September, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
Keep the Soil Busy 
L AND that is lying idle is land that is 
looking for trouble. Do not be misled 
by the old idea of “resting it," for all the 
rest it needs is a change. Keep something 
growing on it all the time either to plow 
under when it has attained the right size 
or to feed to any animals which may be 
kept on the place and to be returned to the 
soil again in the form of manure in the 
spring. 
Building the New Poultry House 
I T is a great advantage to have the new 
poultry house built early enough so that 
it will have time to become well dried out 
before the pullets are placed in it for win¬ 
ter. It should be complete in every detail 
before the birds are moved into it, so that 
they will not be disturbed after they begin 
to lay. At the best, some time will elapse 
before they become thoroughly at home in 
their new quarters. 
The kind of house to build is a matter 
to receive careful consideration. The ex¬ 
perts can't decide the matter for you, for 
the experts fail to agree. Local condi¬ 
tions make some difference, but it is safe 
to say that some type of fresh-air house 
should be adopted. The front may be left 
entirely open, except for poultry wire to 
confine the fowls, or it may have a long 
horizontal opening with a muslin curtain 
tacked to a frame to drop over it in stormy 
and very cold weather, and an upright 
window, extending nearly to the floor, to 
give light when the curtain is closed. 
Just now there is a tendency toward 
deep houses, as deep as twenty feet even, 
with the front left entirely open save at 
the bottom, where boards two feet high 
serve to prevent the wind blowing directlv 
on the fowls. It is argued that such 
houses are especially warm because an air 
cushion is formed in them which prevents 
the wind entering, even though it be blow¬ 
ing violently outside. No curtains are 
used in these houses. 
The argument against the deep house 
has been that the sunlight could not reach 
the rear wall and the roosts unless the 
front were made absurdly high. The State 
Experiment Station of New Jersey has 
met this objection by building a semi¬ 
monitor type of house twenty feet square 
which it recommends to the poultry- 
keepers of that State. This interesting 
house has a double pitched roof, but the 
roof which slopes to the front is lower 
than the one which slopes to the rear, and 
a row of windows is placed where the 
break comes. These windows let the sun 
into the rear of the house in winter and 
provide ample ventilation in the summer. 
The front of the house is open the year 
around, but there is little danger of frosted 
combs, even when the mercury drops far 
below zero. It is probable that this type 
of house will acquire considerable popu¬ 
larity, for in addition to being efficient, it 
is inexpensive. A square house is cheaper 
to build than a long and narrow one, and 
a continuous house can be built in twenty- 
foot units if one desires to keep more than 
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MC BRIDE, NAST <Sr CO. 
UNION SMARE.. publishers NEWYORK' 
tWAouse: 
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before 
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