The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-08-02

a HEN AoesLe.
An Invention That WIN he OF Interest
TO an Nmateur gardanera

y TEN fN0nnkAs
An Invention THAT win he OF Interest
to All Amateur Gardeners.
A man named Corbett living up In
Westchester county, reports new in
gention which ought TO interest that
vast army Of men now engaged in start
ing gardens Mr.. Corbett's invention Is
nothing less than an ingenious apparatus
intended TO be attached to the common
domestic hen, which will prevent, or at
least greatly discourage, her efforts to
uproot the garden. He calls it the Cor
bett Excelsior Hen Hobble.
We trust that we need not enlarge to
any great extent on the peculiar tactics
employed by the common hen in her
campaign against a garden Her stealthy
tread. her careful view of the ground
FIRST with one eye and then with the
other, the nonchalance with which she
throws back her left foot once, and in
stantly follows it with three rapid back
strokes with her right foot, her hurried
survey of the field Of operations with
one eye, followed by the capture Of q
real or imaginary worm-all this must
be familiar to the reader, especially If
he ever had garden and his neighbors
kept hens, as they did Of course. 1t is
said that no fowls were ever known on
the Elizabeth islands in the South Pacific
until about thirty years ago, when a
missionary from Philadelphia named
McClintock planted few garden seeds
near his house, but that thereupon
every unfortunate heather ON the islands
sent to Australia and procured a hen.
This, however, has no particular bearing
on Mr.. Corbett's invention, interesting
as it may otherwise be, and we hasten
to give a short description of It.
In the Excelsior hen hobble Mr.. Corbett
attaches string to the left leg Of the
hen This string connects with bill
clamp, which is fastened to the fowls
beak This bill clamp, when in Its
normal condition, allows the hen to open
and shut her beak with the usual free
dom, but the slightest pressure on the
spring causes the clamp to close and pre-
vent any further introduction of food
into the hens interior. The hen which
is provided with an Excelsior hobble
starts out in the morning with a light
heart She may indulge in the low song
peculiar to hens, and even cackle She
may, too, fill her crop with the nutri-
tious gravel and such other food as she
may be able to find, but when she ap
proaches the garden with the intention
of scratching up the surface Of the earth
she becomes aware that her freedom is
being tampered with.
! At the first rearward stroke of her left
foot the string is drawn taut, the spring
is released, and the clamp shuts down
with a snap and Theoretically closes heI
bill. There is not, of course, any physi
cal reason why the hen may not go OF
scratching, but the hollowness of exca,
waiting worms and other food which she
cannot make use of speedily dawns upon
her and she retires from the field. Unable
to cackle or to masticate gravel she wan
ders about helpless till she has been
caught by her owner and the clamp re
leased. A few trials soon show the in
| telligent hen the utter absurdity of at
tempting to do anything in the way OF
scratching when fitted with the Excelsior
hobble.
The only difficulty which Mr.. Corbett
has experienced with his invention SC
far is the impossibility Of inducing her
owners to adopt it. Mr. Corbett is the
only man in his neighborhood who has g
garden. There are some twenty men in
the immediate vicinity who keep hens
Not one of these men can be persuaded
even to give the hobble a trial Mr.
Corbett, however, sees his way clear
Legislation is what is needed With 8
law requiring hen owners to reduce theil
hens to a state of innocuousness with his
Excelsior hen hobble, gardens win moi
only be safe but boom win be given tC
the stock in his manufacturing company
New York Tribune.