I04 



TJlc Couniiy Gcntkmaiis Maga::iiic 



stantly : tliis is a maxim illustrated every day. Sim- 

 plify the market system and improve the means of 

 pioJuction ; you will then remove the consumer's first 

 objection, viz., price. The second objection as to 

 nutriment is answered by the fact that, as a flesh-form- 

 ing food, poultiy is moi'e nutritious than beef. It is 

 only inferior to beef as being less fattening, for it con- 

 tains a little less water, a fraction per cent, less 

 albuminous matter, and a greater portion of salts. To 

 the remaining objections urged by the farmers, that 

 poultr)' damage the stack-yard, I have little hesitation 

 in saying that this is a mistake where stacks are set 

 u]3on frames, and birds regularly and judiciously fed. 

 TJie other, namely, that poultry damage the crops, 

 will, I think, receive a conclusive and practical 

 answer from Mr Mechi. Mr Mechi keeps 300 head 

 of ]wultry, which have free access to the fields near 

 the homestead, and he finds that they do more good 

 than harm. With regard to the system of sales by 

 auction, this plan has already been adopted by Messrs 

 Broome & Co., meat and poultry salesmen in 

 Nev\-gate Market. Their manager, Mr Brooke, has 

 been in Normandy and the other poultry districts 

 of France, to ascertain the French methods of feed- 

 ing, and of poultry management generally, which 

 appear to be more systematic and economical 

 than our own. Messrs Broome have kindly 

 consented that their manager should attend before you, 

 if desired, to give anyjnformation that may be of value. 

 Taken in connexion with the statements of the weight 

 and the cost of rearing barn-door fowls, it may be 

 useful to place side by side the prices quoted in New- 

 gate, and Leadenhall markets at two periods of the 

 year which will represent plenty and scarcity of 

 produce : — 



Sept. 21, 1867. Mar. 27, 1S67. 



Surrey fowls, per couple los. to 12s. ... los. to 12s. 



„ chickens „ 5s. 6d. to 7s. ... 6s. to Ss. 



Barn-door fowls „ 4s. 6d. to 6s. ... 5s. to 7s. 



Mr Mechi is now getting 7s. 6d. a pair wholesale for 

 chickens. It is impossible at present to procure any 

 reliable information with regard to the home produce, 

 and the consumption of birds and eggs in this country.' 

 It has been variously and vaguely estimated. The 

 .story of our imports, ho\vever, tells a startlin-^ 

 tale :— '^ 



n 184^ we imported 98,000,000 of eggs. 

 " i8'6 ., 438,878,880 „'"'' 



397,934,520 ,, 



In 18 

 I 



In 1S67 



The cause of this reduction in last year's imports I am 

 not prepared to give. The price of English eggs per 

 hundred m Newgate and Leadenhall markets varies 

 froin 6s. 6d. to 13s. ordinarily in the seasons ; the 

 diflference between the prices of English and French 

 eggs bemg, for the most part, is. per hundred. The 

 custom-house return of eggs and poultry imported in 

 1866 (the totals, except in the case of eggs, not bein- 



yet made for 1866) gives the following de* 

 tails : — 



Eggs. 



Imported from Great hundred. 



Hamburgh 16,630 



Belgium 151, 733 



France 3, 359, 302 



Spain 80, 05 5 



Channel Islands 31,840 



Other parts 17, 764 



3,657,324 hundreds. 

 Long hundred 120 



438,878,880 eggs. 

 Poultry. 



Imported from Value. 



Holland ^16,815 



Belgium 97,082 



France 5 6, 2 10 



Other parts 4,864 



;^I74,97I 

 Value of eggs (at 6s. 6d. per 120), ^1,188,630 ; total 

 value of eggs and poultry imported in 1866, ;^I, 263,601. 

 If the foreigner can undersell us in our own markets 

 in eggs, and can send a veiy large amount in value of 

 poultry into this country ; if our own eggs, in spite of 

 this competition, maintain invariably a higher price, it 

 is beyond question that there is — at all events, in our 

 own production — a demand unsatisfied, and a pro- 

 fitable source of food neglected. I have made several 

 inquiries into the matter of artificial hatching, and I 

 am not satisfied with the results. The great difficulty 

 is in rearing the chickens when they are hatched. 

 We have no evidence to shew whether the cultivation 

 of poultry is increasing ; there are no returns of the 

 quantity sent into the market, and it is impossible to get 

 accurate information from the farmers to a sufficient 

 extent to form an opinion. If you took the railway 

 returns you would probably be unable to separate the 

 home-bred from the foreign poulti-y. 



T have not tried the experiment, which I believe has 

 been tried in France, of having a movable poultry house, 

 which can be taken from field to field, but I should 

 think it would be very successful. The only objection 

 is that the poultry are left unprotected. My attention' 

 has been principally directed to poultry kept in small' 

 places, and I don't think it can be carried on profit- 

 ably in that way, because all the food must be pur- 

 chased ; you must then sell at fancy prices. If a con- 

 siderable number are kept in a confined place, there 

 must be some arrangement for changing the soil, 

 which in most cases would occasion a difficulty. I 

 kept three Cochin China fowls for about three months 

 in a small space about 4 ft. by 4 ft., with a little hut 

 behind for roosting ; but then I had the droppings con- 

 tinually removed and the soil constantly dug up. The 

 l^rices paid to the producer by the higgler are 2s. for n. 



