452 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULT L-EE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Mny SO, 187 



thiniing toth tlie eRps and young are m danger from their 

 great length; but from our own knowledge in breeding long- 

 Sufied bif-ds Ve can affirm that there is not any occasion to do 

 EC, for in an experience of fourteen yeaors we bave never cut a 

 miff nor had any more casualties with our muffed t".ds than 

 with the clear-legged ones, and for many years their feathers 

 were from 3 inches to 4} inches long. Remember the feathers 

 Tu ?un outwards, and the eggs and young are carefully kept 

 within the feet and legs. Again, watch the old ones going to 

 their nest, and it will he seen there is not much to fear. _ 



There is a merit in Trumpeters that many high-class varieties 

 do not possess. They are good nurses, requiring no more atten- 

 tion than ordinary Pigeons would ; besides, they are of an even 

 eood temper, very familiar, and of a sound robust con.-^titution 

 Thus they are adapted to young fanciers as much as any breed 

 we know.— BmsnNOHAM Columb.^bian Society. 



AUSTBALIAN PAEROQTJETS AND DORKING 

 FOWLS. 



The following facts may interest some of the many readers of 

 " oni- .Journal." There are at the present time in an aviary at a 

 certain rectory in Kent, three young ^arroquets flying. 1 hey 

 have lust left the nest which the parent birds had biult m a 

 hole of the waU of this same aviai-y. The parent birds have 

 Uved out of doors throughout the past winter, their only shelter 

 from the inclemency of the weather being some sloping boards 

 over a smaU poi-tion of the aviary, which covering they have 

 shared with Canaries, .Java Span-ows, and different vaneties of 

 our English birds. „ , . n . i • n t 



I hale this day taken from under a Dorking pullet which I 

 watched on to the nest, an egg. I did the same yesterday (May 24). 

 This bird was hatched on the .5th of January, 1872. Who after 

 this can doubt the fact of Dorkings being good layers .'—A. K. C. 



HOME PRODUCTION OF EGGS AND POULTRY, j 



(Concluded from page i3S.) I 



The system of feeding practised at this farm is as follows :— | 

 The fowls leave their roost at the first nsmg of the sun, and are ] 

 out and about for two hours picking up the early wonns, &c. ; 

 at eight o'clock the fowls get their morning meal, which consists 

 of a mess of meal mixed to the consistency of a stiff dough, 1 J oz. 

 being allowed to each bird. This meal is continually varied, 

 one time oatmeal, another barleymeal or Indian com meal, or 

 brank or buckwheat meal, and a small quantity of bran being 

 mixed through it; this is thrown to them on some clean spot, 

 each fowl being allowed as much as it will pick up greedily. 

 Midday they get a small allowance of boiled potatoes, parsmpa, 

 carrots or mangels hot, with a little bran and chandler's greaves 

 or other stimulating substance mixed through it; and at four 

 o'clock before retiring to roost, they are supplied with whole 

 grain at the rate of IJ oz. to each bird, a change in the variety 

 given being made twice a- week. The cost of the feeding I have 

 described throughout the year averages lid. tolkd. per week per 

 bird taking the price of gi-ain at Id. per lb. — a fair average price, 

 and 'this feeding is found to keep the stock in the highest pos- 

 sible state of health and profit. Five or six broods of chickens 

 are hatched every March to replace the hens killed off each 

 autumn, and so a succession of young and profitable birds is 

 being continually kept up. A little dry mould or earth is 

 sprinkled twice a- week over the droppings of the fowls in the 

 hen-house to deodorise their excrements, fix the ammonia, and 

 keep the house sweet, and so render the manure as valuable as 

 possible, and obviate the necessity of continually cleaning the 

 house. This manure and earth is removed every two months, 

 and used upon the farm or garden, and found to be nearly equal 

 in its fertilising power to guano. Two orthree broods of chickens 

 are reared for market purposes during the months of March, 

 April, May, and June, of either the Houdan or Brahma-Dorking j 

 breed. The chickens are forced on by liberal feeding and con- 

 timial change of food, so as to get them ready for market as 

 soon as possible. The chickens are usually fit to kill at the age I 

 of eleven or twelve weeks. During this three months they are 1 

 estimated to consume food to the value of about Is. 5d., besides 

 what they gather for themselves, at which age they weigh from i 

 4J to 5 lbs., and realise 3s. lid. each, leaving a profit of about 2s. i 

 on each chicken. The young chickens are cooped for ten days I 

 with their mother upon a gi-ass plot, and fed on a variety of 

 nourishing dainties, to give them a start in life ; after this they 

 are allowed their liberty with th« hsn, and fed liberally three or 

 fom- times a-day. At the age of ten weeks they are confined for 

 a fortnight, and fed upon as large a quantity of fattening food as [ 

 they can be induced to consume — chiefly oatmeal and milk; they 

 are then killed and disposed of. The profit derived from fatten- | 

 ing for the market (considering the risk and attention necessary) | 

 are not at all equal to that realised by laying stock. The f ormei- 

 require little or no attention beyond mixing and throwing them 

 their food two or three times a-day, and daily collecting their 



eggs, and the manure made during the twelve months is esti- 

 mated to well cover all cost for attendance. The casualties 

 that arise from the death of chickens is found to be very trifling- 

 suppose one-third of each brood to die before they attain the age 

 of eight weeks ; the cost of food consumed by a young chicken 

 of this age will certainly not exceed 3d. or id., and what a trifle 

 is this deducted from the 10s. or lis. clear profit realised lu 

 twelve months by each fowl that comes to maturity. Well, to 

 sum up the total receipts and expenditure of this lot of fowls, 

 it will be found to be as follows. On the debtor side we have :— 

 Dr. «• <l- 



Cost of rcarinK and feeding sixty laying hens to the age of 

 nineteen months, at the rate of IJiJ. per week for grown 

 birds, and half the amount during chickenhood— each . . b 8 



Well, on the credit side we have :— 

 Cr. 

 15 dozen esgs at an average price of 1«. per dozen— i.e., Sd. 



in summer and 15rf. in winter— will realise l" " 



Value of fowl when killed in the autumn, at id. per lb.— say 2 U 



17 

 Now deduct the above cost for rearing and keep during the 

 nineteen mouths (6s. 8d.} from the 17s., and we have a balance 

 of 10s. id., a clear annual profit from each laying hen ; and, as J. 

 showed before, a profit of 2s. in three months from each chicken 

 reared for market "will thus give : — 



Sixty hens at lOs. id ^^1 



Staty chickens reaied for market JJ 



£31 

 Representing the clear profit annually reaKsed frorn this com- 

 paratively small stock of poultiy. It is estimated that a fowl 

 ViU void at least 1 oz. of dry excrement during the twenty-four 

 hours ; and allowing this manure in a di-y state to be woitn as. 

 per cwt., which is certainly a moderate price, we have the nine- 

 teen months' manm-e from each fowl to the value of Is. Ml., 

 or a total on aU the fowls of ±-6 5s., which aUows over 2s. per 

 week to cover cost of attendance. Profits such as I have here 

 I described I think aU wiU admit will favom-ably compare with 

 that realised from other farm stock. -, . ■, i ^ 



It wiU be asked by some upon what gi-onnas fowls can be 

 supposed to reaUse a larger profit than other flesh-forming ani- 

 mals. The answer is a simple one. In the first place, fowls 

 obtain at least one-half their Hving at no cost whatever to tbeu 

 owner, upon what may be called waste food, such as worms, 

 slugs, flies, beetles, giiibs, gi-ass seeds, waste corn, anil vege- 

 table food, all of which they gather for themselves, at no cost 

 to the owner ; whereas, cattle, sheep, pigs, &c., depend wholly 

 upon food pnrchased or raised especially for their use. Again, 

 the average price realised in the carcass for beef and mutton is 

 only id. or 5d. per lb., whereas the price of fowl meat is {kt.ox 

 lOd., although produced at a much less cost; and again, tne 

 ' profit reaUsed by the eggs produced in proportion to the fooa 

 consumed is far greater than that reaHsed by producing meat. 

 1 It may also be considered that an average yield of IBO eggs m 

 the twelve months is a high average ; but those who keep the 

 ; best and most improved breeds, properly fed and cared tor 

 exceed this average, 230 and 250 eggs being commonly obtained 

 from certain breeds. It will also be considered by some that is. 

 or 3s. Gd. is a stiff price for a chicken, and no doubt it would be 

 for the wretchedly small-sized, half-fed birds one sees exposed 

 ' in our country markets for sale. A large, meaty, weE-fed Houdan 

 or Brahma-Dorking chicken, weighing 4i to 5 lbs., wiU as readily 

 fetch 3s. Gd. as a small barndoor fowl one-half its size wiU 

 realise 2s. or 2s. Sd. Although fowls are not sold by weight, a. 

 purchaser is entii-ely guided by size, condition, and general 

 appearance as to the price he wiU give. It therefore comes to 

 much the same thing. It is absurd to say as some do— un a 

 fowl is a fowl, and you will find no one to give more than -is. 

 a-couple, no matter how big and good they are." I have sent 

 fowls to market that weighed from 8i to 9 lbs. of Brahma- 

 Dorking breed ; and my experience is that an extraordinarUy 

 large and weU-fed fowl will fetch a fancy price, really more than 

 its relative value rather than less than it. 



I have now touched generaUy upon poultry management, as 

 it is and as it should be, and I trust that I have been able tO 

 show to the satisfaction of some that our home production ol 

 eggs and poiiltry is not what it might be, and that I have Jur- 

 ther satisfied one of my hearers who may not be partial to tne 

 feathered tribe, that poultry, under certain conditions, may be 

 made profitable farm stock. If it can be shown that poultry 

 can be kept at a profit, and not only a profit, but a very hand- 

 some profit, then I say it is a disgrace— a national disgrace— m 

 a great agricultural country Uke Great Britain, with its miUions 

 of paupers, to think that we so shamefully neglect this impor- 

 ' tant branch of industry, and depend upon our neighbours tor 

 the countless millions of eggs we annually purchase fi-om them. 

 Although I am an advocate for free trade, I beheve that tlie 

 existence of a heavy import duty upon eggs for twelve months 

 would have a most wonderfully beneficial effect upon the countip . 

 The immediate effect of such a duty would he to so raise the 



