128 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



affair, square at the lower end. To this are attached 

 three sharpened steel plates, as suggested. Set them 

 into the wood and bolt securely. Any blacksmith can 

 make these plates, and they can be sharpened on the 

 grindstone. With this, one can cut up clover as the 

 housewife chops meat in her tray, but a few moments 



being required to cut suf- 

 ficient for a large flock. 



Grit — In addition to food 

 and water fowls require some 

 grit to help grind their food, 

 for they have no teeth. 

 Crushed stone, oyster or clam 

 shells or broken crockerj- 

 FiG. 51 — GRIT BOXES will answer the purpose. 

 Coarsely ground dry bones are also useful. These 

 substances should always be kept before the fowls in 

 boxes provided for this purpose. An excellent box for 

 supplying these is shown in Figure 51. It is self- 

 delivering, but the grating or wire netting over the 

 front keeps the fowls from throwing the material out 

 with their bills, and thus wasting it. 



For preparing the grit a homemeade grit machine 

 can be built any size, and any lumber will do. The 

 construction of the machine can be easily studied out 

 from Figure 52. My crusher is made up as follows: 

 Two supports, a a, each four feet, six inches long, of 

 four by four-inch lumber resting on board supports, c, 

 two feet long and six inches high. Nail on the four 

 cross pieces, b, four feet long, size one by four inches. 

 Make the two crushing arms, d, each five feet long 

 and of four by six-inch lumber. The lower five inches 

 are beveled off so that the two arms work together 

 something like a hinge. Just above the beveled part, 

 attach an iron plate, h, four by six inches and one- 

 quarter inch thick, against which the stone is crushed. 



