364 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



Most of the front of the house is filled with door and window open- 

 ings, which is easy of construction, and requires a small amount of 

 material, 



Q. 10. What causes dampness in a lien house? 



Ans. 10. Page 283, paragraph 2. The intent has been to construct 

 a house that first of all should provide fresh, pure air ; second, that woula 

 insure reasonable dryness ; third, that would be as warm as is consistent 

 with fresh air and dryness without the use of artificial heat, or overcrowd- 

 ing the fowls. 



Dampness in a hen house is caused primarily by warm air taking up 

 moisture by evaporation and having the moisture condensed (squeezed 

 out) by becoming cold. Moisture occurs in a hen house from the breath 

 of fowls, from the droopings and the water pans. If the house is 

 open, this air ladened wath moisture can pass out readily so that the air 

 within is as dry as the air without. If the air is closely confined in a 

 tight house, condensation takes place inside the house. 



If the house were as tight on the front as it is on the other sides, top 

 and ends, and without ventilation, the air would become warmer, thereby 

 absorbing more moisture which when the outside walls become cold would 

 condense the moisture by coming in contact with the cold walls. The 

 moisture when condensed out of the air makes the litter and walls damp, 

 and we say that the house " sweats." Whenever this moisture is again 

 taken into the air, the house is made cold by the process of evaporation. 

 That is one reason why a damp house is a cold house. This principle 

 may be easily tested by observing how much colder a hand becomes that 

 is wet than the one that is dry, the temperature conditions being the same, 

 and how sprinkling the floor of a room during hot weather cools the air. 



It will readily be seen, therefore, that houses are damp, first because 

 they are tight which prevents the moist air from passing out, and second 

 that the walls either solid or with a dead air space become cold, which 

 causes the moisture to be " squeezed out " from the air. Dampness then 

 can be prevented by avoiding extremes of temperature and by providing 

 an easy exchange of air. 



Q. II. What is the best zvay to ventilate a hen house? 



Ans. II. Page 287, third paragraph. The most economical and effec- 

 tive method of ventilating the house appears to be by window openings in 

 the south side of the house, which during the larger part of the time, both 

 summer and winter, are covered simply by wire, and which during stormy 

 or excessively cold weather are covered by a cloth window. This, if the 

 house is tight on all other sides, allows for a quiet diiTusion of air with 

 the least possible draft. The reason why the modern ventilators, which 



