Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-12-12
AMATEUR FARMING.
Hov TO Propagate Hens, Together with
Some Habits Of the bird.

Some Habits of the Bird.
Intend to discourse on the delights OF
amateur farIning-the raising of cabbaCes
at $3.50 head-although, to tell the truth,
never cultivated any quite so economical.
lv as that, writes Luke Sharp in the Detroit
Me- Press His paper, excellent as it is, ought
70 have an amateur farming column. I
have felt that for some time, and now, as
the horniesthanded son Of the soil on the
sheet, throw myself into the chasm like
that Roman fellow, armor and all.
Nv experiences in farming have been
somewhat different from those you read of
in the many excellent agricultural papers
we have. The correspondents of those
journals make money on their farms.
never did. They show how $40 invested
in chickens in the spring amount to ST.
964.5O, besides having all the eggs the fami-
iy could use, and at the end of the year a
great many surplus fowls. l have gone
over these statements in detail and figured
them up and they were without flaw, but I
never could make the problem come out
right in practice. The dog ate up several,
to begin with. When killed the dog some
new kind Of fepidemic that was fond of chick
ems came along. Then some were stolen and
the rest got tired of me and went
away to neighbor who could understand
and sympathize with their various moods.
They refused to lay in the nice comfortable
boxes provided, but preferred to go out to
the back fields, accumulate q wealth of eggs
and then sit on them. Finally the hen
would become weary Of the sedentary busi-
ness when she found seclusion and lnactiv-
ity telling on her health, and would basely
abandon the eggs, when little more close
f, n v,Q ho,
suited in complete and multitudinous sue
cess. Their conduct in the matter of laying
was most ungenerous. When eggs were
twenty-five cents q dozen the hens would
20 on strike, when eggs were down to
about eight cents then they all became in
dustrious. Fowls seem much more fond of
gardening than am. / hate to work in a
garden; they don't Nothing delights hen
so much as to undertake the entire super.
vision and cultivation Of newly-planted
garden. II could only peg away with half
the industry they do would be one Of the
richest market gardeners in America. They
are at it early and late and they cultivate
the ground in beautiful way that leaves it
quite ready for planting something else
The first time planted seeds in the garden
they never came up. A''Too Deep" neigh
Dor told me. But that was before l kept
hens. When the hens got right down to
business the seeds came right up every
time. Hens always have great crop.
never succeeded in raising any crop but
weeds. Canada thistles are my speciality.
Ny neighbor says he never knew any one
who was so successful in raising Canada
thstles as am. In fact, my farming has
caused great deal Of comment in the neigh
borhood. am surrounded by old-time farm
ers who never before saw agriculture
carried on by scientific methods. l go by
the advice of the agricultural journals and
hand.books of horticulture. They don't.
They believe in planting certain things in
certain stages Of the moon. have yidiculed
the moon theories good deal, but as their
crops come up and mine don't, except what
the hens resurrect of them, am beginning
to think that perhaps there is something in
the moon besides the man.
But to return to the hens. My hens are
particularly high-toned variety. 1t is al
ways best to 90 in for the most expensive
kinds (see Handbook of Fowl Culture. page
oS). There Is no money in the common
kinds; every body raises them. / got q
dozen Of very much warranted eggs. The
hens that laid those eggs had taken prizes
at three State fairs and don't know how
many smaller shows. When you get ex-
pensive eggs you can put cheap hen on
them and the chickens are warranted to be
Just as good as If o ten-dollar hen did the
sitting. bought fifty-cent hen that was
In the sitting business-so the man told me.
Inever found out just what objection that
cheap hen had to those dear eggs, but she
positively refused 10 sit on them. Prob
ably she thought any thing SO expensive
should not be sat down on. tried TO coax
and even to coerce her, but she persisted In
walking around on those eggs and protest
Ing at the top Of her voice. ] assured her
that chickens were not accumulated In that
way, but 1t was no use. She seemed 70
think II was an omelet We wanted, for she
broke several OF the eggs, i noticed In
reading the agricultural journals that many
OF the best farming inventions have been
constructed drst by enterprising amateurs,
idesire here TO call the attention OF those
useful papers to my setting hen attachment
The eggs were In nice nest that rested ~
swooden bog. In the bottom OF this boz
bored Q couple Of two-inch auger holes
Through these put the two legs of the nut
lering and Indignant hen and pulled on the
the eggs, Then tied the legs together nn'
~>'Ns~A tttS IVA ~ VS. tf"r' "~f~''..,
Even II she tiew away with the bos and Nj
she would still be sitting on tho eggs,
Unfortunately any summer vacation came
on NJ that time and won't away and forgol
All about that hen for two weeks, bhe
stuck 70 the deck like casablaaea ana hef
isle was slmilar a farmer should never
lake vacation, A hon 10 Just a. contrary
when she makes np her mlnd 70 slt ~ when
sle makes pp hes mipa not to' bbe gea'
orally resolves 70 80 la sitting session about
Ae time whsp hsrs isn't y stable ess
within mllss " tbs pFemlses' bas " MAD
Az the time aaJ goes asound with hsf slnss
sesspans on the ground
" "a sald thar donslpg \ slttlng hsn "
water VIII ours heg VI the mania, " wll
,ee kssp hef unaeE water lenE eAepslw
ss} tssaty nlipules,
THAT'S al knew shout hsas,
Auslp ~, us.ssss hsssssss