is hopelessly confused and horribly shamefaced, in the background.
'Miss Mordaunt has induced me to alter my mind.'
'Eh! what, what?' says Uncle Charlie, rising from his chair as the
truth dawns upon him, and instantly sinking back into it again. 'You
don't _mean_ it! And all this time I could have _sworn_ it was that
fellow Blake!'
* * * * *
And so were made happy a pair who, through a mutual misunderstanding,
might have never come together again in this world; who, but for an
accidental timely explanation, might have remained through life victims
to Cross-purposes. Reader, remember that there are two sides to every
story.
POLAR COLONISATION.
Towards the end of February the Naval Committee of the House of
Representatives at Washington reported a Bill authorising the American
government to fit out an Arctic Expedition, which would establish a
colony on Lady Franklin's Bay, and thence despatch exploring parties
to the Pole. To influence congressional action in this matter, two or
three pamphlets have been put forth in America, and circulated among
the members of both houses. In one of these, Captain Henry W. Howgate,
U.S.A., advocates the doctrine, that to reach the Pole with the
greatest certainty, and with the least expenditure of time, money, and
human life, it is essential that the exploring party be on the ground
at the very time when the ice gives way and opens the gateway to the
long-sought prize. This, he affirms, can only be done by colonising a
few hardy, resolute, and experienced men at some point near the borders
of the Polar Sea.
The same idea, in a somewhat different form, is advocated by Mr R.
W. D. Bryan, of the United States' Naval Observatory at Washington,
who, at Captain Howgate's request, has expounded in a brief pamphlet
his views in regard to the best methods of conducting Arctic
exploration. Mr Bryan says that he has given the subject much thought
for many years, and has carefully examined the rich treasures of
Arctic literature. This study, and his own experience and personal
observation during the _Polaris_ expedition, have suggested to him a
plan which seems comprehensive and practicable. He is opposed to all
spasmodic efforts to reach the Pole, because the chances of success
are not commensurate with the necessary outlay. Let a vessel, he says,
be always ready at some advanced post to push forward whenever an
opportunity offers, for it is well known to Arctic explorers that Polar
ice moves, shifts its position, and breaks up, sometimes slowly, and at
other times with great rapidity, and that its position and condition
change from year to year; hence in the same place success in one season
may follow the defeat of a previous one. If, therefore, a vessel be
at hand when the movement carries the ice out of her path, she can
advance; and if, unfortunately, she should have no such opportunity,
her officers and crew, by their observations and their boat and sledge
journeys, would be able to employ their time profitably; the chances,
however, would probably be in favour of their finding some season
sufficiently open to admit of their forcing the vessel towards the
Pole. In connection with the ship which is thus to watch year by year
for a friendly ice movement, Mr Bryan would have a station established
on the land within easy communicating distance, and yet not so far
north as to prevent its being visited at least once in every two or
three years by a ship from the parent country. The plan, no doubt, is
one which would conduce to eventual success; but we should fancy that
even the hardiest enthusiasts would shrink from an undertaking which
would involve their spending annually from four to five months in total
darkness, even though 'the station should afford warm comfortable
quarters for a corps of scientific observers and an active band of
explorers.'
We cannot follow Mr Bryan through all the details of his original
plan, but it will be interesting to glance briefly at a bolder and
more comprehensive one which he develops towards the conclusion of
his _brochure_. He says, and with reason, that a greater certainty
of speedy success and the collection of scientific data beyond all
measure more valuable, would follow the enlargement of the scheme he
has propounded. 'Instead of establishing one station, and having but
one ship watching tirelessly the mysterious movements of the ice, let
there be many stations and many ships placed at intervals along the
whole threshold of the unknown region.' To this, of course, the obvious
objection arises that the plan would involve the expenditure of a large
amount of money; but Mr Bryan is equal to the occasion, and perhaps
taking a hint from the king of the Belgians' proposition with regard
to African exploration, he suggests that the enterprise should be an
international one, for in that case the burden upon any one nation
would be comparatively light. Mr Bryan has gone further, for he has
partitioned the work among the nations. Great Britain is to grapple
with the difficulties of the Behring Strait route, and in addition, to
take a turn at 'the eastern coast of Wrangell's Land or the western
coast, or both.' This, we imagine, would keep Sir George Nares occupied
for some time. For the United States is claimed the right to consider
the Smith's Sound route as peculiarly its own; and the Germans are to
undertake 'the eastern coast of Greenland, the route advocated so long
and so well by their illustrious geographer Dr Petermann.' The Dutch
are to take Spitzbergen for the base of their operations; the Austrians
are to follow up Lieutenant Payer's discoveries in Franz Josef Land;
and the Russians are to establish stations upon Novaya Zemlya and some
of the extreme northern points of their empire. Italy, Norway, and
Sweden, France, Spain, and Portugal have minor parts assigned to them;
but hardy Denmark, oddly enough, is overlooked.
Mr Bryan thinks that the money laid out on these enterprises would be
'well invested, and would give an ample and speedy return in every
department of human industry.'
Since the foregoing was written, intelligence has been received
that arrangements are actually in progress for carrying out Captain
Howgate's bold plan of prosecuting Polar discovery. The expedition, we
hear, will be under the command of Captain Tyson, of _Polaris_ fame,
and it was intended that it should leave at once for the Arctic regions
to select a position for the planting of a colony in 1878. The funds
required for this advance voyage (about ten thousand dollars) will be
raised by subscription in New York; and it is expected that Congress
will in autumn appropriate fifty thousand dollars to cover the expenses
of despatching the colony.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POULTRY.
There is no species of live-stock less understood or less cared for
than poultry. Almost every farmer and nearly every cottager in the
country keeps hens, as well as a great number of people about the
suburbs of all large towns; and strange as it may seem, if you ask them
as to the profitableness of their stock, you will almost invariably
be met with the answer that 'hens don't pay.' Many people of course
never take the trouble to find out whether they pay or not, but go on
rehearsing the story of others who do take that trouble, and who find
it an unprofitable job. With a large number of poultry-keepers this
is really the case; and there must therefore be a certain fascination
about fowls that induces such people to keep them. The secret probably
is that fresh eggs being such an adjunct to the breakfast-table and
to the making of savoury omelets and puddings, hens are kept to lay
eggs, no matter how few, or at what cost. Some people, however, do
make them pay, and pay well too; but it is only by properly directed
intelligence being brought to bear on the subject, as well as by the
exercise of a good deal of care and attention, that this object is
attained. Many an amateur keeper of poultry is able during the spring
months to sell as many eggs as he can part with at prices ranging from
six shillings to a guinea per dozen--such eggs being the produce of
prize poultry, and such prices being given in order to rear chickens
from them. It is therefore principally amateurs, fanciers, and people
who take delight in and bestow care and attention on their birds, that
are able to reap satisfactory results from the rearing and keeping of
poultry. If care and attention were not brought to bear on the rearing
of horses and cattle, these would not pay either; but hens are, by
farmers especially, usually considered too insignificant to bestow
much trouble on; therefore they are often allowed to run about starved
and ill cared for at one time, and glutted with food at another; while
their roosting-houses from want of cleaning become so filthy that it
is a wonder the birds so frequently escape the diseases which filth
engenders, and to which the feathered tribe are so liable.
It is certainly not creditable to this country that the importation of
poultry and eggs is so enormous, and probably few persons are aware
of its extent. In 1875, the latest year for which the Board of Trade
returns have been completed, no less than seven hundred and forty-one
million of eggs were brought into this country; and the returns of
the immediately preceding years shew that this importation has been
making gigantic strides. Most of these eggs come to us from France;
and when we consider that the French themselves are large consumers
of both eggs and poultry, it may well be imagined to what an enormous
extent our friends across the Channel develop this branch of trade or
commerce. The advantage which our continental neighbours derive from it
is obvious when we consider that not only eggs but fowls are largely
sent over to us; and that about three millions of pounds sterling are
now annually paid by Great Britain for these two staple articles of
consumption. Farmers and poultry-keepers should lay this well to heart,
and endeavour by some means so to increase the production of poultry
and eggs, as not only to secure the retention of a large portion of
this money in our own country, but to fill their own pockets with a
portion of it.
In our observation and experience the point on which most ignorance
prevails with regard to poultry is food. No attention or intelligence
appears to be directed to the kind, quantity, or time of feeding that
is most suitable; and nowhere is this ignorance more noticeable than at
farm-steadings. At such places, hens are generally allowed to surfeit
themselves with grain at one season, while they are starved at another.
Now they do not lay well while they are either in the one condition
or the other; for a starved bird has not the wherewithal to produce
eggs, while an overfed one gets lazy and accumulates internal fat, to
the extinction of egg-production altogether. Hens never lay so well
as when they are kept in a state of activity, running after meat that
is thrown to them, or searching and scratching for it among earth or
rubbish. After moulting-time, or when hens have been as it were resting
from laying eggs, one of the first things that to a keen observer
heralds a speedy return to that state, is the restless activity with
which they scrape and scratch the ground. When their courts or haunts
bear evidence of this by the holes which they make, laying is not far
off. A happy medium in feeding produces the best results with poultry;
and a golden rule is never to give fowls more at a time than they will
greedily pick up. Indeed they should always be made to leave off before
their appetite is satiated. Their meals should be given regularly, and
should be thrown on the ground to them, not left in wooden troughs,
which readily sour and taint the meat. But whether given on the ground
or otherwise, not a particle should be allowed to lie over, for nothing
injures hens more than stale food.
The number of meals in a day may vary according to circumstances,
but for adult fowls no more than three should ever be allowed. Where
hens have full liberty to roam about a farm-yard or in fields, only
two scanty meals should be given both in summer and in winter--one in
the morning as early as possible, and the other about an hour before
they go to roost in the evening. Birds which are confined to courts or
runs should have a more substantial meal--not later than nine o'clock
in the morning in winter, and an hour or two earlier in summer, with
a pick of something at mid-day, besides their evening feed. Grain of
some kind should always be given them at night; wheat, rough barley, or
oats, are all good, but ought to be used singly, not mixed; and it is
well occasionally to change the variety. Indian corn seems to be more
relished than any other grain, but should be sparingly given, and never
longer than a very few days at a time, just for a change, as it has a
very fattening tendency. The morning meal may consist of table-refuse
of any sort mixed to a proper consistency with sharps, middlings, bran,
or barley-meal. The mixture should neither be too sloppy nor too hard,
but such as if thrown on the ground in a lump will break into bits,
not crumble down into a state of powder. Potatoes are bad to use in
large quantities, for like Indian corn they are too fattening; boiled
turnips, however, may be used with advantage for mixing. In winter it
is best to give the morning diet warm, with an occasional sprinkling of
pepper during very cold or wet weather. A very little salt may likewise
be added. The mid-day pick may either consist of the morning's remains
or a little grain; but on no account should soft food be given after it
has stood for any length of time. It can be mixed up at night, but what
is then prepared should all be used up on the following day. Grass or
green food of some kind is requisite to keep poultry in good condition;
and if the birds have not free access to it, a little cut up and mixed
with their food, or a cabbage or lettuce hung up with a string just
within reach of the birds, so that they may get at it with a little
trouble, is a very valuable accessory to the dietary. It is absolutely
necessary that green food be given regularly, if fowls are expected to
thrive; but the amount of it need not be great; only if it is left off
for a time and then resorted to, or given in too large quantities, it
is likely to cause diarrhœa.
It is very difficult to define the exact quantity of food that ought
to be given to hens, and it is well to remember that at some seasons
they will eat much more than at others; but as a general rule for
those in confinement, a ball about the size of a duck's egg in the
morning, half of that at mid-day, and an average-sized handful of grain
at night, is about the proper quantity for each bird; and less than
that of course for those that have fields or farm-yards to roam in.
The tendency with most poultry-keepers is to feed too well, and it is
generally very difficult to get them convinced of this, for hens will
go on eating long after they have had enough; but the consequences are
always bad, such as accumulation of internal fat and the laying of soft
or shell-less eggs. This latter disease--for so it may be called--is
a very common effect of over-feeding young hens, and is sometimes not
observed till it has existed for some time, as such eggs are often
eaten by the birds as soon as laid, and if they are not caught in the
act, those who keep them may be none the wiser. The quickest and most
effectual way to cure the effects of over-feeding is to administer a
good dose of Epsom salts in their soft food in the morning, and to
starve them till the following day. Indeed such treatment to overfed
fowls that have gone off laying will often bring them into that
condition again at once. Poultry should always have access to plenty
of cool fresh water; and if the dish containing it cannot be kept in a
cool or shady place, the water should be frequently renewed, especially
in warm sunny weather, for nothing is worse for hens than sun-warmed
water. It is also important that a handful or two of small stones or
gravel be occasionally thrown into their runs, if the ground itself
is not gravelly, for hens swallow such stones to assist the gizzard
in triturating their food. It is considered that lime or old mortar
is necessary for the production of egg-shell, but we cannot speak
authoritatively on this point, for we have kept hens for years, and
never yet saw them swallow a piece of mortar, although they have access
to it; but we are bound to admit that oyster-shells, broken up small,
are at certain times swallowed with great avidity, if fowls can obtain
them.
Next to the importance of good systematic feeding, if not even
before it, ought to come cleanliness. Some people never think of
cleaning their hen-houses and hen-runs; but it ought to be carefully
and regularly done; and the inside walls and roosting-bars should be
whitewashed at least twice every year. In connection with this, it may
be mentioned that nothing is worse for a hen-house than a wooden floor,
as it soon gets saturated with their droppings, and becomes rotten,
when it is impossible to clean it. A stone or cement floor, or even an
earthen one, is greatly superior to one made of wood; and if such a
floor be kept thickly strewn with fine coal-ashes, sand, or dry earth,
this helps to deodorise the dung, and is easily cleaned--besides the
whole makes a very valuable manure, which can be used in the garden.
The floor or ground of the court or run should be earth, the surface of
which can be lifted off occasionally with a spade, and then dug up to
freshen it. At such times, the birds will get a feed of worms, which
will do them much good.
Fowls clean themselves by means of dust; and if they have not access to
it, they readily become infested with a species of small lice. Finely
riddled coal-ash or dry earth laid in a sheltered corner of their run
will answer the purpose. It should be renewed occasionally, and a
little flowers of sulphur or carbolic powder sprinkled on it. It is
very amusing to see the birds lying in their baths and shaking the dust
all over and through their feathers. They seem to take great delight in
this occupation.
The variety to be kept depends on circumstances, that which suits
one locality being unsuitable in another. Many people keep what are
called barn-door fowls, that is, a cross of all sorts of breeds, but
experience shews that such fowls are not profitable either for the
table or for laying. Occasionally one hears that there is nothing like
them for laying; but those who speak thus have seldom much experience
of pure breeds; and because they now and again find cross-bred birds
laying remarkably well, they are too apt to sound their praise.
A first cross between two pure breeds, such as the 'Dorking' and
'Spanish,' or 'Game' and 'Spanish,' sometimes produces very fine
profitable fowls; but if these are again allowed to mate with other
crosses, the progeny always degenerates. The Dorking is perhaps the
most common and well-known variety in this country, and holds a good
reputation for size and quality as a table bird, also for its laying
powers. It does not thrive, however, in all localities, requiring a
dry soil and extensive range to roam on, and is essentially a farmer's
bird. Dorkings make good sitters and mothers. The variety is bred to
perfection, principally in the counties of Sussex and Surrey. The
general favourites of 'fanciers,' owing to their symmetry of form and
beautiful plumage, are the several varieties of Game; but they are
somewhat troublesome to keep, owing to their fighting proclivities.
Spanish hens are good layers of large eggs, but the breed is a delicate
one, difficult to rear, and difficult to keep in health. Cold and damp
affect them much; but they sometimes do well in confined runs, if these
are dry and sheltered and their houses warm. 'Brahmas' and 'Cochins,'
two Asiatic breeds, created quite a sensation on their first being
brought to this country about a quarter of a century ago, and large
prices were then paid for them. As chickens they take a long time to
grow, but ultimately attain great size. They are both good layers,
especially in winter, when eggs are dear, but are inveterate sitters;
and the time lost by this propensity often neutralises the profit
which might be made from their egg-producing qualities. 'Hamburgs' lay
numerous eggs of a rather small description. The French varieties have
been gaining ground in this country for some years back, the 'Houdans'
being splendid table fowls, with good white flesh and small bones. They
grow very fast as chickens, but do not generally begin to lay till well
matured. 'Crève-cœurs' also grow quickly to a good size, but have not
much reputation as layers. The latest breed--which, however, has not
been known in this country more than a few years--is the 'Leghorn,'
for the introduction of which we are indebted to the Americans, who
imported the first birds of the kind from Leghorn about twenty years
ago, and have since then been improving the variety. It would appear to
excel most others for early development and splendid laying powers, and
is fast taking a prominent place with poultry-keepers. Prize birds of
all distinct varieties are very valuable, sometimes fetching as much as
twenty-five pounds for a single bird to shew and breed from.
It is a great mistake with some people to keep too many birds, and we
have noticed again and again where a keen amateur has very reluctantly
been persuaded to kill off or dispose of a portion of his stock, that
instead of his egg-basket suffering owing to the fewer birds kept, it
has actually become fuller than before. Only a certain quantity can be
kept on a given space, and if more than this is attempted, failure must
be the result. The proper number can be arrived at only by experience,
but no cottager with limited accommodation should attempt to keep
more than about half-a-dozen. The worst layers should be killed after
their first season's laying, just before they commence to moult or
cast their feathers--say about July or August; for if allowed once to
begin this process of renewal, they are useless for the table until
the whole of the new feathers grow again; and this sometimes occupies
months, during the whole of which time laying is generally suspended.
The best, however, should be kept over their second season's laying,
and then killed before moulting; and none but the very best should ever
be allowed to see a third season, for age is a very unprofitable and
increasingly unprofitable possession. From one hundred to two hundred
and fifty eggs may be expected from a good bird in the course of a
year; and those which lay less than a hundred are not worth keeping.
It may be mentioned that the addition of a cock to the run makes
no difference in the number of eggs which the hens will lay; it is
unnecessary, therefore, to keep a cock unless chickens be desired.
THE WALMER LIFE-BOAT.
Hark! a distant gun is sounding
O'er the waters, wildly bounding;
Raging waves are fast surrounding
Some wrecked ship to-night.
On the shore the breakers, roaring,
Loud as thunder now are pouring;
Far a signal high is soaring,
Like a phantom light.
Moon and stars their aid denying,
E'en to seek the living--dying--
Who, to prayers and tears replying,
Will the tempest face?
Oh! for some brave ocean-ranger,
Who would, through the cold and danger,
Go to save, perchance, one stranger!
Silence, for a space.
Hark! the Life-boat bell is ringing,
Gallant men are wildly springing,
Life and home--their all--they're flinging,
So the lost they save.
Rockets now are brightly flashing;
Through the shingle sharply crashing,
Off the Life-boat's swiftly dashing.
Heaven guard the brave!
Through the night, that wanes so slowly,
'Little ones,' in accents holy,
Mothers, wives, in dwellings lowly,
Breathe their heartfelt prayer.
When the stormy sea is swelling,
Aching hearts in regal dwelling,
All their pride and power quelling,
Kneel as helpless there.