74 



FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 



boards are of hemlock, surfaced on one side. The furring is surfaced on one side, rough on one 

 side and edges, and the rough side is turned in, so that, as the reader will see, the covering of 

 the joint is not wind tight. It should be added that no battens are put over the joints on the 

 front of the low part, as with the number of hens kept in here it is not desirable that the 

 house should, at any time, be as close as it would be with the doors shut if all joints were 

 battened. 



The roof is of shingles laid 5 in. to the weather on strips of 2 in. furring laid 3 in. apart, 

 except that the first courses on each side are on 6 in. boards, which project beyond the sides 

 about two Inches, This makes a roof that is light and cheap, yet amply strong. The roof was 

 put up with the idea that if it was ever necessary to move the building it could be easily taken 

 down and set up again. With this in view, instead of directly joining the two rafters of each 

 pair at the peak or ridge of the roof, or using as is sometimes done a 5 or 6 in. board as a 

 ridge pole, I used two strips of furring, nailing the upper one firmly to the ends of the rafters 

 of one side, and the lower one to the rafters of the other side, making practically a split ridge 

 pole, as shown at J, in the cut. 



As I framed the building unaided, this part of the work had to be done on the ground. The 

 frame of the roof was put together on the ground in four 12-ft. sections, the rafters in each 

 section being held together by the first strip of furring at the lower end, and the half of the 

 ridge board attached to that section, and by two strips of furring crossed on the under side of 

 the rafters. Each such section was put up with supports from the ground to the upper part 

 until, the lower parts of two opposite sections had been tacked to the phites. Then the supports 

 were knocked out, and the upper parts fitted together, after which the ends of the rafters at the 

 plates were securely nailed. All the nailing needed at the joining of the sections at the peak is 

 what is required to prevent the light frame springing or slipping before all the strips of furring 

 are on and nailed fast. Only one ten penny nail through each upper end of a rafter to the 

 opposite rafter was used. The shingles used were " 2d clear," costing $2.50 per thousand. 



West Pen o/ .7. H. Robinson's Cheap Poultry House Double Doors Open. 



