HOUSES AND YARDS 29 



To secure the safety of eggs, (which, in estab- 

 lishments of mark, are apt to excite the cupidity 

 of the covetous), each external door should be 

 provided with a lock and key. Inferior manages 

 are, of course, not so liable to this drawback; 

 but I would say to all poultry keepers. Guard 

 your fowls during night; they are, perhaps, more 

 easily "conveyed" than any other species of 

 domestic animals. "Experto crede." 



During the winter months close all the traps 

 from sunset to sunrise. My Scotch experience, 

 at least, has shown me the advantage of this 

 precaution; and past seasons have proved the 

 climate of England to be quite as severe as that 

 north of the Tweed. 



For this daily routine you must have con- 

 fidence in your poultry attendants, and feel 

 assured that the birds are admitted to their 

 yards at an early hour in the morning. The 

 only admissible furniture in a poultry house is 

 a moveable perch, not higher than two feet from 

 the ground, made in the form of trestles, of 

 split larch, the bark left on, and uppermost, 

 (fig. 3). If the perch is high, heavy birds are 



