IN THE POULTRY YARD. 127 
sweepings, etc., at a low rate. “What is known as “refuse” grain 
or screenings, I found to be the poorest purchase that could be 
made. But in some localities, especially near great grain transport- 
ing centres, slightly damaged grain can be had at quite a cheap 
rate, and, if it has not Jain too long, and is. properly cared for when 
received, it is quite an economical article. It matters very little 
what the kind of grain is; every kind of grain contains enough fat, 
heat and force producing elements to keep the fowls in good 
health, and the necessary materials for eggs I could readily find in 
much cheaper and quite as good a form. 
And by grain I mean whole grain—not ground. Meal, flour 
and grain that has been reduced almost to a pulp by steeping and 
fermentation, will not answer as a steady diet for fowls. ‘his, I 
soon found out for myself, by experience, but others have dis- 
covered the same thing long ago. Ask any one who is in the 
habit of fattening poultry, and he will tell you that nothing adds 
to the weight of fowls like cooked meal, but that if confined to this 
diet for more than two or three weeks, the animals begin to lose 
flesh as rapidly as they took it on, and finally they fall sick. 
When fowls are taken from a wide range and penned up for fatten- 
ing, the first effect is to make the birds lose flesh. ‘The cause of 
this is evidently the excitement and worry produced by the un- 
usual confinement. As soon as this wears off, and the birds be- 
come reconciled to the new condition of things, they begin to take 
on fat rapidly. And here lies one great difference in value, in dif- 
ferent individuals and breeds, as regards fattening. Some become 
speedily quieted down and quietly take to their food and rest. 
They doze away their time and grow fat. After a while, however, 
their digestion becomes impaired. The soft food causes no action 
of the gizzard, its secretions fail, and the bird begins to lose flesh. 
It should then be killed at once. For ourselves, however, we have 
an intense dislike to coop-fattened poultry. No bird that has been 
penned up for weeks and fed on soft food can equal in flavor the 
flesh of one whose juices have been freshened by hillside breezes 
and the fresh seeds, grasses and insects of the roadside and copse. 
