The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-03-19

chickens. The fowls cat up the worms
that sting the fruit, or something. What
Il splendid thing it will be to have a plum
orchard =
"Worms don't sting plums, corrected
Mrs, Pratt.
''Well, a little thing like that doesn't
matter. How much do damsons and green
cages sell for bushel, Susan?'
Mrs. Pratt smiled, Il don't know she
said; but l think we can do it, Then
we might keep Il few bees. My grand
mothcr,.in the country
''Oh, yes | know They sell honey by
the pound. Fifty pounds of honey at
twenty cents pound, that would be ten
dollars. Ten dollars will go further in
the country than twenty in the city.
Susan we'll be rich.
But there'll be drawbacks, suggested
Mrs Pratt
'Oh, yes, lashins and slashins of them.
There'll be lions in the way, but we'll Stay
them with pluck and industry,
Don't mix metaphors corrected again
Mrs. Pratt.
'Well, | say it doesn't matter
''There will be so much for us to learn.
''But we can't do more than go TO the
old woman's house at last. even if we fail,
and Wen do that if we stay here. We
can learn anything anybody else can,
Susan
The two women were very much in earn
est.
"We'll succeed or die trying they said.
They shook hands on that, too The res
of the winter they skimped down to the
last notch and saved 525 more apiece. The
had then $3.50 to begin to set up housekecp-
ing. | fancy they had almost as much
pleasure planning ont their home and their
chicken houses as they did after they had
made their venture a success.
For they did make it a success,
March LIST they took the lead. They felt
as if they We're jumping off theend of a pier
in the night, into water of unknown depth.
1t did require courage.
But they jumped. Their plan probably
required more talking over than if men
had been starting into it. They got books
on poultry raising.
They leased for five years three acres OF
That was their home, kitchen, bedroom
and sitting room. They meant to devote
their wealth to their poultry yard. They
selected place near enough good-sised
town to afford market for their products.
Such simple make-shift buildings as they
could do with at first were erected, very
cheaply There was the awful possibility
of failure. and the old womans home
always before them. Mrs. Pratt read from
her hen book:
San acre of ground will be enough yard
room for 100 fowls. No more than fifty
should be kept in one house. For that
number building should be thirty feet
long ten feet wide, eight feet high in the
front and five feet in the rear, with y slop-
ing roof. :
Susan, how does that strike you?"
Il think | understand it, murmured
her friend.
There must be separate apartments for
the sitting hens, and
''Oh, come. now! Must we have pailor
bedrooms for the old hens -
Something like that, take it, Listen:
There must be such provision that the
Il
quarrel
Like women is boarding house, - mup-
INJURED Pratt.
"And fight and break their eggs, and so
learn the bad habit of eating them, con-
tinued Platt
She put the book down.
'We'll begin with 100 hens Each one
will make profit of dollara year. There
will be 500. We can't live ON that"
"Therc's our vegetable garden and our
bees"
"Yes, we might raise nearly all our own
eating. It's one of the aspirations of my
life to have an onion bed"
They bought scrub chickens at first and
all the Plymouth Rocks they could afford.
Their early chicks were out of the shell in
the beginning of May Miss Plat under
took to remove her first hen from the nest.
1t seemed to her that fowl was out of tenn
per. She edged around to the rear. The
hens head was around before her.
"Quaw-aw said the hen.
"Oh, dear" said Miss Platt.
"If the lions are in tue way we'll Stay
them, > said Mrs. Pratt
Miss Platt put out her hand timidly.
''Chieky, chick Kenny, hennyH' she coax
ed. She pattcd the hens tail to pet her.
Chicky darted out her sharp boak and
took piece out of Miss Platt's finger
Mercy she exclaimed 81 didn't know
hens would bite. Susan, did you?"
mo, !" replied Susan.
Miss Patt retreated. She put strip OF
plaster upon the wounded finger and drew
on pair of gloves. Pale but determined,
Susan following close behind, she advanced
to the charge again. She drew long
breath, put out both hands together and
captured the enemy. But it was long
time before Mrs. Pratt yentured to pet a
sitting hen.
The two women worked hard. They