POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 18157, 23 December 1922, Page 10

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.]

Being Christmas time —the time when the too fat hen, duck, goose, or turkey meets its doom for the good cheer of humanity—it is the inclination of the > poultry "scribe in wishing his readers, as ; 1 now do, the compliments of the season, to provide light rather than instructive reading; consequently this week s notes - 'are somewhat on the fight side. Prom an article by that wonderfully ■ good poultry writer, the Rev. C. B. Peter- ■ sen, of Maine, U.S.A., the following remarks are taken: —“A considerable body of folklore is associated with the cock. One strange notion that can be found all through the earlier literature, or, to bo more explicit, the books |i the Middle Ages, is that the lion~nhs a strong antipathy to the bird, and tba t the crowing of chanticleer will effectually put to rout the king of beasts. One can readily imagine that the lion prowling in the darkness round l some human habitation would ■ naturally resent the shrill clarion of too cock, and that this idea might, with the delight in mysticism and- symbolism of the Middle Ages, be rea.dily transferred to the roaring lion, a symbol often applied to the devil seeking w'n<gu he may devour, and from this down to the superstition that all evil spirits flee by the first crow of the cock. They say the wandering powers that love Tne silent darkness of the night At oock-cxowing giro o’er to rove. And all in fear do take their flight. Bourne tells us that he never met with , ajry reason assigned for the departure of spirits at the cock-crowing; but in our mind the above legend in semi-fact lias much to do with its origin. Even as early as the pre-Ohristian days of Pliny we find this belief in the antagonism between the two creatures in full operation, for this andant author prescribes the broth from a stewed cock as an excellent outward

application for those in peril from wild beasts, declaring confidently that -whosoever shall bathe himself in this shall fear no harm from lion or panther. Germ! Legb, in his ‘Accedence of Armorie.’ affirms that ‘ the cocke is the royallest birde that is, and of himself a king, for Nature hath crowned hime with a perpetual Diademe, to him aud to his postexitis forever. He is the valiantest in battle of all the birdes, for he will rather die than yeelde to his aduersarie.’ And one old writer goes so far as to declare that the lion, whom we have always been taught to regard as generosity itself, feels his royal title somewhat impaired by the rivalry' of the cock, and that the pretension to royalty suggested by the scarlet crest is distasteful to the king of beasts, who can brook no idea of a rival.” A Trifling Mistake.—ln the House of Peers, during the examination of the magistrates of Edinburgh touching the particulars of the Porteons Riot, in 1756, the Duke of Newcastle, having asked the Provost with what kind of shot the town guard, commanded by Porteons, had loaded their muskets, received the unexpected reply: “Oh. just sic as ane shoots dukes and fools wi’.” The answer was considered as a contempt of the House of Lords, and the poor Provost would have suffered from misconception of his patois had not the Duke of Argyle (who must have been exceedingly amused) explained that the worthy chief magistrate’s expression. when rendered in the English, meant to describe the shot used for ducks and waterfowl! A PRACTICAL JOKE. Tom Sheridan was staving at Lord Craven’s, at Denham. In the course of his walk he passed through a farmyard; in the front of the farmhouse was a green, in the centre of the green a- pond, in the ponds ducks innumerable, swimming and diving; on its verdant banks a motley group of gallant cocks and bene and pert pullets, pecking and feeding; the farmer was leaning over the hatch of the gate barn, which stood, near the cottages on the side of the green. Tom hated to go back with an empty bag, and having failed in his attempts at higher game, it struck him as a pood joke to ridiculfe the exploits of the day himself, in order to prevent anyone else doing it for him; the thought to carry home a certain number of domestic habitants of the pond and its vicinity would serve the purpose admirably. Accordingly he went up to the farmer and accosted him civilly. “My good friend,” said Tom, “I’ll make you an offer”’ “A what, sur?” asked the farmer. ’ Why,” replied Tom, “I’ve been out all dag fagging after birds a ; nd haven’t had a shot. Now, both my barrels are loaded,

and I should ldJ<e to take home something,” “ What shall I gie you to let me have a shot with each "barrel at those ducks and fowls. I standing here, and to have whatever I kill!” “What sort of a shot are you?” asked the farmer. “Fairish,” replied, Tom, “ fairish.” “ And to have all you kill,” said the farmer, “eh?” “Exactly so,” retorted Tom. “Half a guinea,” quoth the farmer. “That’s too much,” said Tom. “I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you 7s, which happens to ho all the money I have in my pocket.” “Well,” said the man, “hand it over.” The payment was made. Tom, true to his bargain, took his post by the barn door and let fly with one barrel and then with the other; and such screeching and splashing and screaming and. fluttering had never been seen or heard about the place before.

Away ran Tom, and. delighted at his success, picked up first a hen, then a chicken, then fished out a dying duck or two, and so on untill he numbered eight head of domestic game, with which his bag was well distended. “Those were right good shots, sir,” said the farmer. “ Yes,” replied Tom, “ eight ducks and fowls were more tha.n you bargained for, old fellow—worth rather more, I suspect, than 7s, eh?” “Why, yes,” answered the man, scratching his head, “I think they be. But what do I care for that, they are none of mine!” “Here,” said Tom, “I made off at my best speed for fear Hie right owner of my game should make his appearance.” - . j This is one of Theodore Hook s good stories.

MERRY THOUGHT-?. When is a hen like a sausage!—When it is half-bred (bread). When is a turkey like a lady going to a banquet ?—When it is dressed fox dinner. , , , r. Why is a Houdan like a duke?-—.be-cause it has a crest. When axe fowls like Kipling s poems. When they issue from the pen. "Why is a four-year-old Plymouth Rock like Horner! —Because it is an ancient “ barred ” (bard). When is a goose like a public schoolboy?—When it is eaten (Eton). Why is a tailless cockerel like an empty-handed Father Time? —Because it has lost its sickles. —‘ Southport Visitor. Immaterial.—Mrs Proffer-Tear ; “Oh, yes; we have just bought a place in the country, with horses, cows, hens, and ” Mrs Subbubs ; “My dear, how delightful! Then you can have all the fresh eggs you want, wnile we poor town folk have to pay a ruinous price for them." Mrs Proffer-Tear (indifferently) : “ Oh, of course, the hens can lay if they like; but in our position it is not at all necessary.” That “New-laid'’ Egg.—The young man entered the restaurant and ordered two light,-boiled, new-laid eggs. As he opened the second egg the bachelor’s attention was arrested by some writing on the shell. Naturally fie read what was written. And this was what it was:— “I am'a fanner’s daughter, seventeen years of age, with blonde hair and brown eyes; height and weight just about right, and complexion the same. If this should meet the eye of some young man who desires to wed a merry but industrious country girl, let him communicate jltlv-—" Bwfi .folhxwfid the' merry

Contributions and questions for answering should be addressed to " UtilltyPancy ” Poultry Editor, ‘ Star' Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each week. “ Utility-Fancy ” will only answer communications through this column.

reason for this is that one will be more interested in the work, and will give it deeper study and closer attention. HINTS ABOUT BREEDING. 1. Know your breeder and the reputation of his stock before purchasing your stock birds. 2. Buy the very best representative specimens of the breed that yorr money will afford. 3. Be over on the watch for the phenomenal sire, for his value will increase the valuo of your whole stock. 4. Robust strength and health, health, ■health, and once again health, in the breeding stock is of paramount importance. Health all the time, in fact. 5. Continuous selection of tho best and the utter elimination of the less good is an imperative necessity to continued success. 6. A keen eye, constant observation, and the intuitive quality of picking out a promising bird in its early stages of growth are necessary, but come only through years of knowledge of the breed. 7. Use line breeding, but use it cautiously and intelligently, and your stock will increase in quality and permanent value; use it without these two factors and it will ruin your flock, a valuable adjunct to intelligence, complete ruin to ignorance. Before starting lipe breed-

country girl's name and address. The young man was so pleased that as soon as no had eaten his egg ho rushed off and telegraphed to the girl. He received his answer the same evening. It ran : “You are too late. Was married six years ago, and am the mother of five.” The old lady who expressed' contempt of incubators when she learned that eggs did not hatch any quicker in a “machine” than under a lien would no doubt be delighted to learn that a scientist, after four years' experiments, now declares thpt by moans of X-rays ho can reduce the term of incubation by about lour days, and that the X-ray-produced chickens grow as fast and lay as early and as well as chickens hen-hatched iu the usual way. Unfortunately there is no promise, so tar, of these chicks, made at express speed, laying any better than do those produced in Nature's more leisurely way; nor are we told as to the cost involved by the uso of X-rays. I am afraid, indeed, that this new method of hatching will be both expensive and unprofitable.

More Wonderful.—One of His Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools for Scotland was examining a class in a school in Lanarkshire, and after he had taken several subjects he asked the teacher to give them a few questions in Nature knowledge. The teacher puzzled her brain for a subject in which her children were likely to shine, and at length decided to take up that of “chickens.” “Now, children,” site said, “i want you to bell me something very wonderful about chickens.” “How they 'get out of the shells,” promptly responded one little fellow. “Well,” said the teacher, “that is. of course, wonderful; but 1 mean something more wonderful still.” There was silence for a few seconds. Then a little hoy held up His hand in token that he had an answer to give. “ Well, Johnnie?” queried the teacher. “Please, ma’am,” answered Johnny, “it’s mail’ wonderful hoo they ever got iutae their shells!”

Told at Christmas. —Why are a rooster’s feathers always smooth?—Because ho carries a comb. If an egg were found oa a music stool, what poem would it reniind_ you of?—‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel.’ VVhy is an egg like a horse ? —Because you cannot use it until it is broken. Chinese, Perhaps!—“He always was a bad egg, but nobody seemed to notice it while he was rich.’’ “ Ves; ho was all right until he was broke.” The refusal of the hen to go to bed an hour earlier- is given ns one reason why daylight saving should not bo made a permanent policy. VARIOUS “FADS.” An Adelaide poultry scribe remarks : One of the oldest notions about eggs is referred to by the poet Virgil, who wrote his Georgies (a treatise on the fanning practices of those days) some thousands of years ago. It is that the long-pointed eggs will produce a cockerel and the conventional oval egg will produce a pullet. Modem practice has proved the theory to be without foundation, and that, further, the shape of the egg is due to internal pressure and) the constriction of certain muscles. During the last fifty years many marvellous theories have been enunciated. The saxophone was one of them, and although proved to be a fraud, yet lias believers in its efficacy, but in another form. The sexopbone was declared to enable any person to divide a given number of eggs into two groups—those which would produce cockerels and l those which -would produce pullets. Some years ago the poultry expert (Mr D. F. Laurie) at the request of the Australian agents of this concern, had the matter carefully tested. Eggs were supplied from the poultry station, including a number of infertile eggs from special pens. All the eggs were branded, and particulars written down. The agent selected the eggs into two groups, and in both of these all the infertile eggs were placed. Finally, when the chickens resulting from the fertile eggs ware grown sufficiently to show the sex it was found that the prediction of the sexophone was quite incorrect. —An American Scheme.— “Another faddist had a theory connected with the position of the air cell in the eggs. When it was normal a gullet would result; when it was on one side of the long axis of the egg a cockerel should result. Again there waa nothing in the theory. In later yiears the American came to the front with characteristic wildcat schemes. The Hogan system was applied to the birds in one of the laying competitions, and, as might be expected, was quite wrong. Three lots of ICO pullets each were ‘Hoganed,’ and the results again showed the fallacy of the theory. Later on Hogan published an amended system, which is followed by numerous cranks, who are continually giving expression to their views in some of the poultry papers. Finally ITogan still further amended his system by laying particular stress on the shape of the head and also of the eye! This time he got much nearer to the truth, but this latter theory does not attract any attention. The ‘fivefinger exercise’ is useful in music—it is waste of time when applied to poultry. There is but one scientific method of testing the actual egg production of a pullet, and' that is by single-testing. In view of the export trade the most important point for poultry breeders to consider is that of me of egg. The laying competitions have not succeeded in educating breeders on this point. The majority are still obsessed by the number of eggs laid ; no regard is paid to size.” One particularly good layer does not pay all your expenses. It is a good flock average which pays. An Australian poultry scribe suggests that fowls should turn in one pound! (twenty shillings) per 100 birds profit per week, and l he says that something is wrong if you cannot manage that. j An evil arising from too few nests for j the layers, where a male bird is kept, is ; that the hens following each other keep ; the eggs warm, and if fertilised it tends to start incubation. Either provide move ; nests or visit the house oftener to collect ] the eggs. Don’t forget that too much meal given to pullets of the light breeds means too early laying. . ; There is nothing gained by a constant ■ changing of breeds. Success comes quicker j and surer by suiting your own individual I taste in regard to shape, weight, and l color in selecting a breed. The main i

iug buy a book on the subject and study it. 3. Eliminate all forcing for eggs from the breeding yards; a natural production is conducive to the best results in the hatching of breeding stock.