LXX.Fall Poultrij Troubles 



WHY is it that hens always want to roost 

 over the cows and horses in the winter 

 time? Perhaps they want company in 

 the long, lonesome nights, but prob- 

 ably it is because the cattle generate a certain 

 amount of warmth that makes the beams above them 

 pleasanter roosting places than the hen-house. Any- 

 way there is always a week or two at the beginning 

 of each winter when a bunch of ambitious hens must 

 be trained to roost in their own quarters instead 

 of in the stable. Every night at milking time I 

 shoo them out until they finally get it into their 

 heads they are not wanted. But they are almost 

 as hard to convince as the New England farmer who 

 went to a dance to which he had not been invited. 

 He overlooked the lack of invitation, and was even 

 willing to overlook the fact that he was told that 

 he was not wanted, but when he was finally thrown 

 outdoors and kicked through the front gate, "He 

 took the hint and went away." After being thrown 



^58 



