A Batch of Nest- Eggs. 137 



through a coarse sieve, fill a wash-tub half full, and pump it 

 full of water ; then stir it with a broom and keep pumping 

 till the water runs off clear. I dump the sand on a few boards 

 to dry ; when dry, I store it in the feed-room. Every morning 

 when mixing the soft food, I put in two good handfuls of this 

 sand to each dozen fowls, and if I notice any bowel disorder 

 among them, I give an extra dose of sand. If I have any 

 birds that show signs of becoming too fat, I separate them and 

 give them sand. By following this advice you will never have 

 any soft-shelled eggs. E. O. THEIM. 



Farmers should purchase fowls rather than eggs. One vig- 

 orous, hardy cockerel, not cock, is sufficient for 20 females, 

 when allowed full liberty, which most farmers' fowls bave. 

 Let him take one home and at once make mince-meat of his 

 old stock of males, or, better still, let him kill the old males 

 before purchasing his fresh stock. Such birds can always be 

 bought for about $2.50 each. The second season purchase 

 one or two more cockerels and kill off the old stock of hens. 

 In-and-in breeding, when kept track of, is of advantage. The 

 great trouble with most farmers when they inbreed is that all 

 the earliest, most vigorous and finest specimens are killed for 

 the market, while the farmer from year to year reserves for 

 his breeding-stock of another season the scrub and stunted 

 August and September-hatched chicks that the itinerant 

 butcher wouldn't buy at any price. Every man who ever made a 

 success of breeding fancy poultry has practiced and does prac- 

 tice in-and-in breeding to a greater or less extent ; but all who 

 are successful keep track of their lines of blood P. H. 

 SCUDDER. 



How do you build your roosts ? We want our roosts low, 

 so that a hen can reach them without flying. It is not the 

 business of a hen to fly or to run. We can make more by 

 breeding any wish for either operation out of them. We want 

 a roost at least two inches thick, oval at the top ; the shape of 

 bottom is of no consequence. We want the hen to rest comforta- 

 bly, without being obliged to clutch the roost so desperately. 



