The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1875-06-08 00:00:00

RAISING CHICKENA

Harder still than breaking a hen from setting when you
don't want her to, is to make her set when she dec..%
want to. A hen always has been, and always will be a
mystery to man. She exasperates bins by pretending to
pick solid chuneks of nutriment from the smooth side of
a board, and she jeopardises his reason by her unblemished
obstinacy and unvarying contrariness. We are reminded
very forcibly of this by the recent experience of the man
across the way. He had no hens of his own, hut one of the
neighbours has several, and one of the number showed a
marked indication, a short time ago, to build ups family.
About the woe time he heard of • party in Bethel who
had a lot of choice eggs from a new and remarkable breed
of hens. The owner of the lien didn't want to met it, as he
had all the poultry he could care for, and neediel what
eggs he could l
_get, and bad no money to experiment with
fancy stock. These facts, cooling to the man across the
way, gave him an idea. He was very anxious to have a
lot of liens, and he thought he would buy the eggs and
borrow the neighbour'. hen. Ile said he couldn't tell
half the tune when he was getting good eggs from the
store, and if he only had berm of his own, he would lie sure
of fresh eggs every clay. This suggested to his wife the
awful affair with the cow, two years ago, and she told him
he ought to remember that dreadful experience. All,
yes, but then, my dear, a cow is a much different animal
from a hen. A hen don't kick, of course, and it is absurd
to believe that a hen would tear down a fence, rip up
shrubs, and smash down a whole hot house in one alter-
noon. Besides, you know, there's no churning and back-
breaking in preparing eggs for the tall. Those hens can
play around the yard, and eat the scraps from the
table, and it won't cost a penny to keep them, besides
being of great help and good company. I shall i
take pleasure, and so will you, in looking at
them, and when you come to sit down to a platter of nice
fresh eggs at breakfast, you will look upon it as I do."
That settled it. He saw the owner of the hen, and told
him what he wanted and that he would return the
animal in due time, and also four chickens front the
brood. The offer wax promptly accepted. 'I hen he
bought sixteen eggs for four dollen and eighty rente and
set the hen in a box in the woodshed. The next slay he
learned that the moon lacked two days of being at the
right livarter for assisting an incubating hen, so he
removed the e=s until the proper time. The day after
he was somewhat put back to learn that an even number
of eggs would prove disastrous to the enSerprie-, so lie
took oat one of them and smashed it. He tsie.i now off
right. Everything moved smoothly, and he ea. Mel&
elated. Three limes a day he looked in at the hen And
there she sat, as comfortable as could he, with :Mt over.
bright eye 'hitting steadily aed unflinehite„ly. About teti
dare later, when he came b to tits, his son said, "l's,
the lien was off again this afternoon." "Well, what of
it r Why, Aunt Mary sacs if it stays off too long the
eggs will get chilled. And it was off an hour this Mier-
noon, and I drove it back in the shed, and it unit hack
on the 'wet. And, by graciows, I hail the greatest thee
getting it to go into the shed, although the door etood
opeu all the tiuie." In further lino( of his zeal the lad
rolled up his pante and displayed a shin which holcarried
him uuexpectodly over an ash pail, and which hoked
as if it had been used to tack down a carpet. "You
mustn't run the hen, William; that's the way it gets
excited, and w don't kno where it is going." said the
father. The next day at noon she had been off the nest
two hours. William volunteered to go out ausl drive her
in with a picket, but his father rebuked him for his um
seemly haste. Ile found the hen in the Y 1,4 P3rtAi'l4 of
a hasty lunch from the label of an old peach can. William
followed him out. The man acrugs the way go.ntly Ap-
proached the animal, mildly enunciating "thirty- eh icky
—chicky." The hen moved off. The loan across the way
moved after her. She kept going; so did he. Thug
working about be got her near the floor, with her head
pointing in. Then he euddenlyswoolied down toward her,
and ehe flew away to one side and gained the garden
again. "lb. ho, ho l" said William explosively. "What's
that, young meat" savagely demanded his father,
turning around upon him. But William was frown-
ing heavily at • board in the fence, and did
not hear the question. The hen was approached
and pretty much the same performance WM gone over
swain, excepting that William didn't he, ho, lio, aloud.
The man across the way then put after her n a run, Om
meet foolish thing he could have done. The. chase grew
exciting. William brought his picket to bear, hut was
ordered into the house an bubsterously that he retreated at
once. "th 11111 rhe shouted, "corns lAA PA' see fa chase
Miekle's hen. He's.Foin' round the garden like a circus
hoes. Come quick. And she did come. The lien was
apparently on the point of darting through the door as she
appeared in it, looking helplessly around. That was
the last feather. The inflamed man lost all cue trol
of himself. "iso hack out of that door." he et:reamed,
"or I'll put • bullet right through you."" Mercy help
us,' cried the horrified woman. as she precipitaudy
retreated. But the hen was out in the garden again, with
both wings down, neck elongated, and cackling at the top
of her voice. The man across the way put after her
again. He caught up the clothes tole and a piece of csou
aced an oyster shell, and a stone, and a frozen potato
cu
der
the itoo',
nti
rough
Finally
nes off
ti
wed no
ic,aer:ct
aost
t.:‘,ti..eine
dttuluinedu.e..: h
dnwiirte.of followed
jiruiwe.eaucx.edairnaga. around
hdtdhihiphtrye:th
00,:ed:o wrenched
ntouihignuff iedtfn ga
roareT
restored her to the nest. The next day she stayed abed all
the
of
s foot
nd and
en
treme end
f that
o the
Ilut he
alth
hant
day, and he rot his clothe,. mended. The third day she
which hardly improved Ins speed, but added cotwidereLly
was
tlehicelb::,..foueroffdayisthahlethr
brl:sodlamthe
ean, Intalnaacroll:althlye.th.aye
manrutelfacthemsolhadit ithnuenandweargoce: nstacie,:l.eireyAllankforgthotedotetronwniunbolnaeBlo.9..tflft apn‘iiYpin.o'nzt:
feverish haste he counted the brood. There were. four if them—just four, and they were very pretty. But the
block, covered his face with his hands, and
all his capacity.—Denetrery Nemo.

For having concealed in the cabin of • firemen steamer
.000 cigars, welching 151 b., a German stewardess as
fluid by the Southwark magistrate £15123.
A blind man, named Peter Bower, has been committed
for 14 days' imprisonment, by the Yeovil magistrates, for assaulting *relieving officer. He was annoyed because
his application for an allowance was refused.
There has just died in the Sultan's harem a female slave
whose age is pot down at 110. She was only just out of
her Mans when she entered the family circle of Sultan
Abdul Haudd, and in succeeder' alte had to acknowledge
N her lards and masters no lees than four pridishshs.