CHAP. I.] FARMING FOK LADIES. 3 



life of your family, as well as the amount of 

 money which you mean to expend. In this 

 latter consideration, you need not, however, 

 be governed by any fear that these delicacies 

 will add to the common expenses of a frugal 

 table ; for it is a fact, which will plainly appear 

 upon attentively perusing the statements con- 

 tained in this treatise — that they can he obtained 

 at as little, if not less, cost than butcher s meat. 

 The hen-house should never be much larger 

 than sufficient to accommodate the number 

 of fowls to be lodged in it ; for, if larger, they 

 huddle together in a corner, and it has been 

 observed that hens produce eggs more abun- 

 dantly in a small, close cote, than in a more 

 spacious building. Both warmth and clean- 

 liness should however be particularly attended 

 to, and it should be rendered in every way 

 comfortable to the birds that inhabit it ; for 

 if that be not done, they will try to lay away 

 from home instead of in their nest, and if 

 they cannot succeed, they will assuredly pro- 

 duce fewer eggs than if their tastes were bet- 

 ter indulged ; but if they have a clean, quiet, 

 warm place to retire to, they will lay regularly, 

 and repay both the trouble and the expense. 



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