September, rJl3 



THfc: GARDEN AND FlfiLD. 



183 



to the conclusion that the prepon- 

 Icraiioc of experience is on the side 

 nl withholdinj;- water. 11 the chick- 

 ens aiv hatched later and the wea- 

 ther is hot and. dry, a, difierence 

 sliould be made, but, in the sprinj;-, 

 if soft food is mainly jj^iven, one 

 drink after breakfast and prol)al)lv 

 a few sips at nioht, will be found 

 sullicient. Vounj^ chickens should 

 never be allowed to <lriaik an un- 

 limited quantity of cold water 

 after prolonjjed thirst, and those 

 that have been accustomed to a 

 constant supply of lluid from the 

 first shorild have any cliange made 

 \erv gradually. 



— Feed Apart. — 



There is no question but that 

 clvickens are reared m'uch more 

 satisfactorily when they are kept 

 apart from the full grown fowls, 

 so, if it can be managed, they 

 should have separate quarters. In 

 any event, they ought to be fed 

 where they can have their meals 

 without being ill-treated and 

 tramped on. To enable this to be 

 done, some wooden iramework can 

 be made of thin boards nailed to- 

 gether in the shape of a square and 

 the top covered with wire, netting. 

 The size can depend upon the 

 number of chickens and the di- 

 mension of the yard, but five feet 

 by five feet with a height of^ fifteen 

 inches will generally be . large 

 enough. A few holes should be 

 made in the sides sufficiently big 

 for the chickens to go in, but too 

 small for the old birds. II the food 

 is thrown inside these shelters, the 

 voungsteirs can feed unmolested. 



— Hot Weather. — 

 During hot weather, ii the 

 chickens lose their appetites to 

 some extent, the supply of food 

 can be decreased by giving less at 

 each meal and giving fewer meals. 

 Plenty of green food must be sup- 

 plied, and it must be given fresh 

 daily, all not eaten the previoius 

 day being removed. The soft food 

 will soon get sour in the summer, 

 so it shoidd be mixed only as re- 

 quired and all feeding troughs 

 must be constantly cleaned, other- 

 wise diarrhoea will m.ake its ap- 

 pearance, probably with, many 

 fatal results. If this malady is 

 noticed, some boiled rice, well 

 sprinkled with powdered chalk, will 

 often stop it. Rice water to 

 drink will sometimes affect a cure, 

 and in the more serious cases, a 

 few drops of chlorodyne (about half 

 a dozen) ;three times a day, will 

 prove efficacious. The chickens 

 should grow fast during the warm 

 weather, if fed and treated with 

 ordinary care. 



— How to begin. — 



A great many people are under thi' 

 impression that poultry will not pay- 

 How often do we iieiir it said they 

 are not worth th& tioul)le, and after 

 pay ng thi' tVed bill thoro is no pro- 

 lit U'ft. i'oultry will pay, and arc 

 worth the labour bestowid if proper 

 attention and housing. To those de- 

 sirious of trying the venture a little 

 advitYi will not be out to plaon. To 

 those delirious of trying the venture 

 a littii! advice will not be out of place. 

 To boginnei 3 my advice is — go easy. 

 S(are with a few, and as experience 

 is gained, increasef A novice cannot 

 expect, if starting on a large scale 

 without previous knowledge, to make 

 an immi'diate succe.ss of the qusine-Ja. 

 Do not lun away with the idea that 

 all tliat is required is to ereii hou.ses 

 and runs, put in your birds, and 

 throw food to thcon, and all that is 

 left to do is to go around and colkct 

 the egifS. Jn the first plac you must 

 have a liking for your birds, take 

 an interest in them, and watch them 

 when f. eding. Of (en not enoagh food 

 is given, and at othet times enoagh 

 is left l.\ing on the ground to be 

 ti-ampled over and exposed to the 

 sun in a dirty yard. The result is 

 it becomes .sour and causes disease, 

 the fowls naturally get out of con- 

 dition, the egg yield is not up to ex- 

 pectations, the busiuess is thrown up 

 in disgust. 



— How to Proceed. — 



When building your houses a good 

 plan s to have them between two 

 and three' fiet off the ground w th a 

 boarded, j'ioor, and roosts fitted up 

 3,bout two feat from the iloor. A foot 

 below the roosts erect boards about 

 two feet wide to catch the droppings 

 and under these you can erect your 

 nests— t ) saves space. IJe careful to 

 have the floor sprinkled over with 

 line sand or dry earth, and clean 

 every day if poss ble. Paint the 

 roosts occasionally with keiosene, and 

 have them so thaz they can be re- 

 mov'ed for cleaning purposes. The 

 space under the house, if boarded up 

 about six inches in front, will provide 

 a dust batli which is aasentSal to 

 keep your poultry frre from vermin. 

 Fill up with dry, loose soil and mix 

 with it a little coal ashes, as these 

 contain a certain amount of sulphur. 

 Havej^our runs as large as possible, 

 and do not keep too many birds in 

 thiHu, j'ou find them getting bare it 

 13 a sure s gn you have too many 

 b rds in them. 



— Housing. — 



See that your roosting houses are 

 free from draughts, at the same time 

 provide top ventilation, so as to 

 allow any foul air to escape. Have 

 the tfe>mperatuee aB near as poasibl© 

 same as the outside air, or else the 

 birds, if crowded in a small house, 

 are' apt to take roup or other 

 diseases when exposed to the cold 

 first thing on a frosty morning. 



Nest Making. 



Perhaps a few pi-actical hints on 

 the best method of making a nest 

 will be acceptalde to the inexperi- 

 enced at the present season, when 

 any poultry keeper is, or .shotdd be, 

 thinking about hatching. A broody 

 hen should never be .set in the or- 

 dinary hen house, where she is 

 likely to be disturbed by the other 

 fowls; it is advisable to have^ a 

 small portion of the run reserved 

 for hatching operations. The most 

 natural, nest is that maae by 

 scooping out a round hole in the 

 ground, a few inches deeper titan 

 the finished nest is required. The 

 depth of the nest wi 1 de end on 

 the numlier of eggs set ; the more 

 eggs, the deeper the nest, but care 

 must be taken that the outer eggs 

 do not roll down on the others — 

 this will be the result if the nest 

 is too deep. The sides of the nest 

 may be " rounded-off " by placing 

 the heel in the centre of the hole 

 and pressing down the sides of the 

 nest with the other part of the 

 foot. Any small stones, bits of 

 glass, etc., must be removed, to 

 prevent broken eggs. Having got 

 the hole fairly round, sand should 

 be s'^rinkled in until the ne.st is the 

 right depth and perfectly smooth 

 and round. 



4 



I 



Captain Scott's Own Story. 



The vSeptember issue of the Aus- 

 tralian magazine, " Life," is a not- 

 able one. In its begins Captain 

 Scott's actual stor}-, and the open- 

 ing chapters are given of a strong 

 new serial story by Jack London, 

 entitled "The Valley of the Moon." 

 Tbesei two features alone make Sep- 

 tember " I/ife,"^ a fine sixpenny- 

 worth, but the i6o well-illustrated 

 pages of the magazine are rounded 

 out with many other articles, 

 short stories, and departments 

 that make the issue double attrac- 

 tive. 



" Captain Scott's Own Story " 

 runs through 23 pages, including 

 eighteen pictures of rare interest, 

 such as the interior of a cave in 

 an iceberg, the members of the 

 expedition at dinner , on the "Terra 

 Nova," a fine picture of Captain 

 Gates with the ponies, and Scott 

 himself on snow shoes and in his 

 cabin. An actual photograph is 

 given of a page of Scott's Diary, 

 found beside him, and written when 

 he knew death was inevitablie. 



V 



