FATTJ':XING FOWLS IN FBANCE. 79 



that is to say, those hatched ia September and October. 

 The chickens hatched in January and February should 

 be fatted in the summer ; those hatched in March and 

 April in the autumn ; and, lastly, those hatched in May 

 and June should be killed in the winter. The Septem- 

 ber-October, and January-February chickens are ex- 

 ceptions which compensate for the additional trouble 

 they entail, for their price is higher than that of fowls 

 sold at other seasons of the year." In her work 

 Madame Millet-Eobinet describes the plan she prefers 

 for fattening, namely, by means of cages, but that 

 need not be quoted, the above indicating general 

 -principles. 



As to the methods of fattening adopted in France, 

 it may be,accepted that some system of increasing tlie 

 quantity and quality of flesh is regarded as indispen- 

 sable, and we can be content to accept this without 

 question. The methods followed are : (1) feeding upon 

 ilesh-forrning foods under ordinary conditions ; (2) 

 cramming by boluses of food, or patons ; (3) cramming 

 by a funneil ; and (4) cramming by machine. Without 

 exception the food is always prepared from finely 

 ground meal, hard corn never being employed. Buck- 

 wheat-meal, maize-meal, and barley-meal are employed, 

 but we have not met with or heard of an instance where 

 ground oats, the staple food in Sussex, is used. With 

 one or other of these is mixed skim milk, but in several 

 districts of Prance the " whey " of curdled milk is pre- 

 ferred, and in the La Bresse country the latter is 

 thought to give better perfection in fattening and 

 improve the quality of the flesh. Some of the fatteners 

 are content to mix hot water with the meal, but all 



