Re: CULT: Beetles and Hens

In a message dated 98-04-28 01:45:32 EDT, you write:

<< Bantams are terrific for insect control in the garden. Larger hens  scratch
everything up though. The main thing is they need plenty of  room. Their
droppings are high in Nitrogen and you wouldn't want fresh  chopok manure all
over your TB's.  >>

Obliged to say there are chickens and guineas scratching around in long rows
of bearded irises of all kinds all over rural Virginia. Presumptively these
selfsame fowl are intermittantly visited by peristalsis. Unless there were
rather a lot of chickens, I doubt their guano would normally accumulate in
concentrations sufficient to cause major problems as it gradually washed in.
Indeed, droppings of one sort or another would be about the only fertilizer
some of those irises get.  Perhaps the nitrogen helps them recover from being
mowed to the ground two or three times a year when the farm grass is cut.
Here at Chateau Whitehall we always release the peacocks for the afternoon
when the irises need fertilizing.

Anner Whitehead, Richmond,Virginia
Henry Hall  Henryanner@aol.com
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