POULTRY ON A TOWN LOT 95 
ting an opening in the rear wall just under the roof, 
with a shutter to cover it when the weather is cold. 
At least four square feet of floor space should be 
allowed each bird when this system is followed, and 
the nests and all the furnishings should be high 
enough so that the hens. can waik under them, mak- 
ing the whole floor area available. It is customary 
for amateurs who keep hens on the no-yard plan 
to buy pullets in the Fall, and to dispose of their 
old hens as fast as they stop laying in the course 
of the Summer. Before the new flock is installed, 
the house should be thoroughly sprayed with a lice 
paint or with kerosene in which a little carbolic acid 
has been mixed, or the interior may be whitewashed. 
New litter should be substituted for the old, and 
it is well to replace an inch or two of the earth, if 
earth floors are used, with fresh sand. Cleanliness 
is one of the most important matters when hens are 
confined closely and the amateur will inevitably find 
that eternal vigilance in this matter is the price of 
success, especially in Summer, when vermin multiply 
with exceeding rapidity. It will be necessary to re- 
move all the fixtures frequently and wash or spray 
them with kerosene or a liquid lice killer and to 
frequently renew the nesting material. 
