230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 1 



the fear of the bread-line grows considerably less 

 distinct. 



These recorded profits have been made In the Ar- 

 kansas rice-belt every season for the past four or 

 five years. 



Undeveloped rice lands are within easy reach of 

 any one with a very modest capital. The first out- 

 lay is not great. One can start in a small way and 

 let his accruing profits develop and increase his 

 holdings. 



Rice is as staple an article of food as wheat or 

 corn. It is less liable to failure, under proper con- 

 ditions, than either of those cereals. The market 

 is world-wide. It need not be sought. Rough rice 

 from the thrasher sells at 90 cts. to 81.00 a bushel. 



Sixty per cent of the population of the world live 

 on rice alone. The progressive American farmer is 

 not likely to overlook a bet where all the chances 

 are in his favor. 



Poultry Department 



By A. I. Root 



MY INDIAN-RUNNER-DUCK STORY. 



"A duck before two ducks, a duck behind 

 two ducks, a duck between two ducks, how 

 many ducks were there?" 



In my childhood days the above was a 

 problem or conundrum that we children 

 were fond of repeating over and over. Well, 

 before I can get right down to my "duck 

 story ' ' I shall have to digress a little. When 

 my flock of chickens got up toward 300 they 

 seemed to think they needed a little more 

 room than my two acres afforded, especial- 

 ly when the severe drouth began to make 

 green food scarce, and so I purchased three 

 acres more, right adjoining the creek I have 

 before mentioned. Well, in putting a fence 

 of netting along the stream to keep the 

 chickens in and to keep "varmints " out we 

 had quite a difficult job, owing to the dense 

 undergrowth of bushes, etc.; and in one spot 

 there was a sort of cave, or cavern, opening 

 just a little above the water level. Some- 

 body told me this used to be an alligator- 

 cave, and on inspection I found the top 

 overhead worn smooth and hollow, d out as if 

 the great reptiles had worn a sort of groove 

 by rubbing their scaly backs against the 

 soft rock as they crawled in and out, say for 

 hundreds or perhaps a thousand years past. 

 Such or similar records have always had an 

 especial charm for me, for they give one a 

 little insight into the probable age of this 

 earth we live on. When exploring the caves 

 in Arizona, as well as Mammoth and other 

 caves, I have watched the deposits of bat 

 guano, and figured, as well as I could, how 

 long the bats had probably been roosting on 

 the ceiling overhead, and raising the floor 

 with the accumulation of the droppings for 

 ages; and when I took visitors around over 

 the place, I always showed them where alli- 

 gators had in past ages "scratched their 

 backs " on the roof of my cave. I always 

 gave this information as a sort of joke; and 

 little did I dream that, when my neighbor 

 Rood sold me the three acres for $450, he 

 threw in a real live alligator. But I am an- 

 ticipating, for I find I shall have to digress 

 once more before I get to my duck story. 



When building the fence I noticed at the 

 further corner, down by the creek, quite a 

 stream of water coming from off across the 

 lots; and by putting in some tiles we carried 

 this stream clear across the three acres, 

 above the creek, so as to get something like 

 a fourth of an acre under sub-irrigation with- 

 out putting down an artesian well, which 

 would cost, in this locality, toward what the 

 whole three acres cost. You see this stream 

 is principally made up from the waste water 

 from the wells of my two neighbors, Mr. 

 Rood and Dr. Braymer. Well, when our j 

 tiles were laid to a point just above the "al- fl 

 ligator-cave, " as there was still quite a nice m 

 stream of water left after my sub-irrigated I 

 strip, I turned it down just over the cave % 

 without even thinking I was going to have 

 a beautiful little waterfall, with almost no 

 expense. There was a very small stream al- j 

 ready coming out of the cave, and I had I 

 made a little dam to hold the water for my ■ 

 young ducks when they should be hatched; 

 but I was greatly puzzled to find this dam 

 torn down or flatted down every few days. 

 I told Wesley there must be an intermittent 

 spring up in the cave, that occasionally let 

 a flood of water down, and that washed away 

 our dam; but I was puzzled to know why we 

 never happened to be on hand to see this 

 spring at "flood time." Well, the first 

 brood of ducks were hatched; and when they 

 were about a week old they were taken with 

 the mother "biddie" down to a little yard 

 made around the mouth of the cave, taking 

 along the older duck I have mentioned, as 

 a sort of "chaperon" to the five smaller 

 ducks. All went well for a day or two; but 

 one afternoon, in a short space of time, the 

 bigger duck and one of the little ones was 

 missing. Every thing was scanned with 

 great care clear around their enclosure, but 

 not a thing was found to explain their dis- 

 appearance. On the afternoon of the next 

 day Wesley came rushing up to the house 

 to tell us a great alligator had put his head 

 out of the cave, and to get the shotgun in 

 case he came out again. Sure enough, he 

 soon came out again, and wa*i going for the 

 ducks; but the mother hen bristled up, and 

 proposed to show battle in spite of the great 

 yawning jaws that could easily take her at 

 a mouthful. If this is not an illustration 

 of "flying in the face of danger," I don't 

 know what is. Just at the critical moment, 

 when a second or two would decide the un- 

 equal contest, Wesley got his shotgun in 

 play, and gave the brute a broadside right 

 under his right arm. It is well known that 

 an alligator hiie is proof against shot and 

 even bullets unless you strike them in the 

 eye, or under the arm or some other tender 

 spot. We don't know how much he was 

 hurt, but he wheeled around awful sudden 

 and put back into his den. I went for 

 neighbor Raub, whom, you may remember, 

 is a trapper, and he and Wesley worked 

 like beavers all the afternoon; but, although 

 they chased him into a corner of the cave, 

 night came on before they got-him; so they 

 plugged up the hole securely, as they 



