It is often remarked, that a farmer's wife will be frequently more successful in rearing an early lot of chickens than a man who has expended a great deal of money on his yards, and prides himself on his fancy breeds. The poultry journals, too, are filled with names of women who are successful competitors for honors or for sales ; all showing that it comes within a woman's province. There is a cause for this. It interferes with no other home duty; while it does require frequent attention, and this, women and girls can give. There is something very appealing, too, in those little downy balls of vi-vaciousness, which makes the work they bring very attractive.

If our young amateur desires the trial, she will begin with not more than half a dozen sitting hens, each with her thirteen eggs, by the middle or last of March, if she has a warm place for them. The nests for hatching are to be boxes with ashes or dry earth at the bottom; above, fill in loosely some fine hay, and set in a dry, warm spot, with food and water always near. This may be in the barn-cellar, or in tight rooms, or even the house-cellar, - wherever it cannot freeze, where it is secluded and separate from other fowls. If this cannot be, wait till warmer weather.

At the end of the twenty-first day, all that can hatch have picked their shells. At the early season mentioned, three-quarters of the eggs are all that can be expected to give chicks: allowing for accidents, we may reasonably hope to have fifty at the end of a month. But it will require a good deal of watchfulness to carry them through the changes of that first month. If we succeed even fairly, they will be much more valuable than later comers.

The coops, of course, are ready for their occupants. They are made quite tight, and so they can be shut by simply putting a board in front. One can be improvised by turning a barrel or a box on its side; or can be made with great care and all the"modern improvements."Where an old glazed sash is at hand, construct a little yard in front of the coop, just as large as the sash, made of boards, with the sash for roof. Underneath this skylight they will take their exercise, keep warm, and thrive famously. The coop must always be placed where it is protected from the wind, with a frontage south or east, and where it can have the direct rays of the sun several hours daily. Yard and coop are both to be floored, kept dry, and frequently cleansed. From the neglect of this comes the greatest loss of chicks. And the single rule by which they thrive is this: keep them warm, dry, and well fed.

To return to the beginning: they need not be disturbed for twenty-four hours after hatching. That wonderful nature which developed the germ of life into a downy, animated ball, stored within it enough food from the egg to last that length of time. After that, give hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, four or five days, then cracked corn till they are nearly two months old. They should have all they can eat, at first six times daily, then decrease the amount as they grow older, and give plenty of fresh water to drink. After that age they can digest whole grain, but do not feed them with soft food. Skimmed milk is always a dainty dish for these voracious youngsters.

As spring comes, on warm days let them run on the ground, and you would hardly guess how many worms and insects those little shining eyes discover. When it rains, keep them shut in. If they draggle about in the wet, they will die with roup or gapes. Continue this treatment till the hens have left them to take care of themselves: afterward they will make but little trouble, and can soon be removed to yards with roosts. This may be in open sheds, if safe, so they may get fresh air: at any rate, they must have access to the ground, and ventilation.

If the chicken mistress is able to control the refuse of the kitchen, she will chop all the scraps for her charges; and excellent diet it is. For the rest, they need wheat, screenings, buckwheat, oats or corn, frequently changing from one to another.

When about six months old the pullets begin laying. The whole neighborhood rings with the news, and chanticleer trumpets forth the astonishing fact. Properly fed, and not without, they will lay all winter. They like boxes in dark, out-of-the-way places for nests, and are fond of hiding them so securely, that they bring forth batches of chicks before you know what they are about.

Their roosting-places must be both warm and well ventilated; the first to be secured by having their sheds or houses tight, and protected from winds; the last, by having a square box or air-shaft run a little way out of the top of the building to take off the foul air. The neglect of this will breed cholera, or some other fatal disease. They are likewise dependent on plenty of ground to scratch over, clean water, and sunshine. In winter never have over forty in one yard. Sheds and enclosures may be divided, if they are large, and each lot have its open space for exercise. If too crowded, or damp, their feathered inhabitants will certainly become diseased, and liable to vermin. To prevent the last, every bit of wood about their yards needs to be whitewashed two or three times every year.

To have eggs all winter, give them a warm breakfast, as often as possible, of boiled potatoes, or boiling-water mixed with cracked wheat or middlings. Lime, too, must be always at hand. Pounded or burnt oyster-shells is an especial dainty. So are scraps of fresh meat in winter, chopped fine, and cabbages, or any kind of green food.

So many good varieties of fowl are now reared, that it is hardly possible to go amiss in making a selection. Crosses of two good strains make as good layers as pure breeds.

If you are very sure you can manage one, get an incubator, and place in the cellar, and begin to set eggs in February : this gives early chicks for broiling, which always bring high prices. With each incubator is a set of directions.

The success of chicken-raising will depend on intelligent care, and on cost of food, and price of chicks and eggs ; all of which are variable. Let us strike an average, thus, Price of chicks for broiling (until the 20th of June), each . • $ .75 Food for same...........25

Profit on each broiler........$ .50

Roasting-fowls bring from sixteen to twenty-five cents per pound, according to the season. They are fattened only by giving them all they can eat, three times daily. By Christmas they ought to weigh five pounds, which, at eighteen cents per pound, would amount to ninety cents; subtract thirty cents' worth of food, and the gain on each is sixty cents.

It is agreed that the eggs of a hen are worth each year twice as much as her food: near cities they average more.

The account of each fowl, then, for one year, is, One bushel of grain.........$ -75

Ten dozen eggs, at twenty cents per dozen.....2.00

Yearly profit......              .. $1.25