50 



JOUBNAIi OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I Joly 16, 1868. 



LiDcolnsbire and Yorlcpbire, from whence we get large enpplies, have 

 completely changed the breeds — thirty years ajjo tliey were quite smnll, 

 and now they are large and tine. This was all brought abont by Mr. 

 Charles Clarke, of Boston, ^vho bought the best stock and gave away 

 the eggs to the farmers nnd cottagers. 



The Chairman : The size depends upon better breeding and better 

 feeding? 



Mr. Broolie : Exactly. In Essex, lilxewisc, the quantity of ponltry 

 is kept up, whilst in Norfolk, some parts of Camhridseshire, Snffoik, 

 and other counties, poultry' has gone completely oat of rultivation, in 

 consequence of the absorption of commons and waste lands, as well as 

 that small cottafrera are not allowed to produce ponltry ; while the 

 English farmers' wives and daughters have forgotten the habits of 

 their ancestors, in sad contrast to the French farmers' wives, 

 whose greatest piide is thoir dairy and their poultiy. The suggestion 

 I would make would be simply this — that where there are cottagers 

 and small farmers, the gentlemen in the immediate neij^hbonrhood 

 should find a supply of good stock, and then distribute the eggs for 

 breeding purposes, the cost of which would not be more that 55. or 10s., 

 and by that means the recipients would do as they have done in 

 Sasses, where a very Inrge quantity of chickens are raised all the year 

 round in the district of Heathfield, in a radius of about twenty miles; 

 during tho next three months we shall have sent to London from that 

 part of the country £1U00 worth per week, which will show what can 

 be done by industry and method. The supply for London is of very 

 great importance, because we must not only consider that there are 

 3,000,000 of people to supply food to here, but we also supply a radios 

 of fifty or sixty miles roond London when our supplies are above the 

 demand for home consumption, in consequence of the railways beinci 

 so acccotible. That is not the case in Franco ; the poultry nearly a 1 

 goes to Parig, and there is hardly any demand in other towns. In 

 this country the supplies ai"e required constantly. Ac Brighton and 

 all round the south coast, at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as at 

 other large towns, it is not likely tho price will decrease, as a more 

 general use would, I am persuaded, lead to an unlimited consumption. 

 The advantages of increasing the food supplies of a people so numerous 

 as ourselves must be apparent ; if it would be considered a boon that 

 where one blade of grass gi'ew anyone should produce two, how much 

 more so at the present time, when meats of all kinds are found to be 

 deficient in quantity, to enable every one to have a mouthful, that 

 some one should step forward, and by th« simple introdaction of a 

 oheap process which is hourly in operation in France, should induce 

 the great landed aristocracy and gentlemen of England and Ireland, 

 as well as the large farmers, to determine that on their own estates a 

 better system of breeding and fattening poultry should commence now. 

 I have recentlv paid a visit to South Wales, and I find that in some 

 parts the cottagers and small farmers are increasingly producing 

 poultry, and this ought to be extended through the length and breadth 

 of Ireland. I have suggested to Messrs. Broome that I should go to 

 the different markets of England and Ireland, and call together the 

 farmers' wives and cottagers, and market people, on mark-et days, and 

 tell them exactly what they might do, and show them how to do it. 



The Chairman : Do you happen to know the French mode of feed- 

 ing ? I think that is very important. 



Mr. Brooke : Yes ; I have written that down, in order to make it 

 thoroughly known. By the plan I propose I think we could introduce 

 a new mode of breeding and feeding poultry. Thus, chickens two or 

 three months old will fatten in seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days, at 

 a cost of 4d. or 6rf. per week. I do not think ther^ is a possibility of 

 raising any kind of vegetable so quickly as that, so as to produce a fat 

 article out of a lean one in about seven or fourteen days. The French 

 seem to me to have acted very wisely in one respect — they never as a 

 rule, send a very small, young, or lean article to market. Now, in our 

 markets we have large quantities of lean goods, not only poultry, but 

 meat, which I consider to be criminal to the community at large. The 

 French actually fat the old hens as well as old Turkeys ; they are 

 sold in France for the purpose of being made into soup, houilli. and 

 other kinds of food, which, according to the French system of cooking, 

 are very nice. Generally fanners, directly they have done with au 

 old hen, stll her for a trifle. The Essex people are wiser; they have 

 managed in the same way as the French ; they get the eggs out of the 

 fowls and then they fatten them, and sell them for 2s. 6f/. or 3s. each. 

 They shut them up and feed them twelve or fourteen days. The way 

 in which the people round Heathfield, Cnck&eld, Uckfield, and other 

 parts of Sasses have improved within the last ten years, is marvellous; 

 and they now make from 3s. &d. to 5s. G^^. for chickens not more than 

 three months old. The chief point is the labour; the only expense 

 tiiere can he is rearing until they got about two months old, which 

 should be by the side of a hedge, or where there is gi-ass, which 

 cannot cost more than Is. to Is. Qd. ; strong, healthy, well-fed 

 chickens are very soon fattened. I think that is a power of manu- 

 facture which is worthy the consideration of the country, as the profit 

 mast he at least from 50 to 75 per cent. The means of feeding 

 are simply these : — Barley or oatmeal gi'ound fine, grease, fat, or suet 

 mixed with it; new milk, or, if not procurable, meat broth, mixed 

 with it to the consistency of thick soup, and administered twice or 

 thrice daily for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days. Fowls from 

 four to six and nine months old should be fed on this food with the 

 fnnnel, and kept in the darken clean straw. All kinds of animals 

 kept in the dark, and quiet, always fatten more quickly than when they 



have too much room or light; that is a very inportantpart of the 

 French system, to keep them in the dark, f ti', what I would wish to 

 point ont is this — the French fowls which are fed with a funnel are a 

 particular breed — !he Crcve-Ccear, La Flcche, Le Mans, nnd Houdan ; 

 a small chicken would not bear the funnel to go down its throat. This 

 class of fowl is now selling wholesale, in Paris, at from Gs. 6l/. to 15s. 

 each. 



The Chnirman : I have been much struck with seeing the plan of 

 cramm-ng Geese at Strasbourg ; the Geese seem to like the first few 

 monthfuls very much, but they afterwards get much disgusted. It 

 was r., most extraordinary sight. 



Mr. Brooke : The French fowls seem to gpt quite fond of ifc, and are 

 quiet; they struggle veij much at first, but they soon get u?ed to it. I 

 think it would be rather difHcalt tj introduce this system of feeding by 

 fnnnel at first amongst the farmers, as it is a proce&s which requires 

 some dexterity and patience ; but it is very simple. To make a coop 

 for twenty-four fowls, with a small trough, to be kfpt clean, to feed 

 the chickens (as they do in Sussex) for s:jven or fourteen days, is what 

 any one could undertake. The chickens mast only have food enough 

 to feed themselves full, then they must be kept in the dark and quiet. 

 The food must be made into a consistency similar to soup; boiled 

 eggs are sometimes given to them during the la^t two or three 

 days; and as fowls well fatted fetch such a price, it is worth while 

 to bring them to the highest perfection. I have never seen sach 

 fowls in England as I saw in the Paris market and the Palais 

 Royal, each weighing 10 lbs. or 14 lbs., which fowls were ei^iht and 

 ten months old. They must be large to be fed with the funnel ; 

 while chickens from ten we-'ks to four moufhs old must have this 

 special food in coops (holding twelve or twenly-four each), provided 

 with troughs, which must be daily cleiircJ. There is a ditfcronce, of 

 coarse, between a chicken fattened in this way and fowls fattened for 

 an especial purpose, as is done with a funnel. Fowls require to be 

 very healtliy before you can fatten them at all, f'.nd for that reason I 

 think none of these poultry companies will- ever be successful, because 

 the fowls do not do well huddled together. Our own supply of poultry 

 can be only increased by giving plots of land to farm labourers, stimu- 

 lating the cottagers and small farmers to breed and fatten poultry, for, 

 wherever it is mixed and crovrded together, disease is sore to follow, 

 and it is impossible to produce them to advantage. We did think at 

 one time it wonld bo well to have a depot at Holyhead or Milford 

 H.aven, where the ponltry might be brought over from Ireland and 

 fattened ; but even with that short passage of ten or twelve hours there 

 is a danger of the poultry getting into a kind of fever, which would 

 prevent them fattening properly. We therefore consider it is much 

 better to import the ponltry dead than alive. If we could only get the 

 gentrj" in Ireland to adopt the simple plan of getting a stock of the 

 very best poultry, and giving away a clutch or two of eggs to the small 

 cottagers around them, and taking care to remove all inferior breeds 

 (and thii could be done at a verv small expense), in twelve months the 

 whole country might he covered with a fine breed of poultry, to the 

 advantage of all concerned. 



The Chairman : Can you suggest any mode by which these country 

 gentlemen can be stimulated to assist the farmers and cottagers in this 

 way, and to insure to the producers a good market for the poultry 

 when they are reared ? I understand that in Wales poultry do not 

 fetch more than 3s. a couple, whilst here I give about Is. and 8s. a 

 piece for fine fowls. 



Mr. Jenkins : The price has been very much raised of late in South 

 Wales. 



Mr. Brooke : I may say that I have just returned from South 

 Wales, where I have established this system. We have one man there 

 who is carrying it ont to gome extent, and his poultry costs 2s. and 23. 6(/^ 

 each. Then ai- Llandilo there is a man to whom I have introduced this 

 system, and he is carrying it out to a certain extent ; but the people 

 are so stubborn you cannot get them to have faith in trying a new 

 system. I have no hesitation in saying that it is quite possible for me 

 to go down to any part of England, and show the system myself, as I 

 did in Wales, and make such an impression as will induce people to 

 try it ; but, if you introduce it to one or two, they always want to keep 

 it to themselves. We rather believe, however, that we should be in- 

 vited down; if we are willing to do people 'a service, the least thing 

 they can do is to pay travelling expenses, and if that were done I 

 should be very glad to spread this knowledge as widely as possible. 



The Chairman : Can you sugaest nothing to the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, in order to spread this knowledge which you have acquired ? 



Mr. Brooke : The only way in which it could he done wonld be by 

 giving me an opportunity of speaking, or giving a kind of lecture, and 

 then let them put questions, and then let it he printed and made public 

 by the press throughout the country. I should have very great pleasure 

 in doing it, because then it would be published in an authorised manrer. 

 For instance. I think of going down to Boston, in Lincolnshire, btt 

 unless something of this sort is done, one has to introduce oneself, 

 which is not the roost pleasant thing in the world. If something were 

 done beforehand it would attract public attention, and show them 

 exactly what to do. 



The Chairman : I understand, from what yon say, that notwith- 

 standing the climate and soil of England, you are of the opinion that 

 the production of poultry might be very much increased under better 

 management. 



Mr. Brooke : Certainly ; I am quite certain that the fiupply oi 



