Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 164, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1918 — Page 3

A Bird in the Hand

(Special Information Service, United States Department of Agriculture.) KEEP THE PULLETS GROWING.

A Flock of Pullets Such as These Will Become Money Makers Immediately Upon Reaching Maturity.

RETARDED LAYING GUARDED AGAINST

One of Most Important Things to Prevent in Keeping Flock of Chickens. EARLY PULLETS BEST LAYERS Young Fowls Whose Growth Has Been Continuous From Hatching to Maturity Are Almost Invariably Largest Producers. The difference between early-laying plillets and late-laying pullets may be the difference between profit and loss in poultry keeping. Retarded laying, therefore, is one of the things to be guarded against by all poultry keepers, whether on a large or a small scale. Normally, laying begins when growth ceases. Individuals of the small, precocious breeds may begin laying before they cease growing. That, though likely to be of some permanent disadvantage, need not give the grower serious concern. Individuals, of whatever bpeed, may fail to begin laying at maturity, and that is a matter of serious concern to every poultry keeper. The pullet that fails to become an egg producer at maturity, instead of being an asset, becomes a dead expense, absorbing a large part of the profit that she may make in later life.

Early Laying Pullet.

Almost without exception, the pullet whose growth from hatching to mar turity has been regular, not subject tp checks and interruptions, is an early layer. A check to growth at any stage, according to poultry experts of the United States department of agricutt ture, is likely to retard laying. 11l support of this statement, the fact is pointed out that it is not unusual to find May-hatched pullets laying earlier than their sisters that were hatches in April and were retarded "in “The early stage of their growth by unfavorable weather. Retardation by weather condtions, however, is only one of many things that may check the normal growth of a pullet and defer the beginning of her usefulness as a productive fowl. Efgg production depends upon activity of the reproductive organs, which should begin at or before the cessation of physical growth. Apparently, influences unfavorable to the development of the body are still more unfavorable to the development of the reproductive organs, and It Is not uncommon to find pullets of apparently perfect outward body development in which egg production is deferred for several months. Disturbances Retard Laying. Any disturbance affecting the habits, nutrition or comfort of a pullet, al any previous stage of life may retard laying at maturity and therefore, is to be assiduously guarded against. Shifting from plhce to place or changes in diet * may constitute a sufficient disturbance to retard laying. In fact, these are common methods in use among poultry fanciers to retard the laying of pullets that they desire to keep ia condition for exhibition as pullets. It follows, therefore, that the disturbances encouraged by fanciers for exhibition pullets are among the things that must be avoided by poultry keepers whose object i&to develop pullets Into early egg-producing hens. The fact to be borne constantly in uilnd is that the main factor in egg production is activity of the reproductive organs, and that the development of these organs is continuous from the earliest stages of the growth of the bird Instead of beginning, as was once supposed, at or near maturity. Pullets about to* begin laying are more sensitive to disturbances than at earlier stages of their growth, and therefore require greater care in bundling, but disturbances retarding

growth even of small chicks are likely to retard the beginning of egg production. Keep Growth Regular. Every poultry keeper, therefore, who is growing pullets for egg production, will need to exercise care from the time the chicks are hatched until they become mature hqns to make sure that their growth is regular, not subject at any time to checks and disturbances. All other factors in egg production are secondary to activity of the reproductive organs, which depends largely upon regularity of development. Without this not an egg i,s produced, though every other factor may Be sufficient, and with it eggs may be produced though every other factor is inadequate. Secondary factors are nourishment, regularity, comfort, constitution, exercise, cleanliness, varying greatly in value, but ranking about in the order named.

KEEP PULLETS GROWING

For every day that your pullets fail to lay after they cease growing you are pocketing a loss. Laying is retarded by any check to growth at any period from hatching to maturity. Laying is retarded by seemingly trivial disturbances, like moving from place to place and radical changes in rations. In order to be sure of early eggs—eggs laid at a time when prices are high and eggs scarce —see to it that the growth of your pullets is not retarded, and that they are never annoyed or flustered unnecessarily.

PRICE OF SQUABS NOT CHANGED BY BIG WAR

There is one kind of meat —and, so far as anybody has been able to ascertain, only one—that has not increased grehtly in price. That one, before the war, was considered a luxury within the reach only of persons with exceptionally fat purses, but it has maintained practically its pre-war price, and is now little, if any, more expensive than other choice meats. That meat is squab—young pigeon. At last squabs appear about to come into their own as an important source of meat supply. This transformation is due, in large measure, to the energy and patriotic action of the American Squab Breeders’ association. The influence of that association extends to about 10,000 squab breeders!, and is estimated to affect, in one way or another, not less than 50,000 persons who raise pigeons for meat. Until within the past few months it was thought that squabs had to be fattened on wheat—-and it took a lot of wheat to make.A good squab. But when It became, apparent that the world’s available* supply of wheat was not sufficient to meet the world’s pressing need for bread and that the success of the allied armies depended largely on saving it, the association of squab breeders began a systematic effort to eliminate wheat as a pigeon feed by substituting corn, kaffir, sunflower seeds and -other concentrated forms of vegetable protein. The effort has.been crowned with success. One squab breeder writes: “I hnve fed no wheat in the past six months, using whole corn instead, and have certainly had good results.” Another who had substituted wild grass seeds, a feed that formerly went completely to waste, says: “I have had good results and do not intend to use any wheat in the future.” The United -States of agriculture, co-operating with the federal food administration, has given careful thought to the subject, has furnished such literature as it had pertaining to the subject,.and has issued some new matter, all of which is available to persons divho may be interested In extending their squab-breeding operations or in entering thn business.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

AN EXCITING SPORT

Hunting Monkeys in Burmah Is ■ [ Full of Thrills. Consternation in Treetops When Gibbons Are Assailed—Travel Faster Through Trees Than Man Can Run on Ground. t* ■' ■■■" Our most exciting sport at the Namting camp was hunting monkeys, writes Roy Chapman Andrews in Harper’s. Every morning we heard querulous notes, sounding much like the squealing of very young puppies, which were followed by long drawn siren wails./ When the shrill notes had reached their highest pitch they would sink into low, full tones exceedingly musical. We were inspecting a' line of traps • placed along a trail which led up a valley to a wide plateau when the querulous squealing abruptly ceased. We moved on, alert and tense. The trees stretched upward a full 150 feet, their tops spread out in a leafy roof. In the topmost branches of one, \ye could just discern a dozen balls of yellow fur from which proceeded discordant wails.

It was a long range for a shotgun, but the rifles were all in camp. I fired a charge of “BB’s” at the lowest monkey and as the gun roared out the treetops suddenly sprang Into life. They were filled with running, leaping, hairy forms swinging at incredible speed from branch to branch —not a dozen, but a score of monkeys, yellow, brown and gray. The one at which I had shot seemed unaffected and threw himself full twenty feet to a horizontal limb below and to the right. I fired again, and he stopped, ran a few steps forward, and swung to the under side of the branch. At the third charge he hung suspended by one arm and dropped to the ground. We tossed him into the dry creek bed and dashed up the hill where the branches were still swaying as the monkeys traveled through the treetops. They had a long start and It was a hopeless chase. In ten minutes they had disappeared and we turned back to find the dead animal. It was a young male, and I knew at once that it was a gibbon (Hylobates), for its long arms, round head and tailless body were unmistakable; but in every species with which I was familiar the male was black. This one was yellow and we knew it to be a prize. For the remainder of our stay at the Namting river camp we devoted ourselves to hunting monkeys. The gibbons soon became extremely wild. Although the same troop could usually be found in the valley where we had first discovered them, they chose hillsides on which, It was almost impossible to stalk them because of the thorny jungle. We went forward only when the calls were echoing through the jungle and stood motionless as the walling ceased. But In spite of all our care they would see or hear us. Then in sudden silence there would be a tremor of the branches, splash after splash of leaves, and the herd would swing away through the trackless treetops. The gibbons are well named Hylobates or “tree walkers,” for they are entirely arboreal and, although awkward and almost helpless upon the ground, once their long thin hands touch a branch they become transformed Into veritable spirits of the treetops. They launch themselves into space, catch a branch twenty feet away to swing for an Instant and hurl themselves to another. It is possible for them to travel through the trees faster than a man can run on open ground.

Hard on Norah.

Norah was a new servant girl In the employ of the and hardly had she been 24 hours on the job before she had the misfortune to drop a piece of roast beef on the floor. Roast beef that has been used as a mop becomes just a little bit gritty to the taste, so Nora thought it the part of wisdom to consign it to the garbage can. , “I think, Nora,” remarked Mrs. Brown, rambling into the kitchen later in the day, “that we will have some of that roast beef, cut cold for supper.”. “Sure, an’ Oi’m sorry, ma’am,” responded Norah, contritely, “but the cat got it when Oi wasn’t lookin’.” “The cat”got it!” exclaimed the mistress. “What cat?” “Jay whizz, ma’am!” rejoined Norah, considerably concerned. “Ain’t there no cat?” —Philadelphia Bulletin.

First Settlement on Manhattan.

The first habitations of w’hite men on the island of Manhattan were erected in 1013. The first structures In the American metropolis were four small houses, or, rather, huts, and they were on the site now occupied by the skyscraper at 41 Broadway. A bronze tablet on the building at that address commemorates the beginning of New York city. The collection of hovels gradually grew into a town, which was almost wiped out by fire in 1826. The first fort was commenced in 1632, on a site now occupied by the customhouse, the main gate, of Fort Amsterdam, as It was called, opening on Bowling Green, where the first settlers played their games. In 1653 a wooden wall was constructed as a defense against a threatened invasion of New Englanders. and the site of this wall afterward became Wall street.

ONE RESULT OF THE WAR

Little Village of Oberammergau Has Received Spiritual and Physical Blow. Oberammergau, the little village In Bavaria thflt became world-famous as the home of the Passion Play, is virtually a deserted village where sorrow broods. All of its male Inhabitants capable of bearing arms have entered (he ranks of the Bavarian army, and many have fallen In battle. Miss Madeleine Doty, who has visited the village, in recording her experiences relates a conversation that she had with a waitress at the little hoteL “The town Is sad,” we averred. “Why shouldn’t it be?” she retorted. “We have lost so much.” “How many men have gone to war?” we asked. “Every one under 45. Five hundred and fifty out of a population of 1800.” We paused a moment. It seemed brutal to go on now, but we wanted Information. “There were 40 killed and 48 wounded the first year. I don’t know the number now.” “Will there ever be another Passion Play?” She shrugged her shoulders. “How can I tell? Some of the players and musicians have' lost an arm or a leg and others are dead. The town no longer has any money.” We pushed back our chairs and went out into the golden sunshine. No one moved about the streets. It was like a village swept by a plague and deserted. War has been a special disaster to Oberammergau. It has dealt a blow at its spiritual as well as its physical welfare. —Atlantic Monthly.

Legend of Alsace.

There is a quaint old legend of Alsace concerning a family of giants who, once upon a time, lived in a certain castle in a certain valley of the old country. The nioral of the story seems appropriate at a time when the French minister of agriculture, to mention but one of the allies, Is Braking special effort to encourage the cultivation of land. | The giants lived, says the legend, far from the peasants of the plain, and one day the daughter of the hobse, who, though quite a child, was already 30 feet high, strolled toward the plain and saw a laborer peacefully plowing his field. She picked up the peasant, the horse and the plow and put them in her pinafore and returned to the castle to show what she had found to her father. “What you think is but a toy,” said the giant, “is what produces the food which enables us to live. Put back the laborer and his horse where you found them.” From that time onward, adds the tale, the peasants were never more molested by the . giants.—Christian Science Monitor.

German Morals.

A senator was talking at a tea fn Providence about the Germans. “I heard a young lady schoolteacher tell a story the other day,” he said, “which brought the Germans vividly to my mind. “The young lady said she came upon two of her pupils one afternoon in a wood. The older pupil was eating a stick of candy. The younger one was howling with rage and grief on the ground. The young lady inquired into the matter and soon learned how the land lay. “‘Gus,’ she said to the older boy. indignantly, ‘do you think it’s fair to take Tommy’s stick of candy away from him?’ “‘Fair?’ said Gus, as he sucked away. ‘I don’t have to be fair. I can lick him.’.” —Washington Star.

Women Soldiers.

There were literally scores of women who served in the Northern and Southern armies. Sincfe the war with Germany began more than one woman has been discovered in a soldier’s uniform. One, at least, got almost to France before she was detected. We men of America who, for whatever reasons, are not in the military service honor very greatly the Russian women who entered the army ‘‘in the hope of inspiring the men of Russia.” We beg to assure them that in case of desperate need the women of America would not hesitate to serve also in the war against the Hun. They have proved their valor in past wars.

Voluntary Rationing.

Cqntroller Hoover congratulated a Washington gathering on the success of - the voluntary rationing system. “The observance of voluntary rationing has been universal,” he said. "I heard the other day of a tiny urchin on a picnic in the country who ran to his mother with tears in his eyes. ‘“What’s the matter? 5 his mother asked. “The urchin held out a swollen finger and shouted indignantly: “ ‘Them bees! Today Is a meatless Tuesday, and them bees ain’t observin’ It!’”

In Plain Sight

Willie Stone had been sent on dh errand to the home of the rich Mr. Lott. He returned with the astonishing news that Mr. Lott was going blind. “What makes you think that?” his father asked. v . '* » “The way he talked,” said Willie. “When I went into the room where he wanted to see me, he said, ‘Boy, where is your hat?’ and there it was on my head all the timel” Harper 5 * Magazine.

LIMA, the City of the Kings

COMPARATIVELY few foreigners see interior regions of Peru today; but a majority of those who voyage up and down the Pacific pay brief visits to Lima, the City of the Kings. It is located in an undulating valley which extends inland from the ocean for 50 miles or mose to the foothills of the Andes, although numerous mountain spurs rise here and there about the valley, two of which, San Cristobal and San Jeronimo, dominate the city of Lima. Through this valley the River Rimac winds its way to the sea at Callao, starting from rivulets at least 17,000 feet high amid the eternal snows of the mountains. Nearly four centuries have passed since Plzarro laid the foundation stones of the cathedral on a central plaza known today as Plaza Mayor. Around and in the vicinity of this level area the new capital began to grow. Pizarro’s idea, according to historians, was to found a capital more easily accessible than the constructed by the Incas and their predecessors, who builded far inland and in localities difficult to reach. The Rimac flows directly through Lima, the largdr city development being on the southern side of the stream, writes William A. Reid in the Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. The latter is spanned by several bridges over which passes a constant traffic. Lima, with its 200,000 population today, has been a long time growing to present proportions. In shape the city was originally more or less that of a giant triangle, the hypotenuse of which was formed by the Rimac. Plzarro bestowed the name of City of the Kings upon the place as a token of honor on behalf of his royal benefactors; but gradually the native title seems to have become more and more popular. The name Lima is derived from that of the river, the legendary word Rimac meaning “one who speaks.”

Historical Plaza Mayor. If you go sightseeing In Lima the start should be made from the Plaza Mayor, a section of the city from which every kind of activity radiates today as In the past. This popular meeting ground comprises several acres, and so historical if not hallowed is every foot of space that one is lost in meditation in endeavoring to picture the countless epoch-making scenes that have transpired there. On one side of this plaza stands the massive cathedral with its twin towers, the foundation stones of which Pizarro himself is credited with laying. Near by is the site of the house in which the conqueror breathed his last as the assassin struck the death blow. Withfh the cathedral today the mummy of Pizarro lies, a slMveled but well-pre-served figureTthe sight of which causes silent reverence, whatever may have been the character of the man or the causes he espoused.

Occupying the entire north side of this Plaza Mayor is the historical palace, a massive but typically low structure’ with various courts, halls, and many rooms, which formerly housed the viceroys and their official families. Today this edifice is used for government purposes. With its uniformed sentinels always on duty It bears a military aspect, the daily guard mount being - especially interesting to the stranger. The other sides of the Plaza Mayor are occupied today by the city hall and by business edifices, the lower floors of which serve as shops, restaurants, etc., while the upper stories are utilized by, clubs or as private apartments. 1 The Plaza Mayor is one of Lima’s most animated sights day and night. From here the electric cars radiate to every part of the city; here one finds carriages and motor cars for pleasure or for business; *amid the beautiful flowers and foliage those who have leisure sit and read the news of the day or listen to the music of the bands which often enliven the evenings; the cathedral and the post office near by draw the citizens by thousands, and all arte passing and repassing over a plaza so ancient and yet so modern; It is also the site from which the, proclamation of Peruvian independence was read to the throng on July 28,1821, the anniversary of which is celebrated each year. A short distance away standing on another Attractive plaza know as 801 -

One of the Older Streets of Lima.

var, we find the two buildings which house the Peruvian congress. Especially historic is the senate chamber within the ancient Inquisition building. Famous Torre-Tagle Mansion. A majority of the older residences of Lima are the typical one-story structures, and usually a court is one of the leading features. Opening on this bount are the various living, sleeping* and other apartments; while the court itself is adorned with growing plants, flowers, and often a small tree or two. Birds, parrots, and other pets are also numerous. Barred windows and balconies are always In evidence. Many Lima homes of the better classes are two-story structures, and in such cases the balcony overhanging the street offers the family a fine point from which to view the life of the street when tired of the courtyard and its seclusion. One of the finest types of this home is the famous Torre-Tagle mansion. Almost a fortress in appearance as one enters the great stone wall leading fropa the street, but when within the courtyards (there are several), the outer doors closed, a veritable and secluded palace presents itself with enough luxurious surroundings to make even a king envious. It was built Id the days of the viceroys and nothing seems to have been forgotten as regards comfort and convenience of those early times, even to the private chapel opening on one of the courts. The carved mahogany balconies overlooking the street are also works of art and patient toil. Peru’s capital Is the home of a national museum, one of the world’s most interesting institutions of this nature. It shares with that of Cairo In displaying to modern peoples various incidents of life and activity of by-gone races.

Many Pleasure Resorts. 1 0 The resorts and pleasure parks of the capital are numerous, and there are modern electric lines for reaching them from the heart of the city. Chorriilos, Barranco, Miraflores, La Punta, etc., offer those who love the sea fine opportunities for boating or and, indeed, a large number of people maintain their permanent homes on or near the. Bay of Chorrillos, famous for its regattas and other aquatic sports. On the other hand, when the fogs and mist of winter overhang the coastal region many citizens of the capital find the sunny climate of Chosica especially appealing; the latter resort lies some 30 miles Inland in the Andean foothills and directly on the Oroya railroad. In 1870 an exposition was held In Lima, and naturally a number of new buildings were constructed in order to provide for exhibits and throngs of people. The name of Exposition park seems to have become definitely fixed upon this suburb, and today we find that many of the people of wealth and influence have established their homes In that part of Lima. The park itself covers about 30 acres, and is laid out in beautiful walks, artificial lakes, grottoes, flower gardens, and other attractive features; Within the park is also located one of the' finest restaurants In the whole city, and |t is here in season that many of the exclusive society folk spend the evenings, surrounded by tropical plants and flowers and charmed by the beautiful strains of the orchestral music, a feature of Lima life.

In front of this park the most beautiful avenue of the capital, known as Paseo Colon, has been constructed. It is nearly a mile long, is 150 feet wide, one end of whlcjj terminates at the new circle or Plaza Bolognesi. On either side of this avenue many costly residences have been built, along the middle avenue from end to end extends a border of flowers, and at intervals stand monuments representing the heroes of Peruvian history. A number of arches are studded with electric bulbs, which render the whole avenue especially attractive at night.

"His last words were of yon.” The prodigal son-in-law tried to feel as solemn as he looked. “Might I inquire what they were?” "You might. He said if he could get one good biff at you he would die happy .” ' -

In Fond Remembrance.