CHAP. VIII.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 185 



tiling is more nauseous than one that is quite 

 stale ; and as hens generally cease laying in 

 the month of October, it is of great import- 

 ance in housekeeping to preserve them in a 

 state of freshness during the continuance of 

 the winter. It is generally thought that the 

 cold of winter is what prevents hens from lay- 

 ing, and there can be no doubt that it checks 

 their disposition to lay ; but they recommence 

 in February, in which month, and that of 

 March, the weather is often more severe than 

 in October, when they usually cease. It is, 

 therefore, more probably occasioned by their 

 having already layed all those eggs of which 

 the germs were contained in the ovary, and 

 that they require time to renovate them, or to 

 recover from the effects of moulting. However 

 that may be, perhaps no means can be devised 

 for keeping them so perfectly fi-esh as to retain 

 the taste of those which are new-layed, al- 

 though there are writers who pretend that they 

 may be kept for months in a milky state with- 

 out any loss of flavour. They certainly can 

 be preserved without taint, and in a fit state 

 for family use, until the commencement of the 

 spring season for laying ; but we cannot admit 



