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to keep the fowls well supplied with grit. Charcoal is an alter- 

 ative and tonic, and should be before the hens all the time. 

 Oyster shells are necessary to supply the lime needed for the egg 

 shells, and nothing can take their place. 



DRINKING WATER. 



Pure drinking water is as necessary to the health and comfort 

 of fowls as it is to the health and comfort of human beings, and 

 should be supplied in abundance. The water dishes should be 

 scalded out from time to time, and if a few drops of carbolic acid 

 are added to the water with which they are scalded so much the 

 better. Have your water dish as simple as possible. There is noth- 

 ing better than a two-quart measure, made of galvanized iron, set 

 on a little shelf by the door of the hen house and six inches from 

 the floor. 



SANITATION IN SUMMER. 



It has been my observation that hens that are kept shut up in 

 houses and yards suffer more from lack of sanitation in summer 

 than in winter. There are a hundred directions printed 

 for making the house warm to one for making it cool. 

 And yet anyone who has watched a hen on a hot day 

 in mid-summer, with mouth wide open and wings outspread, 

 must realize that the. poor creature is far from comfortable. 

 Houses built on the colony community plan, such as I have 

 already described, are ideal houses for summer as well as for 

 winter, as there is a window in the front and on the end. As 

 soon as warm- weather comes I take out both windows letting the 

 air circulate freely through the house. Poultry wire tacked on 

 the outside of the window frame keeps the biddies in and the 



