VII.] FOWLS. 109 



wife is at home the greater part of the time, are wprtfi 

 attention. They would require but little room, might 

 be bought in November and sold in April, and six of 

 them, with proper care, might be made to clear every 

 week the price of a gallon of flour. If the labour 

 were great, I should not think of it; but it is none; 

 and I am for neglecting nothing in the way of pains 

 in order to ensure a hot dinner every day in winter, 

 when the man comes home from work. As to the 

 fatting" of fowls, information can be of no use to those 

 who live in a cottage all their lives ; but it may be of 

 some use to those who are born in cottages, and go to 

 have the care of poultry at richer persons' houses. 

 Fowls should be put to fat about a fortnight before 

 they are wanted to be killed. The best food is bar- 

 ley-meal wetted with milk, but not wetted too much. 

 They should have clear water to drink, and it should 

 be frequently changed. Crammed fowls are very nasty 

 things : but " barn-door " fowls, as they are called, 

 are sometimes a great deal more nasty. Barn-door 

 would, indeed, do exceedingly well ; but it unfortu- 

 nately happens that the stable is generally pretty near 

 to the barn. And now let any gentleman who talks 

 about sweet barn-door fowls, have one caught in 

 the yard, where the stable is also. Let him have it 

 brought in, killed, and the craw taken out and cut open. 

 Then let him take a ball of horse-dung from the stable- 

 door; and let his nose tell him how very small is 

 the difference between the smell of the horse-dung, 

 and the smell of the craw of his fowl. In short, roast 

 the fowl, and then pull aside the skin at the neck, put 

 your nose to the place, and you will almost think that 

 you are at the stable door. Hence the necessity of 

 taking them away from the barn-door a fortnight, at 

 least, before they are killed. We know very well that 

 ducks that have been fed upon fish, either wild ducks, or 

 tame ducks, will scent a whole room, and drive out of it 

 all those who have not pretty good constitutions. It 

 must be so. Solomon says tbat all flesh is grass ; and 

 those who know any-thin^ about beef ? know the differ- 

 ence between the effect of the grass in Herefordshire 

 10 



