or four feet of floor space. Not more than fifty chickens should be 

 kept in a colony. If the house is continuous, the outside pens should be 

 constructed so that the chickens can be rotated and the grasses or vege- 

 tation on one or more of the plots given an opportunity to grow. 

 Rye, rape, alfalfa and clover make the best summer pasture. 



Diseases 



So many specific remedies are given for diseases and so many failures 

 reported that the writer will not attempt to deal with them except to 

 say that diseases can to a great extent be prevented by cleanliness, the 

 right kind of diet and pure water. 



Vermin kill young chicks and destroy the usefulness of the hens. 

 This condition can be obviated by keeping the house and nests sprayed 

 and occasionally painted. Do not neglect to keep a bath of dust where 

 the chickens can get to it. Ducks and geese bathe in water, but chick- 

 ens and turkeys bathe in dust. Do not use lard to kill lice on the heads 

 and under the wings of young chickens, but use olive oil. 



Do not feed young chicks too much corn meal. During the first 

 week they should have none. 



Do not permit young chicks to become chilled. 



Furnish shade for young chicks during the heat of the day. 



Do not store eggs intended for hatching in a cold, damp place, or 

 where it is too hot. 



Never permit a hen to sit on an old nest. 



THE FARM GARDEN 



EVERY farmer should allot a desirable plot of ground for a garden. 

 Nothing on the farm will give the farmer, his family and his city 

 friends more satisfaction than a garden well stocked with a large variety 

 of vegetables and berries. 



We will not attempt to go into the matter of conducting a garden, 

 believing that the information given in most seed catalogs is a sufficient 

 guide to the farmer. We will, however, mention a few of the essential 

 things necessary to make a garden productive. 



The garden, for convenience, should be located near the house. If 

 conditions will permit, a plot should be selected which has a gentle slope 

 to the south. A garden needs the sun early and late; hence, the loca- 

 tion should not be where it will be shaded. A windbreak, however, 

 either of trees, hedge or a tight fence, is desirable as a protection on the 

 north line. 



An ideal garden soil is a rich, sandy loam, but we fully realize that 

 such a soil is not always available. If the soil is not of the right charac- 



