122 COMMON SENSE 
parts, these being the shell, the white and the yolk. The shell of 
the egg is made up chiefly of carbonate of lime. Our readers will 
find a full analysis in any work on organic chemistry, but with this 
we need not concern ourselves at present. ‘The practical question 
is: Can our fowls get a sufficient supply of this material in their 
ordinary food, and if not, where can we find it? It is more than 
probable that those birds which are not fed by man, obtain in 
drinking water a large porportion of the lime used in the formation 
of egg shells. Almost all the water of streams, ponds and wells 
contains a small percentage of lime. And where the number of 
eggs is not large, lime in sufficient quantity may also be obtained 
from ordinary food. But where we want eggs in large numbers, it 
will not do to depend upon theses sources, and lime must be sup- 
plied as a regular article of food. It will not do to give the caus- 
tic lime used for whitewashing, however. We have known fowls 
to be killed by eating such lime. ‘The lime must be rendered 
“miJd” as it is called, by exposure to the air for months or 
years. Hence old mortar answers well, and all the better from the 
sharp gravel which it contains: By mortar we do not mean plaster 
or “hard finish,” but the mortar used for building. A pile of 
this, if placed in one corner of the yard, will be constantly frequented 
by the hens. 
Another excellent source of lime is found in oyster shells. They 
supply not only lime, but a small percentage of phosphorus* as 
well, and the fowls pick them up greedily. ‘They can generally be 
had in any quantity for the asking, and are easily reduced to 
coarse powder or roughly broken by a hammer or stamper. In 
using a hammer, the best way is to place a heap of the shells in a 
shallow box and hammer them—the hammer having a long 
handle—or they may be pounded with a pestle made like a pavior’s 
rammer. ‘his is a very efficient way. Or, if the fowls have access 
to a wagon road leading through the grounds, the shells may be 
simply laid down thickly all over the road way. The wheels and 
hoofs soon break them up and they make a very good surface to 
the road. 
* Vide Watt’s Dictionary of Vhemistry, article Oysters. 
