20 AK EGG FARM. 



soft feed early in the morning in a feed box in their 

 house, so constructed that the keeper is not seen by them 

 at all. All the hard grain for the day's allowance is 

 deposited in or under a pile of straw outside, before they 

 are let out of the building, and they scratch for it at 

 intervals through the day. This employment is yery 

 salutary to their health and spirits, and assists in keep- 

 ing the flock together. The bright eye and keen faculty 

 for prying and searching are employed, instead of the 

 birds moping or standing listless. They feel as if every- 

 thing was right and natural, and their contentment 

 influences laying to a surprising degree. 



If straw is plenty and cheap, as it is in some parts of 

 the country, scatter it liberally and sow grain upon it by 

 any good broadcast seeding machine worked by a team, 

 and follow with a hay tedder, alternating with a side 

 delivery horserake whenever the straw becomes scattered 

 too much. Or the driver of the hay tedder can drop a 

 slender rill of grain with one hand, while managing his 

 team with the other. If straw is too expensive, as it is 

 apt to be if within fair shipping distance of a city, a 

 plow can be used, every month or so, to loosen the soil, 

 preferably, as we have seen, a loose, sandy loam, and a 

 harrow employed to cover the grain. This harrow 

 should have very short and slender teeth, a homemade 

 affair constructed of one-inch or half-inch boards or 

 two-inch planks, through which round nails or spikes 

 are driven, answering better than the harrows in the 

 market, as it will not do to cover the grain too deeply. 

 The best thing of all is a wire drag, made by fastening 

 numerous barbed wires to round poles of the size of a 

 man's arm, or to scantling, or waste strips of board of 

 various dimensions, if more convenient, by means of 

 ordinary fence staples. This drag is cheap, simple, and 

 effective ; it will accommodate itself to uneven ground, 

 and as it is of light draft, you can make it very broad 



