264 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



Knob, Laclede Co., Mo., at a brother-in-law's, 

 I was greatly interested in their flock of 

 about 50 turkeys. I was particularly inter- 

 ested in seeing them start from the ground 

 and fly to the top of the highest trees. Ever 

 since I have been studying flying-machines 1 

 never tire of seeing all kinds of birds fly. 

 While I am about it I want to say there are 

 two things I especially admire in the region 

 about Dry Knob. First, nobody ever steals 

 poultry there (no saloons), no, not even when 

 turkeys roost on the fence right adjoining 

 the highway at Thanksgiving time. The 

 other is, there is only one kind of time in all 

 that region. Everybody has railroad time. 

 "Sun time" and all that nonsense is un- 

 known. 



Well, Stoddard is right, I think, in saying 

 that chickens must be taught at a very early 

 age to use their wings as well as legs. En- 

 courage them in every way to learn to fly. 

 Open-air exercise cures evei'y thing, and 

 where in the world do you And any thing 

 that combines both exercise and open air like 

 flying? One day, in feeding my old hen with 

 her flock of 29, I dropped some feed on top 

 of the work- bench. She hopped up and found 

 it and commenced her shrill "cut-cut-cut." 

 Like loyal soldiers, a lot of the ten-day-old 

 chicks essayed to fly up. Some of them got 

 moi'e than half way up; and when I set a 

 box just right it was great fun for them to 

 get up where their motner was. I began then 

 admiring those beautiful little rudimentary 

 wings — God's handiwork, or, perhaps we 

 might say, fingerwork. They are now about 

 18 days old. They have wheat all the time, 

 but I give them for a change dry bread mois- 

 tened with water, or other things I know 

 they are fond of. I do not know but the lit- 

 tle "darlings" have got it into their heads 

 there is sure to be "fun going on" of some 

 kind whenever I come round^ and they fly 

 up on my hands and arms, and on the dish 

 I am holding, and give me all the chance I 

 could ask for to study the penciling of those 

 beautiful gauzy wings as well as the grace- 

 ful airy motions that Ood taught them in oi'- 

 der that they may fly. 



While I am writing I have just spread out 

 one of the soft lacy wings in my fingers, and 

 almost fear I shall lose my love for flowers 

 in admiring these animated creatures, so full 

 of life and energy. The Wright Bros, have 

 done a wonderful work; but, oh dear me! 

 when will mankind ever approach any thing 

 so strong, light, and graceful as a chicken's 

 wing? and when shall we ever get the won- 

 drous power and strength for so little weight 

 as was tied up in a tiny fragile eggshqll only 

 18 days ago? 



Did I forget to mention that my good old 

 friend the sitting hen takes all the chicks as 

 fast as they come from the incubator? Well, 

 she does; and when the late arrivals get tired 

 and chilly she broods them, while tne older 

 ones roam near by and scratch to their 

 hearts' content. 



A. I. root's watering-device. 



I think I have seen most of the watering- 

 devices; but where they are on loose ground 



the fowls will scratch more or less dust or 

 dirt into them. Here is one that pleases me. 

 Get a board an inch larger around than a 

 common saucer. Round or eight-sided is 

 rather better than a square board. With a 

 compass draw a circle an inch larger in di- 

 ameter than the saucer. Now drive ten-pen- 

 ny nails in this circle, IJ inches apart. Let 

 the nails go in about half through the board. 

 This forms a little stand, as it were, with a 

 lot of legs; and, when set over the saucer, it 

 lets the chickens' heads in to drink, but no 

 more. Of course, 29 chicks will soon drink 

 a saucerful; but you are to get the biggest 

 bottle you can tind, and bore a hole in the 

 center of the board lai'ge enough to let the 

 neck of the bottle go down a little below the 

 top edge of the saucer. This will keep the 

 saucers just level full, and no more, as long 

 as there is water in the bottle. To keep it 

 clear away from dust and trash I would set 

 it up on a box and have steps or stairs for 

 very small chickens to go up. A similar ar- 

 rangement will do for wheat or any kind of 

 grain. To keep the older fowls from inter- 

 fering or bothering the chicks I have the 

 wheat and water under my work- bench, with 

 poultry-netting clear around the legs of the 

 work bench. The mother-hen is let into this 

 inclosure nights, so she and her 39 are secure 

 from cats or any other night prowlers. Now, 

 at the other end of my workshop I made a 

 nest in one corner of pretty good size, with 

 an opening through the wall of the shed. 

 This is a retired nest that seems to please the 

 laying hens. Well, one night the hen with 

 her 29 got in here with her brood, and she 

 decided it was a better and more secure place 

 for her large family than in her inclosure un- 

 der the work-bench, as explained. I rousted 

 her out and made her take her old place, but 

 she did a lot of scolding about it. 



Well, last night I came round just as she 

 was making for this forbidden place again, 

 when I said, "No, no! you can't go in there." 

 She obeyed orders, but with a snarling pro- 

 test. When she objects to my "dominion" 

 she has a saucy note that I understand as 

 well as words. It is something like this: 

 "You, you, you, "as much as to say, "Well, 

 who are you, anyhow? " 



Mr. Cosgrove said in the Rural New- York- 

 er, about a year ago, that the talk he had 

 with his pullets when they ai'e just com- 

 mencing to lay was often more interesting to 

 him than the talk of many "humans," and I 

 think I fully agree with him. I have one 

 comical little chick that was "born (in the 

 incubator) out of season, "as it were, and he 

 follows me everywhere, and keeps up an in- 

 cessant talk and visiting. For the very small 

 chicks I fixed for water a tin box-cover 

 placed on a block of wood with nails all 

 round the cover driven slanting with their 

 tops all near together. They very soon 

 learn this means "drink," no matter whei'e 

 I place it. Well, this morning my pet chick 

 came running up to me full of animation and 

 talk, and then he ran up to the drinking-ap- 

 paratus, putting his head between the nails 

 as if to drink, and then scampered back to 



