550 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



facing the south, and having a well-glazed front, with tight walls on the north, east, and west. 

 The apartment was simple enough to suit the taste of Diogenes, but cozy and comfortable 

 enough for a prince of the Brahmas, or a princess of the Cochins. The windows on the 

 south side were made to drop from the top, so as to let in fresh air, and a wooden tube a foot 

 square, leading to the roof, furnished an outlet for the foul air. The sides and ceiling were 

 plastered and whitewashed, and the floorless bottom was well covered with coal ashes and 

 sand. Here the tender White Leghorns lived, loved, scratched, laid eggs, cackled, and slept 

 with no frost to nip their combs or crack their eggs. 



Such an underground room has greatly the advantage over a hennery built, as so many 

 are, exposed on all sides to the cold winds. It is almost impossible to keep the latter warm 

 enough without a stove. The yard of the hennery above referred to was simply the barn 

 yard, to which the hens had access at all times during summer, and every pleasant day in 

 winter. There is great economy in letting hens run in the barnyard. They take to the 

 dunghill so naturally that they are sometimes called dunghill fowls. Here they find many 

 grass seeds, not a little partially digested grain, and what is most congenial to their taste, lots 

 of maggots. 



This leads me to say that the second essential condition for the winter profit of hens is 

 suitable food. Exactly what raw materials, and what proportion of them are required for the 

 manufacture of eggs, may be learned from an analysis of the egg itself. That of the average 

 hen weighs 1,000 grains, and consists of the shell, weighing 100 grains, composed of carbon 

 ate of lime; the yolk, weighing 300 grains, composed of water, albumen, and oil, or fat; 

 and the white, which, aside from its water, is pure albumen. The amount of water in a 

 fresh egg is about the same as in fresh meat from two-thirds to three-fourths of the whole. 

 Prof. Johnston gives the components of an egg, aside from its shell, as follows: Water, 666 

 grains; albumen, 127 grains; fat, 94 grains; ash 13 grains. 



It will be seen from this that an egg is really animal food; indeed, it is richer in fat than 

 fat beef. That it has all the components of an animal is also manifest from the fact that a 

 chicken (bones, feathers, flesh, every part) is made from it. The food, therefore, of a hen 

 expected to lay eggs, must be such as will build up an animal. All the grains contain fat, 

 gluten (the same chemically as albumen), lime, and other salts, but not in the same proportion, 

 or so chemically combined as in an egg. It is therefore very essential that the food of an 

 egg-producing hen should be animal to a certain extent. In the summer, hens running at 

 large pick up a vast number o insects, either perfect or in a grub state, and these satisfy 

 their wants; but when shut up, either summer or winter, some substitute for insects must be 

 supplied. The refuse bones and meat of the house will often be sufficient; if not, lard or 

 beef scraps, fed in connection with grain, will make hens lay abundantly. The most con. 

 venient animal food for hens is found in what is called animal meal. This is made from the 

 refuse bones, blood, and meat of our large slaughter houses, being first steamed under high 

 pressure, then dried and ground together as fine as meal. A quart of this animal meal, 

 mixed with three quarts of equal parts of corn-meal and wheat bran, and wet up with 

 skimmed milk, makes a mixture that will furnish hens with all the materials they want for 

 manufacturing eggs, unless it is carbonate of lime. This is best furnished in the form of 

 pounded lime shells. I have tried this animal meal for ten years, and found it to work like 

 a charm. It can be found at most of our feed stores, and the expense is not great, about 

 twice that of corn-meal. The hens will be grateful, if along with their grain some fine cut 

 cabbage or rowen is furnished them. 



Eggs command so high a price in the winter, and are such a nutritious and easily 

 digested food at all seasons, that farmers will find it to their advantage to produce a liberal 

 supply for the family table, and a surplus for the market. He will show himself a public 



