The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-02-26
Asssy yon Hen Culture.

- ~ AeSPAAAS uonss ~ eueEo
sufficient room for them and through
knowledge Of how to manage the fowl
properly. But to the professional mau
who is not familiar with the habits d
the hen, and whose mind does not nat
urally and instinctively turn henward,
I would say: Shun her as you woulj
The deadly upas tree of Piscataqui,
County, Maine.
Nature has endowed the hen with but
q limited amount of brain force. An,
one will notice that, if he will compare
the skull Of the average sclf-made her
with Daniel Webster; taking careful
measurements directly over the toy
from one ear to the other, the wcll-in
formed brain student will at once no
tice a great falling off in the region oi
reverence, and an abnormal bulging out
In the location of alimentiveness.
Now, take your tape-measure, and
beginning ut memory, pass carefully
over the occipital bone to the base q
the brain in tho region of love of home
and of6pring, and yeuswill SEQ that,
while the hen suffers much In compar
ison with the statesman in the relAtivs
size Of subliMity, reflection, spirituality,
time, tune, etc.. whom it comes to love
Of home and offspring she shines forth
with great splendor.
The hen does not care for the sublime
In nature. Neither does she care fol
music. Musip hath no charms to soften
her tough old breast. But she loves her
home and hgF country. I have sought
to promote the interests of the hen ia
some extent, but I have not been !.
marked success in that line.
l can write poem in fifteen minutes,
l always could dash off poem when.
ever wanted TO, and very good poem,
too. for q Washed poem. / could write
speech tof friend in Congress-
speech that would be printed in thu
Congressional Record, and all over the
United States, and be read by no one. j
could enter the field of letters anywhere
and attract attention, but when it Gomez
to a sitting hen, l feel that l am moi
worthy. ! never feel my utter unwor.
thiness as I do In the presence of sit.
ting hen.
When the adult hen in nv presence
expresses desire to sit, excuse my.
self and go away. This is tho supreme
moment when a hen desires to be alone.
That is no time for me to intrude with
my shallow E1ity. never do it.
It is after death that most fully ap.
preciate the hen. When she has been
cut down early in life and fried, / re.
spect her. No one can look upon the
still features of u young hen overtaken
by death in lhe's young morning, snuffea
out as il it were an old tin lantern in 8
gale of wind, without being visibly af
fected. -
But it is not the hen who desires to
sit for the purpose OF getting out an
early addition of spring chickens that
am averse to. 1t is the aged hen, who
is In her dotage, and whose eggs are
also in their second childhood. Upon
this hon shower my anathemas. Over.
looked by the pruning hook of time,
shallow In her remarks, and q wall
flower in society, she deposits her quot.
OF eggs in the catnip conservatory, ia,
from the haunts of men, and then in Au
gust, when eggs are very low and hel
collection Ut no value to any one but the
antiquarian, she proudly calls attention
This hen does not win general conf
dence. Stunned by good society during
life, her death is regretted only by those
who are called upon to assist at her obsc.
quies. Selfish through life, her death i,
regarded as calamity by those alone
who are expected to cat her.
And what has such hen TO look back
upon in her closing hours? A long life,
perhaps, for longevity is one of the char.
acteristics of this class of hens; but Of
what has that life been productive?
How many golden hours has she frit.
tered away lowering over a porcelain
door-knob trying to hatch out litter OF
Queen Anne cottages? How many
nights has she passed in solitude on he]
lonely nest with heart filled with bit
terness toward all mankind, hoping on
against fate that in the fall she would
come off the nest with cunning little
brick block. perhaps?
Such is tho history of the aimless hen
While others were at work she stood
around with her hands in her pocket.
and criticised the policy of those wl,c
labored, and when the summer waneG
she came forth with nothing but regret
to wander listlessly about and freeze of
some more of her feet during the win
ter. For such hen death can have no
terrors.-BiN Nyc, in Chicago Mevs.
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