290 USEFUL HINTS 



convince the average poultry owner of this fact, in spite 

 of the proof in the operation of the same by some of the 

 largest commercial plants in the country. With the north, 

 east and west side bottle-tight, the south side open from 

 two to three feet from the door, so that no drafts will hit 

 the fowls and with muslin curtains to lower on stormy 

 days, there is no need of ventilators. This type of ventila- 

 tion is fast coming to the front as the most practical. A 

 house sixteen feet wide and eight feet high in the front, 

 which faces the south, or as near south as possible, and 

 five feet high in the rear, allowing the sun to reach the 

 back sill of the sixteen-foot floor some time during the 

 day, offers ideal conditions. With such a house, properly 

 managed, there will be no colds or roup to cause failure. 



Special thermometers fixed in the ground a few inches 

 deep show that an orchard cover crop keeps the soil 

 several degrees warmer than a bare soil close by, in an 

 experiment now going on at Indiana Agricultural Col- 

 lege. It is also being found that there is more moisture 

 under the crop than there is where no crop has grown. 

 Rye, millet, wheat, rape, crimson clover, soy beans, cow- 

 peas and vetch have been planted over different orchard 

 acres to see which gives best results for the cost of plant- 

 ing, which, if any, is most practical. So far vetch has 

 given excellent results but the seed is pretty expensive. 

 Cowpeas will not grow unless they are put in early, in 

 an average year. Rape grows well after frost, and seems 

 to be a good practicable crop. Millet, because it is inex- 

 pensive to put in, is considered one of the most practica- 

 ble. Chickens, calves and pigs may be pastured safely in 

 the orchard, but other stock are liable to injure the trees. 



