PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 201 



fowls. These window, spaces, opened wide in summer, 

 help to keep the interior of the house cool when the 

 weather is hot. 



If glass is to be used in the front of the house the 

 window space need not be large. For a house having 

 pens each with -a frontage of ten to fifteen feet, one 

 window of two sashes, each sash of six lights of glass 

 ten by fourteen inches or thereabouts will suffice. Too 

 much glass surface is to be avoided, because glass is an 

 excellent conductor of heat. It lets in the warmth of 

 the sun's rays at noonday, but also lets out the warmth 

 at night, so that a house with its front entirely of glass 

 sashes is much like a hot-bed at midday and a cold 

 storage room at night. 



5. VERMIN. Poultry houses should be built so that 

 lice, mites and all other insect pests may be kept out or 

 if they enter may be easily destroyed. 



Cracks, crannies and crevices should be avoided so 

 far as possible. 



Smooth, hard, interior walls give a surface that will 

 not harbor the pests and if they get upon it they are 

 readily destroyed by spraying with insecticide. Walls 

 of plaster are excellent on this account. 



6. RODENTS, The buildings should be made rat proof, 

 which will secure them against other animal enemies, 

 such as skunks, weasels, etc. 



One plan is to make the floor of concrete, using one 

 part Portland or other good hydraulic cement to five 

 parts of sharp sand and gravel. These ingredients 

 should be mixed dry very completely, then with water 

 be made into a mortar, thin enough to flow slowly and 

 thick enough to stay in place until it solidifies. 



A smoothened, firm layer of coarse gravel makes a 

 good foundation for the concrete floor. On this is 

 poured three to four inches depth of the mortar which 

 is smoothed off and allowed to set without being touched 

 for at least twenty-four hours. The surface is shaped or 

 graded to the level desired for the floor when the mortar 

 is applied. It may be well to make the floor at the 



