12 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
wa Anoust-1, 1905 ato 
“ The continual cleaning of the floor is fol- 
lowed by the ground becoming based shaped, 
and the result is a damp floor in winter time. 
A cheap and effective plan to prevent this is to 
purchase a piece of black tarpaulin, almost the 
size of the floor,-nail this on two pieces of 
wood, one at each end, and place on the floor of 
house. Every morning roll this up and empty 
the droppings into a wheelbarrow. If the birds 
have been scouring through eating too much 
wet grass and the carpet of tarpaulin has be- 
come dirty, remove it to a tap and put the hose 
on. It is advisable to throw a litrle sand on to 
prevent the droppings from adhering to the 
tarpaulin. This system works well, and saves a 
great deal of time, and prevents the spread of 
vermin.’ 
Hear, hear! ‘This is a novel method and as 
good as it is novel. 
How and What to Feed. 
70: 
Be clean. 
And punctual. 
And particular. 
And be systematic. 
Diversity is an essential 
Feed all mash in a warm state; 
Make them scratch for all the grain. 
Cheap food is sometimes wonderfully dear, 
Never feed smutty, burned or dirty grain, _ 
The man who doesn’t exert himself about 
feding won’t have to do so in the collection of 
eggs. 
: Connie Poultry says green bone should 
be fed three times a week to the hens and daily 
to the male. ; 
Do not forget that animal food of some kind 
is absolutely neeessary for best results in eggs 
and fertility in the winter. 
A farmer stated that half the breed is in 
what goes down their throats. 
Arather crude method of expression, but a 
trite saying without a doubt. i 
- Poultry (says an exchange) should be fed at 
‘regular times for several reasons. A flock soon 
learns its feeding time if itis fed at the same 
time every day, and between meals is contented 
and quiet. If they:are fed whenever the keeper 
happens to think about it they are always look- 
ing for food, and when he comes in sight they 
make a rush for him, expecting something to 
eat, while one that is fed regularly pays but 
little attention to their keeper if he happens to 
visit the yard between meals. If a flock is 
allowed to run at large andis fed only at regular 
times, the fowls will wander away and stay out 
of range during the day, except at meal times, 
while if regular feeding is not practised, every 
time the keeper appears the fowls will be seen 
.tt eowe hurrying to the feeding place. It is 
especially important that fowls kept on limited 
runs or small yards should be taught to look for 
food only at regular hours. If this is not done 
they will spend most of their time looking 
through the fence, expecting someone to come 
along and feed them. Regularity means money 
to the poultry-keeper as to other busine s men, 
' Because a person has the chicken fever it is 
no reason why the fowls. should be made to 
suffer with him because of poor quarters and 
improper care. ttn P ’ 
Subscribe to “The Anstralian Hen.” Price 
_ 3d.—Harris & Son, Sydney. 
‘Will some judge rise up amongst us, and let 
_the publie see which are the true Runners and 
which are not ! 
Disease Prevention and 
Cure. 
50: 
Roup, 
Colds; 
Dysentery, 
And Warts 
Are prevalent 
More so than ever. 
They should not be. 
Want of cleanliness, mostly. 
Want of thcught tu a great extent. 
Prevalence of mites are also a factor. 
There is no remedy for carelessness but reform 
The foundation of health is strong, healthy 
breeding stock. 
Do not let the lice and mites get ahead. 
Prepare to fight them now. 
It is a good deal easier to get rid of a hund red 
lice than a million. 
Get to work right away and get rid of tnem 
before their breedng season arrives, 
Unless they are banished before the chicks 
begin to arrive it will be a hopeless fight. 
Take time by the forelock (says Commercial 
- Poultry) instead of by the fetlock. 
- One of the best tonics is a few drops of tinc- 
ture of iron in the drinking water. 
__ Burn or bury deep the careases nf all fowls 
that die from disease of any kind. 
Do not allow them to lay about where they 
can bring contagion to the whole flock. 
What about a good whitewashing campaign 
before the busy season is on to you ? 
If one of the breeding birds gots a bad attack 
' of disease, it is a good one to leave out of the 
pen. é 
Too much salt means sudden death, but that 
is no zeason why the fowls should not have 
any. 
A pile of rubbish in the pen is simply a 
breeding place for insects, vermin and disease 
germs. 
Bowel trouble comes from: colds, improper 
feeding, and the ravages of lice, mite and ticks. 
Digging up the runs occasionally not only 
freshens them and clears away disease, but 
supplies a certain amount of food to the birds 
as well, 
They say (says the Poultry Review) a will eat 
more filth than even a pig if she has the chanco. 
Do not give her the chance. 
GRIFFITHS 
TEAS 
SATISFY 
BROS. 
49 Rundle St., Adelalde 
Fe gira SAND c Alanis . 
MELBOURNE and SYDNEY. 
The new address of the “ Australian 
Gardener” —The corner of James Place and 
Grenfell street, City. 
_ tion of judges. 
Indian ‘Runner Ducks. 
Heh 
Mr Walker, of Toronto, N.S.W., now gives 
the full twelve months record of his four Indian 
Runner ducks. These birds for the year ending 
May laid 986 eggs, an average of 246°5 each, and 
are still laying. 
If the Indian Runner is to retain its great 
and deserved popularitv, there will:have to be 
a decided change either in the methon of judging 
or the judges themselves, as at present, awards 
aro going to birds that cannot be really Runners 
at all, and that would but poorly represent the 
breed in the matter of egg production also. 
Unfortunately, unscrupulous persons in the 
early days. of the Runner boom introduced all 
sorts of foreign blood into their Runner flocks, 
and as a consequence stock were sent broadcast 
as Runners that were in reality nothing but 
mongrels. 
As a consequence many people who consi- 
dered their birds first-class were merely decsiv- 
-ing themselves and gotting a decidedly false 
impression of Runner characteristics. This 
trouble, however, is being overdone, and it is 
safe to say that.nine out of ten of the elder 
breeders are unanimous as to what constitutesa 
first-class Runuer of either sex, and are breed- 
iyg for this ideal. The trouble now is the selec- 
Indian Runners now constitute 
one of the biggest classes at some of our shows, 
anh as much care should be exercised in the 
selection of a judge as for any othor secsion. | 
Yet what do we see?’ Tho judge for Runners is 
generally a man who bred ducks, and is not 
competent to judge the more popular varieties 
of poultry and has all the ducks allotted to 
him in andition to such poultry classes as Hou- 
dons, Cochins, Brahamas, and others that 
average about 1) entries por class. Or to put it 
plainly, Runners are usually judged by the 
official with the smallest reputation, as a judge, 
in the entire show, 
Is it any wonder, then, that we. see birds that 
would pass, for very fair Rouens awarded first 
cards as Runners by judges who go by size . 
alone—birds with black heads, with greon sheen 
and breasts as deeply imbued with claret a3 a 
French tiper’s nose. Is it arly wonder we see 
birds of Aylesbury, Pekin and Muscovy type and 
build, scoring time after time. 
Will the judges selected to pass an opinion on 
this breed study tbeir standard or refuse to act ? 
Will they remember the long, wedge-shaped 
head; the long, thin neck ; the long, slim body 
and uprisht bearing ? 
Will they remember that the color of the 
featbers (apart from the white) should be as 
even as possible throughout, except the tail of 
the drake, which is darker? Will they remember 
that a black head should cause a bird to be 
passed, so should claret breast, blue wing bars, 
horizontal bearing or shape? Will they remem- 
ber that the standard weight of Runners is 
Drake 44 lbs, Duck 4 lbs, and that an adherence 
to these weights is imperative in the best in- 
terests of the breed, large sizo being objection- 
able, as indicating cross-breeding. We have in 
the perfect Runner a bird in which show points 
can be had combined with excellent laying, and. 
we do not wish to see the breed lose its purity, 
and incidentally the only qualities for which it 
deserves keeping—its comparatively small appe- 
- tite and wonderful laying qualities. 
Printed for. the ‘Proprietor by the. Caxton 
Printery at their office, Corner of James 
Place and Grenfell St., Adelaide. 
