70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



had some partially open, some others that were tightly closed, 

 and some with a curtain front; and we had Plymouth Rocks, 

 some Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds, and other varieties 

 in closed houses, and we had a number of Leghorns in those 

 houses with the curtain front, when there came a severe cold 

 spell with heavy frost, and the Plymouth Rocks had their 

 combs frozen clear to their heads, while on the other hand, not 

 a single one of those white and brown Leghorns was touched. 

 Now that seems to me to make a strong plea for the open front 

 house. That is all I have got to say about it. It is a little 

 singular why that should be so, but that was the result of our 

 experience. I have tested quite a number of different types 

 of houses elsewhere, by experiment station methods, and I 

 have found varying results. In Utah, I, at one time, had 

 charge of the poultry department, and there we did not get as 

 good results with the curtained front as we did with the closed 

 house. But the houses were not constructed so as to be wind 

 tight, so as to give the sun on each side, and out there we 

 used to get winds that swept right through the house. At that 

 time I had rather come to the conclusion that the closed house 

 was the best, but the evidence now seems to indicate a good 

 many advantages in favor of the open front house, but we 

 must be careful, nevertheless, to avoid a draft. In most cases, 

 at least my experience seems to show that in most cases a 

 draft causes a great deal more trouble than cold. I think 

 enough has been said on that subject, and I am going to 

 drop it right there. 



Some very interesting experiments have been tried in con- 

 nection with the incubation of eggs to discover why it is that 

 we get more chicks by hatching with hens than by hatching 

 with the machine. Some people do not have that experience, 

 but a great many people do, nevertheless, have better results 

 by hatching with hens. In a series of experiments that have 

 been taken up it was found that the air under the hen was 

 moist, and contained a great deal more carbon dioxide, which 



