GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 5. — The Barker cultivator in the liack-yard 

 garden. 



Root suggested having it run up to the 

 pantry window so she could toss out to the 

 chickens anything she did not want in cook- 

 ing or in prepaiing our meals. Picture No. 

 1 shows the whole tribe up near the pantry 

 window. The opening shown in No. 2 goes 

 into the basement where I take my noonday 

 nap : and whenever I open my eyes after a 

 refreshing sleep my beautiful little flock of 

 chicks are sure to be first before the window 

 for mc to talk to them when I awake. 



By the way, friends, don't you think that 

 that is quite a pretty poultry-yard as shown 

 in Nos. 3 and 4? No. 4 shows something 

 else. In our new liome we have a lawn out 

 in front of the house; axl Mrs. Root pe- 

 titioned for a lawn in the back yard also. 

 I told her it was the best ground we had on 

 the premises, and 1 did not want to spare 

 it, and we had some little disagre^m'.'nt 

 about it. But one day 1 happened to think 

 something like this: Suppose the dear wo- 

 man should be. taken awiiy, and I should 



look back and remember that I objected to 

 giving her just a little bit of green lawn in 

 the back yard, Avhere she spent so much 

 time hanging out her clothes and doing other 

 things to keep our premises neat and tidy. 

 Then I went straightway and got a profes- 

 sional lawn-maker to level off the gTound 

 and sow the proper kind of seed; and now 

 we have a lawn as you see it, and a man 

 comes around and mows it once a week. 

 You- might think that the white mark in the 

 lower edge of the picture was a cement walk 

 out to the clothes-line reel; but it is really 

 a glimpse of tlie galvanized pijae that sprin- 

 kles the garden and the back-yard lawn. 

 It has not been used this year so far, for 

 nature has done all the sprinkling. 



Picture No. 5 gives you a glimpse of this 

 same sprinkler and also a glimpse of our 

 Medina clay soil. When the ground in just 

 right after a rain, this little machine makes 

 about the best dust-mulcher around the 

 plant, and does it at less expense than any 

 other tool I have ever gotten hold of. On 

 top of the cultivator, if you look carefully 

 you will see the three keen steel curved 

 blades I have spoken of. It is a good plan 

 to turn the cultivator over and use these 

 first and then finish Avith the mulching 

 attachment. As -the two oldest pullets I 

 have mentioned are today, June 24, about 

 12 weeks old, I shall be watching for the 

 first egg, possibly in July, but probably not 

 till August or some time later. In picture 

 No. 2 you get a glimpse of the whole flock 

 looking thru the basement window to see if 

 I have woke up yet. In fact, they went 

 down thru the window to make me a vi.«it 

 until I put some poultry-netting across to 

 keep them out. 



Oh, yes ! here is another picture of the 

 Eglintine chicks, after all. It was taken 

 down in our Florida home just before I 

 sent them north by express. Thej' are just 

 in front of the j^ineapples that were plan! - 

 ed partly in the shade of that rubber-tree I 

 have mentioned. Three of them were four 

 weeks old, and the other six were only one 

 week old. There were two difficulties in 

 regard to the shipment. Day-old chicks, of 

 course, go long distances safely; but with. 

 week-oldi chicks it is a little different. They 

 must not only be fed and watered, but they 

 must be kept warm. The number was al- 

 most too small to keep up the needed tem- 

 I^erature in that thin light market -basket ; 

 so I put a wooden division in the middle 

 of the basket, and this inside sleeping-room, 

 as we might call it, was lined with a thin 

 cr.shion filled with cotton batting. On their 

 long trip there was liable to be considerable 

 change of temp^^rature, and therefore I 



