After a very full inspection of several hen-houses erected on many 

 of the leading poultry farms of the Eastern States. Mr. Baldwin de- 

 cided to build a hen-house on the scratching-shed plan. He came to 

 the conclusion that this plan was best suited for a climate such as 

 they have in Toronto. 



His hen-house is a frame building 72 feet long and 10 feet deep, 

 and is divided into four scratching-sheds and four hen-houses proper. 

 The ground plan is shown in Fig. 1. The sills are 4x4 cedars, resting 

 on large stones. The end sill rests on stone, and the sill running the 

 length of the building rests on top of the end sill. The studding used 

 is 2x4 hemlock. The top of the sill is one foot above the surface of 

 the ground, and a base-board is fastened on the inside of the sill, and 

 the Hoor of the hen-house is tilled with sand to the top of the base- 

 board. The building is banked up on the outside to the same level. 

 The stones upon which the sills rest are placed at varying distances 

 to meet the joists and at intervals of about 8 feet. 'I he north wall is 

 * feet high from the top of the sill, and the south wall 7 feet high. 

 In the north wall, the studding is placed at each corner of the hen- 

 house proper and an additional one in each centre, also at the corner 

 of eacli scratching-shed, and an additional one in the centre. In the 

 south wall the studding is placed in the same way, excepting the one 

 in the centre of the hen-house, which is placed so as to accommodate 

 the window. At the east end, an extra stud stands as a door post ; 

 and one at the west end, in the centre. For rafters, he used 2 s4 hem- 

 lock, placed at 2 feet centres. On the outside of the studding and 

 rafters he used the most ordinary lumber, running the boards length- 

 wise. The ends of the building, the north wall, and the south fronts 

 of the hen-house proper are covered with a two-ply " ready roofing;" 

 and for the roof he used three-ply " ready roofing." A scantling 2x4 

 reaches from the north sill to the south sill at the base of each divi- 

 sion between scratching pens and hen-houses proper, and between the 

 hen-houses. The division wall between the scratching-shed and the 

 hen-house is made of rough lumber on the scratching-shed side with 

 a lining of tar felt nailed on the interior of these boards, and battened 

 closely with laths to make the joints of the tar felt complete. 

 The division wall between the hen-houses proper is made of 7x8 

 tongued and grooved flooring, and the other interior walls of the hen- 

 houses proper, that is, the walls against the scratching-sheds and the 

 north and south walls, are lined with 7x8 tongued and grooved dressed 

 material. The ceiling is also completed in the same way. But before 

 the putting on of this dressed material, a second layer of tar felt was 

 placed between the sheeting and rafters, so that there is a dead-air 

 space. The large doors between the scratching-sheds and the hen- 

 houses proper are about three inches thick, made of two thicknesses 

 of 7x8 tongued and grooved dressed material, with a space of one 

 inch between, and lined with tar felt on the inside of each 



