The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-07-04
A Guinea Talk.

Guinea Talk.
II. B. Geer, in Farm and Ranch.
Let's begin at the beginning: Cham
bers Encyclopedia says--in part-of
this most curious of all our domestic
birds:
The Guinea fowl, or Pintado. all
species of this fowl are native of At
RIGA or Madagascar. 1t is common in
Guinea, and apparently throughout all
the region thence to the Cape of Good
Hope. 1t is found also in Northern
Africa. and was well known to the an
cient Romans, by whom it was called
Meleagris. Its flesh was highly priced
by them. In a wild state the Guinea
fowl is seen in large fiocks; although
there is much apparent inclination to
pair eff, even in domestication. 1t is
more adapted to warm, rather than
cold climate, and in Jamaica, has been
completely naturalized, so as to be
destructive to crops. and to be shot
like other game" So much for the
foundation. The history OF this fowl
in America, where it has also been do
mesticated, is pretty well known; but
there are good many points. and
new thoughts in connection with this
African importation that we might
well discuss with interest and profit.
Really. the guinea was at the bot
tom of our sIreer as poultryman. 1t
was early in the eighties-about 1888,
when on visit home, that the guineas
there attracted our attention, and
famed into renewed fervor the spark
of love for the feathered tribe that
had slumbered in our bosom from ear
Hest youth. The folks at home had
number of the common variety, or
Pearl guineas. 1t was in June before
the oats in neighboring field were
cut and the guineae mad free range
over the field of ripening grain. 1t
was soon evident to us that the hen
guineas were nesting in the oat field,
and the knowledge fired us with a de-
sire to go nest-hunting and gather in
guinea eggs. So we watched the gui-
meas early and late, and soon learned
to locate them by their cries of pot
rack, pot-rack" and buck wheat,
buck wheat" Then we made a dis
covery, and that was that hen gui-
nea builds her nest, or rather accom-
modates herself to conditions best
suited to secrecy and availability, and
yet. after all in a well-marked spot
For in nearly every instance the nests
were found beneath large clumps of
grain which, from some chance fertili-
cation. had grown taller and ranker
than the field of waving green and
gold about it. After we had discov-
cred this fact, it was an easy matter
to find the nests.
Some of the nests we robbed of their
fruit, and some we did not and so.
long before the summer was over the
mother gutneas came proudly home
bringing with them their respective
broods of those cute little partridge
like things all looking as much alike
as handful of black-eYed peas. They
are ever the delight and joy of a child's
heart-but oh, so wild and distrust-
full of all mankind. Well, we raised a
great lot of the guineas that year and
then we began to figure on guinea
ranch"-with fields of waving grain.
and hundreds and hundreds of mother
guineas nesting therein, and later.
foraging over the whole area until
their young should be large enough
to eat: and then back of them there
was another idea born of a chance
conversation One day we were on
Mississippi river steamer. when she
pulled into landing where there
were a great lot of guineas running
about the fields and the woodlands
nearby. The captain of the steamer,
In speaking to passenger, made this
remark:
Here is where we get our prairie
chickens"
Prairie chickens" calculated the
other in surprise; Il don't see any
about here"
The captain laughed. and pointed to
the guineas: There they are Take
one of those young birds that has run
the fields and the woods till it is about
six or eight months old; then corn
feed it for ten days, and you have as
finely Favored. and 'gamey' a bird as
any prairie chicken you ever ate"
That little talk stayed with us, and
when we got interested with the gui-
meas at home. we had an idea that we.
too, might raise prairie chickens" but
before we got things fixed up for the
next season, we had gotten hold of
standard publications and when our
runs were finished, we put pure-bred
poultry into them instead of guineas.
But the guinea idea is with us
still; and when we think of the mag
niticent domain of Texas, the warmer
regions of the great Southwest. and
the southern coast country generally.
and read of how the guinea is native
to warm climate; we have the addi-
tional thought of the great POSSIBLE
ltles IN guinea raising in such a lati-
tude. Just think of the ranch lands
the outlying prairies. the brushy
acreage, and in some sections the open
lands and the woods adjacent-alI
suited to growing the guinea fowl-a
fowl that does best when nearest to
nature and cared for only under natur-
al conditions And, a bird half wild
even in domestication-a bird well fit
ted to suit the appetite of the city man
who is surfeited with beef and other
like heavy meats. How such a person
would turn with a glad smile and an
open pocket book to the gamey flavor
ed. well-browned. smoking hot dish of
the steamboat captains prairie chick
en-"
Let's think about this matter. and if
any of us decide to try raising Cui-
meas for profit, let's get the good hardy
common sort-the Pearl guinea as II
is generally called. The white variety
is not so hardy. and is less prolific in
egg production.
Nashville, Tennessee.
April Matched Pullets Lay in Winter
1t is the pullets hatched in April and
kept growing steadily so they come to
laying maturity in October. that Law
eggs in the late fall and winter when
they pay the rich profits. In April