160 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



sponge. Then it is to be thoroughly washed with a sponge 

 and good yellow soap, the great point being to ensure that 

 it really is quite clean, and rubbing freely almost every way, 

 except up or nearly up the feather, which must be avoided. 

 Being sure the fowl is quite clean, the next great point is to 

 be sure, by change of waters, that every particle of soap is 

 washed out of the plumage. If any is left in, the feathers 

 will clog or look ragged ; but if all is got out, the bird being 

 partially dried with a towel first, is afterwards left in a lined 

 basket in front of a good fire to dry gradually. Some dry 

 almost in the hand, turning the fowl round and round 

 occasionally on straw. It is a good thing to give the last 

 rinse with cold water, to prevent catching cold, and also to 

 prevent any debilitating effect from the hot water used in 

 washing. It must always be done if the bird appears faint, 

 as it sometimes will. Many people think that the addition 

 of an ounce of borax and a spoonful of honey to the last tub 

 of water makes the plumage " web " better in drying and 

 look more lustrous. We were never able to satisfy ourselves 

 that it made much, if any, difference. 



Some people never seem able to wash fowls well ; but it 

 may be said in brief, that thorough washing and thorough 

 rinsing are the only secrets. For white fowls it is well to 

 use a very little " blue " in the last water, to heighten the 

 apparent purity of the white. If overdone, this will defeat 

 itself, and look ridiculous ; a very little suffices. The object 

 is to make the white look bright and free from yellow ; not 

 to make it look blue. Really yellow plumage cannot, how- 

 ever, be whitened in this way. Of course the sun has much 

 influence on this point, and green shade, has much to do 

 with exhibiting white fowls. But breeding has even more, 

 and there are strains which appear far yellower, even when 

 shaded, than others allowed full liberty in the sun. 



If they have had an extensive run on country grass. 



