Next to the kitchen-garden, there is no accompaniment of a country residence that contributes more to the comforts of its inhabitants than the poultry-yard; and, considerable as these comforts are, if the management of poultry were properly understood, they might be greatly increased. It is not our intention, in this article, to go at length into the subject, because it would occupy more space than we can afford, and, indeed, would be less useful as a guide, than some of those small popular works devoted entirely to the subject, which may be readily procured. One of the latest of these is entitled Ornamental and Domestic Poultry; their History and Management. By the Rev. E. S. Dixon; published in 1849. In order to determine the principles on which poultry-houses should be constructed, it is necessary to bear in mind that domestic fowls are natives of different countries and climates; that some are aquatic, and, consequently, have very different habits from those that naturally perch on trees or other lofty objects; that, in a state of subjection to man, they are, like other domesticated animals, liable to more diseases than when they are in a wild state, and that these diseases are generally incurable by art: and, finally, that they may be stimulated by rich food and heat, so as to produce eggs earlier, and in greater abundance, than they ever do in a wild state, or in cold seasons, in a state of domestication; while, on the contrary, the season of laying may be retarded by scanty food, and cold.

Experience has shown that the taste of the flesh of fowls depends very much on the quality of the food which they eat Musty or damaged grain, of any kind, will communicate a peculiar taste to the flesh of the common fowl, the goose, the turkey, or the duck, that has been fed on it, however carefully it may be dressed by the cook. All the different species of poultry are exceedingly pugnacious, not only with other species, but even with their own kind; and all fowls, except the aquatic, hare the greatest dislike to damp, and suffer sooner from it than from any other cause. All fowls are more or less omnivorous, and they consequently require, not only corn and green vegetables, but insects, worms, and similar vermin, or the flesh of animals minutely divided, so as to serve as a substitute for these objects. The most remarkable circumstance connected with the common fowl is, that, though it is domesticated in every part of Europe, it is a native of the warmest parts of Asia; and from this circumstance, independently of other considerations, it requires greater warmth in its lodging-place than either the duck or the goose, which are natives of Europe; or the turkey, which is a native of North America. Hence, the necessity of having a separate house for every kind of fowl which is to occupy the poultry-yard, unless we except one or two kinds of similar natures, such as the duck and the goose, which, in some cases, may lodge in the same building.