102 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



man with a little land has time to look after it, for 

 lettuce can be grown all Winter. Swiss chard 

 started in the Summer can be kept along several 

 months by covering it with a cold frame. 



If the town-lot poultry keeper cares for the com- 

 fort and craves the respect of his neighbors, he will 

 make it a point to keep his hens and chickens con- 

 fined to his own premises, and he will not have a 

 rooster. The matter of fencing is important, for 

 some hens fly high. Yet a very high fence is ob- 

 jectionable. If six feet of wire will not keep the 

 fowls out of the neighbors' garden patches, a strip 

 of netting a foot wide should be run around the 

 top, covering the yard to that extent. When the 

 hens try to fly out, they will meet this obstruction 

 and be thrown back. Most hens find it difficult to 

 scale a fence unless they can see the top and so 

 gauge their distance. For that reason, there should 

 never be a bar at the top of the wire. If a bar 

 is needed for appearance or support, let it be more 

 than a foot below the top. 



It is a great convenience to have a gate wide 

 enough so that a wheel-barrow will pass through 

 and to have it swing both ways, with springs to shut 

 it. When an amateur puts up a poultry fence, the 



