The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-07-19

UNCLE JOSHUA SPEAKS
OF CHICKENS

"There's lots of money in raising
chickens" said Uncle Joshua, "anl
hen book will tell you thai. Dut SO
fairs I've ever heard, nobody's found
out vet how to do IT. It's funny hat
effect chickens has on some people.
I've known TO ks-good, honest, truth
full men-to 60 keeping chickens, and
inside of month it wasn't safe to be-
lieve word they said.
"When l was a boy AID lived in
Iowa l knew a couple of men-dea-
cons in the church ttey were-that
went to raising hens in small way,
and it wasn't long before they got to
lying so about how many eggs they
got day that it was scandal to the
community.
"Deacon Simpsonbottom started in
with Langshan rooster, Dominick
pu!let and three Plymouth Rocks.
They all wanted to set except the
rooster and one of the Plymoath
Rocks, ard he calculated she'd lay
enough eggs for the others to set on.
He had nice nest fixed up in a cor
ner Of the woodshed, and used to
watch her through a knot-hole while
she was laying.
ale had basket lined with cotton
batting to keep the eggs in, and a
Thermometer tied to the handle SOS
to be sure the temperature was all
right. Used to 60 look at the Their
mometer every twenty minutes regu-.
lar. If it got above 81 he'd open the
windows and fan the eggs with a
palmleaf, and when 1t dropped below
As he'd hold the basket over the stove
till the eggs got back to the right.
Used to get up at u o'c,ock every
night to turn them over.
''Deacon Handy had SIX Black
Spanish pull,ts and BraLma cock
erel, and used to 60 over to Deacon
Simpsonbottoms every morning and
brag about how many eggs he was
getting. Them two old gray-headed
men would lean on the back fence and
swap lies for hours.
"Deacon Handy was always trying
experiments out of a hen-booh that
his nephew in Connecticut sent him.
One place in that book it said to pound
up oyster shells and feed them to hens
SOS they'd have something to make
shells.
"Oysters wasn't so to speak, plenti.
full in Iowa them days, except canned
ones, SO he pounded up broken crock
cry for them. Got two or three blue
china plates with pictures on them
and fed them to the hens, and, would
you believe it, for the next two weeks
the eggs all had pink ard green angels
and yellow peacocks on the shells.
Gran out of broken crockery final.
ly and took to grinding up broken
window glass and patent medicine
bottles for them, and after that every
egg them hens laid had a glass shell
with 'Sarsaparilla' blown in the side.
Yes, sir, it was curious sight to look
at them eggs.
Ground up a few corks in one lot
of bottles and every one of the next
batch Of eggs had stopper in the
end, scaled with green wax and red
ribbon tied around it.
"When Deacon Simpsonbot:om got
eggs enough for a setting, he put
them under the Dominick hen day
times and let one of the Plymouth
Rocks set on them nights. Of course,
in that way, the eggs Matched in
eleven days instead of twenty-one,
but the curious thing about it was
that part of the chickens was Ply
mouth Rocks and the rest Dominicks
and one double-yolk egg Matched out
one chicken of each kind. Yes, sir,
it was curious thing"