8o POULTRY BREEDING IN 



not suitable to cheap poultry breeding. Now, these asser- 

 tions are based on mere narrow-minded prejudices ; there 

 is no climate in the world more favorable to animal life 

 than that of England, as is proved by our statistics ; the 

 very dampness of our climate prevents those extremes of 

 cold and heat from which more southerly countries suffer ; 

 and nowhere can fowls be produced to compete with ours 

 in size and flesh ; and all travellers will agree with me that 

 large-sized fowls can only be found in damp regions, 

 while those of dry and hot soils, such as Egypt, are com- 

 paratively small. As regards a limited production, I 

 have shown in my treatise on " Poultry-keeping from a 

 Commercial Point of View " that fifty thousand fowls can 

 be reared per annum on four acres of land, and at highly 

 remunerative, prices, and much belo'w that of butchers' 

 meat. Poulterers will, moreover, maintain that poultry 

 is exceptional ; that it cannot possibly be sold by weight ; 

 that the price must necessarily depend on age, breed, 

 quality, and feeding, and cannot be classed. Believe it 

 not. Have we not beef, mutton, pork, &c., from four- 

 pence to a shilling per pound, according to quality ? Is 

 not every produce now sold, according to its intrinsic 

 value, by weight or measure ? And why should poultry 

 form the exception? I am very much mistaken if the 

 public will not be able to purchase chickens at the price 

 of Ostend rabbits within two years. Let the public once 

 see tickets in shop windows, prime chickens at sixpence 

 per pound, or at any other price, according to quality, 

 and you will find the commendable wish of Henry IV. of 

 France realized, that every family shall be able to have a 

 fowl for their Sunday dinner. Why, it will create such 



