20 FARMING FOR LADIES. [chap. i. 



swer the purpose. The best covering for 

 the hovels of all poultry, or cattle of any 

 description, though now out of fashion, as 

 being thought dangerous, is decidedly thatch, 

 laid thickly on, with wide overhanging eaves, 

 to keep off both wind and rain ; for it is the 

 warmest in winter as well as the coolest in 

 summer, and thus maintains an equal tempe- 

 rature throughout the whole year. Cold is, 

 however, the great object to be guarded 

 against ; for although naturalists who have 

 written on the subject assert that " heat weak- 

 ens fowls," and have copied each other in put- 

 ting forward that opinion, yet we know from the 

 experience of a long residence both in Por- 

 tugal and the West Indies, that poultry thrive 

 in such multitudes in those countries, though 

 exposed without precaution to the ardour of 

 the sun, that they there form the chief portion 

 of animal food. 



One great object in every dwelling, whether 

 for human beings or for poultry, is to obtain 

 a circulation of air which is warm as well as 

 fresh; and this it appears has been gained 

 by a very simple and inexpensive iron stove, 

 furnished with a small flue, which Sir Stewart 



i 



