80 PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



tration of the same to only the most capable and 

 thoroughly reliable hands ; 



Thirdly, the use of the proper ingredients taught 

 us by experience to be the best. 



To begin with, 



Old fashions please me best. I am not so nice 

 To change true rules for odd inventions. 



Taming of the Shrew, Act iii. 



And there is nothing yet invented to beat the time- 

 honoured chopped hard-boiled egg for the first day or 

 two of the young pheasant's existence, and then I am 

 a believer in the advantages of a food of which 

 custard forms the basis, as against curd, so frequently 

 administered. Custard, which is a simple admixture 

 of pure milk and eggs, has the advantage of retaining 

 the whey, which, containing, as it does, sugar of milk, 

 saline particles, and other ingredients favourable to 

 bone production, must of necessity prove advan- 

 tageous in its administration to the tender poults. 



I do not for one moment object to the occasional 

 addition of a small piece of alum to the custard, if the 

 manufacturer is in a hurry, and the custard does not 

 come quick enough ; indeed, now and then the 

 change is undoubtedly, to my idea, beneficial ; but to 

 keep a lot of young birds continually upon a food 

 made of warmed milk, turned or curdled with alum, 

 and then twisted into a hard mass in a coarse cloth, 

 will be found, in the long run, very detrimental. 

 Alum is not to be found in the natural food of the 



