130 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



1870 my keeper's bill for four hundred birds was, eggs, 

 £5 6s. 6d.; bread, £1 I2s. 4|cZ. ; milk, £2 lis. 8d.; suet, 

 136'. 6d.; 'secrets,' 7s. 6d.— £10 ll.v. 6^d. To tbis must 

 be added Indian corn, meal, and rabbits ; but I cannot 

 give the exact quantity of each, as dogs were fed from the 

 meal barrel, and the rabbits were not counted ; £9 8s. is, I 

 consider, a fair estimate of the cost of what was used for the 

 birds— making a total of £20 for four hundred, or Is. each. 

 About the ' secrets ' I can say nothing, except that none are 

 required." 



"In 1878, for three hundred under my supervision, the 

 cost was : Very coarse Scotch meal, £9 lbs. 6d. ; milk, £3 ; 

 eggs, £1 156'.; rennet, 2.9. 8d. ; wheat, 8s. 8d.; bread, 

 5s. ll^cZ. ; sheep's paunches (two hundred), £1 5s.; a horse, 

 10s. ; a cow, bs. ; a sheep, 5s. The last three for producing 

 maggots. Total — £17 12s. 9^d. No rabbits were used. 

 With this supply of food, at the cost of a little more than 

 Is. a head, not only were 97 per cent, of the birds reared, but 

 I think they were as fine as possible." 



The cost of labour, protection, &c., varies so much in 

 different localities and under different circumstances that it 

 is impracticable to draw up even a rough average of general 

 application. Under very favourable conditions, as Mr. Cade 

 demonstrates, pheasants may be reared at as small a 

 cost as Is. a head, and in others the cost rises to 14s. or 

 even 15s. 



