PROBLEMS OF LOCATION 77 



Sunlight. So important is this element in poultry keeping that 

 it is usual in all northerly latitudes to face the buildings in a south- 

 erly direction and, wherever possible, to place them on a slope with 

 southerly exposure. Such disposition of buildings is a distinct ad- 

 vantage during the winter months, when conditions are most try- 

 ing, but is not so essential that all other considerations should be 

 subordinate. Lack of such land is no bar to operations with poultry. 

 Even a northerly slope, rising from a building facing south, is less 

 objectionable in practice than it seems in theory. If such a slope 

 is not too abrupt, and is free from elevations, growths, or structures 

 which would prevent the sunshine from reaching the buildings, as 

 good results may be obtained on it as anywhere. In fact, while 

 snow is on the ground and the birds confined to the house, the lay 

 of the land makes little difference. A southerly slope is available 

 earlier in the spring and later in the fall, and, when bare in the 

 winter, is comfortable and attractive when the opposite slope is the 

 reverse and birds avoid it. As a rule, situations having the best sun 

 exposure in winter are too much exposed to the sun in summer, 

 and unless the heat at that season is tempered for the fowls by 

 shade, or by yards to the north of the house, the net advantage 

 of a sunny situation may be slight. 



Ventilation. Circulation of air is also an important matter and 

 must be considered with reference to all seasons and to extreme 

 conditions. A situation which in winter is well sheltered and nota- 

 bly comfortable may become intolerable in summer, when the heat 

 of the sun is intense and the movement of air obstructed by foliage 

 both day and night. To this condition in small open spaces in the 

 woods is due the generally unsatisfactory results of efforts to keep 

 poultry in parts of wooded tracts not adjacent to open areas of con- 

 siderable extent. In such places, and in depressions between ridges, 

 atmospheric conditions are very often unsuited to poultry. As be- 

 tween such conditions and exposure to strong winds, the latter is 

 less objectionable, for where circulation of air is naturally obstructed, 

 no remedy may be possible ; but it is always possible to provide, 

 in wind-swept situations, houses of wind-proof construction and 

 such additional windbreaks or shelters as the fowls may require. 



Markets. Every city and town furnishes a market for poultry 

 products. A town or small city in an agricultural district is likely 



