In a henhouse 24 feet by 12 feet, the height of the posts should be 9 feet on the front, sloping back to 5 feet in the rear. Matched boards 14 feet long can be used on these posts, each board making a siding for both front and rear. With care in cutting these boards may be used without much waste for the sides of buildings, and the 14-feet boards will lap over a little if used as roofing. It is better to lath and plaster the inside of the building, as this makes it much warmer. The building paper used for sheathing the insides of houses is cheaper than lath and plaster, and except that it does not repel the lice as the lime does, the paper sheathing is just as good as the lath and plaster. No matter which is used, the interior should be whitewashed, with enough glue mixed with the whitewash to make it stick.

When a farmer has made one such henhouse as this pay a good profit it will be easy for him to enlarge his business by building like houses at sufficient distance apart, so that if disease comes to one house it will not spread to others. The greatest difficulty will be found in keeping the different houses up to the high standard of egg-production. It can only be done by frequent return to pure-bred fowls of the breed that the egg-producer has chosen as the best, and by rejecting year by year the fowls that do not come up to the required standard. Even where egg-production is the main purpose of the keeper of hens, there will every year be a considerable product of chickens and of hens past the age for best egg-production, and whose best use is to be eaten by the family or sold in the city markets when the demand and price make that the best policy. We believe, however, that a poultry diet is often, considering the greater disability of poultry, a cheaper and better food than any other kind of meat. Who can afford poultry as food better than the man who produces it?-American Cultivator.

ANOTHER PLAN.

Mr. F. E. Hege, in BULLETIN No. 130, of the N. C. Ex. Station, says: "The house herewith described (Fig. 14) is about the correct size for eight

or ten hens and a cock, and is of the style we have built for general use in the yards of the Experiment Station. Should more than this number of fowls be kept, the length can be correspondingly increased. Ground plan 6 by 8 feet: height front 10 feet, back 7 feet. The house should face south. The north, west, and east ends should be planked up and down with rough pine plank one inch thick; let the bottom extend down in the ground four or six inches, then Fig. 14-A Convenient Poultry House. pile dirt well in around it, so as to exclu de water and air. The joints all around should be tightly broken with 3-inch strips.

"The floor should be of tongue-and-groved stuff. Place the floor 2 -12 feet above the ground, then underneath the house the fowls have good dry quar

ters in case of rain, snow, or high winds. The front underneath should be

open.

"Place a large door (F) 2 feet by 5 1-2 feet in east end; at lower left-hand corner of F make a small door, size 7 by 9 inches, to allow the fowls to come and go without opening the larger door. The steps shoull be rather flat, a rise of 5 inches will answer very well. The front should be made as follows: Place plank lengthwise from A to B 3 feet, then from B to C a piece of woven fence wire (K) 3 feet wide, 2 inch mesh, C to D 1 1-2 feet of plank, D to E 2 1-2 feet and open. G represents a shutter hung over the wire for use in cold weather. It may be lowered or raised. It also serves to keep out rain or snow. H is a 12-inch plank placed immediately in front of the floor to serve as a protection against rain beating underneath the house.

"Two roosts should be placed lengthwise, ten inches from the floor and near the back of the house. They can be made from strips two inches square, with both top edges rounded.

"The roof should be of tarred paper or good shingles, and should project over on all sides at least 10 inches.

"The cost of such a house, with rough lumber at 75 cents per 100, would be about $8.00. The lumber required to build such a house is as follows:

Rough pine plank, 10 in. wide, 1 in. thick

Rough pine studding, 2 by 4 in.

Rough pine strips for breaking joints, 1 by 3
Shingling laths ...

Tongue-and-grooved flooring

Shingles

200 feet.

100 feet.

40 feet.

100 lineal feet.

50 sq. feet. 500

PRESERVING EGGS.

The question of preserving eggs is of considerable importance, and the two following articles on this subject are of sufficient interest to be reproduced here. The first one is taken from Farmers' Bulletin No. 103, United States Department of Agriculture:

"A bulletin of the North Dakota Experiment Station calls attention to the need of a simple method which will enable farmers, poultrymen, and even consumers to put away eggs during the summer months when they are plentiful and cheap, and preserve them in good condition until the winter months, when they are scarce and dear and fresh eggs can not be obtained; and reports trials of various methods of preservation.

"The spoiling of eggs is due to the entrance of air carrying germs of decomposition through the shells. Normally the shell has a surface coating of mucilaginous matter, which prevents the entrance of these harmful organisms into the egg for a considerable time; but if this coating is removed or softened by washing or otherwise, the keeping-quality of the egg is much reduced. These facts explain why the common methods of preservation have not been entirely successful, and suggest that the methods employed should be based upon the idea of protecting and rendering more effective the natural coating of the shell, so that air bearing the germs of decomposition may be completely excluded. 'At the present time eggs are largely packed in lime,

salt, and other products, or are put in cold storage for winter use, but such eggs are very far from being perfect when they come upon the markets.' According to the experiments made by the North Dakota Station, water glass more closely conforms to the requirements of a good preservative than any of the substances commonly employed. It was found in these experiments that a 10 per cent solution of water glass preserves eggs so effectually that at the end of three and one-half months eggs that were preserved the first part of August still appeared to be perfectly fresh. In most packed eggs, after a little time, the yolk settles to one side, and the egg is then inferior in quality. In eggs preserved for three and one-half months in water glass the yolk retained its normal position in the egg, and in taste they were not to be distinguished from fresh, unpacked store eggs. Again, most packed eggs will not beat up well for cake making or for frosting, while eggs from solution in water glass seemed quite equal to the average fresh eggs of the market."" Of twenty methods of preserving eggs tested in Germany, the three which proved most effective were coating the eggs with vaseline, preserving them in limewater, and preserving them in water glass. The conclusion was reached that the last is preferable, because varnishing the eggs with vaseline takes considerable time and treating them with limewater is likely to give the eggs disagreeable odor and taste. "There is, however, one drawback with eggs preserved in a solution of water glass, viz., that the shell easily bursts in boiling water. This may be avoided by cautiously piercing the shell with a strong needle."

The following directions for preserving by this method are given:

Use pure water that has been thoroughly boiled and then cooled. To each 10 quarts of water add 1 quart of water glass. Pack the eggs in a jar and pour solution over them, covering well.

Keep the eggs in a cool dark place. A dry, cool cellar is a good place.

If the eggs are kept in too warm a place the silicate is deposited and the eggs a disagreeable odor and taste. There is, however, one drawback with by so doing you injure their keeping quality, probably by dissolving the mucilaginous coating on the outside of the shell.

For packing, use only perfectly fresh eggs, for stale eggs will not be saved and may prove harmful to the others.

**

Water glass is a very cheap product, that can usually be produced at not to exceed 50 cents per gallon, and 1 gallon would make enough solution to preserve 50 dozen eggs, so that the cost of material for this method would only be about one cent per dozen. Water glass is sodium and potassium silicate, sodium silicate being usually the cheaper. If wooden kegs or barrels are to be used in which to pack the eggs, they should first be thoroughly scalded with boiling water, to sweeten and purify them.

The second is from a report of the Canada Experiment Station: "We have recently conducted a series of experiments in connection with preservatives for eggs. You will doubtless have noticed an account of 'water glass' or silicate of soda as a preservative for eggs, going the rounds of the press for the past year. To ascertain its efficacy for this purpose as compared with ordinary lime water, Mr. Gilbert and I commenced a series of experiments last October, testing the eggs in March of the present year.

"After six months' trial we failed to see that there was any additional benefit due to the water glass over the ordinary lime water, in other words, that the lime water and the solution of 'water glass' were equally efficacious. Since the water glass is a caustic fluid and consequently more disagreeable to use than lime water there was nothing to recommend the former in preference to the latter. In both cases all the eggs were good, using the term according to its usual acceptation. We found on poaching the eggs (we think that is the best way to test them) that in all a peculiar flavor had been developed which I can only designate as slightly stale or musty. We came to the opinion that no preservative, at present known, will prevent the loss of that flavor which characterizes the fresh egg. However, we are continuing this work, and we have hope of greater success than in the past, more particularly with certain solutions containing glycerine."

The liquids employed were (1) a saturated solution of lime in water, and (2) a ten per cent solution of "water glass" (sodium silicate).

The eggs were treated during the first week of October, 1898, and tested 22d March, 1899. Those eggs which were not kept throughout this term in either of the preservatives, together with the untreated eggs, were placed in a rack within a drawer in the laboratory. The eggs in the solutions were also in the laboratory and consequently all were at a temperature of about seventy degrees F. throughout the winter. The examination consisted of noting the appearance on breaking and the color, taste, odor, etc., after poaching.

Conclusions: 1. In no instance, either of treated or untreated eggs, were any "bad" eggs found.

2. In all cases where the eggs were not kept covered throughout the period of the test with the preservative solution, shrinkage of the contents had taken place, as shown by the larger air space, the less globular form of the yolk, and in many instances by tne adherence of the yolk to the shell. The eggs treated for seven days and less with lime water showed somewhat less shrinkage than those treated a similar length of time with silicate of soda. 3. It would appear that lime water and "water glass" used continuously, are equally efficacious in preventing shrinkages. They may also be said to give practically the same results as regards both external and internal appearance, flavor, etc., of the eggs preserved. Since water glass (silicate of soda) is more costly and more disagreeable to use than lime water, we could not from the present results recommend the former as the better preservative. 4. The albumen or "white" in all the preserved eggs was very faintly yellow (though not to the same degree in all eggs), the tint becoming deeper on boiling.

5. No offensive odor was to be perceived from any of the eggs when broken, but in all instances a faint but peculiar musty or stale odor and flavor developed on poaching.

6. It is probable that no preservative will prevent the loss of flavor possessed by the fresh egg, but those which wholly exclude the air (and thus at the same time prevent shrinkage from evaporation) will be the most successful. Continuous submergence is evidently better than treatment for a few days.

It is, of course, essential that eggs to be preserved should be perfectly fresh when treated.

The experiments are being continued, and further results will be issued as obtained.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Begin early the preparation for a good vegetable garden for this year. The selection of the kinds of vegetables and the purchase of the seeds should be attended to at once. Don't be selfish about this matter. Take up the subject after supper one evening soon, get the wife's opinion, and let the boys and girls have a "say" as to what they like-and let them have something special to cultivate. A writer in the Baltimore Sun says:

"The progressive farmer is, of course, an 'up-to-date' one, and is consequence his home garden every season abounds with the best vegetables and small fruits. It has been said a good garden is a health-promoter and a great preventer of doctor's visits. Anyway one may look at it, a good garden is an everyday friend after its crops have once started tableward. The farmer's wife realizes what a great help vegetables are from every point of view-the value they possess as wholesome food can not be over-estimated.

"The farm garden should be a picture of thrifty farming on a small scale. Regarding the purchasing of the seed supply, it should be borne in mind that strictly 'new' introductions in the vegetable lines should never be wholly allowed to replace old-time ones, that are known to thrive and produce well. It is well to test novelties—but in an experimental way only at first. There are so many 'standard' sorts whose worth is understood that the matter of selection need not be much of a task. If the younger members of the family take an interest in making the selection, encourage them, and if they express a desire to have a little garden of their own,' gratify them. Remember that ownership with young people is a means of developing a spirit of proper pride, as well as confidence and reliance in their own efforts. Business methods can not be impressed too soon on young minds. A garden can be made a source of effective nature studies to a child, so much so that the care and cultivation of the growing crops will become a pleasure instead of a task."

The Department receives a number of anonymous communications asking questions to be answered in the BULLETIN. We are more than glad to render any assistance in our power to the farmers and truckers of the State, and only ask, as an evidence of good faith on their part, that they sign their names to such requests, and if they do not want the name given to the public, it will be withheld-only the Department's officers must know. This is right and proper and we know every farmer will agree to it.