, 1890-06-01

bit personal, Earnest, but still they show
your goodness of heart. | fear that you
are cursed with that fatal gift of beauty
yourself and wish others to 20 with you
on the downward way. You ask why l
do not grow a mustache and | tell you
frankly that it is for the public good that
do not. | used to wear a long, droop-
ing and beautiful mustache, which was
well received 10 society, and, under the
quiet stars and op%portune circumstances, |
gave good satisfaction; but at last the
hour came when | ielt that | must decide
between this long, silky mustache and
soft boiled eggs, of which | am passion
ately fond. | hope that you understand
my position. Earnest, and thai | am
studying the public welfare more than my
own at sll times.
Sassafras Oleson of South Deadman,
writes to know something Of the care OF
fowls in the spring and hummer. DO
you know he asks, anything of the
beet methods for feeding Young chicks
who may not get the proper nourishment
from the motherP Is there any way TO
prevent hens from stealing their nests
and sitting on inanimaie objects2 Tell us
through the papers as tersely as possible
what your W experience has been with
hens"
To speak tersely of the hen and her
mission in life seems 10 me almost sacri-
lege. IL is at least in poor taste. The
hen and her works lie near TO every true
heart. She docs much toward making us
better, and she don't care who knows it,
either. Young chicks who have lost
their mothers by death. and whose tath.
es are of q shiftless and improyideut
nature. may be fed on koumiss, two
parts; moxie eight parts; distilled water
ten parts. Mix and administer till relief.
is obtained. Sometimes, however, the
chick will readily nurse the guinea hen,
and many lives have been saved in this
way. Whether or not this plan will in
fiuence the voice of the rising hen is q
question among henologists Of the country
which l will not attempt to answer.
Hens who steal their nests are gener
ally of a secretive nature, and are more
or less social pariahs. A hen who will
do this should be watched at all times
and won back by kind words from the
step she is about to take. Brute force
will accomplish little. Logic also avails
little at such a time, bu. by striking at
the foundation of hen society and show
ing her that it is honorable at all times
to lay a good egg. and that as soon as
she begins to be secretive and to seek to
mislead those who know and love her,
she at once takes n course which cannot
end with honor to herself or her descend
ants.
l have made the hen a study for many
years and love to watch her even yet as
she resumes her tolls on n falling market
year after year, or seeks to hatch out a
summer hotel by setting on a door knob.
She interests and pleases rue. Careful
study of the hen convinces me that her
low, retreating forehead is a true index
to her limited reasoning faculties and lack
Of memory, ideality, imagination, ~calcula-
ton and spirituality. She is also deficient
in her enjoyment of humor.
l once owned a large white draught
rooster who stood about seven hands
high and had feet on him which would
readily break down a whole corn field il
be walked through it Yet he lacked
the courage of his convictions, and so.
cially was not regarded as a success.
Leading hens seemed to regard him as q
good hearted rooster and seemed to won
der that he did not get on better in a 80,
cial way. He had a nch baritone voice
aud was a good provider, digging up
large areas OF garden and giving the hens
what was left after he got through, and
yet they gave their smiles to far more
dlssolute though perhaps brighter minds.
So l took him away awhile and let him
see something of the world by allowing
him to visit among the neighbors aud
see society a little. Then l brought him
home again. and one night colored him
with diamond dyes so that lie was q
beautiful scarlet. His name was Sumner.
/ took Sumner the following morning
and turned him loose among his old
neighbors. Surprise was written on
every face, He realized his advantage.
and the first thing he did was to greet
the astonished crowd with q cultural re
mark which made them jump. He
then stepped over to a hated rival and
ate of about fifteen cents worth of his
large. red, ~pompadour comb. He now
remarked IN a courteous way to a small
Poland China hen, who seemed to be at
the head of all works of social improve
ment, that we were having rather a
backward spring. Then he picked out
the eye Of another rival, much to his sur
prise. and went on with the converse
ton. BY noon the bright scarlet rooster
owned the town. Those who had picked
on him before had now gone TO the hos
pital. and practically the social world was
his. He got so stuck up that he
crowed whenever the conversation Jagged
and was too proud to eat a worm that
was not right off the ice. ] never saw
prosperity knock the sense out of a roos-
ter 30 soon. He loet my sympathy at
once. and resolved to let him carve out
his own career as best he might.
Gradually his tail feathers grew gray