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$.C Year, la Advance. ' " FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy 5 Cents,
VOL. XVII. , PLYMOUTH, N, C FRIDAY, APRIL 13, i90G NO.;iJ
, ' m . .
PENLEYPRIZE.
BY ERNEST A. WATTS,
in the Grocers' Assistant, London.
ImessS
CHAPTER T.
tO.V ME green shop blinds had
J( fueen hauled down, tlie win-
I Oiow lights swLtchod off, aud
J5the register reset for the
WOW uext day, and the junior as
, sistauts Lad gone borne, as
Edwin Payne stood, hat In hand, pre
paratory to leaving the well stocked
flore of his employer. It was known
is Penley & Co. to tho thronging
crowds who passed along a busy North
Iiondon marketing street, and vhe
number of its patrous increased each
week. But his brisk '"Good night,
-ir,' was answered by an uuusual re
quest to stay for a chat.
"What .shall we discuss?" queried
Edwin; "the. offer of a new shop and
siix k as a prize just announced or tho
plans for our Christmas show?"
"Neither!" replied his employer, as
hv cams from behind the counter to
lake a seat near his most trusted as
sistant; 'but your first suggestion,
strangely enough, leads me up to that
!' which I wish to speak. You will
he surprised to hear me say that this
slifip, with stock, fittings and good
will, came into my possession within
:i fortuight after 1 first entered it,
il'mg!i at that time I hail scarcely ten
pounds to call my own."
Edwin looked up with a start of sur
prise. , but hia comments were sup
pressed by Mr. Penley's upraised hand,
s he proceeded:
"Yes. it Is true. Only a few have
heard the story, but. it is essential and
lii ting' for me to tell it to you, in view
1" your propesed partnership witli
nil, I will try to describe the occur
rences of those eventful weeks just
as they happened. So listen carefully.
7i ud reserve any questious until I have
oaciuded."
Edwin lit a cigarette, crossed
h'g. and saying. "All right, sir,
away. I am all attention!" he
ten?d to the following narrative.
his
lire
lis-
CHAPTER II.
"Just seven years ago I was pcrus
fiie the advertisements in a trade
paper one Saturday at midday, in the
hope of securing a better situation
ilian the one I was then about to leave.
One advertisement in particular at
lracl.:d uie by its generous terms.
Here is the cutting. I .have saved it
ever since. I will read it out:
"Wauled at once, a smart as
sistant (single or married) to take
complete charge of a grocery and
provision business, cash trade, live
out; good wages. Apply Y. and Y. .
:0, offic" of "
i"l applied for tho post without de
lay, and received a reply on the fol
lowing Monday, in which I was asked
10 call on a Mr. Maurice at a private
city hotel. With all possible speed I
iia stoned to answer the request in per
Mn. On arrival at the address given,
1 was shown into a much mirrored
room, the only occupants being two
boarded gentlemen with a facial re
semblance to each other, apparently
about thirty-live and forty years of
age, respectively, faultlessly attired,
smoking fiv grant cigars.
"One of them rose to greet me, say
ing. "Well, young man, you are Mr.
I Vnley, 1 presume! This is my brother.
Mr. Yexley Maurice. We have scanned
closely all replies to our advertisement
in the , and have decided to give
you the :ost without further prelude,
if this interview is satisfactory. Flense
be. seated,-nud I will explain our re-
I ijiiirements.'
"Somewhat surprised at the affa
bility of my "prospective employer, 1
!rew toward the table on a velvet
v4,cvred chair, and with a nod Intended
7 10' express mingled gratification and
Interest, I listened attentively as Mr.
Maurice proceeded:
' This week we have taken a
grocery store in a North Loudon main
ilioroughfare. It has only recently
been opened, so we bought it cheap
We know nothing of the trade our
selves, and our purchase has been ef
fected for reasons into which we need
not now enter. We wish to give a
smart young man a chance to show
Ji is ability rather than have any re
sponsibility ourselves. Two of the
hands are kept. We should -wish you
10 lock up the shop each night, bring
the keys round to os at once, and call
for them again on your way to the
shop in the morning. That r.rrance-
mcnt is also for reasons of our own.
The rooms above the shop are used for
store rooms.
"After settling smaller details, the
interview was concluded by my agree
ing to'call at the hotel at nine o'clock
u the following evening. My new
duties were to commence on the Mon-
dayweek. As I had the rest of the
day free I vent to meet Minnie (who
is now Mn. Penley). At that time
she was a telegraphist in a sub-post
office iu this district. She was elated
at the news, especially as it involved
my moving nearer to her abode, and
the hours I should work in ihe evening
were to be less than in the previous
situation. That evening we went round
to look at the store. The proprietor
was at the counter, and the stock
showed signs of preparation for stock
taking. After I had introduced my
self, the elderly and genial grocer told
me why he was leaving the premises.
'Said he: 'Some weeks ago two
gents drove up in a smart trap accom
panied by a chap who looked, like an
accountant I met once at a trade sale.
After much preamble, he asked me
point blank if I would let the business
to him. I was astounded at the offer,
but when I heard his proposed price 1
became willing to contemplate it.
Trade had been getting less owing to
company competition. I had a lease
on the premises, but my eyesight was
failing, so I came to terms. This has
been a grocer's shop eight years. 1
took it over empty. The previous ten
ant was a diamond merchant.: He was
drowned at sea, and the assets found
in this house, then used as his office,
were only just sufficient to pay his
local debts. But he had never married,
and apparently no one was left to
lament the loss of his life.'
'Minnie looked extremely Interested
iu the narration, but I let it all slip
from my mind as I stopped his volu
bility to enquire into the regime of
the business and the extent of its
operations, which were of chief inter
est to me, in view of my prospective
management.
CHAPTER III.
'After the week of waiting had
passed, I entered the store with, my
mind full of plans for the future de
velopment of tho business. Mr. Maur
ice (the younger one this time) took
me over the premises, but on reaching
the door which led to the basement
below the shop, he stoppsd short, and
said:
"This door I shall retain the key
of. The stock has been removed up-
stairsj and we do not intend to utilize
the place. It is very damp down here.
The door I will now lock, and it will
remain so for the present. All goods
that you order pay for or. delivery.
We have placed sufficient petty cash
in the safe to commence with. I shall
call in each morning with my brother
to inspect the books.'
"After he had left, I ccmnenced to
clear up, with the help of my two as
sistants, the traces of stocktaking dur
ing the previous weelr. After closing
at 8 p. m., I took the keys around in
accordance with instructions, and
called for them on Tuesday morning.
On entering the shop I was surprised
to see on the sawdust floor faint marks
of muddy footsteps. Surely no one
could have entered during the night,
I thought. Everything was in order
as I had left it, so I soon dismissed the
matter as a mistake on my part. But
that night I resorted to the time-worn-but
effective, device of tying white cot
ton across the space I imagined had
been traipsed over during Monday
night. On Wednesday moixing it was
broken. I spoke of it to my employers,
who said I was suffering from a hallu
cination probably, as no burglar would
enter without disturbing the goods,
and that as long as the imagined in
truder confined his attentions to saw
dust he did not mind ruch surreptitious
visits in the least. But during that
day I found r. key to flt the door lead
ing below the-shop, and also procured
a duplicate key locking the front en
trance of the shop. Until the evening
arrived I suppressed my curiosity to
utilize the key I had found and inspect
the mysterious basement below the
shop, because of the presence of my
assistants. We all left at 8 p. m., as
usual, and I delivered up the keys,
but retained the duplicates. I told
Minnie an hour after that I felt certain
intruders -ir.d nightly visited the shop
I was in charge of, and that in my
employers' interests my determination
to stay in it all night to await devel
opments must be put into immediate
action. She protested, but I was firm,
and left her with instructions to go
to her office the uext morning via the
street in which the store was situated.
If It was not open, she was to go back
and ask her father to procure a key
and go down to the basement. Into
that dull and dreary cellar I crept
about 11 p. m., after carefully closing
and locking all other doors behind me.
I glanced arourd with the aid of the
glistening light afforded by a pocket
electric lamp. It apparently contained
nothing but empty cases, lidless tins,
and broken confectionery bottles. But
to my astonishm.Mi' the red tile1: which
had constituted the floor had been
levered up and heaped together In the
corners, in one of which I could dis
tinguish, as my eyes became used to
the lacfe of light, ji set of gardening
implement.. Their presence probably
accounted for the evidences of digging
apparent. While standing there ru
minating, I heard tho front door of
the shop open unci cbse, ud subdued
voices on the floor above. In .". few
seconds I had hidden myself in an
empty barrel, and pulled a sack, which
had been carelessly thrown over the
barrel, into a better position. Scarcely
had this been arranged when two men
came into tho cellar with an oil burn
ing cycle lamp alight. Through a
convenient hole in the barrel, I per
ceived them to be Mr. Maurice senior
and his brother. Pulling a paper from
his pocket the ekli r one read out
quietly, as if to himself:
T. Edward Maurice, have this day
buried beneath the basement of my
offices at gold coin and diamonds
to tho value of 20,WK If I never re
turn from South Africa alive, which
colony I am now going to visit, the
said specie shall become the property
of whoever is tenant in this house ten
years from above date '
"'Now put that paper away,
Charles,' said Yexley (the younger of
the two). 'You have read that aloud
to me a hundred times during the
month it has been in our possession.
Let's start digging.'
" 'All right, Mr. Gardener, so wo
will. All blessings on the servant who
knocked that little box of uncle's on
to the floor and revealed that secret
partition containing this message. She
could have spared us her apologies
that time.'
"A.s they raked up tb.3 earth, con
versation was continued in subdued
tones, and from the sentences which
were audible to me, I could deduce the
history of the exciting testament I had
just heard. It appeared that the two
gents were nop ews of a Mr. Edward
Maurice, the diamon merchr.nt who
had rented the premises years ago.
Their father had stolen the heart of
a young Ir.dy who was once engaged
to their uncle, and married her. A
vow of revrjge had been taken by
Edward Maurice, and the estrange
ment had continued even after the
birth of his nrcther's sons, whom ne
evidently int nded should never bene
fit by him liuaueiallj-, eit-ier during
his life or after. But h's sudden
death by drowning at sea came to pass
before he had made any other will
than the paaer locating his hidden pos
sessions, wllich hod passed into the
nephews' hands in tho box referred
to. All these details I rapidly pieced
together mentally, until my reflections
were suddenly stopped by an exultant
cry from Mr. Yexley, as his fork sent
forth a sound as if it had struck
metal.1. A few moments after, and the
brothels lifted out of the mould an
iron bix with n rusty padiock that
was easily wrenched off. Tho glitter
01! gold was before them a few seconds
after a :ae lid was thro.-u back.
" 'At ast! This lot is worth nearer
40,000 than 20,000!' exclaimed Yex
ley, exiltnnJy, as be changed from
one hai,l to the other (as .-. connoisseur
does c ee fceans) both cut and uncut
diamon s.
They jiluiost danced iu exultation,
and I fjith great difficulty restrained
a cry ot astonishment. I nad reason
to regijt their jubilant capers, for
Charles 'kicked over a keg that had
at one ime contained pepper. The
potent owder. some of which had
adhered .to the paper lining, filtered
throughjhe staves of my barrel where
in my ehmped position was becoming
unbearalje. All my efforts to ignore
its infiulice proved futile, and I soon
joined iAoIuntarily in the chorus of
sneezes. In a trice the sack was
snatched .ff, and a small silver plat'i
nistol DOiited at mv ouakine counten
ance. I Commenced to make profuse
apologlesHfor my presence, but they
were stored by a curt 'Say nothing,
sir!' front Yexley, and I was obliged
to passiviy submit to being bound to
a bench I'lth a cord belonging to a
biscuit cah; a 'kerchief was tied over
my lips,
that shouting was impos-
sivie. I ti
n listened in sullen silence,
as Charle
commenced to address me,
thus:
" 'How hu got in here to-night we
can only Wiess. Why you came we
can do no aore than guess at, for we
know of jjur anxiety to protect our
interests. Ve cannot stop to explain
our preserb, except to tell you that
this gold ours by right, and also
because wj; have fulfilled conditions
at a bequt. by becoming legal ten
ants of th?e premises. But English
law is too onderous in operation for
us, and fo ines have been lost over
trivial clau s. To avoid all risk, Ave
have taken his course. We are now
going abron. This business, with its
stock and lyings, we will presen': you
with partly in appreciation of your
short, but fetrenuous services, and
partly becatp we do not wish to wait
while a sal is effected. We shall
send a mefcge to your sweetheart
asking her t call at our hotel for the
key of this 'tore. By that time we
shall be neamg Southampton. Main
tain a strict Jk-nco on this matter, or
our loss wilbe j-ours. I'm going out
now.'
"Within fcr an hour, during which
Yexley staye in the cellar, I heard a
trap drive o the side entrance.
Charles caul down again. After
dividing the nntents of the box into
two parcels, I saw them stagger to
wards the etks with the weight of
the specie, and then the door dosed
leaving me in total darkness. A tumult
of thoughts tore at a mad pace through
my excited brain. What: course should
I adopt on the morrow V Was it all
a dream? were among the first. But
my chilled limbs enforced the reality
of the situation; and a.s J lay there
bound, even the prosnect of a sudden
stop into compilative affluence failed
to comfort my fears that my release
would fail to follow. How 1 realized
during that long night what, it was to
'watch for the morning with eyes that
sleep refused to close. But, of course,
it came, and with it my dear Minnie.
Never shall I forget tho look of mingled
anguish, love and fear which the grey
light coming in from n pavement grat
ing revealed upon her lovely features.
Sharp scissors soon cut away the cords,
and Minnie almost sobbed out:
" "What does it all mean?
" 'It means happiness,' I replied.
'But tell me how you found out, 'and
came to my relief so roon before I
explain."
"Minnie theu informed me that
anxiety of mind had caused her to pre
pare to go out early iu the morning,
and cycle round to the store to investi
gate. Underneath the door of her do
micile a no-'; bad been passed during
the night asking her to call for the
key. as Mr. Maurice had planned. Dur
ing these mutual explanations the hour
for opening shop came round. By
the time my assistants arrived, the
basement was locked up, and all traces
of my adventure removed. No oue but
Minnie's parents heard of it; and, after
considering all points, we came to the
conclusion that it was quite legitimate
for us to co-operate with the plans of
the brothers, and accept with grati
tude their generous gift. We discov
ered that they had been dealing iu dia
monds for some years in London, had
acquired a good reputation for
straightforward transactions, and
owed nothing. No other relations
could be traced by us to the deceased
Edward Maurice, and all information
collected ratified the right of my em
ployers to retain the treasure. Thus
I entered into possession without com
punction, and with the aid of a timely
loan for initial operations, built up
this business to its present dimensions.
Every Christmas I receive ar. anony
mous registered letter bearing the
African -postmr.rk containing Ave Vic
torian sovereigns. That I always de
vote to some charitable purpose with
as little ostentation as possible.
"But here is my dear Minnie coming
to call me in to supper. I told her of
my intention to tell you to-night, but
she evidently wishes me to 'wind up.'
So, good night, Mr. Payne. May ycur
energies and capital find a fitting
sphere in, aad share tho success of
'PEN LEY'S PRIZE. '
Our Trade Wltli Germany,
Twenty -one articles, or group of arti
cles, having each a total value of sil,-
OOO.OOO or over, were imported into the
United States from Germnny during
the past fiscal year, and twenty arti
cles, having a total value of 1.000,000
or over each, were exported to Ger
many during the same period. Manu
factured articles, chiefly iron and steel,
silk manufactures, chemicals, cotton
goods, earthenware, furs and furskins,
and toys comprise the principal impor
tations into the United States from
Germany. Of our exhortations to Ger
many raw cotton coutributes mora
than one-half of the total, its share in
1004 being $109,000,000 out of a total
export of $215,000,000. But few manu
factured articles appear in the list of
our principal asportations to Germany.
Harper's Weekly.
"ot a Question of Monnj.
There are many strange ideas of busi
ness, lne young woniau wnose appli
cation is recorded in the Kansas City
Times may have been a sister of the
wife who applied for admission to the
New York Medical College on the plea
that she wanted to do something to oc
cupy her spare moments.
"This morning a young lady came in
here," said the man in charge or tua
book department of a large store, "and
asked for a position to sell books. I
explained I bad nothing to give her,
and then I said pleasantly, 'I'm aw
fully sorry.'
' 'Oh. she said, turning to go, 'you
needn't be sorry. I really don't need
the money. I simply wanted to work
here so I could read the books.' "
Youth's Companion.
Experiment With Native Fern.
The deciduous nature of many of our
native ferns renders them valueless
or indoor cultivation in winter. Nev
ertheless the genuine fern lover who
gathers a wild garden outside his doot
is sure to take ferns inside, for the
summer months at least. A proper se
lection of species for indoor cultiva
tion can only be determined by exper
ience. Many beautiful ferns fail to
adapt themselves to a life indoors.
Certain species are physically unable
to stand the transition from the brac
ing atmosphere of the great outdoors
to the dry air and dewless nights in
doors, consequently they wither and
die when other ferns flourish with tol
erable grace. (J. A. Woolson, in the
Garden Magazine.
Slavery stiii exists in British East
Africa, the English Government hav
ing refused to abolish its legal status.
SOUTHERN : FARM JlOTES. 1
d - r c zzzPr- r
TOPICS OF INTEREST TO THE PI AHTFK ftTfir.KMkU AND TRUCK GROWFR. l
The l'lace of Cotton.
At the present time the cottpn grow
ers of America have a practical mouop
oly in production of the most generally
useful and widely used of vegetable
fibers. Hitherto all attempts to grow
cotton on a commercial scale in Africa
and other subtropical lands have
proven financial failures. A syndicate
of British cotton manufacturers,
backed by unlimited capital, have con
ducted experimental plantations in
various African dblonies, but in every
case the cotton so produced could not
be laid down in any English, port ex
cept at prices of about two cents per
pound above the average price of
American cotton. The quality of the
African cotton was also much inferior
to the American fiber.
The world's consumption and de
mand for raw cotton are yearly in
creasing at a much faster rate than
the world's population. It is certain
then that the demand for the product
of American cottonfields will continue
to increase, and with the increased
demand must come an increase iu
price.
Cotton is almost an ideal "money"
or surplus crop. Under intelligent care
and good management, cotton is a safe
and sure money-maker. But "good
management" does not consist in "sin
gle crop" planting. Single crop farm
ing of whatever kind is a species of
gambling iu which the odds are all
against the player.
Cotton "planting," by which is meant
the exclusive and continuous cultiva
tion of cotton on the same land as
long as the crop will yield enough to
pick, has ruined thousands of acres of
once fertile land, and disfigured the
cotton region with torn and gullied
old fields. This type of cotton-growing
has been an unmitigated curse to the
Southern States.
The most profitable satisfactory sys
tem of farming in the cotton region is
one in which cotton comes on the land
not oftener than once every three
years. Four and five year rotations
are better still. The crops to be in
cluded in the rotation must differ with
soils, localities and the tastes of the
farmer. The chief endeavor should be
to make the farm self-sustaining with
out counting the area in cotton. Cot
ton should be the surplus, or "savings
bank," account. In such a system,
when the market is too low the farmer
simply stores and holds his crop until
prices rise. In arranging a good rota
tion for upland sections of the cotton
belt, the following crops are all avail
able: Com, winter oats, winter wheat,
sorghums (sweet and non-saccharine),
sweet potatoes, peanuts and cowpeas.
As a rule, it will be more profitable to
depetid upon leguminous crops for
hay and pasture, or a mixture of such
with -winter oats, than to lay down
cotton fields in temporary or skort
term grasses.
In the cotton region the soil should
be kept at work all the year round
Care must be taken that the soil does
not become acid. To insure this pow
dery, watery slaked lime, at the rate
of 1000 or 0000 pounds per acre, should
be applied, and smaller doses after a
crop of green manure was turned
down.
The Intelligent farmer should, on
small areas of his fields, vary the
amount of fertilizer applied to his crop
and use every endeavor to determine
the maximum feeding capacity of the
soil and crops. He should then feed
up to tho limit with the three impor
tant mineral plant foods, to wit: Pot
ash, phosphoric acid and lime.
The following are formulas for corn
and cotton which have been found
satisfactory by farmers in North Car
olina: First
Acid phosphate, 14 per cent.... 900 lbs.
Nitrate of soda 200 lbs.
Kainit 900 lbs.
2,000 lbs.
Mix and apply from 900 to 1200
pounds per acre.
Second
Acid phosphate, 14 per cent 0.10 lbs.
Cottonseed meal 8."0 lbs.
Muriate of potash 200 lba.
2,000 lbs.
Mix and apply from 1200 to 2000
pounds per acre. Gerald McCarthy.
Experiment Station Work With Apparatus
Various American Experiment Sta
tions have given more or less atten
tion to asparagus culture. One of the 1
questions which has long been of in- j
tercst is the use of commercial fertiliz
ers ou this crop. The crop is one
wliich usually brings relatively high
prices, and it is upon these crops that
the largest financial returns are ob
tained from the use of fertilizers.
Salt was long considered an essen
tial fertilizer for asparagus. The nat
ural habitat of asparagus is the sea
shore, and it was reasoned, therefore,
that salt was beneficial to this crop.
In modern commercial practices, how
ever, beds of asparagus have been
found to yield as well without salt as
with i-. and this has raised the ques-'
tion whether the use of salt Is to Y
considered essential in the culture."
asparagus. - '1
The Arkansas Station has given con-,
sideralde attention to this question,
and the results indicate that while the
field culture of asparagus salt may; -not
be especially useful, in the small
garden patch, where intensive cultiva
tion is practiced, and where large ."
amounts of stable manure are applied',
each year, it may answer a very use- I
ful purpose, especially in keeping down
weeds. '
As to the question of the effect of fer
tilizers on merchantable shoots of the
sarne season, the Delaware Station re-r
ports results of asparagus fertilizer
with nitrate of soda, in which the use ' j
of nitrate alone is not recommended."
but at Rhode Island, on limed soils, the '
nitrate has proven of value..
At the New Jersey Station, on ex
tensive trials covering several years,
it has been found that as against
twenty tons of stable manure per acre,
the most valuable increase per unit
of cost was obtained from the use of
a commercial fertilizer analyzing 4.15
per cent, of nitrogen, 7.7 per cent, of
available phosphoric acid, and 13.3 per
cent, of potash, used at the rate of
500 pounds per acre; but an increase
of any of the ingredients did not in
crease the returns.
To summarize the work of tho sta
tions, the work indicated that salt may
be used to advantage on small beds,
that the use of nitarate is unprofitable
for giving an increased cut of stalks,
the same season; that commercial fer
tilizer with a high potash content, if
the land is in good condition, is prob
ably superior to barnyard manure.
Geo. Wright.
Proper Way of Drench In sr.
To drench a horse put a good halter
upon him not a bridle, for the bit in
the mouth will be in the way of the
bottle in giving the medicine; take a
plow line or a piece of rope of the
clothes line size and make a stationary '
loop in one end about one foot long;
this loop under the nose of the halter
and around the upper jaw that is, the
mouth; back the horse in a stall or iu
a corner and put the free end of the
rope over a beam or through a ring
or pulley, and raise the head so that
the mouth is just a little higher than
the throat. This rope should never be
made fast, but held so that the head
may be promptly lowered if the horse
shows any tendency to cough or stran
gle. There should be no exception to
this rule, no matter how much medi
cine there may be in the mouth addi
tional medicine can be supplied more
easily than a horse or mule dead of
strangulation can be replaced. Al
most any sort of a bottle may be used.
One made of metal, leather or horn is
good, because unbreakable, but an or
dinary pint bottle will serve the
purpose well. A small quantity of
medicine two to four tablespoonfuls
should be poured on the tongue by in
serting the neck of the bottle in the
side of the mouth where there are no
teeth to break it, and then the bottle re
moved from the mouth until the horse
swallows. To make him swallow It
is not necessary to pull his tongue vio
lently, pinch his throat, pour water in
his nose nor close his nostrils in any
way. It can usually by accomplished
with ease and safety by rubbing the
roof of his mouth with the finger or
the neck of the bottle. This causes
the horse to move his tongue, which
carries the medicine back into the
throat and swallowing takes place.
Tait Butler, North Carolina Depart
ment of Agriculture, Raleigh.
NesU For Early Sitters.
The nests for the early sitters
those which take to brooding in the
winter time, should be made deep and
broad, with the nesting material well
up at the sides, so as to keep the
eggs from getting out from under the
sitter and getting chilled.
The chief reason why a sitter breaks
her eggs is because the nest is so
small that the eggs lie too close to
gether, and then if she be a heavy
hen. she will sometimes break them in
coming back on them after feeding.
The early sitter will hatch more
chickens from eleven or thirteen egg
than she will from fifteen or more, be
cause she can cover them more secure
ly, and so none of them will be ex
posed or chilled.
Hens that will have the deep, broad,
nests suggested, will hatch all fertile
eggs even in the very coldest weather.
The chickens will thrive, too, in a snug,
warm coop, and bear close confine
ment much better than those which
are hatched in more mild, or warmer
weather. But, at hatching time, they,
should not be removed from the nest
until the very last one to hatch has
been from the shell fully twenty-four
hours. Let them get very lively, and
quite hungry before they get anything
to eat, or removed to the coop. H. B.
Geer.
V