THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



about the extent of it and the commercial 

 results. The eggs have to be very carefully 

 candled, and the superintendent of this process 

 at one Kansas City house, where eggs are 

 cold-stored for Texas, Colorado, California, 

 and others beside the home State, has from 

 ten to thirty men under him according to the 

 season. The overlooking of a single decayed 

 &^^ may spoil a whole easeful, and 

 a case with many very bad ones may spoil 

 many others near it. Prices realised also differ 

 much, according to the season ; and from these 

 various causes, several seasons the speculators 

 have made serious losses. On the whole, how- 

 ever, storage helps to steady the market, 

 raising prices in summer and moderating them 

 in winter, when the stored eggs come out for 

 use. Surplus imports into New York City are 

 also stored there. 



In connection with storage, a great many 

 American eggs are canned, all eggs found with 

 their shells broken or cracked being thus treated. 

 The whites and yolks are separated, and then 

 canned in the same way as meat or vegetables, 

 the product being used by bakers and con- 

 fectioners, who find the separate yolks or whites 

 very convenient, and use a great many cans in 

 winter when eggs are dear. Good eggs are also 

 canned and exported for use in hot countries. 

 The eggs rejected for storage because cloudy, 

 or even rotten, are also canned, and sold to 

 be used in the above-mentioned manufactures. 

 Egg-shells are broken up small and sold for 

 various purposes, sometimes as a fertiliser. 



It is unnecessary to dwell at any length 

 on the marked differences between British and 

 American table poultry. The chief point about 

 the latter is that the birds are not crammed, 

 but simply fed. Yet many of the larger ones 

 of the best quality, known as " soft " roasters 

 (i.e. the flesh tender, not hard), are really of 

 very fine quality, and raise a very interesting 

 question for British producers. The latter, as 

 already seen, depend chiefly upon cramming 

 with semi-liquid food, without fresh vegetables, 

 but with sour milk. Americans simply feed, 

 with large rations of cut clover in addition to 

 grain and mash and animal food ; and this 

 clover feed, as before remarked, seems to main- 

 tain appetite, cool the system, and enable it 

 to digest large quantities of the more solid 

 food._ The question is well worth study and 

 experiment in this countr)', of how this system 

 of feeding would answer in comparison with 

 the other. 



Besides the roasters and broilers already 

 treated of, however, a half or quarter of one 

 of the latter being served to each person. 



there has been, since 1S98, a new American 

 development in the shape of " squab " broilers, 

 weighing only from three-quarters of a pound 

 to a pound each, and sold wholesale at from 

 I to 134 dollars per pair. Wyandottes and 

 other medium-sized breeds make the best of 

 these. They have originated in a desire for 

 some new poultry dish amongst the wealthier 

 classes in the large cities, and the trade is 

 confined to this class. In size these small 

 birds closely resemble the fetits poussins, which 

 have been already described ; but they are 

 quite different in texture, and served quite 

 differently, being split down the back and 

 broiled just like their larger brethren ; the 

 only difference is that a whole bird, instead 

 of half or quarter, is served to each person. 

 They have to be very uniform in size, which 

 varies a little in different cities ; as it would 

 cause comment among hotel guests if some 

 were served differently from others. 



In the former edition of this work, re- 

 ference was made to the import of eggs 

 from Canada, and attention was directed to 



the prices obtained for Canadian 

 Canada. fowls, which were, of course, sent 



over in cold storage. It was re- 

 marked that the industry was increasing in 

 Canada, and that it was being encouraged by 

 special instruction given under Government 

 auspices in various ways ; but there was no 

 data then available for stating the probable 

 outlook or immediate prospects of either the 

 industry itself or the Canadian-British trade. 

 For some time subsequently large quantities of 

 Canadian eggs continued to reach the English 

 markets, and apparently the Dominion was 

 destined to rank as one of our chief sources 

 of supply. To-day Canadian eggs are prac- 

 tically a negligible quantity, and are rapidly 

 approaching the point when they will cease to 

 be tabulated in the Board of Trade returns. 

 In igog only a little short of ;^2,000 worth of 

 British North American eggs reached Great 

 Britain. 



In his excellent report on the Poultr}- In- 

 dustry in America, Mr. Edward Brown, hon. 

 secretary of the National Poultry Organisation 

 Society, by whom the book is published, ex- 

 plains this great decrease as follows: "The 

 explanation has already been given, namely, 

 that home demand and enhanced local prices 

 have made the trade unprofitable ; another 

 factor, as expressed to me by leading shippers 

 in Montreal and Toronto, is that it is entirely 

 a question of price, and if they can sell upon 

 the spot it pays much better than sending 



