CHAP. IV.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 87 



' that they are executed.^ A moment's in- 

 spection will satisfy herself whether cleanli- 

 ness and ventilation have been properly at- 

 tended to ; but another essential point in 

 which servants are very apt to be negligent, 

 is regularity in the time of feeding. All do- 

 mestic animals expect their food at the hour 

 to which they have been accustomed ; they 

 know, as well as the clock, the moment it 

 approaches ; if disappointed, they become 

 restless and fretful, and this eventually 

 occasions them to fall off in condition. A 

 main point in both mistress and maid, is also 

 that of good temper, without which all will go 

 wrong; for if the fowls be quarrelsome and 

 unruly, it will be useless to beat or scold at 

 them, though with a little kind usage, ac- 

 companied by a few grains of corn, they may 

 be coaxed into quietude, and become fond of 

 their attendant. 



Hens lay nearly all the year round, except 

 during the moulting season, and in the depth 

 of winter ; but their mode of laying is not 

 regular, for they sometimes lay a couple of 

 eggs in three days, though more frequently 

 every second day, and some lay more than 



