MOULTING. 35 



a pot, during a day or two, leaving her only a small 

 breathing hole, to force her to sit ! It is full time 

 that, these and a hundred other such utterly useless 

 and barbarous follies of former days, practised upon 

 various animals, should be dismissed with the con- 

 tempt they merit. The pamphlet alluded to, is The 

 Epicure, by Thomas Young, a publication replete 

 with good things, on the interesting subjects of eat- 

 ing, wines, spirits, beer, cider, planting, &c. It is 

 written with haul gout. 



Every succeeding year after the third, the hen 

 continues to MOULT later in the season, and laying 

 fewer or no eggs during the moulting period, which 

 is sometimes protracted to two or three months. It 

 should seem that, old hens are seldom to be depended 

 upon for eggs in the winter, such being scarcely full 

 of feather until Christmas ; and then, probably, may 

 not begin to lay till April, producing at last, not 

 more than twenty or thirty eggs. In general, it is 

 most profitable to dispose of hens whilst they are 

 yet eatable, or saleable for that purpose, which is in 

 the spring of the third year. Nor do delicate white 

 hens lay so many eggs in the cold season, as the 

 more hardy coloured varieties, requiring warmth 

 and shelter, particularly by night. MOULTING, or 

 the casting and renewal of feathers lasts, with its 

 effects, from one to three months, according to the 

 age and strength of the bird. Whilst under this 

 natural course, poultry are unfit for the table, as 

 well as for breeding. It is the same with respect 

 to young poultry, whilst shedding their feathers in 

 c6 



