352 Home rroduction of Poultry. 



give an old lien the appearance of a chicken. " The fat poultry 

 is drawn and dressed by cooks, who make an incision under 

 the leg to withdraw the intestines, so that the bird is not dis- 

 figured. " The feathers are carefully collected and sorted, and 

 when well dried, sold to dealers. The intestines are boiled, the 

 fat skimmed off, which is sold separate. The intestines are then 

 minced as food for poultry, and the liquid is used for feeding 

 pigs. The combs and kidneys are sold to pastrycooks, the first 

 for decorating, and the latter for flavouring pies. The heads, 

 necks, and feet are sold to hotels, restaurants, 6cc.^ for flavouring 

 sauces, or boiled down to make chicken jelly." 



Mr. Geyelin refers to the selling of poultry by licensed 

 auctioneers at the wholesale market, La Vallee, in Paris ; and 

 describes the country markets, at which enormous quantities of 

 poultry are disposed of. " Every village has its weekly markets, 

 where farmers and their wives bring their produce for sale, in 

 preference to selling it at the farm} ard. The police regulations 

 in these markets are strictly enforced. The various products 

 are classified before the market begins. Each person is bound 

 to keep his assigned place, and not allowed even to uncover 

 his goods, and much less to sell, before the bell rings, under a 

 fine of 5 francs. At the rino:ino' of the bell, the bustle to un- 

 cover, the rush of buyers, and the chattering, are worth wit- 

 nessing. The dealers and merchants take up a stand outside 

 the market, where they send all the products they purchase. 

 The seller has a ticket given him, with the purchase-price on it, 

 and is paid on delivery of the goods at the dealer's stand. It 

 seems almost incredible that even in some village markets, 

 within two hours, such a vast amount of business can be 

 transacted with the greatest order and decorum. Some mer- 

 chants will purchase from 2000 to oOOO lbs, of butter, others 

 20,000 to 30,000 eggs, or some thousand heads of poultry, &c,, 

 all which are taken to their warehouse to be sorted, packed, and 

 perhaps forwarded the same day either to London or Paris, I 

 may add, that the current price for every commodity is fixed 

 and known immediately after the market opens, and depends 

 entirely on the demand and supply," 



It seems strange that the antiquated custom of selling poultry 

 at so much apiece or per couple, and eggs at so much a 

 dozen or score, should still be persevered in by ourselves in 

 business-like Britain ; for the seller does not know what amount 

 of flesh or of white and yolk he is parting with for a certain 

 price, and the buyer cannot tell how much he is getting for his 

 money. Both birds and eggs ought undoubtedly to be sold by 

 weight; whereas, under the present sjstem, a heavy and a half- 

 fat fowl go at a price irrespective of the cost per pound, and 



