154 COMMON SENSE 
have prepared, and shake into it the powdered plaster until the 
whole is like good cream.: It should be just thin enough to pour 
very easily. Before mixing the plaster, everything should’ be in 
readiness, as the mixture sets, or becomes quite stiff in a few minutes, 
and consequently it should be used as soon as mixed. Prepare the 
egg-shells by blowing them as we have described, and then paste.a 
small piece of paper over the small hole. ‘Phis should be done long 
enougl: beforehand, to allow the whole to dry. Place the eggs 
in a pan of sawdust, earth, sand or ashes, so that they will stand 
firmly with the large hole up. Then mix the plaster, and with a 
funnel, made of tin, or even of card, or stiff paper, fill all the eggs 
as quickly as possible. If the plaster is too thin, it may shrink i in 
the eggs, and leave a vacancy at the top. Watch for this and 
keep filling up. 
‘Afterwards, however, we adopted wodden nest eggs as being 
still better. Such nest eggs can be turned out of any soft wood 
for a few cents per hundred, and when dipped in whitewash and 
dried, they form the best nest eggs to be had. If first soaked in a 
strong solution of carbolic acid and then whitewashed and dried, 
they will effectually drive away all vermin from the nest. 
Wooden nest eggs can be made by any wood turner out of the 
cheapest and lightest wood. Willow, chestnut, poplar, etc., are all 
good. An expert wood-turner can make three or four a minute, 
and any boy can turn up very good ones in the cheap little lathes 
that come with scroll saws. A few dozen nest eggs would be 
a nice Christmas present for any friend that has hens. The 
wooden eggs should be dipped in common lime whitewash, and 
allowed to dry. As often as they get dirty, souse them in a pail of 
whitewash, tumble them about with a stick and spread them on the 
ground to dry, first laying down some old newspapers to keep them 
clean. 
There is a small variety of gourd, the fruit of which is. almost 
exactly the size and shape of an egg. Such little gourds make 
capital nest eggs, and they are now cultivated by some poultry 
keepers for that very purpose. ‘They, too, may be cleaned by 
whitewash, 
‘es 
