FOREHAND. 



FOWL. 



8 inches wide, and 4 feet deep. It is filled j also causes of the pip in hens, and originate 

 with broken bricks, to within 18 inches of the ! all their diseases. Poultry of all sorts should 

 lop ; then a foot of short cold dung, 6 inches of have clean, sweet houses to retire into during 



very rotten dung, trod down so as to admit half 

 an inch depth of coal ashes, for preventing the 



the night, and in seasons of wet. Warmth is 

 necessary to the comfort and well-doing of 



intrusion of any worms that may be in the ! poultry. If hens are kept with care, and have 



dung, complete the structure. (G. W. John- 

 sons Kitchen Garden.') 



FOREHAND. In horsemanship, that part 

 of the animal which is before the rider. 



FOREST (Germ, forst ; Fr. fortt , Ital. for- 

 esta~). Strictly an extensive surface covered 

 naturally by trees and undergrowth, as op- 

 posed to a plantation which has been made by 

 art, but indiscriminately used for any very ex- 

 tensive tract covered with trees. The utility 

 of timber plantations to a commercial nation 

 is very great, as, by the quantity of timber they 

 afford, a considerable expense may be saved 

 which must otherwise be incurred by the im- 

 portation of materials for ship-building. (See 

 PLANTATION.) In former times the greater 

 part of every country in the temperate parts of 

 Europe was undoubtedly covered with forests ; 

 and these, by harbouring and nourishing wild 

 animals of every description, particularly wild 

 swine, afforded a principal part of the food of 

 man. With civilization, however, they grad- 

 ually disappear before the increase of pasture 

 or arable land. In every country a large por- 

 tion of the forests belonged to the government, 

 and formed a main source of its revenue. 

 This is still the case in France and Germany, 

 and, till lately, it was also the case to a certain 

 extent in Britain. Hence extensive tracts in 

 England still bear the name of forest, though 

 they are now in a state of cultivation, and in a 

 great measure without trees. 



The royal forests of Britain occupy about 

 125,000 acres of land. There are 32,768 acres 

 of forest land enclosed and planted, principally 

 with oak, and with other trees where the soil 

 is not adapted to oak. There are 6211 acres 

 of other freehold land belonging to the crown, 

 which are also appropriated to the growth of 

 timber, making in all 38,979 acres, the whole 

 of which have been enclosed and planted with- 

 in the last twenty years. 



For an account of the existing forests of 

 England, see "Statistics of the British Em- 

 pire." (Brit. Husb. vol. iii. article "Planta- 

 tions,"' pp. 83, 85 ; Brande's Did. of Science.) 



FOSSE. A large ditch or moat; also a 

 waterfall. 



FOWL. Cock and hen (Phasianus gallus}. 

 Fowls were originally natives of Persia and 

 India. They are most valuable to the farmer 

 as yielding profit in eggs, broods, and feathers. 

 The varieties of the common fowl in England 

 are very numerous, and are distinguished 

 from one another by their size, colour, and 

 fecundity. Fowls should be kept very clean 

 and dry in the hen-house, and particular care 

 must be taken to furnish them with clean, 

 sweet water; foul water produces that fatal 

 disorder among chickens called roup, or gapes, 

 which is known by the chick gasping for 

 breath, and dying in a few hours. No remedy 

 has yet been discovered for this disorder ; 

 therefore care and cleanliness should prevent 

 \t. Foul water, and a scarcity of water, are 

 502 



clean, quiet places to deposit themselves in, 

 they will lay regularly, and repay all trouble. 

 One cock is sufficient for ten hens. He should 

 be chosen with care. A good cock should be 

 well-sized, carrying his head high ; he should 

 have a quick, animated look, a strong shrill 

 voice, the comb of a fine red, broad breast, 

 strong wings, legs thick, and his bill thick and 

 short. (Main's Domestic Poultry, p. 230.) The 

 vigour of the cock lasts three years ; he must 

 then be superseded, and a fine spirited youth- 

 ful successor installed in his room. A cock is 

 at full age at three months old. Three sorts 

 of hen are useful. The common hen, whose 

 proper signs should be in having a large head, 

 blueish feet, sharp eyes, and pendant comb. 

 The tufted hen, for eating, as she does not lay 

 much, therefore fattens well; and the large 

 white Dorking breed, which always fetches a 

 higher price in the market. The Dorking 

 fowls are distinguished by having five claws 

 on each foot. Equal to the Dorking in esti- 

 mation (says Professor Jjow) are the Poland 

 fowls. Their colour is black, their heads flat, 

 and surmounted with a crown of feathers. 

 They are a very useful variety; prolific of 

 eggs, but less inclined to sit than those of any 

 other breed. All others are kept more for 

 show than for use. The bantam is a little In- 

 dian breed, very delicate to eat, but, from the 

 smallness of its size, not of any economical 

 importance. 



The Chitagong, or Malay fowl, is the largest 

 breed that has yet been brought to .England, 

 but the flesh is regarded as inferior to that of 

 the Dorking and Poland. Fowls should not be 

 allowed to wander much : they lay better and 

 more regularly when confined to their own 

 yard. Their food should be given with great 

 regularity at sun-rise and sun-set, and they 

 should be fed under cover during rain or high 

 winds. During harvest their portion of food 

 is always diminished. All sorts of pot-herbs, 

 boiled, in the washings of dishes, mixed with 

 bran, and then drained, is excellent; the paste 

 warmed up as required, while sweet. Well 

 boiled mealy potatoes, buckwheat, barley, 

 whole or ground, refuse of fruit, bread, offal 

 from the kitchen, &c., is taken greedily. Let 

 all their food be fresh of its kind. 



The laying time in England begins about 

 February. A hen gives notice of her intention 

 by being busy and restless, and talking to her- 

 self for some time, and her comb becomes very 

 red. Her cackling soon gives notice that the 

 deed is done. Let her have a dark, quiet box 

 to lay in. The moulting season begins in au- 

 tumn, when the hen ceases to lay for some 

 time : the whole feathered tribe are then droop- 

 ing and dull, till the new feathers have replaced 

 the old ones. A hen is old at four years of 

 age: for three years she is valuable, and in. 

 her fourth year she must make way for younger 

 birds. A hen sits three weeks ; her disposition 

 to sit is soon discovered, by her placing her- 



