POULTRY AND EGGS IN FRANCE. 



167 



mark, and the produce gradually find its way 

 to the best markets, giving satisfaction to those 

 who will help them by assisting their trade." 



Besides the teaching of its chief egg-expert, 

 and those trained by him, the Society dis- 

 tributes admirable leaflets on this subject also, 

 stating the more suitable breeds and details of 

 management, and pointing out in simple words 

 that a good lien p^lys a profit of over 5s. per 

 annum. The establishment of creameries is 

 also helping the movement, and the collection 

 of eggs ; and thus by degrees, by the side of 

 the old business at the old low prices, there is 

 growing up a higher class Irish egg trade, which 

 can command an average price of lod. per 

 dozen in the London market, equal to the 

 very best of the foreign supplies. 



Another influence which improved the Irish 

 industry was the increased number of winter 

 shows of dead poultry and eggs, many of 

 them established by the same local 

 Poultry in Societies as are referred to above. 

 Ireland. As a rule the Societies gave all their 



prizes in the shape of live birds for 

 stock ; in this way good blood was brought into 

 the country, and in some cases the eftect was 

 wonderful. Mrs. F. C. Smith, of Boyle, wrote 

 us that at the first show in Mullingar the 

 heaviest turkey was only 1 1 lbs. weight ; the 

 second year the best was 24jj lbs. ; and in 

 1 8g8 there were over a hundred that weighed 

 between 20 and 25 lbs. dressed, and cockerel 

 chickens weighing 15 lbs. to i8_J^ lbs. per pair. 

 Wherever these shows were got up, the effects 

 were seen directly, and both eggs and fowls 

 were of very different size and quality within 

 a year or two The birds exhibited are chiefly 

 bought by Dublin poulterers and local private 

 gentlemen at high prices for Christmas ; this 

 shows the Irish farmers zvhat good foidtry will 

 fetch, and stimulates their ambition. 



To the really practical poultry expert, per- 

 haps the most significant change of all in 

 Ireland, is seen in the choice of breeds. Years 

 ago, many people had spread amongst the 

 peasantry the most really desirable breeds ; 

 but all alike found that these rapidly dis- 

 appeared, with the exception of Hamburghs 

 and Leghorns. These pleased and were kept 

 on, because they laid well, yet were small and 

 ate little ! That reason has been given to us 

 personally in years past, even near Belfast, and 

 we have heard of it from scores of independent 

 sources ; the people could not get better prices 

 for larger eggs, and preferred the birds that cost 

 the least. The purchase of eggs by weight, and 

 selection of the largest by the creameries, and 

 the demand for chickens from Sussex, and 



practical teaching brought Iwine to them, are 

 now changing this, and rapidly developing a 

 valuable national industry. 



The production and consumption of eggs 

 in France is undoubtedly very large, for which 

 there are several obvious reasons, some of which 

 are common to the other Latin 

 France. countries. One is that these 



are Roman Catholic countries, in 

 which eggs are the only extra-vegetable diet 

 besides fish allowable on fast-days. There 

 can be no doubt that this has had much to do 

 with (he creation of non-sitting, laying races all 

 round the Mediterranean, and largely stimu- 

 lated egg-production. Secondly, small occu- 

 pations abound, and these are specially adapted 

 for the general cultivation of poultry. Thirdly, 

 butcher's meat is rare as an article of food, and 

 much of what is used is old and tough ; this 

 turns the national palate to tender stews and 

 entrees, favours the taste for succulent chicken, 

 and increases the demand for it. Lastly, in 

 France especially the wom.en do much work 

 on the small holdings, and poultry-keeping 

 particularly suits their habits, and the general 

 economy of the small farms. A paper by M 

 Lavergne, published forty years ago, stated 

 that many farmers in the La Bresse and other 

 districts made from their poultry at that date 

 from £"}) to ;^5 per acre of their occupation. 



The cultivation of poultry is still extending in 

 France, though it is difficult to say how much, 

 many " official " French reports and figures 

 being worthless. French Government statistics 

 in 1885 made the export of eggs to England of 

 only the value of £556,800, whereas it amounted 

 10.^^1,507,099; and we remember another case 

 in which the Government return of the value ol 

 poultry products in the three arrondissements ot 

 Mantes, Dreu.v, and Nogent was only one-tenth 

 of the municipal return the same year, for their 

 three chief towns alone. The best authority we 

 have been able to find is the result of the de- 

 cennial inquiry made under M. Tisserand in 1892, 

 through the prefects of the eighty-seven depart- 

 ments, and which are certainly more complete 

 than the ordinary returns. Going back for 

 thirty years, this report states the number ot 

 fowls in France in 1S62 as 43,000,000, and in 

 1892 as having increased to 54,000,000, besides 

 about 9,000,000 of ducks, turkeys, and other 

 poultry. It is remarkable to find that, as in 

 Sussex, this increase has been accompanied by 

 an increase in the area under oats : while other 

 cereals showed some decline, oats had increased 

 from 8,209,971 acres in 1862 to 9,399,560 acres 

 thirty years later. 



