10 
THE POULTRY BOOK. 
taken into consideration. Whether they will continue in health for an in- 
definite period remains to be proved ; and the success of the scheme, as far as regards 
the number and fertility of the eggs, and above all the rearing of the chickens, are 
points that cannot he regarded as being definitely settled until after the experience 
of several breeding seasons. Whether the scheme be eventually successful or other- 
wise, it possesses considerable interest for the poultry-keeper : few persons would 
have supposed it possible to have carried off a first prize at Birmingham, as was 
done by the Poultry Company in 1865, with a pen of birds that had for six months 
previously been with four others the joint occupants of a space only twelve feet by 
six ; and yet these birds were shown in good condition and in perfect plumage. 
To the great power of the pulverized dry loose earth in deodorizing the droppings, 
and so preserving the atmosphere of the poultry-house pure and free from any 
taint of decaying organic matter, must be almost exclusively attributed the success 
of this method of keeping fowls in health in a very limited space. We need hardly 
point out the importance of the suggestion to every intelligent poultry- keeper. 
