Her Chickens And His Money

Women are born poultry raisers. It is just as natural for a woman to handle and care for chickens as it is for her to care for babies, and the sooner you say to your wife, "Kow, look here, Matilda, we have been keoping' hens these ten years, and have never made a cent from them. Other folks make money from their chickens, and why shouldn't we? If you wiil take charge of the business, and make it pay, you may have all that you can make," the sooner will yotir fowls cease to be a bill of expenso. After you have made up your mind to set your wife up in the poultry business, make up your mind to give her a fair start. Don't let her begin with an old ram-shackle henhouse and a lot of mongrel hens, but put up a decent, comfortable house and put sorne decent fowls in it. pon't blunder ahead man-fashion, and build the house without Consulting the woman who is to manage the occupants. Very likely your wife may know more about what a poultry house should be, than you give her credit for. After you have given your wife a fair start, deal honestly by her. Allow her the market price for every egg and tor every pound of emcken ineat consumed b) the family, and charge her the market price for all feed f urnished. Don't have any guess work about the matter, but keep an accurate account of the corn and other grain furnished, and let her keep an account of the eggs and chickens used. Kight here the objectiona begin to come in, and, as usual, the flrst comes from the male side of the house. "I can't spare the money to build chicken houses and buy fancy chickens, especially as thechances of seeing my money again are extremely slim." Hold on there! Whenever I hear % married man say "my money" in that exasperating way, I feel B strong inclination to punch the obnoxioua words down his throat with a broom handle, and I would do it, as sure as I an a living sinner, if that man belonged to me. and the words were hurled at my head every time I dared to hint that I would liko to have a dollar to do as I pleased with. Your money, indeed I Let me teil you that your wif e has fully earned, and has just as rnuch right to a share of tke profits from the farm as you have. Don't open your eyes and stare a„ me in that idiotie way! Who has cooked your meals, made, washed and mended your clothes all these years ? Who made the butter and cheese that you sold and pocketed the money for ? Who took care of your children, nursed you when you were sick, and bore with your outrageous fault-finding when things didn't go to suit you? "Who patched, and darned, and contrived, and saved, and made every dollar do the work of three ? And what has she had to pay her for all this? Just her board and clothes as she weat along, and if vou were to die to-morrow all that she could claim of the property, that slio had worked so hard to help you save, would be the use oí one-third of the real estáte; and in nine cases out of ten that is literally worse than nothing. If it had not been for your wife's help, would you have been worth so much to-day as you are now ? If you had been obliged to hire a woman to do the work that your wife has done for her board and clothes, do you imagine that vou could have done mucli more