io8 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



least as far back as the sixteenth century. 

 Within what may be termed the modern period, 

 however, it has been practised largely. In 

 Arthur Young's ' General View of the Agri- 

 culture of the County of Sussex,' published in 

 1808, an account is given of the system then in 

 vogue, from which it would appear that hand 

 cramming only was employed, as there is no 

 mention whatever of machines. A most inter- 

 esting point is the fact that at the time named 

 the fattening of fowls was not confined to 

 Sussex, for in Mr. Mavor's ' General View of 

 the Agriculture of Berkshire,' we find that 

 Wokingham, as it is now called, was ' princi- 

 pally famous for fatted fowl, by which many 

 persons of the town and neighbourhood gain a 

 living. They are sold to the London dealers ; 

 and the sum of ^^150 has been returned in one 

 market day by this traffic. Twenty dozen of 

 these fowls were purchased for one gala at 

 Windsor, at the rate of half-a-guinea a couple. 

 At some seasons of the year 15s. is paid for a 

 couple. They constitute the principal com- 

 merce of the place.' For reasons which have 

 not yet been fully explained, the trade has 

 died around Wokingham, but I have had the 

 opportunity of conversing with people whose 

 forefathers were largely concerned in it. 



"Till quite recently the fattening industry 

 since that period has been confined chiefly to 

 the counties of Sussex and Surrey, extending 

 about thirty years ago into West Kent. It now 

 embraces an area extending from Ashford in 

 the east almost to Guildford in the west. For 



these reasons the best qualities of 

 ^^as^a""^ poultry go under the name of 

 Local industry.Surrey or Sussex fowls, and there 



can be no question that the finest 

 specimens have hitherto emanated from the 

 South-Eastern counties of England, where the 

 industry is a very important as well as a 

 profitable one. It is difficult to estimate the 

 actual value of this branch of agriculture, but a 

 few years ago I obtained figures from the 

 Railway Companies as to the extent of the 

 trafific from the two chief centres, and these 

 figures were afterwards confirmed by the ob- 

 servations of Mr. R. H. Rew, who presented a 

 report to the Royal Commission on Agriculture, 

 in 1895, on the ' Poultry Rearing and Fattening 

 Industry of the Heathfield District of Sussex.' 

 From these figures it was shown that in twelve 

 months there were despatched from Heathfield 

 and Uckfield about 1,850 tons of dead chickens, 

 of an estimated value of about ;^20o,ooo. It is 

 impossible to afford anything like a correct 

 computation of the total returns in all the three 

 counties named, but there is evidence to show 



tliat it has considerably increased of late years. 

 As an instance, Mr. C. E. Brooke, Past- Master 

 of the Poulters' Company of London, despatched 

 in 1S98 upwards of 30,000 birds from his estab- 

 lishments at Baynards, and other places could 

 be mentioned where the growth has been con- 

 siderable. For a long period of time it was 

 asserted that there must be special conditions 

 favourable to this industry in the South-Eastern 

 counties, but it is needless to consider this point, 

 as it has been proved abundantly that fowls can 

 be fatted elsewhere with equal success. Within 

 the last fifteen years the work of fattening has 

 been extended into several other counties, and 

 we may expect to see this continue to a greater 

 extent in the future. 



" When we look at other countries, we find 

 that amongst those where attention has been 

 given to what may be termed advanced poultry 

 culture, the fattening system is extensively 

 followed. One of the best examples is France, 

 which has hitherto had the character of pro- 

 ducing some of the finest fowls in the world, 

 though it is a satisfaction to know that English 

 fowls now rival many, if not all, of the specimens 

 met with abroad. Of course, there also we 

 meet with special industries, such as the pro- 

 duction of the famous La Bresse fowls in the 

 Ain and Saone-et-Loire districts, and the La 

 Fleche, Le Mans, and other grades in Normandy, 

 where the work is carried out to a remarkable 

 degree of perfection, and where prices can be 

 obtained that are practically unknown in this 

 country. But throughout France the system is 

 followed very e.xtensively, and the highly fatted 

 and wonderfully finished specimens to be met 

 with upon the Paris and other markets, place 

 these grades of French poultry in the very front 

 rank. In Belgium the fattening industry is 

 carried out to a considerable extent in the 

 district around the city of Malines, at Merch- 

 tem, Londerzeel, and adjoining villages in the 

 province of Flanders. These birds, up to the 

 present, are not so well finished as either the 

 French or English high-class poultry, but the 

 principle is recognised. In Western Austria, 

 in the Styrian district, there is a good deal of 

 fattening carried out, and in some of the best 

 Central European places of resort very fine birds 

 are sold under the name of Styrian foiilardes. 

 Of late, fattening has been taken up to some 

 extent in Russia, whence vast quantities of 

 chickens — usually of a poor quality — are re- 

 ceived into Western Europe. This will account 

 for the undoubted improvement in some of the 

 grades of Russian poultry during the last few 

 years. During a similar period something has 

 been done in the direction of fattening in 



