Il6 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



the meal of barley and buckwheat is made into a stiff 

 paste with milk and water, then formed into pills two 

 inches long and half an inch in diameter ; these are dipped 

 into water, and forced into the throat of the fowl, until 

 the crop is filled, twice a day ; it is, however, of impor- 

 tance not to cram a fowl until she has digested the pre- 

 vious meal, as otherwise it might produce inflammation 

 and death. 



A most ill-founded notion prevails with all fatteners 

 that poultry will fatten much quicker without light or 

 ventilation, and without ever removing their excrements, 

 which makes these places most offensive and unhealthy ; 

 no other reason could be assigned to me than that they 

 were quite sure that the smell of the excrements stimu- 

 lated the fattening ; in this there is about as much reason 

 as in the notion our farmers used to entertain that pigs 

 could only thrive in filth. In one place, however, which 

 I visited in company with Monsieur Noel, proprietor of 

 the Lion d'Or at La Fleche, a most intelligent man, and 

 himself a large farmer, the cottager had provision made 

 for the excrements to fall through the floor of the pen ; 

 and on pointing out the innovation, he prided himself on 

 his invention, as, said he, I can now remove the manure, 

 and the feathers of the fowls get less dirty, and the birds 

 have also more air. This, surely, is a step in the right 

 direction. 



5. KILLING AND DRESSING. 



This also is a speciality, carried on by men called 

 Tueurs et Appreteurs; they are astonishingly expert in 

 their business ; and unless witnessed, as we have done, it 



