iJ02 



glea:nings in bee culture. 



Nov. 



up, one of these grubs. I got an ear of corn 

 and called my tlock of Brahmas. A few- 

 grains scattered in the furrow after the 

 plowman, did the business. After that the 

 chickens were up (and dressed and had their 

 faces washed, so to speak), ready to follow 

 the plow as soon as the first furrow was 

 turned in the morning : and didn't they look 

 animated and happy, as they gobbled up the 

 grubs — yes. and worms and insects of other 

 kinds? Pretty soon the three hens that 

 stole their nests, and gave me three broods 

 of chickens in September, found out what 

 was going on, and they, too. began follow- 

 ing the plow. Of course, there are times 

 when it is not so pleasant to have the fowls 

 chasing after you. Then you want to shut 

 them up in a spacious yard made of poidtry- 

 netting. But by a little planning you can 

 have them to clean your ground pretty thor- 

 oughly of most of the pests of the kind I 

 have spoken of. I have been told, that a 

 tlock of ducks will rid a large patch of po- 

 tatoes of the potato-bug, but I have never 

 had an opportunity of testing the matter. 

 If this be so, it seems to me that friend 

 Terry could afford to buy a brood of ducks, 

 instead of employing so many men and boys 

 to do that which the ducks could do so very 

 much easier, quicker, and better. I have 

 told you, in former chapters, how we employ 

 very small chickens to rid the greenhouse of 

 the green fly. 



A few days ago a friend was discussing as 

 to whether a garden can have too much 

 manure. He said the result would be, the 

 gi'ound would be so full of angle-worms that 

 nothing could be raised. This may be, in 

 some measure, true ; for angle-worms have 

 troubled us by getting into the stalks of cel- 

 ery on our most heavily manured ground. I 

 do not know that they do any harm, but they 

 alarm customers, when they find there are 

 worms in the celery. Another thing, I think 

 very likely that angle-worms consume a val- 

 uable portion of the manure. Uo you want 

 to know the remedy? Gather all the fowls 

 on the premises about you, then plow, culti- 

 vate, and harrow the ground Avhere the an- 

 gle-worms are troublesome, and I think the 

 biddies will clear them out to your perfect 

 satisfaction, and at small expense. 



The finest plum-orchard I ever saw, I be- 

 lieve, was in a poultry-yard. Enough poul- 

 try was kept so the ground was perfectly 

 l)are under the plum-trees. Not a weed nor 

 speck of vegetation of any kind could obtain 

 a foothold. As a consecjuence, the curculio, 

 when shaken from the trees, was captured 

 by the fowls, which had thorouglily learned 

 the trade. And. in fact, they not only gob- 

 bled every weed as soon as it showed itself, 

 but they took every thing in the way of an 

 insect from the smooth hard ground. The 

 poultry paid a good prolit. and the plum- 

 trees bore enormously. The ground was. of 

 course, underdrained. and fertilized up to a 

 high state of cultivation before the poultiT- 

 yard was established. Mr. Jas. Mattoon. of 

 Atwater, Portage Co.. O., is the man who 

 owns the plum-orchard and poultry-yard, 

 and he told me he had just received $200 for 

 his plum-crop. 



The apple-worm, that is such a pest to 

 fruit-growers, is the larva of the codlin 

 moth, and for a time it seemed as if there 

 were no remedy for wormy apples. By 

 keeping pigs, however, under the apple- 

 trees, in the same way that friend Mattoon 

 keeps the poultry under the plum-trees, ev- 

 ery wormy apple is devoured so quickly that 

 no larva ever reaches the moth stages of ex- 

 istence, and in the course of time the or- 

 chard bears large fine apples, without any 

 worm at the core. It is not at all likely that 

 this subject of making these dumb friends 

 of ours assist in destroying the insect-ene- 

 mies of fine fruits and vegetables has by any 

 means been fully explored ; but rewards 

 like those I have mentioned above are in 

 store for the man who loves his poultry and 

 pigs, and cattle and horses. Study their 

 habits ; study their tastes ; recognize them 

 as your neighbors, given by a wise and kind 

 Father, to minister to our comfort and hap- 

 piness, and you will find, on more intimate 

 acquaintance, that they have abilities and 

 qualifications to assist you in your work ; 

 yes, even during some of your grievous 

 trials and troubles, that you would never 

 dream of had you not cultivated these in- 

 timate and friendly relations of which I 

 have been speaking. 



To be continued Dec. 15, IS6'6. 



