370 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



will not confine fowls; but it does very well 

 to keep them out o/any small enclosure. 



The grain for feeding them twice a day is 

 kept in the fish-house on the dock. They 

 don't seem to fancy going out over the wa- 

 ter; but when the hour approaches for feed- 

 ing-time the whole crowd gradually gather 

 down by the water; and when Mr. S. with a 

 bucket of grain calls "chuck, chuck, chuck, " 

 there is a regular stampede from the woods 

 and jungles and everywhere else; and then 

 such a scrambling and quarreling to see 

 which will get the most! Why, football 

 "isn't in it" at all. 



Well, when he was ready to plant out an 

 acre of tomatoes, friend S. said the chickens 

 must be fenced off to the north side of the 

 island. You see it takes less fence than to 

 surround this acre. When all was ready, he, 

 pail in hand, took the whole flock through 

 the gate, and Mrs. Root began to rejoice 

 that the daily "jubilee" was to be at least 

 a little further off; but toward noon first one 

 and then another of our "particular friends" 

 made their appearance at the "old stand," 

 and, with great rejoicing, began celebrating 

 their return from captivity. It seems some 

 himted holes in the fence; others climbed 

 trees and flew over; but one wing was clip- 

 ped—the fence made better, and then we 

 tried to call them back as before. Not much! 

 Corn and wheat were very good things ; but 

 when it came to robbing them of their old 

 hunting-grounds, like the patriots of former 

 days they, the dozen or more who stood out, 

 held a caucus and made a declaration (of in- 

 dependence) —" Give me liberty or give me 

 death;" and instead of running after the 

 pail, as of yore, they "legged it" for the 

 dense thicket over on the south; and the 

 way they made the rich black woods dirt 

 fly was a caution. Neighbor S. declared he 

 would "starve them to it," but they board- 

 ed themselves, and slipped up slily and laid 

 some eggs in their old nests near the house 

 besides. Of course, they do and will steal 

 their nests off in the woods where even 

 Clara and Flossy can not find them; and 

 along in December one hen marched up to 

 the house with ten pretty chickens. The 

 family' seemed to think them of not much 

 account (as they were rather out of season) 

 but after three had died from the effects of 

 the cold storms I decided to try my old and 

 sure "chicken medicine." Shall I tell you 

 what it isl — a pocketful of wheat. For small 

 chickens, " give a dose every two or three 

 hours." I began watching the chickens, 

 made friends with their mother, and no more 

 died except one that fell into a tub of water 

 while trying to get a drink. 



In January another hen brought out ten 

 chickens, and every one is alive now. In 

 February a third mother came out with 

 twelve. All the care I give is to give them a 

 handful of wheat out of that pocket when- 

 ever they chase after me. The day they 

 came from the nest they didn't take any 

 wheat; the second day, a little; and the 

 third day, when their mother called, they 

 came with such a "hop, skip, and jump," 



flopping their pretty little wings to show 

 how they thanked God for givingT;heni life, 

 that all my boyish enthusiasm for poultry 

 returned, and I decided then and there that 

 I wanted to "live and die with chickens" 

 (and bees). 



After they were two weeks old they had 

 learned to scratch to such an extent it was 

 a most comical sight to see them make the 

 dirt fly. Plenty of good water was provided 

 automatically by an accident. I placed one of 

 our rainwater- barrels upon a block of wood 

 so Mrs. Root could dip it up without going up 

 and down the doorsteps. Well, this elevated 

 barrel leaked a little, drop by drop; and after 

 Mrs. R. placed a large clamshell under 

 the dropping it was, most of the time, full 

 and running over. Plenty of nice water is 

 almost as important as plenty of wheat. I 

 presume cracked wheat would have been 

 Detter when the chicks were only a few 

 days old; but we didn't have it, so they had 

 whole wheat from "start to finish," or un- 

 til they could eat corn. 



Yesterday I was so busy nailing up nucleus 

 hives I did not heed the mother and her 

 twelve expectant ones until she hopped up 

 on the workbench, where she could look me 

 square in the face and tell me her story. 

 In "hen talk" it was about as follows: 



"Look here, Uncle Amos, can't you see 

 us right here before you? We have been 

 away off in the woods scratching and work- 

 ing hard. We are tired and hungry. I have 

 the whole twelve yet. and aren't they beau- 

 ties? Won't you please give us some 

 wheat?" 



After they had eaten all they needed, and 

 had taken copious drinks from the clamshell, 

 they made my heart glad with their antics. 



Of course, I can't tell how well it pays to 

 raise chickens by feeding wheat at $1.40 per 

 bushel until they can eat com, or say crack- 

 ed corn; but some of our expert poultry- 

 breeders can doubtless tell. Broilers are 

 worth here from 30 to 50 cts. , and full-grown 

 pullets are never less than 50 cts. each. 

 There are some incubators around here, but 

 I hardly think I should want one where Na- 

 ture is accommodating. 



Anywhere in the world, besides Florida, 

 150 full-grown fowls right around the house 

 would make the ground untidy and unpleas- 

 ant under foot; but not so here. This por- 

 ous sandy soil and their incessant scratching 

 keeps the ground clean; in fact, our yard all 

 around the house can be and is swept clean 

 with a broom; and even under the trees 

 where they roost, the black woods dirt is 

 worked over, and so it is never in any con- 

 dition like such places in the North. The 

 chickens go off an eighth of a mile in the 

 woods, and are now never molested. * There 



*I have just questioned Mr. S., and he says the first 

 year he came on the island he shot and trapped 56 

 coons, 3 wildcats, 4 foxes, and one skunk; so you see 

 this ideal spot for poultry was secured only by some en- 

 ergetic work. Besides the value of the skins, he cut up 

 the carcasses and fed the meat to the chickens. During 

 his largest yield of eggs he kept grain where the laying 

 hens could help themselves, and really had an "egg- 

 farm " where the labor part was almost reduced simply 

 to gathering the eggs. 



