1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
17 
in snug. Then if the tenons and mortises are 
painted, as they always should be, the runners, 
knees, beams, and raves will be about as strong 
and durable as if constructed of one solid piece 
of wood. Gains cut in the imder side of the 
raves or side pieces, greatly increase the strength 
CONSTBUXTION OP A STRONG SLEIGH. 
of the sleigh. A good coat of paint applied to 
the shoulders, tenons and mortises, will make 
the work drive together more easily, exclude all 
moisture, keep the timber from shrinking, and 
render the wood-work much more durable than 
if they were to be put together without the paint. 
An Old Poultry Raiser on Spanish Fowls. 
Edward Hoimes, of Rockingham Co., N. H., 
communicates his experience, especially with 
Spanish fowls, to the Agriculturist, as follows : 
"An experience of thirty-three years in raising 
poultry, has developed some facts worthy of 
note. In breeding 28] distinct kinds from the 
little "White and Seabright Bantams, to the great 
Malay, Brahma and Shanghai breeds, I have 
found in each some very excellent traits. Some 
possess good laying qualities, but have not well 
grained and colored meat, and vice versa. In 
others the chicks are very weak, difficult to 
raise, long in coming to maturity, and costing 
more than you could realize from them when 
grown. The whole Game family are good 
layers, good mothers, and good poultry, yet are 
so pugnacious before they are fairly fledged, 
that at five or C weeks old, cockerels begin to see 
which is " master," battling constantly and bar- 
barously. It is quite expensive to confine them, 
as they need a wide range, with a fence some 
ten feet high, in order to prevent their bad habit 
of roving. Their carriage is beautiful, they are 
hardy, and if tliey can liave plenty of room to 
roam, are profitable. But for a limited space, 
beauty, color, meat, eggs, and profit, I prefer the 
Pure White-fiiced Black Spanish. — The hens 
weigh 4 to 5 lbs. ; the cocks from G to 7 lbs., and 
have large, single, deepl}' serrated combs stand- 
ing erect, while those of the hens, in the laying 
season especial!)', fall over, nearly covering one 
eye. They have delicate limbs, very small head, 
and slate-colored legs. The chicks are hardy, 
easily raised, taking from six to seven months to 
attain maturity. They are not large birds; will 
lay constantly, except during the molting season 
(about four months), thus giving about two 
hundred and forty eggs in a year. A variety 
and plenty of food, with lime, gravel and pure 
water, should be always accessible. A few meat 
scraps occasionally in winter are very essential 
to supply the place of insects which they con- 
sume in summer. As to the cost: from the 
15th day of February, 1864, to the 25th day of 
May, 1865, I kept four hens and one rooster 
in a coop ; weighed 23 lbs. of corn, to be exact, 
and 50 lbs. of barley, and kept it constantly bo- 
fore them, with good pure water and lime, 
which they consumed during the above men- 
tioned time. This is equivalent to 58 lbs., or 
one bushel a year for each fowl, at an average 
of f3 per bushel. The four hens were kept 
separate from all other fowls, commenced lay- 
ing about the 12th to the 20th of December 
previous, and continued to lay, showing no signs 
of sitting, excepting one as late in the season as 
August. They layed in all ten hundred and 
twenty-three eggs. One out of the number laid 
three hundred and three eggs, which was by far 
the greatest number laid by one hen in one year 
during my experience. I found last spring that 
she did not begin to lay as early as the others 
by some two months. She has laid constantly 
since then, and is now (Oct. 23d) still laying. 
The others averaged two hundred and forty 
eggs each. They are a rare bird, and full bloods 
are scarce in this country, though many assume 
the name for effect. I have kept them eleven 
years, and the foregoing shows them to be at 
least one of the most profitable kinds of fowls." 
A Convenient Bag-holder. 
The convenient bag-holder illustrated here- 
with consists of a standard of hard wood 4 feet 
long, 2 inches square, having a long slot or 
mortise through it as represented by the dark 
line, and the lower end secured to a piece of 
plank, l'|j inches thick and fourteen inches 
square, and a sliding rim of iron of the form 
shown, the shank of 
which passes through 
the long slot ; where it is 
secured by the nut at A, 
having a handle on one 
side of it. The size of 
the slide must corre- 
spond with the size of 
the mouth of the bags. 
A large bag may be 
attached to a small slide ; 
but a small bag cannot 
be fastened to a large 
one. The dotted lines 
are to represent the 
slide adj usted for a short 
bag. There are four 
shaip, iron spurs in 
not shown in the illustration, to fasten the 
hag over. Such a bag-holder will be found 
eminently useful when it is desirable to shov- 
el in any kind of grain, fruit, vegetables, or 
other material. If bags be small, a large wood- 
en funnel may be placed on the mouth, to pre- 
vent grain, or ears of corn from foiling outside. 
A Hovel Poultry House, with other Hints. 
A correspondent in New Haven Co., Conn., 
seeing in the oflfer of $300 in prizes for a barn 
plan, the condition that the plan must include 
provisions for 300 fowls, writes : — 
"Were I owner of a thousand acres and 
wanted to keep a thousand fowls, I would keep 
them in houses, containing not more tlian fifteen 
each. Each house should be 4 x 9 feet, and 4^ 
high, no floor ; made ornamental or otherwise 
according to taste and circumstances of the 
owner. Three feet at one end open lath or 
lattice work ; the remaining six feet has a parti- 
tion in the center, coming down within one foot 
of the ground, enclosing 3x4 feet. There is no 
partition between the lathed part and the central 
part. The enclosed portion is for the roosts 
and nest boxes. The central part is for feeding, 
dusting, etc., and may have roosts and nest box- 
es also, and glass front if desired. [We think 
it would be better to enlai-ge tlie enclosed part, 
making it 4x4i instead of 3x4— Ed.] Set 
the house on wheels or rollers on a nice piece 
of grass, and move it its length every morning. 
giving the fowls new grass every day, and keep- 
ing them in the most perfect health and clean- 
liness. Make nest boxes of sheet iron or tin, 
and hang them on the walls. Put doors in the 
ends of the house, to enter for gathering eggs,etc. 
For Nest Eggs select the handsomest eggs 
you can find ; puncture both ends and blow 
out the meat, pour into the empty shell two 
tablespoonfuls of calcined plaster of Paris, mix- 
ed in water to the consistence of cream ; keep 
it revolving for a minute when it will be settled 
on the shell ^|b inch in thickness, then you will 
have an "egg" that biddy herself will be un- 
able to tell from the one she laid last. 
The house described is in practical operation, 
and its advantages are perfect cleanliness, 
consequent health, and contentment of the 
fowls, the greatest number of fresh eggs secur- 
ed, and none lost. The fowls get a fresh supply 
of grass every day, and thrive better in conse- 
quence. The house may be moved to any 
locality on the premises, sheltered or exposed 
according to the season, S.E. in cold, and N.W. 
in warm weather, and so in a measure maintain 
the fowls iu the temperature of spring, the egg 
season. Fowls do better in small than large 
flocks. When the grass where 3-ou started has 
got to be fine again, move the house back and 
commence anew. With such housae you can 
at all times tell the number and condition of 
your fowls, keep different kinds by themselves, 
and judge the better of their merits." 
Notes.— We have a few suggestions to 
make to this excellent idea of a peripatetic 
poultry house. 1st. The windows may be in 
the roof— a single row of panes running down 
like shingles on each side of the roof They 
must be protected by wires, or the birds will 
try to fly out and break them. 2d. A good- 
sized dusting box should be fastened in the ex- 
terior apartment, a little higher than the sills 
of the house, so as not to deprive the hens of 
ground room. 3d. The nest boxes in such a 
house should be separate, and set upon a shelf 
a foot or more above the ground. 4th. We have 
used the nest eggs described and found it easier 
to suck the plaster in than to pour it in. — If 
they are filled full they will crack. 
There maybe some difficulty in getting these 
houses light enough to be moved easily, and 
yet sufficiently strong and warm, and the size 
and shape suggested may not bo the best. 
