Who should Keep Poultry f tQ 



sets in, though it may not be noticed, and much of the 

 virtue is gone out of.it after a few days. The fact that 

 chickens hatched from stale eggs are never so strong as 

 those from perfectly fresh ones, and that the fresher the 

 egg the stronger the chick will be, is corroborative of this. 

 "We believe, therefore, that where eggs can enter largely 

 into the food of children they will prove of incalculable 

 benefit to them, that is, if given perfectly fresh. Thus it 

 will be seen that, apart from any selfish motive or desire 

 for pecuniary gain, where there are children in the house- 

 hold, it is very desirable indeed that fowls should be kept 

 if there is accommodation for them. During sickness also, 

 or for invalids, they are invaluable, and we well remember 

 how a lady friend was kept alive through a long and severe 

 illness by eggs we were able to supply her from our own 

 yard. When appetite failed for everything else, she could 

 always eat an egg ; and the doctor said that she could 

 not possibly have recovered had it not been for the support 

 thus afforded. 



This naturally leads us on to the question, " Who should 

 keep poultry? "and perhaps we can best answer it in the 

 first place by seeing who should not keep them. We have 

 often known birds kept in the most unlikely places — in 

 dark, damp cellars, in attics or rooms, in close unhealthy 

 sheds, and on ground that is damp if not actually wet. 

 The ingenuity of man is very great, and he often makes 

 experiments in the keeping of live stock which may com- 

 mand our admiration because ol their very audacity, but 

 which we can see are doomed to failure. Certainly we 

 should no more like to eat an egg laid by a bird living in 

 such places as these, than we should care for milk from 

 cows kept in close, badly-ventilated town sheds, or bread 

 out of some uncleanly bakehouse. It may be assumed, 

 therefore, that we do not advocate the keeping of fowls in 



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