The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-05
Hens.

Society does not appreciate its obliga
tions to the hen until the general well
being of that useful biped is put in peril
Normally the hen is robust bird which
needs no demulcent sanitary Cruel like
the pulmonary horse, or pungent purga.
tive powder like the bilious OK, but sur.
wives vigorously without any dietic
coddling whatsoever. 1t endures with
equal mind all vicissitudes of climate
Without regard to the state of the wealth
ell. it deposits its punctual diurnal egg
and cackles about it with sober exulata-
tation afterward. In its infancy it is
sometimes pestered with an obscure and
virulent malady known as pip but in
its maturity it is a creature of iron con-
stitution, consuming pebble stones with
out visible emotion, and rarely dying,
except to pamper the gluttony of the
passing evening owl, or meet the human
requirements of holiday potpie. Dick
ems says that nobody ever saw dead
donkey or a dead post-boy; and the
spectacle of hen voluntarily deceased
is almost as rare.
Left to themselves, they survive to an
exceedingly tough and stringy old age,
and contribute to the world with great
constancy the basis of the current egg
nogg and the cotemporary custard. The
mere surmise, therefore, of an extensive
and perilous hen-epidemic is fraught
with alarm. 1t confronts us with pas
sive phrase of destitution which we have
never contemplated. We could get along
without butter and milk almost as well
as without eggs and Spring chickens.
Life without its omelettes land whipped
Syllabus, its Sdute Ia lAareng0 and ST.
Preme de Ia Volatile, would be much less
interesting pilgrimage than the thought
less and the inconsiderate imagine. 1t
is true that, so far as we know, the tur-
key is not, yet threatened, and in any
event we might fall back upon the solid
and nutritious goose. But neither of
these useful birds could adequately sub
serve the many utilities to which the
modest hen and her valuable egg are
applied. If it be true that her tribes
are smitten with the pestilence that
walketh in darkness, the community
will for the first time keenly appre-
ciate its incompatible obligations to
that harmless, diligent, and unobtrusive
fowl
Inspired evidently by the poulterers,
whose craft is in danger, or rendered fu-
rious and incoherent by an undigested
0metet SouJ9e, one of our CONTEMPORARIES
denies that there is any,
thing whatever the matter with the hens.
We sincerely trust that there is not, and
would much rather believe that this po-
litic and wary bird had itself spread
abroad the illusory report of its infrmi-
ty in order to cast the onus of the ensu-
ing Thanksgiving upon the ducks and
the turkeys. But while we have great
respect for the statement of our contem-
porary, it does not seem to have exhaust.
ed inquiry upon the subject, and surely
the poulterers themselves can be consid-
cred competent witnesses only in the
case of the birds whose carcasses repose
in attitudes of straddling and posthu-
nous discomfort upon their stalls. We
should like to print authentic reports
from the barn-yards of many States and
if we could get them, and shall
be glad to hear from our farming friends
On the subject. If there is nothing the
matter with the chickens all will be
thankful. If there is, it is well that it
should be known, that Science may take
The hen in hand as it has taken the
locse, and institute rational inquiry
nt0 the causes of the malady. Volun-
.eer practitioners are already bursting
nto print, each with an imaginary dag
losis and an experimental remedy. So
hat the hen world is threatened with
he prophylactic administration Of physic
whether it is needed or not. One daring
md imaginative person, plunging reck-
essl y into publicity. recommends to
holders of chickens to dip their heads in
ar, paint their legs with iodine, and
lold them over slow fire till they stop
This vaporizes the iodine, vo-
atilizes the tar, and silences the chicken,
whether it cures it or not. This the pre-
criber considers a great point gained in
my event, and to those who like quiet
ife perhaps it is.
1t must not be supposed because we
lave alluded to the hen with some levi
y that we are therefore unmindful of
he intrinsic gravity and Importance of
Ill that concerns its health and we'll be-
ng. Franklin recommended that, in
tead of the predatory and rapacious
agile, the useful turkey should beimaged
!pon our national coins and ensigns. If
n emblem of utility instead of majesty
nd potency had been chosen, it should |
ave been the barn-yard hen rather than
he turkey, the rooster rather than the
obbler. If it be attacked by epidemic
lalady, we will give the widest circula-
ion to any intelligent directions for its
elief, and in all ways promote its culture
nd ameliUrate its condition to the ex-
ent of our power.-N Y. Tribune.