148 ANIMAL FOOD EESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



sent a value of £1,085,651. The number of poultry was 

 about 600,000 more in the two previous years. For 

 Great Britain we have for the first time details this year 

 (1884). The numbers were given as follows : — 



Including the Channel Islands, the number for Great 

 Britain is given at 28,944,249, but this must be taken with 

 all reservation, and is certainly far below the real total. 

 It can scarcely be believed that Ireland exceeds Great 

 Britain in the number of turkeys and geese, considering 

 that in the last two years there has been a very large 

 decrease in the number of Irish poultry. 



It is probable that few persons are aware of the extent 

 of what may be termed the poultry industry, or can 

 appreciate the contribution to animal wealth in various 

 countries by the common barn-yard fowl. 



According to ofl&cial statistics published, the following 

 was the number of poultry returned for France: 



58,283,339 66,019,130 



Mr. Masson, a French writer, estimated in 1884 the 

 number of fowls in France at 43,858,780, which at the 

 average price of 3 fr., is equal to 131,576,340 fr. Each 

 year a fifth of these are sold for food, viz., 8,771,756, at 3 

 fr., making 27,855,268 fr. Also 2,100,000 cocks or capons 

 sold at the same price for 6,300,000 fr. There remains, 

 therefore, 32,982,024 hens, producing yearly 101,000,000 

 chickens, from which are selected 11,000,000 as repro- 

 ducers, to replace those killed, and we may attribute to 



