‘.4 l‘ f 5

a

s a.“ _

.-:=£i-.

EPTEMBER 1. 1934

1F OR FARMERS, STOCK BREEDERS AND GARDENERS

t‘

Fuainnmwwrmo 11s ACTIVITIES

re Are Ma-IIY Useful Thinl! l0 bf tamed About. the Fcedlns Ami leaning o; yo; Pups-The Fol- wm; Articlo Will TcR You About unc of These-Observation and “M; Judgment will Ensure Suc- Fa in Rearing Healéhy Foxes- (atch Carefully For Signs of [scan and Appy tho Prowl’ tmcdics Promptly-The Use oi ‘g1 and Molasses—A Post Mor- m Examination.

(DING AND WEANING FOX PUPS

r Rancher, did your pups come .g this season? During the sea- there are many things that can pen that will ruin a nice litter mp5, among them are ricketts. mites and worms. tr mites and worms are easily oved and ricketts can be prev- d, Ricketts are caused by im- )6!‘ diet, lack of bone building . and sunshine. rancher told me that you need 1r have rickctts in fox pups if used calcium phosphate; (edible y meal is 60 per cent calcium iphate) but if you have used lr pmventive measures, too. one hem is not to give them sloppy as it will be found that those . were the biggest hogs and were first ones to get into the iced were more inclined to ricketts l others. nly use enough milk and raw to moisten the whole wheat d well (what the bread will ab- 1) and yoil will find it works and will not loosen the bow- too much. Ono teaspoonful oi lurn phosphate is about the t quantity to a pint of feed and lid, be red with the bread and : three times a week. Twice a g give each pup a teaspoonful nod-liver oil with the feed and e a week give yeast in powder l, or make up potato yeast as bread and add that to the feed. eat once a. day in chunks when pups are small. but alternate nd and chunk meat when they older. Meat and vegetable stew be substituted for bread and : or meat two or three times a r and oatmeal. cooked, may be tituted for wheat bread but must lscd with discretion as it is lax- 9. Salt should be added tothe to season but do not use too h

rd a variety oi meat. beef, beef- ‘is. liver, lamb ihzrks, tripe and . Feed veal, bcncs and all. as bones are good food and help pups shed their baby teeth. Liv- s laxative and should not be ; over once or twice a week. but round up with other meat may ‘rd oftcuer. Cod-liver oil may n dded to the meat fecd but it. is .l to add wheat bran enough to e a good solid food when fed way. 1X like lettuce. carrots. cabbage, atces. apples etc. in small quan- s and they should be provided, er in ground meat or in meat vegetable stews. Feed apples tomatoes whole.

WEANING.

t

6

O

D

)X pups are very scrappy. espe- y at meal time and a fight for "emacy is a common occurence. ally. one or two male pups are es and try to get most of the

and for this reason it. is best lrovide separate dishes for each vémd keep them quite a distance

l!

lme litters fig/ht continually but rs are most friendly and agree- . Some will be running around ' feet while you feed and others ling out the chute, wnitlng for to leave the pen before they come out. to cat. The male and n will give up anything to the l and many times a pup will take 10cc of meat out of the ma1e's tli without any protest on his

l1

1e pups are old enough to be ricd at from ten to twelve weeks should be removed to another if this is possible. I believe it is to have a pen for every two 11TH‘. Duns as one can regulate feed better and prevent a lot of HHK- Ikiwlhff tho pups with

when the female is bred, others take him out when the pups small and others leave them togeth- er. I believe that. both are more content when left together and as a rule you need only remove males that are rough with the pups or vix- en or will hog more than their share of feed.

the vixen and pups. He carries feed to them, is gentleman enough to let them eat first and is always on guard to warn them of danger. There are exceptions to this rule. and if there is any doubt of the male, remove him to a scpetate pen. Many males and vixens will fight and bite if they think the pups are in danger.

and gradually increase the feed as they grow. In the fall give them all they will eat, mostly meat, and

put on a nice coat oi fur. A thin iox will not have as good a. pelt as a fat one.

properly fed. have good clean dry quarters and are kept free of dis-

raise. Most oi our troubles are caus- ed by ignorance or negligence.

after they are four weeks old and can stand a, lot of abuse, they are not subject to many serious diseases and those they do have can usually be prevented.

for feeding as hardly two ranchers feed the same but all of us are learning. discarding methods that are found to be wrong and trying

ing. so eventually we will produce

much better and more pups from a

pair of foxes by selective breeding.

proper care and feed, than we do cw.

ranchers are anxious to knew what their increase will be and how many

care and feed that the old fox re- oeived will have much t9 do with the number raised. I believe that most ranchers are agreed that meat should be the main article oi diet. supplemented with

carrots. watercress, cabbage, etc.)' and also whole wheat bread and milk. Foxes that are fed on a diet like this are sure to raise pups and do not need much help to do so. starting about December 1st feed the old fox meat once a day in the evening with only about. two mom- ings feeds oi whole wheat bread and milk in a. week. The meat is fed in chunks one evening and ground meat with vegetables and cod-liver oil the next. The meat diet is alter-

ter. Keep the fox reasonably thin and hungry until about two weeks before breeding season feed more so tihst the foxes are s‘ gaining in weight and strength and you will find that a big majority will breed and raise young’.

pups are born and the vixen should not be molested as long as things seem to be going well but if she is very nervous and stays outside the den house and does not eat well. there is probably something wrong

the vixen after they are ten or twelve weeks old is a big drain on her health and strength as the pupil always come first with her and she will give up most of her food w them.

Many ranchers have not enough pens for the pups and male 11nd therefore some of them have to be left together. This can usually be

done with safety but once in a. while

a pup may be injured or killed in B. fight. I know of one fox man who

kept a pair oi foxes and six pups

together in one pen till the first of

November last year and they all dld ilne with the exception oi two pups that were shy and did not get their share of feed. This is not the best plan but can be done when neces- fefiiéd- Fresh. 1101110317117“ SDiHMh sary.

XIOVING ‘PHI HAL!

Some ranchers remove the male

8.11!

The male is usually very good to

Keep the pups thin and rangy hey will grow like weeds, and also

After all-if a pair 0i foxes are ase. the pups will not be hard to

Fox pulps are hardy, and tough

There are no hard and fast rules

ut new ideas in feeding and breed-

CARE 0F FOX PUPPIES Breeding season over. all the fox

ups will be raised to maturity. The

cod-liver oil, recn vegetables, (such as lettuce.

nted this way throughout the win-

Spinach Home Cooked and Canned

supposed to strike terror into the hearlt. of every youthful member oi the family, the vegetable itself is the most important of all the leafy species, containing a5 it does iron in abundance, icdne. calcium, and all known vitamins. However, if all these essential eioments are to be secured. several stipulations cuter into the question. namely the con- dition of the plant itself, its age when harvested, methods of hand- ling. and most particularly import- ant of all the care in prepartation.

To be of the best food value. spinach should reach the table within a few hours of picking. The longer it 1s held after cutt ng, espec- iially if allowed to wilt, the less tender it becomes and there is some 10s! of food value. If the leaves az-e exposed to thc sun's rays ofter picking, the vitamin content is af-

is the highest 'n food value, tender- lness. and flavour, but unless f-plnach is used while young and ltender it devclopcs acridlty. The tender inner leaves may be used for salad, imparting a pleasing flavour.

To avoid loss in cooking, steam- ing is recommended. and spinach may also be cooked in its own juice in a stew pan over a slow fire. It should be heated gradually to ex- tract the juices and be cooked 25 minutes. A l'tt1e sugar sometimes improves the flavour of old spinach. .AI: spinach has a high percentage of water in its composition. care should be taken, if too much water has been added. to drain very slow- ly. This, of course, entails the loss oi the best part of the spinach in the water, and that -'s why steam- ing is recommended.

While it is true that fresh. home- grown spinach is of the highest food value; it is also a fact that. unless the housewife is an expert cook, more of the essential elements will be found in the commercial canned variety than can be obtained by home cooking. The reasons are many. Heat is destructive to several vitamins, but by the scientific methods employed in canning. the splendid sources of vitsmn A. or any of the other vitamins. remains in the contens of the can. Vitamin A is essential to the gnowth of the young. It also aids the assimilation and digeston of essential minerals, and the total absence of vitamin A causes a cessation of growth. wasting and lowered resistance to infections. Loss of vitamin content in cooking i5 due to oxidation whch heat hastens. In commercial cunning this is effectively avoided by exhaustng the air from the cans before cooking. Further, canned spinach has more vitamin C than raw orange juice. This is important because vitamin C. which prevents scurvy. is very sensitive to heat and isreadily destroyed by boling. ‘Fire absence of vitamin C causes scurvy in four months. its shortage pro- duces ill-health, characterized by sallow. muddy complexion, loss of energy. fleeting pains in Joints and limbs. especially the legs.

The following are recivéfi DTQPB-Wd by the Dcmnion Fruit Branch:- SPINAOH SALAD

Season and pack cooked spinach in small moulds. and chill. Fcmovo form moulds and arrange on lettuce- Garnish with hard cooked eggs and pimento. Serve with salad dbesng.

SPINACH MOULD 2 cups spinach. cocked until tender and chopped: 2 eggs. well beaten. 1 tbsp. butter, melted.

Mix all ‘ngrcdients and tum into a buttered baking dish or individual moulds. Bake 20 minutes in a mod- crate ovcnTurn out before serving. ...SPINACH A LA BECHAMEL...

Cook spinach and chop finely. For each cup of spinarh allow 1 tbsp. butter. and 1 tbsp. flour, and 2 tbsp. milk Melt the butter, add spinach. sprinkle the flour over it, st‘! thoroughly, and gradually add the milk. Cock 5 minutes. Serve with toast.

and then

There is little to be done when

l 5i

FOX C

. ROYAL FOX _~ ients including 10% dried gradients as Egg Yolks, are included to bring out. your

alL

When next you need

=4 .‘.r.=.r:.-=-.-

R. E. MllTGll

CHARLOTTETOWN

'

ROYAL

ii-

Ranchers throughout the island are voting Royal the finest. feed they have ever used.

CUBES contain 28 ingred-

fur which means higher priced pelts this

well get. the best-Ask for ROYAL

UBES

milk. Such quality in- Potassium Iodite, etc, the gloss and sheen on |

for feed you may u

8i 00. LTD.

DISTRIBUTORS

chute entrance, and

and the nest box should be looked into and the trouble located if pos- ble.

If a vixen stays in the den most. oi the time, has a good appetite. barks at the keeper when he gets close to the den, then you can be reasonably sure that there are

Although the word "spinach" is

THE CHARLOTTETOWN? QUARQI-AN

/ m

i‘ l NEWSY NOTES

I! ABIIJOI-l

CORN-DRAKE IN N.5.

sister province.

brownish markings and was quite the size of a crow.

since land snails formed an

‘Undoubtedly they

duraie chunk oi metal.

the poor crakes

undoing.

usually perished. either cut

scmble that of the woodccck.

BIRDS 0F P.E.I. (Continuc...

BIRDS

444—-Kingbird S .12. (1916.) Still fairly common-RH. 456—Phoebe S.R. Rare

rare in South N.B.-R.W.T.

-—M J

—~L.J. 463—- Yellow-bellied

culars available. 466a-Alder Flycatcher.

H916.) No later data. 467-—Least Flycatcher

5.1%. Pownal, 1933.-—-M.J.

S.R.

(B) Osclncs-Perching Snngb'rds

Lark." M. Commonly seen

B.1»i. 474b-Pr.airle Horned Lark. M.

-<R.W.T. " 477—-Blue Jay. B H

very filf0——L . J .

486a—Norther-n Raven. R?

field 1934.—-L.J. 488—American crow. R. Com- 3.1-1.

noted at Sourls. Feby 193l.—.l.F.S At Marshfield Fall of 1932. Thous- ands seen at Suffolk Fall of 1933.

pups and that they are doing wcll. Nearly all vixerls will also shcd fur around the neck when they have young.

Vixens will sometimes carry their pups out into the pen if they be- come excited or the pups are mob‘ ested and they will often perish;

with cold and exposure. A rancher

I know had One do it last ycsr and soon stopped it in the following manner. After she had carried them out he wait in the pen and got the pups and placed them at, the en- trance of the chute. then trumped

all over the pen and left the scent

of his feet. She came out to the carried the pups back in the nest box and never

carried them out. afterward. If he

had placed the pups back in the nest

box she undoubtedly would have

carried them out in the pen again! (Continued on page 12>

l

1...]. Becoming a pest in Canada.

‘MM-Bobolink. S.V. Rare visit- ant r1916.) Several scen 1933—~l...J. 495-Cowbird. "COW Blackbird!"

V. Specimen reported by Earl Jenk-

ins, Lot 48. Summer of 1933.

498-R.ed-winged Blackbird. S.R.. Common round East I-nkc, 35 years ago-never seen now, 1933.-J.F.S. Pair built in swamp near Mr. T. Roger's house. Southport, in 1933. Seen also in Spring of i934 in tho same locality-H. Messervy.

Mi-Meadowlark. S.V. Occasion- al H916.)

507: Baltimore Qrlole: S.R. Rare. H916.)

Him-Bronzed Crackle. "Crow Blackbird." M? Becoming common U918.) Thousands by i925. A de- termined nest-robber. (B . 1-1.)

514-Evening Grosbeak. W V. Several observed in Souris during Jilly. and Feby. 1827—-J.F‘.S.

In the list of Nova Swtian birds in Mr. 'I‘ult’s new book is an ac- cidental visitor. the cOrn-crake, I take this to mean that the bird has i920-J.F.S. been successfully naturalized in the U.S.A.. and that a strsggler has found its way northward into our

This bird was quite commcn in the North oi England in my youth- ful clays though it was I believe not confined to that locality. It was known in other parts as a Daker- he"; I don't know why. Vile called it a corn-crake, from its lugubrious note. but the high-brow name was the Land-rail, for it belonged to the family of the Rallidae, whose representative here is 214. the Car- Oiilla. O1‘ Sara-Rail. My grandfather had a stuffed com-crake in a. glass case: it was a rather dingy bird of a bluish-grey oolor, with some

not Corn- crakes are to some extent beneficial. im- portant part of their fcod. judging from the contents of their stomachs. frequented swampy places to get these Lid-bits, but 8t night they took rgfuge in the corn-fields. and there kept up o. monotonous cry oi crakel crake! which resembled the noise of a, giant file at work on a particularly cb-

The "crakes" were always deliv- ered in couples, with a slight inter- val between each pair, and the bird kept them up without cessation all night long. Itfmust be remembered that in Rikki-Dd “c0rn" is used in the true scriptural sense for wheat or oats; so when the cornfield came i° be Cut. the refuge often proved There were no binders in those days. and the oats were cut with a machine 11k‘? H hay-mower. the sheaves being bound by hand with straw bands. When the machine went round the field, the crake, being a bird of filrtive habits and weak wings. was gradually driven to the centre. As the last stretch was cut. the crakcs clown by the blades. or felled by the cal- lous attendants. corn-crakcs were eaten and the flesh was said to re-

ommn rasseas _ pgnomxq (A) Clamatores-Songless Percher: Common

U916.) Annual visitor at Powna] for last, 2t) years-Md’. No record for N,s.;

450-—Olivc-sided Flycatcher SR. Common U916.) Pownai May 1933.

461—-Wood Pewce SR. Common.

Flycatcher. SR. Very rare (19160 No part1.

“Chebecf

474-—Ea.stern Horned Lark, "Shore with Snowbirds (1916,) Often observed.- Bccoming more common; nests her» R. Common.-

iiti-i-Canada Jay “Whiskey Jack." R. Formerly common G916.) Nov"

Not uncommon in the vicinity of East Point-J.F.'S Pair nested at Marsh. mon U916.) Increasing of la‘e.—

Mitt-European Starling. M? First

515—Pine Grosbeak. W.V. Com- mon (I...J.) Pownal March 14. 1922 —M J.

517—Purp1e Finch. S.R. Not un- common (L.J.) Increasing since

SCHOOL OPENS (3)

Let us leave the newcomers stand- ing in line for a while and consider the status of the schcolmaser. By all accounts when schools were first inaugurated either in Britain or her colonies, the training of the young was too often delegated to some- body who stood sadly in need of training himself. An individual who would have been a conspicuous failure in s11) other profession was accepted as schoolmaster by our "rude forefathers." at the back of whose mind lurked the half-con- temptuous thought that he "was good for nothing else." Brawn, not brain. was the requirement of the day. though brain is really more honorable than muscle: else many of our domestic animals would be our superiors. As time went on. col- 19sec arose to leach the would-be teachers and the status of the schoolmaster began to improve. But the thrifty_ managers of the schools dld not offer sufficient inducement to keep the schoolmaster in his chos- en calling, with the result that he generally used his college education 65 8. stepping stone to some other more highly-paid professicn. some 0! the old approbrium still attaching itself to those who resolved to make school-teaching their life. work. In my early school-days this Stage was rapidly passing, and the schodmaster was rightfully assum- ing his proper place as an honored and Well-Paid member of the social community.

As an instance in point. let m: recall the achievements of a school- master in our district. In my last Notes I mentioned that the Consett Iron Co. provided instruction for the children of its employees, Just. fifty-six years ago. the Board of Management 0f the Company's School encased a young man <24 years 01d). named Hyden, a; prlh. ciral. This man had an extraordin- flly career. The year after his in- dllfiivh hB founded a Teachers As- scciatlon. and was elected president. This Association covered an area. about 30 miles long and six broad; it was affiliated with the National Union of Teachers. a. body which did much to improve the standing of its members. and or which My; HydPn “'35 ‘>116’ of the executives from 1502 to 1914. Meanwhile. under his management. the Company's schcol had developed a curriculum 20 years ahead of any school in the Kingdom. It had its own chemical laboratory. and a modem play- ground. Mr. Hydcn was the pioneer and founder of art classes in the town. of the Consett Technical In- stitute and or iho Secondary School, and originated (ookery classes in n11 the local efolnentary schools. He took part in public lifc also: he Joined the board of the Urban Council. and in the spring of this year had 43 years’ service to his credit. In his 60th {year he resigned his professional duties (after 35 years teaching) to devote his ener- gies to uiar work. and was elected chairman of the local Food Control Committee. the Prices Committee, and the War Relief Committee. For 22 years previously he had been adviser to the Consett Cooperative Society.