108 



On Ihc Bearing and Managcntoit of Poultry. 



but suffirlontly laii^o to permit the heads of full jjrown fowls. 

 Tlie trough should stand about 10 inehes above the surface.* 



B.ats. — Rats are cxreediuirly troublesome in the poultry-houses, 

 and every means should be made use of to prevent their entrarico. 

 They are fondest of those e<2^^s whieli have been loiiG^est sat upon. 

 To have egjjs destroyed when within a few days of yielding}: their 

 fruits is too aunoyinof to be endured, esj)eelally when the ejjgs 

 are of a valuable sort. The mason- work should be of such a 

 description as to make it impossible for a rat to Sfain admittance. 

 The joints of the (lai^s of the Woox should bt^ perfectly close. 



It may not be out of ])lace to state, that I have found phos- 

 ])horus, made up accordinj:^ to the recipe which Dr. lire com- 

 municated to the Council of this Society (Royal Ag^ricultural 

 Society), very efficacious in destroyinj2: rats. It is stated that it 

 is fafal to rats alone: how far this may be relied on 1 cannot 

 say, but this 1 know, that we had two pip^s and two valuable 

 fowls that died at the time when we had tliis poison laid for the 

 rats. But I was from home when the accident took place, and, 

 consequently, had not an opportunity to exannnc the contents of 

 their stomaclis to ascertain the cause of death. 



Selection of Variety. — The different varieties of fowls possess 

 peculiarities which make them suitable for some localities and 

 unsuitable for others, otherwise I should not have advanced one 

 word on this subject, as I deem it irrelevant to the subject for 

 which the prize is ofl'ered. 



In this district (Northumberland) no person of discretion (unless 

 independent) would breed such fowls as have no other recom- 

 mendation than that of being good table- birds. The best price 



* Since writinj!^ the above, the writer 

 has had an oppoil unity of inspecting 

 a fountain, manufactured and regis- 

 tered hy Mr. .lohn Hailey, 143, Mount- 

 street, London, for tiie purpose of su})- 

 plying poultry with water, and the con- 

 struction of which is such, that while 

 the poultry has the advanta}j[e of hav- 

 ing the water constantly within reach, 

 yet they cannot get into it to destroy 

 its purity, or to do injury to them- 

 selves. The annexed cut represents a 

 section. 



