WHAT BACKYARDERS CAN DO 29 
from sheer ignorance and thoughtlessness, and are comically 
surprised and disappointed at not getting a constant flow 
of eggs, and that the birds one by one sicken and have to be 
destroyed. 
“Doubtless, many ‘backyarders’ with previous knowledge, 
or who have been intelligent and painstaking enough to make 
themselves efficient on the subject, conduct poultry-keeping on 
sanitary, humane and paying lines, but I think a moment’s con- 
sideration must lead to the conclusion that many townsfolk have 
been led astray by glowing journalistic efforts, and, while waiting 
for the ‘golden egg,’ have let a pleasant little garden become a 
place of horrors. 
‘“* COUNTRYMAN, ” 
No doubt what “Countryman” says about fowls being kept 
in insanitary conditions by ignorant amateurs may be perfectly 
true in some instances, and with him I would emphasise the 
importance of keeping the birds and their houses perfectly clean. 
Of course, people who neglect and starve their fowls will not keep 
them long. I have seen some loathsome fowl-houses, but not so 
many in town as in the country. 
As a rule, the town dweller, taking up poultry intelligently and 
as a hobby, devotes much time and attention to his charges, and 
the results of “‘ backyarders,”’ as a whole, will compare favourably 
with the results achieved by cottagers, or even farmers. It goes 
without saying that fowls must be well cared for in every respect 
if they are to be a success. 
In these days thousands of “ backyarders’ are doing them- 
selves and the nation service by producing eggs for food. The 
warning of “Countryman” should be taken seriously by those 
it may concern, but in the meantime I present another picture of 
the ‘‘ backyarder,” from Mr R. Leonard Davey, who writes: 
‘*My father, a man of 73 years of age, and living in the heart 
of London (Newingtonbutts), received from me in May of last 
year 15 month-old chicks. I sent them up from a farm at Marton, 
