Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-02-28
AMATEUR EARMINo-
Hou 90 Propagate Hens, Together Will
Some Habits Of the Bird.

AT 45.s1 a hGatu dlfnOugh. 70 tell lnc uIln
never cultivated any quite 50 economical
ly as that, writes Luke Sharp in the Detroit
fre> Prszs. HIS paper excellent as it sought
20 have an amateur farm ng column.
have felt that for some tme and now, as
the borniesthandcd son Of the soil on the
sheet, throw myself into the chasm like
that Roman fellow, armor and all.
My 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 j
never did They show how S2.40 invested
IN chickens in the spring amount TO Sl,-
/ b5.JO, besides having all the eggs the faIni-
/ ly could use, and at the end Of the year
/ great many surplus fowls. | have gone
I over these statements in detail and figured
/ them up and they we're without flaw, but
never could make the problem come out
right in practice. The dog ate up several,
10 begin with. When killed the dog some
new kind ofepidemc that was fond Of chick
ems came along. Then some were stolen and
the rest got tired Of me and went
away 70 neghbor who could understand
and sympathize with their various moods
They refused 10 lay in the nice comfortable
boxes provided, but preferred 10 20 out 10
the back fields, accumulate wealth ofeggs
and then sit on them. Finally the hen
would become weary Of the sedeutary busi-
ness when she found seclusion and lnactiv-
ity telling on her health, aud would Dasely
abandon the eggs, when little more close
attention TO the occupation would have re
suited in complete and multltudnOus sue
cess. Their conduct in the matter Of laying
was most unRenerous When eggs were
twenty-five cents a dozen the hens would
go 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 70 undertake the entire super
vision and cultivation Of a 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. ''ToO deep neigh |
Dor told me. But that was before | kept |
hens. When the hens got right down TO |
business the seeds came right up every |
time Hens always have a great crop. | |
never succeeded IN raising any crop but |
weeds Canada thistles are my specially. |
My neghbor says he never knew any one |
who was so successful in raising Canada
thstles as am. In fact, my farming has
caused a 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. 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. l have ridiculed
the moon theories good deal, but as their
crops come up and mine don't, except what
the hens resurrect Of them am beginning
20 think that perhaps there is something IN
the moon besides the man.
But TO return TO the hens My hens are
q particularly hgh-toned variety 1t is al
ways best 10 go in for the most expensive
kinds (sec Handbook Of Fowl Culture, page
9s). There is no money in the common
kinds; every body raises them. | got a
dozen Of very mucn warranted eggs The
hens that laid those eggs had taken prizes
at three State fairs aud 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 II a ten-dolar hen did the
sitting. bought a fifty-cent hen that was
In the sitting busincss-so the man toad me.
never found out just what objection that
cheap hen had 10 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 20 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 II was no use. She seemed to
think il was an omelet we wanted, for she
broke several Of the eggs. | noticed in
reading the agricultural journals that many
of the best farming inventions have been
constructed first by enterprising amateurs.
desire here TO call the attention OF those
useful papers 70 my setting hen attachment.
The eggs were IN nice nest that rested in
"A wooden box, In the bottom Of this box
bored a couple of two-inch auger holes.
these put the two legs of the fut-
tering and indignant hen and pulled on the
legs until the hen fitted nice and snug ON |
the eggs. Then tied tho legs together un-
derneath the box, IL was a great scheme
Even II she flew away with the box and all
she would still be sitting ON the eggs.
Unfortunately my SUMMER vacation came
ON at that time aud went away and forgot
all about that hen for two weeks. Sho
stuck 20 the deck like Casabianca aud her
fate was similar A farmer should never
take vacation hen is just as contrary
when she makes up her mind 10 sit as when
she makes up her mind not TO, She gen.
orally resolves 10 20 Ia sitting session about
the time when there isn't a stable egg
within miles OF the premises. She is mad
oil the time and goes around with her wings
scraplng ON the ground.
Il Is said that dousing sitting hen IN
water will cure her Of the mania. IL will II
you keep her under water long enough
say twenty minutes,
That's all know about hens.