REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 41 1 



they are fattened in a remarkably short time, but the practice 

 is unnatural, and in some degree cruel; and therefore fattening 

 them in freedom, and as they naturally choose, is a more cer- 

 tain way of procuring pure healthy birds. The practice adopt- 

 ed by some foreign poulterers of depriving them of sight, and 

 light, and motion, by confining them in narrow baskets, while 

 they are superabundantly crammed, is so barbarous, and revolt- 

 ing to humanity, that it is to be hoped the horrid custom will 

 never find an advocate on this side of the water. 



In fattening poultry -, the quality of the food is a principal 

 thing to be attended to; for if the ingredients on which they 

 are fattened be otherwise than sweet, the flesh of the fowls 

 will be deteriorated. Many persons suppose that it will an- 

 swer to feed with any of the refuse of grain or any thing else 

 they will eat. This may answer the purpose of the feeder for 

 a time, but he will eventually lose his credit in the market. 

 Many of the above observations on the treatment of the barn- 

 door fowl are applicable to those about to be mentioned. 



EGGS are an extensive product of common poultry; they 

 form an object of vast consumption, and are produced in num- 

 bers not to be computed. The eggs of the common hen are 

 the only ones that may be said to be in daily use; not simply 

 because they are the best and the most delicate, but also be- 

 cause they are, of all females in the poultry-yard, the most 

 numerous, the most fruitful, and the most easy to rear. They 

 are decidedly one of the best and most wholesome articles of 

 food within the reach of man. They are also used for a great 

 variety of other purposes than food. The eggs of the common 

 hen only constitute an article of commerce. 



From five Poland hens, Mr. LAWRENCE obtained, in eleven 

 months, five hundred and three eggs, weighing, at the average 

 of one ounce and five drachms each, fifty and a half pounds. 

 From this will appear the great production of animal food 

 from this source. In the year 1S38 an account was kept with 

 a dozen of our best fowls; they were well and regularly fed 

 on boiled potatoes, with occasional supplies of other kinds of 

 food; they were well kept, and carefully guarded against wet. 

 The produce for the year was two thousand three hundred and 

 twenty-eight eggs, and one hundred and three chicks. Two 

 thousand of the eggs were sold at the average of twenty cents 

 the dozen. A portion of the young broods was disposed of, 

 producing nine dollars and seventy-five cents, after subtracting 

 all the expenses of preparing them for market. To preserve 

 eggs, the pores of the shell should be rendered impervious to 

 the air. Unctuous substances of different kinds are employed 

 for this purpose, as suet, melted oil, and the like. 



