liberty in fine weather, and be confined in wet weather. But the boarding must be retained to keep out the wet. The ground may be left in its natural state for the fowls to scratch in, in which case the surface should be dug up from time to time and replaced with fresh earth pressed down moderately hard. If the house is large and has a good window, a shed is not absolutely necessary, especially for a few fowls only, but it is a valuable addition, and is also very useful to shelter the coops of the mother hens and their young birds in wet, windy, or hot weather.

By daily attention to cleanliness, a few fowls may be kept in such a covered shed, without having any open run, by employing a thick layer of dry pulverised earth as a deodoriser, which is to be turned over with a rake every day, and replaced with fresh dry pulverised earth once a week. The dry earth entirely absorbs all odour. In a run of this kind, six square feet should be allowed to each fowl kept, for a smaller surface of the dry earth becomes moist and will then no longer deodorise the dung. Sifted ashes spread an inch deep over the floor of the whole shed will be a good substitute if the dry earth cannot be had. They should be raked over every other morning, and renewed at least every fortnight, or oftener if possible. The ground should be dug and turned over whenever it looks sodden, or gives out any offensive smell; and three or four times a year the polluted soil below the layer, that is, the earth to the depth of three or four inches, should be removed and replaced with fresh earth, gravel, chalk, or ashes.[2] The shed must be so contrived that the sun can shine upon the fowls during some part of the day, or they will not continue in health for any length of time, and it is almost impossible to rear healthy chickens without its light and warmth; and it will be a great improvement if part of the run is open. Another shed will be required if chickens are to be reared.

Fowls that are kept in small spaces or under covered runs will require a different diet to those that are allowed to roam in fields and pick up insects, grass, &c., and must be provided with green food, animal food in place of insects, and be well supplied with mortar rubbish and gravel.

The height of the wall, paling, or fencing that surrounds the yard, and of the partitions, if the yard is divided into compartments for the purpose of keeping two or more breeds separate and pure, must be according to the nature of the breed. Three feet in height will be sufficient to retain Cochins and Brahmas; six feet will be required for moderate-sized fowls; and eight or nine feet will be necessary to confine the Game, Hamburg, and Bantam breeds. Galvanised iron wire-netting is the best material, as it does not rust, and will not need painting for a long time. It is made of various degrees of strength, and in different forms, and may be had with meshes varying from three-fourths of an inch to two inches or more; with very small meshes at the lower part only, to keep out rats and to keep in chickens; with spikes upon the top, or with scoloped wire-work, which gives it a neat and finished appearance; with doors, and with iron standards terminating in double spikes to fix in the ground, by which wooden posts are divided, while it can be easily fixed and removed. The meshes should not be more than two inches wide, and if the meshes of the lower part are not very small, it should be boarded to about two feet six inches from the ground, in order to keep out rats, keep in chickens, and to prevent the cocks fighting through the wire, which fighting is more dangerous than in the open, for the birds are very liable to injure themselves in the meshes, and, Dorkings especially, to tear their combs and toes in them. If iron standards are not attached to the netting, it should be stretched to stout posts, well fixed in the ground, eight feet apart, and fastened by galvanised iron staples. A rail at the top gives a neater appearance, but induces the fowls to perch upon it, which may tempt them to fly over.

Where it is not convenient to fix a fence sufficiently high, or when a hen just out with her brood has to be kept in, a fowl may be prevented from flying over fences by stripping off the vanes or side shoots from the first-flight feathers of one wing, usually ten in number, which will effectually prevent the bird from flying, and will not be unsightly, as the primary quills are always tucked under the others when not used for flying. This method answers much better than clipping the quills of each wing, as the cut points are liable to inflict injuries and cause irritation in moulting.

The openness of the feathers of fowls which do not throw off the water well, like those of most birds, enables them to cleanse themselves easier from insects and dirt, by dusting their feathers, and then shaking off the dirt and these minute pests with the dust. For this purpose one or more ample heaps of sifted ashes, or very dry sand or earth, for them to roll in, must be placed in the sun, and, if possible, under shelter, so as to be warm and perfectly dry. Wood ashes are the best. This dust-heap is as necessary to fowls as water for washing is to human beings. It cleanses their feathers and skin from vermin and impurities, promotes the cuticular or skin excretion, and is materially instrumental in preserving their health. If they should be much troubled with insects, mix in the heap plenty of wood ashes and a little flour of sulphur.

A good supply of old mortar-rubbish, or similar substance, must be kept under the shed, or in a dry place, to provide material for the eggshells, or the hens will be liable to lay soft-shelled eggs. Burnt oyster-shells are an excellent substitute for common lime, and should be prepared for use by being heated red-hot, and when cold broken into small pieces with the fingers, but not powdered. Some give chopped or ground bones, or a lump of chalky marl. Eggshells roughly crushed are also good, and are greedily devoured by the hens.

A good supply of gravel is also essential, the small stones which the fowls swallow being necessary to enable them to digest their hard food. Fowls swallow all grain whole, their bills not being adapted for crushing it like the teeth of the rabbit or the horse, and it is prepared for digestion by the action of a strong and muscular gizzard, lined with a tough leathery membrane, which forms a remarkable peculiarity in the internal structure of fowls and turkeys. "By the action," says Mr. W. H. L. Martin, "of the two thick muscular sides of this gizzard on each other, the seeds and grains swallowed (and previously macerated in the crop, and there softened by a peculiar secretion oozing from glandular pores) are ground up, or triturated in order that their due digestion may take place. It is a remarkable fact that these birds are in the habit of swallowing small pebbles, bits of gravel, and similar substances, which it would seem are essential to their health. The definite use of these substances, which are certainly ground down by the mill-like action of the gizzard, has been a matter of difference among various physiologists, and many experiments, with a view to elucidate the subject, have been undertaken. It was sufficiently proved by Spallanzani that the digestive fluid was incapable of dissolving grains of barley, &c., in their unbruised state; and this he ascertained by filling small hollow and perforated balls and tubes of metal or glass with grain, and causing them to be swallowed by turkeys and other fowls; when examined, after twenty-four and forty-eight hours, the grains were found to be unaffected by the gastric fluid;