1886 



GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



sn 



Uuriiig severe winter weather, their quar- 

 ters should be so arranged that they may be 

 confined to a pretty small-sized inner room, 

 to economize the animal heat. I discovered 

 last winter, when the thermometer was be- 

 low zero, that twenty-live large fowls like 

 the Light Brahmas would keep such an in- 

 closure at a very comfortable temperature, 

 simply by the heat of their bodies. At such 

 a time the openings may be closed about 

 as tight as you can get them, and they will 

 still have plenty of air. 



If you can stand the expense it is an excel- 

 lent idea to have the fowls so they can be 

 shut up in a certain yard when, at certain 

 times of the year, they become troublesome. 

 For instance, if they get into a habit of dig- 

 ging up your new-made beds in the garden, 

 shut them up until they get over it, or imtil 

 the soil has, by reason of the sun and rain, 

 ceased to look so tempting to them. They 

 may get into the notion of eating your toma- 

 toes at a time when it will be less trouble to 

 shut them- up than to try to keep them away 

 from the garden. 



Mrs. Root says she would not have poul- 

 try encouraged to come around the house 

 very much. The walks around our house 

 are sawed flagging, from the Rerea grind- 

 stone quarries. This Hugging looks very 

 nice and cool and refreshing when it is kept 

 swept olf clean ; but although Light Brah- 

 mas are very handsome and nice looking in 

 the proper place, they are not just what is 

 wanted on a nice lawn or on the walks. If 

 their quarters are, say. 'SO or -10 yards from 

 the house they will seldom prove a nuisance 

 in this Avay, unless they are encouraged to 

 come around by bread crumbs or other food 

 thrown out careles.sly. Keep a pail in the 

 house, called the " poultry-pail,'" and put the 

 crumbs and bits from the table into this pail 

 until there is enough to carry out to them. 

 I like the idea of having a small plate near 

 my own plate on the tl inner-table : and when 

 I come across a bit of food that I think is 

 more appropriate for poultry than for ray- 

 self, I lay it aside for them. Don't let any 

 thing be put into the kitchen fire, or be care- 

 lessly thrown away, that will please the 

 chickens, llemember they need water, grain, 

 meat, and green stuff such as cabbage and 

 lettuce, bones, to make egg-shells, and ashes 

 to wallow in. etc. When you get into the 

 way of buying ashes from your neighbors, 

 you will find that, by sifting them with a 

 sieve of the propsr mesh, that there are lots 

 of small bits of bone in the ashes. I was 

 greatly surprised, in sifting the ashes we 



have saved up in this way, to find a splendid 

 lot of bits of bone, burned enough so they 

 break up very easily, just right for poultry. 



A great many ways have been devised to 

 keep poultry-houses clean. I have never 

 found any thing equal to peat. Draw several 

 wagon-loads, and pile it up near the poultry- 

 house. Whenever the ground looks untidy 

 under the roosts, cover the untidiness with 

 a scoop-shovelful of peat. Take a rake oc- 

 casionally, and rake it all up together. This 

 will give you a fine compost for your plants. 

 IS'otice, will you, how the hens and the gar- 

 den work together if you manage them 

 rightly. 



If you have only a few hens, and find it 

 difficult to keep them as warm in winter as 

 they ought to be, fix the place where they 

 roost in winter, and where their nests are 

 arranged, something like the cut below, 

 which has been kindly loaned to me by our 

 friends of the Itund New -Yorker. 



1'OUIjTI!Y-U<)USE, protected FUOM cold liV SODS 

 AND EARTH. 



The picture gives the idea of this, so that 

 you can modify it to suit your taste. I have 

 no doubt such a place would be very pleas- 

 ant and cozy during bleak wintry days, pro- 

 viding, of course, you keep it dry inside. A 

 sub-earth ventilator would bring in air, and 

 at the same time make a very perfect drain- 

 age, if tile were laid around the outside, 

 to keep the water from soaking in through. 

 The small cut adjoining 

 this shows a plan for 

 making a Avarm place 

 for a single hen and 

 chickens. A barrel is 

 imbedded in a suitable 

 bank of earth, being careful to have perfect 

 drainage as heretofore. .Sod it over so that 

 the grass will help keep out tlie rain. When 

 the weather is very cold, put a board Ijefore 

 the door, and fasten the mother and brood 

 in. They will be warm and comfortable, 

 even during a severe freeze. If it could be 

 managed so no dampness nor wet could pos- 

 sibly get inside, some chaff cushions, such 

 as we put over our bees, might make it very 

 comfortable for the biddy and her brood. 



*M-^^ 



