374 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



avoided. The nests should be placed in a secluded 

 and quiet part of the poultry house, and kept just for 

 this purpose. A good nest may be made by putting in 

 3 to 4 inches of earth, and hollowing it out in the mid- 

 dle and covering with fine cut straw. The hens should 

 be dusted with insect powder before they go on the 

 nest, and again at the end of 10 to 12 days to keep 

 them free from vermin. If the hens become infested 

 with lice they become nervous and a poor hatch will 

 result. If it is cold when the hens begin to sit fewer 

 eggs should be used than in warm weather. The 

 smaller breeds cannot sit on as many eggs as the larger 

 fowls. The range of eggs varies from n to 17 per 

 nest with an average of 13. Food, water and a dust- 

 ing box should be placed near the sitting hens. 



How to Preserve Eggs. The most satisfactory 

 method of preserving eggs is by means of waterglass. 

 This may be purchased at most any drug store. One 

 part of waterglass should be mixed with eight to ten 

 parts of water, and placed in a receptacle of wood, 

 iron or earthenware. The water should be boiled be- 

 fore it is mixed with the waterglass. One gallon of 

 waterglass is ample for about fifty dozen eggs. The 

 eggs should be kept in a cool place where the tempera- 

 ture remains fairly constant. Every day when the 

 eggs are collected they should be put in the waterglass, 

 and none other than fresh eggs should ever be pre- 

 served. 



SECTION LIX. DAIRYING. 



By DR. F. W. WOLL, 

 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Wisconsin. 



Dairying is the industry that deals with the pro- 

 duction of milk and the manufacture of butter and 

 cheese. This industry is of special importance in New 

 York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. 

 There were only seventeen million dairy cows in this 

 country in the year 1900, and the products of these 



