THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



75 



among carpenters to expose but about one 

 fourth of the shingle to the weather, let 

 the shingle be long or short. The other 

 three-fourths were covered up where they 

 had but little chance to dry. And in a 

 season like this, they could not be dried 

 through during the short intervals between 

 the storms. Four and a half inches of the 

 best and longest shingles were exposed to 

 the weather, and the remainder tucked up 

 to be kept warm, as some nurses tuck up 

 babies in a warm room The workmen 

 still insist that there should be at least 

 three thicknesses ; so that when the joints 

 they make fail in one place, they may 

 prove good in another. 



When you buy pretty good shingles, fif- 

 teen inches long, lay them six inches to 

 the weather, and make your workmen take 

 care and lay them well. They will last 

 longer laid in this mode than when they 

 are lapped on so as to lie only four and a 

 half inches, for this plain reason, that they 

 are sooner dried after a storm. 



Then look to the economy of this mode 

 of laying. You save just one-fourth in 

 the cost of shingles, and one-fourth in the 

 labor of putting them on ; while your roof 

 will last at least one-fourth longer, by giv- 

 ing it some chance to dry. 



We are almost tired of talking on this 

 snbject, because it is so difficult to per- 

 suade some men to change. Why, "they 

 have learned their trade," they say, and 

 must go by rule. 



Yet, while this class of workmen are 

 never willing to change, we have another 

 class who are continually changing and 

 running into every new scheme and new 

 form of building. They run their em- 

 ployers into extravagant expenditures, and 

 all come out at last at the little end of the 

 horn. It would be well for builders at the 

 present day to look ahead and count the 

 cost before indulging so much in imagina- 

 ry improvements. — Mass. Ploughman. 



How to Make Hens Lay in Winter. 



Some writers on domestic poultry seem to 

 think that there is no limit to fowls laying eggs, 

 if they are managed and fed in a certain man- 

 ner. This is fallacious, as a hen can be made 

 to produce but about 100 to 150 eggs a year, if 

 fed ever so well, and kept ever so warm in Avin- 

 ter. Fowls are like the soil, they must have 

 red, and if we keep them laying' all winter, 

 they will be about barren in the spring, when 



it is the season for eggs, and when they are 

 mpst used. It is a good plan to keep fowls 

 warm in winter, and to feed them with fresh 

 meat, when it can be done cheaply ; but it is 

 not advisable to force them to lay too much. 



We have been led to make these remarks, on 

 seeing an extract from Bement's Poulterer's 

 Companion, as annexed : 



TO HAVE EGGS IN WINTER. 



The question is often asked, "Why cannot 

 bens be made to lay as well in winter as in 

 summer?" They can, to a certain extent ; but 

 they require as a condition, that they be well 

 provided with warm and comfortable lodging, 

 clean apartments, plenty of food, pure water, 

 gravel, lime, fine sand, and ashes to roll and 

 bathe in. 



There seem naturally to be two seasons of 

 the year when hens lay ; early in the spring, 

 and afterwards in the summer ; indicating that 

 if fowls were left to themselves, they would, 

 like wild birds, produce two broods in a year. 



Early spring-hatched birds, if kept in a warm 

 place and fed plentifully and attended to, will 

 i generally commence laying about Christmas, or 

 even somewhat earlier. In cold and damp this 

 is not to be expected, and much may, in differ- 

 ent seasons, depend on the state of the weather 

 and the condition of the bird. 



It is a well-known fact, that from November 

 to February (the very time when we want eggs 

 the most) they are to many a bill of expense, 

 without any profit. To promote fecundity and 

 great laying in the hen, it is necessary that 

 they be well fed on grain, boiled potatoes given 

 to them warm, and occasionally animal food. 

 In the summer they get their supply of animal 

 food in the form of worms and insects when suf- 

 fered to run at large, unless their number is so 

 great as to consume beyond the supply in their 

 roving distance. I found it advantageous, in 

 the summer, to open the gates occasionally, and 

 give the fowls a run in the garden and in the 

 field adjoining their yard, for a few hours in 

 the day, when grasshoppers and other insects 

 are plenty. I had two objects in view ; one to 

 benefit the fowls, and the other to destroy the 

 insects. It will be found that the fecundity of 

 hens will be increased or diminished, according 

 to the supply of animal food furnished. 



Hens moult and cast their feathers once eve- 

 ry year, generally commencing in August and 

 continuing till late in November. It is the ap- 

 proach, the duration and the consequences of 

 this period, which put a stop to their laying. 

 It is a critical time for all birds. All the time 

 that it lasts, even to the time that the last fea- 

 thers are replaced by new ones, till these are 

 full grown, the wasting of nutritive juices, pre- 

 pared from the food for the very purpose of 

 promoting this growth, is considerable ; and 

 hence it is no wonder there should not remain 

 enough in the body of the hen to cause the egg 

 to grow. — Rural American. 



