The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-05-31
Tom Sawyer Relates His Experiences

L learn from the newspapers, out
don't believe it, / have a dear little
daughter somewhere in Florida, (she
weighs 100 pOunds,) and she wrote me
the other day that she had nearly a
thousand young chickens. l am sorry
for her husband. Mrs. Sawyer has
about two dozen, and they are fast
driving me to an untimely grave, via
the poorhouse. [ am getting old and
will not have to endure such things
very long, but fine young fellow like
Bob, with the care and support of
great multitude of shrill, shrieking,
eating, scratching, worrying, cholera
producing, poorly feathered little BIZ
peds, is to be pitied, and if possible
rescued. There is ONE consolation,
however, and the young man may yet
be saved. By the time the cape, and
the pip, and the tieas and the hawks,
and the pole cats, and the 'possums,
and the twO-legged coOns get through
with those chickens Bob will be able
to have a garden and regain his peace
of mind. Yes, there is money in chick
ems, but l don't believe that anybody
ever yet got any out Of them common
Surate with the expense and risk OF
raising them. 1t is all very easy to
figure out in paper. Ii so many hens
lay so many eggs at so much per doz-
EN-, behold how the dollars tumble over
each other into ones pocket. l have
examined very carefully many Of the
chicken stories, but when you figure
up the expense, fail to detect the
profit. However, the hen is a cheerful
bird, and 1 must do my part towards
supporting her. My man, John, used
to sing:
''The old hen she cackle, she cackle
and she cackle,
She cackle in the corner till she laid
a double egg.
The old hen she cackle and she cacklP
in the Lot,
The next time she cackle, she cackle
i'm the pot.''
i suppose I must "take up the white
mans BURDEN and help support few
hens, but times are too hard now for
me to be very generous in that direc-
ton. Everyone raised so far has cost
me SO cents apiece and only the heav-
lest ever bring me so cents i'll the
market so / ann out nine cents. There
is a COMPOUNDED old black hen out, in
the front yard now, scratching UP the
nasturtiums, and the leucan themums,
and the cuphorbias and the chrysan
themums, and the begonias and the
dogonyers, until / am tempted to chop
her head of and get that lost nine
cents. Its in her anatomy somewhere.
1 have another piece of hard luck to
tell you about. You know how my
hogs went back ON me and left me
without meat-weM, l was getting
along pretty well with a rabbit every
other day, but along came man who
squatted on one of the numerous aban-
doned places in this region, and 1 give
you my opinion that if the Australian
government knew of that MANS ability
ais a rabbit destroyer, he could soon
make am independent fortune. l mean
to go in with him and offer our SER
vices to the Colonial authorities. The
rabbits are all gone from this neigh
bOrhOod.
I wish I knew how to make a living
until the next orange crop, which with
out more cold will be December, 1900.
The cold of February 18th, knocked us
out for this year. Our trees were in
bloom. when the thermometer went to
% and you know what that means.
There will be a few oranges in some
favored spots but it will be long
time "till grass rises to most of us.
In the meantime we must live-not
necessarily, of course, but we do like
to. What shall we do? l am not poor
err than ten thousand other men, try
ing to dig a living out of Florida soil,