224 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 19, 1867. 



the quantity and quality o£ our supplies. Whoever, therefore 

 has markedly promoted those exhibitions deserves a more per 

 manent acknowledgment than thanks. 



"If we look over the list of those exhibitions, -we shall find 

 that Mr. Hewitt is employed at nearly three-fourths of them, 

 and this fact alone testifies that his decisions generally inspire 

 confidence in his judgment and integrity; while if we look ovar 

 the catalogues of those exhibitions whose committees previously 

 announce that he will be one of the arbitrators, the numbers 

 of entries are evidence that ho is highly respected by the great 

 majority of exhibitors. 



"It is proposed, therefore, to present a testimonial to Mr. 

 Hewitt, and thus enable exhibitors to testify their respect and 

 esteem for a gentleman who has judged at hundreds of shows 

 and travelled thousands of miles without fee or reward, except 

 expenses out of pocket, on purpose to encourage the growing 

 taste for high-class poultry, and to benefit the societies under 

 whose fostering care the fancy has risen to its present high 

 standard. 



" Your contribution to the funds for this purpose is, there- 

 fore, solicited, and may be forwarded to any of the following 

 gentlemen, who have consented to act as the Committee ; or 

 to G. W. .Johnson. Esq., 171, Fleet Street, London, E.C.— 

 J. R. Eodbard, Aldwick Court, Wrington, Bristol ; James 

 Fletcher, Stoneclough. Manchester ; H. Tomlinson, Balsall 

 Heath Road, Birmingham; J. R. Jessop, Hull; S. Barn, East 

 TeiTace, Whitby." 



.SUESCKIrTIOXS ALPEAEY r.ECEIVEK OE PROMISED. 



Proprietors of The -JoDRNAL OF Horticulture £10 



„ The Field 5 5 



A Ladv Exhibitor .5 



An Old Pcboolfellow 5 



Mr. J. Allport 1 1 



Mr. MathewDavies 2 2 (1 



•James Fletcher, Esq 10 



Mr. G. Griffiths 1 1 



Viscountess Holmesdale 5 



The Rev. W. J. Mellor 2 2 



J. Pares, Esq 110 



Messrs. Routledge 1 1 



Mr. W.Stevens 110 



W. B. TcRetmeier, Esq 110 



J. Westgarth Wooler, Esq 1 1 



Mr. Jessop 110 



duty charged on eggs. On August 8, 18-54, there was a reduction 

 to id. per 120, and from that time to March G, 1860, they were 

 entered by the cubic foot at the rate of 8d. This mode was 

 found less convenient, and the previous system was adopted — 

 that of number, called great hundreds, or 120, as a unit ; and 

 eggs were placed amongst free articles. 



The countries from which we derived our principal supplies 

 will be seen by the following table, with the exception of the 

 year 1866, where the total alone has yet been ascertained — 



From 1862. 1863. 1864. 18n.5. 1866. 



gt. hds. gt. hd«. gt. hds. gt. his. gt. hds. 



Hamburg .... 6,864 . . 8,006 . . .'i.SlS . . 5,670 . . 



Bremen 15,433 .. 10,250 .. 3,413 .. 1,881 .. 



Holland 8,801 .. 1,30S .. 1,206 .. 1,772 .. 



Belgium .... 169,462 .. 158,526 .. 217,067 .. 171,855 .. 



France 1,501,402 .. 1,872,753 .. 2,893,521 .. 2,795.899 .. 



Portugal 13.813 .. 4,2.51 .. 6,232 .. 1.712 .. 



Spain 189,628 .. 78,828 .. 64,465 .. 81.328 .. 



Cbnl. Islands 85,226 .. 94,487 .. 113,294 .. 21,617 .. 



Othr. countrs. 881 . . 900 . . 1,141 . . 1,710 . . 



Total .... 1,936,010 . . 2,224,414 . . 2,794,152 . . 8,033,444 . . 0,657,324 

 Value.... £593,813 .. .fG73,>38 .. f -35,028 .. £92'<,247 £1,097,197 



In the volume of trade and navigation published by the 

 Board of Trade, the average prices given for the computed value 

 in the year 1805 were — Belgian, 6s. '2d. ; French, 5s. l\d. ; the 

 Channel Islands (their own produce), .5<. lOd. ; and Spanish, 

 6.5. 3rf. per great hundred. It would, however, be an erroneous 

 impression to suppose that Belgian eggs were therefore worth 

 more than French, the mode adopted by the authorities at the 

 Custom House being this ; to take the average prices published 

 in the Economist for that year as follows, per 120 : — 

 ». d. 



7 6 



7 4i 



5 9" 



.January . . 

 February 



March 



April . . . . 



May 



June ... 



OUR SUPPLY OF EGGS AND POULTRY. 



OuR home producers, as a class, are probably not much given 

 to the study of figures, or tliey might be struck with the vast- 

 ness of the importations, of a demand that never relaxes, and a 

 supply from abroad that continually increases — so much, indeed, 

 that our egg merchants look upon the home source as a mere 

 trifle in the scale in satisfying the wants of their customers. 

 We have no accounts of the numbers brought to the markets of 

 Leadenhall and ^^evi^ate, and only the rough estimate of a 

 French authority, who gives the value of the poultry of the 

 United Kingdom at less than one year's supply of eggs from 

 abroad. Thus the annual import of eggs from the Continent 

 averaged 73,000,000 from 1843 to 1847 ; it averaged 103,000 000 

 during the next five years, 147,000,000 for the next five years, 

 and 163,000,000 for the next five years. In 1861 we received 

 from abroad 203,313,360; in 1864, 335,298,240; and in 1866, 

 438,878.880, being in excess of one million a-day, and valued 

 at £1,097,197 sterling. These are facts that might well astonish 

 the agricultural mind. 



At the present time, although there is much attention devoted 

 to the subject, it is principally confined to the fanciers, and 

 upon the best description of birds, so that poultry, and their 

 product, the egg, have not gained any general popularity amongst 

 persons engaged in agriculture. This arises either from a dis- 

 belief in the profitableness of the occupation, or the difference 

 between the tenure of the soil in England and that of France, 

 from whence we derive our great supply. It is evident that 

 more than one million sterling in value of eggs were landed on 

 our shores that could have been raised with the greatest ease at 

 home; and the question naturally arises, " How do foreigners 

 thus take possession of our own markets, with all the dis- 

 advantages of having to convey a perishable cargo through the 

 hands of shippers and commission agents, with all the risks and 

 attendant expenses?" There has been no want of inducement 

 in the matter of prices, as in the year 1854 the Custom-house 

 computed the real value of eggs as low as 4s. 6d. per ten dozen ; 

 but during the last six years G.s. per 120 has been reckoned, 

 which is also the wholesale price in France. Amongst the 

 arrangements under the French treaty was the aboUtion of the 



and apply the same price to the impoits of each month from 

 all parts. The average price so applied varies from month to 

 month, as will appear f i-om the above quotations. Since the 

 value attached to the importations for the entire year is the 

 sum of the values of each month, it follows that the average 

 value of the importations for the year varies for the several 

 countries according to the month or months in which the bulk 

 of those importations took place. The cargoes are shipped 

 chiefly in steam vessels, and arrive at the ports of South- 

 ampton, London, Folkestone, Arundel, Newhaven, and Shore- 

 ham. Of the supplies from Ireland, in the absence of any 

 positive data, it is generally supposed that they have diminished 

 from that quarter. 



The time for laying eggs takes place according to the tempera- 

 ture and the climate. They begin in France, and in most 

 parts of Europe, from .January to March, the forward hens lay- 

 ing in the earlier mouths, and the sluggish not until the latter. 

 For purposes of preservation, the late eggs are considered the 

 best. April, May, and June are the months when the produc- 

 tion is most abundant ; but in July the laying slackens, to re- 

 sume a certain degree of fresh activity in August and September. 

 In October and November, which is the season of the moult, it 

 ceases almost wholly, and is null in the month of December. 



In parts of France where breeding is carried on as a trade, 

 there is a separate class of persons called coupeiirf:, or hatchers. 

 The hen is seldom allowed to lead the chickens after being 

 hatched ; the coupeurs entrust this office either to Capons or 

 Turkeys, the hen being more valuable for laying eggs than rear- 

 ing the brood. If a similar attention to the details were given 

 in this country, the stock of fowls which roam about the farm- 

 yard and gather corn fi'om the thrashing, instead of being a 

 mjre adjunct and perquisite of the servants, would return 

 Bufiicient to discharge the rental of many a small occupation. 

 Such, we have understood, has been the case where the experi- 

 ment has been fairly tried, and once this becomes an estabUshed 

 notion our home supplies will increase in a greater ratio than 

 they do at present. According to a competent authority, at 

 this time, what with improved native and imported varieties, 

 we possess the be^t stock of egg-layers, hatchers, and table fowls 

 in the world. In no country is the management of our best 

 poultry yards excelled. These should serve as a model for the 

 rest ; and, to bring up the wholesale results to their true 

 national importance, all we require is an extension of the taste 

 for bird-farming amongst those who earn their Uving on the 

 land. 



To show the seasons in which the laying is most active, and 



