PREFACE. 



indeed that it was favourable. Success cannot 

 be foreseen or determined, but when it has been 

 fairly and honestly striven for, and the utmost 

 has been done to obtain it, it is gratifying. 



The pages I now send forth will, I hope, meet 

 with approval. I have explained away some 

 difficulties, and corrected mistakes; also added 

 new chapters. The descriptions of the new 

 foreign breeds will doubtless be acceptable, as 

 these are rapidly making their way into public 

 favour, and superior specimens may now be seen 

 in almost every poultry-yard. The principal 

 exhibitions encourage their introduction by grant- 

 ing separate classes and prizes to them, just as 

 in Prance the " Jardin d'Acclimatation," at its 

 annual concours, gives medals to our Dorkings, 

 game, and other home breeds. The advantages 

 of public competition are understood, and as the 

 love of poultry rearing is extending every day, 

 and they are found to be, even on farms, pro- 

 fitable stock, I hope to see them objects of in- 



