POULTRY. 297 



in our exhibition was the great improvement in coops. The 

 purchase by the society last year of their standard cages appears 

 to have stimulated the ambition of exhibitors, and a poor coop 

 was the exception, and not the rule, as in former years. Not 

 only does a due regard for the proper display of fine birds de- 

 mand this, but not in a less degree the comfort and health of the 

 occupants. We noticed some cages, otherwise unexceptionable, 

 that had no ventilation on the back side near the top. This is 

 quite an important matter, as fowls suffer more from want of 

 pure air than from all other causes combined. This combined with 

 dampness is the chief cause of roup and its kindred diseases 

 whenever a large number of fowls are crowded together in ill- 

 constructed quarters. 



General Management of Poultry. — So much has been said 

 in previous reports upon this subject that little more remains to 

 be said. The importance of a good run with plenty of grass, 

 not less than an acre to twenty-five hens, can hardly be too 

 strongly insisted upon. We are aware that fowls can be kept 

 profitably in much closer quarters, but not without much more 

 care and attention than farmers are willing to bestow. It is the 

 custom with many to shut up their poultry in a confined yard 

 or slatted coop of the most inadequate dimensions, for two or 

 three months of the year, when of all others they would prove 

 most profitable if suffered to run, oecause of the kitchen-gar- 

 den. One-half of the ingenuity, time and expense exhausted 

 in the construction of these insufficient yards, would place the 

 garden, in most cases, out of their reach, and the losses from 

 roup and other diseases would cease, while the supply of eggs 

 would be considerably increased. 



The male bird should be changed every two years, to prevent 

 breeding in and in. 



Among the laying breeds we cannot too strongly recommend 

 the Houdans as a hardy, prolific fowl, the hens attaining an 

 average weight of six pounds, and the cocks eight to ten pounds.. 

 The high price at which these birds have been held by fanciers 

 has prevented their general introduction, but an experience of 

 three years in breeding them has convinced us that it is the 

 most valuable of all the late importations for the farmer. In 



38* 



