2 ProfitaUe Poultry. 



alone ; yet this vast number only gives one egg to every 

 three mouths. " It is a national waste," says Mr. Edwards, 

 '' importing eggs by the hundreds of millions, and ])oultry 

 by tens of thousands, when we are feeding our cattle upon 

 corn, and grudging it to our poultry ; although the return 

 made from the former, it is generally admitted, is not five 

 per cent, beyond the value of the corn consumed, whereas 

 an immense percentage can be realised by feeding poultry.'' 

 A writer in the Times, of February 1, 1853, states that, 

 while it will take five years to fatten an ox to the weight 

 of sixty stone, which will produce a profit of £30, the same 

 sum may be realised in five months by feeding an equal 

 weight of poultry for the table. 



Although fowls are so commonly kept, the proportion to 

 the population is still very small, and the number of those 

 who rear and manage them profitably still smaller, chiefly 

 because most people keep them without system or order, 

 and have not given the slightest attention to the subject. 

 Nevertheless, it costs no more trouble and much less 

 expense to keep fowls successfully and profitably, for 

 neglected fowls are always falling sick, or getting into 

 mischief and causing annoyance, and often expense and 

 loss. '^ A man," says Mr. Edwards, '' who expects a good 

 return of flesh and eggs from fowl-s insufficiently fed and 

 cared for, is like a miller expecting to get meal from a 

 neglected mill, to which he does not supply grain." 



The antiquated idea that fowls on a farm did mischief to 

 the crops has been ])roved to be false ; for if the grain is 

 sown as deeply as it should be, they cannot i-each it by 

 scratching ; and, besides, they greatly prefer worms and 

 insects. Mr. Mechi says, " commend me to poultry as 

 the farmer's best friend," and considers the value of fowls, 

 in destroying the vast number of worms, grubs, flies, beetles, 

 insects, larvae, &c., which they devour, as incalculable ; and 

 the same may be said as to their destruction of the seeds of 

 weeds. They also consume large quantities of kitchen and 

 table refuse, which is generally otherwise wasted, and often 

 allowed to decay and become a source of disease, or at 

 least of impurity. 



