als LAE Th pe wd Sent (008 DIA you ever see a rat or mouse Or av1ld rabbit sick from what might be termed natural causes? Any one who can contribute such an animal to the Department of Agriculture may unwittingly confer a benefit of mil. lions of dollars annually on this country, What the Department wants Is a fatal and contagious malady, svhich It Is working hard to get now, but up to date the work is merely promising, there having been no satis. factory result to record. So if any one has a hutch of rabbits swept off by a sudden and mysterious disease, or if he notices any swift and sudden mortality among the rats and mice in his locality, that may be the very thing the Department is looking for, TO BREED UP A DISEASE. be bought by the pound and spread on bread. The contagious quality has not developed yet in any of the foreign cultures tried. THE RABBIT PEST. The biologienl survey has been able to do a good deal In a practical way with the rabbit pest. Some time ago the forest service set up a howl of in- dignation. It had planted some hun- dred thousand young trees, nursery stock, in one of the California forest reserves, and the rabbits ate them up in about a week, Then it seeded several hundred acres with white pine to restore the land after a fire, and the rabbits cheerfully set to work, dug up all the seeds and ate them. But PRAIRIE DOGS. One of the Pi and one of the rodents should be forth- | with dispatched to Secretary Wilson. He will be glad to get It. Of course, every one knows that the | gopher problem 18 a serious one in many parts of the West, and the rab- bit pest has at times threatened devastate Australia, and even Call fornia. Altogether the small animals do a great amount of damage, but] most people do not realize what its aggregate really is. Yet In one cou. ty of the state of Washington last year fleld mice destroyed at least half a million dollars worth of prop- erty, while In the same time wolves in Wyoming alone muicted the stock- men of $1,000,000 worth of cattle, | svhile the damage from field mice, and | similar little “varmints” throughout the United States, especlally In the West and, South, amounted to many millions. TASK OF THE SCIENTISTS. To cope with these pests is one of the most Interesting tasks of the blologlcal survey of the Department of Agriculture. It has been working in a qulet way for several years, and has about come to the conclusion that al though It Is possible to trap, polsor and otherwise redonce the pests In many Instances, the thing that Is really needed is a contagious dis that can be bottled up In the labor- atory and distributed to do its ovn work on an Infinitely more effective scale than can traps and polsons That there Is some such disease, or that one can be produced, the scle: tists of the department do not doubt, The trouble up to date has been to find It. The blological servey is working In conjunction with bureau of animal Industry. 1S Rome promising leads have been struck, but | none of them have turned out to be just what was wanted. For Instance, while they are working with one dis ease now that is fatal to a certain breed of field mice, It will not touch ats {80 to speak, and they | the | to others, and the rats laugh at It in conscious Immunity. Also there are plenty of contagious animal diseases | that could be turned loose on the rats, |, ground squirrels, and rabbits, but as they would kill a horse just as quickly as they svould a rat, they are not wanted, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON'S ’ FIND. Some years back the survey lost just the chance It has been looking for. Ernest Thompson Seton was p in Canada, where there was a pest of rabbits, and noticed that they were rapidly dying out. Some mysterious disease was carrying them off, and It was not long before the country was almost cleared of them. He realized that this disease might prove valuable and managed to catch some sick rab. bits which he shipped to a laboratory fii New York, but the problem was not just In the blologist's line, and he did not realize the Immense Importance of It, 80 the secret was not grasped, Now the blologlienl survey Is looking out for similar occurrences, and If the opportunity offers, will make the most of them, . There 18 a fleld mouse discase that fs harmless to domestic animals, and the survey Is trying hard to make It virulent enough to do business with some of the larger pests, It promises well, but the scientists have had too many disappointments to be bragging in advance. They are, however, act. ually trying to reinforce the disease and make It worse than It has proved up to date. This Is getting pretty deep into the network of germology and toxic sclence, It means really breed. mg up disease germs on somewhat the same plan that plants and animals are now bred by the department. But there Is a hope that they way be able to do something with It. Anyhow they are trying. \ 4 bas been a number of reports from abroad of the wonderful things foreign bacteriologists have succeeded in Going on the Moe of contagious dis tried faithfully here, no ever been obtained. Some have proved fatal to te them, but that can of the West. the blologists were loaded for rabbit, furnished the people w harmless wash to soak thelr pine nuts In before plant ing, and with a cheap dip for the irsery stock which a self-respecting II no more nibble than will ing smell auto- me. forest ith a th bhhit = ) confess daly took f the book of the Plute and other desert-dwelling In dians, The Plutes have been caching food supplies of pine and pinfon nuts the desert for hundreds of years ind they found that the rabbits, the ground squirrels and prairie dogs would clean out thelr cache. But they found by experience that there was a little weed that the ground animals disliked excessively and that anything dipped In a tea steeped from the bark of the weed was rabbit-proof for a long time thereafter, So the rabbits were checkmated on that play and the forest officers have no more trouble frot: that quarter. PLAGUE OF THE WOLVES. jut It Is the vory presence of the forest reserves that has bred the plague of timber wolves In e¢ West. No hunting Is allowed In he reserves and thes for for game of | sorts But | that they breed wolves quite ¢ 18 they breed anything else, of which fact the cattle raisers have been made painfully aware. + In the days of the buffalo on the plains, thousands of wolves lived on the herds When the buffalo were Hed off the wolves dis API red also, till there was not one where there used be a thousand. Then ‘he cattle began to stock the ranges, and wolves found conditions much the same as in the buffclo days. They promptly multiplied and Increased till they are now doing an Immense amount of damage, aided largely by thelr asylum in the forest reserves, desert resent } t 4 men the The biological survey has sent ont Mr. Vernon Balley, one of Its best en, to study the wolf problem, and he has been skeelng and snowshoeing through Wyoming a the snow was on the ground and the wolves were particularly easy to track and study. He has not done any poisons and traps you have trapped and poisoned a few in a given district the rest grow, wary » nd Montana while | i Egg Farms of California. ly T. F. McGREW, Many years ago I assisted a friend in the loading of a ear of poultry for California. This ear was shipped from Central Ohlo, and the fowls contained therein were very well selected from flocks of desirable varieties, The owner of this ear crossed the econtl- nent in care of his birds and settled in Central California. Reports from there a few years later told a direful story of the Impossibility of success in poultry-growing in California, It is unnecessary to relate the many troubles experienced, except to say that the amateur in poultry at that time imagined that the birds would live and prosper In the California oli- mate without proper shelter within bouses during the cold, damp weather, A close study of these conditions has entirely eliminated all these mis- takes, and to-day there is no place in the United States where there is an enthusiasm equal to that found throughout California with reference to this industry. The construction of proper houses, the selecting of proper breeds and the proper caring for them has built up an enormous egg business through that section of the country, ® In the nelghborhood of Petaluma, more Leghorn fowls are probably kept for producing the white-shelled eggs for the California city markets than can be found within the same number of miles In any other place in the world. One enthusiastic visitor to that locality has made the statement that every acre In the fifty thousand acres visited containgd a hundred Leghorns. The climate Bf Southern California, the beauties of the scenery, the pleas- ure of fruit cultivation and the profit. able growhg of poultry have attracted many hundreds to that section to em- bark In these puisuits under pleasant conditions, A Mr. Brownlow who purchased a few acres of ground In that locality ten years ago has built up for himself, with the assistance of his wife and children, a most profitable combination of poultry, fruit, bees and squabs, all of which thrive continually under the softer bling these people to produce broflers every month with a minimum amount of care and attention, the fruit and bees being a remarkable source of profit during the greater part of the year. PROTECTION AGAINST DAMP y IMPORTANT, The buildings used for poultry In these localities need not be so expen sive In construction as 18 necessary in that portion of the country visited and other necessities Is not so high as In the colder parts” of the country, as much of it Is usually produced near at hand, All of these things combine to make the reglons of Southern California most attractive to poultry growers, who muy be seeking a softer climate to lessen the aggravation which the rigors of winter heap upon some member of the family, Many have gone there seeking a place merely to benefit their health, and have been much Improved by 80 doing; but they have also been able to make a living for themselves and their families through the com- bination above described, ALL CANNOT SUCCEED, All 20 not succeed. This can not be in any following of life. Those who do succeed usually have more or less experience In the business before they embark upon it. The failures come to the Inexperienced, and those who are unable to contend with the diffi- cultles always confronting one In the upbuilding of a new home in any lo- cality. What are known In the San Fran. cisco market as “range” eggs, the New York market designates as “fresh-laid” eggs. Ranch eggs of California are the fresh-lald eggs that are brought direct to the market and sold as such. During November and December last this quality of eggs sold in the mar- kets of Ban Francisco as high as fifty. one cents a dozen, and as low as thirty cents, Influenced, no doubt, by the sup- ply and demand, goveralng this pro- duct In every locality. Eggs sold In Chicago during the year of 1905 as low as fifteen cents, In Ban Francisco the lowest price quoted for the year was fourteen cents. When the lesser expense of caring for them is considered, the ad- vantages or profit from poultry grow- ing should be fully equal to, If not bet- ter than would be the same pursuit in Illinois, a BUSINESS METHODS IN FARMING Successful Kansas Farmer Who Has Kept Trace of Receipts and Ex. penditures for Twenty Years. the Kansas City Journal of the suc- cess of A. I. Hollinger, a well-to-do Kansas farmer who opened a set of books when ke began farming twenty years ago and who has kept his ac- counts as accurately as a bank does its, The other day he struck a trial balance and found himself $50,000 to the good. He has now retired from the farm and will make _a tour of America. The compilation of his long record beginning with 1880 shows the total figures given as follows: He has raised 5.205 acres of wheat, a yearly average of over 23 acres, and on that area has raised 08,791 bushels, or an average per acre for twenty years of 184 bushels, Daring all the two lecades he never hadan entire fallureof wheat, although an average of 1% bushels an acre in 1500 came yery near to It. fis corn record Is equally Interest. ing. He has raised 2546 acres of corn, & yearly average of 142 acres, The total number of bushels was 72.- G72, or an average per acre for twenty years of 20%; bushels. The corn THE SCOURGE OF THE CATTLE COUNTRY. feeding the fowls: and the facility with zero weather durinz the winter months. Protection from rain, damp and vermin Is the most necessary ad- | Junct to a properly constructed poultry | at large shooting. but Is trying the effects of | tut the wolves are | about as cunning as foxes, and after | house when the poultry ean not run and range over the land There is no month in the year in which they can not find more or less animal and vegetable life for food upon the range. ‘Thif 12 months of food supply reduces the expense very materially in! and the polsons and traps are rele gated to seat 23. The wolves get so crafty that they will not swallow a plece of meat without mouthing It, and If they get the bitter taste of strychnine or arsenic they drop It and look for something else to eat Whether or not the survey will be able to kill them off with some contagious disease Is a question, but they are fut more dangerous than the rapidly becoming as great a pest and swaller AN OUT OF DOOR BROODER AND FLOCK OF YOUNG WHITE LEGHORNS, with which squab breeders ean fly thelr birds at large, continually adds vigor and strength to the breeding stock, which naturally assists in the guick Srowth and size obtained in the squn The quotation of eggs, dressed poultry and squabs in the California market, while not the equal of the New York and Boston markets, will grade well In value with the average markets of our larger Inland cities made two entire failures, one In 1805 ind one In 1901, In 1805 it was very near a fallure, only 3 bushels per acre. Less attention was paid to oats and © CHIN Ax \FHE Weiisaty sed rh du8 rum with edges in if you will help us intradiios out Qhe expense of living as to food 7 averaged for the twenty years 25% bushels per acre. In all these figures the number of acres sown 18 given and the number of bushels harvested. “During the twenty years,” sald Mr, Hollinger, “I have aimed to carry enough cattle to use up the rough- ness and the corn ralsed on the farm, usually from 100 to 400 head. Of late years 1 have pald more atiention ‘0 cattle and alfalfa, and have fouud that it was a far more reliable ¢ m- bination than purely grain farmi ig In which I was chiefly engaged in the earlier time of my experierce, There Is no question bat that any futelligent farmer can make a comnprtency, and support his family in ab* ndant com- fort In central Kanias, I have done no more than any of my nelghbors did or might have done, Eich yerr the same income approximately ean be se- cured If the work Is carefully planned and such cropsare raised as areadapted to Kansas soll and Kansas climate.” As an example of Mr. Hollinger's stock ralsing It may be mentioned that he came to Kansas City recently with $0,500 worth of stock which he sold off bis farm. He has lived on the same place for thirty-three years and Is not leaving Kansas because he Is entirely satisfied’ with his wealth but because he wants to give his family a broader education and to secure recreation for himself, “I think I have enough to keep me from want” he sald, “and I am entitled to get some- thing more out of life than I have beretofore done.” GREAT BEAR COUNTRY, RE HUEEE Representative Bede of Minnesota Tells the President About Big Game Hunting in Duluth. How it happened that the war cor- respondents at Washington found out about J. Adam Bede's conference on bears with President Roosevelt not appear, the Minnesota Congressman’'s tales has been made, and was made public in the New York Evening Post, It makes an alluring document, Mr. Bede, who is the acknowledged wit of the House, sought the President with the friendliest Intention. “You like to shoot bears,” said “Jadam.,” diplo matically, Mr. Roosevelt admitted it. “But you don't have to go into the wild West for your sport,” went on the Minnesota statesman, “Think of this fact: thirteen bears were shot in the streets of Duluth last year—in Du- luth, the pride of the Northwest, that beautiful city on effect Un the President, and Mr, Bede was encouraged to go on. “It's the only place in the whole world, Mr. President, where you can go bear hunting by trolley car, under the elec- tric light, and on asphalt pavements We have all the conveniences so dear to the heart of the true sportsman, and without leaving your hunting ground you can walk across the street to the mall box and drop in a postal card to your friends, telling them all about the game you have t ed.” With the Congressman was a Duluth constituent, a lady with first-hand knowledge of bear hunt! in that city, She added her cofroborative statement: “Oh, yes, Mr. President, & short time ago & friend of mine heard a nolse outside his window, and on looking out saw that It was a bear try- ing to climb a telegraph pole, He shot that fellow without leaving his bed. room.” Then, to the joy of the Presle dent, Mr, Bede took up the tale: “Why, bears are common things with us wp in Minnesota, Mr, President. Last year five bears held up one of our trolley cars. They were two old ones and three cubs, This occured right in the streets of Duluth, The big fellow got in front of the caf and put his paws on the dashboard, driving the motor- man off, while mamma and the cubs went around after the conductor, After they had had enough of this sport they raised the siege and trotted off toward the outskirts of the city. Oh, no, we don't let the bears trouble us much. When they get too bothersome we turn them over to the police, who drive them out of town; but it's a great bear country up there, and I'm sure you would like to see a bit of it.” Now, {f it Is announced that President Roose. velt means to take a vacation up in the Minnesota woods, the correspond- ents may go straight to Duluth, where, as Mr. Bede is a true prophet, the great bear slayer may be found sitting in the door of an up-to-date hotel, a rifle across his knees, waiting for the promised sport. afer 079 acres were raised. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers