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must be removed to the compost-heap twice a week without fail, or 

 every day would be better. 



" If the houses or pens smell unpleasantly in damp or hot weather, 

 dissolve two or three tablespoonfuls of copperas in a garden watering- 

 can and sprinkle the floors, the perches, and under them. 



" All the houses and roosts require to be whitewashed every now 

 and then with a good lime wash ; nests and all should get a coating. 

 It may not be sufficient in itself to keep vermin away, but it will help 

 to do so. 



BREEDING-PENS. 



" It is as well to make up these a week or two before the birds 

 are ready to lay, as a safeguard against impurity of stock. Hens, and 

 pullets too, are apt to receive the attentions of the roosters for some 

 time before they begin to lay, so that to be quite sure of the parent- 

 age of the chickens on the sire's side the birds must be mated early. ' 



" A mongrel cockerel running with the hens, say a fortnight or even 

 three weeks before penning, may possibly leave his impression upon 

 the first lot of chicks hatched ; therefore he should be got rid of before 

 he can do harm. 



" The very best birds should be selected for breeding purposes. 

 Careful and persistent attention and mating with good birds every 

 season will soon improve the very worst flock. It will pay every 

 breeder to breed only from his best birds ; and if his flock is not 

 satisfactory in the matter of productiveness, he should at once get 

 some new blood into it. If he wants more eggs, a Leghorn, Houdan, 

 or Andalusian cock will be best ; and if he wants good strong stock, 

 he must not allow too many hens to the one cock. Four to six will 

 be a fair thing. When buying a bird to breed from, it is as well to 

 isolate or quarantine him for a few days, in case of disease. 



" To keep up the vigour and fecundity of the flock, infuse new 

 blood into it every year or two. Even when the fowls kept are only 

 the commonest barndoor breed, new roosters every year or two are a 

 necessity, or the egg supply will fall off and the eggs become small. 

 In-breeding is a mistake, though every poultry-keeper indulges in it 

 to a limited extent and fanciers, who breed for feather, in-breed to a 

 large extent to produce exhibition birds, but very often these same 

 birds are wanting in vigour and stamina. This is mentioned because 

 some reader may be inclined to instance the doings of fanciers as a 

 contradiction to my statement, that close breeding is unwise. The 

 practical poultry-keeper will do well to get new blood every twelve 

 months. Get as good blood as possible, but even a mongrel bird will 

 help the well-bred birds better than none at all. In fact, very often 

 a mongrel will bring points of hardiness and endurance into the flock 

 that cannot be obtained from those that have been carefully reared for 

 generations. The action and general appearance of the birds will tell 

 whether new blood is needed or not. If the roosters are attentive to 

 their hens, courting them in every way, catering and scratching for 

 them, it is safe to say they have sufficient vigour and vitality. But 

 if the roosters are dull, lazy, and inattentive, and the hens quiet and 

 hanging about the feed-troughs instead of hunting, it is about time to 

 rouse them up by the introduction of new roosters. ' t 



