28 A POULTRY COMPENDIUM. 



flock, and have purchased the male bird, and now you 

 ask, " How many females ought I to put with him ?" 

 If he is young and vigorous, he ought to have not less 

 than six nor more than fifteen to secure the impregna- 

 tion of the eggs ; about a dozen is a good number. You 

 can place more hens of the smaller breeds with the cock 

 than you can of the larger, for the cocks of small breeds 

 are more active and pay more attention to their flocks. 

 This question settled, you secure ten or twelve hens 

 and put them into the yard with the cock. In a short 

 time your ears are saluted with " cut, cut,' cut-da-cut, — 

 cut, cut, cut-da-cut," and you go to the nest and find 

 a new-laid egg. 



The new-laid egg, how nicely turned ! 



How perfect it in every part ! 

 Come, wise man, tell, with all you've learned, 



From Science's laws and rules of Art, 



What shapes the egg so perfectly ; 



What wondrous hidden chemistry 



Converts from corn, as by a. spell, 



The yolk and white within a shell. 



There is much which science cannot explain, but we 

 do know that an egg is composed of a yolk, surrounded 

 by albumen or the white, and this wrapped in a thin 

 membrane, and the whole enclosed in a shell, the prin- 

 cipal component of which is lime. It is supposed that 

 the yolk is composed of blood and a certain proportion 

 of oil extracted from the grain which the hen has eaten. 

 We need not be surprised at this, for chemistry has 

 taught us that sugar is identical in its elements with the 

 shirts on our backs, and a very good article of brandy 



