Abbott in regard to the 48 half Leghorns 

 and half Buttercups that I left in his care. 



Dear Mr. Root.—YouT hens are in the pink of con- 

 dition—a strong, active lot; but they are mixed up 

 so with mine I can't tell you just what they are do- 

 ing. Eggs are 20 cts.: wheat, $2.40; corn, |'2.10: oats, 

 out of sight. It would talce far more figures to find 

 the profits than to express it. We had a nice crop 

 of potatoes; dug them In 70 days from planting. We 

 are well, and have no trouble with cold feet. We 

 were down the river the other day. A kingflsh 

 (that is, a mammoth mackerel), 4 feet and 3 inches 

 long, jvimped on shore, high and dry. I will send 

 you a picture when I write again. 



Bradentown, Fla., May 17. D. W. Abbott. 



HURRAH FOR THE INDIAN RUNNER DUCKS ! 



TWO EGGS IN ONE DAY, AND AN EGG 



APIECE THE NEXT DAY, ETC. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — I read with great interest what 

 you write for your magazine. In the last issue, 

 May 15, I notice that you speak of ducks laying 

 two eggs in one day, and one of which is usually a 

 soft-shelled one. Well, I have a few of the Indian 

 Runner ducks, and will tell you some of my experi- 

 ence which may serve to mix up matters a little 

 worse. I had nine breeding ducks and two drakes 

 along a small ditch. They laid the following for a 

 few days: 10, 9, 9, 12, 8. Your opinion is that, when 

 they lay two eggs in one day, they miss the next; 

 but these seem to have gone one better, and laid 

 the following day. In quite a few other cases they 

 have laid 10 per day. On the 9th of May a raccoon 

 killed one duck, and since then one day I got nine 

 eggs. 



Here is something I accidentally found: If your 

 ducks are ever reluctant to lay, try this: Take a pail 

 that has had tar in it, and make ducks drink their 

 water from this. It seems to have helped in my 

 case, and I wish you would see if it is good. 



Bryan, O., May 21. Carlton Opdyckb. 



Why, my good friend, your letter is one 

 of the most "interesting" I ever got hold 

 of. The information that two Indian Run- 

 ner ducks laid two eggs each in one day, 

 and then an egg apiece the day after, is a 

 wonderful piece of news; and if such reports 

 can be duplicated we may unite in thanking 

 the great Father above for giving us more 

 eggs, better eggs, and for a smaller sum of 

 money, than the world has ever had before. 

 In regard to the "better" eggs, I for one 

 think I would rather have a fresh egg from 

 an Indian Runner duck that has been "corn 

 fed " than any other egg I ever ate. 



INFERTILE EGGS; HOW MUCH HAS AN IN- 

 CUBATOR TO DO WITH IT? 



This matter is discussed on page 147, 

 March 1. On page 256, W. C.Ellerin, of 

 the Cyphers Incubator Co., has something 

 to say in regard to the matter. Now, I am 

 pleased to note that so good an authority as 

 L. E. Keyser, of the Western Poultry Jour- 

 nal, backs me up as follows: 



It is a fact that a good sitting hen will often hatch 

 eggs that will not .start In an incubator. I once 

 placed a number of infertile eggs that had been 



