The best place for a chicken house is on a sandy hillside with a southern slope.  A heavy clay soil with poor drainage is very bad.  Six-foot chicken wire will be high enough to enclose the run.  If any of the chickens persist in flying out we must clip the flight feathers of their wings (one wing, not both).  Do not put a top board on the run.  If a chicken does not see something to fly to, it will seldom attempt to go over a fence, even if it is quite low.

It is much better to allow chickens full liberty if they do not ruin our garden or flower beds or persist in laying in out of the way places where the eggs cannot be found.

XII

WINTER SPORTS

What to wear—­Skating—­Skiing—­Snowshoeing—­Hockey

If one is fortunate enough to live in a part of the country where they have old-fashioned winters, the possibilities for outdoor sports are very great and the cold weather may be made the best part of the year for healthful outdoor exercise.  To enjoy winter recreations properly we must have proper clothing.  An ordinary overcoat is very much out of place, except possibly for sleighing.  The regulation costume for almost any outdoor sport in winter is a warm coat, a heavy sweater, woollen trousers and stockings, and stout leather shoes.  If in addition we have woollen gloves or mittens and a woollen skating cap or toque, we shall be enabled to brave the coldest kind of weather, provided of course that we have warm woollen underwear.  Various modifications in this costume such as high hunting boots, or leggings and a flannel shirt worn under the sweater are possible.  In the far North, the universal winter footwear is moccasins.  We must be careful not to dress too warmly when we expect to indulge in violent exercise.  Excessive clothing will render us more liable to a sudden check of perspiration, a consequent closing of the pores and a resulting cold.  Rubber boots or overshoes are very bad if worn constantly.  The rubber, being waterproof, holds in the perspiration and we often find our stockings damp even when the walking is dry.  Rubber boots also make our feet tender and cause cold feet.  Tight shoes are also bad for the reason that they check circulation.  The best footwear for a boy who lives in the country will be Indian moccasins or shoepacs worn with several pairs of lumbermen’s woollen stockings.  Such footwear would not do for skating, as they have no soles, but for outdoor tramping in the snow they are just the thing.  No leather is thoroughly waterproof against snow water, but by frequent greasing with mutton tallow, neatsfoot oil or vaseline, shoes can be kept soft and practically waterproof as long as the soles and uppers are in good condition.

[Illustration:  A shoepac]

In all winter sports, especially in Canada, the custom is to wear gaily coloured goods.  A mackinaw jacket made from the same material as a blanket, with very prominent stripes or plaids, is often worn.  Closely woven goods are better than a thicker loose weave as they are lighter, warmer, and more waterproof.