THE POVfLfJiY TARD. 219 



ter for a day or two, I repeated the dose, giving nearly one half a teaapoon- 

 fal for the second time. The chicken was about the size of a robin at the 

 time, but is now full-grown, weighing several pounds. I cured chicken« 

 affected with a disease we thought cholera, by giving powdered alum dis- 

 solved in water." 



Eggii.— How Increased. — If an increase of eggs be desired in the poul- 

 try yard, before large sums are expended in the purchase of everlasting lay- 

 ers, we would recommend the system of keeping no hens after the first, or at 

 most, after the second year. Early pullets give the increase, and the only 

 wonder is that people persist, as they do, in keeping up a stock of old hens, 

 which lay one day and stop the next. In some parts of Europe it is the in- 

 variable rule to keep the pullets only one year. Feeding will do a great 

 deal — a surprising work indeed — ^in the production of eggs, but not when old 

 hens are concerned; they may put on fat, but they cannot put down eggs. 

 Their tale is told, their work is done; nothing remains to be done with them 

 but to give them a smell of the kitchen fire, and the sooner they get that th« 

 better. 



IjRt« Chlckenii. — Late chicks may be more profitable than early ones. 

 Chickens from eggs set in August and September may be kept warm in a 

 tight, glazed house, and fed so that they will grow continually through the 

 winter, and if they come later all the better, if they are well kept and fed. 

 The eerly broods will be salable at good prices, when the market is bare of 

 chickens, and the later ones will furnish spring chickens long before the 

 usual supply comes to hand. Spring chickens hatched in fall, or even in 

 winter, are rare, but not entirely unknown to a few persons who made the 

 discovery that with good feed, warm quarters, a warm mess at least once % 

 day, warm drink and cleanliness, there is no difficulty at all about raising 

 them, and at a good profit. 



Cure for Scaly Legs In Fovrl. — A sure cure of scaly legs in fowl is 

 Pfected thus: Insert a feather in the spout of a coal oil can so that too large 

 stream will not run out; get some one to hold the fowl by the wings; take 

 liold of a toe of one foot at a time, and pour a fine stream from the hock 

 joint to the end of each toe, taking care that all parts of the foot are wet with 

 ::. One application a year is enough, if done at all, and at the time when 

 hey need it, say during January or February. The scaly appearance is 

 I aused by an insect, which the oil most effectually kills, and leaves ihe legs 

 clear and bright looking. This will answer even when the legs are twice 

 their natural size, which is frequently the case when neglected. 



Roup. — Fowls exposed to dampness in severe weather are apt to take 



cold, which often culminates in roup. The writer has cured this disease by 

 injecting kerosene into the nostrils by the means of a bulb syringe, and then 

 using it to gargle the throat. The latter is effected by holding the throat 

 close enough to prevent swallowing, and, after the gargling, pouring the 

 hquid out on to the ground. Repeat this once the next day; then feed with 

 boiled rico and scalded milk, keeping water away for a few days. 



To Get Kid ot Sknnlcs. — To rid your poultry yard of skunks, purchase 

 a few grains of strychnine, roll it up in a ball of lard, and then throw it at 

 night outside the yard, where the animals' tracks are seen. As they are 

 very fond of lard, they will swallow it quickly, and in the morning you will 



