The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-06-09
STOCK RUNS TO MALES

Troubles OF q New York Citfzen.Far-
Enlls and Chicks Nearly An Roos-
tcrs-Hircd Mans Chiidren-An
Evelcss Eden.
The manager CT one Of New York's
great dry goods stores, who has a Tar n
near Brewster. n. Y. Is much interest
ed in the contention of Director Smsth
that the Central Park menagerie Is DC
coming an Eveless Eden because vis-
itors feed HYDROCARBONS { o the ant
| mails.
Il am not disputing Mr.. Smiths ar
gument that peanuts anr sweets pre-
determine the sew among animals"
said he. He may be perfectly cor
rect. | only want to state the sid
conditions on my farm, and | can't
give a reason for them. They are Just
like h conditions at the menagerie,
although my live stock has had moth
ing but ordinary food.
There are three hundred acres on
the farm. which is situated on a ridge
and Is carefully stocked with the best
cattle n poultry that none can GU.
| have been there seven years, and all
that time | have suffered a plague Of
too many males
Il have 100 cows, and OF their calves
So per cent. AVE been bulls. | brought
81 heifers there from other parts OF
country, which were about 10 caive.
and they produced the usual nuruner
of heifers. but since then they have
given me nothing but bulls. | didn't
purpose TO spread these young bulls Of
n breeding along the countryside.
so | had to sell them in the market
or raise them as steers. Young pulls
whose %grandsire sole for SIC. COO
brought about So from the butchers.
1t was useless for me TO keep more
than n out OF twenty of them.
All these are oe the finest Ayrshire
stock. The president Of the Ayrshire
Association laughs at me every time
he sees me and asks how the bubiis
are. He knows that 1t is almost i'm
possible for me to raise a heifer On
my farm.
With sheep it has been worse. IL
possible. [ have a flock OF thirty.
Some ewes nave had two lambs, some
n and tw~enty-six of themhaye been
males. The men on the farm have got
so used to the state OF affairs that
when a heifer or a eve lamb Is born
there is a celebration.
Il lave tried Iny best to raise chick
ems, but the chicks are nearly al
ROSTERS. You know what that e 10
a farmer. My turkeys, raised for the
holiday tables of myself n my
friends, with hardly an exception turn
ed out TO be toms. A hen turkey may
bring 25 cents a pound when a tom tur-
key sells for Is. The meat of a lien
turkey is far superior to that Of The
| male bird.
THE hoodoo affects even the carrier
pigeons which ] thought would be an
ornament to the place. The females
were in the majority when | bought
the pigeons, but they produced nothing
but males. The result was that the
males few away to find mates and my
| loft was deserted.
MY cat lac a litter of kittens aud
six of the seven were tomcats. There
is a fine place for hogs on the farm,
but after observing the course %
events in the other branches of live
stock, | lave decided not to try hogs
just yet. Bears, except when they are
in the sucking stage are of no use for
the market, having a strong odor.
But that is not all. When | start
ed the farm seven years ago | took on
a hired man who had just been mar
ried. He was with me until recently.
and while in my employ became the
happy father Of FIVE boys. He moved
away and a girl came. Another man
who has worked for me four years has
had three boys come TO cheer his life,
| but no girls.
Excessive masculinity has extended
even to the vegetables on my farm.
The corn came up only in stubs ana
a learned professor whom / consulted
| told me that it was male corn.
MY neighbors are not troubled the
way | am. Perhaps that is because
| my farm is apart from theirs on a
| higher land. 1 have sufficient uck
on my farm on Lake ~Champlain, but
I am going to keep away from there
as much as possible, lest I bring the
strange influence or suggestion or
whatever it Is.
II might say in conclusion, that
am the father of four boys, but I don't
| see what bearing that has on the
puzzle. The boys were not born ON
| the farm near Brewster."-New York
Sun.