208 A FEW WORDS ON FEN-LAND. 



and horsehair ones have come in. (Horsehair has risen fifty per cent, in 

 value; and the supply comes from South America.) 



Daniel says (vol. iii. p. 248): — "Some wing them [i.e. Geese] only 

 every quarter, taking ten feathers from each Goose, which sell for 55. 

 a thousand. Plucked Geese pay, in feathers*, Is. a-head in Wildmore 

 fen " f . 



* The following was, in 1871, the value of feathers in London : — Raw Goose-feathers, best 

 grey, from Is. 2d. to Is. 4d. per lb. ; white. Is. 8d. to 1*. lOd. These feathers lose about a quarter 

 of their weight in dressing, and are then usually retailed at 26'. 6d. or 3s. 6d. per lb. 



The best feathers are from Enghsh Geese, supphed by Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and 

 Norfolk ; and those taken from the living bird excel the others ; but the supply of this quality is 

 now very trifling, the custom of plucking them having fallen into disuse. Next to English come 

 Russian feathers in value. The largest supply of British ones is obtained from the south of Ireland. 

 The proportion of foreign feathers is about two thirds, to one third of our own. The imported 

 feathers in 1871 were 775 tons, and the home production 300 tons ; but with the former were many 

 Fowl's feathers. Since 1871 the imports have greatly increased, while our own have decreased. 



t I have been at some pains to find out something about Goose-quills at the present day. It 

 is a common but erroneous notion that quill pens have been quite superseded by steel, and that at 

 the present time scarcely any are used. Had the metal pens not been introduced, the use of the 

 good old quill would, doubtless, have been infinitely larger than it is ; but, notwithstanding all that 

 has been done, there are probably nearly as many quills manufactured to-day as there were before 

 the introduction of the Birmingham rivals. 



This is explained by the great increase in the manufactm-e of all kinds of stationery in this 

 country, and by the opening up of a large colonial and foreign trade. Many millions of quills and 

 quiU pens are sold annually in the United Kingdom; and many more are exported to India, 

 America, Australia, &c. 



Some years ago many English and Irish quills were used ; but at present very few of these 

 are made into pens. The principal supply comes from Russia, where immense droves of Geese are 

 reared for their quiUs and feathers. These quills are harder and better than English ones : the 

 cold climate appears to make the barrel of the quill stronger. A further illustration of this 

 is seen in quills from the Hudson's-Bay Territory, where the cold is intense, and the quills 

 are almost like iron. These are particularly prized, and command very high prices, some of the 

 primest being worth £2 per hundi-ed. Hudson's-Bay pens are supplied for use in the House of 

 Lords and to Her Majesty's Judges. 



The manufacture of the quiU is of great importance. The ban-el is naturally opaque, or nearly 

 so; and to render it transparent heat is applied. This is done in various ways. The simplest is by 



