Tales of a Poultry Farm

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tales of a Poultry Farm, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
Tales of a Poultry Farm by Clara D. Pierson
THEY REACHED QUITE A HIGH BRANCH IN THE APPLE TREE.
BY Clara Dillingham Pierson Author of “Among the Meadow People,” “Dooryard Stories,” etc.
NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
Copyright E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1904
Published, September, 1904
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
TO MY LITTLE SONS HAROLD AND HOWARD THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
My Dear Little Readers :—I have often wondered why there were not more stories written about Chickens and their friends, and now I am glad that there have been so few, for I have greatly enjoyed writing some for you. Did I ever tell you that I cared for my father’s Chickens when I was a little girl? That was one of my duties, and the most pleasant of all. It was not until I was older that I became acquainted with Ducks, Geese, and Turkeys, and I always wish that I might have lived on a poultry farm like the one of which I have written, for then I could have learned much more than I did.
You must not think that I understand no language but English. I learned Chicken-talk when I was very young; and in the fall, when the Quails wander through the stubble-fields near my home, I have many visits with them, calling back and forth “Bob White! Bob White!” and other agreeable things which they like to hear. My little boys can talk exactly like Chickens, and sometimes they pretend that they are Chickens, while I talk Turkey to them.
When you have a chance, you must learn these languages. They are often very useful to one. My friend, who drives in his Hens by imitating the warning cry of a Cock, had been a teacher in a college for several years before he studied poultry-talk, and it helped him greatly.