Chapter 4 RAISING ANIMALS FOR PETS

SHETLAND PONIES

The perfect pet is the Shetland pony. This diminutive horse is a model of gentleness, patience, good-nature, and horse sense. One writer says of him: "If more than eight children get on his back he will shake himself like a wet Newfoundland dog and then stand motionless, while they pick themselves up and out from among his four hoofs." So many generations of ponies have lived right in the family circles of their cold little island that children do not make them nervous.

Is there a prettier sight than a well-groomed Shetland pony, a carriage made in Lilliput, and a small driver, and a reasonable number of little passengers of assorted sizes? A goat team is a joke, a dog team is impracticable, a team of young oxen is too plodding and lacks style. The pony outfit is charming and always delights everybody. But who likes to see a grown man in a pony carriage? A small grown person may be necessary, especially if the baby is to be taken for a drive, but a full-sized adult makes a pony carriage look top heavy.

The Shetland pony is a sort of "boy horse" so far as work is concerned. (Some say, too, that he gets out of as much work as possible.) There is no better helper at light jobs than the pony. Like the yak:

"He will carry and fetch

You may ride on his back

Or lead him about with a string."

Indeed he will follow his master about without a string and can carry a good load. With a light cart or wagon suited to his build and a boy to do the rest, one of these hardy little fellows will be of greatest help in doing the endless odd jobs that always fall to the boy's lot. The pony will more than earn his board if the boy earns his.

Photograph by Helen W. Cooke

The Shetland Pony is the Ideal Pet

A thoroughbred Shetland pony should be less than forty-five inches high and weigh less than three hundred pounds. Many are raised in this country. A boy is lucky who has a chance to train a pony colt. Training should be begun early. One successful breeder says that his children do all the training of his ponies. His boy, seven years old, broke the first one they raised to drive to a little wagon. Little boys and girls under ten take entire care of the ponies in another man's herd. No doubt their father or mother oversees the work, but it is fun for the children to groom and feed and pet these wee horses.

Breeding Shetland ponies is a very practical way to make a few hundred dollars a year. They eat less than full-sized horses and will keep fat on grass from frost till frost. The price of ponies is 25 per cent. higher than it was five years ago. This makes the cost of going into this business higher, but the sales begin the second year and selling prices are higher, too. Shetlands are hardy and require shelter only in bitter cold weather. Ponies of various sorts are becoming far commoner here than formerly, so the demand is increasing. I wish every boy and every girl whose heart is set on having a pony could have one. Let us all raise ponies until there are enough for every one.

RABBITS, GUINEA PIGS, AND CAVIES

Rabbits, guinea pigs, and cavies are not poultry, yet there is always a department devoted to them in the great Poultry Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was there that I first made the acquaintance of these three kinds of popular pets. Many a boy has made a neat little addition in two figures, at least, to his college fund, by raising hares, rabbits, guinea pigs, white rats, fancy mice, or cavies. Common white rabbits can be bought for one dollar a pair, but these days it is not uncommon for a breeder to pay from fifteen dollars to twenty-five dollars for wearers of blue ribbons. If you had guinea pigs for sale you would be glad that the best ones cannot be bought for less than ten dollars apiece.

Rabbits are the most popular of these pets, while cavies come next. There is just now a great demand for cavies. They are odd little creatures, neither intelligent nor affectionate. Neither are they very hardy; in the North they have to be kept indoors in cold weather.

Cavies are easy enough to feed, for they eat everything that is set before them, and keep at it all the time. All sorts of vegetables, bread and milk, and corn are the "chief of their diet."

Before going into the business of raising any of these creatures it is well to consult some other boy who has had some experience and find out if there are any peculiar difficulties he can help you provide for. Maybe your locality and conditions are better fitted for one than the other. A dealer will often be able to give you valuable information about the different sorts of pets, and may be able to recommend the best book on the subject.

FANCY PIGEONS

If I were a boy or a girl to-day there is nothing I should so much like to do as to raise pigeons. Not that I think it an easy job. (Wouldn't you almost as soon work as to look for an easy job, anyhow?) There are lots of disappointments, discouragements, and hard labour about pigeon rearing. But young folks with hobbies like this are getting more fun out of life than the idle ones.

Pigeons are hardy, easily tamed, prolific, and can be made to pay their own way. It would be impossible to associate with them, care for them, learn their nature and habits, without becoming thoroughly interested in them. No pets could be more gentle, more beautiful, more docile than pigeons. Success in rearing them will not be immediate, but will come with experience.

The business of raising fancy pigeons for pets is quite distinct from squab raising, treated in the chapter on poultry, and is far more likely to interest boys and girls. If you were to go to a big poultry show you would be bewildered at the number of breeds of fancy pigeons. The pouters, the tumblers, the barbs, the dragoons, nuns, helmets, the fantails, and carriers are all there in endless variety. What you like will be different from what I like, probably, so it is not easy to recommend. Beginners would do well to choose some one variety and try their hand at that before investing very extensively. The flying tumbler is recommended by many good authorities. These are not difficult to breed, are small eaters, do not need to be caged continually, and although they are to be had in nearly all the colours of the rainbow they are not very expensive. It is not good economy to buy cheap stock, in anything. Though by getting good ones you must start with a single pair, it is the best economy. Your increase will be very much more valuable. You should ask the breeder for a written guarantee that the pigeons are as represented, healthy, young, mated stock. If he does not care to give the guarantee, I should not consider him reliable.

Net for capturing pigeons

Pigeons are not much influenced by elaborate dovecotes. They are quite as happy living the simple life in a dry-goods box, provided it contains the conveniences they require, and is placed where the light will be plentiful, the air pure, and the roof rain proof. City boys and girls need not sigh and give up the idea because they have no place for pigeons. The attic or the roof serves them just as well as the barn yard, perhaps better, as mice and rats are less likely to disturb them on housetops. Every precaution should be taken however against these vermin. Cracks, doors and ventilators should be covered with fine wire netting. Even the entrances, holes six inches high by four in width, should be protected by tin guards which rats and mice cannot creep over.

Pigeon roost

Each pair of pigeons will need two nesting compartments. A good kind is described in Farmers' Bulletin No. 177, and is constructed as follows: Inch boards, twelve inches wide, with parallel cross cleats nailed on nine inches apart, are set upright full twelve inches apart against one wall, and securely fastened at top and bottom. Cut twelve-inch squares of inch boards for the bottoms of the nest boxes. It is easy to see how convenient these sliding bottoms will be to clean. Provide small earthenware dishes as nests, with a foundation of tobacco stems, to discourage lice. The birds will build nests of straw above the tobacco stems, the male bringing the material which the female arranges to suit her ideas of house furnishing. Some growers use sawdust in the nest. If your pigeons are allowed their liberty with no shelter save the pigeon loft, perches will be needed inside. As the pigeon's feet are formed for perching on flat surfaces instead of on rounded branches like many of their feathered relatives, you should provide what suits their needs. A good form of perch is made as follows. Cut half-inch, dressed material four or five inches wide into five or six-inch lengths. Nail together two of these pieces in v-shape. This can be nailed to a square foundation piece and hung angle up on the wall of the loft. The slanting sides afford no lodging for droppings and as only one bird at a time can perch on so small a place, quarrelling is avoided. Iron brackets with perches attached are also used.

Two nest dishes are provided for each pair, as very often the hen will lay a second pair of eggs before the earliest young ones are ready to leave the nest. The male pigeon is untiring in his devotion to the young and their mother, taking his turn on the nest regularly during the seventeen days of incubation, doing his share of the work, and even beating his wife if she shows any disposition to slight her duties.

If the pigeons are confined in a wire fly, perches should be provided there, and board walks for them to alight upon and walk about on should be placed at a distance of four or five feet from the ground. Nothing in the shape of roosts or cross pieces should be put in the fly, as the pigeons need all the space in which to exercise their wings.

A fly for pigeons. Put no roosts across the fly. Flying against these would injure the birds

For one hundred birds the fly should be thirty-two feet long, eight feet high, and the entire width of the house. It will be a fine problem in practical arithmetic to figure how much netting will be required to cover the frame of this fly, how many posts, and how much one by four-inch stuff will be needed to complete the frame. The advice of some one who has built a pigeon fly would be most valuable to the inexperienced person, and the pictures in books, bulletins, and magazine articles will be helpful in making your plans.

Holes, at least two, rounded at the top and six inches each way, provide for the going and coming of the birds between house and fly. For yourself, an outside door into the fly is a necessity, of course.

Before installing your pigeons in their house, use the whitewash brush there freely. Into each gallon of your mixture of lime and water put a half-teaspoonful of crude carbolic acid. Clean sand is recommended for the floor of both fly and house. It is very bad practice to scatter food for pigeons on the floor or ground. You will see, if you try it, how much is wasted; any that they leave becomes soiled, moulds, or sours, and if eaten in that condition is nearly sure to injure the birds. A shallow feeding trough should be placed near the centre of the house. Fine charcoal, table salt, and cracked oyster shells should be kept permanently before the birds, the boxes cleaned out at least weekly. Clean water in stone or galvanized iron fountains should always be there, too. Daily or semi-daily is none too frequent to clean these vessels.

Pigeons are not gluttonous feeders but "they want what they want, when they want it." In other words, regularity is important to their well-being. An early morning feed, six-thirty in summer, seven in winter, of equal parts cracked corn, wheat, and peas, and an afternoon feed, at four in summer, three in winter, of equal parts cracked corn (with no fine meal in it), kaffir corn, millet seed, and peas, is a fair ration. Pigeons like a variety but not as a steady diet. Hemp may be substituted for millet once or twice a week; a little broken rice, green vegetable food, like lettuce and onions, will be taken sparingly, and tiny bits of fat bacon seem to be acceptable. Nothing but first-class grain should ever be set before pigeons. The quantity needed should be determined by watching. If food is left in trough, feed less next time.

Water for bathing is as necessary for pigeons as the dust bath is for hens. A broad galvanized iron pan three inches deep makes a first-rate bathtub. Although fancy plumbing is out of place in a pigeon house, it is the greatest convenience to have running water passing through a trough constantly; this solves completely the problem of sanitary drinking water.

The best fanciers clean their houses weekly. With a few birds this may not be necessary. But when your nose gives unmistakable evidence that it is time, do not put it off. A spade to scrape the floor, an old knife for the nest boxes, and a broom are necessary utensils.

Mated birds will choose a nesting box after becoming accustomed to their new quarters. The nest pans, with their foundation of tobacco stems cut in six-inch lengths, should be in place, and a supply of short hay or straw where it can be found. Two eggs are usually laid, with a day between and sitting begins as soon as the second egg is laid.

If the sight of a young squab does not make you sick of your choice of a hobby, you are a hopeless case, and I predict great success for you. Young robins are not beautiful to behold, but squabs are such ghastly looking little beasts, with nothing to recommend them except their entire helplessness. Evidently the parents are well satisfied with the appearance of their offspring which look just as they expected, no doubt, and begin almost immediately to feed them. "Pigeon milk" is injected into their open throats by the parent birds, in whose stomachs it has been manufactured. The squabs gain rapidly after a few days of this "milk" diet; pin-feathers replace the scanty yellow down in about a week. At three weeks they are able to walk, but are still fed by their parents, although grain is brought to them instead of the predigested food.

Although they are hardy, do not suppose that pigeons have no diseases. However, the author of a government bulletin on squab raising says that with "wholesome food, proper housing, and proper care, very little disease is usually encountered." To prevent disease, and avoid dampness in house and fly, keep the food and water untainted, and the house clean.

It is very desirable, whether raising squabs for market or for pets, to keep a record of the performance of each pair. This is usually done by the use of numbered tags on the birds' legs. The record makes it possible to prevent inbreeding, gives you knowledge of whether certain pairs are profitable, and keeps up your own interest far more than haphazard methods do.

BANTAMS

Almost every family that keeps chickens has two or three "banties" for the children. What an amusing sight it is to see a tiny fuss-budget clucking and bristling to protect a half-dozen lubberly Plymouth Rock "broilers" that she has been inveigled into rearing. But the raising of pigmy fowls is not confined to the child's play of the chicken yard. At the big poultry shows almost every breed of fowl from Brahma to Silkie has a diminutive mimic, and the requirements for the dwarfs are just as rigid as for the big fellows.

To be just right a bantam ought not to weigh much over a pound, the cock should be impetuous, pugnacious, and haughty; the hen should be smaller than her lord, and meek in demeanour except when her flock is in danger. Bantams are very popular with amateurs who regard them as a sort of joke, but the poultry fanciers take them quite seriously. It is not unusual for the prize-winning bantams to bring as high prices as the heavy weights.

Game bantams are great favourites with fanciers. They are easily recognized by their game-fowl characteristics: tall, upright carriage, oval body tapering from shoulder to tail, very long legs and neck, small head, and almost no show of comb. There are eight standard varieties in America, and the Game Bantam Club is interested in improving the breeds and increasing the popularity of the birds.

As the varieties of bantams are pretty thoroughly mixed, it is no simple matter to breed birds fit for exhibition. But after all there is so much fun for boys and girls in growing any sort of pigmy chickens and such a good market for both eggs and pairs for pets that I wonder that more young people do not go into the business. Bantams take less room than ordinary chickens which is an advantage on a small place. Care should be taken to save for setting eggs of none but the smallest and most perfect members of the flock, and to dispose of any which are larger than the standard or poor in shape or colour or in any characteristics peculiar to bantams. If you start with eggs of some fine breed, try to keep your stock pure, and improve it by selecting the best individuals for breeding.

In matters of housing, feeding, cleanliness, and care, bantams should be treated just like other chickens. The young of some varieties are exceedingly delicate and cannot stand the least neglect. These are more like little wild things, partridges or quail, than like domestic fowls. Other varieties are as hardy as Plymouth Rocks, but any one who has tried it knows that raising Plymouth Rocks is no mere joke, especially in a cold, damp spring.

If your father objects to your going into the bantam business instead of raising standard size fowls bring these arguments to bear upon him: Bantams occupy one fourth the space. Their food costs one fifth as much. Their eggs are two thirds as big. Pairs can easily be sold without expensive advertising.

FANCY FOWLS

If you want to make the neighbour boys open their eyes, and the passers-by stand still to admire, try the experiment of raising fancy fowls. Growing them for exhibition purposes is such a separate and distinct department of the poultry business and demands familiarity with many "show standards," "tricks of the trade," and special practices in breeding and grooming to bring a fowl up to a high score, that it may be best not to undertake to compete with more experienced breeders.

A visit to a fancy poultry exhibition is like a trip to Wonderland. Just looking at the pictures of the prize winners, and studying the alluring advertisements arouses enthusiasm. But to read the accounts of the fanciers, or to hear them talk about the merits of their favourites makes a chicken lover fairly thrill with ardour. How to decide upon which variety to try is a hard problem. Take a lot of things into consideration. Discount what the enthusiasts say about the one they have for sale; they mean every word of it, but they are prejudiced. Don't be influenced to select one breed when you really prefer another. Here is a department where personal preference should cast the deciding vote; the one you like best is the best one for you.

It is not well known except by specialists that there are so many distinct varieties in breeds of fowls. For example take the Polish. There are blue Polish, plain white, golden, white-crested, black, buff-laced, and silver; of the Hamburgs there are black, silver-and gold-spangled, silver-and golden-penciled white, and so on through the list. The Polish and the Houdans are remarkable for their tremendous top knots, the Hamburgs, Lakenvelders, and many others for their wonderful plumage and colour combinations, while the most astonishing creatures in the whole chicken tribe are the Yokahamas whose snow-white tail feathers trail gracefully behind them like a bride's gown and veil at a fashionable wedding. These must be the originals of the extraordinary fowls represented on Japanese and Filipino pottery and embroidery.

It is not much wonder that fancy breeds are growing more popular in our country. Although as a rule they are non-sitters, they are all described by their advocates as prize layers, some hens even reaching the remarkable record of two hundred eggs a year.

The Hamburgs, for example, are called "Dutch Everlasting Layers." Their eggs are smooth and "satiny white"; Polish eggs are very large and snow-white, but they are not winter layers; Houdans lay white eggs of great size and almost certain fertility, and are, besides, excellent table fowls; the Lakenvelders rank with Leghorns as layers and their eggs are also "of a porcelain whiteness" which insures a fancy market in New York where the preference is for white eggs.

Do not think that you can just as well house your fancy breeds in with your ordinary chickens. It is a mistake. They should be kept apart from the beginning. Light hens of commoner breeds are successfully employed as foster-mothers for the fancy fowls, but it is important to provide separate pens even for the young. If young chicks are kept in the same run with those somewhat older, they are crowded away from the feeding dishes; chicks with top knots should never be raised with other sorts. The crest interferes with their sight, and they are not fighters and will allow themselves to be driven away from the food. Crested chicks should be treated with a grease lice-destroyer at least once a fortnight. A little of the lard or sweet oil is enough but it should be worked into the feathers to be effectual. Use powder on the hens, but not while the chicks are oily.

Making the neighbours gape in open-eyed astonishment is not all there is to raising fancy chickens. With a few years' experience in chicken raising back of you, it would not be risky to raise them for commercial purposes. The popularity of fancy chickens is just beginning in this country. There is a fine market for eggs for hatching, but as it is extremely important to keep the breeds pure your fancy birds should be kept by themselves practically the year round. Most of the breeds mentioned are quite hardy, and the same care required for ordinary poultry as to housing, food, prevention of disease, cleanliness, and records will insure a good measure of success with fancy fowls.

DOGS

Raising dogs may prove a profitable business for any one who likes dogs, understands them, and is willing to doctor them when they are sick, and train them to good habits. An untrained dog is a nuisance, however well bred he may be.

To start a small kennel does not require any more room than to start in the chicken business in a small way. Just now the prices are so absurdly high on high-bred dogs of popular varieties that few but fanciers can afford to own the best stock. Why is it not better to raise some first-rate but not fashionable breed, and not enter into competition with men whose living depends on the number of blue ribbons they can win at dog shows? Buy a young female dog, teach her, and train her. Get experience with one dog and her young ones before you put in much capital. Find out by going to a good dog show what are the points of a good dog of your chosen breed, make out a score card, and mark your own dogs. Sell for pets those which do not come up to the mark. I have before me a balance sheet made out by a young man who began raising white English bull terriers in nineteen hundred and three. In spite of a lot of bad luck, which, with better arrangements, need not have happened, he netted nearly a hundred dollars the first year and over two hundred the second year. This young man kept chickens, too, beside his regular business which kept him at an office seven hours a day; and he found dogs better money makers than chickens.

In raising puppies there are three important essentials: the right sort of food, fresh, clean water to drink, and exercise. I believe more dogs get sick from water or lack of it than from any other one cause. If a dog's dish is not clean enough for you to drink out of yourself, then it is not fit for your pups. Keep that in mind. Fresh air and sunshine are as necessary for puppies as for children. Kennels should be airy, face the south, and have shavings or straw bedding.

Authorities differ about a dog's food. It is safe to feed him about as you would a growing boy. Like the boy he may overeat of his favourite dish. For breakfast, oatmeal or other cereal with milk and no sugar; for lunch, some dry dog biscuit or stale bread; for afternoon tea, soup or gravy thickened with boiled rice or corn mush. But a puppy's supper ought to be a good square meal because he is an outdoor sleeper, and it is easy for dogs to take cold on an empty stomach. For supper, then, give the puppies some bits of cooked meat, stale bread, and gravy or cooked vegetables. "Never feed a puppy hot bread or any rich, greasy, or highly seasoned foods. Avoid all sweets." Doesn't that sound like a book on what children should eat? But it is quoted right out of a dog book.

If your dogs get sick, eczema, distemper, or fits, consult a veterinary surgeon. A good book on dogs and their care will be of greatest value to you for such minor troubles as dogs are heir to.

Full-grown dogs do not need more than two meals a day. Most dogs are over-fed, under exercised, and are therefore unhealthy beings. Dogs eat slowly and should not be hurried. They should be fed regularly but not fussed over.

A word to boys and girls who own pets: if you live cooped up on a small lot you have no right to keep a dog, much less dogs. If you have a dog and let him run at large, you will probably lose him, and you deserve to. Nobody has any right, law or no law, to allow his live stock, let them be chickens, dogs, cats, or children, to annoy the neighbours. A dog or a cat, a rabbit, or a family of chickens can do more damage in a garden than anybody would believe,-except the gardener. Your dog may be worth ten dollars; he may do ten dollars' worth of damage in ten different bulb beds in ten days. A thirty-cent cat can frighten away more birds in five days than an owner can attract to his garden in a whole season. Be fair to yourself, your neighbour, and your animals, and keep them on your own place. If you are out with your dogs, that is a different matter; if you have them trained "to heel," people will welcome you.

GOLDFISH

I have already said that the Shetland pony is the ideal pet. That is true still, but I should have said "for out of doors." Of all the candidates for the office of ideal indoor pet, I believe goldfish would get the most votes.

They are peaceful and innocent, their needs are few, and their manners engaging. They are attractive in colour, shape, and movements and never get under foot. Above all they have no bad habits. They neither squawk nor whistle, bark, sing, nor howl. They never stay out late nights, nor make trouble with the neighbours. They require a minimum of attention and a minimum of expense both for quarters and for food. For developing a sense of responsibility in children they serve a good purpose, and they can even be taught. It is very evident that they have memory as well as sight, hearing, sense of smell, touch, and taste. They easily learn, if patiently taught, to know their master's voice and to come when he signals. They will learn their feeding time and place and seem to enjoy attention.

Just as with horses, dogs, or elephants, the first essential in teaching goldfish is to gain their confidence. This can only be done by patience and gentleness. A restless, nervous goldfish rushing from one side of the tank to another when any one approaches tells its own story. Teased, frightened, neglected, and unhappy they are indeed in a sorry plight, for they are, even more than some other pets, utterly at the mercy of their owners. The sooner they die and pass into oblivion, the better!

But what a pretty sight it is to see a well-balanced aquarium, water plants spreading their delicate fronds, a clean, pebbly bottom, and bright-coloured, healthy, happy, care-free goldfish glancing in and out in the sunshine.

China is the greatest place for goldfish. Rearing them there has been reduced to a science. We find them running wild in our waters, but they are not native to America. Under ideal natural conditions they are said to live to be a hundred years old. Many are known to have lived to the age of ten years in one aquarium.

Goldfish are hardy, live in sluggish streams or ponds, and eat all sorts of vegetable matter. They also eat soft-bodied insects, worms, and small fish, even their own spawn and young.

For directions for keeping goldfish happy and healthy in an aquarium in the living room of your home, I must refer you to various books and articles on aquaria and on how to make and maintain them.

Raising goldfish for profit is "a horse of quite another colour." Goldfish are sold by the thousand in department stores as well as in shops which deal wholly in pets. Some fish are imported, but the bulk of them are grown in this country. One of the most scientific growers in this country is Mr. Hugo Mulertt, whose book on the subject is quite enough to make its readers enthusiastic fish culturists. The best markets are in cities, and transportation is difficult and expensive. Fancy varieties would not be in demand except in large cities.

One can begin goldfish growing in a small way at very small expense. Four tanks or reservoirs are required. Any boy who can make a hotbed frame can make these. They should be in a series: No. 1, spawning pond; No. 2, rearing pond; No. 3, storage pond; No. 4, winter pond.

Whether one makes artificial tanks or utilizes a natural valley, separated by little dams, it is essential that the four ponds should be so fitted that they can be emptied at will. They should be sheltered from cold winds and from direct summer sun.

The spawning pond should be built first, and furnished with water plants as much like nature as possible. Female fish ready to spawn can be bought from growers. These men are reliable and know how to advise you. It is to their advantage to increase the interest in goldfish.

While building tank No. 2, keep watch for eggs in the spawning tank. Laying begins late in April or early in May outdoors. The egg is no bigger than a pinhead, yellow, or cream-coloured. Look for them on the plants. Snip the twigs off with great care and transfer the eggs, twigs and all, into large candy jars in clean water; one hundred eggs is enough for a gallon jar. Be careful that the water is of the same temperature in the jar as in the tank. Eggs should be kept not lower than sixty degrees Fahr., and not higher than ninety degrees Fahr. They hatch in two or three days or at most in less than a week. Do not disturb the water. Sudden changes of temperature will kill the young fish.

When the fish are three days old, they are pretty lively and will soon begin to need other food than that supplied by the egg. To transfer them from the "incubator" to the rearing tank is a delicate operation. Mr. Mulertt advises putting the tiny fish into a small, shallow, "nursery" tank first to make the change more gradual. The jar can be emptied very gently, fish and all, into this tank.

Prepare the rearing tank, taking every precaution against enemies. It should be covered with a screen to keep the dragon flies from laying their eggs in the tank. Dragon fly nymphs are death on new-hatched goldfish. If the fish get a good start they will hold their own. Let me warn you again to take great precaution against chilling the fish. A few degrees difference may be fatal. When the fish are a week to ten days old, they should be about a half-inch long, darting swiftly about in the nursery tank. Be sure the temperature of the water is right, then set a wide-mouthed pail or jar full of water down in the tank with the fish, and dip the biggest one at a time with a little hand net of soft material. Do not crowd the fish in the transfer pail, but rather make more frequent trips. Extremely delicate handling is absolutely necessary. Do not dip the fish out of the jar, but put it down in the water deep enough so they can swim out of their own accord. They are to stay a long time in the rearing pond so must not be crowded. In a tank covering an area of one hundred and sixty square feet, two hundred to three hundred fish can be reared. When they are only one half an inch long, the tank looks thinly settled, but they soon grow.

The young are silver-gray at first. They usually get their permanent colour before reaching the age of two months. In warm ponds, in sunny weather, goldfish may grow to be six inches long in the first summer, but between two and three inches is more normal.

Goldfish in outdoor rearing ponds do not require artificial feeding. Nature supplies them with their natural food.

The storage tank is simply to keep the fish in while awaiting purchasers. It should be divided by partitions into small compartments. It is convenient to sort the fish taken from the rearing tank, so that those of one size or colour or variety can be separated and buyers can readily see the stock. It is easier to catch them in the small tank also. In the storage tank some feeding is usually needed. Fresh, dry bread crumbs are recommended by most fish growers; feed small amounts until they get used to it and until you know just how much they require.

The winter pond costs the most to build. It should be three feet or more deep, lined with boards or cement, and located so that water will be moving through it, in and out slowly all winter, to prevent freezing. It should be covered during storms. Growers plan to get rid of their stock except breeders before winter sets in. One can dispense entirely with a winter tank if he can establish a house aquarium successfully for wintering the fish from which he expects to obtain spawn the following spring.

As might be expected of animals which have for so many centuries been associated with man, goldfish have a good many diseases. Their ill-health can almost invariably be traced to neglect or ignorance on the part of the person upon whom they are dependent. The signs of ill-health are usually quite noticeable. They are: Faded colours, bloody streaks, coated or inflamed fins, and swollen gill covers. Most of the troubles have to do with air supply. When a fish loses colour and appetite, has a slimy coating, and acts weak and dejected, it should be put into a "hospital" aquarium where plenty of plants are flourishing, at a temperature of seventy to eighty degrees Fahr. One teaspoonful of salt to each gallon of water will be good for the fish, but no food should be offered for several days. This remedy will usually restore the fish if its trouble is asphyxia or itch and has not gone too far. In the open water conditions right themselves more readily, but fish acting queerly should be taken out from among the others.

The greatest harm may result from hail storms and heavy rains on unprotected tanks. The natural enemies of goldfish inhabit the same ponds and to succeed one must daily wage war against crayfish, tadpoles, salamanders, snakes, fish-eating birds, muskrats, and aquatic insects. Toad and frog spawn found in goldfish ponds should be removed to some other pond to mature. These creatures are useful as destroyers of insects but you can dispense with them in goldfish tanks.

THE STORY OF A BOY'S ANIMAL CAGE

Two years ago, when I was ten years old, my father built me a house for my animals. It is twenty feet square and ten feet high. The framework is of wood. The walls are covered with wire netting. In winter they are boarded in. Last winter we had a fire in a stove in the passageway, but we decided that the animals were better off without it. The pen cost about one hundred and fifty dollars. I keep in it three 'coons, ten to thirty rabbits, and about twenty pigeons. Two 'coons, Tom and Jerry, I have had three years; the other one, Pauline, I have had two years. My oldest rabbits, Harry and Lily, I have had six years. The 'coon pens and the passageway have wooden floors. The walls of the 'coon pen have double wire to prevent the 'coons from grabbing the other animals. Their pens go up to the roof of the house. The rabbit pens are separated by movable wire panels six feet high. On this side of the house there is a second story for the rabbits and pigeons. This is reached by a step-ladder, and is divided by movable panels. The pigeons' house is over the passageway. There are shelves with nappies in them for nests. It is open at both ends in summer. I have kept crows and white rats; they were not a success. The crows killed the rabbits, and the rats smelled bad.

I feed the rabbits morning and night and water them once. Their feed is oats in the morning and hay at night. They have from two to eight little ones in a litter. When they multiply too fast we eat them. Their meat is like chicken. The only way to distinguish it is by the bones. I feed and water the 'coons twice a day. They have a sort of cake made of corn meal. They grow very fat in the fall, but in the spring and summer they get very thin. They are not of any use except to look at. I did play with them until they bit my sister. Since then I have been timid about playing with them. I feed wheat to the pigeons once a day. I have tumblers and magpie pigeons. Both kinds are great fighters. I have four ducks, also, two Mallards and two Pekins. Their pen is outside of the rabbit pen. In summer I keep them shut up here. In coldest winter weather I keep them in the barn. The rest of the year they wander about as they please. They have a tub, which I keep filled with water, where they can bathe. I feed them corn. They are much more interesting pets than hens.

A STORY OF SUCCESS WITH DOGS

Some years ago two young women, one a bookkeeper, the other a stenographer, decided to exchange city for country life. Born and reared on farms, they secured seven acres of farm land, with cottage, but sixteen miles from Chicago, and started a chicken business. This did not prove entirely successful, mainly, as the now prosperous farmers admit, because of ignorance and inexperience.

Meantime the fine collie dog, kept as guard and companion, was bringing many requests for good puppies, and it was determined to raise collies instead of chickens. So Daisy Rightaway, an English champion, was purchased, later being joined by imported Master Clinker, son of the famous Wishaw Clinker, which was brought from England about three years ago by J. Pierpont Morgan at a fabulous price. Warned by the trying chicken experience, Miss Porter, who conducts the farm while Miss Benson retains her business position and looks after the "city end" of affairs, resolved to "make haste slowly" in the new direction. Few, but good, animals were chosen, only the best of the young stock was placed on the market, and if the farm books at first showed but small profits, the upward trend, both in cash and reputation, was gratifyingly steady. With less than four years of professional dog rearing behind them, and with all buildings, runs, etc., originally lacking, the pleased proprietors of "Sylvan Farm" rejoice in promising financial statistics for the last half of that time.

About two years ago came, apparently by chance, that branch of the business which has, perhaps, proved most lucrative, and which is especially worthy of note by other women with country homes, love for and some knowledge of dogs, and a desire to make money. A friend who owned fine collies envied the splendid environment under which the "Sylvan" canines flourished, and asked permission to board some of his young puppies with "Porter and Benson," to give the young women their official title. The dogs sent thrived remarkably, and he mentioned the matter to other dog fanciers, and they to still others. Almost without knowing how it happened, the delighted farmers soon found themselves caring regularly for from forty to seventy-five well bred dogs.

Only collies were at first accepted, but business and accommodations alike gradually widened until practically all kinds of dogs are now handled, in a most progressive and hygienic manner. An isolation house for dogs when first received or suspected of illness; heated homes for young mothers, puppies, and lapdogs; winter houses, with shelters for open-air exercise in bad weather; commodious separate runs-these are among the conveniences now enjoyed by the happy "visitors" whose owners are off for the summer or winter or are otherwise unable to care for their cherished pets. The Desplaines River runs by the farm and a picturesque "river run" is much appreciated by water dogs and those enjoying an occasional frolic in cool water. Two fine cows provide fresh milk in abundance for the nursing mothers and young puppies. Every dog, whether boarder or family resident, is personally and intimately known to Miss Porter, who takes sole care of them with the aid of an intelligent boy to perform the rougher tasks.

Five dollars monthly is charged for the board of healthy dogs, with special rates for those needing special care. The standard dietary, varied to suit individual and class needs and varying occasions, is composed of soup made of meat and vegetables, meat jelly, rice, plenty of bones, and dog biscuit, with warm milk every two hours for the young mothers and puppies. The other dogs are fed twice daily-to the minute. In this incessant, indispensable care is found the chief drawback of the business for those fond of personal freedom, since the important duties of feeding, inspection, etc., seldom can be delegated to those not personally interested in the dogs.

The little farm provides all the vegetables needed and some corn, but all other food supplies must be purchased. With more ground the recurring feed bills might be made smaller, but the labour outlay would be correspondingly augmented. Eliminating unnecessary details, the financial situation for the two years in which the dog experiment has been successfully running stands thus:

EXPENDED

Stock, buildings, and fences $785

Miscellaneous expenses, labour, etc. 286

Feed 815

Cash on hand 716

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Total $2,602

RECEIVED

Original investment $400

Sale of puppies 990

Board of dogs 1,212

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Total $2,602

The balance of seven hundred and sixteen dollars does not represent a bad profit in less than three years made from an investment of four hundred dollars, and while the young farmers feel that perhaps in other lines of work such increase might have been more quickly and easily acquired, they feel that perhaps in no other field could they have received such high dividends of health, happiness, and independence. The work is hard but enjoyable, while its widening scope and success bring true satisfaction. Sylvan Farm now receives dogs from, and sends dogs to, all parts of the United States, and the "farm family" of high-bred animals from time to time receives judicious addition. Some famous canines have been raised, welcomed, and boarded, and one young puppy, born on the place, recently sold for one thousand dollars.

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