74 POULTRY FAT TENING. 



butter in Prance as is to be met with in not a few 

 ordinary English farmhouses, and that is saying a 

 good deal, though the average quality of production is 

 decidedly higher than at home. But it must fairly be 

 acknowledged that so far as poultry are concerned, the 

 general run of French farmers' wives are enormously in 

 advance of those to be met with at home. We may hope, 

 however, that with the spread of technical education 

 throughout our rural districts, and more especially if 

 the younger folk avail themselves of the opportunities 

 afforded them in this direction, and the realisation of 

 the fact that newer and improved methods may be 

 adopted with advantage, we shall see a vast change 

 within a few years. The signs thereof are evident 

 to the discerning eye. 



Although the methods of fattening adopted in Prance 

 vary considerably, yet as a rule one main idea appears 

 to be prominent, namely, that the birds shall be kept 

 warm, in semi-darkness, and be fed on flesh-forming 

 foods. Other points are largely matters of detail, 

 resolved by immediate circumstances. In some places 

 one plan is followed, in another a different custom is 

 adopted, but the great fact to be made prominent is 

 that the fattening of table poultry is not confined to a 

 few counties, but is distributed all over the country. 

 Of course, certain departments have obtained a greater 

 prominence in this respect than others, notably Nor- 

 mandy and the departments of Saone-et-Loire and Ain, 

 but the fattening of table poultry is spread over a much 

 wider area than in our own land. We cannot visit 

 any of the towns which are scattered through the de- 

 partments of France without seeing the vast amount 



