MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 67 



CURTAIN- FRONT HOUSES. 



The result of the use of the "pioneer" house indicated that 

 this was essentially a correct system of treating and housing 

 hens, and it was decided to build several houses on the same 

 plan and join them together under one roof as one house. 



A curtain-front house 12 feet wide by 150 feet long, known as 

 house No. 2, was erected in 1903. The back wall is 5 feet 6 

 inches high from floor to top of plate inside, and the front wall 

 is 6 feet 8 inches high. The roof is of unequal span, the ridge 

 being 4 feet in from the front wall ; and the height of the ridge 

 above tht floor is 9 feet. The sills are 4 by 6 inches in size and 

 rest on a rough stone wall laid on the surface of the ground. A 

 central sill gives support to the floor. The floor timbers are 2 by 8 

 inches in size and are placed 2 feet apart; the floor is of two 

 thicknesses of hemlock boards. ' All the rest of the frame is of 2 

 by 4 inch stuff. The building is boarded, papered, and shingled 

 on roof and walls. The rear wall and 4 feet of the lower part 

 of the rear roof are ceiled on the inside of the studding and 

 plates, and the space between inner and outer walls is packed 

 very hard with dry sawdust. In order to make the sawdust 

 packing continuous between the wall and roof, the wall ceiling 

 is carried up to within 6 inches of the plate; then follows up 

 inclining pieces of studding to the rafters, the short pieces of 

 studding being nailed to the studs and rafters. By this arrange- 

 ment there are no slack places around the plate to admit cold 

 air. The end walls are packed in the same way. The house 

 is divided by close-board partitions into seven 2O-foot sec- 

 tions;* one lo-foot section is reserved at the lower end for a 

 feed-storage room. 



Each of the 20- foot sections has two 12-light outside windows 

 screwed to the front, and the space between the windows 

 (which is 8 feet long) for a distance of 3 feet down from the 

 plate is covered during rough winter storms and cold nights 

 by a light frame covered with lo-ounce duck, oiled and closely 

 tacked on. This door, or curtain, is hinged at the top and 

 swings in and up to the roof when open. 



*The house is now used as a breeding house, and temporary partitions 

 divide each of the 2O-foot pens into two lO-foot pens. 



