POULTRY. 189 



If we were intending to keep such a flock of poultry, we 

 would have at least four different roosting places. Indeed, 

 twenty or twenty-five are as many as should occupy the same 

 house, unless extraordinary care is taken by whitewashing and 

 cleansing frequently. Their roosting-places, in any event, 

 should be whitewashed and thoroughly cleaned twice a year, and 

 fresh earth put in every spring under their roosts. If a strong 

 decoction of tobacco be mixed with the whitewash it will be 

 found an excellent ingredient. Rubbing the roosts with kero- 

 sene oil is a good practice, and black sulphur scattered over the 

 nests and roosts is also an excellent preventative for vermin or 

 lice. These last are the greatest pest of the poultry-fancier, 

 beside which roup and all other diseases sink into insignificance. 

 If the hens ever get infested, two-thirds of the young chickens 

 will almost inevitably die. Nothing so demoralizes, so to speak, 

 a flock of poultry as this pest. Thousands of chickens die 

 every year from this cause within the first three weeks of their 

 hatching, which might be saved if the above precautions were 

 sedulously taken. 



Another important point in the rearing of chickens is to have 

 them hatched early in the season. The hot days of July and 

 August are not favorable for very young chickens. It is better 

 to have broods hatched in September than in either of the above 

 months in this locality. 



BREEDING IN AND IN. 



It is too often the practice with farmers to kill ofi" their older 

 poultry every two years, and continue to breed from the young. 

 This will certainly cause the breed, whatever it is, to degenerate. 

 If possible, when commencing with a new stock, get the hens 

 from one locality and the cocks from another. It is better to 

 keep the old cocks for breeding until they get superannuated 

 than to breed from the young of the same brood indefinitely. 

 When fowls are bred in and in they deteriorate in size, plumage 

 and constitution. 



Another important consideration in beginning with a new 

 stock is to be sure of the purity of the breed, as there is no 

 security if there be ever so little mongrel blood. We have 

 known hens crossed with the Game which threw pure Leghorns 



