182 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. Yin. 



the corn : for, although bran and pollard 

 are useful in making up a mess of paste, 

 and will doubtless fill the craw, they yet 

 contain very little nourishment; and, al- 

 though the profit is stated to have been nearly 

 alike in both years, yet, had the weight and 

 quality of the eggs been ascertained, we have 

 no doubt that those of the second would have 

 been found inferior to those of the first year. 

 But, supposing the quality to have been the 

 same, as the maintenance of the hens cost 

 during two years only 11. 18s. 6d. — the eggs 

 were had for little more than a farthing each : 

 and this may be worth consideration to a 

 prudent housekeeper, for, in London, a good 

 egg can never be got for less than a penny at 

 any time of the year ; and, during winter, we 

 have when in ill-health, regularly paid four- 

 pence daily for a new-lay ed egg. 



Early in this humble essay we pledged our- 

 selves that the cost of poultry, if economically 

 managed, would be less than that of butcher's 

 meat. Nor can this be wondered at if we 

 look to the fact that the consumers in all large 

 towns buy their eggs and fowls from dealers 

 who have, among them, no less than three or 



