"Some thoughtless farmers carry live fowls with their heads hanging down. This is very cruel. Think how you would like being carried in that way. It is cruel also to crowd them into little hampers when they have to be carried to market.
"Fowls cannot be healthy if kept on the same ground year after year, for the earth becomes poisoned. They should be moved to new ground every year, and the soil occupied the year before used to grow grain, grass, and vegetables; then the fowls could be returned. Unless a movable coop is used it is a good plan to move the yard from one side of the hen- house to the other. If the fowls are diseased either through being kept on poisoned ground or as a result of crowding in taking them to market, their flesh cannot be wholesome for food.
"Fowls are sensitive, timid creatures, and should be treated with kindness. If one cannot take good care of them, it is far better to give up keeping hens and chickens."
ROBERT VISITS THE PIGS.
"Can I help you about anything this morning?" asked Robert of James, as he strolled out into the barnyard after breakfast.
"I am going to feed the pigs," said James. "You may go with me if you like."
Robert did not seem very much pleased with this invitation, and, as
James looked surprised, he said:
"I do not like pigs, they are so dirty. Besides, they are always squealing, and they live in such a disagreeable place under the barn."
James smiled. "Come with me and see our pigs," he said; "perhaps you will like them better than you think."
James had a large wheelbarrow with him, and on the way he stopped in a fine field of clover and cut enough of it to fill the wheelbarrow to the very top. Robert helped him pile up the clover, and he would have liked to wheel the barrow, but it was too heavy for him.