50 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 
all the sitting hens off the nests, and make them go out 
to feed. While they are out, clear the nests of broken 
eggs, dirt, and feathers, loosen up the straw a little, and 
dust Persian insect-powder over the eggs. Now comes 
the critical time. De not forget what you have done, 
an‘. do not trust the hens, but within half an hour be 
sr e to return, and see that each is on her own proper 
n:st, or you will have trouble every time they come off. 
Hens are creatures of habit, and a little training goes a 
great way with them. If they can be made to keep the 
same nest three or four days, there will be little danger 
that they will make any mistake about it for the re- 
mainder of the time. ‘That will save you the trouble of 
moving them, but not’ the responsibility of seeing that 
they return promptly to their nests after feeding. When 
all is right, darken the sitting-room again and leave them 
until the next day at feeding-time. 
— oO 
SECURE LAYING AND SITTING BOX FOR HENS, 
There have been several devices, some of them patented, 
for accomplishing this end, which we here show how to 
do by a simple, home-made contrivance. Take or make 
a box three feet long by two feet wide (a, a). Take off 
one side, as shown in figure 32; tack on two cleats. 
and fit in a partition (d). Take out the partition, and 
cut a square hole, a little more than a foot square, near 
one end, and a notch an inch wide and six inches long 
on the opposite end. Make an opening for the hen to 
enter by (4), in the end of the box above the partition, 
and at the point where the notch is cut. The partition 
dforms the floor of the laying and sittingroom. A box 
a foot square and eight inches deep is made to fit loose- 
ly in the opening in the floor. This is the nest, e, It 
