Poultry Keeping for Farmeks. 239 



tilated at the highest point of tlie building. The doors and 

 windows should be put in so as to be easily moved, and sub- 

 stitute latticed work in warm weather. 



The inside arrangements should be simple, and everything 

 movable. Boxes answer well for nests, and, for most breeds, 

 should be placed on the floor, with a hole cut in one side 

 for the hen to enter. The nests should be lower than the 

 perches, or the hens will roost on thn boxes. . The floor 

 should be covered several inches deep with dry earth or 

 sand, and a good supply of dry leaves kept to scratch in. 

 There should be a small platform for the water dish to stand 

 on, raised several inches above the floor, so that the hens 

 cannot fill the dish with dirt. 



Many farmers have plenty of shed room that might be 

 made over into a house for hens at small expense. One of 

 the best places I ever saw to keep hens is that of J. H. Mor- 

 rison, of Marlow, New Hampshire. He has a cellar under 

 his barn. The wall on the north side is against a bank. 

 The other three sides are boarded tightly, and lined with 

 slieathing paper, and the east and south sides are well 

 lighted. He has no floor, as the barn is built on very dry, 

 gravelly soil ; so the floor is a bed of fine gravel. His hens 

 always look well, and do not get their combs frosted in the 

 coldest weather. 



Much depends on the hens kept. Every farmer should 

 raise his own chickens, and they should be hatched as early 

 as May lOtli, or earlier if the season will allow it. The 

 pullets ought to begin to lay by November 1st, and some 

 breeds will lay earlier. They should be well fed with a 

 variety of food, and get them to laying as soon as possible 



