"PETITS POUSSINS" AND BROILERS. 101 



itself. Maize and buckwheat do well. Give them 

 also a paste composed of potatoes, boiled and mashed, 

 and a little pollard, or meal, not crushed. Then they 

 may also have, if the season permit, a feed of beetroot. 



" When one has accustomed a certain number of 

 chickens to come to receive this food at regular hours, 

 they run at the first call, but it is necessary to guard 

 them well whilst they feed, or the other fowls will soon 

 devour what is given to them ; it is better to put them 

 in a little yard or in a run similar to sheep runs, and 

 which may be composed of wicker hurdles. During 

 the first few days one takes the chickens from the 

 house in the morning and puts them in the little run, 

 where we give them their food ; then when the repast 

 is finished they go out, without frightening them by 

 raising one of the hurdles ; at the end of some days 

 they run at the first call. In three or four weeks one 

 has, by this plan, excellent chickens for the table." 



In order to supply complete information upon this 

 point I have obtained the following particulars from 

 the breeder named in the first paragraph, and also 

 from one of the largest retailers of these dainty morsels 

 in the West End of London, Mr. T. Devereux, of 

 Shepherd's Market, Mayfair. The former gentleman 

 informs me that he has found either pure Dorkings or 

 a cross between the Indian Game and Dorking to be 

 most suitable for producing petits poussins, but he 

 intends this year to try one or two other crosses. The 

 chickens are bred as early as possible to meet the 

 demand, and for the first fortnight are fed in the usuai 

 way, upon good, nutritious food, care being specially 

 taken to avoid any check to the growth, which would 



