The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1882-01-06

lilNh MS, WSdselS, lnl'-kS, ana even cats prey
upon them. Such vermin increased on the
farm at first almost as rapidly as the game -
Recently, however, an active warfare upon
them has been kept up by the keepers, and
less damage has been done to the young game
! than formerly.
The next place visited was the pheasant
pen. Last season twelve pairs of English
ring neck, mountain, and silver pheasants
were imported. To day seven or eight times
that number are on the farm, and many have
been shot At first they were allowed to fly
wild, but frequently they went off the
farm, and were shot by strangers Under
New Jersey laws this is not allowed. I'M
ported game birds, brought to this country
for breeding purposes, are protected wher-
ever they may go but many of these disap-
peared, nevertheless. Then an extensive en-
closure of wire and cord was made, the cord
netting being held in place some three in
ches below the wire netting, so that the birds
flying upward in fright, do not harm them.
selves. Here the pheasants are kept, and as
the enclosure gets oyerstocked u few are
turned out and allowed to shift for them
selves.
The keeper had provided himself with some
corn, and the birds knew him, for when he
opened the door, II pretty little silver hen met
him without any show of fear, and craned
her neck toward the food he was carrying
but she looked suspiciously at her other visi-
tors. Other pheasants, some with gorgeous
feathers and long tails, but more with the
subdued but still beautiful plumage of the
hens, showed willingness to approach the
keeper, but were distrusttul of his compan-
ions, The enclosure is well stocked with
small trees, and on these several birds were
perched. little fountain gave them fresh
water. This water is supplied from the same
source as the ponds, and all the buildings,
with the exception ofthe stables. 1t is raised
by steam pumps from artesian wells and from
stream that crosses the farm.
There were not more than ten or twelve
pheasants in sight when the party entered,
but Fannie, who had been left outside, rub
bed herself against the wires, and in mo-
ment the enclosure was in an uproar Every
where birds were rising. They iostled each
other in the air, and flew recklessly against
the upper barrier, proving the wisdom of
having put the cord lining there, for had they
battered themselves against the wires as they
did against the hemp many might have been
bagged without pulling Il trigger The
keeper, throwing the corn upon the ground,
hurried his two companions out of the enco-
sure, and closed the door.
The pheasantS are not trusted to hatch
thei. own eggs. They make wretchedly bad
mothers often deserving their offspring before
the little ones are able to take care OF them
selves. Coops are placed in ali parts of the
grounds, and here cock pheasant and three
hens are Gagged. The male bird hasa habit
of eating the eggs.
Each hen lays from twenty to twenty-five
eggs averaging one every alternate day In an
entirely wild state the bird only lays about
fifteen eggs nor could one pheasant sit on
the whole number that she lays in the coop.
When the complement is complete the eggs
are taken away and put under a half game
hen. She is shut up during the process of
incubation, and does not act exactly as she
would do iffree. To supply the deficiencies
arising from this cause she is driven from the
nest and kept from it for about three quar-
tiers of an hour once day. The eggs are then
turned and spripkled with water. In due
time the young ones are batched. The little
birds are instinctively DESTROYS of getting be-
yond constraint, and do not at first recognize
their putativc mothers call. To prevent
their wandering away small spaces of ground
some eight or nine feet in diameter, are sur
rounded with wire fencing about three
inches high. This impairment, slight as it
is, is an insurmountable obstacle to the little
creatures in the first stage of their existence,
and during the two or three days that must
elapse before they can hop over it they have
learned the hens call and are not disposed
to stray very far. Food is placed on board
for the little fellows about ten times day, and
allowed to remain there for four or five min
utes. Then it is taken away, for the young
birds would kill themselves by overeating.
Over many acres of scrub land could be
seen little green mushrooms shaped coops, like
Harn tl,a oil ol, |,
and fed in winter. In summer they are al
lowed to fly where they please Twenty
acres of fine cover affords them shelter. Ere
quently the young ones are left with farmers
until they are strong and vigorous, and this
training acts afterwards as q preventive
against their flying too far away. Partridges
were placed on the preserves, but they have
nearly all disappeared. Next season Mr.
Lorillard proposes to hatch partridge eggs
under hens, and procure a supply less wild
than those captured when full grown, or
Matched under bird that has been so cap
tured.
The stables are said to be as fine and as
complete as any in the world Seventy.six
thoroughbred brood mares and twenty halt
bred are on the premises, together with UNI
numbered horses of all classes, among which
is the world renowned Parole and the beauti-
ful stallion Mortimer. The latter as play
full as a kitten, knocked a visitors hat off his
head in the large loose box in which he stood
and invited gambol PAROLES almost black
but his attendant says he will recover his old
color in the spring. He looked wonderfully
small to be the visitor of so many hard fought
struggles with the fleetest horses in the
world.
"He is the fastest horse on earth over a
mile and quarter course" said the keeper,
looking at him admiringly.
The water given to the horses is all rain
filtered through charcoal and passed through
the twelve great stables in pipes A room in
which hot-air bath can be given has saved
the lives of many sick horses, and a vast
apartment, covered with glass, affords dry.
warm, and light place for exercise in the
winter. The general exercising ground is
surrounded by wall of straw some three
feet high and as many wide. This lisa pro.
vision against the boys who ride the horses
being killed outright, for in gallopng
around the course, when they are thrown off
they usually contrive to fall ON the straw, "and
they come such troopers sometime" said a
stableman, "that if the ground was bare there
would be no good in picking them up
Many thousands ofdollars have been expend.
ed in making coursing grounds for all seasons
the estate. Their unconquerable desire to
hunt horses in the fields is greatly against
them, and their bites are feared for it is claim.
ed that horses are very susceptible to hydro
phobia.
= . =
How AN EATING HOUSE WAS RUINED