50 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 



all the sitting hens off the nests, and make them go out 

 to feed. While they are out, clear the nests of broken 

 eggs, dirt, and feathers, loosen up the straw a little, and 

 dust Persian insect-powder over the eggs. Now comes 

 the critical time. Do not forget what you have done, 

 air-, do not trust the hens, but within half an hour be 

 si e to return, and see that each is on her own proper 

 11 st, or you will have trouble every time they come off. 

 Hens are creatures of habit, and a little training goes a 

 great way with them. If they can be made to keep the 

 same nest three or four days, there will be little danger 

 that they will make any mistake about it for the re- 

 mainder of the time. That will save you the trouble of 

 moving them, but not the responsibility of seeing that 

 they return promptly to their nests after feeding. When 

 all is right, darken the sitting-room again and leave them 

 until the next day at feeding-time. 



SECURE LAYING AND SITTING BOX FOR HENS. 



There have been several devices, some of them patented, 

 for accomplishing this end, which we here show how to 

 do by a simple, home-made contrivance. Take or make 

 a box three feet long by two feet wide (a, a). Take off 

 one side, as shown in figure 32; tack on two cleats, 

 and fit in a partition (d). Take out the partition, and 

 cut a square hole, a little more than a foot square, near 

 one end, and a notch an inch wide and six inches long 

 on the opposite end. Make an opening for the hen to 

 enter by (b), in the end of the box above the partition, 

 and at the point where, the notch is cut. The partition 

 d forms the floor of the laying and sitting room. A box 

 a foot square and eight inches deep is made to fit loose- 

 ly in the opening in the floor. This is the nest, e. It 



