PIGEON-HOUSES. 255 



diately run and hide itself among the long grass or 

 other plants within reach. 



After the second month the poults are fed on com- 

 mon boiled plants, such as nettles, wild succory, milfoil, 

 turnip -tops, cabbage -sprouts, or outside leaves well 

 boiled down and chopped with a few rnealy potatoes. 

 When the poults are about five months old, it may be 

 required to get them ready for the market. If so, let 

 them be well fed twice a day with boiled potatoes mashed 

 with meal, and given quite fresh each time. At the 

 same time it will be desirable to keep them rather 

 close, and to let them pass some time after each meal 

 in the dark. By persevering in this plan for about a 

 month, and taking care that great cleanliness and purity 

 be observed in attending on the birds, they will be found 

 sufficiently fat without forcing or cramming them. 

 Eighteen or twenty pounds is a fair weight for a fat 

 yearling bird ; thirty is a good weight for a turkey of 

 any age, and few exceed forty. 



Perhaps a poultry-yard is scarcely complete without 

 PIGEONS, and yet these birds are such persevering de- 

 vourers of grain, that a large collection of them is not 

 desirable for the farmer. The dove-cote or pigeon-house 

 is with propriety placed at the top of the poultry-house, 

 and is so constructed that every pair of pigeons has two 

 holes or rooms to rest in. Without this there is con- 

 stant confusion and breaking of eggs. The front of the 

 pigeon-house should have a south-west aspect, with a 

 platform at the entrance* for the birds to alight and 

 perch upon. The platform is painted white, and their 

 holes are often white-washed within and without, the 

 birds being much attracted by the whiteness of their 

 dwelling, and being also very fond of the lime of the 

 white-wash. Cleanliness and an ample supply of water 

 are of the utmost consequence to these birds, as they are 

 apt to suffer greatly from vermin. If they are kept in 

 considerable numbers, a room or loft is set apart for 

 their use, and is provided with shelves partitioned off 



