16 INTBODUCTION. 



Until a recent period the process of fattening fowls 

 has been almost entirely confined to the counties of 

 Surrey, Sussex, and a part of Kent, in England, with 

 a result that the table poultry trade has largely, so far 

 as the best qualities are concerned, passed into the 

 hands of those counties, which supply the finest speci- 

 mens for our home market. I am not without hope 

 that other districts will take up the industry, and 

 recently was consulted by a gentleman who has started 

 a fattening establishment in Scotland — the first, we 

 believe, in that country. It may be of interest to 

 record here a fact which is very suggestive. The 

 gentleman referred to came to see me, and I strongly 

 urged him before commencing operations to interview 

 the people who would be his best customers, namely, 

 poulterers in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He did so, 

 and one leading poulterer in the Clydeside city named, 

 when told what he proposed to do, asked a very perti- 

 nent question, " What class of fowls do you intend to 

 send ? If you are going to market third and fourth- 

 rate stuff, such as we obtain from Ireland, we can get 

 as much of that as we want. But, if you will let us 

 have really first-rate fatted birds, such as we have 

 now to obtain from London, we can take 500 a 

 week during the season, and at good prices." This 

 was encouragement enough, and is typical of what 

 could be found in other parts of the country. 



Some time ago I undertook an exhaustive inquiry 

 over the whole of Great Britain as to the supplies of 

 poultry. As a result it was found that London is the 

 great centre of the trade, at any rate for the higher 

 class qualities, though Liverpool supplies a large 



