THE FREE RANGE PLAN. i07 



plan, and the obvious advantages of this arrangement have 

 recommended it in many yards of widely different size. In 

 the house and yards planned by us for our own use at Crouch 

 End, London, we built the houses in a double range, 75 feet 

 long, with one common corridor up the middle to serve for 

 both, and found this an exceedingly convenient arrangement. 

 In all cases where the corridor plan is adopted, it is best to 

 only fence up the passage half way, netting the rest, so that 

 from the corridor all can be seen at roost. 



Prize poultry may also be reared most successfully, and 

 with very little trouble or expense in accommodation, in a 

 park or on a farm. All old frequenters of shows must have 

 observed the remarkable constitution formerly exhibited by 

 Lady Holmesdale's poultry ; and we paid, by invitation, a 

 visit to Linton Park, specially to learn the management which 

 produced such excellent results, and to enjoy a chat with 

 Mr. J. Martin, the well-known superintendent, during its 

 existence, of the Linton poultry-yard. We found the system 

 most simple, and to all who have equal space at command, the 

 least expensive that can possibly be. Stone houses with 

 gravelled yards there certainly were, but these were unoccupied 

 by a single one of the Dorkings for which the Viscountess 

 had obtained so wide a reputation, and Mr. Martin kept 

 practically the whole of the stock at perfect liberty in the 

 park. Portable wooden houses were employed, mounted on 

 small wheels, and without a bottom, which were placed in 

 sufficiently distant localities to avoid any danger of the birds 

 mixing, and moved a little every two or three days. Open 

 windows were provided, so that the fowls always breathed the 

 pure air of heaven with much more freedom than most 

 breeders would allow to such delicate varieties as Spanish and 

 Dorking; yet Mr. Martin found both breeds become hardy 

 under such treatment, and that many of the Spanish fowls 

 preferred to roost on the trees, even through the winter. The 



