THE 
GARDEN YARD 270 
protected from storm and wind you will not 
be greatly troubled with disease or weakness. 
Daily care, never slackening, is the price that 
must be paid for success. 
The poultry house should be in a sunny spot, 
on a hillside sloping to the south, if possible; 
but no one need be kept from chicken raising 
if such a spot cannot be had, for many successful 
plants are not so well situated. A light sandy 
soil offers the same advantages as a southern 
slope. Such locations or soils are not only 
much dryer but also much warmer, for the snow 
melts and the frost leaves the ground earlier 
in the spring than on northern slopes or in clay 
soils. The advantage of this earlier season is 
just as real as in a more southern latitude. 
One of the main defects of poultry houses has 
been that they were built for people, rather than 
for hens; being too high, they are not easily 
kept warm in winter. The house itself should 
be well built to exclude storm and wind, but 
the southern side should be largely enclosed with 
muslin, which is much better than glass, as it 
affords an entrance for air without draughts, 
and furnishes plenty of light. 
The roosting room may have a ceiling close 
above the roosts; this can be made of round 
poles or narrow boards, laid an inch or more 
