VALUE OP POULTRY. 145 



mer. This, however, appears to be one of 

 those opinions taken up and adopted with- 

 out due examination. Fifty hens, if well 

 kept, will produce from five to seven thou- 

 sand eggs annually, or, at the rate of a 

 cent a piece, from fifty to seventy dollars. 

 If we confine our attention exclusively to 

 chickens, it would be within bounds to esti- 

 mate their number at four hundred, or two 

 hundred pairs, which, at the rate of half a dol- 

 lar per pair, would produce one hundred dol- 

 lars. It is supposed that the surplus in eggs 

 would pay for all the feed required. 



These are, however, only approximations 

 to the value of the products from poultry, as 

 much must depend on the capability of the 

 poulterer to take advantage of the best mar- 

 kets, and his skill in fattening them to the 

 proper point. In England, where every de- 

 partment of labour has received its most mi- 

 nute subdivision, the business of fattening 

 poultry is engrossed entirely by the poulter- 

 er, so that every pair of fowls passes through 

 four hands before it reaches the consumer. 

 These are the breeder, the higler, the poul- 

 M 



