JULY 15, 1912 



461 



way to get big duck eggs, etc. If a three 

 or four pound duck is going t© produce a 

 good-sized egg every day, and, in extreme 

 cases, tivo in a day, good common sense 

 teaches that she must have an abundance 

 of the very best and most nutritious food; 

 and I for one can not see why ducks dur- 

 ing the night may not have easy access to 

 all the corn they can consume. To head oif 

 the rats and other animals, put their sup- 

 plies of corn under water each night as they 

 are shut up. Where they have the run of 

 a stream of water, as ours do, the beef scrap 

 is not needed, and the bran and shorts ra- 

 tion can not well be given liberally without 

 danger of rats. Besides, there is no better 

 egg and meat than "corn-fed" eggs or meat. 

 I am glad to have friend Purvis tell us 

 something about his mishaps as well as his 

 successes. His closing sentence indicates 

 there are Iavo kinds of blood-streaked eggs 

 — blood on the inside of the egg, and blood 

 streaks on the shell. The latter can be 

 washed off, but it is some trouble. 



BLOOD-STAINED EGGS, ETC. 



Mr. Boot : — C. F. Cliilds, in your last number, 

 page 392, speaking of blood-stained eggs, asks for a 

 remedy. A while back, when I had quite a few 

 hens, I had the same trouble, and talked with a 

 poultryman about it. I followed his advice, and in 

 a week or so had no more trouble. Like Mr. Root 

 I can not say whether this would be considered 

 "according to Hoyle." 



In the drinking water I put old nails, or, rather, 

 in another dish, and mixed the water I gave them 

 with this iron solution. Tincture of iron probably 

 would be as good or perhaps better. The iron rust 

 has a tendency to strengthen the egg receptacle, 

 and generally giving tone to all the hens in other 

 ways — at least no harm can be done, and it is a 

 good tonic for man or beast. I like a little of it my- 

 self. 



Cleveland, O. R. V. Murray, 



As all of our poultry-yards in Florida 

 are supplied with water through common 

 iron pipes, I can hardly think there is any 

 lack of iron. In fact, when the water 

 comes tlu-ough the iron pipes, drop 'by 

 drop, a sort of iron rust accumulates more 

 or less in the drinking-vessels. I notice by 

 some of the poultry journals that mention 

 is made of blood streaks inside of the egg. 

 I have never had any thing of the sort. It 

 is blood streaked on the outside that we 

 have been considering, if I am correct. 



FLORIDA IN THE SUMMER TIME, ETC. ; THE INDIAN 

 RUNNER DUCKS UP TO DATE. 



Mr. A. I. Root:- — The ducks are doing finely, ex- 

 cept one, which was injured by a dog about ten days 

 ago. When I got to the yard where the 26 should 

 have been, about 8 in tlie morning, I found only 

 two there. I went down to the lower gate and found 

 a dog in the creek after the ducks. The dog was 

 witl} Mr. R. Knight's cattle, which he Vvas in the 

 habit of following. I went around by the bridge 

 and drove him and the cattle away, and sent Her- 

 bert to see Mr. Knight, who promised to take care 

 of the dog; but I am afraid the duck will die. I 

 liave caught quite a number of late, and one skunk. 

 The day before the skunk finished up those little 

 chicks I tried to find a trap, but failed. After the 



chicks were all dead I found a trap in your tool- 

 house, and set it in the coop with the dead chicks. 

 About nine o'clock that night the whole neighbor- 

 hood knew that a skunk was in trouble. Raymond 

 put him out of his misery with a charge of shot next 

 morning. Since you left, the three old ducks have 

 laid in 52 days 114 eggs, and one of the 11 young 

 ones began to lay May 22, and has laid four to 

 eight eggs a week since, about the size of a small 

 hen's egg. 



The ducks have not been out in the stream for a 

 week, on account of the heavy rain that has con- 

 verted the stream into a raging torrent. A week ago 

 the ducks would not try to cross the water to get 

 into their yards, so Reginald had to get into the 

 water and drive them up two or three rods above, 

 and then rush them into the water. After several 

 failures he succeeded in getting them all across. The 

 next day the water was nearly knee deep on the 

 bank, and washed over the fences, crowding them 

 over so tliat there was danger of the ducks being 

 washed ofi into the torrent. I tied the fences with 

 cord to the opposite side, and have kept them all in 

 ^o far. There is no danger of their going into the 

 dood willingly. They are afraid of it. 



The rain began on the first, and continued until 

 the 11th, most of the time very heavy. Sixteen inches 

 fell in that time. The ducks now get nothing from 

 the water, so I do not expect them to lay many eggs 

 until they can get out again. I was afraid the fid- 

 dlers would be carried away by the torrent, but the 

 other day, at low tide, I saw a little ^ank o. sand, 

 a few square feet, covered by thousands of them. 



That old duck of yours wanted to sit about three 

 weeks ago, and when Reginald turned the door o* 

 her box to the fence she sat on the sand, so we 

 turned her into the water and shut her out, two 

 days, and siie gave up and began to lay again in 

 ten days. People who have lived here 30 years say 

 they never saw such a rain before. As a result of 

 the unusual rain fall, the bridge is a wreck, and the 

 vciad between here and Manistee Ave. is impassible, 

 so teams have to be driven west to Sarasota Ave., 

 and then north to Manatee. But we are to have a 

 steel bridge soon. C. A. Morgan. 



Later, June 19. — The duck recovered. The old 

 ones are laying about the same ; young one also ; 

 four to-day; weather fine ever since our 22-inch 

 rain. C. A. Morgan. 



Bradentown, Fla., June 12. 



THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES ; A BRIEF REPORT FROM 

 A VISITOR THERE. 



Mr. A. I. Boot: — On the occasion of my visit to 

 Bradentown in March you expressed a desire to 

 know what I thought of the Everglades after seeing 

 them. Last month my friend Mr. Everett and my- 

 self made a trip across the State in a small launch. 

 We were 16 days on the trip. 



Leaving here May 8 we ascended the Caloosa- 

 hatchee River to Lake Hicopchee, then across it 

 tlirough three miles by canal, across Lake Okee- 

 chobee, to the hotel at the mouth of the south 

 (Miami) canal. We had had an accident, breaking 

 our propeller shaft. The only place to get any re- 

 pairs was at a dredge, so we went 16 miles down 

 the south canal to the dredge Hicpochee. However, 

 this gave us a chance to see the country. 



The soil is deep muck, pure black. We stopped 

 at Mr. Bryant's place, five miles out. He had sev- 

 eral kinds of vegetables growing — beans, sweet po- 

 tatoes, and strawberries. But his sugarcane seemed 

 to make the most remarkable growth. No fertilizer 

 was used. 



At the Callahan place, on the south shore of the 

 lake, quite extensive experiments have been made. 

 He had a nursery of grajje fruit and orange trees, 

 bananas, vegetables, red clover, alfalfa, rhodes grass, 

 etc. They looked healthy and thrifty. 



It is 64 miles from the lake to Fort Lauderdale. 

 For perhaps half a mile from the lake the custard 

 apple thrives. Beyond this, for perhaps 30 miles, 

 one can see nothing but sawgrass. Of course, it ap- 

 pears absolutely level. Two dredges and the drill 

 boat are working above the dam, and a suction 

 di-edge below. The dam is 28 miles from Ft. Lau- 

 derdale. 



The glades are being cultivated along the canals 

 about 6 miles out on the north, and 14 miles on the 

 south canal. 



The colony at Zona, on the South Lauderdale ca- 

 nal, appears prosperous. They have a canning fac- 



