POULTRY. 1055 



it can be raised to fill the box. Elevate this feed-box on a 

 post about three feet from the floor or ground. The fowls will 

 soon learn to leap upon the platform and feed from the box 

 between the slats." 



Drinking vessels of some kind are also a necessity in every 

 well regulated poultry-house. Many and various are the " foun- 

 tains" that have been invented by ingenious poultry raisers, 

 but I have yet to see any thing that suits me any better than 

 common glazed milk crocks of medium size. They are cheap, 

 easily cleaned, high enough so that the fowls do not often 

 scratch dirt into them, and yet low enough to enable them to 

 drink easily. The fixtures illustrated by Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 

 and 12 are in constant use in my poultry-house, and the draw- 

 ings were made from them; but it is only fair to state that I 

 obtained the idea from illustrations which appeared in the 

 Poultry World. 



Yards and Fences. I believe that the farmer should, in 

 order to make the most from his fowls, give them free range 

 over the whole farm, except the door-yard and the garden ; but 

 at the same time it is necessary to have a yard connected with 

 the poultry-house, where the fowls can be confined when occa- 

 sion requires ; and where the premises are small, neighbors close 

 by, and the farmer desires to keep his fowl stock pure, it is bet- 

 ter to keep the fowls in yards otherwise the fowls, the neigh- 

 bors' feelings, and gardens are apt to get in a hopelessly mixed 

 condition. 



When fowls are confined to yards, they should be divided 

 into flocks of not more than fifty each, and each flock of that 

 size should have half an acre of ground allotted to its use. This 

 half-acre should be divided into two separate yards, to be used 

 alternately. Keep the fowls in yard No. 1 one year, and grow 

 a crop of some kind in No. 2. The next year put the fowls in 

 No. 2, and cultivate No. 1. By following this plan the ground 

 will be kept fresh, and can be used for fowls any number of 

 years. 



A portion of the yard occupied by the fowls should be 

 plowed or spaded up every week during warm weather, so as to 



