314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May 15 



teaching the fathers how to do better work 

 to such an extent that it has been suggested 

 that the entire corn crop of the South has 

 been greatly increased by this "boys' corn 

 club." Truly, as we have it in the scrip- 

 tures, "A little child shall lead them." This 

 wonderful advance in corn-growing reminds 

 us of what Phil Sheridan is reported to have 

 said at the close of our civil war — "The 

 South ought to raise less hell and more cot- 

 ton." This advice seems to have been fol- 

 lowed, although it now seems to be corti 

 along with old King Cotton. And may the 

 Lord be praised, too, that this corn is not to 

 be used for the purpose of making whisky. 

 In closing this corn talk let me remind 

 you that our principal experiment stations 

 are warning our farmers that, for some rea- 

 son or other not yet apparent, the quality 

 of the average seed corn is poorer this spring 

 than ever before. Indeed, some of it saved 

 on the most approved methods — that is, 

 methods that used to be considered the best 

 — give a germination of only about 40 per 

 cent. Our own seed corn was kept over 

 winter in our slatted bushel boxes hanging 

 under the steam-pipes; and from tests we 

 made in the greenhouse, every kernel seems 

 to germinate perfectly. 



ROTTEN EGGS AND— OTHER THINGS. 



We take pleasure in copying from Up-to- 

 Date Farming a little sermon. See what 

 you think of it: 



There have been several instances of the seizure 

 of bad eggs in transit from the seller to the purchas- 

 er, and their contJscation by the national authori- 

 ties. One case of this kind, growing out of the 

 seizure of a large quantity of bad eggs in transit 

 from St. Louis. Mo., to Peoria. 111., was taken to the 

 Supreme Court of the United States, where a deci- 

 sion was rendered in favor of the authorities, and 

 fully justifying the seizure and confiscation of the 

 bad eggs. Justice McKenna, In rendering the deci- 

 sion, said: 



"The power of confiscation is certainly appropri- 

 ate to the right to bar them (bad eggs) from Inter- 

 state commerce, and complete the purpose, which 

 Is not to prevent merely the physical movement of 

 adulterated articles, but the iise of them, or, rather, 

 to prevent trade in them between the States by de- 

 nying to them the facilities of interstate commerce. 

 All articles, compound or single, not intended for 

 consumption by the producer, are designed for sale: 

 and because they are, It is the concern of the law to 

 have them pure." 



Now. these bad eggs were seized and destroyed by 

 the authorities of the government because their use 

 would be harmful to the people, and the public can 

 not but approve the decision sustaining it, and 

 thank the Supreme Court for having rendered It. 

 But there are other articles as harmful as bad eggs, 

 and that the people of localities, and even States, 

 have declared by majority vote that they will not 

 have within their borders, but that are shipped 

 therein with impunity, and such shipments are up- 

 held by the government. We refer to intoxicating 

 liquors. If the shipment of rotten eggs from one 

 State to another can be prohibited, and such ship- 

 ments confiscated and destroyed for the protection 

 of the people, like shipments of intoxicating liquors 

 may certainly be prohibited on precisely the same 

 grounds, particularly where the people themselves 

 have declared against such articles because of their 

 harmful nature. But there is not the financial and 

 political power behind rotten eggs that there is be- 

 hind intoxicating liquors. 



After reading the above I gave it a most 

 hearty amen; and I want to add, may God 

 be praised that our agricultural periodicals 

 are having the conscience and courage to 



come out so plainly against a traffic that is 

 a thousand times worse than rotten eggs or 

 any thing else that is " rotten." Will other 

 periodicals pass it along? 



Poultry Department 



By A. I. Root 



MY SIMPLICITY HEN'S-NEST, BROODER, AND 

 POULTRY-HOUSE. 



Now you may not believe it, friends, but 

 during the past winter I have made still 

 another "great discovery." If it does not 

 entirely revolutionize poultry-keeping, I am 

 sure it will, if you put it in practice, "revo- 

 lutionize " the habit of paying three or four 

 dollars for a brooder or chicken-coop, or fif- 

 teen or twenty dollars or more for a portable 

 colony-house or poultry-house. We will 

 commence first with what I think I will call 

 my "simplicity" hen's nest. To com- 

 mence with, I do not like a nest in the 

 roosting-house; and, for that matter, in a 

 warm climate like that of Southern Florida 

 I prefer to have it out in the open — not in 

 any house at all. Having a nest in the 

 barn or in the granary or other building 

 where you keep your feed may do very well; 

 but if the nests are to be used for hatching 

 chickens as well as for laying eggs, I much 

 prefer them outdoors away from the rest of 

 the poultry as much as possible, and ofif by 

 themselves. During the spring, summer, 

 and fall months here in the North the ar- 

 rangements I am about to describe will be 

 found just as useful as down in Florida. 

 After studying over the matter a good deal 

 I prefer a nest in a shallow box. The size 

 of the box depends upon the breed of fowls. 

 For the common Leghorns I would have 

 them about 12X15, and the sides about 5 

 inches high. For hatching chickens in the 

 summer, for several reasons I prefer a box 

 without top or bottom; but if you are likely 

 to wish to carry the box to some different 

 place, letting the hen, eggs, and all remain, 

 you had better have a bottom in the box. 

 Besides, a bottom of some sort adds to the 

 strength of the box unless the corners are 

 nailed very securely. Now, there is noth- 

 ing new in having a hen lay eggs or hatch 

 chickens in a shallow box. By the way, I 

 would have the box shallow to prevent the 

 hen breaking her eggs when she jumps 

 into it. Well, this box with its nest needs 

 some sort of protection or covering for sev- 

 eral reasons. First, the average hen of any 

 breeil greatly prefers privacy. She should 

 also be protected from the weather. While 

 most of us have secured excellent hatches 

 with hens out in bushes or fence-corners, 

 unprotected from heavy rains, it is not al- 

 ways the case. In December I had a hen 

 with 18 eggs nearly ready to hatch out in 

 the bushes during a rain of about four inch- 

 es. The ground was flooded, and the nest 

 must have been pretty well soaked with 

 water for several hours. She gave a hatch 



