The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-08-15
is built below the level of the ground
to protect its contents from frost.
In ono of tLn h,,ild,nc-u IIa.<, - ~.

| IL DullC DelOW Inc level or the grOun(
to protect its contents from frost.
In one of the buildings there is ar
immense food cooker, which will hold
a thousand gallons. 1t occupies two
stories, being loaded from above and
emptied from below. Several barrels
of fresh meat and bone are dumped in
here at once, the door is bolted down
and a pressure of seventy pounds of
steam is turned into it for thirty min
utesl at the end Of which time the en-
tire substance, meat, bone and all, is
reduced to soup. Mule meat is used
almost exclusively in making this broth.
The soup made from tho flesh of the
mules is used to mix with the food of
the young fowls. Water is never mix
ed with their food. They are given
plenty to drink. Great quantities of
bread are feed to the growing fowls.
They consume from 600 to l 200 loaves
daily. Shell is purchased by the car
load and ground by steam machinery
on the premises. The food is cartcd
about the place OH the cars of the little
tramway. When the track runs through
the yards, as it must in some places, it
or disturb the young fowls.
There are many curious facts in con-
nection with the business. Little ducks
do not get along as well as little chick
ems. They are the greatest towards in
the world. When a stranger enters
their pen they rush pellmell TO the op-
posite side and pile upon each other
several feet deep. AS result Of such
a scare there will always be several
dead ducks and a number of crippled
ones. 1t is estimated that duck loses
in weight every time he is frightened,
so it is a matter of good business to
keep strangers away from the duck
pens, and few visitors are allowed to 90
there. One of the best ways to get
flock of young ducks to venture and
forage for themselves is to put young
chicken among them. They are great
to follow Il leader, and when young
Mister Chicken, who is not so coward
ly, leads off the ducks are right after
hlm. But they are timid folk
light has to be kept burning in their
pens all night. If they are left alone
in the dark it is not long until the vivid
imagination of one Of them will con-
jure up something to get scared a..
He will sound the alarm and the panic
that follows is something terrible. The
keepers go through at regular intervals
during the night. The ducks become
very fond OF the men who feed them
and care for them, but any other
breathing thing frightens them. The
machine-made fowls that are raised so
systematically lack good many of the
characteristics of the ordinary birds
and have some ways not common to
the others.
The keepers have a peculiar call,
which never fails to attract the fowls
from all portions Of the place. They
also have another sound, which is in
tended to initiate the whirring noise of
hawks wings. In event of storm
coming up suddenly they Cali clear The
pen yards quicker than 1t takes to tell
it by sounding this alarm.
The natural enemy Of the young
chickens and ducklings is the rat, but
several ferrets are kept on the place
constantly and the loss from the de-
predations of the rodents is small.