136 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



ponds on the farni, there to lie in soak for 

 several da)-s. The same ponds contained gold 

 and silver fish ; and owing probably to the 

 amount of food thus insensibly added, the fish 

 had swarmed to a great extent, but it was 

 singular that many of the young fish had lost 

 most of their colour. This seems to us another 

 curious example, in a quite different direction, 

 of the effect of ground oats in whitening the 

 skin. 



Another side of the feeding problem is raised 

 by considering the gains in weight during 

 successive weeks of fattening ; coupled with the 



referred to by JNIr. E. Brown on p. 109. The 

 average weight of all when put up to fatten was 

 4 lbs. iS'/2 ozs., and the weight gained during 

 successive weeks was as follows :— 



fact that birds may be brought to the utmost 

 pitch of perfection at -a. pecuniary loss. There is 

 not the slightest doubt that many of the birds 



which take prizes at shows of dead 

 Pr^ofitorLoss poultry, such as Smithfield, have 

 Fattening. been prepared at a loss as regards 



any possible market price, though 

 they may pay for purposes of competition. Such 

 a fact, as we must show, has a very important 

 bearing upon advice as to the best breeds and 

 crosses. Both points may find illustration in 

 turther figures regarding the same twenty-four 

 fowls fatted b\- Mr. C. E. Brooke (which were 

 his exhibits at the Dairy Show of 1894) already 



After the second week, it can be observed 

 that the increase rapidly falls off, and that the 

 fourth week added scarcely anything — only 



1 Hy, ozs. per bird. If fowls could be sold merely 

 by weight, therefore, they would pay better if 

 killed after the fortnight ; but the further feed- 

 ing, though it adds less, rounds out and finishes 

 off the whole bird, and thus makes a share of 

 the price by giving higher " quality." These 

 particular fowls, however, cost 2s. each to feed 

 for the four weeks, in food only, besides the 

 labour ; and it is clear that at this cost the 



2 lbs. 6 ozs. of flesh and fat added in four 

 weeks could not possibly pay, except at the 



