VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 45 



use of the rear yards only may not prove satisfactory. If, however, 

 as good yields of eggs and health of birds result, many decided ad- 

 vantages will be obtained by dispensing with front yards. The clear 

 open front of the house allows teams to pass close to the open door 

 of the pens for cleaning out worn material, and delivering new bedding, 

 and also in allowing attendants to enter and leave all pens from the 

 outside walk, and reach the feed room without passing through inter- 

 vening pens. 



TRAP NESTS. 



The nest which we use is original with us. It is very simple, inex- 

 pensive, easy to attend and certain in its action. It is a box-like 

 structure without front end or cover, 28 inches long, 13 inches wide 

 and 16 inches deep, inside measure. A division board with a circular 

 opening iy 2 inches in diameter is placed across the box, 12 inches from 

 the rear end and 15 inches from the front end. The rear section is 

 the nest proper. Instead of a close made door at the entrance, a light 

 frame of lxlj^ inch stuff is covered with wire netting of one inch mesh. 

 The door is 10 inches wide by 10 inches high, and does not fill the entire 

 entrance, a space of two inches being left at the bottom, and one 

 inch at the top, with a good margin at each side, to avoid friction. It 

 is hinged at the top and opens up into the box. The hinges are placed 

 on the front of the door rather than at the center or rear, the better 

 to secure complete closing action. The trap consists of one piece of 

 stiff wire about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and 22 inches 

 long. This piece of wire is shaped so that a section of it, 11 inches 

 long, rests directly across the circular opening in the division board and 

 is held in place by two clamps, one on either side of the circular opening. 

 The clamps fit loosely and the slots are long enough to allow the wire 

 to work up and down about three inches, without much friction. The 

 next section of the wire is eight inches long and it is bent so that it 

 is at right angles with the eleven inch section. It passes along the 

 side of the box eleven inches above the floor, back toward the entrance 

 door and is fastened strongly to the wall by staples, but yet loosely 

 enough so that the wire can roll easily. The remaining section of the 

 wire, which is three inches long, is bent toward the center of the box, 

 with an upward inclination, so that it supports the door when it is 

 open and rests upon it. The end of the wire is turned over smoothly, 

 forming a notch into which the door may slip when opened. 



As the hen passes in under the open door and then through the cir- 

 cular opening to the nest, she raises herself so that her keel may pass 

 over the lower part of the division board, and her back presses against 

 the horizontal wire, as she passes it, and lifts it enough so that the 

 end supporting the door slides from under it, and the door swings down 

 and passes a wire spring, near the bottom of the box, at the entrance, 

 which locks it and prevents the hen from escaping, and others from en- 

 tering. 



