57/? HENRY THOMPSON ON PRIZE POULTRY. 



173 



are laid down because found in characteristic 

 examples of the breed, and distinguishing it from 

 other breeds or from mongrels. 



In 1885 much more direct attack was made 



upon exhibition poultry by a man famed 



throughout the civilised world as the premier 



surgeon of England — -Sir Henry 



Sir H. Thompson Thompson, also well known as a 



on . ^ ' ,. . 



Prize Poultry. writer upon dietetic questions. 

 In two long letters he relates 

 how he had begun to breed Brahinas in 1881, 

 erecting one of the most elaborate yards for the 

 purpose ever designed ; but sold off the whole 

 in the summer of 1S84. In taking up the 

 pursuit, he said, he "naturally concluded that 

 the most perfect birds were either those best 

 adapted for the table and the most welcome 

 when served there, or those which produced the 

 largest number of the finest and richest eggs 

 for the same purpose. For what other purpose 

 were poultry wanted if not for these .'' " But 

 he very soon discovered, he proceeds, that 

 however it might be in France, in England the 

 object was merely " feathers," and that, as a 

 consequence, " we produce races inferior to those 

 of France, cannot supply the moderate wants 

 of our population, and pay enormous sums 

 every year for the poultry and eggs of that 

 country.' To leave no possible doubt of his 

 meaning, after again recounting how prizes are 

 awarded according to the development of 

 arbitrary characteristics, he repeats, "Hence our 

 inferiority to France in the quality and abund- 

 ance of poultry products," and even traces the 

 effect of the " baneful system " to the farm and 

 cottage, alleging the deterioration of "even the 

 farmyard mongrels " by the cockerel purchased 

 from some celebrated source. Finally, he pro- 

 nounces that " no compromise is possible " 

 between the two ends, of competitive breeding, 

 and economic objects : for " either infallibly 

 neutralises the other," and so nothing can be 

 done really to improve poultry production 

 " until the prize feather system is swept away." 



This language naturally aroused considerable 

 attention. Those who moved in poultry show 

 circles at the time (for this cult has its peculiar 

 "society" like every other) and who knew details 

 not known to the general public ; who knew 

 something of the sources and cost of Sir Henry's 

 stock, and the results of his " breeding," of the 

 expenses of the establishment as carried on, and 

 the respective shares taken by owner and " man " 

 '.herein ; and who could intelligently compare 

 the objects here alleged with the elaborate plan 

 of the yard he had built, smiled and shrugged 

 their shoulders when they read this tirade. We 

 have nothing to do with such matters here ; and 



what is, in some measure, true in the charges thus 

 brought against poultry breeders may be best 

 considered after citing the more detailed state- 

 ments of Mr. Tegetmeier. At the moment we 

 have simply to say that Sir Henrj 

 Errors Thompson's assertions betray in 



in these themselves a misunderstanding of 



Statements. (.]-,g ^hole subject, and a consequent 

 mis-statement of simple facts, which 

 disqualifies him as an authority. Every one of 

 the broader statements is simply a mere error — 

 a mistake as to fact. It has been already shown 

 that quite other causes than those alleged 

 govern the exportation of eggs from foreign 

 countries to this, and that those from France 

 have, since he wrote, greatly declined to far 

 below their former proportion, and to a small 

 proportion of the whole ; while on the other hand 

 English production has enormously increased, 

 and is still rapidly increasing. It is equally an 

 error to say that from the alleged (or any other) 

 causes we " produce races inferior to those of 

 France." Fanciers have some races, it is true, 

 which are so (and which are also kept in 

 France) ; but our races which are meant for 

 eggs and flesh are as good as any in the world, 

 and one of the most celebrated French feeders 

 — Madame Ailleroit — informed us personally, 

 after looking over the exhibition Dorkings at 

 the Crystal Palace, that they were "Perfection!" 

 and that she would desire no better fowls to 

 work upon. If again it is complained that 

 English feeders do not equal the best produc- 

 tions of the French feeders, one is constrained 

 to ask how they should do so, in default oj 

 French prices. In Paris there is a demand for 

 the choicest fatted poultry at from 12s. to 25s. 

 each ; where and what is the demand for such 

 in England ? When such p-^ices have been 

 obtainable, we have seen in Chapter VII. that 

 the fowls can be produced, and are equal, 

 if not superior, to any in the world. The 

 neglect of such considerations as these proves 

 that a man may be pre-eminent as a surgeon, 

 and yet be an exceedingly poor authority upon 

 food economics ; and it is the more to be 

 regretted because the same failure to grasp the 

 conditions leads Sir Henry Thompson to deny 

 even the possibility of amendment, which is, on 

 the contrary, quite practicable under exhibition 

 " conditions " if exhibitors can only be persuaded 

 of its necessity, which they are little likely to 

 be by such extreme methods. These also tend 

 to obscure the amount of truth which does really 

 lie in such indictments, and which it is desirable 

 to ascertain and recognise with a view to that 

 amendment. 



We shall be helped in this by the later and 



