CHAP. II.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 53 



to his brides in the evening about feeding- 

 time, in some separate place with them alone, 

 but not allowed to remain with them when 

 they go to roost, unless they receive him with 

 distinguished cordiality. By pursuing this 

 plan for a day or two, they will become 

 more accustomed to his presence, and he may 

 be permitted to accompany them to the com- 

 mon yard, where the other poultry will then 

 commonly associate with him peaceably ; but 

 should they dislike him and ill-treat him, he 

 must be changed for another cock. 



Some writers have stated that the life of a 

 hen only extends to four years; whereas ex- 

 perience proves, that they will lay for two 

 years longer, and that the older they grow, 

 the better nurses they become. They have, 

 indeed, been known to bring up a brood when 

 more than seven years old, and if allowed to 

 live, Buffon supposes that in a domestic state 

 fowls would reach their twentieth year ; but 

 they are rarely suffered to attain the period of 

 life assigned to them by nature. Their best 

 time both for sitting and laying is, however, 

 between the age of two and four years : but 

 they are, like human beings, of different dispo- 



