Socrates, the Great Bloodhound
The head of the kennel, “Socrates,” No. 127320, (his registered name is “Ottawa’s Major”) is a direct descendant from Rosemary and Delhi, the two great dogs of Mr. Burgh, of England, who for years has been the leading breeder of man-trailing Blood Hounds. Altogether the Farm to-day is carrying seventeen dogs. Fifteen of them are pure and grade Blood Hounds; two are Fox Terriers. The Fox Terriers are kept for a breed of thieves other than the two-legged kind, and rats have no place on which to rest the soles of their feet.
The dogs, every night, are distributed at different points of the Farm, and one of the great qualities of the Blood Hound is its marvelous nose, which works just as well in the dark as in the light, and as watch dogs, because of this peculiarity, they are most efficient, giving notice of anyone approaching the Farm long before he could possibly be detected by a dog of another breed. When they give tongue there is no doubt in the mind of anyone but that he is approaching a very dangerous zone.
On the Foreman’s Apartments there is a Tower which connects with his room, the windows of which command a view of every part of the Farm. In this Tower there is a searchlight, and at any time of the night, if the dogs give warning of a possible disturber, any part of the Farm can be instantly flooded with light. Back of the search light is the high power rifle.
Throughout the Range there is a trolley system which is used, the overhead wire being so divided that each dog has a run of one hundred feet, and the leash attached to the sliding pulley gives him twenty feet on either side of the wire. This makes a complete circuit of the Colony Range, so that it is impossible for anyone to cross in among the Colony Houses without being reached by one of the dogs.
We have been breeding some grade hounds, which make a rather more ferocious animal than the pure breed, so far as natural disposition goes. The nose quality, however, is all retained, thus enabling these grades to become perfect trailers.
SOCRATES II AND DIOGENES
Sons of the Great Socrates
BUSTER, AMERICA’S GREATEST RATTER
It is well on any egg farm to establish a reputation for being in a position to always place a marauder behind the bars, and nothing so insures protection as the knowledge that on the Farm there are carried dogs which are capable of trailing a trespasser wherever he may go.
CHAPTER XIV
The Necessity for Pure Water—An Egg is Chemically 80% Water
Eighty per cent. of an egg is water. If a sanitary egg is to be produced it is most essential that pure water should be accessible to the hens at all times, and not only should the water be pure, but the drinking fountains must be of such a nature that they can readily be kept in a pure state, and that the cups, into which the water flows from the main fountain, cannot be fouled by the birds.