POULTRY-HOUSES. 



61 



in diameter. On the outside of this circle, cut 

 a trench three or four inches wide and deep, 

 and plant poles twelve or eighteen inches into 

 the ground every two feet. These poles should 

 be as thick as a man's arm, and eight or ten 

 feet high, thus forming a circle of poles stand- 

 ing on end. Choose a space to the south, be- 

 tween two of the poles, for the purpose of a 

 door, and the poles on each side of this space 

 should be straight, and a little stouter than the 

 rest ; then go to the swamp or brushwood, and 

 cut a good parcel of it, leaves, small twigs, and 

 burrs, all just as it stands. It ought to be six 

 feet long, that it may reach three of the poles, 

 and if longer all the better ; then having con- 

 veyed it to the standing poles, commence by 

 lacing some of the stout and straight ones round 



the poles in the trench, alternately in and out, 

 like basket-work, going the whole round, the 

 door-way, of course, excepted. When you have 

 got it eight or ten inches high, stamp it well 

 down, making all tight and firm, that the small- 

 est chicken may not be able to pass through it. 

 Go on thus till you get it five feet high, then 

 pass the circle of brush over door-way and all, 

 to make it firmer and stronger, continuing it 

 up to the height of eight or ten feet ; the upper 

 may be lighter and not braided so close ; braid 

 sometimes on one, and then on the other side 

 of the uprights. Upon this principle, a yard 

 may be made of any size, and in any situation, 

 for really nothing. Any boy can make a door 

 for this, and fix it with hinges from the sole 

 leather of an old shoe. 



POOK MAN'S PCVULTKY-HOTT8E. 



" Then comes the fowl-house ; this should be 

 placed in the centre of the circle, that no ver- 

 min may get at it, and that the fowls may find 

 shade and shelter all around, as the wind or 

 sun may happen to be. A few stakes, a little 

 more brush, and an armful of straw for thatch 

 or roof, will make this answer ; but one formed 

 of boards, with a good tight straw thatch, would 

 be far preferable. Mind, I say ' straw thatch' 

 for roof, as it is far the best thing; and if prop- 

 erly done, it will last twenty years. The sun, 

 rain, and snow, have no effect on it. It is very 

 warm in winter, and lets no heat through in 



summer. It should be formed of good, clean, 

 long straw, clean-thrashed, and as little broken 

 as possible ; wheat or rye is preferable ; put it 

 on ten or twelve inches thick ; I have seen it 

 eighteen inches. Tie it close and securely with 

 strips of white oak or hickory bark well twisted ; 

 but this every one knows how to perform. Mind 

 and let the roof have a good pitch, or in other 

 words, be very steep, that snow and rain may 

 be quickly thrown off. To make this warmer 

 in winter, the sides, either outside or within, 

 may be laid with cedar brush and salt hay tacked 

 up to the boards ; or made of brush wicker-work, 



