THE BREEDING-ROOM 



4i 



each alternately covered or left free from 

 the mercury column. If now tlic contacts 

 are put at say 55^ ¥. on the left and 60° 

 on the right, and a further contact is made 

 at the bottom of the U, it is clear that an 

 electric circuit can be established through 

 the thermometer either when the temper- 

 ature falls to 55° or when it rises to 60°. 

 By using this fact the energy from two 

 ordinary small bell batteries C is made 

 to pass either round a small electric magnet 

 on the front part of the switch D, which 

 closes the switch, or round a similar 

 magnet at the back part, which opens the 

 switch. By an arrangement in the switch 

 itself the small current generated by the 

 bell batteries is cut off and left ready for 

 the next movement. The general action 

 of the system is as follows : Suppose the 

 main supply is turned on and the temper- 

 ature is at 54° or anything lower, the switch 

 D will be found 'on,' and the current will 

 pass through it to the stove A. The 

 temperature will slowly rise in the room 

 until it reaches 60°, when the right-hand 

 side circuit in the thermometer will be 

 made, and, as before explained, the switch 

 will move ' off,' and the stove be discon- 

 nected, to come on again only if the 

 temperature falls to 55°. It is obvious that 

 the range of temperature can be anything 

 required ; for instance, 60° to 62°. Owing 

 to the accuracy of the thermometer the 

 system is quite infallible, and can be left 

 practically without attention. Tiie cost is 

 cut down to its scientific minimum owing 

 to the certainty that the supply will be 

 cut right off the instant it is not required. 

 Consequently the system can compete as 

 regards cost with any other forms of heat- 

 ing without their attendant disadvantages. 

 In some cases it is a good plan to stand 

 the stove over or near a ventilating grating 

 — if there be such in the room— as in this 

 manner a supply of fresh air is drawn into 

 the room and heated in its passage through 

 the stove. Sometimes, also, it is w'orth 

 consideration to place a small dish of 

 water near or on the stove — not, as with 

 gas or oil stoves, to endeavour ineffectually 

 to trap the poisonous fumes, but in order to 

 6 



Gas=Stove9. 



keep the air at a proper degree of moisture ; 

 but this, of course, is a refinement that in 

 no way concerns the system described." 



Messrs. Rorke further inform us that the 

 cost for working the system from Christ- 

 mas to April with electricity, at the "power 

 and heating "" rate of Id. per unit for a 

 room of 1,000 cubic feet, is under 20s. 

 for an average winter, the temperature 

 maintained being 55° to 60°. 



We also know many fanciers who have 

 used — and do still use — the Hygienic Syphon 

 gas-stove as a means of heat- 

 ing their bird-room, and with 

 every success. This stove condenses its 

 own fumes into water. There are sundry 

 other means of heating the room, such as 

 a gas jet below several inverted flower- 

 pots arranged one upon another, oil-stoves, 

 and so on ; but there is too great risk at- 

 tached to them, and many have lost their 

 whole stud of birds through mishaps with 

 such arrangements. It is, therefore, need- 

 less for us to say more than that we be- 

 lieve either in using a means which is fairly 

 safe or having no heat at all. 



Such are the things to be borne in mind 



in selecting a good breeding-room, and we 



have but one more precau- 



The Mouse tio^ary measure to which to 

 Pest. 



refer. This relates to the ex- 

 clusion of mice, which can make themselves 

 troublesome in various ways if they once 

 gain access to the room. There is no such 

 effective mouse-trap as a cat, but the cat 

 is not wanted in the very place where the 

 mice are ; if it clears the lower part of the 

 house it does its duty very well, but it 

 would never do to have it hunting about 

 in the neighbourhood of the bird-room. The 

 most effectual method of excluding mice is 

 to nail strips of tin, bent at a right angle, 

 on the floor and against the skirting-board. 

 Perseverance and good teeth on the part 

 of the mice will find a road through anything 

 else, and it requires but a small hole to 

 admit a regiment in single file. The 

 bottom of the door should be protected by a 

 similar contrivance. Should there be no 

 skirting-board, as is sometimes the case in 

 old rooms, a stout strip of wood must be 



