CHAP. I.] FARMIXG FOR LADIES. 25 



The horses thus keep it warm ; it is sure to 

 be kept clean, opened and shut early ; and it 

 affords better security than mere sheds from 

 nightly tliieves. 



We have also heard of a farmer who keeps 

 a large number of young cocks and pullets 

 during the winter in a cellar partly under- 

 ground, though in the upper part having aper- 

 tures sufficient to admit light and air. It is 

 under an outhouse, and not more than six feet 

 high ; the perches for roosting being fixed in 

 a sloping manner from the roof to within eigh- 

 teen inches of the ground-floor, and the nests 

 placed at the sides underneath. The fowls 

 are never let out, yet are in perfect health, and 

 being thus kept warmer than in any house, 

 the pullets lay eggs during the coldest wea- 

 ther, and the cockrells become fat enough for 

 the table without further trouble. Were a 

 hen-house erected with such a cellar under- 

 neath, containing divisions for the laying hens 

 and fatting fowls, it would have the benefits 

 of summer air and winter warmth ; or, as it 

 were, all the advantage of a town and country 

 residence ; the only objection being the in- 

 creased inconvenience of cleaning the floor, 



