426 



POULTRY 



are consumed yearly in this country. Chickens are 

 raised on nearly every farm the world over, and are 

 found even in the back yard of town dwellers. 



There are many reasons for the popularity of poultry. 

 Little capital is needed in the business. On the farm, 

 during much of the year, fowls need hardly any attention. 

 They consume large quantities of waste matters, and 

 cost little for upkeep. The eggs and flesh are whole- 

 some and universally relished. Hens are adapted to a 

 restricted or to a free range; and fair success and profit 

 come to keepers of only slight acquaintance with modern 



poultry practices, pro- 

 vided they do not begin 

 on too large a scale. 



314. The First Chicken. 

 Chickens are domes- 

 ticated birds, distantly 

 related to the grouse and 

 other wild scratchers. 

 So far as known, how- 

 ever, there are possibly 

 four wild birds belong- 

 ing to the, chicken 

 species. These are the 

 jungle fowls of India 



WHITE LEGHORN. 



This hen. Lady Eglantine, has a record 

 of 314 eggs in 365 days. 



and Ceylon. It is quite possible that many thousand 

 years ago a pair of these birds was caught and tamed, and 

 that from it by selection and breeding the modern hen 

 was produced. Certainly our breeds all came to us from 

 Asia and southern Europe. 



315. Types of Chickens. We have already noticed that 

 there are heavy horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, as distin- 

 guished from light horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, and 

 that the heavy and light types are associated with dif- 



