INTERIOR OF HOUSE 



There are some general principles that should be followed as the re- 

 sult of the experience of others, and this experience is a capital in your busi- 

 ness which costs you nothing and which you cannot afford to neglect Any 

 devices that save labor, protect against vermin, promote the health of your 

 fowls and add to your profits, should have your keenest investigation. Some 

 of them may appear to be small matters, but they have cost others much 

 thought and worry. 



FLOORS— Have the floors of your house clear— that is have no fix- 

 tures on the floor level. Roosts, feeding troughs and drinking founts 

 should be on platforms elevated from the floor, as it will be very much 

 easier to keep the floor clean if it is free from fixtures of all kinds. 



The kind of floor rests with you as a simple problem of cost. If you 

 wish the very best, a cement floor is the most sanitary and lasting, though 

 its first cost is high. If you wish the next best, we would advise the board 

 floor, as it can be easily cleaned. The earthen floor remains to those who 

 feel that they cannot afford the others mentioned. While it is much used, 

 it has the disadvantage of absorbing the droppings of the fowls and will 

 require digging out and renewing at more or less frequent intervals. The 

 processes of laying boaid and cement floors will be found under different 

 headings. 



EARTHEN FLOORS— Fill in up to the sills with small stone, or 

 coarse gravel, pound it down well and cover with earth and, if you mix the 

 earth with coal ashes, it will make a good, hard floor after being well tamped 

 down. This raises your floor so that surface water will run away from it. 

 If the ground is, unfortunately, in a hollow, it will be well to raise your 

 sills much more than eight inches and, in some cases, eighteen inches would 

 be little enough. 



BOARD FLOORS — In laying a board floor, allow for an eight inch 

 space beneath it, with openings for ventilation and for the cat to get in and 

 out to drive out rats and other marauders. Have floor tight and level. 



CEMENT FLOORS AND FOUNDATIONS— Concrete is not as 



expensive as stone, where the stone is laid in mortar and pointed up, and 

 is much more satisfactory. It is equally as rat proof, less liable to heave by 

 frost or moisture, and is easier to make. For such a light building as a 

 poultry house, the foundaition walls need not be more than eight inches 

 thick, but they should extend below the frost line so that they will not be 

 disturbed. To make a grout (cement) wall, you must make a frame or mold 

 to hold the soft material until it has set or hardened. First drive a stake 

 where each corner of the building will come. You can then stretch a cord 

 to stakes driven two feet beyond each corner in all directions. Other lines 

 may be stretched from stakes eight inches inside the corner posts, to mark 

 the inside limit of the wall. The trench must be dug enough wider to 

 permit of driving stakes for the retaining frame, and such stakes must be 

 driven on the outside surfaces of the retaining frame so that the mold will 

 have an inside surface that will make the wall smooth on both faces. The 

 wooden frame should be perfectly level on the top so that your building will 

 also set level. 



The best Portland Cement is the cheapest, and use only clean, sharp 

 sand. Mix one part of cement to four parts of sand when dry. To this 

 add five parts of clean gravel or fine cracked stone. First' mix thoroughly 

 when dry, and then mix with water until every particle of cement is evenly 



