The record-union., 1891-09-10
FARM And ORCHARD.
Guinea Fowls are About the
Easiest to Raise.
Poor Dried Fruits-Marketins Butter
Value of Roots for Feeding-Num-
ber OF Trees to the Acre-General
Farm Notes.

consider the Guinea fowls about the
easiest to raise that we have. They seem
to have no time to fool away in contract
ing all the various diseases that come
along, as is the case with other birds.
They begin to lay in February or March,
and may safely be called an every day
layer until late in the fall, when they be-
gin to mott, not as chickens do, but drop
ping feather now and then, and not get
ting entirely through with their molting
until late in the spring. At that season
they pair off and begin to lay, usually
producing from thirty to sixty eggs be-
fore wanting to sit, but by gathering the
eggs every Gay you can make them lay
the season through without their becom-
ing decidedly broody. The Pearl Guineas
are inclined to steal their nests, but the
White will lay in the same nest with the
chickens, no matter whether it be high or
low. Their eggs, as well as flesh, are OF
the finest quality, and generally liked by
tnoSe who have tried them. IL is Of no
use TO tryto raise Guinea hens and hawks
on the same place. The Guinea remains
the master of the premises, and the hawk
has to go. 1t takes twenty eight days to
hatch Guinea eggs, and from the moment
they leave the shell they are at work
searching for something TO eat. | feed
about the same as / do for ordinary
chickens, and find them easily managed.
They make rapid growth for the first
four weeks, then on account of feather
ing they grow little slower for a short
time, when all at once they seem to take
fresh hold, and outgrow anything on
the place. They don't stand the cold
very well, but thrive first-rate in hot
weather. Both as chicks and fowls they
run in fiocks of four until mating time,
when they pair off, and in so doing have
many battles among the male birds.
The Guinea is a great peacemaker, how
ever, among other varieties. He will not
allow the other poultry to fight among
themselves, seeming to want monopoly
OF that part of the business. If they per-
sist in Quarreling he takes a hand HIM
self and soon disposes of the fighters.
have no kind of poultry on my ranch
that can whip Guinea, and l have some
game fowls, as well as other good fighting
birds. | have never had case of roup
nor of catarrh among my Guinea fowls.
Some of them will go light (consump-
tom; will eat well, and, to all appear
anceS, are well, but at last you viii find
them dead under the roost a mere hand
fui of feathers and bones.-O. w. Palmer,
III Fanciers' Monthly.
VALUE OF ROOTS FOR FEEDING.
Carrots are better adapted to horses,
producing sleek coat. healthy appear
ance and good appetite. A horse. getting
mess of them every night seldom re-
Qu1res medicine. Sheep having a fair
share of turnips or mangels through
winter and spring seldom lose their wool
before shearing. The ewes have stronger
lambs and a better flow of milk, that
brings them on faster and earlier for the
market, and the whole flock go upon
grass in good condition. Milk COWS give
Il larger flow of milk, and richer in
quality, which means more butter and
better calves. The old cows can be made
into. excellent beef. The young cattle
can be brought into value much sooner
viii be much larger and of better quality.
One man in Ontario few wears ago
raised 10000 bushels of turnips. A
neighbor said to him: ''Mr. E., you had
better sell 900 bushels; they viii bring
you 81 ,00O'' mo" he saws, ''I want
them all fed on the farm, to go into ma
nure." And he fed all of them. Farms
on which roots are raised and fed are get
ting more productive every year The
dairymen say they would dispose of their
cows if they could not have the roots for
them. Those that feed cattle for export
say they could not do it with a profit
without them. One man says: 81 could
not educate my children as do if it We're
not for the roots" And numbers of
others tell us they have lifted mortgages
that they could not have done otherwise
In conclusion, let me say that the root
crop puts millions of dollars into the
pockets of the farmers of Ontario every
year. And the Individual benefit can not
be estimated.