72 Money in Broilers and Squabs. 



was when he used sawdust, and since discontinuing its use he has 

 had no further trouble. 



Cleanliness is an important factor, and this rule Mr. Rice strict- 

 ly enforces. His pens are kept very neat and thoroughly dis- 

 infected. The birds are given a bath during the Summer, two or 

 three times a week ; in Winter, once a week, about the middle of a. 

 nice bright day. 



Mr. Rice supplies his birds with tobacco stems for nesting 

 material. 



All new stock should be quarantined before placed with the 

 breeding flock. A good dusting with Persian insect powder, or 

 snuff, will clean them of vermin. 



Plate 9 shows birds just described, and also gives view of 

 length and width of fly. 



In the rear of the fly will be noticed a small house. In this 

 Mr. Rice is experimenting with twenty-five pair of first-class birds, 

 every pair of which are straight Homers, with the exception of one 

 bird — a White Dragoon. This experiment is conducted to ascertain 

 what can be accomplished in small quarters during cold and warm 

 weather. 



The birds were placed in this house on the first day of January. 

 1904, and up to the date of our visit — July 21, 1904 — they producec? 

 an average of six pair of squabs for each pair. At this rate Mr. 

 Rice thinks it safe to say that by the end of the year each pair of 

 breeders will have ten pair of young to their credit. 



The house is only 6x8 feet (floor space), and is four feet high ir 

 the rear, and eight feet high in front — slant roof. The fly is six feet 

 wide, eighteen feet long, and eight feet high. 



There has been no sign of sickness in the flock so far, and only 

 two squabs were lost, caused by a fight between two cock birds, 

 they trampling the young to death in the nest. 



Mr. Rice, however, is not an advocate of small houses, especial 

 ly for beginners, who are too apt to neglect birds causinsf troubl- 

 from which they would not know how to extricate themselves. 



Plate 10 shows a model house of five pens, containing two hun- 

 dred and fifty pairs of birds. , The house measures forty feet in 

 length, twelve feet in breadth, and more fully described later on. 

 The aviary or "fly" is thirty-two feet long, and eight feet hisfh. 



The bath tubs are seen to the left of the picture. These ar" 

 zinc lined, and when not in use are turned upsidedown, as shown 

 in the illustration. As soon as the birds are done bathing, the tubs 

 are emptied. The water is of an oily nature, and looks very much 

 like milk. 



The ground-floor of each fly is covered with four inches of 

 fine, clear grit sand. It requires four wagon loads in each com- 

 partment (which costs Mr. Rice one dollar a load). Four times a 

 year these flies are scraped clean, swept and resanded. 



Plate II shows inside of a fly cor-aining a pen of two hundred 

 young Homers, four months old, and selected for future breeding. 

 The portrait shows well the clean, sanded ground space. Mr. Rice 



