HORACE Lorcha
HAZELTINE I CQPYMGrtZ JSSZ, Yf C AffCAL/ftC &. CO.,'
SYNOPSIS.
Robert Cameron, capitalist, consults
Philip Clyde, newspaper publisher, re
garding anonymous threatening letters he
has received. The first promises a sample
of the writer’s power on a certain day.
On that day the head is mysteriously cut
from a portrait of Cameron while the lat
ter Is in the room. While visiting Cam
eron in his dressing room a Nell Gwynne
mirror is mysteriously shattered. Cameron
becomes seriously ill as a result of the
shock. The third letter appears mysteri
ously or Cameron’s sick bed. It makes
direct threats against the life of Cameron.
Clyde tells Cameron the envelope was
empty. He tells Evelyn everything and
plans to take Cameron on a yacht trip.
The yacht picks up a fisherman found
drifting helplessly in a boat. He gives
the name of Johnson. Cameron disap
pears from yacht while Clyde’s back is
turned. A fruitless search is made for a
motor boat seen by the captain Just be
fore Cameron disappeared. Johnson is al
lowed to go after being closely questioned.
Evelyn takes the letters to an expert In
Chinese literature, who pronounces them
of Chinese origin. Clyde seeks assistance
from a Chinese fellow college student,
who recommends him to Yup Sing, most
prominent Chinaman in New York. Clyde
goes to meet Yup Sing, sees Johnson, at
tempts to follow him. falls Into a base
ment. sprains his ankle and becomes un
conscious. Clyde Is found by Miss Clem
ent. a missionary among the Chinese. He
is sick several days as a result of inhal
ing charcoal fumes. Evelyn tells Clyde
of a peculiarly acting anesthetic which
renders a person temporarily unconscious.
Murphy is discovered to have mysterious
relations with the Chinese. Miss Clement
promises to get information about Cam
eron. Slump in Crystal Consolidated, of
which Cameron is the head, is caused by
a rumor of Cameron’s illness. Clyde finds
Cameron on Fifth avenue in a dazed and
emaciated condition and takes him home.
Cameron awakes from a long sleep and
Rocaks in a strange tongue. Evelyn de
clares the man is not her uncle. Evelyn
and Clyde call on Miss Clement for prom
ised information and find that the China
man who was to give it has just been
murdered. Miss Clement gives Clyde a
note, asking him to read it after he
leaves the mission and then destroy it.
It tells of the abduction of a white man
bv Chinese who shipped him back to
China. The man is accused of the crime
jf “Sable Lorcha” in which 100 Chinamen
were killed. The appearance in New York
■>f the man they supposed they had ship
ped to China throws consternation into
the Cl i ^ese. The brougham in which
Clyde and Evelyn are riding in held up
by an armed man. Clyde Is seized by
Murphy and a fight ensues. Evelyn and
Clyde are rescued by the police and re
turn home. They find Yup Sing and the
Chinese consul awaiting them. Yup tells
Clyde the story of the crime of the “Sa
ble Lorcha.’' in which 97 Chinamen were
deliberately sent to their death by one
Donald M’Nish. whom they declare is
Cameron. Th^y declare that M’Nish can
be identified by a tattoo mark on his arm.
Clyde declares that Cameron has no such
mark. The nurse is called in and de
scribes a tattoo mark on his patient’s
arm. Clyde goes to Investigate and
finds the patient attempting to hide a let
ter. It is addressed to Donald M’Nish.
The letter is from the man’s mother In
Scotland and identifies the patient as
M’Nish.
CHAPTER XXV—Continued.
"You mean,” she began again, speak
ing very slowly now. as she mentally
'ocused the conditions, “that we must
hold McNlsh as a hostage, and only
give him up when they return Uncle
Robert to us?”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “Just as two
armies do that are at war—exchange
prisoners.”
“Isn’t there any other way?" she
asked, frowning. “Oh, there must be.
I don’t care a straw, you know, for
that wicked man; but, Philip, think
jf his poor old mother!”
“I do think," I told her. “I’ve been
thinking, ever since I read her lettter.
and if it were possible, Evelyn, I’d
give the reprobate his chance for her
sake, little as he deserves it. But I’ve
been thinking of Cameron, too. He
nay be somewhere on the high seas,
as Mias Clement’s note implied, or he
nay be a prisoner in s ome under
ground dungeon of Chinatown. Wher
»ver he is, we are safe in concluding
Se is neither comfortable nor happy.
Why. then, should we consider, to
gome right down to practicalities, this
aid Scotch mother of an infamous son.
when the safety—the life even—of one
we both love so dearly may at this
moment be at stake?”
I flattered myself there was no get
ting away from this argument. It
teemed to me conclusive, but the let
ter had stirred the sentimental depths
of the girl’s nature, and she refused to
yield without one last effort.
“I know. Philip. I appreciate every
word of what you have said; but
rouldn’t we find out what we want to
know through Miss Clement? She
must have a lot more information
than she put In that little hurriedly
written note. Or, couldn’t O’Hara find
out for us?”
Before I could answer her, Checka
oeedy stood in the doorway.
“Dr. Massey has just come down.
Mr. Clyde,” he said, “and would you
spare him a moment in the reception
room?"
i aimed to Eiveiyn.
“Shall we have him in here?” I
asked. And at her consent, Checka
beedy, a moment later, led the doctor
to us—a very changed doctor, a very
decidedly less cocksure doctor than
I had encountered earlier that morn
ing in his Fifty-sixth street office.
Even in his bow to Evelyn I detect
ed the shamefaced humiliation he was
suffering.
"We take off our hats to your per
spicacity, Miss Grayson,” he said,
confirming my reading. "I had never
thought such a modern real-life in-'
stance of Lesurques and Dubose pos
sible.”
“Then you admit?” I asked, smiling.
“Candidly. There is no question.
V$t i could have sworn yesterday that
t was attending Mr. Cameron. It is
the most remarkable resemblance l
have ever seen.”
Evelyn asked him to be seated and
I drew out a chair for him.
“And how do you find the patient?”
f inquired, when he had sat down.
“Quite normal in every respect save
one. He is in a highly nervous state.
He is endeavoring to maintain the fic
tion that he is the gentleman we sup
posed he was. He evidently learned
his lesson from Mr. Bryan, before we
suspected anything. It is really won
derful how well he does it, consider
ing that he never saw the man he is
trying to impersonate.”
“But he muBt know that he has been
discovered. He certainly knows I have
this letter.”
"A desperate man will battle against
the most overwhelming odds,” Dr. Mas
sey observed, “and he is a desperate
man.”
"You gave no sign that you knew?”
Evelyn asked.
"Not the slightest. I pretended that
I believed him Mr. Cameron.”
"But Mr. Bryan must have—” I
began.
“On the contrary,” said the doctor,
“Mr. Bryan knows him only as the
Mr. Cameron he has nursed from the
first. He would be the last man to in
dicate to his patient a knowledge of
anything untoward.”
"Miss Grayson and I were just dis
cussing a course of action when you
arrived, Doctor,” I explained, "but had
reached no conclusion. Last night I
arranged with Yup Sing, who is prob
ably the most prominent and best edu
cated Chinaman in New York, and his
friend the Chinese Vice Consul to
meet me here today at noon. The
chances are they will bring a United
States deputy marshal with them,
with a warrant for McNish's arrest.
Now if we give him up, what will be
the result? He will still maintain that
he is Cameron in spite of our knowl
edge to the contrary. Yup Sing and
his clan will insist that he is right
and that we are wrong, and our
chances of finding Cameron will dwin
dle. It isn’t reasonable to expect that
those engaged in the abduction plot
w'ill confess to their error and inform
us as to Cameron’s place of detention,
is it?”
Dr. Massey knitted his brow behind
the bow of his glasses and pursed his
(hin lips.
"We are certainly confronted by a
very trying complication,” he admitted
with characteristic gravity.
"Miss Grayson has suggested that
w’e send. McNish abroad—at once, on
a steamer sailing this morning.”
“Mr. Bryan could go with him,”!
Evelyn volunteered.
"If the United States authorities
have a warrant for him,” the physi
cian argued, “that would only delay
matters. They W’ould arrest him on !
i landing.”
There was no question as to the ac
curacy of this deduction.
"And the newspapers,” I added,
"would be sure to publish columns of
speculation. ... If we could only
wring an admission from McNish it
would simplify matters.”
"Isn’t there some one you could
confront him with?” Dr. Massey ask
ed, and hope rose within me at the
suggestion.
"As far as I can make out, from
what O’Hara tells me,” was my re- !
joinder, "the police have in custody !
now the Eurasian cook who, I believe, j
has been McNish’s Nemesis these six- j
teen years. If we could bring those i
two miscreants face to face, McNish
would be sure to betray himself."
"Then arrange it, by all means,"
urged the doctor.
“Have McNish taken there, you
mean?”
“Or have the Eurasian brought
here.”
And so, ultimately through the of
fices of O’Hara, who all this time had
been awaiting me in the tonneau of
my car which still stood at the door,
John Soy, accompanied by two plain
clothes men from the Detective Bu
reau, was brought from the Tombs to
that sumptuous home on upper Fifth
avenue.
I say ultimately” because his com
ing was delayed beyond all patience.
Hour after hour passed. The morn
ing dragged by with periodic tele
phone excuses from O'Hara. The
hearing was in progress before the
police magistrate. . . . Soy had been
held for the grand jury. . . . The mag
istrate would have to sign a permit
and he could not be approached until
he came oil the bench. . . . Soy had
gone to the Tombs. . . . The warden
was at luncheon and could not be
seen for half an hour.
Meanwhile Dr. Massey, Impelled by
the necessities of his practice, had
departed, and Yup Sing and the vice
consul, Chen Mok, had arrived and
been relegated to the reception room.
To my relief, Checkabeedy reported
that they were unaccompanied. Mean
while, too, Evelyn had received a call
from Miss Clement and had learned
with some dismay that the mission
ary's ill-fated informant had left with
her no more definite information re
garding Cameron’s transportation
than that which she had already con
veyed to us.
"We’re Just starting in a taxicab,"
came at length from O’Hara over the
wire. "We’ll be there in less than half
an hour.”
And in less than half an hour they
came, an ignoble, vulgar quartette
against a stately, pompous back
ground.
I met them in the great hall, stand
ing before the broad, sculptured chim
ney-piece.
The three detectives were more or
less of a piece—gross, coarse, red
faced men whose hands and feet
seemed out of all proportion to their
size, bulky as it was. Of the three
O’Hara, possibly because of familiar
ity, struck me as the least offensive.
But after all it was not the detectives
who claimed and held my chief Inter
est, but the shrunken, shadow-ljke
creature they had in charge, whom I
recognized instantly as the supposed
castaway the Sibylla had picked up
that warm October day somewhere
east of Nantucket—the slinking figure
I had followed through the press of
Doyers street almost to my death.
My conjecture was thus in part veri
fied; John Soy and Peter Johnson
were the same, and it only remained
now to prove that tbe rest of my
guess was as well founded.
Stepping to the door of the recep
tion room, I made brief apology for
my detention and bade my two Cath
ayan visitors join the others.
“I think, Mr. Yup,” I observed, "that
we have here the Eurasian cook of
the Sable Lorcha about whom you
told me.”
I suppose I was foolish enough to
fancy that the merchant would at once
make the identification I desired. I
should have known better. In sub
tlety we are no match for the ancient
race to which Yup Siv.g belonged, as
was evidenced by the absolute impene
tration of his manner, as, after gaz
ing sharply at John Soy, he turned to
me with a visage as blank as the mar
ble wall, and. In a voice without a
shade of inflection, said:
“I do not know him. I have never
seen him until now.”
Had a white man dared to make
such denial, I should have laughed in
his face. But the dignity of the
Oriental, the perfect aplomb of his
manner. Including an utter absence of
all that could be construed as feign
ing, forbade such rejoinder; yet I
knew that he had lied.
"Come, gentlemen." I said, denying
myself even the satisfaction of a
shoulder shrug, "and we shall decide
whether the man upstairs is the vil
lain you claim he is, or—” but I was
in no mood to finish the sentence.
The seven of us, crowding into the
elevator, were lifted to the floor above,
where I preceded the others to the
door of what we were wont to call
Cameron's bedchamber. There I
pauseu.
"Pardon me just a moment,” I
begged, with my hand on the knob,
“until I see whether everything is
ready.”
I had instructed Mr. Bryan to have
McNish up and dressed, and 1 wished
to make sure that these preparations
were completed. But I was hardly
prepared for the scene which greeted
my entrance.
McNish, clothed in the suit, he had
worn when I found him, was in the act
of closing a drawer of an old-fash
ioned rosewood secretary which oc
cupied a place against the right wall,
beneath one of the medallioned win
dows. And the nurse was nowhere in
sight.
Startled by the sound of the open
ing door, the trespasser half turned,
his hands still on the brass drawer
handles; then, at sight of me, he
wheeled completely and stood defiant
with his back to the antique desk.
“What are you doing there?" I cried,
indignantly. “What were you look
ing for?"
Even before he spoke I saw the
look of cunning come into his small,
furtive eyes.
“I was looking for some papers of
mine, Clyde,” he answered, boldly,
and his voice was so like Cameron’s
that, for just a moment, a shuddering
uncertainty assailed me. Only the
crafty leer weighed for the truth.
"Papers of yours?” I snarled, ignor
ing his familiar use of my name. “I
have the only paper you brought into
this house, Donald McNish, and that’s
evidence enough to put you where you
belong. Where’s Mr. Bryan?"
But at that moment the nurse, ap
pearing from the adjoining room, an
swered for himself, and McNish, with
a capitally assumed nonchalance, said,
smilingly.
“I didn't think you could be so eas
ily imposed upon. Clyde. The letter
to Donald McNish was given to me by
McNish himself. He wanted me to
answer it. It was his last request.
He-"
silence: I cried; and then, "Mr.
Bryan, get him into that chair before
the bureau, facing the door. These
people outside mu' t not be kept wait
ing any longer.” With which I turned,
and with hand on knob once more,
paused until the nurse had rather
roughly, but in all haste, dragged his
charge across the floor and fairly
flung him into the indicated seat.
It was not until after the immedi
ately succeeding occurrences that I
learned from O’Hara what had been
told to John Soy on his way up town
in the taxicab. As I understand It,
the other detectives had informed him
that he was being taken to this house
so that his chief accuser, who was
nigh unto death, could make an ante
mortem identification. As a matter of
fact, of course, the situation was prac
tically the reverse: We desired Soy to
identify McNish. and McNish, under
stress of the encounter, to admit his
own identity. The Eurasian, however,
having been thus misinformed, was at
a distinct disadvantage. So, when I
drew back the door, and he was push
ed forward into the room, instead of
seeking, he imagined himself sought,
and with bowed bead and eyes on the
floor, stood shrinkingly ill at ease.
To this misunderstanding is proba
bly attributable all that followed. Had
Soy known that McNish was regard
ed, equally with himself, as an ag
gressor, he might have controlled his
outbreak and permitted the law to
wreak its tardy justice. But Soy did
not know, and the tide of events met
sudden change.
It is, indeed, scarcely conceivable,
how rapidly it was all enacted. For
just a moment the weazened figure
stood still, while behind him crowded
the rest of us—the three detectives,
the two Chinamen and myself.
I saw McNish struggle for an in
stant to maintain his pose of indiffer
ence, and then I saw his cheeks
blanch, and his little eyes widen in
craven terror as he recognized the
shabby, silent thing before him. His
lips parted, his bared teeth clicked
together, and his hands, like talons,
clutched tensely his chair arms.
In that strained moment the room
was strangely hushed. I know I
■ scarcely breathed, as nervously In
tent I watched those two miserable
creatures; the one keenly conscious,
the other blind to everything save the
rug pattern at his feet.
Then, like a flash, Soy stole a glance
at his supposed accuser, and I saw
him quiver Into steel. It was as
though an electric bolt had shot
through his shrinking frame and limp
limbs. He seemed to grow out of him
self, to rise inches taller, towering
with stiffened neck and lifted head.
To describe with any degree of ac
curacy what ensued, I cannot. I
know only that McN'ish rose cum
brously to his feet, only to fall back
again beneath the pouncing spring of
the Eurasian. Then followed a pistol
Bhot, muffled, yet sounding lethally
loud against the grim silence of the
chamber; and, as with one accord we
leaped forward, I saw Soy roll over in
a spasm of contortions, and McNish,
thus freed from his gripping hold,
raise an arm and Are again, with the
pistol pressed to his own temple. Just
as Bryan, who had been nearest to
them, bravely made a grab for the
weapon.
CHAPTER XXVI.
His Sister Confessor.
The death of McNish was instan
taneous. Soy, w-ith a bullet in his ab
domen, lingered for three days. Dur
ing that time Miss Clement became
his sister confessor, and so there
drifted into our possession a host of
facts which otherwise we might never
have learned. Strange, uncanny crea
ture that he was, he seemed to re
pose the utmost confidence in the
gray, sweet-faced missionary, and fair
ly unburdened his sin-charged soul to
her. Those of his fellow conspirators
that she promised to protect, she pro
tected. Those that he believed to
have played him false, she protected
likewise. Her religion was one in
which personal justice has no dwell
ing. “Vengeance is mine, I will re
pay,” her Lord had admonished, and
to him she was content to resign the
problem of retribution.
Had I been more familiar with the
Cameron town house and the tow-n
habits of its master, justice probably
would not have been tricked out of
having her way with two as lawless
wretches as ever infested a commu
nity. I should have know-n then that
one of the drawers of that quaint old
rosewood secretary was the hiding
place of a 38-caliber Colt, and in all
likelihood have had it removed before
McNish was capable of searching for
it. As it was, Mr. Bryan took no lit
tle blame upon himself for not hav
ing been the first to discover it, I
though to my mind he could hardly
be regarded as recreant in failing to
investigate a piece of furniture of so
intimate a character.
The notoriety consequent upon the
murder and suicide was hideously in
ordinate. Inspired and stimulated by
the sensational press, which did not
hesitate to imply what it dared not
state openly, the currency of false
hood and misconception at one period
came close to being disastrous. As I
had foreseen, the resemblance of Mc
Nish to Cameron, coupled with the
seemingly convincing fact that the
tragedy had occurred in the Cameron
town house, where the millionaire
was Supposed to be convalescent,
gave excuse for persistent iteration
of & rumor that. In order to preserve
the fame of a man regarded as above
reproach and at the same time to pro
tect the line of securities in which he
had been interested, the story of a
confusing likeness had been invented.
No paper in the land would have
had the temerity to print this as a fact,
but again and again—silly and impos
sible as It must have appeared to all
thinking persons—It was promulgated
by Innuendo and embodied in more or
less weakly-worded denials.
As a result Crystal Consolidated suf
fered. Bonds and stocks alike sloughed
fraction after fraction and point after
point. And our mouths were neces
sarily closed upon the truth, since
that, if pcssible, would have been even
more damaging; for while we still
hoped, we could give no positive as
surance that Cameron was yet alive.
Strangely enough, though the whole
wretched complication had been raked
reportorially with a fine-tooth comb,
the kidnapping from the yacht had
not yet been so much as hinted at, but
I lived, daily, in mortal dread that It
would be brought to light at the next
journalistic hand-sweep. Accurate in
formation as to Cameron’s present
whereabouts was the news now most
eagerly sought not alone by the press
but by Wall street as well; our failure
to supply it—though excused by us on
the ground that in his present nerv
ous condition, it was imperatively nec
essary to keep him sequestered from
interviewers—was not unnaturally
arousing a suspicion that we did not
possess it to supply.
ir, unaer me strain oi me trageuy
and the brutal publicity which fol
lowed upon It, Evelyn Grayson had not
eventually succumbed she must have
been more than human. Bravely she
had borne up against a whelming suc
cession of nerve-wrenching experi
ences, refusing to entertain fear and
fighting valiantly against discourage
ment, but heart and nerves have their
limit of endurance; and when, on the
third day, John Soy was gathered to
his yellow and white fathers, and a
more yellow than white evening jour
nal ventured, more boldly than had
been dared hitherto, to make the im
plication to which I have referred,
Evelyn collapsed utterly.
As chance would have it, I myself
came upon her, lying white, limp, and
unconscious on the library floor, with
the paper still loosely held in her
right hand. The sound of her fall had
carried to me faintly as I neared the
closed door, and a misgiving born of
intuition rather than of any more defi
nite cause had hastened my steps.
Having lifted her to a couch and
rung for her maid I at once set about
doing what I could to restore her to
consciousness. But her plight was no
ordinary momentary faintness. Stub
bornly she refused to respond to my
efforts, and those of the maid when,
after hours it seemed, she came, wrere
equally unavailing.
Alarmed, I called up Dr. Massey,
only to learn that he had gone to Bos
ton for a consultation, and that Dr.
Thorne, his assistant, was operating
at Roosevelt Hospital. For a moment,
distressed and anxious, the names of
other physicians eluded me. In de
spair, I opened the Telephone Direc
tory, in hope of a suggestion, and the
name of Addison leaped at me from
the page. To my infinite relief he was
in his office; his electric was at the
door, and he would be over at once.
And it was not until ten minutes
later, when he came hurriedly into the
room, that I remembered. The name,
when I saw it, had at once struck me
as familiar. I seemed to know, even,
that it belonged to a physician of
reputed high standing, yet it was only
at the instant of his entrance, when
his penetrating steel-gray eyes drilled
into mine, that I associated it with the
man to whom I had gone, not for any
ailment, but to learn whether my
friend, in spite cf his denials, had ever
been in China.
If the recognition was mutual. Dr.
Addison gave no sign of it. His pa
tient demanded and received his im
mediate attention. Hastily he admin
istered a stimulating hypodermic, and
then, himself assisted in carrying her
to her room.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
j.. Seemed a Crowd to Him
-
Inebriated Gentleman Evidently Was
Not Viewing Things with an Eye
That Was Normal.
Big Bill Roberts, who holds the traf
fic post at the corner of Dey and
Broadway, saw a taxicab approaching
the other day, says the New York cor
respondent of the Cincinnati Times
Star. Inside were two men. quarrel
ing violently. As the cab came to a
halt, in obedience to Big William’s
semaphoring. Mr. Roberts observed
that both gentlemen were perceptibly
pickled. They looked and acted as if
they had been running the Demon
Rum into holes for a couple of days
and then prodding him out again.
“Hey,” said Policeman Roberts,
"what's the matter here?”
The largest of the two gentlemen
still preserved his dignity. “Nossin’s
marrer, offisher.” he explained, labor
iously. “On’y zlsh cab's too crowded.
Some of us gotter get out.”
Policeman Roberts thrust his head
through the open window and looked
them over. Then he expressed his
surprise. “Why,” said he, “there are
only two of you in there.”
The dignified gentleman looked at
him fixedly for a moment. Then he,
with some difficulty, withdrew his
glazed gaze from the officer's eye and
carefully looked about the interior of
the cab. “Ish zha right, offisher?" he
asked, plaintively.
Policeman Roberts assured him on
the sacred honor of one of Commis
sioner Waldo’s most fixed posts that
he had told the truth. “On’I two of
ush here, huh?" said the dignified per
son. “Well, zen, the driver can drive
on. But it looks like more."
Snake Serum Ordered.
It ip reported in the Lancet that
the chief medical officer of one of the
Austrian army corps has recently or
dered the use of Calmette’s serum
against serpent bites, and a fairly
large stock of it has now been Issued
to each regiment in the south of the
empire. The men and the medical
officers are instructed in the use of
it, and regular inspections of the
stock, as well as lectures on the nat
ural history of the poisonous kinds
of serpents, are provided for. In ad
dition to the serum, the various ap
pliances necessary for its proper ap
plication have been supplied to the
army hospitals. Hitherto much de
pendence has been placed on the
treatment of such injuries by alcohol
and the application of permanganate
of potash.
Distinction or Difference?
A group of New Yorkers were loung- j
ing on the piazza of a nearby shore
hotel when a young man, wearing ex
quisite clothes and a vacant stare,
passed by on his way to the beach,
with a young woman on either arm.
“You know who that is, I suppose?”
remarked one of the party.
“Oh, yes," was the rfeply. "Got a
couple of millions, I understand. Just
out of college. He was educated at
Harvard university, was he not?-”
"Oh, no,” said the first speaker.
“He wasn’t educated at Harvard. He
went to school there.”—New York
Globe.
MUCH IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FEED AND
TREATMENT OF THE SOW AFTER FARROWING
Mother Should Be Given Liberal Supply of Water on Firs? Day
and a Start Made on Second With Light Slop—Pigs
Begin to Eat When Three Weeks Old.
Cheap and Suitable Hog House.
(By D. T. GUAY.)
The mother should receive no feed
at all for about twenty-four hours af
ter giving birth to the pigs. She is
feverish, though, and should be liber
ally supplied with fresh Water. The
second day after farrowing she should
be given a small feed. It is well to
start her on a light slop made up of
shorts and skimmilk. If there is no
skimmilk on hand, mix about four
parts of corn with one part of shorts,
cowpeas, or soy-bean meal and give a
small quantity. She should be grad
ually brought up to a full feed; this
should require about three weeks. If
she is overfed at first the pigs are apt
to take scours and thumps. When
she is on full feed she will be eating
daily an amount equivalent to about
i per cent of her live weight, provid
ed she Is not on pasture. If she has
the run of a good leguminous pasture,
at least one-half of the grain will be
saved. If she has no pasture, she
should be fed just about as she was
fed before farrowing except that she
should receive more feed.
When the pasture is composed
mainly of blue grass or Bermuda
grass she should receive a grain feed
Berkshire Sow in Excellent Condition.
equivalent to about 3 per cent, of-her
live weight. And the grain part ot
the ration should be partly composed
of shorts, tankage, cowpeas, or soy
beans. When the pasture is made up
of a leguminous crop, a, grain ration
equivalent to not more than 2 per
cent, of her body weight will keep
her in excellent flesh, and in this case
corn can be used for the grain portion
of the feed.
It Is very important, as far as eco
nomy of grains is concerned, to have
a pasture for the pigs to run upon as
soon as they begin to eat. When a
good pasture is available and the
mother is fed liberally of the proper
feeds, the little pigs will need little
in addition to what they obtain from
the pasture and the mother. But the
pigs will make use of some additional
feed, especially if the litter is a large
one.
The pigs will begin to eat when they
are about three weeks old if they are
given the opportunity. Fov these
young animals nothing is superior to
skimmilk mixed with shorts. Many
farmers have no skimmilk. though.
80 something else must be used. In
such case probably the best thing to
feed is a thin slop of shorts up to the
j time that the pigs are from four to
six weeks old, after which the ration
■ should be made up of equal parts of
corn meal and shorts.
i nese young animals should never
be fed corn alone. The feed for the
( pigs must be fed in separate troughs,
around which a fence has been built
to keep the sows away.
There is no advantage to be gained
by pushing the pigs too rapidly with
supplementary feeds. They should
not be fed much fattening feeds, as
corn; they should rather be given
feeds which tend to make bone and
muscle, as skimmilk, shorts, pasture,
cowpeas, soy bean meal, etc., so that
when the time arrives to finish them
for the market they will have a well
developed body upon which to put
the fat. They should, while young, be
given just enough feed to keep them
in a good healthy growing condition.
Oftentimes when the litter is small
I and the mother is a good milker the
i little pigs will need no feed at all in
addition to the pasture and the moth
er’s milk.
Extensive experiments have been
made in which it has been demon
strated that gains on young pigs can
be made as economically by feeding a
given amount of feed to the mother
as by feeding directly to the pigs. To
be able to keep up an average-sized
litter in this way, the mother must be
fed liberally. The mother and the
pasture should be depended upon to
furnish the greater part of the feed
for the small pig.
GOOD CONDITION
OF GARDEN SOILS
Chemical Fertilizers Are Very
Strong and Injure Plants If
Used to Excess.
If the soil of your garden is in good
mechanical condition—that is, if it
contains the proper amount of de
layed vegetable matter—excellent re
sults in the way of fertilizing may be
jbtained without the inconvenience
jf handling ordinary manure. Sheep
manure may be bought in sacks and
is excellent It gives immediate re
sults. Strewn over and dug into the
vegetable garden or placed directly
In drills or hills, it promotes a rapid,
steady growth until maturity. It
makes rich and safe liquid manure,
Dne pound in five gallons of water
producing a mixture which can be
used safely daily if necessary.
Bonemeal is good, but is not a com
plete fertilizer. Wood ashes should be
used with caution, as the large
amount of lye they contain may do
mischief.
The best chemical fertilizer is what
e known as a complete fertilizer,
which is supplied under various
names. Ask when you buy it, how to
use it and be sure to use no more than
the directions permit. A very light
sprinkling over the soil after spading
ur plowing, then rake in, is best.
Chemical fertilizers are very strong
and will kill or injure plants if used
to excess.
If the soil of your garden is not in
?ood mechanical condition it must be
properly manured before you can
hope to have success. Dig in fresh
horse manure and leave the ground
rough and let the manure rot. When
it is rotted spade up the ground
again and perhaps planting may be
done. •
Fresh Air Important.
Fresh air has its certain importance
In poultry keeping. To house fowls
In a close, stuffy building, especially
during winter, will result in colds
which lead on to roup. Since the ad
vent of scratching shed houses the
value of fresh air has proved its
worth, and t ere is less anxiety about
poultry diseases.
Range Lambs Superior.
Range bred lambs are far superior
to native bred lambs for feeding pur
poses.
IMPORTANCE OF
BREED OF SHEEP
Feeder Cannot Afford to Over
look Importance of Breeding
in His Business.
The man who raises sheep for the
wool and mutton market is generally
looked upon more as a feeder than
as a breeder, especially in compari
son with the man who raises regis
tered sheep for the breeding market.
However, the feeder cannot afford to
overlook the importance of attention
to breeding in his business. If he
raises his own feeding stock he knows
that the quality of his ewes and the
kind of sire he uses are important fac
tors in determining final profits. In
fact, the production of highly profit
able ewe stock calls for almost as
much breeding skill as the produc
tion of sheep true to the final point
of type. The ewe flock which makes
returns in muton and wool alone will
show characteristics as difficult to
produce and hold as those 01 any
breed. Such sheep must be vigorous
and thrifty, they must be good milk
ers, able to resist common diseases,
and must produce all the wool possi
ble and still retain good mutton form.
Grade sheep carefully selected and
bred have value over common sheep
just as pure-bred sheep do.
Value to Health.
Wood ashes and salt well mixed and
sifted around the edges of the feed
troughs and self feeders are of great
value to the health and thrift of the
lambs.
Valuable Addition.
Chopped roots fed along with the
grain will make a valuable addition
to the ration, especially if g00d graz. *
ing or silage is not at hand.
Poultry Troubles.
Beware of closing up poultry
houses tight on cool nights. That is
what causes most of the colds toud
and .kindred troubles with poultry
Fresh air is better than medicines
and the poultry should not be de
prived of it—until thermometer gets
below zer* anyway.
Importance of Feed.
The larger geldings grow the more
money they will bring. The more feed
they get a3 a general proposition the
larger they grow.