32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Professor Lewis. We use for litter, wheat or rye straw, 

 primarily because it is coarser and does not grind up like oat 

 straw. We grow quite a lot of our own litter, — buckwheat 

 straw or oat straw, — harvesting it with the grain or throwing 

 it directly in the pen and letting the birds thresh the grain 

 out. I am an advocate of straw litter, supplemented if possible 

 with shavings; that makes it drier and the shavings absorb the 

 moisture from the droppings. I would say straw first and, if 

 possible, a mixture of shavings. 



Mr. Sanborn. How deep would it be safe to have it? 



Professor Lewis. Eight or 10 inches. We usually start in 

 the fall with it about 4 inches deep and add to it each week a 

 little coarse litter. Keep the litter deep, coarse, dry and clean. 

 If, due to certain conditions of moisture or a large number 

 of birds closely confined, the litter gets dirty or finely ground, 

 we do not hesitate to clean it out and put in fresh litter. 



A Member. Do you use dropping boards? 



Professor Lewis. Yes; although it takes a little labor to^ 

 clean them off it maintains absolutely sanitary conditions, 

 reduces any odor which might come from using dropping pits, 

 and gives the birds the entire floor space. There is an impor- 

 tant factor, — if we use pits there is too much floor space 

 taken up. The capacity of the house is really determined by 

 the number of square feet of floor space for the birds; there- 

 fore we get the perches up above the ground 3 or 4 feet, 

 cleaning them off twice a week and putting on gypsum to keep 

 them in good condition. Then we keep all the droppings and 

 have a good income from those. We sell theili in New Bruns- 

 wick at $8 to $10 a ton to farmers who grow vegetables for 

 the New York and New Jersey markets. 



Mr. A. C. Hawkins. Do you advocate open-front houses 

 in New England? 



Professor Lewis. I advocate open-front houses in New Jer- 

 sey and northern New York, and I know they have succeeded 

 in Maine. I know also that your own professor of poultry 

 husbandry at Amherst recommends them. In New Brunswick 

 we had last winter a temperature of 14 degrees below zero, 

 and 200 Leghorns, in an absolutely open-front house, where 

 the house is dry, went through that cold snap without a frozen 



