I THE QUAIL'S SUCCESSOR IN AMERICA. |
11
BREEDING MONGOLIAN PHEASANTS, AND jfc
HOW IT IS DONE.
The pheasant of the Mongolian kind
vill in a few short years succeed the
nail as the popular American game
jird. The pheasant has not only its
ootlisome qualities to recommend it,
mt its beauty, in waving plumage of
•avishing hues, and therefore will
>rove a prize that every sportsman
vill endeavor to secure when the sea
ion is once open for its slaughter. It
tas unduly attracted the attention of
■ur sporting gentlemen for many years
n consequence of its successful in
troduction on the Pacific Slope, and
IOW mauy Eastern States are introduc
ng the Mongolian bird into their
lomains. In Ohio alone over 200
>irds were liberated this year, and in
>everal Southern and Eastern States
he bird has been introduced for
breeding purposes.
The male bird has the cheeks naked
*nd the bightest scarlet, minutely
specked with black; the crown of the
lead bronze green; on eaoh side of
lie occiput a taft of dark golden green
catliers capable of being erected at
tleasure, antl very conspicuous in the
>airing season; upper part of the neck
lark green, glossed with purple and
dolet blue; lower part of the neck,
•reast and flauks deep reddish orange,
howiug in some positions beautiful
eflections of light purple; each feath
r bordered and termiuated with pansy
urple; center of the belly and thighs
lac-kish brown; center of the back
nil scapular feathers black or brownish
lack, surrounded with a yellowish
•hite baud and bordered with deep
eddish orange; lower part of the back
nd upper tail covert green, inter
linged with brownish orange and
urplish red; tail feathers brown
rossed by bands of black and fringed
•ith reddish brown; bill pale yellow;
igs and toes grayish black. The
imale has cheeks covered with small
losely set feathers, and the whole of
ue plumage yellowish browu, mingled
ith different shades uf gray, brown
ud black.
Iu a recent article in Recreation, a
porting magazine, G. M. Miller, 'of
Ingene, Oregon, tells of the Mongolian
heasant which was introduced into
lat State about twenty years ago
-om China aud which has attracted
ae attention of hunters throughout
Ue Unitod States. Mr. Miller says
112 this interesting bird:
"It was introduced into Oregon by
udge O. N. Deming and has multi
lied until, in the prairie sections of
Vestern Oregon, it outnumbers any
ther game bird. The reason of the
reat increase probably lies in the faot
liat it hatches two broods, of sixteen
• J twenty, each season. When the
hicks are about three weeks old the
en turns the family over to the care
112 the oock, she laying again. The
3ck is not a Mormon, in any sense of
ie word. He selects one hen, and
'forsaking all others cleaves unto her.'
Hence, to breed these birds success
fully it is essential that a cock be pro
vided for each hen.
"The Mongolian pheasant is a
prairie bird and is seldom found in or
about the timber. He likes the tall
grass, ferns, wheat stubbles and low
bushes, such as the wild rose and the
buckbrush. After the young birds
reach full growth they do not congre
gate in large flocks, as do the prairie
chickens, but are found alone, in
pairs, or in n small flocks of five or six.
, They feed on grain, insects and green
vegetables, such as red clover, cab
bage, etc. These birds are great
favorites with sportsmen. The mag
nificent plumage of the cock almost
rivals that of the peafowl in beauty.
His prevailing colors are gold and
bronze, with touches of black. He
also has a clear white ring about the
neck. The head and upper half of
the neck have a bluish green of change
able shade, similar to that of the mal
lard duck.
"The pheasant gives out a'stronger
scent than the blue grouse or the
i prairie chicken, and lies better to the
dog. During the open season, Sep
tember Ist to December Ist, an hour's
I drive iu any direction from Eugene will
bring one into the shooting grounds.
The law limits a shooter to twenty birds
i each day, but this number is often
: killed in a few hours.
"With suitable inclosure and a rea
. sonable amount of patience these t>irds
• can be successfully propagated any
where if the climate be not too severe.
They canuot be tamed or domestica
ted. After months of captivity they
are as wild as when first taken. They
are 'game' first, last aud all the time.
"The flesh of the Mongolian pheas
ant is almost as white as that of the
domestic chieken and has a pronounced
'gamey' flavor, much appreciated by
all lovers of wild meat."
j Following are instructions, given by
I a writer in the St. Louis Star, for
I propagating pheasants:
A bos should first be constructed.
The runway, which is covered with
wire netting, is detachable from the
box at the end, wherein the hen is set,
and where the hen and young birds
. are protected from storm and cold,
i Both the ninway and the box are
placed on the ground.
' To construct a nest take a square
• piece of sod about the size of the box
112 and in the centre cut out a round
' space about the size of a common hen's
3 nest.
1 Very little dry leaves or chaff should
1 be placed i i the bottom of the nest,
s Disinfect the hen with insect pow
-8 Tn >e^ Jre P' ac ' u S her upon the nest,
u The hen should be placed upon the
? nest with some common eggs for at
least two days before placing the
pheasant eggs under her. This is
done to tost her staying qualities.
The egga should then be placed under
the hen at night time, after removing
the hens' eggs.
Food and water should be placed in
the runway so the . hen can subsist
during incubation.
Tlie eggs should be examined every
day, and for this purpose the lid or
roof of the box should be lifted while
the hen is out in the runway, so that
none become broken or soiled. Should
any of the eggs become soiled from
broken eggs or otherwise, they should
be cleansed by taking a rag wet with
tepid water and wiping them, but do
not place the eggs in water.
It takes from twenty-two to twenty
four days for the eggs to hatch.
After the eggs have been under the
hen twenty days, they should be
sprinkled with lukewarm water twice
a day. This is necessary in order to
aid the young birds to leave the shell.
The runway and box should fit olose
to the g|ound to prevent the young
birds from leaving, as they will surely
leave the hen as soon as they are oat
of the shell, unless this precaution is
heeded. The hen and young birds
should be kept closely in the box for
twenty-four hours after they are
hatched, and should not be allowed to
have either food or drink. At the end
of twenty-four hours both hen and
young birds may be let out into the
runway. Give the hen all the corn
she will eat. This will keep her from
eating the food of her young.
The food for the young birds for
the first week should be of custard,
made of milk and eggs, and should be
given fresh at least five times a day.
Care should be taken not to feed [too
much at a time, so as to keep the coop
clean, for if the place becomes foul it
will tend to breed disease, and the
young birds may die from diarrhea.
The food for the young birds for
the second week should consist of
custard and milk curd. The custard
should be given three times a day,
aud milk curd, which should be mixed
with equal parts of ground hemp and
canary seed, should be given twice a
day. A common coffee mill will an
swer the purpose for grinding the
seeds.
Some young lettuce and young onion
tops, chopped fine, should be added
to both the custard and milk curd.
The young birds should be given
plenty of green food by placing lettuce
or young clover in the coops.
Am". Ancient Toll Abolished.
Windsor bridge across the Thames
has just been freed from its two-penny
toll through the greed of the corpora
tion. This had an undoubted right to
collect tolls from prescription as they
had been taken since the reign of
Henry VI. It asked Parliament in
1734, and again in 1819, for power to
charge additional tolls, and obtained
it for a limited number of years. The
privilege expired about ten years ago,
but the corporation continued to col
leot the money till a litigious Briton
refused to pay, thus bringing the mat
ter to the attention of the courts.
In Mexico City "first-class Ameri
can butter, made by an expert," is ad
vertised at fifty and fifty-six cents a
pound, at wholesale and retail, re
t-eetively.
THE*
FARM— RF.
Sand in the Food.
Sand is no substitute for gravel, anil
the mixing of sand in the poultry food
is useless. Whan coarse grit is swal
lowed by the fowl it is voided before
it becomes as fine as sand. Grit pro
vides the mechanical appliances for
grinding the food in tlie gizzard. It
really cuts the food,hence the sharper
the edges the more it is preferred by
poultry. When grit becomes worn
until round and smooth it is passed
on as useless. In using grit, there
fore, endeavor to secure that which is
hard and sharp. Sand is of no value
whatever as grit.
Nut-bearing Trees.
The chestnut, black walnut, butter
nut, shellbark, hickory and Japan
walnut may all be grown in your vi
cinity. There are no varieties offered
of the butternut and black walnut and
Japan walnut, and yet some improve
ment on the ordinary form can be had
by planting only nil's from trees
bearing choice fruits. Of the chest
nuts there are many varieties, some of
which had originated from our native
chestnuts, and others from the Euro
pean and Japanese forms. Seedlings
from our best native sorts have gen
erally proven most profitable in culti
vation, though tlie nuts may not be as
large as the grafted kinds. Among
the best of the foreign kinds, and per
haps of all named sorts, is the Par
agon chestnut. There are several va
rieties of the shellbark hickory, but
they are propagated with so much un
certainty that they are very difficult
to obtain. Among the best is Hale's
paper-shell hickory, which has been
propagated in a small way. The
chestnut undoubtedly promises better
returns in cultivation than any other
of our cultivated nuts. —Farm News.
l'otatoen Hotting in Cellar.
There is a great deal of rotting
among potatoes, and yours rot prob
ably all the worse because kept in a
cellar where the temperature is sure
to be too warm, says the Bostou Cul
tivator to a correspondent in Pawlet,
Vt. The bulk of tlie crop where many
potatoes are grown should be stored
in pits, and some lime sprinkled over
them as they are put in. The lime
dries the moisture and prevents the
spread of rot should it begin. We
think that rot in potatoes is due to a
deficiency of carbon in the tuber ow
ing either to disease of the vine and
leaves or their destruction by the po
tato beetle. The sap goes from root
to leaf, where, if the leaf be whole and
healthy, it is filled with carbon from
the carbonic acid gas which the leaf
has absorbed from the air, and this is
what makes the starch of the tuber.
If the sap is not charged with carbon
by the leaves, it makes the potato
watery and waxy. It is then easily
the victim of the spores which in any
potato crop are nowadays produced in
abundance and which cause rot. There
is no year when some potatoes will
not rot. But lime spread over them
corrects the deficiencies of the potato
so far as it can reach its juices. It is
possibly this as much as its drying ef
fects which checks the spread of rot.
Poor I-'ooil Make. Poor Manure.
There are a few points of prime im
portance in the production of man
ures, and the experience of scientific
investigators is free to all who care to
learn. We might expect that the
quality of the manure will depend
upon the character of the feed. Poor
food makes poor manure and \ ice
versa. There is 110 magic in nature,
she is a very strict accountant, and
just to give for value received. But it
often will happen that the feed given
to stock does not cost either in pro
portion to its feeding value nor in pro
portion to the value of manure pro
duced. A relatively poor feed in
these respects may be high in price,
while that feed which is rich may be
bought low. Few would believe that
a ton of good clover hay is a more val
uable feed for some stock and produces
more valuable manure than a ton of
corn. And yet the experimenters so
teach.
The elements of prime importance
in manuro are nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash, and if the feed con
tains these constituents in good meas
ure the excrements will contain them
to almost the same extent. For it is
quite well settled that from 65 to 90
per cent, of these coimtituents are re
covered in the excrements. Hence,
if we feed stuff that is rich in these
elements the manures resulting will
also be rich. Headers of the Epito
mist doubtless know that the follow
ing common foods contain these ele
ments in large measure and in the
order mentioned: Cotton cake, lin
seed meal, peas, beans, bran, oats,
clover hay, and these feeds will give
the richest manures. It is not claimed
that these feed stufi's are better than
corn for fattening purposes, but first
that they yield the richest manures
and second that they supply the ele
ments especially for all
growing stock. Hence, it is good
policy sometimes to sell corn and buy
bran. There are seasons of the year
when bran is very low in car lots, as
low as timothy hay, while the brail if
almost twice as valuable for feed am'
manure as the hay. Sometimes one
can sell timothy hay aud clover hay
to advantage. A little clear knowle lgi?
, and thought are as important to the
farmer as to the banker. Of securities
whose safety is undoubted it needs
but a little in the life and income ol
the paper to determine which the
banker will buy. Ami why should not
a farmer buy and sell with as much
intelligence as a banker?—The Epi
tomist.
Out-door ICeurlncr of Swln*.
There are great advantages iv rais
ing swine in open lots or fields ovei
that of in pens or other close confine
ment. Pure air and the exercise that
can here be taken, help to make pure
blood, which in the course of nature
builds up healthy bodies. However,
pigs thus reared with a free run and
plenty of exercise would not be sc
likely to show so well at the fairs, ami
would likely be passed over by both
judges and people, simply because it
has become the prevailing idea that
only the great, gross, helpless pig is
the model of improvement. Of course
such pigs are well adapted to fill lard
cans, but not so likely the larder with
good, helthy pork or bacon.
Pigs which are reared in open pas
tures are most likely to be well de
veloped, any way, much more so than
those reared inclose confinement; they
have good appetites, promoted by
fresh air, and exercise,hence ihey will
eat a great variety of food, and better
digest it than when confined in pens.
Also a great saving is made by it, for
they will consume all the refused
fruits, roots, and all kinds of vege
tables, and these serve to stimulate
their appetites and make them grow.
By extending the root patch, and
planting the fodder-corn thinner, sc
that some corn will form on it, and by
having a little clover lot from which
to cut soiling feed, the number of pigs
may be proportionally increased. Aud
a very great advantage where it can
be had, is a clover field for the pigs to
run on, both as a matter of health and
economy, as they will keep in good
condition, and grow rapidly thereon,
with but little other food.
Where they can be had, there should
be three pastures or ranges for hogs,
one for the dry sows aud store hogs,
one for the sows which are suckling
pigs, and one for the young pigs when
weaned. With such arrangements the
most economic management may be
had. Dry sows and shoats or store
pigs need but little, if any other food
than the pasture affords—especially if
of clover—while the sow's suckling
pigs require pasture and some feeding,
and the pigs wheu three or four weeks
old also need extra food. There should
also be had a pen into which the pigs
could slip, that they may be fed to
themselves. The extra or third pas
ture mentioned, if connected with tlie
one in which the suckling sows run, is
the place to feed the suckling pigs,
and if older pigs run in here, a pen
should be built to feed thein in; then
when weaning time conies they will
be accustomed to the place,and it will
be an easy matter to shut them into
this pasture for extra feeding.
Altogether for the improvement in
the condition and health of swine, the
production of better aud more whole
some pork, it is certainly of the first
importance to keep them as much as
possible out on the broad, airy pas
tures. It does not take many genera
tions of confinement and lack of stic
cnlent food, with excessive fatness as
is produced from corn feediug, to
break down and destroy the vital en
ergy of any animal, anil especially so
of swiue, as is attested where confine
ment and high feeding has been the
rule.—J. I. Baird.
Poultry Notes.
Put the growth on the chicks before
freezing weather comes, for then it
will take more feed and the chicks will
stop growing.
The duck is what we call a "water
fowl," and yet Mr. Hankin, the noted
poultryiuau of the east, raised ducks
with only enough water for drinking
purposes.
Do not feed heavy one day and
light the next, but give the poultry
just as much as they need and no
more; and give it to them at regular
times each day.
Keep as many fowls on the farm as
you can properly care for. There is
no danger of the market becoming
overstocked and having to sell poultry
and eggs below the cost of raising.
. To keep fowls free from vermin aud
disease needs constant attention and a
good deal of dirty and disagreeable
work. But you caunot expect TO suc
ceed unless you give them this atten
tion.
Floorless houses, well sanded, per
mits the hen to "kill time," and tc
secure exercise by scratching, aud if
the foundations are well built with
stone no refuge is afforded for rats aud
insects.
Warm, substantial henhouses that
do uot have to be artificially heated
nicau a saving in feed and an increase
in eggs. Houses that are neither
wind nor weather proof are a source
of continual loss. Fowls lose theii
natural hardiness aud vigor wheu win
tered in artificially heated houses.
Build them as warm as Wards, lath,
plaster aud paper can make them, and
if possible located in a sheltered spot.
NEW UNIFORMS FOR THE ARMY.
Undo Sign's Men to We Clad in the Pret
tiest Uniform* in the World.
The United States Army is to change
its style of dress uniform. General
Miles and his staff have been consider
ing the matter for some time, and the
suggestions which the General has de-
OLD AND NEW CAVALKY UNIFOKMS.
oided on will in all probability be
adopted at the present sitting of Con
gress.
The cavalry will be putin hussar
uniforms of black fur busby, tight
tunic braided across the breast, riding
trousers and Hessians boots. They
will excel even the smartest of the
English, French, German or Austrian
cavalry, and will make that branch of
the United States Army one of the
prettiest dressed in the world. The
helmet will be entirely discarded.
For the artillery and infantry will
be adopted a busby similar to those
worn by our cavalry in the Revolution,
and by the city troops to-day. The
change in the artillery and infantry
uniforms will bo slight.
The picture on the left shows how
Uncle Saul's cavalry now looks. The
one on the right portrays how he will
look in his new clothes.
Largest Mule In the World.
The largest mule iu the world c.
rived in Chicago 011 Saturday, and is
staying at the stockyards for a short
time. The animal is not destined to
be slaughtered, for it is bound for
London, where it is to become the star
attraction in a menagerie, and it will
doubtless be placarded as "an average
American mule. The mule is nine
teen hands 2i inches high, and weighs
1830 pounds. It is nine years old.
The discoverer of the animal is F.
P. Brown, a stockyards dealer, who
found it on its native heath in South
western Missouri. He believed that
his find was not in its proper environ
ment, and succeeded in disposing of
it to an Euglish animal tamer.—Chi
cago Dispatch.
A Peculiarity of Blind Fishes.
The great majority of fishes can
change their colors to adapt them
selves to their surroundings. Some
fishes can make extraordinary changes;
there are many that can make them
selves so like the rocks near which
they may be, or the bottom in which
they lie partly imbedded, that they
are practically indistinguishable. It
is a striking peculiarity of the blind
fish that it does not change its colors
with its surroundings, but remains al
ways the same, and the uniform color
which it thus preserves is always
darker than the normal color of the
other fishes of the same kind in the
same waters.—New York Sun.
An express driver in Chicago, who
was locked up over night for driving
bin horse and delivery wagon in a
funeral procession against the protes
tations of the mourners, pleaded in
the morning that his horse once be
longed to an undertaker, and he could
not overcome in the brute the influ
ence of old associations. He was dis
charged without fine.
The Most Interesting Monkey in Existence.
You see here a young lady protege
of Professor James Harvard's, psycho
logist and authority on thought trans
ference. The young lady's name is
Sally and she is the side partner of
Joe, who is not less accomplished than
Sally as an educated chimpanzee and
all around cultured Bostonian. Sally
is about the most human monkey in
the world. She has very pronounced
SALLY, BOSTON'S EDUCATED MONKEY.
likes and dislikes. She abhores to
bacco, but has a soft spot in her heart
for perfumes, jewelry and other things
dear to femininity. She sleeps in a
real bed with real bed clothing and
likes to be tucked in snug, and she
dresses herself unaided with all the
care of a debutante.