20 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



experience, and by a careful examination of the 

 subject. What better occupation, or, rather, what 

 better amusement can the young members of a 

 family have than to feed and watch over the 

 [poultry of a farm ? In this way they may clothe 

 themselves and pay for their books, without in- 

 terfering with the school exercises, or any rea- 

 sonable labors expected from them in other 

 ihings. 



In this country poultry has ever been consid- 

 ered a luxury, and consequently not raised in 

 such immense quantities as in France, Egypt, 

 and some other countries, where it is used more 

 as a necessary article of food than as a deli- 

 cacy for the sick, or a luxury for the table. In 

 France, poultry forms an important part of the 

 live stock of the farmer, and it has been said 

 of that country, that the poultry-yards supply a 

 much greater quantity of food to the gentle- 

 man, the wealthy tradesman, and the substan- 

 tial farmer, than the shambles do ; and it is well 

 known that in Egypt it has been, from time 

 immemorial, a considerable branch of rural 

 economy to raise domestic poultry for sale, 

 hatched in ovens by artificial heat. 



Connected with every farm establishment 

 t/here should be a poultry-yard. Without it 

 the farm is as incomplete as it would be with- 

 out a piggery. And there is no reason why 

 poultry should not be considered as a species 

 of agricultural stock, and turned to as good ac- 

 count for both producers and consumers. In- 

 deed, -every family in the country, although not 

 devoted to agriculture, should have one. For 

 the mechanic it is important; so it is to the 

 professional man and to the merchant. No 

 direction or rule can be given as to the size of 

 it ; whether it shall contain ten hens, fifty, or 

 a hundred. If it is partly designed to produce 

 poultry for market, it may, of course, be pro- 

 portioned to the demand there is for the prod- 

 ucts. If these products are wanted for home 

 consumption only, the size of the family should 

 regulate the size of the poultry-house and the 

 number of the tenants. And in each case it 

 is apparent that the amount of feed produced 

 on the premises for the use of the fowls, and 

 the local conveniences which can be appropria- 

 ted to their accommodation, should have an in- 



fluence in deciding how many should be kept. 

 These are matters which all can decide for them- 

 selves. What might be expedient for one fam- 

 ily would be inappropriate to others. Some, too, 

 are excessively fond of eggs; others care less 

 about them. The same is true in regard to the 

 flesh of poultry. This also will have its influence. 

 More eggs, therefore, and a much larger num- 

 ber of fowls of a better description, ought to be 

 ultimately producible; and this improvement 

 should act on the markets of the country. The 

 consumers of poultry in fact, are very numer- 

 ous ; and but from its unnecessary high price, 

 would be greatly increased. Chickens were 

 selling in the New York market in July, 1855, 

 not weighing much over one pound each, for 

 seventy-five cents the pair. We can see no rea- 

 son or excuse for this exorbitant charge. If 

 the poultry dealers really fancy they are dis- 

 charging any public duty, they must needs antic- 

 ipate greater cheapness and greater abundance 

 in the breed of our 'domestic fowls. That there 

 has been an improvement in the size of our do- 

 mestic poultry, is evident from the fact that 

 a few years since, before the fowl mania, dress- 

 ed fowls brought to our markets would seldom 

 weigh over two and a half pounds each ; now 

 they run up to three, and even five pounds each 

 we speak of the common fowls, as raised by 

 the farmers of the country and this has been 

 accomplished by crossing with the imported va- 

 rieties, and with better care. 



When fowls were sold by the piece, it was 

 no interest to the farmer to increase the size 

 of his poultry, as a pair weighing only five 

 pounds would command just as much as those 

 of six or seven pounds. Now, since they are 

 more generally sold by weight, size tells the sto- 

 ry. A fowl without any specific claim of weight 

 is a very nondescript article ; and since we can 

 not as yet see how a couple of fat fowls any 

 way deserving the appellation can be sold at 

 three shillings per pair, no one can reasona- 

 bly object to pay from ten to twelve cents per 

 pound, according to the season, for poultry, while 

 butcher's meat is from ten to eighteen cents per 

 pound for such pieces as one would wish to see 

 on his table. 



Bird fanciers are devoting much of their time 



