T1IK OPTIMIST, st'HIXG 127 



THE OPTIMIST, SPRING. 



A young man returned lioine from a voyage about February 1, and 

 began to brace up Ins father's flock of liens. They had been neglected 

 all winter and had not laid an egg. 



The son cleaned up the pen. put in scratching material, fed vegetables, 

 meat and mash, and along toward the last of the month the hens were 

 laying well. Boasting of hix success with -'the old man's hens" to an 

 old poultry keeper he was met with the cheerful statement: "Yes! good 

 care is all right, but if \ had hens that wouldn't lay now, anyway, I 

 would cut their blamed heads off." 



Blessed spring-time. How it aids us to cherish our little conceits, 

 shows how indispensable our favorite methods are, proves the worth of 

 certain rations and substantiates the claims of the condition powder or 

 "egg food," and allows us at last to truthfully claim that our hens are 

 "good layers.'' 



With happy memories of spring kept fresh in our minds, how easy 

 it is to ignore the other nine months in the year. All hail to the 

 Optimist, Spring. 



