64 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
January  8,  1916. 
Poultry-house  Construction 
Part  1 
These  vary  with  the  climate  and,  to 
some  extent,  with  the  chief  purpose  of 
the  building;  whether  it  is  to'house  grow¬ 
ing  stock,  layers  or  intended  to  serve 
some  other  special  purpose.  In  these 
notes  buildings  intended  for  layers  in 
temperate  climates  will  lie  considered. 
Location. — This  should  be  considered 
from  the  standpoints  of  welfare  of  the 
fowls,  convenience  of  the  caretaker  and 
economy  in  the  use  of  land.  Excessive 
amounts  of  moisture  beneath  or  about 
poultry  buildings  are  responsible  for 
some  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  main¬ 
taining  the  health  of  the  flocks;  build¬ 
ings  should,  therefore,  be  located  upon 
dry  soil  or  soil  that  can  be  made  dry  by 
drainage.  Protection  from  the  prevail¬ 
ing  cold  winds  of  Winter  should  also  be 
sought  when  practicable.  Advantage  can 
sometimes  be  taken  of  natural  wind¬ 
breaks  or  of  other  buildings,  but  it  should 
lie  remembered  that  the  bottom  of  a  hol¬ 
low  is  not  as  warm  and  dry  in  still,  cold, 
weather  as  the  heights  above  it.  All 
know  that  warm  air  rises,  but  many  for¬ 
get  that  cold  air  falls.  Conditions  of  air 
drainage  should  be  noted  when  locating 
poultry  buildings  as  well  as  when  plant¬ 
ing  fruit  trees.  As  running  to  wait  upon 
the  fowls  constitutes  the  greater  part  of 
the  labor  expended  in  their  care,  build¬ 
ings  should  he  so  located  with  reference 
to  the  dwelling,  barns  and  storehouses 
as  t.o  save  all  the  steps  possible.  Build¬ 
ings  are  permanent,  and  an  inconvenient¬ 
ly  located  one  means  much  extra  labor. 
Mellow  land  is  most  profitable  for  the 
garden  but  it  does  not  matter  how  rough, 
stony  and  untillable  building  sites  are. 
Where  land  is  valuable,  try  to  locate  the 
buildings  upon  the  least  desirable  parts 
of  it,  remembering,  of  course,  that  with 
the  necessity  of  taking  many  things  into 
consideration  compromises  will  have  to 
be  effected. 
Building  Materials. — When  net  re¬ 
turns  from  the  flock  are  the  chief  source 
of  the  living,  economy  in  building  is  most 
essential.  The  village  lot  poultry  bouse 
may  well  be  made  an  attractive  part  of 
the  building  group,  but  on  a  business 
plant  plain  structures  denote  experience 
and  intelligence  in  tlie  owner.  The  na¬ 
ture  of  the  building  material  used  is  of 
little  consequence;  in  most  localities 
wood  is  the  cheapest,  but  if  concrete, 
either  in  blocks  or  solid  walls,  is  avail¬ 
able  and,  taking  into  consideration  its 
durability,  is  not  much  more  expensive, 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
used.  Too  much  should  not  be  paid  for 
durability,  however;  there  are  probably 
few  well-constructed  wooden  buildings 
that  will  not  outlast  their  owner  in  the 
business.  Building  paper,  either  tarred 
or  otherwise  waterproofed,  may  be  made 
to  replace  expensive  lumber  in  some 
places.  It.  is  cheap,  and  where  the  labor 
needed  to  keep  it  in  repair  is  more  avail¬ 
able  than  money,  ingenuity  in  its  use  is 
to  be  commended.  Sods  and  straw  have 
also  sheltered  many  a  profitable  flock. 
Size  and  Shape. — Floor  space  rather 
than  height  is  the  basis  of  measurement 
in  poultry -house  construction.  The  low¬ 
er  the  building  the  less  the  air  space  to 
be  warmed  by  tbe  fowls,  but  the  roof  or 
ceiling  should  be  high  enough  in  all  parts 
to  make  stooping  unnecessary  on  the  part 
of  the  attendant.  Seven  feet  for  the 
front  wall  and  414  for  the  rear  are  about 
the  minimum  measurements  permissible 
here.  Four  to  five  square  feet  of  floor 
space  for  each  fowl  are  usually  recom¬ 
mended  hut  if  attention  is  paid  to  clean¬ 
liness  three  square  feet  will  not  over¬ 
crowd.  Whether  the  building  shall  be 
divided  into  small  compartments  or  not 
must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  own¬ 
er.  Small  flocks  lay  proportionally  bet¬ 
ter  than  large,  but  the  labor  cost  of  car¬ 
ing  for  them  is  also  increased.  In  the 
writer’s  judgment,  flocks  of  100  are  none 
too  large  if  several  hundred  fowls  are 
kept.  The  old-fashioned  poultry  house 
was  narrow  and  long;  since  greater  at¬ 
tention  has  been  devoted  to  buildings  it 
has  been  learned  that  greater  depth  in 
proportion  to  the  length  is  desirable. 
Economy  in  material  is  thus  gained  as 
the  more  nearly  square  a  building  of 
given  floor  capacity  the  less  the  area  of 
the  walls.  While  a  deep  house  does  not 
so  readily  admit  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun  to  the  roar,  neither  are  its  oceu- 
pauls  so  subject  to  direct  drafts  from 
ventilated  fronts.  Deep  buildings,  if  of 
shed-roof  type,  require  long  timbers  for 
the  rafters,  and  these  arc  expensive,  but. 
a  center  support  with  posts  permits  of 
two-piece  rafters.  Sixteen  feet  is  about 
the  maximum  depth  where  a  single  rafter 
is  to  span  it.  Gable  or  combination  roofs 
obviate  this  difficulty  altogether.  Twen¬ 
ty  feet  is  not  too  great  a  depth  for  a 
poultry  house  and  one  should  seldom  he 
built  less  than  16.  M.  b.  d. 
“  Insurance”  of  Parcel-Post  Eggs 
When,  in  my  recent  letter  to  you,  I 
used  the  expression  “the  plot  thickens," 
referring  to  my  experience  in  shipping 
eggs  by  parcel  post,  I  had  no  idea  that 
there  was  really  a  “plot,”  or  how  thick 
it  would  get.  I  know  now. 
About  that  time  it  occurred  to  me  that 
possibly  I  was  not  doing  all  I  should  to 
make  my  end  of  the  business  reasonably 
safe.  1  had  not  yet  availed  myself  of  the 
protection  presented  (apparently)  in  par¬ 
cel  post  insurance.  1  had  an  idea  that, 
possibly,  an  insured  parcel  was  handled 
by  a  class  of  post  office  employees  who 
were  not  so  particular  about  leaving 
their  mark  on  everything  that  passed 
through  their  hands.  Anyhow,  special 
protection  by  our  Uncle  Sam  appealed  t.o 
me,  so,  since  then,  I  have  been  “insuring" 
all  packages  going  west  of  Boston,  and 
some  in  Boston.  The  other  day  report 
came  that  three  insured  eggs  had  been 
broken,  and  I  gave  the  local  postmaster 
formal  notice  of  my  desire  to  avail  my¬ 
self  of  the  insurance  for  which  I  had 
paid.  Back  came  the  blank  ( which  I 
enclose  for  your  inspection)  which,  if 
I  interpret  it  correctly,  must  be  filled 
out  and  sworn  to  before  two  notaries  at 
an  expense  of  not  less  than  50  cents.  It 
also  obliges  the  addressee  to  go  before  a 
notary  and  fill  out  and  swear  to  the 
receipt  of  so  many  good  eggs,  etc.  With¬ 
out  going  into  further  details  its  implica¬ 
tion  (o  (he  particular  business  of  “insur¬ 
ing"  eggs,  is  so  grotesque  as  to  make  one 
throw'  up  his  hands  in  disgust.  As  a 
practical  protection  against,  loss  iu  ship¬ 
ping  of  eggs,  it  is,  I  fear,  of  no  avail. 
Massachusetts.  W.  CARY. 
ft.  N  Y. — Tbe  long  document  submit¬ 
ted  by  Mr.  Cary  is  ponderous  enough  to 
cover  a  $5,000  transaction.  Yet,  what 
could  be  done  in  such  cases?  We  cannot 
expect  the  Government  to  accept  all 
statements  of  loss  without  complete  iden¬ 
tification.  If  the  Government  paid  dam¬ 
ages  simply  upon  personal  application 
and  without  sworn  proof  it  would  be  on 
the  road  to  bankruptcy  within  a  year.  At 
the  same  time,  this  compelling  a  man  to 
pay  50  cents  for  notary's  fees  iu  order 
to  get  the  pay  for  three  broken  eggs, 
does  uot  rise  to  tbe  dignity  of  nonsense! 
This  is  the  sort  of  "insurance”  which 
does  not  insure. 
Your  editorial  on  page  1104  relating  to 
shipping  eggs  by  parcel  post  reminds  me 
to  call  attention  to  actual  conditions  in 
the  transportation  of  goods  by  mail,  ex¬ 
press  and  freight.  Apparently  the  great 
majority  if  handlers  have  never  heard 
of  the  Golden  Rule;  have  no  desire  to 
handle  carefully  the  goods  intrusted  to 
their  care,  in  fact  appear  to  be  believers 
iu  a  system  of  sabotage,  as  many  work- 
tnen  now  are,  Freight  handlers,  even 
when  good  wheeled  trucks  are  handy,  per¬ 
sist  in  dragging  bags  of  flour,  grain,  and 
other  more  valuable  goods  over  freight- 
house  floors,  platforms,  where  nails  and 
splinters  tear  the  bags,  and  of  course 
waste  the  goods  They  drop  without 
stooping,  boxes  marked  fragile.  They 
disregard  notices,  as  “This  Side  Up." 
Expressmen  are  but  little  better,  and 
baggagemen  are  notorious  for  destructive¬ 
ness. 
We  receive  two  mails  per  day  at  our 
little  flag  station.  Any  train  will  stop  to 
take  on  or  let  off  a  single  passenger, 
even  though  he  has  paid  but.  five  cents, 
the  fare  to  nearest  stations  east  and 
west.  Yet  the  mail  bags  are  thrown  from 
car  door,  10  to  15  feet  from  track,  to  fall 
on  graveled  road,  in  mud,  or  against 
some  obstacle,  whether  train  stops  or 
not.  The  mail  clerk  may  know  by 
whistle  if  train  is  going  to  stop,  but 
cares  not.  and  throw's  bag  while  train  is 
still  going  with  speed,  50  to  100  feet 
before  stopping.  I  judge  the  railroad  i’e- 
ceives  many  times  as  much  for  carrying 
a  bag  of  mail  as  most  passengers  pay 
who  stop  or  start  from  our  station,  and 
believe  the  mail  should  be  delivered  gent¬ 
ly  and  carefully,  us  well  as  passengers. 
I  presume  the  practice  here  is  general 
along  the  New'  Haven  lines.  Will  you 
call  same  to  attention  of  postal  author¬ 
ities?  Protests  from  ns  common  mor¬ 
tals  receive  scant  attention.  E.  P.  R. 
Wild  Game  in  Captivity 
I  saw  in  one  of  your  recent  numbers 
an  article  relating  to  the  game  laws, 
prohibiting  private  parties  from  keeping 
wild  game  in  their  possession  in  captiv¬ 
ity.  You  said  you  thought  it  might  be 
able  to  be  changed.  1  ’would  like  to  know 
how,  and  would  do  all  I  could  to  help  it 
along.  Last  Summer  while  cutting  hay 
I  ran  into  a  pheasant  nest  with  the 
guards  of  the  knife-bar  and  killed  the 
old  mother  bird.  She  bad  I"  eggs,  I 
broke  them  all  but  four;  those  I  set  and 
hatched  under  an  old  red  hen.  raised  tw'o. 
When  they  were  large  enough  to  shift 
for  themselves  tliej  left  the  old  lien  and 
went  away.  I  suppose  I  was  going 
against  the  game  laws  of  the  State,  but 
I  didn’t  think  it  looked  right  to  let  them 
go  unhatelitd  when  they  were  so  near  it. 
II.  L.  S. 
The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  decide  what 
changes  iu  the  present  laws  are  desired. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  Indiana  law  quot¬ 
ed  on  page  meets  all  requirements. 
If  this  law  were  in  force  in  this  State 
any  farmer  could  raise  on  his  own  land 
foxes,  skunks,  mink,  rabbits,  ruffed 
grouse,  quail,  wood  ducks  or  any  other 
kind  of  wild  bird  or  mammal  without  in¬ 
terference  by  i tbe  State,  provided  he 
bought  his  breeding  Stock  from  some 
other  breeder  or  caught  it  according  to 
law.  To  get  such  a  law  passed  it  is 
necessary  for  the  farmers  to  get  togeth¬ 
er  and  fight.  Each  fanner  can  write  to 
bis  State  Senator  and  Member  of  Assem¬ 
bly.  They  say  they  want  us  to  write 
and  tell  what  we  ,vant.  Each  funner 
who  is  a  member  of  the  Grange  can  work 
to  get  his  local  Grange  to  bring  pres¬ 
sure  on  (lie  State  Grange  and  so  on  the 
Legislature  Those  who  can  afford  it 
should  become  members  of  some  of  tbe 
notional  societies,  such  f.s  the  Game 
Breeders’  Association  and  the  American 
Game  Protective  Association. 
I  understand  that  it  was  the  united 
action  of  >  Grange  that  nade  it  pos¬ 
sible  for  farmer  ;o  kill  rabbits  on  his 
land  at  any  time  to  prevent  damage  to 
crops.  Skunks  were  first  protected  in 
this  State  because  the  hop  growers  of 
the  Chenango  Valley  and  northward  be¬ 
came  convinced  that  they  were  a  great 
help  iu  lighting  grubs.  These  men  work¬ 
ed  through  the  Central  New  York  Farm¬ 
ers’  Club.  As  I  understand  it,  the  pro¬ 
per  thing  for  II.  L.  S.  to  have  done 
when  his  machine  killed  the  old  pheasant 
was  to  notify  the  Conservation  Commis¬ 
sion,  either  directly  or  through  the  local 
game  warden,  and  get  permission  to  care 
for  the  eggs  that  were  not  broken  or  else 
be  told  what  to  do  with  them.  He  might 
have  been  compelled  to  give  a  bond  that 
he  would  not  keep  the  birds  after  they 
were  large  enough  to  shift  for  them¬ 
selves.  a.  c.  w. 
North  Rose,  N.  Y. 
First  Lawyer:  "Did  bis  speech  carry 
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