1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



901 



oats to put away. The load is driven up the 

 bank bridge on the main floor, right over the 

 horses; the door to the oat-bin is sv.'ung 

 back, and the bags are emptied right off 

 from the wagon, right into this bin. The 

 oats are never handled any more until they 

 run themselves right down within arm's 

 reach of the horses' manger. These bins 

 for grain are made rat-proof. The cement 

 floor makes it impossible for rats to dig holes 

 in or around the barn. If rats or mice trou- 

 ble me in the poultry-house I will put wire 

 netting about six inclies underneatli llie sur- 

 face of the ground wliich forms the lloor. I 

 greatly prefer a dirt Hoor for fowls. A deep 

 trench around the outside keeps tlie water 

 away so the inside is always like dry dust. 

 Peat from the swamp forms a good aljsorb- 

 ing material to be placed under the roosts. 



Now, then : The horses do our work and 

 manufacture an excellent manure; the cow 

 furnishes milk and butter, and also contrib- 

 utes largely to the manure heap ; the pigs 

 chew up and dig up all the tr:;sh and refuse 

 from the table or the garden, orchard, etc. 

 They convert this into manure, and give us 

 pork, ham, etc. The poultry, next door, 

 furnish eggs to go with the ham, and also 

 give us a very valuable addition to the ma- 

 nure heap, before mentioned. The pigs 

 work it in thoroughly, stirring it up without 

 charging a cent. The business of the own- 

 er is to reward these friends of ours for 

 their contributions by giving them nice 

 clean warm quarters, perfectly protected 

 from the weather, abundance of good food 

 at just the proper time, and (I hope) lots of 

 encouraging and loving words. He certain- 

 ly can afford it, even if he does not— don't 



you think so, my friend? Is it yoio- custom 

 to make friends with your horse, your cow, 

 your pigs, and your chickens? All these 

 friends of ours are fond of a variety in their 

 food ; and they appreciate, more keenly than 

 many people imagine, any little act of kind- 

 ness in the way of delicacies. Almost any 

 horse will learn to beg for apples whenevei' 

 his keeper comes around liim, after he has 

 been treated to fruit just a few times. Ap- 

 ples that have been blown off the trees by 

 the high winds can frequently be purchased 

 at a very small price. ^Ve have just bought 

 a load of forty bushels, at only live cents a 

 bushel. A good many of them had com- 

 menced to decay after they were gathered. 

 was one reason why we got them at this low 

 price. Well, we commenced giving tliem to 

 the horses, at the rate of about a peck a day. 

 We soon found the .Jersey cow, too, was 

 very fond of them ; and finally the chickens 

 gave us to understand that they relished 

 fruit also, by getting up on to the wagon and 

 pecking the very largest and nicest apples 

 on the load. We took the hint, and now 

 they have all they want to eat. To-day it is 

 stormy and cold, and the ground is covered 

 with snow ; but tlie chickens are under 

 their glass sash, scratching wheat from 

 among a pile of forest-leaves, and pecking 

 apples for a change. Even the pigs, too, re- 

 ceive their share of the big forty-bushel 

 wagon-load, and I am inclined to think it 

 would be a good investment, even if the ap- 

 ples had cost us ten cents instead of five 

 cents. Dear reader, is it true, that you let 

 apples go to waste on the ground, when your 

 horses and cattle, chickens and pigs, will 

 appreciate them, as our domestic animals do? 



CHAPTER XXX. 



And let them have doiuiuioii over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over all the 

 earth, and over every creeping thing- that creepeth upon the earth.— Gen. 1: 28. 



It is really surprising to see how often 

 these four kinds of dumb friends of ours 

 that I have been talking about in the pre- 

 ceding chapter can be brought in play to 

 aid the market-gardener. As an illustra- 

 tion : We now sell potatoes on our market- 

 wagon, and it has not taken us long to learn 

 how quickly good potatoes go off' at a good 

 price, where poor and indifferent ones will 

 hardly sell at all. One great trouble with 

 potatoes is tlip (Jamage oecasionecl tb^^m by 



: grubs. Very often the nicest specimens you 

 raise will be gnawed into, and made un- 

 • sightly-looking, by these same pests. What 

 j is the remedy? Well, some tell us there is 

 ! no remedy. If you raise potatoes on sod 

 j ground, you will have them scabby and eat- 

 ; en. But, hold on a bit. my friend. Sup- 

 pose you have made friends of your chick- 

 ens, so that they like to be around you. We 

 I have just been plowing on the creek bottom, 

 ! and I noticed, as the nice ground was turned 



