22 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



CAGE BIRDS, PET ANIMALS, ETC. 



Dogs as Helpers, 



One of the pleasant things about the service 

 of dogs is that they delight to serve. Their 

 work is not for pay, Imt only kind words, gen- 

 tle treatment, and now and then a bone, sufBces 

 to attach them to their masters, for lite and in 

 death. Man has not been slow to avail himself 

 of this willing helper. A new use to which the 

 dog has been put — carrying letters tor a little 

 mining camp in California, is thus reported by 

 a paper : 



The place is hardly big enough to liaveanarae, 

 and of course cannot thiik of having a [..ist (■fflce; 

 but the few niinei's there want their letters just as 

 badly as though tliey lived in New York city itself. 

 They could not tinil a man to hi-ingtliem three miles 

 from the nean-st [lost-c iffice. f. ir cxei y man in a camp 

 wants to dig lor K'old. so they liav.. Iaut,'lit a dog to 

 doit. Dorsev is the nanieot Hip faitlilnl lellow. and 

 he run his three miles every dai . from t'alico where 

 the stage stops, to Bismark, the camp, in twenty 

 minutes, with the letter bag strapped to his back. 



Care of Canary Birds. 



A common nustake with those who undertake 

 to have a canary for the first time, is to keep 

 the cage suspended too near the ceiling. The 

 heat and impurities of the atmosphere rise to 

 the ceiling, and in these the bird can never be 

 healthy, and an unhealthy bird does not sing. 



To keep a bird in a room where gas is burned 

 at night for illumination is also not good, un- 

 less the cage is hung low while the gas is lighted, 

 and is kept covered. A friend who complained 

 that her bird never sang, and moulted continu- 

 ally, was atlvised to move the cage into a room 

 imlighted by gas. Here it put on a splendid 

 coat of plumage and soon began to sing with 

 vigor. 



As for feeding, this is a more simple matter 

 than many suppose. On this point the f olliiwing 

 from the pen of Mrs. Silas Hill, in the PhiUt- 

 delphia Frcas, but somewhat condensed by us, 

 is to the point: 



I have had good success with raising canary birds, 

 having had one bird that lived to lie si-xtcen years 

 and six months old. I have alH ays inl tlii-m every- 

 thing that 1 knew they like to eat inclu.lint; liread. 

 crackers, with boiled potatoes, licet, turnip, lettuce 

 cabbage and cWck weed, I'or srril I get liemp anil 

 canary Imt mostly hemp, as my ninlslike itthehest. 

 I always give my tiirds plenty ot water tor drink anti 

 to ha the in. Plenty ot sand in the cage, cuttle-houe 

 and red peppers, 'i have never had any trouble in 

 raising young birds, 1 give the lit! le ones uard boiled 

 eggs and bread and mnk wiili a sininkling ot sugar 

 in It, One year 1 raised thirteen oirdstroin one pair; 

 eight of them were singers. 



Food for the Mocking Bird. 



Mr. Ruth an experienced bird fancier of 

 Reatling, Pa,, prescribes the followiiig food for 

 these birds: 



"Take the yolk of a hard boiled egg, and about 

 the same amount ot a boiled potato, and mix. 

 Then add as much prepared food to ecjual the 

 amount of the egg and potato. I'Ved in a smalt dish. 

 Mi.x all up thoroughly, feed fresh every day. 

 Give plenty ot clean water and strew the cage with 

 gravel. \V ash out the cups every morniug. A meal 

 worm or a grasshopper every tlay, and once in a 

 while some raw beet, is aloo very good. If the bird 

 gets droopy, feed it a spider.'' 



Scurf in Rabbits. 



Accortling to The Featlti'n'il [Viirld, tliis ail- 

 ment comes from scantiness of fresh green food, 

 or else contagion. The remedy suggested is to 

 wash the parts with warm water, cleaning away 

 every sign of scurf. Half an hour later apply 

 a solution of strong tobacco and water, say an 

 ounce of common shag to half a pint of boil- 

 ing water ; using it luke warm. Continue this 

 treatment every other day for a week. Healthy 

 animals must be kept apart from affected ones. 



Carrier Pigeons MightOften be made 

 Useful. 



Cai'i'ier pigeons have been employed for some 

 time by Dr. Harvey, of Berlin, as assistants. 

 In going tmt on practice the doctor takes sev- 

 eral birds along with him in a small basket, 

 and after seeing a patient, ties the prescrip- 

 tion I'ouiul the neck of one of them and libei'- 



ates him, when he flies straight home to the 

 sm*gei".y, where the meiiicine is prepared and 

 sent to the patient without loss of time. Should 

 any patient be very ill, and an early report of 

 his condition be desired by the physician, a 

 bird is left with him to bring the later tidings. 

 This use of these birds, seems to show that in 

 many cases they might be used to advantage. 



A Berlin paper reports the death of a parrot 

 in Paris at the age of one hundi'ed years. Since 

 the government of Napoleon III it is said to 

 have spoken very little. 



Sunflower seed makes a good addition to the 

 food for hard-billed, seed-eating birds, sucli as 

 all classes of cardinals, grossbeaks, parrots, 

 cockatoos, etc. 



In selecting globes for gold flsh, choose those 

 with thin glass. 



oviltry. 



How to get Eggs in Winter. 



When hens fail to lay in the winter, it is be- 

 cause they ai'e not fairly treated. Suitable 

 feed and shelter should start pullets in laying 

 this month, and to be kept nij steadily through 

 the cold season. The difference in the actual 

 cost of keeping over in good condition for lay- 

 ing, andof keeping them in a halfway condition, 

 ought not to be above a fraction of the increase 

 in the income that attentLs good cai'e, through 

 the high prices winter eggs always command. 



To induce winter laying, rests chiefly, but 

 not wholly with the feetling. The staple food of 

 Indian corn is unequalled for furnishing heat 

 and fat, but is deficient in albumen and phos- 

 phates. For some breeds like the Asiatics it is 

 rather too fattening. Wheat is a more perfect 

 food , as it is also preferred Ijy fowls, when they 

 have a choice of both. A mixture of the two 

 is desirable, with some oats added for a change. 

 There must be at least some variety in the grain 

 fed, for the best results. 



In addition to grain animal food is needed. 

 Where milk in any shape is at hand, it is one 

 of the best of foods. Refuse from the butchers, 

 scrap cake and oft'al from the flsh market fiu'- 

 iiish valuable material for making eggs. We 

 at one time h,ad access to a slaughter house, 

 where hogs lungs coulil be had by the bushel 

 basketful, briven to the hens the)' were tle- 

 voured with avithty, and aided in the return of 

 large yields of eggs in the winter. To feed an- 

 imal lungs, they should have a string tied tightly 

 around the middle, and be hung on strong nails. 

 Then the hens can easily eat them, but if thrown 

 in loose they cannot. 



Vegetable food in some form is also necessary. 

 Potatoes and turnips boiled and mashed with 

 Indian meal is hard to equal. Cabbage is 

 always acceptable, and where there is an ab- 

 sence of other vegetables, provision should be 

 made each season, to have a good stock laid up 

 for the fowls in winter. For lack of ever)' kintl 

 of green vegetables, not a bad substitute may 

 be hatl in clover hay. Those who have never 

 fed this will be sui-prised to .see how fond fowls 

 are of it, at this .season. If fowds have the 

 run of the grounds, and there is no snow 

 laying, they will manage to pick up some 

 green food outside ; this should not be too much 

 counted on. But to aid in the grinding of the 

 food that is going on in the gizzard, and also to 

 afford material for the formation of egg-shells, 

 it must not be forgotten to provide laying hens 

 with small gravel aiitl grit, broken bones, shells 

 and the like. They should have free access 

 constantly to all they will care to consume of 

 such things. 



Properly fed, and kept in a warm, well-lighted 

 and well-ventilated house during the winter, 

 and hens will not fail to lay well. Provisions 

 for heating the house a little during the coldest 



weather, is a form of expenditure that repays 

 amply for the outlay, however warm the' house 

 may otherwise be. 



No Small Matter. 



Too often we fail t^i realize how impoidant a 

 part, the egg product plaj's in the food supply 

 and commerce of our land. On this point Mr. 

 C. P. Dewey sometime since, contributeii some 

 interesting figures to the American Arp-icul- 

 furist, from which we condense the following : 



Five million dozen of eggs are annually im- 

 ported from the Dominion of Canada alone. 

 The egg import from Em'ope is also large. 

 Eggs pay no duty, and when we reflect, that 

 this product comes from millions of humble 

 sources — the poultry yards of small farmers — 

 and that it is only the surplus that goes to 

 market, we may well wonder, where and how 

 the billions of eggs consumed in the United 

 States are produced. It is probable that the 

 egg consumption of our fifty million inhabit- 

 ants is not less than three billion a year, at a 

 valuation of from twenty -five to thirty millions 

 of dollars. There are " egg trains " on the rail- 

 roads of the northern frontier. The import of 

 eggs at Ogdensburg alone, was valued at one 

 hundi'ed and fifty thousand dollars for the last 

 fisc.al year. At Buffalo and in two districts in 

 Maine, nearly thi'ee times this traffic in im- 

 ported eggs is done. These eggs are taken from 

 the original packages, carefully examined by 

 candle or lamp light, ami then repacked, the 

 defective eggs being laid aside. If transporta- 

 tion is not immediate, the eggs are placed in 

 colli storage warehouses, where the temperature 

 is a few degrees above freezing, anil there kept 

 until shipped. 



About Turkeys and Fattening Them. 



A better illustration of the turkey in his 

 prime, is seldom seen than the artist and print- 

 er have set forth in the accompanying engrav- 

 ing. How it came about that this noble 

 American bird, which receives so much atten- 

 tion during our holiday feasts, was given its 

 present name is not known. Some suppose that 

 it arose through a mistaken idea wdien first in- 

 troduced into England, that the bird came from 

 Turkey. But his meat is as sweet and tooth- 

 some, and the profits he affords to his raisers as 

 acceptable under this, as any other name. 



Those who raise turkeys are well aware that 

 the critical time in the life of the fowl, is in the 

 chick state. Indeed so much peril is associated 

 with the rearing of young turkeys, that many 

 Persians maintain that all things consiilered, the 

 matter of profit in growing them is very ques- 

 tionalile. AVe think this is one of those things 

 which depend largely upon circumstances. 

 When these are of such a chai'acter as to iiermit 

 of some special care being given, the raising ot 

 turkeys for market becomes a decidedlj' profit- 

 able business. As a rule the housewife succeeds 

 best in the management of poultry, and the 

 turkeys usually tall to her share as a special 

 perquisite. 



At the present season we have to do with 

 preparing turkeys for mai'ket, rather than with 

 the difficulties of early mouths. Chickens that 

 were hatched early, wiU be large enough to fat- 

 ten this fall, while with older ones this process 

 may be well under way now, for nieeting the 

 demand of Thanksgiving day. For fattening, 

 Indian corn should be chiefly relied upon. By 

 the addition of some oats, gi-inchng both of 

 these grains into a meal, and scalding this with 

 hot sweet milk, a food that fattens quickly is 

 obtained. The atldition of some boiled potatoes 

 or roots to the diet once a da)% will iiniu-ove 

 digestion with goixl effect. Turkeys are gross 

 feeders and lovers of variety ; almost anything 

 that would ordinarily get into the pig trough, 

 will prove acceptable to them. 



Ply the feeding freely and often. Especially 

 in the last three weeks of his life, there must be 

 no stint in pruyidmg corn. A lean turkey 

 will not bring a fat price. 



