POULTRY. 391 



selves justice in meeting the intention of their being kept, un- 

 less some small thought and care in providing be had for them. 

 In summer they need a good range, a chance for scratching 

 and burying themselves in the warm sand ; and, in winter, 

 warm and comfortable shelter from the cold and snow. Noth- 

 ing is so baneful to them as cold and wet; and no creatures 

 more quickly and certainly show the good effects of proper 

 protection, comfortable housing, and good food. Yes, — 



When the winds whistle cold, 

 And the stars glimmer red ; 

 "When the flocks are in fold, 

 And the cattle in shed ; 

 AVhen the hoar- frost is chill 

 Upon moorland and hill ; 

 When the wintry blasts blow 

 O'er the wild- drifting snow, — 



then shelter, comfort, and protect the poor biddies, and let not 



" the winds of heaven 



Visit their face too roughly." — Hamlet. 



Give them a warm nook, warm food, and enough of it, clean 

 water, dry sand to wallow in, and lime cleanings to pick 

 amongst, that they may not lack the raw material for the eggshell. 

 An occasional chance at raw meat is very good for them; and 

 if you will roast the refuse bones from the kitchen, and crush 

 them, and mix with them meal dough, it will prove a highly ac- 

 ceptable tidbit for them. They will amply repay your care, in 

 being in better health, better flesh, and better able to stand 

 the cold of our severe winter, and they will earlier begin and 

 later continue their laying of eggs. Introduce to your stock, 

 if they be native birds, a cock of some of the best approved 

 foreign varieties, and fancy runs towards the Dorking and 

 Spanish more particularly ; though, if aiming at increased size, 

 you may look to some one of the East India monsters. At any 

 rate, do the very best you can with the breed you may happen 

 to have, and do the best you can to improve the quality of 

 that breed. To be sure, as Virgil (whom we like to quote) 

 says of the culture of bees, — 



" In tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria, si quem 

 Nuniina laeva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo." 



