The principal bizzness, ov an able boddyed hen, iz tew lay eggs, and when she haz laid 36 ov them, then she iz ordained tew set still on them, until they are born, this iz the way yung hens fust see life.
The hen haz tew spred herself pretty well tew cover 36 eggs, but i hav seen her do it, and hatch out 36 yung hens.
When a hen fust walks out, with 36 yung hens supporting her, the party looks like a swarm ov bumble bees.
Thare aint nothing phoolish in all this, but yu put 36 white stuns, under this same hen, and she will set thare till she hatches out the stones.
I hav seen them do this too--i dont wish tew say, that i hav seen them _hatch out the stones_, but i hav seen them set on the stones, untill i left that naberhood, which waz two years ago, and i dont hesitate tew say, the hen iz still at work, on that same job.
Noboddy but a phool would stik tew bizzness az cluss az this.
Hens are older than Methuseler, and gro older till they die.
Now I dont want it understood, that enny one hen ken, kan commense life, with the usual kapital, and live 999 years.
This waz the exact age ov Methuseler, if I have been informed correktly.
I simply want tew be understood, that hens (az a speciality) laid, cackled, and sot a long time before Methuseler did.
After reading this last statement over agin, i dont kno az i make myself fluently understood yet.
I dont undertake tew say, that Mr. Methuseler, _cackled_, and _sot_, what i want tew prove, iz the fakt, that hens were here, and doing bizzness in their line, before Methuseler waz.
Thare iz one thing about a hen that looks like wisdum, they don't cackle mutch untill after they have laid their egg.
Sum pholks are alwus a bragging, and a cackling, what they are going tew do before-hand.
A hen will set on one egg just az honest az she will set on 36 eggs, but a hen with one chicken iz always a painful sight tew me.
I never knu an only chicken do fust rate, the old hen spiles them waiting on them, and then it tires out the old hen, more than 36 chickens would.
I think this rule works both ways, among poultry, and among other pholks.
I have seen a hen set on 36 duck eggs, and hatch the whole ov them out, and then try tew learn them tew skratch in the garden.