FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 83 



extra price for the winter eggs more than pays for the extra labor and 

 feed. But to get winter eggs we must supply the hen with summer con- 

 ditions. In the first place they must be warmly housed, and the house 

 should be large enough so they can be confined from the first of Novem- 

 ber until all danger of frosted combs has passed in the spring, and each 

 hen should have from four to five square feet of floor space. Thus for 100 

 hens you would need a house fifteen by thirty feet. The building should 

 not be too high, for if it is the heat rises above the hens and it takes too 

 much to heat such a house, while the heat from the hens will heat a low 

 house warm enough if warmly built. 



The building should, of course, face the south, with the windows as 

 high from the floor as convenient, so the sun's rays will penetrate as 

 far back in the house as possible, for the sun's ra^ys are a great germ- 

 icide. I do not think it best to have more than one-fourth of the front 

 glazed, for the glass gives out the heat as fast at night as it takes it 

 in during the day. Have the roosts flat, three inches wide, as close to 

 the roof as convenient, and all on a level. The hens are then all up 

 where it is the warmest and one is not higher than the rest. Have 

 drop boards eighteen inches below the roosts. Have dust boxes hung up 

 three feet from floor, a gravel bin also up from the floor is a good thing. 

 Cover the floor with one foot of litter, either leaves, clover hay or straw. 

 We clean our drop boards once a week and take the droppings directly 

 to the field and spread them on the land. After the boards are cleaned, 

 we cover them with air-slaked lime. It is claimed that air-slaked lime 

 is detrimental to the droppings, but we would prefer to lose this than 

 to lose the effect of the lime, for with this and the dust in the dust 

 boxes, which is of sifted coal ashes hard, or soft, we can keep our 

 hens and houses practically free from lice. We also paint the roosts 

 once a week with kerosene to keep the hens' legs free from scales. 



Each one can decide for himself the kind of hens to keep, and the only 

 thing is where you are to market your eggs. If in New York, get the 

 kinds that lay white eggs ; if in Boston, a brown egg. It is best to ship 

 to some large city, the extra expense is not much and the price received 

 for strictly fresh, clean eggs more than pays for the trouble. 



In selecting your breeders for layers, select the wedge-shaped hen, 

 for, like the wedge-shaped cow, she will be a better producer. She 

 should have legs standing well apart and be broad on the back. 

 ""Have the flock of hens of uniform size for if of different sizes they 

 cannot be fed successfully, as if the large ones are fed enough to make 

 them lay, the small ones will get too much and will soon be too fat to 

 lay. It is best not to keep the pullets and yearlings together for the 

 same reason, as the feed for the pullets would be too much for the 

 yearlings. 



We use an incubator and think it is easier and cheaper than hens. 

 We leave the chicks in the incubator until they are twenty-four hours 

 old, then remove them to a brooder in the brooder house. A brooder 

 house is desirable as when the chicks no longer need the brooder, they 

 can be removed and roosts put in and the chicks will have a good place 

 to stay until they are removed to winter quarters. 



We give bread soaked in milk and squeezed out dry, fed five or six 

 times a day for the first few days, then we commence with oat meal and 



