332 POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 



On the ordinary farm poultry may be counted on to give a 

 large return for the amount of capital invested and cost of 

 labor to care for them. They scratch about and hunt for 

 worms and grubs; pick up seeds that would otherwise be 

 wasted, eat the refuse from the garden, such as lettuce, cab- 

 bage leaves, beet and onion tops, peas and corn. In the or- 

 chard, too, they make their presence felt by destroying in- 

 sects such as the plum curculio. They take the waste prod- 

 ucts from the kitchen and the dairy. 



It is true that poultry at certain times make themselves 

 somewhat of a nuisance, but the same might be said of all our 

 animals if preventive precautions are not taken. When the 

 garden is being made and when the small fruit is getting ripe 

 the flock should be shut up in suitable quarters or shut out 

 from the garden by means of hen-proof wire fence. 



We can think of no greater source of pleasure and profit 

 from the same outlay than that derived from the investment 

 in a medium sized, well selected, well cared for flock of poul- 

 try on the farm. 



