TYPES OF MODERN HOUSING 149 



The kind of lumber used must depend on circum- 

 stances. Hemlock is often the most available and the 

 cheapest. If dressed on one side, the smooth side 

 should be laid to the inside of the house, when covering 

 with patent roofing outside. Pine, cypress, locust, pop- 

 lar, all come into play in different parts of the country, 

 cheapness and lasting quality being desired. All ex- 

 posed shingles or underground pieces may be saturated 

 with one of the coal oil products before using, to lengthen 

 their normal life. As years pass, one half the expense and 

 loss may be saved thus. In our locality, no one puts any- 

 thing but chestnut into the ground. The chestnut blight 

 will doubtless settle that. But, in my opinion, a cheap 

 post, dipped, is equal to a high-priced one, undipped. 



Because a very large proportion of the poultry work 

 of this country is carried on upon soil which is distinctly 

 unfavorable, I think it wise to speak strongly here. 

 Dampness is a fatal fault in a poultry house. But when 

 conditions are difficult to change, men put up houses 

 on damp ground, without board floors, and thus base 

 their work on a crucial blunder. Because Professor 

 Halpin has put this point well and with reasons, the 

 following quotation from Bulletin 215, Wisconsin Sta- 

 tion, is given here : " A damp location means a damp 

 poultry house all the way through, and the result is that 

 the fowls are affected with many troublesome diseases. 

 Damp ground that is likely to remain muddy around 

 the house is not satisfactory, because the hens' feet be- 

 come soiled and, as a consequence, the eggs and nests 

 become dirty, and dirty eggs are unattractive on the 

 market. If cleaned, a large amount of labor is neces- 

 sary, and with the best of care, cleaned eggs never look 



