Bellefonte, Pa., September 3, 1920.
A
RELIGION AND FRIENDSHIP.
By Edgar A. Guest.
“What's his religion?” quick says I
As we observed him walkin’ by,
An’ slow, says Ezra Brown to me;
“I’ve no idee jes’ what it be.
Y’ve never ast him where he goes
On Sundays for his soul's repose,
An’ I don’t care so long as he
Stands up as man to man to me.
That's how he got to talkin’ then
Of churches an’ the ways o’ men,
An’ I jes’ sat there listenin’ while
His tongue ran on in easy style;
“All churches do the best they can
To make a chap a better man,
An’ no church I was ever in
Encouraged me to go an’ sin.
“Cath’lic or Protestant or Jewish,
Or Scientist or Thoughter New
Ain’t never raised a wall so high
That I can’t climb, or jes’ sneak by,
To claim the good friends that abide
An’ wait upon the other side;
Religion cannot draw a line
To keep me from a friend o’ mine.
“Supposin’ you an’ I were bound
To live on ‘Piscopalian ground,
Or Baptist or whatever creed
We thought was fashioned to our need,
An’ couldn't step outside or meet
The folks upon another street,
But from one faith alone must choose—
Think of the good friends we would lose!
“Why ask what temples they attend?
In church or out a friend's a friend,
An’ dreary this old world would be
If men were slaves to bigotry;
Run down your list o’ friends an’ see
How many worship differently—
There is no church, whate’er it be,
But what has given good friends to me.”
THE LOST FILMS.
Can a woodchuck climb a tree? Be-
fore we had our experience on Pros-
pect Hill both Rodney Blake and I
would have answered that question in
the negative; but now we know that
a woodchuck can and will climb, and
with a heavy-footed agility that is as
astonishing as the feat itself. Ex-
cept for an accident we could produce
two photographs in proof of the as-
sertion.
Rodney and I had set out on an
afternoon stroll, with the birch flats
and a swim in the river as our ob-
jective. Rodney’s little fox terrier,
Gyp, suddenly went off at a tangent
up the face of Prospect Hill, and we
soon heard him barking on the south-
ern shoulder, near the old sandstone
quarry.
“That dog has cornered something,”
I said; “sounds as if it might be a
bear.”
“A chipmunk, more likely,” Rodney
replied. “She’ll make as much fuss
over two ounces of game as she will
over two hundred pounds.”
He whistled shrilly again and again,
but the barking continued unabated.
The terrier was making so much
noise that she could not possibly have
heard anything less than a thunder-
clap. So at last we decided to in-
vestigate.
We followed the old road until we
came to what is left of the quarry
buildings. They had been empty
for at least fifteen years and are in
a ruinous condition; a rank growth of
briars and saplings almost hides them
from view. Beyond the buildings is
the deep artifical chasm from which
many thousands of blocks of building
stone were removed years ago.
Gyp was somewhere east of the
sheds, hidden among the undergrowth,
and giving tongue at the rate of three
barks to the second. We forced our
way through the brush, and saw the
little fox terrier leaping about on the
extreme edge of the quarry.
The excavation is nearly three acres
in area, and is almost a hundred feet
in depth down to the surface of the
water. Just how deep that water is
I do not know, but old residents as-
sert that the quarry was two hundred
and fifty feet in depth when it was
abandoned. The cost of raising and
shipping the stone then became pro-
hibitive, and water also had been giv-
ing much trouble for a number of
years. A drainage tunnel had been
projected, but had not been dug when
the company went out of business.
As soon as the machinery had been
removed the pumps were stopped, and
immediately the water began to rise.
Within a month or two it had obtain-
ed its present level, where it has re-
mained with little variation ever since.
Probably there is an opening between
strata close to the surface that drains
off the surplus inflow; the imprisoned
water is comparatively pure, so that
fish and frogs live in it, although
scum collects on the surface toward
the southern side.
“Gyp!” said Rodney sharply.
“What’s the matter? What are you
making all this row about?”
The terrier wagged the stub of a
tail, to show that she heard, but kept
cn barking. Crawling up to the verge
and looking over, I saw a sight that
made me beckon to Rodney to join
e.
Fifteen feet down the almost verti-
cal precipice was a narrow shelf,
marked with drill holes at least eighty
years old. On that porch squatted a
huge gray woodchuck, a veritable pa-
triarch of his race, with one eye fixed
on the barking dog and the other war-
ily taking note of the sheer fall be-
side him.
Then we noticed a burrow entrance
almost at our feet. Gyp, by a rush,
had cut the marmot off from his home
and had forced him to take shelter
over the edge of the quarry.
“Come away!” Rodney ordered.
That big chuck would eat you up if
he got hold of you! Let him alone; he
isn’t doing any harm here!”
But Gyp, emboldened by our pres-
ence, had no idea of obeying the com-
mand to retreat. Scarcely were the
words out of her master’s mouth
when, bracing with her forefeet, she
deliberately slid over the edge of the
precipice, and headed straight for the
ledge and the woodchuck.
Rodney made a futile clutch at the
dog’s hind quarters, while I, in turn,
grasped the back of his coat.
“If they get to fighting, they’ll both
samen
, tumble into the water and drown!”
i he cried; but the woodchuck showed
no disposition to stay to fight.
Growing out from the shelf a hund-
i red feet away was a stunted elm tree,
| probably at least seventy-five years
old, for it had an ancient, crabbed
look. It was of no great height, and
if it had been of smoother growth
might almost have passed for a sap-
‘ling.
z seed had found lodgment in a
crevice of the rock and had sprung
up long ago, probably soon after the
quarrymen had worked down to the
next level. Earth had fallen from the
bank above and kept it alive, and the
roots had worked their way between
the strata; but at no time had the
tree’s supply of nourishment been
sufficient to promote healthy growth,
and it had barely contrived to exist.
Miserable as was its condition, how-
ever, the woodchuck saw in it a place
of refuge from the dog. :
Running with awkward speed along |
the shelf, it reached the tree and |
scrambled up the slender trunk, until |
in a moment it was clinging to a |
branch twenty feet above the ledge. |
The elm did not grow perfectly up- |
right, but leaned out away from the !
wall of the rock; it offered a steep |
climb, but the animal had no difficulty :
in going up the trunk with sufficient |
little dog.
“Will you look at that!” said Rod- |
ney, staring with open mouth. Now, |
if we should tell what we've just seen,
nobody would believe us!”
“Oh, I've heard of woodchucks
climbing trees before,” I declared.
“Did you ever hear anybody except |
Nate Walden tell of it?”
“No-0.”
“And didn’t everybody say, or at
least hint, that he was an old liar, |
just as soon as his back was turned ?” |
“Why, I guess a good many didn’t
believe him.”
“No; and a good many wouldn’t
believe us. I'd give a dollar for a
picture of that fellow up there!”
“Why not get your camera and
take one, then?”
“Will you wait here and keep him
treed till I can get it?”
“All right,” 1 said. “You hurry,
and Gyp and I will keep him here.”
“Ill be back in fifteen minutes,”
said Rodney.
He set off on a run for his home,
and I was left to seat myself on a
slab of rock and listen to the barking
dog. Gyp seemed to have all the will
in the world to climb the tree her-
self; all that she lacked was the nec-
essary skill.
The woodchuck, looking alternately
down at the dog and across at me,
swayed back and forth on the slender
bough to which it clung. After a
little more than a quarter of an hour,
Rodney came back, panting heavily,
but waving his camera in triumph.
For five minutes he manoeuvered ior
position, and then took two snapshots
from the top of the bank.
“You got a good one that time,” I
hold him, after the second film had
been exposed; for I had been looking
over his shoulder into the focusing
chamber, where the animal’s image
was very clearly outlined.
“Yes; but it will look as if I were
up another tree when I took the pic-
ture. I ought to be down at the level
of that ledge, so as to take in the
chuck and the whole tree from below.
I'm going down there, too.”
“You'd better not, Rod,” I warned
him. “How’ll you get back?”
“Oh—climb back! Let me take
your hand.”
Rodney never was easily dissuaded
from carrying out any plan, however
hazardous, once he had made up his
mind to try it. I was still arguing
when he slipped over the edge, tightly
gripping my fingers with one hand
and holding the camera at arm’s
length in the other.
“Look out, Gyp!” he shouted as he
saw that his feet were aimed straight
for the foot of the tree and let go.
In a fraction of a second he struck
heavily against the trunk and threw
his free arm around it to save him-
self from falling farther.
The stunted elm, although in full
leaf, had a yellowish, unthrifty ap-
pearance; but that it was insecurely
anchored had not occurred to either
of us. The instant Rodney’s weight
came against it, however, it toppled
outward, and, with a sharp crackling
of roots and with the fall of splintered
fragments of stone, dropped down the
face of the cliff out of sight.
Gyp yelped and leaped to one side
just in time. Of course the wood-
chuck went with the tree, and so, to
my horror, did Rodney, turning heels
over head and shooting out even be-
Yond the branches of the elm as he
ell.
I do not think that he uttered a
sound, but I cannot be sure, for I was
shouting like a lunatic. The sound of
a faint splash came up to me a sec-
ond later, and in a moment I saw a
line of ripples circling toward the op-
posite side of the pool; but nothing
else was to be seen or heard.
A dozen times or more I shouted
Rodney’s name without getting a re-
sponse. The shelf on which the whin-
ing terrier was running back and
forth was wide enough to prevent
me from looking straight down into
the quarry, so I sprang to my feet
and hurried round the edge of the
quarry to a point where I could get a
view of the place into which my
friend had fallen. By the time I
reached it the surface of the pool was
no longer agitated and the tree was
floating quietly on the water.
“Rodney! Rodney!” I called and
my shout echoed back dismally from
the walls of the quarry. When the
reverberations died away, I thought
that I heard a faint shout in reply. As
I could still see nothing, I ran along
the edge still farther, and then in a
niche, almost in line with the place
from which the elm had fallen, 1 saw
Rodney seated, with his legs in the
water. And now, well above him, I
could also see the woodchuck, labor-
iously ascending the precipice along
a ragged seam in the rock.
“Are you hurt?” I shouted across.
“I've lost my camera,” was the
seemingly inconsequential reply.
“But are you hurt?”
“Not much, I guess. I had the
breath knocked out of me so I couldn’t
make a sound for a minute or two,
that’s all.”
speed to elude the active and eager |
loyal support of their cause.
In the preface of the book the
caught the suffrage contagion.
us, you said. From that day,
the suffrage struggle, you have
Suffrage and President Wilson.
On Thursday of last week Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president
of the National Woman Suffrage Association,
Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby had signed and proclaimed the
ratification. of the Nineteenth Amendment, called on President Wilson
for the purpose of personally thanking him, on behalf of the women
of the United States who desired the franchise, for his steadfast and
Part of her purpose in calling on the President was to present
him with an album in leather bearing the greeting and appreciation of
forty-eight State Associations which she represents.
“In 1916 you told the National American Woman Suf-
frage Association at their convention that you, too, had
adjutator, and stood loyally by us.”
The women who lead the Suffrage movement to final success
know best who was their real friends and advocates and in making
this public presentation to President Wilson have proclaimed to the
world that to him more than any other man living they are grateful.
immediately after
women of the country say:
You had come to fight with
through crisis after crisis in
proved an able ally and a wise
“Can you hang there till I get help
and a rope?” Sip :
“Yes; it’s just like sitting in a chair.
But I can climb out, if that woodchuck
can—and he’s doing it!” :
“Don’t you try any such foolish-
ness!” I called and started at my best .
speed for the village. When I reach- |
ed the other side of the quarry I
found Gyp up on the bank again. |
She had climbed up by way of a little ;
crevice in the rock and was now rush-
ing wildly about, evidently looking |
for her master, for after following
me for a few rods, she turned back
to resume the search.
With the aid of half a dozen men
and two hundred feet of rope, the task
of getting Rodney out of his predica-
ment did not prove so difficult as I
had feared it would. When he reach-
ed the top, however, he could hardly
stand, for he had struck the water
fiatwise, and one side of his body was
bruised and sore from head to foot.
No one seemed to doubt our story,
especially as by that time the wood-
chuck had reappeared on the shelf and
Gyp had to be held back from mak-
ing a second attack; but Rodney per-
sisted in asserting that no one real-
ly believed us. I know that he mourn-
ed the loss of the two films much
more than he mourned his injuries.
—The Youth’s Companion.
PLEASANT GAP.
will receive their medicine later.
Milliard Schreffler, of Altoona, vis-
ited his parents here last Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Mulfinger, of Ak-
ron, Ohio, are visiting among rela-
tives here.
Mr. and Mrs. John Hantman, of
‘Williamsport, are visiting with Mrs.
John Herman.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Twitmyer, o
Wilmerding, are visiting with Mrs:
Henry Twitmyer.
Roy Barnes, of Cleveland, Ohio, is
spending a week with his mother,
Mrs. R. P. Barnes.
Mr. Hoover, wife and daughter
Ethel, of Altoona, were visitors at the
home of Robert Corl.
Miss Dorothy Mulfinger is spend-
ing a week’s vacation at Williams-
port with friends and relatives.
Bruce Harrison, wife and daughter,
of State College, were visiting their
friends and relatives here for the
past week. :
Our registration assessor, Ward
Showers is having the time of his life
the past few days. He things regis-
tering women is not a very desirabie
task, as about three-fourths of the
newly made voters defy the regsirar
to register them. The tax collectors
OAK HALL.
Miss Esther Raymond visited from
Friday until Tuesday with friends at
Millmont.
Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Lauder spent
Sunday at the Henry Sents home on
the Branch.
Mr. and Mrs. David Krebs, of State
College, were recent visitors at the
W. E. Homan home.
A new engine and air compressor
were installed by the Oak Hill Lime
and Stone company recenetly.
Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Korman and
daughter, of State College, spent Sun-
day at the I. C. Korman home at this
place.
Miss Sue Peters, of Pine Grove
Mills, and Miss Miriam Stamm, of
Chicago, visited last week in this vi-
cinity.
Mr. J. J. Tressler had the misfor-
tune to have one of his fine cows
fall and break its shoulder Tuesday
morning.
Mrs. Lizzie Wibley, of Altoona, and
Miss Annie Kline, of Harrisburg,
spent a few days recently at the home
of their sister, Mrs. Wm. Bohn.
Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Hazel and fam-
ily and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Houser
and Mrs. Adam Wagner, all of Belle-
fonte, took supper at the Harry Wag-
ner home Sunday.
Fair Warning.
“You are sure to enjoy yourself
here,” said the glib-tongued hotel pro-
prietor. “There are lots of pretty
girls to make love to.”
“That’s fine,” returned the young
salesman on vacation, “but there’s
one thing I wish to impress upon your
mind.”
“And what is that?”
“I am not one of those chaps who
would rather make love than eat.”—
Boston Transcript.
The Main Question.
“Will Lefthook or Plexus win that
prize fight?”
“Lefthook should have the best of
the argument.”
“I’m not interested in who has the
best of the argument. How about the
fight.”—Louisville Courier-Journal.
PENNSYLVANIA’S FORESTS
Short Talks on the Forests and the
Lumber Situation.
By Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester of
Pennsylvania.
NO. 2—TIMBER DEFICIT OUR OWN
PROBLEM.
Pennsylvania’s timber situation is
Pennsylvania’s own problem. We
. cannot pass the buck to the rest of
the country or the rest of the world,
because we have the land for produc-
ing all the timber we need, and suffi-
cient to make exportation of Pennsyl-
vania timber one of our profitable
industries.
The 5,000,000 acres of what is now
Pennsylvania’s Desert can be—and
should be—growing timber all the
while it is furnishing timber.
A shortage in most staple crops can
be made good in one year but timber
is a long-time crop.
To mature a timber crop requires
from 50 to 100 years, or more, and
no urgency of need nor amount of
money and effort can shorten the
period. Within less than fifty years,
at the present rate, timber shortage
in the United States will have become
a blighting timber famine.
Pennsylvania’s duty is to begin now
the policy of timber production and
timber conservation which will restore
its woods to their former value and
insure the people of the State against
the evil day of timber famine which
we know to be not far ahead.
Pennsylvania should own most of
the land fit only for growing trees
because:
The care and attention which the
State as such can and will give is
greater than the care and attention
a private individual or corporation can
and will give;
The timber development of the
State affects every other industry and
is, therefore, a people’s question;
The State as such must supervise
the cutting of trees if the forests
are to continue;
Privately owned timber must have
protection from fire and careful su-
pervision to protect it from devasta-
tion. The present timber and wood
pulp shortage has developed out of
the existing practice of lumbering,
which is based on the careless as-
sumption that “we have timber
enough to last.”
present lumbering practice, mature
crops of native timber l:ave been har-
vested wholly without regard to suc-
ceeding crops. No provision has been
made for the starting of new forest
growth, for protecting it from fires
which followed lumbering, nor for
the care of young timber. No effort
has been made, by private concerns, to
keep forest lands growing timber. As
a result, lands which have been at
work, century after century, produc-
ing forests that maintained and re-
newed themselves without care or
cost, are transformed by the lumber-
ing into non-productive wastes of
blackened stumps and bleaching
snags. This is forest devastation.
Pennsylvania’s duty is to stop dev-
astation. Our timber deficit is our
own problem. The State in its duty
to its people must meet this problem
—and solve it.
re pl res
Upholds Migratory Bird Law.
Sportsmen who merit the title in
the United States have been much in-
terested in the protection of the mi-
gratory birds by the Federal Govern-
ment. It has long been realized that
the conflicting laws employed by the
various States have worked havoc
among our most valuable game and
migratory birds, so the migratory-bird
treaty and the Lacey Acts have
had the support of every nature lover
in this country and in Canada.
On April 19, 1920, the Supreme
Court of the United States rendered
a decision upholding the constitutional-
ity of the treaty act. In a suit
brought by the State of Missouri
against a Federal game warden the
Supreme Court held that the Federal
game laws were enforceable in a State
whose game laws conflicted with the
migratory-bird treaty act.
The court defined the situation in
the following paragraph taken from
the opinion:
“Here a national interest of very
nearly the first magnitude is involved.
It can be protected only by national
action in concert with that of another
power. The subject matter is only
transitorily within the State and has
no permanent habitat therein. But
for the treaty and the statute there
soon might be no birds for any pow-
ers to deal with. We see nothing in
the Constitution that compels the
Government to sit idle while a food
supply is cut off and the protectors of
our forests and our crops are destroy-
ed. Itis not sufficient to rely upon the
States. The reliance is vain, and
were it otherwise the question is
whether the United States is forbid-
den to act.
the treaty and statute must be up-
held.”
Under past and |
We are of opinion that
i
FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN.
DAILY THOUGHT.
A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than
it bites—Quiutus Curtus Rufus.
Men as well as women can help re-
duce the high cost of clothing. A
little care on the part of the wearer
will do much to preserve clothing al-
ready on hand and thus eliminate the
necessity of spending large sums fre-
quently to replenish the wardrobe.
This is brought out in a recent publi-
cation of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Farmers’ Bul-
letin 1089, Selection and Care of
Clothing. ;
Immediate attention to rips, sewing
on loosened buttons and hooks, re-
working worn buttonholes and “pre-
ventative” darning are recommended
as means of prolonging the life of a
garment. The latter repair measure
consists of reinforcing a worn place
with rows of fine stitches or by laying
| 2 piece of cloth under it and darning
{ it down with ravelings of the mater-
| ial. The heels and toes of stockings
| and socks especially may be treated
i this way before a hole is entirely worn
i through. Shortening sleeves or trous-
|
|
|
ers a little to do away with a worn
edge, or putting new cuffs and collar
or new trimming on a dress may often
add months to the life of a garment.
To keep clothing looking “as good as
new” as well as actually preserving
sary to keep it clean. Brushing with
a stiff brush for woolen clothing and
a softer brush for velvet or silk, is
| necessary to remove dust, and spots
and stains should be carefully treated
with cleaning preparations as soon as
possible. In most cases this can be
done at home, but it is more economic-
al to have professional cleaners
handle very delicate garments. Farm-
ers’ Bulletin 867 gives detailed infor-
mation on the removal of stains from
different kinds of textiles.
Preserving the shape of a garment
| lengthens its service. Almost anyone
i can learn to press clothing neatly.
Woolen clothing should be covered
with a thoroughly dampened cloth and
pressed with a moderately hot iron
absolutely dry, shine is likely to ap-
pear on the garment. Silk garments
should be pressed very carefully; in
fact, sometimes hanging a silk dress
over a tub of steaming water will re-
move wrinkles without actual ironing.
Washable white silk garments should
be washed and rinsed in lukewarm
water, wrapped in a towel and press-
ed with a warm, not hot, iron. Han-
dled in this way they will not turn
yellow for a long time. Thorough
airing of clothes after wearing, out of
doors if possible, will do much toward
keeping them fresh and thus make
them last longer.
Shoes, more than many other ar-
ticles of clothing, need to be
thoroughly aired after wearing, to
prevent perspiration from rotting the
or stuffed with paper when not in
| use preserves their original shape,
and is especially necessary if the
shoes have become wet. Intense heat
is likely to crack leather; therefore
wet shoes should. never be dried un-
der the stove or on a register or radi-
ator. They should be dried slowly
! time to soften the leather. 2
A hat that is worn day after day
neat. Careful brushing or, in case of
straw hats, wiping with a cloth dipped
in denatured alcohol will remove dust
and freshen it. A new band on a
man’s hat may postpone the necessity
of buying a new hat for months.
' Trimmings on women’s hats that be-
| come loosened by wind or wear should
be sewed into place as follows: Thread
a long needle with coarse thread or
silk of inconspicuous color. Draw the
needle from the wrong side through
leaving two or three inches of thread
on the wrong side; pass the needle
up and down around the trimming
and back to the wrong side of the
hat; pull the thread through, tie the
two ends securely and cut them a quar-
ter of an inch beyond the knot.
One method of cleaning kid gloves
is to rub the soiled parts with corn
meal moistened with enough gasoline
to keep the meal from scratching the
gloves, then dry thoroughly in the
air. Washable gloves should always
be washed on the hands to preserve
their shape. It pays to mend small
pears.
The bulletin mentioned treats also
of ways of economizing in the selec-
goods, and gives other suggestions
of value.
—It gives one a very warm feeling
of security when starting on a trip
to be surrounded by the parting gifts
of stay-at-home friends, but often
these same gifts prove later to be an
embarrassment of riches. Too much
fruit will spoil, the flowers will wilt
fore. There are the white elephants
of bulky gifts, too, which are apt to
be given to the first chambermaid or
left in the stateroom.
Bon-voyage gifts should be chosen
with an eye to their practicality to
make them truly welcome. One of
the most thoughtful gifts and one
which took up no room at all was a
subscription to the home paper, mail-
ed with a careful regard for the itin-
erary of the friend who was traveling.
is a small leather identification case to
be carried in the man’s pocket or the
woman’s purse. In it can be carried
full details of whom to notify in case
of illness or accident, the bank where
funds can be had, and so on. If this
is inclosed in an envelope of oiled silk
it can be hung around the neck.
The writing portfolio that is not
bulky makes a good gift. Some very
artistic ones can be made of rich
printed linen or tapestry stiffened
with card board or the frame of an old
cigar box. The edges are finished
with gilt braid. This style is shaped
like a small overnight bag with two
sides hinged to an oblong bottom and
tall triangular side pieces. Two straps
of the gilt braid overlap and snap into
place for a handle. One side is fitted
with pockets, the other with a blotter
| slipped into straps of the braid at the
corners.
and lengthening its life, it is neces- |
until nearly dry. If the cloth becomes |
lining. Keeping shoes on shoe trees!
and if possible rubbed from time to
needs special care to keep it looking |
the hat beside the loosened trimming,
rips in gloves as soon as the rip ap- |
tion of clothing, how to test textile !
FARM NOTES.
Duck farms are usually located on
light sandy soil, generally on floping
land, where the droppings will leac
freely into the soil, so that the land
keeps sweet and clean. The farm
should have good shipping facilities
to Sid both in Shipping products a
in buying supplies. e arrangement
of the buildings should be planned to
economize labor and to allow for fu-
ture increase of the equipment. The
incubator cellar should be convenient
to the brooder house, the brooder
house to the growing house and pens,
and these buildings to the killing
house. The pens in the houses, the
outside yards, and the arrangement
of the buildings should be planned so
that the ducks may be easily driven
from house to house if desired. The
feed room or house should be cen-
trally located.
Convenient watering arrangements
are essential where large numbers of
ducks are kept, as they require a
large amount of drinking water.
While ducks may be kept successfully
under very intensive conditions, it is
advisable to allow a moderate amount
of yard space. Double yards, which
may be rotated, and planted to quick-
growing crops, such as oats, wheat,
and rye, are good for intensive duck
farms.
It is advisable to have a pond or
istream for the breeding ducks, say
poultry specialists of the United
States Department of Agriculture, as
they usually give better fertility un-
der these conditions, although on some
successful duck farms the ducks are
always kept on dry land. The young,
grzen ducks on some farms which
have a pond are not allowed to go into
the water except to bathe and clean
their feathers before marketing. Oth-
er growers, however, allow the green
ducks free access to ponds or streams
until they are marketed.
—The hen’s greatest egg-producing
periods are the first, second and third
years, depending upon the breed. The
heavier breeds, such as Plymouth
Rocks, may be profitably kept for
two years; the lighter breeds, such
as Leghorns, three years.
. There are many reasons for rotat-
ing crops. Some are more important
in one section, some in another.
Among them may be mentioned the
following:
(1) Rotation increases the total
crop yield.
(2) It distributes the risk of crop
failure, since conditions injurious to
one crop frequently do not affect other
crops.
(3) It gives better distribution of
farm labor throughout the year.
(4) It allows the keeping of more
live stock, which favors a better use
of farm crops and furnishes farm
manure.
(8) It allows the use of green-
manure crops and the satisfactory ap-
i plication of farm manures, thus main-
taining the fertility of the soil.
(6) It insures a better control of
weeds, injurious insects, and fungous
diseases of crops.
(7) It uses soil moisture more
completely, as different crops use wat-
er differently.—Farmers’ Bulletin 678
United States Department of Agri-
culture.
The crop of the chicken sometimes
becomes overloaded with feed, and its
thin muscular walls become distended
and partially paralyzed, so that the
i organ can not be emptied, or the open-
| ing into the lower esophagus may be-
| come clogged with a feather, a straw,
| or some other substance which the
{ bird has swallowed. The crop is
| greatly distended and the mass of
| feed is rather hard and firm. In both
{ cases the symptoms are the same,
| and treatment should be conducted on
{ the same principles, United States De-
| partment of Agriculture specialists
i say.
! For treatment, pour one-fourth to
one-half ounce of melted lard or sweet
| oil down the throat and manipulate
' the contents of the crop with the hand
in such a way as to tend to break up
the mass. Unless the passage is
i closed the contents of the crop will
i usually pass away within a few hours.
| For a few days feed should be lim-
ited in quantity.
If the foregoing method is ineffec-
tual and an operation becomes neces-
sary, clip away the feathers from a
part of the crop, and with a very
sharp knife, lancet, or razor make an
incision about 1 1-2 inches long
! through the skin and the wall of the
crop. Then carefully remove the con-
tents of the crop with the finger, the
handle of a spoon, or some conven-
ient object, and wash out the crop
with warm water. Pass the finger,
well oiled, into the esophagus to see
that there is no obstruction.
Sew up the wall of the crop first,
then the outer skin, using white silk
or linen thread and being careful not
to sew the two membranes together.
In a few days the wound will be heal-
ed. Feed sparingly on whole grains
a Ce Ave | until the wound heals, and do not
give any water for 24 hours.
i Dipping fowls in a soap solution
made by dissolving 1 ounce of laundry
soap in a gallon of water will destroy
all chicken lice, but a second dipping
10 days later is necessary in order to
destroy the lice that have hatched
from eggs which are not killed by the
treatment.
—The head of one of the large
Another gift which will prove itself |
{
as welcome as the friend it represents |
packing plants in Chicago recently
asserted that in late years the quality
of the hogs received at Chicago has
depreciated, and he gave as a reason
that more hogs are being shipped off
grass. While the grass-fed hog will
not dress out as profitably as one that
has been fed, or at least finished on
corn, it is gratifying to observe that
the cornbelt farmer is waking up to
the economic necessity of growing
(his hogs on grass. The packer refer-
| red to stated that of recent years
tankage has found a broad and in-
creasing demand from hog growers,
who realize its protein value as a
balance for the heavy corn ration fed
to many hogs, especially those that
are fattened in the winter.
| fore stands tramping well, starts ear-
—Broom grass is one of the best
pasture plants. Its good points are
that it has a good root system; there-
ly and grows late, is leafy and makes
a fine pasture. It does well on poor
as well as on good soil, but responds
splendidly to good soil and manuring.
OU
“7