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CHAPTER VIII. 



THE CULTI\"ATION OF POULTRY AS NATIOXAI. l-OOP. 



We lia\-e been frequently asked, especially by those of our personal friends whom to know the best 

 was to love and esteem the most for all those qualities that make a friend worth possessing, how 

 we could devote the time and thought which for years we have done to the study of fowls. To 

 those who have never seriously considered the subject of poultry in its various bearings the 

 question and the imputation it implies may seem very natural ; in the case of those who have, both 

 alike may provoke a smile, as they recall the many reasons which may well deepen an interest that 

 in our own case has steadily grown greater year by year. 



Chiefly however — and to put the whole matter in a nutshell — we long ago discovered that the 

 various products of poultry, properly managed, formed the cheapest animal food ivhich can be 

 procured. Seeing therefore, as we have seen, much of what life is amongst the labouring and even 

 many of the middle classes ; knowing, as we have known, how much of that life consists in a mere 

 struggle to live, and what the great " food question " really ii/eaiis to thousands of households ; we 

 have felt fully warranted to consider in the most earnest spirit anything which bears directly upon 

 so serious a subject. It would be easy to show that such pursuits do not necessarily hinder other 

 efforts in the same cause, and that many a " poultry-fancier" has done other good work for his day 

 and generation ; but independent of this, we are content to let the question rest upon its own merits. 

 We have been obliged, in the course of a by no means long life, to learn how many thousands — 

 nay, millions — there are, who scarcely taste animal food from one year's end to the other ; and to 

 contemplate the perhaps still more painful spectacle of the many in a so-called "respectable" 

 position, who are obliged to maintain a certain outside appearance, whilst the bitter consciousness 

 is ever present to them that their wives and families, though not starving, have not such food as 

 is really needful for health and strength. Into the many serious questions which underlie all this 

 we cannot here enter ; but we may be at least excused for considering that anything which bears 

 practically upon this perplexing social problem, or which may lighten to even a few the heavy 

 burden thcj- have to bear, is worthy the most earnest consideration of every thoughtful man. 



And poultry does bear practically upon this question, and we do so consider it more and more 

 with the added experience of every season. We recommenced poultry-keeping ourselves some years 

 ago, after long cessation, simply to provide a few eggs for home consumption ; and if we have been 

 gradually led far beyond this, to an expenditure of time and study which no mere pecuniary return 

 can ever repay, it has not been from the enthusiasm of a fancier, but from the forct of circumstances 

 and of such considerations as we have adverted to. We have proved again and again, personally, 

 that poultry may be made a help to many, and that even our own labour in this direction has not 

 been altogether thrown aw ay. It is true that many persons cannot, if they would, keep fowls ; 

 but many others can : and hence we regard it as both a worthy and a practicable object to 

 s[)rcad as widely as possible the better knowledge of a creature which seems expressly adapted by 

 Providence to supply the very best animal food for a young family which Nature has provided. 



We have already .said all that is necessary regarding the management of a few fowls for home 

 supply. It has gratified us to sec the steady increase in the number of fowl-houses which aopear 



