A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW. 121 



London, general merchants ; in his company I have vis- 

 ited several farms, and attended market, at which he 

 makes purchases of butter, grain, &c., for the London 

 market. 



8. THE DISTINCT BREEDS. 



There are three perfectly distinct breeds, all very char- 

 acteristic in their appearance ; and, when of pure race, 

 they are very true to all their points. I shall only give a 

 cursory description of the appearance of those we have 

 now at our establishment in Bromley. 



Houdan Fowl. 



Whatever has been said to the contrary, this breed, 

 when pure, is most characteristic; but it must be ad- 

 mitted, that most of the farmers near Houdan know as 

 little of the pure Houdan breed as those of La Fleche 

 and Crevecceur know of theirs ; and, if you were to order 

 some first class birds of them, irrespective of price, they 

 would with good conscience forward fowls of a large 

 size but, from a want of knowledge, some cross breeds. 

 To illustrate this, I may mention that I could have pur- 

 chased, at the markets in those respective localities, 

 splendid thorough-bred specimens for about three shil- 

 lings, the price of common fowls, but which , were 

 worth in France even one pound each. There are, how- 

 ever, in each locality, some persons who take an interest 

 in their pure breeds, particularly since they have been 

 encouraged by the award of prizes from poultry exhibi- 

 tions. 



