52 POULTRY-YARD. 



reason to suspect that many of the obscure 

 and unknown diseases of poultry may be at- 

 tributed to the saline ingredients contained 

 in the water of a dung-heap. They do not 

 partake of this water unless they have no 

 other ; and when there is no watering-trough, 

 it must be brought to them, and the vessel 

 kept constantly full. I have lately adopted 

 a contrivance which I have seen recom- 

 mended in an agricultural paper, and du- 

 ring the summer I find it to work very well. 

 Take a perfectly air-tight barrel, such as 

 has been used for cider or wine, and set it 

 up on end on any suitable platform, or a 

 three-legged stool, about two feet and a half 

 from the ground. A small hole is bored in 

 the bottom just large enough to admit a 

 small v wooden or leaden tube ; even a long 

 pipestem might be employed for this pur- 

 pose. The tube should ascend three or four 

 inches through the bottom, in order to pre- 

 vent its upper aperture from being choked 

 up by any substances accidentally intro- 

 duced with the water. The tube descends 

 into any shallow basin or bowl, or trough of 



